The first volume of the original manga published by KC, Kodansha.
Mazinger Z (マジンガーZ Majingā Zetto?) is a manga written and illustrated by Go Nagai. It was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine from October 02, 1972 to August 13, 1973 (Shonen Jump 1972 No.42 issue to 1973 No.35 issue)[1]. It was compiled by Shueisha in 5 volumes in 1973.
Story[]
Constructed with the Super-Alloy Z, Mazinger was built by Professor Juuzo Kabuto as a weapon against the Mechanical Beasts of the evil Dr. Hell. Koji Kabuto, the grandson of Professor Kabuto, becomes the pilot of Mazinger Z when his grandfather is killed, and battles from there on against Dr. Hell and his allies. This is the first series that introduced the concept of a pilot inside a Mecha, which all series from then on have followed.
Characters[]
- Koji Kabuto (Manga)
- Sayaka Yumi (Manga)
- Shiro Kabuto (Manga)
- Juzo Kabuto (Manga)
- Gennosuke Yumi (Manga)
- Dr. Hell (Manga)
- Baron Ashura (Manga)
- Count Brocken (Manga)
- Yamitaro Ankokuji (Manga)
- Lori & Loru (Manga)
- Shun Azuma (Manga)
- Masao Oide (Manga)
- Dr. Morimori (Manga)
- Dr. Sewashi (Manga)
- Dr. Nossori (Manga)
- Schtroheim Heinrich (Manga)
- Lorelai Heinrich (Manga)
- Miss Onchi (Manga)
Publication History[]
The early Mazinger Z manga was published in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine by Shueisha. in october 1973, the manga moved to TV Magazine, it followed a plot more similar to the anime. When the manga was initially published in volumes there were some issues with the chapter placements as the Jump series ended abruptly and later publications contained chapters from both the original and TV Magazine versions that overlapped each other, leaving out important information from both sides. For many years, the final story arc to the Shonen Jump version was placed in the initial tankoban releases of Great Mazinger causing some confusion on continuity. The most recent reissues of the manga were fixed with the proper placement with the finale having the arc name of "Mazinger Corps".
It received various republications in different formats by various publishers like 3 Volumes by Asahi Sonorama (1974), 4 Volumes by Chuuoukouron Shinsha (1994), 3 Volumes by Daitosha (1996), 5, 3 and 4 Volumes by Kodansha (1975, 1999, 2009). This initial serialization was continued in a different format and storyline in TV Magazine from October 1973 to September 1974.[2]
Creation and Development[]
Go Nagai stated that he was inspired by Osamu Tezuka's Tesuwan Atom (which premiered 20 years before Mazinger Z) and Mitsuteru Yokoyama's Testujin 28-go (Japan's first Giant Robot series) in his Manga Works series. However, wanting to find a more original idea than what was already used, he got the idea of internally piloting a mecha from observing a traffic jam and the feeling of bypassing that traffic. At first the robot was called Energer Z and instead of using a hovercraft-like Pilder like the Mazinger, the component was a motorcycle, but Nagai's editor suggested something else due to the popularity of Nagai's former employer Shotaro Ishinomori's Kamen Rider metaseries. With this in mind, Nagai redesigned and renamed the mech into the Mazinger Z to evoke the image of a demon god (Ma, meaning demon, and Jin, meaning god).
Related Media[]
- Great Mazinger (Nagai) (Sequel)