God Mazinger

God Mazinger (ゴッドマジンガー), also known as Majin Densetsu (魔神伝説) is an anime, manga and novel series created by manga artist Go Nagai. The anime aired on Japanese TV from April 15, 1984 to September 30, 1984 in the network Nippon Television with 23 episodes. The manga was originally published in tankōbon format by Shogakukan in 4 volumes published in May 1984, June 1984, August 1984 and September 1984 respectively. The novelization was published in 1984 and lasted 10 volumes. The three of them share the same basic premise but have a different story.

Plot
A Japanese teen named Yamato Hino, a young sports enthusiast, during a quiet and ordinary day begins to feel strange calls from an indefinite dimension. Frightened and confused, the boy thinks that he had hallucinations but during a thunderstorm a lightning bolt drags him into a parallel world: the ancient kingdom of Mu, ruled by King Muraji whose concern is to defend the capital of his kingdom, attacked by monsters commanded by the evil Dorado of the Empire of Dinosaurs.

In the kingdom of Mu, a legend tells of a titanic being that stands ready to defend the population from any threat and the king wants to awaken the giant statue of the god Mazinger; to do this he needs a brave boy whose name is Yamato, the only one capable of awakening the mighty giant. The devout prayers of the king and the princess are heard: the boy arrives to the dimension of Mu and the statue suddenly becomes alive. A luminous beam covers the boy that is absorbed into the body of the statue, which begins to move. When the monsters of Dorado broke through the defenses of the kingdom, God Mazinger defeats the dinosaurs and makes the enemy army flee. And thus the legend becomes a reality.

Yamato joins the court of King Muraji, becoming the champion of the Kingdom of Mu, always ready to repel the attacks of the evil Dorado and his fearsome dinosaurs.

Episodes
Source(s)


 * The scheduled broadcast of August 19, 1984 was cut for the 1984 Summer Olympics. Of the originally planned 24 episodes, one episode was cut and the 24th episode Mazinger disappears in the sea (海に消えたマジンガー) became a dream.

Staff & production notes
Source(s)
 * Airtime: Sunday, 10:30-11:00
 * Network: Nippon Television
 * Production: Tokyo Movie Shinsha
 * Original work: Go Nagai
 * Producer: Norio Hatsukawa (Nippon TV), Shunzo Kato (Tokyo Movie)
 * Production manager: Motoyoshi Tokunaga
 * Series organization: Hiroyuki Onodera
 * Episode direction: Yoshio Hayakawa, Tetsuya Endo, Shuji Iuchi, Kamekichi Itano, Toru Itozu, Akira Nishimori, Goro Mikawashima, Yukimatsu Ito, Tomio Shiwasu, Atsushi Minami
 * Scenario: Masaki Tsuji, Satoshi Namiki, Hiroshi Onogi, Yumiko Tsukamoto, Hiroyuki Hoshiyama, Shigemitsu Taguchi
 * Music: Kentaro Haneda
 * Character design: Satoshi Hirayama
 * Animation director: Hideyuki Motohashi
 * Art director: Eiko Suto
 * Director of photography: Hirokata Takahashi
 * In-between animation: Nakamura Production
 * Finish animation: Studio Noel, Yumin-sha, Studio Robin
 * Special effects: Satoshi Tokuda, Michiko Honma
 * Backgrounds: Saotome Production, Studio Fuga
 * Photography: Takahashi Production
 * Recording director: Ayumi Date
 * Music director: Seiji Suzuki
 * Recording: Atsushi Ono
 * Effects: Masakazu Yokoyama
 * Music selection: Yutaka Aida
 * Editor: Yoshihisa Tsurubuchi
 * Titles: Kogu atelier
 * PR: Taeko Yoshitake
 * Colour coordination: Michiko Ikeuchi
 * Production advance: Koumei Nosaki, Yoshinaga Minami, Takahisa Yokomizo, Toshiya Saito, Shinji Takahashi, Mako Matsumoto
 * Audio recording: Tohokushinsha
 * Film developer: Tokyo Laboratory Ltd.
 * Opening theme: "Dreamy My Love" (lyrics by Yoshihisa Araki, composition & arrangement by Tatsumi Yano, performed by Shoko Suda)
 * Ending theme: "Toki no Yuwaku" (時間の誘惑) (lyrics by Yoshihisa Araki, composition by Masami Ito, arrangement by Tatsumi Yano, performed by Harumi Endo)
 * Cast: Hiroshi Takemura (Yamato Hino), Yoshiko Sakakibara (Aira Mu), Sho Hayami (Eldo), Osamu Kato (Dorado), Yumi Takada (Kaoru Hino), Shigezo Sasaoka (God Mazinger), Yuzuru Fujimoto (Muraji), Eriko Hara (Madoma), Kumiko Takizawa (Yoname), Daisuke Gori (Deriya), Hiroya Ishimaru (Giron), Nobuyuki Furuta (Noro), Masashi Hirose (Bura)

Manga
The manga, although it shares some similarities and the same premise, differs from the anime with a more mature tone and also has a different conclusion. It was originally published in tankōbon format by Shogakukan in 1984. It was later re-printed in 1986 by Kadokawa Shoten under the title of Majin Densetsu and also under the original title by Chuokoron-sha in 1995 and Daitosha in 1998.


 * Shogakukan (Tentomushi Comics)


 * Kadokawa Shoten (Yamato Comics)


 * Chuokoron-sha (Chuko Aizoban)


 * Daitosha (St Comics)

The manga has also been published in ebook format by ebookjapan.

Novel
The novelization also expands the basic story and has several differences with both the anime and the manga. It was written by Yasutaka Nagai (volumes 1, 4, 7, 10), Tatsuhiko Dan (volumes 2, 5, 8) and Hideki Sonoda (volumes 3, 6, 9), with illustrations by Go Nagai. It was published by Kadokawa Shoten under the label Kadokawa Bunko.

Home video
In Japan, the anime series was released in home video format in the 1980s by the company VAP and it was also released in VHS by Maxam in 2000. The series has also been released in DVD format two times. The first time in June 25, 2003 by Pioneer LDC (standard number PIBA-3157) as a DVD-box set with the full series. The second time, also as a DVD-Box, in March 21, 2007 by Columbia Music Entertainment (standard number XT-2387/90).

Additionally, the whole series is available in several video on demand internet services.

Soundtracks
Two vinyl records were released in Japan by VAP during the 1980s. The first was a single released in April 1984 containing the opening and ending themes The second was a LP album with the full soundtrack, released in September 1, 1984.

Also, a compact cassette was released in September 1984 by VAP.

Picture books
Besides the manga and the novel, some picture books targeted to children were also released in the 1980s. One was published by Hikari no Kuni, another by Shogakukan and the last one by Asahi Sonorama.

Appearances in other media
Besides its related media, God mazinger has appeared in other media. The most prominent is its appearance in the "Dynamic Super Robots Taisen" clips that were included at the end of the DVDs of Shin Getter Robot tai Neo Getter Robot. God Mazinger appears alongside Great Mazinger, Venus A, Getter Robot G, Kotetsu Jeeg, Govarian and Groizer X to rescue Mazinger Z and Aphrodite A, but are defeated and in turn saved by Shin Getter Robot and Grendizer just before the arrival of Mazinkaiser.

In the Mazinger Angels manga, there is a saga dedicated to God Mazinger, where Princess Aira appears controlling a female version of God Mazinger and with the help of Jun Hono defeats the enemies of the kingdom, after Jun and the professor accidentally end up in the Kingdom of Mu. It is later with the help of Aira that Venus A becomes Queen of Gold.

The opening and ending songs of the series are included in several CD compilations of anime series. These are:
 * Anime Hot Wave 2 (1991)
 * Anime Hot Wave 3 (1992)
 * Mazinger Densetsu (1998)
 * Nagai Go Hero Densetsu Kotetsu Majin Hen (2002)
 * Super Robot Tamashii The Best Vol.1 ~Suparobo Hen~ (2003)
 * Super Robot Tamashii The Best Vol.2 ~Suparobo Hen 2~(2003)
 * Getter Densetsu + 10 ~The legends of Getter~(2004)
 * Mazinger Densetsu + 7 ~The legends of Mazinger~ (2004)
 * Super Robot Tamashii - Ballad & Unplugged (2006)
 * Super Robot Tamashii - BEST & LIVE [Girls Hen 2 ] (2006)

Merchandise
A few toys and action figures based in God Mazinger were released by manufacturer Mark.

Relationship to the Mazinger series
The series is considered as part of the Mazinger saga, if not only for the name of the title and that of his creator. In fact, a Japanese book called Mazinger Bible, released in 2002 for the 30th anniversary of the first Mazinger series, includes the God Mazinger, along with other Go Nagai's manga books that have not been made into anime, such as the adult-oriented MazinSaga, Z Mazinger, and First Comics' Mazinger comic book  released exclusively for the U.S. market in 1988.

Also, the concept of God Mazinger was a candidate to be the sequel of the original Mazinger Z series but, in the end, the sequel was decided to be the concept of Great Mazinger, and later UFO Robot Grendizer.