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Great Mazinger
グレートマジンガー (Gurēto Majingā)
Genre	Mecha, Adventure
TV anime
Director	Detsuo Imazawa Masayuki Akihi Nobuo Onuki Takeshi Tamiya Tomoharu Katsumata Yasuo Sankichi
Studio	Toei Animation
Network	Fuji TV
Original run	8 September 1974 – 28 September 1975
Episodes	56
Manga
Author	Go Nagai
Publisher	Kodansha
Other publishers: Rippu Shobo Daitosha ebookjapan
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	TV Magazine
Original run	October 1974 – October 1975
Volumes	2
Anime and Manga Portal

Great Mazinger (グレートマジンガー, Gurēto Majingā ^?) is a manga comic book and anime television series by manga artist Go Nagai, made as a direct continuation of the successful Mazinger Z series. It was aired on Japan in 1974, immediately following the end of the first Mazinger series. It lasted for 56 episodes.

Plot

The story centers on Tetsuya Tsurugi (剣 鉄也, Tsurugi Tetsuya ^?), an orphan raised by none other than Kenzo Kabuto (兜 剣造, Kabuto Kenzō ^?), the once thought dead father of Mazinger Z pilot Kouji Kabuto. Kenzo Kabuto is the creator of the new, improved version of Mazinger, made by refining his father's Chogokin Z (Super Alloy Z) into a new, stronger form, designed to fight against humanity's new enemy, the Mikenese Empire, led by the Great General of Darkness and his army of Warrior Beasts. Kenzo gives the Great Mazinger to Tetsuya to pilot, who is accompanied by a new token girl, Jun Hono (an orphaned half Japanese, half black girl), in her female robot Venus A.

Both Great Mazinger's and Tetsuya's training are completed just in time to come to Kouji's aid as the Mycene Battle Beasts overwhelm Mazinger Z. With the original Mazinger destroyed, Kouji went to America to study space travel and left Japan's defense in the hands of Tetsuya and the Fortress of Science. Tetsuya battles the Mycene Battle Beasts and even their mighty generals, cumulating in a bitter final battle with the Mycene's military leader, Ankoku Daishogun (Great General of Darkness). After the Great General of Darkness' defeat, the Mycene forces are led by Doctor Hell, the villain from Mazinger Z, back under the guise of the Great Marshall of Hell.

The series also includes some cast members the original Mazinger Z show, like Shiro Kabuto (Kouji's little brother), and comic-relief robot Boss Borot. The series was not as successful in Japan as the original, and it was never shown in the United States. It was however shown unedited and in its entirety, like Mazinger Z, in Italy, Mexico and some other Latin American countries with great success, and occasionally footage from Great Mazinger's sole appearance in the final episode of Mazinger Z would be shown in Tranzor Z.

Great Mazinger was also the star of the short theatrical "team-up movies" features released in Japan like Great Mazinger versus Grendizer, Great Mazinger versus Getter Robo G, etc., based on anime crossovers of the manga creations of Go Nagai.

Tetsuya and the Great Mazinger are featured, along with Jun in the Mazinkaiser OVA and movie Mazinkaiser: Death match! Ankoku Daishogun. The characters have been also a mainstay in Banpresto's Super Robot Wars, a popular battle-simulation/RPG series of video games based on many anime mecha shows, including the original Mazinger Z and many others like Getter Robo, the Gundam series, and Neon Genesis Evangelion among others. Tetsuya also appears in Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z Hen.

Tetsuya also pilots an earlier version of Mazinger Z called Energer Z

Weapons and Attacks

• Navel Missile
  Just like Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger mounts a missile launcher in its stomach.
• Atomic Punch
  Great Mazinger also possesses a Rocket Punch-like attack, though its fists spin while in flight, giving them extra force.
• Drill Pressure Punch
  It is like the Atomic Punch, except that the forearms sprout drill-like blades that add to the damage as well as the speed of rotation.
• Great Boomerang
  Great Mazinger can take the heat sink fin off of its chest and throw it as a giant boomerang.
• Scramble Cutter
  Just like Mazinger Z's Scrander Cutter, Great Mazinger slashes the enemy with the Scrander's wings while flying at high speeds.
• Great Typhoon
  Just like Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger uses turbines to generate powerful wind attacks. However, Great Mazinger's attack is simply a wind-based attack, lacking the corrosive properties of Mazinger's attack.
• Knee Impulse Kick
  Great Mazinger can sprout a spike from its knee, making its kick attacks more lethal.
• Backspin Kick
  Great Mazinger can also sprout a curved blade on the front of its leg for stronger kicks.
• Mazinger Blade
  The flanged compartments on Great Mazinger's legs hold a pair of swords. Tetsuya typically uses the Blades for melee combat, but on several occasions he threw them at the enemy.
• Breast Burn
  Like Mazinger Z, the fin on Great Mazinger's chest doubles as a heat sink and a weapon, unleashing incredible thermal energy.
• Thunder Break
  Great Mazinger can release energy into the atmosphere, stimulating the process that creates natural lightning. Great Mazinger then calls the lightning down onto the antennae on its head and redirects the energy towards an enemy. In the Super Robot Wars series, Tetsuya can perform this alongside the Grendizer's Space Thunder or another Great Mazinger unit's Thunder Break to perform the Double Lightning Buster.
• Thunder Blade
  A one-time attack where Tetsuya channeled the lightning from the Thunder Break through one of his Mazinger Blades.
• Double Thunder Break
  Similar to Thunder Break but Great Mazinger uses both hands to redirect the lightning.
• Breast Burn Special
  Basically a powered-up Breast Burn, almost akin to the Kaiser Nova of Mazinkaiser but with detrimental effects to Great Mazinger. Used in the manga to destroy Gilgilgan from within.

Related Machines

Brain Condor

Like Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger is operated by a separate vehicle that docks with the Mazinger's head. It emerges from an underwater launch bay connected to the Fortress of Science and docks with Great, which rises from a whirlpool in the nearby waters.

• Length
  5 meters
• Maximum Speed
  Mach 1
• Maximum Dive Depth
  8 kilometers
• Power Source
  Photonic Energy
• Armor Materials
  Chogokin New Z (New Super-Alloy Z)
• Weapons
  Lasers, Missiles

Great Booster

A supplemental craft, the Great Booster functions much as the Jet Scrander did for Mazinger Z (Great already had some flight capability "out of the box", thanks to its collapsable Scramble Dash). Though rarely used, the Great Booster was incredibly powerful and was instrumental in Tetsuya's defeat of the Mycene.

• Wingspan
  28 meters
• Weight
  1.8 tons
• Maximum Speed
  Mach 4
• Ceiling
  50 kilometers
• Weapons
  Lasers, Bladed Wings

Modern Version

-In the 2002 OVA Mazinkaiser: Tetsuya again fights alongside Kouji against Doctor Hell's forces. The OVA version of Great Mazinger is physically identical to the original, but with black coloring on the arms and legs instead of blue. Great is seriously damaged during the initial battle in the series, and later, when the captured Mazinger Z attacks the Photon Power Labs, Tetsuya does his best to defend the lab against Mazinger Z and later the rampaging Mazinkaiser, leaving him badly injured and Great Mazinger a complete wreck. Afterwards, he leaves together with Jun for treatment for his injuries.

Near the end of the OVA, Tetsuya returns with a new, much more powerful Great, discovered in Doctor Juzo Kabuto's laboratory; this is said to be the real Great Mazinger (or "Shin Great Mazinger"). The "true" Great is structurally the same as the earlier version, but the color scheme for the forearms and legs is blue, as in the original 70's version. It is explained that the Great Mazinger made by Doctor Kenzo Kabuto (Kouji's father) is the prototype version, seen in the early episodes, whereas Doctor Juzo Kabuto (Kouji's grandfather), secretly working in an underground laboratory, managed to finish the final version of Great Mazinger. It has tremendous power compared to the prototype version, and its armor is almost identical to the new Z Alpha armor used by Mazinkaiser. This Shin Great Mazinger was able to defeat an entire army of Doctor Hell's super robots single handedly, including the possessed Venus Ace (although most of the battle was not shown). It suffered no damage and after the battle, Great Mazinger decided to find and help Kouji in the Floating Fortress of Dr. Hell. The concept of Shin Great Mazinger is to bring Great to the ranks of modern and more powerful robots such as Mazinkaiser and Shin Getter Robo.

Great also returns in the 2003 movie Mazinkaiser: Deathmatch! Ankoku Daishogun, where Tetsuya once more fights the Mikene Empire (using the prototype Great Mazinger for unknown reasons). This time, however, Great is incapacitated rather quickly, surviving battle but unable to continue fighting. However, the battle did display Tetsuya's skill, as he was the only member of the Mazinger Army (made up of Great, Venus A and three mass-produced and significantly weaker versions of Mazinger Z) to defeat his attackers and survive.

Other media

Great Mazinger appears in the Robot Chicken episode "S&M Present." He was one of the opponents of Joey Fatone before being destroyed by his own rocket fists. Seth Green voices Great Mazinger in the episode "Squaw Bury Shortcake." In a segment that parodied Training Day, Great Mazinger was Godzilla's weapon dealer before Godzilla killed him. Another segment involved both Great Mazinger and Getter Dragon in a doctor's office, where one of Great Mazinger's forearms is lodged in Getter Dragon's rear end, claiming that "It happened in battle."

See also

• Mazinger Z Vs. The Great General of Darkness
• UFO Robot Grendizer tai Great Mazinger
• Grendizer, Getter Robot G, Great Mazinger: Kessen! Daikaijuu

External links

• Information of Great Mazinger in Toei Animation(Japanese)
• Great Mazinger Home at Enciclorobopedia (Italian)
• Great Mazinger To Mazinga-World (Italian)