Mazinkaiser Volume 1

Mazinkaiser is a retro-fuelled journey harking back to the days when mecha anime was just an excuse to enjoy a group of giant robots duke it out in some secluded Japanese forest. Being a story enveloped within such a charming sense of simplicity and naivety; Mazinkaiser is perhaps a direct reaction to a genre that has exploded with convoluted angst since the emotionally-driven Neon Genesis Evangelion staggered its way onto the scene.

The Mazinkaiser premise is about as one-dimensional as they come; (the unfortunately named) Dr. Hell wants to conquer to the world and Koji, a perverted high-school kid (who also happens to be a phenomenal robot pilot), is the only one who can stop him. Cue Dr. Hell sending out a multitude of his painfully incompetent evil henchman, only to come within inches of victory before Koji turns up in his powerful robot Mazinkaiser and dramatically saves the day. Along the way, we meet his best pal Sayaka (a female robot pilot with a blatant crush on Koji) as well as the typical funny fat-guy; ‘Boss’.

There is nothing confusing about Mazinkaiser, once you settle down for five minutes and get used to the character names, you can pretty much switch off your brain and just enjoy the ludicrous action scenes and almost James Bond level of tongue-in-cheek cheese.

Despite having no previous connection to this universe (Mazinkaiser is a direct spin-off from the 1970’s anime Mazinger Z), I still found myself able to easily slip into the ham-fisted atmosphere and get to grips with Go Nagai’s crazy stories. There is an obvious retro appeal in both the pointy-haired, sleek character designs and innocently bad plot (in this case, the worse the story, the better the enjoyment; Mazinkaiser is often switching between parody and homage).
And then, of course, we the standard cookie cutter fan-service (big boobs)! For an anime that was initially so concerned with battling mecha, there is a sudden (and frankly jarring) change of direction when Koji and the gang take some time off and go down to the local beach; sun tan lotion and bare-breasts at the ready!

In Summary
I can imagine Go Nagai (the famous creator of Mazinger Z as well as Devil Man and a whole load of other famous anime) winking at himself when writing Mazinkaiser. Whilst I doubt that this anime will appeal to many people beyond dedicated mecha fans, it delivers its 70s nostalgia in such confident doses of parody and homage that even a relative genre newcomer like myself could enjoy this. For a series that seems so influenced by its predecessors, Mazinkaiser truly becomes a fun, if slightly formulaic anime.