Mecha Monday: Mazinger Z

Mazinger Z by Jose Manuel Liebana.

Originally, I was going to go with Gigantor, since he was the first super robot of anime/manga. The thing is, Gigantor isn't a mecha, since he's controlled externally. So, I did some checking and discovered that the first mecha was Mazinger Z. Whereas the former was controlled by a 12 year old with a remote control system, Mazinger was piloted by Kouji Kabuto from Mazinger's head. The cartoon's intro isn't bad either.



I like the bit where the snake monster grabs Mazinger's arm and he just rocket punches the fuck out of it.

Oh, you need a hand? How about a fist? A ROCKET FIST, I MEAN! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

But in all seriousness, the placement of the cockpit just seems bad. I mean, when I watched the intro for the first time and they showed the whatever it is drop down inside Mazinger's head, I figured top would close up, but it doesn't and you have to wonder about it. One lucky shot and the mecha is just a big statue. I do regret not watching this show, though. To be fair, I was like two years old when the show was imported to the U.S. as Tranzor Z in 1985, so I wasn't up for it. Always a good time to catch up, I suppose.