DASH! DASH!

it's a great time to be a fan of Japanese cartoons.  they show up everywhere, and finally some fans are delving back into the older stuff, such as Great Mazinga (グレートマジンガー),!  (please don't bother me with the "-er" or "-a" nonsense.)

this is my favorite super robot.  I had the 2' Shogun Warrior for the longest time and even kept most of the missiles that came with it.  of course, in 1978 I knew nothing of the actual series, aside from the scant information there was in a few magazines (most of which thought it and the prequel were the same series).

I had know idea what powers Great Mazinga had, other than what we saw with the "instructions" for the Shogun Warrior.  on those I drew many of my own additions, such as being able to use his chest emblem as a weapon, eye beams, the almost obligatory "rocket punch" that most every giant robot had in those days and lightning from the side of his head.  much like this:

I find it interesting that I had many of the ideas correct, having never read or seen GM in action.  this is the "Thunder Break" if you want to know the name of the power.

I don't believe Mazinga Z had a similar power, but GM was a level up in that department.  I still like the original series better, but this is really a lot of fun.  I'm glad someone decided to fansub it, as it really helps out the enjoyment factor.

he's helped out by Jun Hono, who pilots the robot Venus A.  Jun kicks all kinds of ass, whether in the robot or out of it.  Venus A is a cool design, but then most of the designs Go Nagai did were really cool.

she was a lot more powerful than Aphrodite A or Diana A.

it's too bad there was never really a team up movie with the Mazingas.  they meet briefly in the final episode of Mazinga Z, but don't really fight together at all.  later on, in the other movies, Koji either flies his space saucer (Grendizer) or pilots Great Mazinga.  I don't count Mazinkaiser, since that's another timeline.