Shin Mazinger Z – 26(Plus Final Thoughts): In the Name of Shining Zeus FUCK YEAH SEQUEL
November 2nd, 2009
Even the nameless detectives cannot die.
It’s been too long since my last Mazinger Z post and while the summary was easy enough I am still at a loss for words to properly gush over just how EPIC it was and how much it moved me as a mecha fan. In any case it seems that Hell and Kenzo were in cahoots for a while and slaughtered a whole lot of Mycenae while rotting Tristan and Iseult. Baron Ashura swore terrible vengeance and teamed up with Mazinger Z and the rest of the gang. Gamia-chan was at her loveliest this ep as she shallenged the King of Hell and held it at bay until Mazinger Z went into to finish the job. The Mazinger Army was also most useful after they revealed that within each held a part that was worth much more than the actual mecha. Wife Beater Kenzo tries to make amends but I am still sorely disappointed in Tsubasa’s for not ending Kenzo’s misery buy running her Z Blade right through his thick skull. After 100 some odd combined Rocket Punches and the most Ultra Gorgeous BIG BANG PUNCH the King of Hell is slain. It was so beautiful and made me want to punch something at the same time. Nevertheless the treachery continues as Ashura had only wanted to kill Dr. Hell so that it could commit hara-kiri by ripping itself apart. With that a sequel was confirmed in a manner most dire as the not so dead Mycenae Empire invades the Earth with many pillars and the new Big Bad cuts Mt. Fuji down to size.
Final Thoughts
It was such a fun ride and I still want more of it, from the two OPs just oozing the kind of Hot-Bloodedness that makes you want to punch something or some one with gusto to the parade of treachery, it was a all out celebration of the Super Robot genre. As a new comer I do not mind how they reinvented the canon and it works remarkably well despite being a pastiche of different works. It was not simply a retread or the kind of re-imaginary betrayal that led to that bullshit called Cosmic Era, but while the story was altered the spirit was undeniably old school and, in my opinion, all the better for it. It was most innovative of them to cut out the monster of the week and when there was a fight it was a freaking brawl and a hyper violent one at that with limbs and heads being ripped apart.
In my book I think Shin Mazinger Z gets the crown for mecha series this year because Igloo 2 was all too short and while Gundam 00 chugged along fairly well, I simply did not like how the franchise has moved away from it’s real robot roots, but at the same time cannot hope to compete in the same realm as Shin Mazinger Z. Unlike Gundam which has pretty much opted for beam weapons and beam sabers in lieu of a wider range of weaponry like in the ye olde days, Shin Mazinger Z celebrated the Rocket Punch. I admit that I am no lover of beam spam and laser light shows, but for some reason the Rocket Punch just spoke to me in ways a beam saber can’t. Overall Mazinger Z was gloriously tactile when it came to combat the Photon Beam was OP but it saw much less use than the humble Rocket Punch. I don’t really have the words to describe it but there was something more primeval about just tearing your opponent to shreds, ripping off the limbs, and punching in its face that seems manlier than just stabbing him though and having your opponent explode. I guess I just like watching pieces fly.
Jihad-Jesus-kun may have more fans, Igloo 2’s Death may be of the Yuri and toying with Nazon, but I still think Almighty Zeus is the Mecha God of the year and perhaps for decades to come. I rarely see shows that celebrate a god like figure, and in Shin Mazinger Z they gave super robot fans a new Lord to praise and a few slogans to use forever more. I cannot put into words how much fun it is to use caps lock and type in stuff like: SHINE IN THE NAME OF ZEUS, SMASH EVERYTHING INTO ATOMS, and IN THE NAME OF SHINING ZEUS. It just gets the blood pumping like noting else.
Story wise they did so much better than I could have expected with the radical departure from monster of the week to betrayal upon betrayal and the slow revelation of why people are fighting. While they ruined the end of every arc from the start it did not take away the thrill of the ride. I like how the good guys are just as fucked up as their enemies and don’t harp on crap like justice and arresting people. No here it’s an unapologetic stance of I’LL JUST KICK THE CRAP OUT OF YOU AND TOUGH SHIT IF YOU DIE. In this way they avoided much of the angst that teenagers lap up. Another wondrous point was how they could all of a sudden go into comedy mode with Boss, Blocken Soccer, the introduction of the Corps of Detectives, and Lecherous Schneider V2. I like how they made Mazinger Z undisputedly superior and while it would always win eventually it was the daft decisions of its pilot and other characters that prevented it from winning every inning. Mazinger Z would always prevail, but it did not win every bout which is kind really nice as it is comes of as a knock out drag out fight to the finish rather than a short duel every ep, but without going through multiple eps trying to up power levels or charge the laser.
I can forgive every one not dying since death means nothing to Hot-Blooded Heroes, given how Gamia met her demise rather early on I did not mind one bit that she was repaired and brought back. The Kurogane Five were already zombies of sort from the start, and Juuzo did really die, but his replacement, the Ultra Gorgeous Computer Grandpa kept his spirit going. It was a fanservicy show, but not in the traditional hawtness method. Gamia-chan is the kind of girl only a mechatard can love given how she still has joint lines and isn’t really a girl, ditto for Lorelei. Sayaka was humiliated more often than not and her fansevice was more lulz than ZOMG HAWTNESS. Maybe I just don’t like Sayaka and think of her as being utterly useless as Venus A, but let’s be honest here we have had traps that look better than her. Besides, her IQ is a dismally low as her combat abilities, and I don’t really like faux action girl types.
In the end I will miss this series very much as it was my kind of mecha, as I only really enjoy Real Robot and Super Robot when they celebrate all the aspects that mark them as members of each camp. If I have one complaint it would be the lack of budget, but there isn’t really much else to complain about from the stand point of Super Robot. As a Super Robot series is succeeds magnificently, but I don’t think this will be everyone’s cup of tea since Super Robot is pretty niche. There is no pretense to realism, just an unabashed celebration of Super Robot, Rocket Punches, raunchy humor, and hot-bloodedness. But still in the end, IN THE NAME OF SHINING ZEUS THERE WILL BE A SEQUEL, so FUCK YEAH!
Final Grade: A+ (For mecha fans only, do not take if you have no love of mecha or hot-blooded protagonists that have no time for weeping and/or women. Side effects include Punching Out Your Boss, Tossing Things That Resemble Fists, SMASHING EVERYTHING INTO ATOMS, Getting Into BIG FIGHTS, Carving “Z” into Everything You Own, and Using Caps Lock to Praise Almighty Zeus. For side effects that last for more than a month IN THE NAME OF SHINING ZEUS watch Shin Mazinger Z again and support the sequel.)
Kenzo was wanking too hard again…
Oh way to man up Kenzo blame the Kedora…
Zeus thought little of your excuse anyway.
NEVER FORGIVE NEVER FORGET!
Gamia-chan came to kick ass today.
Aww QQQ-chan also plays homebrew.
I’d go with very picture of hell…
For the record it was all Kenzo’s fault.
Ganbatte Gamia-chan.
Gamia-chan will also SHINE IN THE NAME OF ZEUS.
Dude which one of you farted?
Yeah I bet your remember that smell.
By Zeus on of you shat in you pants didn’t ya.
…you didn’t even flush.
Yes Kenzo is a terrible father, I hope you remember that Ultra Gorgeous Computer Grandpa can still disown you and Shiro.
Kenzo still could not hit the cocoon…
Why not OVER 9000?
Only a fool would think that their fire has gone out in the universe…
That doesn’t rule out undeath you know…
Noe finds their Fake Tears to be corrosive and disgusting.
Such is the fate of those who would defy Almighty Zeus.
Well the story of Zeus is scrawled upon the pages history with the blood of his enemies…
Like Alphard onee-sama once said those who fail to master their hatred are useless.
Oh I have been laughing at you for some time now.
Lol I was laughing without permission anyways.
:3
Ummm…Dr. Hell you have to pull the sword out to be King.
Quothed Dr. Hell…
It’s raining men…?!
No it’s raining punches…hallelujah it’s raining punches!
NICE IDEA.
Finally the most useful components are coming into play.
Go and SMASH EVERYTHING INTO ATOMS.
…
To SHINE IN THE NAME OF ZEUS.
Mazinger Z will never die.
OH YEAH
Rocket rush.
One day I would like to ride a big huge Rocket Punch.
Right in the baby maker.
How’s that for cutting him down to size?
No.
By Zeus do you all plan on taking credit for Mazinger Z’s hard work?.
I like the sound of that.
Wai Wai new mantra.
Almighty Zeus has waited long for this day…
It never gets old.
I need a wall paper of this.
And Zeus goes for the swing!
Oh how it shines!
Sending glitter throughout the universe.
Sweetness.
No Mazinger Z beat Dr. Hell you just held on for the ride.
Man Global Warming is a bitch.
Well that was a quick Endless Eight…
What can I say far too few boys want join House Colasour these days.
He could have called it a liberation then.
Then he should have asked.
Man outsmarted by Ashura…Tsubasa you have reached a new low, you should kill Kenzo to make up for it.
Piss Poor Aim I’d say.
It seems everyonw here has gattai-ed.
But you haven’t even tried anything yet…
What are you mad that she did do some godly plastic surgery while she was at it?
DO IT.
Seems Zeus broke his and her life.
This still does not answer the question of what you were packing the whole time.
Long time no see.
Ah stepping in after sending in the mooks first.
I look foward to round one, WHICH BETTER BE SOON!
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