, also known as , is an

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

and

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...

series created by

manga artist A is a comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. As of 2006, about 3,000 professional manga artists were working in Japan. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist bef ...

Go Nagai. The anime aired on Japanese TV from to in the network

Nippon Television JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as , is the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned-and-operated by the which is a subsidiary of the certified broadcasting holding company , itself a listed ...

with 23 episodes. It is given the international title ''Space Adventure: The Deity'' on the official TMS website. The manga was originally published in

tankōbon is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...

format by Shogakukan in 4 volumes in 1984.http://mediaarts-db.jp/mg/book_titles/104072 The novelization was published in 1984 and lasted 10 volumes. The three of them share the same basic premise but have a different story.

Plot

A Japanese teen named Yamato Hino, a young sports enthusiast, during a quiet and ordinary day begins to feel strange calls from an indefinite dimension. Frightened and confused, the boy thinks that he had hallucinations but during a thunderstorm a lightning bolt drags him into a parallel world: the ancient kingdom of Mu, ruled by King Muraji whose concern is to defend the capital of his kingdom, attacked by monsters commanded by the evil Dorado of the Empire of Dinosaurs. In the kingdom of Mu, a legend tells of a titanic being that stands ready to defend the population from any threat and the king wants to awaken the giant statue of the god Mazinger; to do this he needs a brave boy whose name is Yamato, the only one capable of awakening the mighty giant. The devout prayers of the king and the princess are heard: the boy arrives to the dimension of Mu and the statue suddenly becomes alive. A luminous beam covers the boy that is absorbed into the body of the statue, which begins to move. When the monsters of Dorado broke through the defenses of the kingdom, God Mazinger defeats the dinosaurs and makes the enemy army flee. And thus the legend becomes a reality. Yamato joins the court of newly crowned Queen Aira Mu, becoming the champion of the Kingdom of Mu, always ready to repel the attacks of the evil Dorado and his fearsome dinosaurs.

Anime

Episodes

Source(s) *The scheduled broadcast of August 19, 1984 was cut for the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

. Of the originally planned 24 episodes, one episode was cut and the 24th episode was not aired.

Manga

The manga, although it shares some similarities and the same premise, differs from the anime with a more mature tone and also has a different conclusion. It was originally published in tankōbon format by Shogakukan in 1984. It was later re-printed by Kadokawa Shoten in 1986, Chuokoron-sha in 1995 and Daitosha in 1998. It was published by Shogakukan and Kadokawa Shoten under the title ''Mazin Legend'' and by Chuokoron-sha and Daitosha under the title ''God Mazinger''. *Shogakukan (''Tentomushi Comics'') *Kadokawa Shoten (''Yamato Comics'') *Chuokoron-sha (''Chuko Aizoban'') *Daitosha (''St Comics'') The manga has also been published in

ebook An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...

format by ebookjapan.

Novel

The novelization also expands the basic story and has several differences with both the anime and the manga. It was written by

Yasutaka Nagai , better known by the pseudonym , is a Chinese-born Japanese novelist, manga author and scenario writer. He is one of the four brothers of manga artist Go Nagai. In 1969, he was a candidate for the Edogawa Rampo Prize for his novel ''Baptism of ...

(volumes 1, 4, 7, 10), Tatsuhiko Dan (volumes 2, 5, 8) and

Hideki Sonoda is a common masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Hideki can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *秀樹, "excellence", "timber trees" *英樹, "superior", "timber trees" *英機, "superior", "chance" *秀喜, "ex ...

(volumes 3, 6, 9), with illustrations by Go Nagai. It was published by

Kadokawa Shoten , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines ...

under the label ''Kadokawa Bunko''.

Media

Home video

In Japan, the anime series was released in home video format in the 1980s by the company VAP and it was also released in VHS by

Maxam M-11 Originally known as the Human Robot, the character was given the name "M-11" in the 2006 to 2007 ''Agents of Atlas'' miniseries as an allusion to its first appearance in '' Menace'' #11 from Marvel Comics' 1950s predecessor, Atlas Comics. ...

in 2000. The series has also been released in DVD format two times. The first time in by Pioneer LDC (standard number PIBA-3157) as a DVD-box set with the full series. The second time, also as a DVD-Box, in by

Columbia Music Entertainment , often pronounced ''Korombia'', operating internationally as , is a Japanese record label founded in 1910 as Nipponophone Co., Ltd. It affiliated itself with the Columbia Graphophone Company of the United Kingdom and adopted the standard U ...

(standard number XT-2387/90). US publisher

Discotek Media Discotek Media is an American entertainment company based in Altamonte Springs, Florida, focused on distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series. Formed in 2005, Discotek primarily focuses on licensing retro titles fr ...

will release the series with English subtitles on SD Blu-ray on . Additionally, the whole series is available in several

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of ...

internet services.

Soundtracks

Two

vinyl records A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near ...

were released in Japan by VAP during the 1980s. The first was a single released in containing the opening and ending themes The second was an

LP album The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and ...

with the full soundtrack, released in . Also, a

compact cassette The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Otte ...

was released in by VAP.

Picture books

Besides the manga and the novel, some picture books targeted to children were also released in the 1980s. One was published by Hikari no Kuni, another by

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics ( manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the ...

and the last one by

Asahi Sonorama is the publishing arm of The Asahi Shimbun Company, publishing books, magazines, and manga. It replaced on 1 April 2008 just after it went bankrupt. History Asahi Sonorama was created as a division of Asahi Shimbunsha on September 9, 1959 ...

Appearances in other media

Besides its related media, ''God Mazinger'' has appeared in other media. The most prominent is its appearance in the "Dynamic Super Robots Taisen" clips that were included at the end of the DVDs of '' Shin Getter Robot tai Neo Getter Robot''. ''God Mazinger'' appears alongside '' Great Mazinger'', ''Venus A'', ''

Getter Robot G , known as '' Starvengers'' in the United States, is a super robot anime series by Toei Animation based on ''Hundred Demons Empire'' arc of ''Getter Robo'' manga by Go Nagai and Ken Ishikawa. This direct sequel to ''Getter Robo'' was broadc ...

'', ''

Kotetsu Jeeg , also known as ''Kotetsu Jeeg'' or ''Koutetsu Jeeg'', is a Japanese mecha anime series created by manga artists Go Nagai and Tatsuya Yasuda and produced by Toei Doga (now Toei Animation), directed by Masayuki Akehi. It was first broadcast o ...

'', ''

Govarian is a Japanese anime television series created by Go Nagai. It was produced by Knack Productions and TV Tokyo. The series was originally broadcast from to in Japan. Besides Japan, it was also broadcast in South Korea in 1988 by MBC where it ...

'' and ''

Groizer X is an anime series aired from 1976 to 1977. There were 36 episodes. It is also referred to as ''Gloyzer X'' and ''Gloizer X''. Story The Gaira aliens, hidden in the Arctic, plan to conquer Earth. Captured and forced to work for the aliens, ...

'' to rescue '' Mazinger Z'' and '' Aphrodite A'', but are defeated and in turn saved by ''

Shin Getter Robot is a Japanese mecha media franchise created by Ken Ishikawa and Go Nagai. An anime television series produced by Toei Animation was broadcast on Fuji TV from April 4, 1974, to May 8, 1975, with a total of 51 episodes. The manga was seriali ...

'' and '' Grendizer'' just before the arrival of '' Mazinkaiser''. In the '' Mazinger Angels'' manga, there is a saga dedicated to ''God Mazinger'', where Princess Aira appears controlling a female version of God Mazinger and with the help of

Jun Hono This is a list of characters from the anime and manga series ''Mazinger Z'', ''Great Mazinger'', '' Grendizer'', and ''Mazinkaiser'', as well as the '' Shin Mazinger'' reboot. It lists the main players of the plots as well as minor characters or ...

defeats the enemies of the kingdom, after Jun and the professor accidentally end up in the Kingdom of Mu. It is later with the help of Aira that Venus A becomes Queen of Gold.

Merchandise

A few toys and action figures based in ''God Mazinger'' were released by manufacturer Mark.

Relationship to the ''Mazinger'' series

The series is considered as part of the ''

Mazinger is a long-running series of manga and anime featuring giant robots or mecha. Series The series in order: ''God Mazinger'' is related by name only and ''Mazinkaiser'' is an OVA retelling of earlier ''Mazinger'' stories, based partly on des ...

'' saga, if not only for the name of the title and that of his creator. In fact, a Japanese book called '' Mazinger Bible'', released in 2002 for the 30th anniversary of the first ''Mazinger'' series, includes the God Mazinger, along with other Go Nagai's manga books that have not been made into anime, such as the adult-oriented ''

MazinSaga is a Japanese manga created by Go Nagai. It was originally serialized in Shueisha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Young Jump'' from 1991 to 1992 (with a one-shot chapter also published in the summer 1992 issue of ''Bears Club Natsunogo' ...

'', '' Z Mazinger'', and First Comics' ''

'' comic book released exclusively for the U.S. market in 1988. Also, the concept of ''God Mazinger'' was a candidate to be the sequel of the original ''Mazinger Z'' series but, in the end, the sequel was decided to be the concept of '' Great Mazinger'', and later '' UFO Robot Grendizer''.