, also known as , is an

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

manga 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 history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

and

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

series created by

manga artist A manga artist, also known as a mangaka (), is a Cartoonist, comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist before entering the indus ...

Go Nagai , better known by the pen name , is a Japanese manga artist and a prolific author of Japanese science fiction, science fiction, fantasy, Japanese horror, horror, and erotica. He made his professional debut in 1967 with ''Meakashi Polikichi'', b ...

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

Nippon Television JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as (NTV) or Nippon TV, is a Japanese television station serving the Kantō region as the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned and operated by the , a sub ...

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 A is a standard publishing format for books in Japan, alongside other formats such as ''shinsho'' (17x11 cm paperback books) and ''bunkobon''. Used as a loanword in English, the term specifically refers to a printed collection of a manga that w ...

format by Shogakukan in 4 volumes in 1984. 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 A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the compelling sense of reality. They are distinguishable from several related phenomena, such as dreaming ( REM sleep), which does not involve wakefulness; pse ...

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 commonly 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 ...

. 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 spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. A ...

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 (volumes 1, 4, 7, 10), Tatsuhiko Dan (volumes 2, 5, 8) and Hideki Sonoda (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 in 2000. The series has also been released in DVD format two times. The first time in by

Pioneer LDC (abbreviated as NBCUEJ) is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise that is a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, owned by American telecommunications/media company Comcast headquartered in Akasaka, Tokyo ...

(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 UK C ...

(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. History Formed in 2005, Discotek primarily focuses on licensing retr ...

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, television shows and films Digital distribution, digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typica ...

internet services.

Soundtracks

Two

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

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, specifically 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 specificati ...

with the full soundtrack, released in . Also, a

compact cassette The Compact Cassette, also commonly called a cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Ottens and his team at the Dutch company ...

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 comics, magazines, light novels, dictionaries, literature, non-fiction, home media, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but ...

and the last one by Asahi Sonorama.

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'', '' Kotetsu Jeeg'', '' Govarian'' and '' Groizer X'' to rescue '' Mazinger Z'' and '' Aphrodite A'', but are defeated and in turn saved by '' Shin Getter Robot'' and ''

Grendizer , also known as '' Grandizer'', ''Ufo Robot Grendizer Raids'', ''Goldrake'' and ''Goldorak'', is a Japanese manga and animated television series created by Go Nagai. The series is the third entry in the '' Mazinger'' series, later rel ...

'' 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 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 created by Go Nagai in 1972. It introduced the concept of mecha as robots which are ridden by humans and controlled like vehicles to Japanese science fiction (previous ...

'' 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'', '' 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''.