Line #13 Trivia/MazingerZ


1	* BannedInChina:
2	** ''Anime/MazingerZ'' was aired in the Philippines in the 1970s alongside ''Anime/VoltesV'' and ''{{Anime/Daimos}}'' until they were ordered off the air by President UsefulNotes/FerdinandMarcos, without reaching their finales. ''Voltes V'' and ''Daimos'' came back after Marcos was gone, but ''Mazinger Z'' has never returned to this day (yet the later ''Anime/ShinMazinger'' did air there, but that's not the same).
3	** The series also started being broadcast in Spain in 1978, gaining instant and overwhelming success, but it was pulled off the air in January 1979 due to complaints regarding the show's violence and other questionable content. Only thirty-three random episodes had been dubbed -- and one of them was never broadcast -- and Spanish fans had to wait until 1993 to see the series aired again.
4	* BeamMeUpScotty: In the Spanish dub, Kouji's [[{{Calling Your Attacks}} infamous]] {{Rocket Punch}} line was translated as "¡Puños Fuera!" ("Fists Out!") instead of "Puño Cohete", and Sayaka's [[{{Torpedo Tits}} Oppai Missile]] attack was traslated like "¡Fuego de Pecho!" ("Breast Fire!"). However, a huge chunk of the Spanish-speaking fandom is downright convinced she originally said "¡Pechos Fuera!" ("Breasts Out!") despite of the fact that she never said that line.
5	* CashCowFranchise: The ''Mazinger'' franchise, since its inception in 1972, has spawned one dozen of different manga versions, sequels, spinoffs, crossovers, video games and toys, and it's shown no signs of slowing down even as the [=21st=] century rolls on.
6	* CrossDressingVoices: In Spain, sixteen-year-old male teenager Kouji Kabuto was voiced by voice actress Julia Gallego.
7	* FollowTheLeader: SuperRobotGenre shows like ''[[Anime/{{Gigantor}} Tetsujin 28]]'' already had their own success, but it was ''Anime/MazingerZ'' that solidified the concept of piloting a robot (via a cockpit within its head, rather than [[TheKidWithTheRemoteControl remote control]]) and started a revolutionary trend that attracted [[MerchandiseDriven toy makers]] and captivated children. Such influence would eventually lead to all sorts of landmark works that keep said genre alive and relevant to this day.
8	* FranchiseZombie: The original anime series was supposed to wrap up at episode 57. However, the series was so wildly succesfull it was continued for other thirty-five episodes. And then two movies were made. And two sequels. And more movies. And crossovers. And spin-offs. And reboots. And remakes. And Creator/GoNagai has stated he has got offers for a Mazinger-Z live-action movie... Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad however as the series is still popular and Mazinger makes appearances to this day.
9	* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: In Japan? Rarely a problem! ''Outside of Japan?'' Hoo boy:
10	** ''Anime/MazingerZ'' was broadcast in Spain in 1972. However, only thirty-three random episodes of the first season were dubbed before MoralGuardians forced to pull the plug, and only thirty-two episodes were aired, with the last dubbed episode not being broadcast. IVS released several tapes, recopilating twenty-four of the episodes aired by [=RTVE1=]. For fifteen years buying, renting or borrowing those few tapes were the only way ''Mazinger Z'' fans could watch the series (and only a tiny chunk of it!) In 1993 the whole of ''Anime/MazingerZ'' and part of ''Anime/GreatMazinger'' were broadcast (and ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'' also was aired later) with their Latin American dubs, but both series never were released in tapes or DVD, and if you had not recorded the episodes or you did not know someone could lend you his/her tapes, you were out of luck. Finally in the late nineties, several movies featuring the most famous Creator/GoNagai Super Robots were released in tape, and in the 00's a group of fans uploaded and shared both series and ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'' online. However, the original Spanish dub of many episodes is still missing since they were never released (fortunately, some fans recorded several episodes and kept the tapes for THREE decades. Thank to them part of the lost dubbing job was recovered). Given the fights and disagreements between Dynamic Planning and Toei prevent the original anime series from being aired or released out of Japan, sharing the tapes or downloading the episodes online is the only way Spanish-speaking fans can watch the Mazinger trilogy.
11	** Before ''Tranzor Z'', there was allegedly a [[https://dubbing.fandom.com/wiki/Mazinger_Z Hawaiian]] [[https://twitter.com/kyano13neo/status/1692720894022681062 English dub]] of ''[[DuelingDubs Mazinger Z]]'' that was aired in (obviously) [[https://vimeo.com/284759204 Hawaii]] and (not-so-obviously) the UsefulNotes/{{Philippines}} up until episode 30. Then there's also the Questor[[note]]now known as Telesuccess Productions[[/note]] [[DuelingDubs Philippine English dub]] of the series that [[TheOtherDarrin finished the undubbed episodes]] not covered by the Hawaiian dub, which has since been lost to time after [[TheDictatorship President Ferdinand Marcos]] banned that anime along with ''Anime/VoltesV'' and ''Anime/{{Daimos}}'' in the Philippines during the 1970s.[[note]]Yes, the dubbed ''Mazinger Z'' in the Philippines was a Frankenstein-like combination of the Toei-produced Hawaiian dub and local Filipino dubbers finishing the rest.[[/note]] Perhaps the legal snag of having some of the episodes made by another company might have something to do with ''Mazinger'' not being part of 1990s anime renaissance in the Philippines care of Creator/GMANetwork.[[note]]Thankfully, the rare dubs can be found archived [[https://archive.org/search?query=Mazinger+Z+dub here]].[[/note]]
12	** The only way most Anglophone countries could watch the anime in it's original form were for a while the [[BlindIdiotTranslation infamous Hong Kong "crabstick" subtitles]]. It's since been averted for ''Zetto'' and ''Great'' thanks to Creator/DiscotekMedia and their DVD/SDBD releases. ''Grendizer'' is, as of 2022, however, still stuck in the realm of the now-christened "crabsticks", apparently due to some legal snag between [=DynamicPro=] and Toei.
13	** Averted in Mexico, when the full series was released in DVD recently, along with ''Anime/ShinMazinger''.
14	* LateExportForYou:
15	** The original series got a ''really long'' time to finally reach in Brazil. Firstly, [[Anime/ShinMazinger the 2009 reboot]] was partially dubbed in 2012 for interested companies, but anime in general was really in a bad phase in the country at the time mainly because of the end of the local version of the TV network Animax, and TV channels in general weren't interested in anime because of financial issues [[AllAnimeIsNaughtyTentacles or because of how media portrayed anime in general]], and few on-demand streaming platforms existed at the time.
16	** Some years later, the reboot spawned on Creator/{{Netflix}} at the region, but with a dub [[TheOtherMarty completely different from what was intended to be]] and with a somewhat [[QuestionableCasting questionable]] voice acting. It didn't take too long for that series [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere to be out of license]] in that region.
17	** Afterwards, in 2016 (''44 years'' after the series' release), the original series got a dub produced by Toei themselves, [[SavedFromDevelopmentHell but it took four years]] to be officially released there also through Netflix. [[SequelFirst Before that release]], the movie ''[[Anime/MazingerZInfinity Infinity]]'' was released on cinemas [[RoleReprise with the same cast of the series]].
18	** America got a fully subtitled and uncut release in 2013 courtesy of Creator/DiscotekMedia.
19	* MagnumOpusDissonance: Go Nagai created ''Mazinger Z'' as a side-project while working on ''Manga/{{Devilman}}'', a much DarkerAndEdgier series that he was passionate about, even as it took such a toll on him that he made ''Mazinger'' to blow off steam. While both series went on to become pop cultural staples in Japan, ''Mazinger'' wound up becoming more popular than ''Devilman'' abroad, to the point there are counties where the former is a pop culture icon while the latter is virtually unknown.
20	* MarthDebutedInSmashBros: ''Anime/MazingerZ'' was beaten in export to France by ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'', and since Kouji appears in that show as well, when ''Mazinger'' came over it was seen as a '''cheap imitation'''. Thankfully that's not the case nowadays, and Mazinger is mostly seen as a CultClassic there. ''Grendizer'' also technically beat ''Mazinger'' to American shores but due to name changes and the like nobody really noticed until years later.
21	* MissingEpisode:
22	** In Spain thirty-two episodes from the first season were broadcast. The first season was fifty-seven-episodes long. They were aired out of order for no apparent reason, too.
23	** A few episodes, mostly early ones, were skipped in Italy before the series was completely interrupted.
24	* NoExportForYou:
25	** This is a specially moronic instance of this trope sounds scarily similar to what has happened in France with ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer''. ''Anime/MazingerZ'' was emitted in 1978 and pulled out due to MoralGuardians after barely emitting thirty-two episodes of the original ninety-two. ''Thirty-five years later'' it ''still'' is popular enough licensers consider releasing the [=DVDs=] would be profitable. However, due to legal disputes between Dynamic Planning and Creator/ToeiAnimation, the series can not be licensed for TV broadcasts or DVD releases out of Japan. Selecta Vision has managed to publish ''Anime/ShinMazinger'' -and made money of it- and have mentioned they would like getting ''Anime/{{Mazinkaiser}}'' licensed, and the original manga made by Creator/GoNagai together with the Gosaku Ota version have been legally published (the Go Nagai version twice), but releasing the original series is pretty much impossible right now. The Spanish and Latin American fanbases are very NOT pleased.
26	* PlayingAgainstType/ForeignDubbing:
27	** The Mexican voice actor Jesús Barrero voiced Kouji Kabuto and is mainly known for voicing youths like [[Manga/SaintSeiya Seiya]], [[Manga/DragonBall Yamcha]] (first voice), [[Anime/DigimonTamers Impmon (and Beelzemon)]], and even [[WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove Emperor Kuzco]]. Then he became the [[TheOtherDarrin second voice]] of [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy Peter Griffin]]. He voiced immature characters till his last days.
28	** Let's not forget him as Professor J and ''Dekim Barton'' from the ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Gundam Wing]]'' dub.
29	* {{Rerun}}: In Spain it was braodcast for first in 1978. It was rerun for second time in 1994.
30	* RecycledTheSeries: In 1975 Creator/ToeiAnimation produced a SuperRobotGenre movie called ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uchu_Enban_Daisenso Uchu Enban Daisenso]]''. Creator/GoNagai, who did the designs of characters and mechas, liked the concept so much that he decided to recycle and improve his designs and create a new series based on the movie and set in the ''Anime/MazingerZ'' universe: ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer''.
31	* RoleReprise: In the Mexican Spanish dub of the ''Infinity'' movie, most of the voice actors from the remastered version of the TV series reprise their roles in the film. This is especially interesting because the remastered version used a [[TheOtherDarrin very different cast]] from the very first dubbed version, who was dubbed in both the U.S. (mainly Los Angeles) and Cuba, unlike the Japanese version of the film, which use a very different cast as well from the TV series.
32	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
33	** Sayaka Yumi from was one of the first ActionGirl and {{Tsundere}} with a lead role in Anime, and she and Kouji did the BelligerentSexualTension bit before no one else. However, she was PutOnABus at the end of the series. TheBusCameBack again at the end of ''Anime/GreatMazinger'', but after the end of the series she was PutOnABus again. She was to become the 4th spazer pilot in ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'', but character developer and co-plotter of the series, Shingo Araki, opposed Creator/GoNagai and designed a new character that did not appear in the Grendizer manga: Maria Grace Fleed, younger sister to Grendizer main character Duke Fleed. Maria soon became a fan-favourite in the latter part of the series. It is... interesting speculating what might have happened if Sayaka and Maria showed up in the same series (both of them being hot-tempered, HotBlooded {{Tsundere}}s liked the same boy. And Sayaka was a ClingyJealousGirl to boot).
34	** Kouji Kabuto wore a ScarfOfAsskicking and used a bike to dock on Mazinger Z in Creator/GoNagai's early designs. However, ''Franchise/KamenRider'' premiered before ''Anime/MazingerZ'', and Go Nagai removed and changed those elements because he didn't want people to think he was ripping off another show.
35	** Another Go Nagai series, ''Anime/GodMazinger'', has nothing to do with the original series. However, it was meant to be the sequel from ''Anime/MazingerZ''. However the idea got rejected, ''Anime/GreatMazinger'' and ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'' were made instead of, and years later a ''Anime/GodMazinger'' anime was made, but removed any connection to the original series.
36	** During the late 1980s, there were plans to make an OVA remake under the title: Dai-Mazinger. However, due to copyright issues with Toei at the time, the project was cancelled.

Context Trivia / MazingerZ