As with many Go Nagai works, there are many REALLY weird elements in Mazinger Z. A headless Nazi villain. A vertically divided, half male, half female villain. A female robot that shoots her breasts as missiles. And, again like many Go Nagai works, Mazinger Z was quite seminal. Unlike sentient robot Astro Boy, or remote controlled Tetsuijin 28/Gigantor, here was a robot that the hero got inside and piloted from a cockpit!

A case is made that Mazinger was the first anime to do that, or at least the anime to establish it as a cornerstone of the genre.

Following the series Shonen Jump debut months earlier, anime's Koji Kabuto first got in robot on December 3, 1972. So, happy 45th anniversary to piloted giant robots!

The series made it to the US in '84 as Tranzor Z:

＼名作揃い／



アニメ「マジンガーZ」と同じ1972年に放送が始まった作品がデビルマン」



1月10日

「正義を愛する者 月光仮面」

4月5日

「赤胴鈴之助」

7月8日

「デビルマン」永井先生作品

10月1日

「科学忍者隊ガッチャマン」

10月7日

「ど根性ガエル」

12月3日

「#マジンガーZ」 pic.twitter.com/OtBVrA6lWl — 劇場版 マジンガーZ 1.13公開 (@mazingerzjp) December 3, 2017

------

Follow on Twitter at @aicnanime