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[Cornbread78]

The Goal of the "Let's Watch Anime" thread is to bring together "AnimeGAF" with other members who can appreciate anime (yes, even "casuals") to watch a series together, then discuss and share our reactions towards it at the same time. Participation in each episode is appreciated, but playing “catch-up” by watching multiple episodes at once is normal as everyone has different responsibilities/time to watch anime. Just don’t post on future episodes unspoilered! The more posting about the series and it's events, the more beneficial it is to everyone, so please post up on the good, the bad and the awful; We are all in this together! (no hiding lurkers) We will have a new show selected to watch every two/three weeks and the genre will vary greatly. The shows that will be selected will have met the below criteria:

- Any genre
- Lesser known titles (Dragonball Z, One Piece, Gintama, etc)
- Not already aired on Toonami/Adult Swim
- The shows should try to avoid outrageous and/or sexually offensive themes
- Shows could be good, bad or possibly trash; let's find out together
- Recommendations are always accepted for future viewing
- Let's have FUN with this together! Please participate in the review and discussion!


With that being said, It's time for some Mecha madness, so here we go:

Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z-hen

Synopsis:

Set in the near future, humanity enters another energy revolution following the discovery of Photon Power. Derived from the ore discovered under the foothills of Mt. Fuji, its intended use was to solve the world's energy problems with its unimaginable power. Seeking this energy is Dr. Hell, a madman craving world domination who with his subordinates Baron Ashura, Count Brocken and Viscount Pygman, commands an army of mechanical beasts excavated from the ruins of ancient Greece to seize the Photon Power Lab for himself. Meeting the attack head on is the hot-blooded teenager Kabuto Kouji, who pilots the Photon Powered robot built by his grandfather, Mazinger Z. But in this battle between Dr. Hell and the Kabuto family, many legends surrounding the Mycenaean Civilization and Bardos Island, as well as the secrets of Mazinger Z remain shrouded in mystery.

A new series based on the mecha show that started it all, Mazinger Z. Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z-Hen starts over from the beginning with a new cast, to tell a new story unrelated to the original show.

Episodes: 26
Originally Aired: Aired: Apr 4, 2009 to Sep 26, 2009
Producers: Lantis, Dynamic Planning
Licensors: Discotek
Studios: Bee Media, Code
Source: 4-koma manga
Genres: Action, Mecha, Shounen, Super Power
Rating: R - 17+ (violence & profanity)

Director:
Yasuhiro Imagawa
(also: Script, Storyboard, Screenplay, Series Composition)


MAL Link:
http://myanimelist.net/anime/5485/Shin_Mazinger_Shougeki_Z-hen



Available for free streaming via Crunchyroll:

Link: http://www.crunchyroll.com/mazinger-edition-z


*Episodes are set for viewing “one a day” over the next three weeks so we can try to stay together*

A new episode "opens" for discussion each day at 12 am PST:


Open Episodes: 25


Episode 26 opens: 8/6 @ 12am PST (final episode)


Each following episode opens daily for discussion at 12am PST


Come join me Friends!

Spoiler

Or ELSE you get to deal with this:

Previous “Let’s Watch Anime” shows:

Humanity Has Declined, Eccentric Family, Sunday Without God, Samurai Flemanco, Blast of Tempest, Kyousougiga, Kids on the Slope, Mirai Nikki, Rosen Maiden, Code: Breaker (literally broke let's watch, lol) and most recently Servant x Service.





Link to the anime Community thread:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1118026




*Required ToS Footnote and reminder*

It's simple; Don't talk about it or promote it...

look at GAF-chan’s words of advice:

 

[nintendoman58]

BURN IT UP!!!

MAZIN GOOOOOOOO!!!

 

[PSqueak]

Advice to new watchers:

First episode is confusing as fuck and it's advised to be watched again when you're done with the series.

Also, if you're in Mexico/LatAm, the series is on netflix with a decent dub

Spoiler

just ignore when Kouji incorrently calls the Rocket Punch an Atomic Punch, bad Kouji! that's Great's attack, not Z's!!

 

[Scavenger]

This show is directed by Yasuhiro Imagawa who is known for directing the Giant Robo OVA series, one of the best anime series ever.

 

[Hindenblewp]

This show is directed by Yasuhiro Imagawa who is known for directing the Giant Robo OVA series, one of the best anime series ever.

Fuck yeah, and G Gundam.

Shin Mazinger is great. I haven't watched it since it released, so this may be a great excuse to rewatch it. BURN IT UPPPP

 

[Theonik]

OH BOY!

 

[Cornbread78]

This should be an interesting watch for sure..

 

[SigmasonicX]

I remember that when this first aired, there was some thing where the TV airings shortened the episodes and the full versions weren't released until later. Are the Crunchyroll episodes the full ones or the shortened ones?

Also, it's weird seeing this show pop up next when the previous topic made it seem like Code Geass was next. What happened there?

 

[Cornbread78]

I remember that when this first aired, there was some thing where the TV airings shortened the episodes and the full versions weren't released until later. Are the Crunchyroll episodes the full ones or the shortened ones?

Also, it's weird seeing this show pop up next when the previous topic made it seem like Code Geass was next. What happened there?

Unfortunately, Code Geass is not streaming through any legit services right now, so we had to switch it up.

 

[JulianImp]

I'm not a fan of giant robot shows in particular, but I guess I'll try this one out as well anyway. Actually, it isn't that I don't like the genre, but more like I'm neutral towards them.

 

[Apharmd]

YESS YESSS YESSSSSSS

 

[dickroach]

never liked mech stuff when I was younger, and I've definitely never seen a lick of anything Mazinger, but according to wikipedia this series is a "retelling" of the basic story of Mazinger Z, featuring most of the same characters, mechanical beasts, and some general plots of the original series, plus some additional material.

regardless, I liked the pick for the last Lets Watch, so I'm down. subbed.
I really like the first episode is titled "Grand Finale"

edit:

Advice to new watchers:

First episode is confusing as fuck and it's advised to be watched again when you're done with the series.

ahhhh alright. I see what's happening here

 

[The Illiterati]

I'm not a fan of giant robot shows in particular, but I guess I'll try this one out as well anyway. Actually, it isn't that I don't like the genre, but more like I'm neutral towards them.

I'm basically the same. Im enjoying Kuromukuro which seems way more grounded. But I will give this a try tonight as well.

 

[Cornbread78]

I'm not a fan of giant robot shows in particular, but I guess I'll try this one out as well anyway. Actually, it isn't that I don't like the genre, but more like I'm neutral towards them.

I'm basically the same. Im enjoying Kuromukuro which seems way more grounded. But I will give this a try tonight as well.

I'm not big into mecha either, but everyone appears to be really high on this one, so I'll roll with it, lol.

 

[Cornbread78]

Oh my, you guys were right..... WTF did I just watch? A mash-up of the entire series that is coming up? That was pretty damn wild and crazy for sure, but I'm not sure what that was, lol. I did get a huge chuckle out of the over-the-top " Big Bang PUNCCHH!" and the background music, so that tells me this should be pretty entertaining along the way.

Well, hopefully, they actually start the story tomorrow and go from there.

 

[Ascheroth]

#1

Ah yes, starting off right with an epiosode titled Grand Finale and not explaining wtf is going on while throwing a hundred characters at you, just like I remember lol.
But it certainly wasn't lacking in the crazy action department and the music is really catchy.
Entertaining start.

 

[The Illiterati]

Ugh, I really hated this first episode. Just completely incoherent. Really, it looks like the series itself contains a ton of entertaining madness, I just wish I hadn't wasted my time watching the first ep, which is just spoilers or bizarre clips from it all out of context. The entire time I just felt frustrated. I will keep watching tomorrow and hope to forget I ever saw this episode.

 

[Cornbread78]

Ugh, I really hated this first episode. Just completely incoherent. Really, it looks like the series itself contains a ton of entertaining madness, I just wish I hadn't wasted my time watching the first ep, which is just spoilers or bizarre clips from it all out of context. The entire time I just felt frustrated. I will keep watching tomorrow and hope to forget I ever saw this episode.

Yeah, it was a little over-the-top and crazy, but we were warned in one of the first posts, lol.


Hopefully, we get to the normal story tomorrow.

 

[Apharmd]

Rewatching the first episode really put a lot of things into perspective. I honestly didn't like watching it the first time around either, but now it just blows my mind.

 

[Mazre]

Gonna try and keep up and comment this time around. Big thanks to the Let's watch threads for introducing me to 'Humanity has Declined', 'Kyousougiga', and 'Blast of Tempest'.

Growing up I had a couple of 24-inch action figures (complete with rocket punch) from one Mazinger series or another, they definitely took a beating, looking forward to watching a related series.

Ep 1

Episode really felt packed and a bit all over the place but I still enjoyed it. Music was a definite highlight for me.

 

[Cornbread78]

Gonna try and keep up and comment this time around. Big thanks to the Let's watch threads for introducing me to 'Humanity has Declined', 'Kyousougiga', and 'Blast of Tempest'.

Growing up I had a couple of 24-inch action figures (complete with rocket punch) from one Mazinger series or another, they definitely took a beating, looking forward to watching a related series.

Ep 1

Episode really felt packed and a bit all over the place but I still enjoyed it. Music was a definite highlight for me.

Good deal, welcome back/aboard!

Hopefully, the real story starts in episode 2, lol.

 

[The Omega Man]

Original Mazinger Z anime is one of my all time favorites, I liked this rendition although it wasn't so well received in general by the fans of the classic show, everything happens so fast and it deviates from the original canon, but that's ok, it's an adaption and a very good show IMO.
Too bad the studio went down and Great Mazinger Shougeki! Z-Hen never got made.

Enjoy GAF

 

[The Illiterati]

Episode 1

So this was marginally better, although I still have no idea whats happening. It starts off straightforward enough and then everyone just starts screaming at each other. The pacing is set to fast forward and it just becomes a jumble. So far I find the action scenes really confusing, as you have the samurai attacking the Grandpa and the Gang attacking on the beach cut together really haphazardly.

 

[Ascheroth]

Episode 1 2

The narrator is amazing. Him and the music alone make half the fun.
So things start out rather normal, we get to know about our main character Kabuto Kouji and his family and circumstances, but things soon kick into high gear again as shit starts going down at multiple fronts.

 

[nintendoman58]

The narrator in Shin Mazinger is great. The way he gets really ecstatic in the show makes awesome scenes even better.

 

[Mazre]

Episode 2

OP is fun, ROCK ME!

Japanium ore only found beneath Mt. Fuji. Slightly less humorous now that Nihonium is actually a thing but still amusing.

The action ramped very quickly in the last thrid of the episode, good fun. Chuckled at Ashura's foot soldiers leaving behind mines after disintegrating.

Liked the perspective shots while riding the bike along the coast and then late with the collossi attacking.

 

[Cornbread78]

A lot more comedy than I was expectinh, but that was really fast paced and actually pretty fun. "You're gonna get it now, you laughed at grandpa!"

He warned 'em, lol.


Lots of craziness, but it was pretty entertaining!

 

[SigmasonicX]

Episode 1
So not only is it starting at the final battle, but when it goes back, it doesn't actually go back to the start, but to before the final battle. And back again, apparently jumping to random parts of the series.

Still, it's a nice showcase of the crazy mix of characters and plotlines in Go Nagai's stories.

It's worth noting that Go Nagai is the source of a ton (a TON) of things we take for granted in anime and manga. Mazinger Z was the first giant robot series where the pilot was in the robot. Kabuto Koji was the first hotblooded hero. Etc. He is even known as the creator of fanservice, though he still had a ton of female heroes.

He was also extremely prolific, and would often publish several series at the same time.

Episode 2
The opening is great. I'm not a fan of the comedy, but all the crazy stuff happening is fun.

 

[Ascheroth]

#3

It's name is... It's name is... It's name is... It's name is... It's name is... It's name is... ROCKET PUNCH!!!

Is it a robot? No, it's a devil!
No, it's a god!

Narrator keeps killing it.

The wild ride continues and there is no end in sight to the continuing escalation.
Also, Baron Asura is pretty badass.

 

[Mazre]

Episode 3

Narrator-san needs to pace himself, ran out of hype halfway through the episode, I'm worried about him lasting through 26 episodes of this.

Zeus backstory was alright. Robot horses were pretty great.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Episode 3
I like this feeling of, "What the hell is this? What does this have to do with anything?!" and the ridiculous hyping by the narrator. This show is hard to comment on, since it's just a lot of crazy stuff happening. And two generic robots hatch into things that look nothing like what they came out of, sure.

 

[squall23]

I should probably rewatch this one of these days. The weird thing I remember about it was that while the good parts were REALLY good, the boring parts were REALLY boring. And OP2 is top tier JAM Project, which is actually saying a lot since a lot of their stuff is good.

 

[Cornbread78]

I'm an episode behind now, but I'll catch up later today.


This show runs at such a frantic pace, obviously it is meant to be there, which is why the music and announcer are so engrained, but it is pretty hype stuff. Oh and it looks that Dr. Hell (from ep.1) is clearly the final boss of this all, lol.

 

[Ascheroth]

#4

God damn that last Rocket Punch was the hypest shit.
And the temple. Sasuga gramps, you sure have style.

Garada K7 is a beast.
A new force emerges from the depths (lol at that one new 'female' robot)
Baron Ashura continues to be awesome.

Was impressed that they didn't shy away from what it means fighting in the middle of a city, didn't expect that.

And lol, it looks like narrator-san had to rest a bit after last episode, he only had a couple lines this time. But those were some awesome lines.

Too much good stuff happening to comment on it all, I'm sure I forgot a couple things.

 

[Mazre]

Ep 4

Slow start despite the first major face off for Mazinger. Definitely a strong finish though, and agreed the focus on the effects of giant robo battles in the middle of a city was good stuff.

 

[JCG]

Good stuff. I remember some folks complained about the pace back in the day and a few even called this series "Slowzinger" as a result, but that was never my impression.

I think the staff (especially Imagawa himself, man of many talents) did a pretty good job making the viewer feel the impact of each individual fight and specific power-up, as well as providing the cast of characters (including but not limited to the villains) with a decent amount of characterization and development that wasn't there in the original source material.

Too bad I can't jump right in to watch it again at this time, yet I'd easily encourage those watching to keep going.

 

[The Illiterati]

Episode 3

So I'm an episode or two behind now, wondering if I should bother since I didn't like the others.... Thankfully, I enjoyed this episode much more than the first two. It was much better focused and understandable. I enjoyed the Zeus backstory and hope to see more of it, as I also like the Baron Ashura character, and want to see 'their' full backstory. I'll watch two tomorrow and catch up, hope it continues in this fashion.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Episode 4
Compared to the previous episodes, this is really slow. It's cutting between so many characters that no plot is progressing much. At the end, was there some problem with the upload such that a random part of the next episode was included, or is that just how episode previews will work?

 

[Ascheroth]

Good stuff. I remember some folks complained about the pace back in the day and a few even called this series "Slowzinger" as a result, but that was never my impression.

I think the staff (especially Imagawa himself, man of many talents) did a pretty good job making the viewer feel the impact of each individual fight and specific power-up, as well as providing the cast of characters (including but not limited to the villains) with a decent amount of characterization and development that wasn't there in the original source material.

Too bad I can't jump right in to watch it again at this time, yet I'd easily encourage those watching to keep going.

I haven't really felt that it's all that slow so far.
Sure, there isn't technically that much progression but there's so much happening that I can't really say that nothing is happening.

 

[Apharmd]

#4

God damn that last Rocket Punch was the hypest shit.
And the temple. Sasuga gramps, you sure have style.

dude I totally fucking forgot the end of ep 4 happened. Holy shit man, this show is just making everything old new again. I love it.

 

[Ascheroth]

Episode #5

Whew, it looks like Narrator-san has recovered! And he's even more hyped than before!
Man, all those crazy moves one after another.
And angry Kouji was awesome, the way his face overlapped with Mazinger Z... so good.
And then another of the 5 leaders appears and the first thing he does is dropping a freaking bomb-robot on the town.

No time to rest.

 

[Mazre]

Ep 5

Apparently they saved all the hype from last episode for this one. Narrator's back in fine form, and Mazinger is blowing everything up. Music was spot on when they were melting down Doublas and it was obvious that Gramps wasn't gonna make it. Brocken's design just makes me giggle (especially when he gets in his robo during the OP.)

 

[Cornbread78]

Rocket Puuunnncchhh!!!! Friggen grandpa is kiiling it, lol. What an ending to that episode as he goes all out in dramatic fashion to destroy the enemy robot. That was some pretty insane/frantic scripting, but they made it work well.

 

[The Illiterati]

Eps 4-5

These were entertaining. I enjoyed the realities of the slaughter the battle caused in the city.

I wonder if Koji and Co. will ever leave the Mazinger Z cockpit again? Will Grandpa's dead body still be rolling around with them in there for multiple episodes? We can hope.

Looks like Count Brocken was introduced too late to teach Grandpa how to cover his gaping eye wound with a stylish patch. And I wonder why the Count carries his own head around while his neck is right there? I mean, if they've got the technology to keep it alive, you'd think he could reattach it.

 

[Ascheroth]

Eps 4-5

And I wonder why the Count carries his own head around while his neck is right there? I mean, if they've got the technology to keep it alive, you'd think he could reattach it.

Because that's not as stylish!

 

[The Omega Man]

Eps 4-5

These were entertaining. I enjoyed the realities of the slaughter the battle caused in the city.

I wonder if Koji and Co. will ever leave the Mazinger Z cockpit again? Will Grandpa's dead body still be rolling around with them in there for multiple episodes? We can hope.

Looks like Count Brocken was introduced too late to teach Grandpa how to cover his gaping eye wound with a stylish patch. And I wonder why the Count carries his own head around while his neck is right there? I mean, if they've got the technology to keep it alive, you'd think he could reattach it.

The count character was designed around 1971, and Go Nagai doesn't care about logic.

 

[Ascheroth]

#6

Eh, didn't like this episode all that much. The constant jumping around and flashbacks to stuff that happened only an episode or 2 ago was annoying.
Once they finally showed what happened after last episodes end it was pretty cool as always, but that took like half an episode to get there.

But the Bath-Lady is pretty badass at least.

 

[Mazre]

Ep 6

Bit of a break in the action today, we did get to see photon beam though and got a lot of new info good stuff. Interesting that they're treating Koji as a criminal. Looks like Dr. Hell backstory tomorrow.

 

[Ascheroth]

#7

Heh, I figured as much.
Some things last episode and in this one just didn't add up, and it was foreshadowed in episode 2 already. Pretty cool.
Nishikiori and her team are badass, now I'm really looking forward to Baron Ashuras past next episode.

And why are all those mechanical beasts so awesome.

 

[Cornbread78]

Alright, this weekend, put me behind!

This episode was an awesome way to reveal a bunch of Mazinger's special moves and features... and we now have a friend? Miss Aphrodite A? Hmm, we could have an awesome robot union on our hands now?!