Review: Mazinger Z (Manga)

Hmm. I might as well get off my ass and write a review of Mazinger Z seeing how I read that, too, about a month or more ago. Probably multiple months back now that I think of it. Anyway, overall the story of Mazinger Z isn't hard to follow. The monster of the week formula and all that. However, that's exactly where things go wrong because having that formula doesn't allow for a more focused story which I think is exactly what Mazinger Z was missing. It just jumps from one bad guy to another without leaving much of an impression or allowing for character development making Mazinger Z overall rather mediocre and unejoyable. That's not to say it's bad or anything, just not very good or entertaining and more on the mediocre side of things. 

However, setting all that aside, the main thing to take away from it is the impact and influence it had on essentially every single mech manga and anime that came after. It set the tropes, the formulas, everything, and that's why we should appreciate it. All said and done, there isn't really much to say about Mazinger Z other than it's not very good, but it was influential, and that some of the violence which came out of nowhere was uncalled for. I mean, it's pretty much happy go lucky for the most part all the way through: beat the bad guy, save the day. But then people get violently blown apart, shot, killed and smushed to pieces out of nowhere. Though that is very Nagai. He does that a lot. Still, very unnecessary, I'd say.

Anyway, just to point out a few things about it's influences from something I've actually saw myself, Evangelion. Now, yes, I know it essentially rips off every single thing that came before it, but! I just want to mention a few things that I noticed in it that came from Mazinger Z. First off, Eva-01 goes berserk in the same fashion as Mazinger Z. Crashing around, uncontrollable by the pilot and all that jazz. Second, the way Eva-01 and the other Eva's are positioned and shown through camera angles and such are very similar to Mazinger Z sitting in the original lab in the first volume. Third, there's already a pilot before Shinji like Mazinger Z, and both become or are injured, and used as the backup pilot. Fourth, they all attend the same high school, and people in the class publically know they are the pilots of the mecha. The bully boss man guy and others being jealous of 'em similar to Kensuke and such. However, Mazinger Z one ups Evangelion by actually having that guy get his own mech. Fifth, both Eva and Mazinger Z are known to be "alive", however the latter is more "implied" than stated. Still, just for the record, Mazinger Z is alive. Sixth, they are both "thought" or considered to be "demons".

Now, you could say that these are all just coincidences ("maybe" some), but the thing is that Mazinger Z is the original manga which near enough all of what we know and all of what we see today is pulled from. And again, that's what I'd say about Mazinger Z which I like and appreciate it for, not its story or character, but the influence it has had on the industry. Anyway, I don't really have anything else to add so I think I'll end things here. Thank you all for reading, and I'll see you next time.

P.S. - I was super lazy this time so I didn't bother to add any images. How sad.

Review: Iron Virgin Jun (Manga)

And this doesn't even happen!

Okay, next up is Iron Virgin Jun and then that’s more or less all the Nagai manga that I’ve read which I’ve reviewed, except the original Devilman and a few other things like Violence Jack since I don’t think I even need to review those. Anyhow, Iron Virgin Jun. Hmm. This is an odd one because I think that it actually had potential. Now, let’s give you a small summary of the plot. There is a rich family full of muscled women and people marry in and out for money and power. However, the daughter doesn’t exactly want an arranged marriage, and thus our story ensues into wacky adventures of her mother attempting to get her married. Simple enough. But! This is where it goes wrong because the way it is handled by Nagai was off by a long shot because if he actually stopped putting in so much goddamn weird crap, it could have been much better and actually passable. Let me explain. Okay, her mother wants her daughter to marry into companies for power and profit. Right, we got that.

Japan in a nutshell

However, right off the bat the first guy we see trying to “woo” her attempts to rape her while she’s restrained (mother doesn’t want her to escape), and this isn’t the worst to happen. Second, her Aunt or something comes back from the Amazon and mentions to her “the romance of the jungle” and we see an image of her in a jungle surrounded by animals. Yeah, way to live up beastility, Nagai. Sheesh. Hmm, though I wonder if that’s a reference to that story Nagai wrote where a woman crashes into the Amazon and gets raped by everything in sight. Worth a thought. Also, Japan’s fucking weird! Nagai, too! Ahem. Moving on. Third, when she runs away from home her mother puts out an award stating that the one who rapes her gets to marry her and enter the family. Yes, that’s right, you can get paid for rape! Where do I sign up? Ahem. All that sexuality and stupid crap aside, the jokes and comedy present in Iron Virgin Jun is actually pretty good and very well done. For one thing, Akira and Asuka from the original Devilman make an appearance and it's very funny. Amenhotep made me laugh my ass off, and just the absurd style and course of events is ridiculously hilarious if you can get past the misogyny. And, no, I am not from tumblr. All in all, Iron Virgin Jun is an odd piece of work in that it had potential like many of Nagai’s works, but falls short due to its various mishaps and plot elements and scenes which hold it back. I’d say check it out, but don’t blame me if you don’t like it or if it doesn’t leave an impression. See ya!

Review: Cutie Honey (Manga)

Man has it been some time since I read this and Iron Virgin Jun. I mean, I completely forgot about both after reading them over a month ago. Still, like before, late is better than never so on to the review. Now, Cutie Honey is classic Nagai as classic Nagai can get. It pulls all the jokes and is very fun and entertaining to read overall. That said, I actually really enjoyed it and didn’t have much problems with it at all, other than some of the fanservice which went a bit too far, the eyebrow raising violence, and that attempted rape scene. Well, not some of the fanservice, just mainly this one scene. Let me begin. Cutie is fleeing from the Panther Claw and has only one transformation left, so she decides to turn into a statue to fool the enemy. It works and they leave after many grizzling hours later. However, Cutie can’t leave immediately after they do, no sir ree, as she has to stay put until the coast is clear. Oh-oh, this can’t be good. Not long after the villains leave, that reporter guys old man and brother come into the park and immediately notice the nude statue. Hubba hubba. They approach it and notice how lifelike and realistic it is, and being the perverted old man and child they are and the fact that they are Japanese, they begin to touch the statue. Oh-boy, oh, boy, oh-boy! Ahem. They realise that it’s not only realistic, but that it’s also warm to the touch, and that it becomes wet after being licked. And this is where things take a turn for the worse. Okay, get this, the old man begins sucking her nipples and the kid starts to lick out her crotch…….. what!? I mean, Nagai has done weird things in the past and I totally think that this one takes the cake, but is it even legal? Just look at that! I feel that this part could have easily been omitted or changed as it’s not funny (unless you think rape jokes and groping is funny) and freaking creepy. And the joke is that she has to endure their "assault" since she can't move or make any noise. Laugh.

A typical occurrence in Japan

That aside, Cutie Honey is very funny and very entertaining to read, and actually still holds up today which is a major bonus. You will laugh hard, and be dying to read more. However, that’s not to say it’s perfect or doesn’t have any flaws. It’s sadly only two volumes long and I just know that it should have been much longer or at least 5 volumes for a story of this type. And for one thing, some of the plot threads tend to be rather generic like an enemy disguising as that reporter guy to get closer to Cutie to try and kill her, but I think that’s because like Mazinger Z and a bunch of Nagai’s other works, they are the one’s which started it all and are what following manga and anime took inspiration from. Therefore, even if they come off as so, we can still appreciate them for being the forerunner of today’s manga/anime and their standards. Now, lastly I would like to mention that there is surprisingly a tad bit of violence present in Cutie Honey. It was really puzzling because it should be more comedy focused like its anime counterpart. However, that in itself is a staple of Nagai’s work since he always does this sort of thing and because this is also not the first time I’ve encountered a work of his and brought up the same notion. Remember Guerilla High/Gakuen Taikutsu Otoko? Could have worked better as solely parody/comedy manga, but Nagai is Nagai and his insane, unique way of creating manga is one of his biggest appeals that allows him to stand apart from most other manga authors out there. All said and done, classic Nagai is classic Nagai, so if you’re avid fan of his works or a fan of manga in general, then I recommend you to check Cutie Honey out. You won’t regret it.