Mazinger Z versus Transformers: Difference between revisions
| Line 133: | Line 133: | ||
===Transformers references=== | ===Transformers references=== | ||
*The Autobots and Decepticons hail from a very Generation 1 cartoon-esque universe. The space bridge here is clearly based on the cartoon design and the ''Transformers'' characters who appear are mostly the season 1 cast (barring Hot Rod's cameo in the epilogue). Just about the only thing that prevents this series from being in-continuity with the actual cartoon is how Starscream is outright killed at the climax of the story and his ghost is spirited away by the hooded observers. | *The Autobots and Decepticons hail from a very Generation 1 cartoon-esque universe. The space bridge here is clearly based on the cartoon design and the ''Transformers'' characters who appear are mostly the season 1 cast (barring Hot Rod's cameo in the epilogue). Just about the only thing that prevents this series from being in-continuity with the actual cartoon is how Starscream is outright killed at the climax of the story and his ghost is spirited away by the hooded observers. | ||
===Mazinger Z references=== | ===Mazinger Z references=== | ||
Revision as of 11:10, 25 November 2019
| |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
マジンガーZ 対 トランスフォーマー
(Mazinger Z tai Transformer) | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Villagebooks | ||||||||||||
| First published | March 28, 2019 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Yūjin Ishikawa (plot), Naoto Tsushima (script) | ||||||||||||
| Art by | Yū Kinutani (Prologue and Epilogue), Hayato Sakamoto (Chapter 1), Hidetsugu Yoshioka (Chapter 2), Kazumi Hoshi (Chapter 3), Naoyuki Fujisawa (Chapter 4), Naoto Tsushima (Chapter 5) | ||||||||||||
When a spacetime warp sends the Autobots and Decepticons to the Japan of another universe, they get involved in Mazinger Z's fight against Doctor Hell and Baron Ashura.
Synopsis
Prologue
Somewhere in the cosmos, a quartet of hooded figures observe various universes; focusing on two in particular, they wonder what would happen if they cross paths...
On one Earth, Kōji Kabuto pilots Mazinger Z in battle against Baron Ashura and Dian D0, succeeding in defeating the Mechanical Beast with his robot's power.
On another Earth, the Autobots fight the Decepticons near a space bridge. Starscream sneaks behind the Autobots and fires on Grimlock, only for the beam to reflect off the Dinobot and clip the Seeker's wing. Starscream can't control his flight any longer and crashes into the space bridge, setting off an explosion of energy that envelopes all Transformers present.
One of the observing figures seems to take advantage of the situation and creates a passageway between the universes, which leads one of his comrades to question what they would gain from this confluence of universes...
Chapter 1
On Mazinger Z's Earth, Shirō Kabuto is digging through Dian D0's remains with Boss (piloting his own robot), Mucha, and Nuke. They have been sent by Professor Yumi to investigate the enemy's new weapon, a beam cannon made from diamond. Motivated by the prospect of diamonds, Boss fervently digs through the rubble till he comes across a most unusual discovery—Grimlock! The dinosaur chomps on Boss Borot's head, and the two tussle, with Grimlock emerging as the victor. When Boss emerges from his robot, the impressed Grimlock declares friendship with the humans and all misunderstandings (the humans believing Grimlock to be a Mechanical Beast and Grimlock believing Boss Borot to be a robot lifeform) are dispelled. Brefet of energy, Grimlock comes down with hunger and Boss immediately offers the photon power at their lab, despite Shirō's protestations. Right as the humans leave with Grimlock, Optimus Prime arrives through a warp with the other Autobots, perplexed at the new scenery. They find Baron Ashura below some rubble. Not knowing of Baron Ashura's previous villany with Doctor Hell and the Iron Mask Army, the Autobots inform the cyborg of their extrauniversal origins and Baron Ashura takes the opportunity that their ignorance offers...
At the underwater fortress Salude, Baron Ashura weaves a tale of deception to the Autobots, claiming that Mazinger Z is an evil machine who rules Japan with an iron fist through its monopoly of photon power. Baron Ashura's leader, Doctor Hell, chiming in through a viewscreen, supports Ashura's lies and passes off his frightful appearance as the result of adopting demonic power to fight Mazinger Z. He goes on to elaborate on Mazinger Z's abilities and also speaks of Aphrodi A, another robot allied with Mazinger Z. The Autobots remark on their similarity to their enemies, the Decepticons, and Optimus Prime explains them to Doctor Hell, who gets a twinkle in his eye.
By the Photon Power Laboratory, Megatron has arrived...
Chapter 2
Observing the Photonic Power Laboratory, Soundwave reports that thanks to Laserbeak he has detected a power source beneath the building with efficiency, purity and potency well beyond anything they'd previously seen on Earth. Furthermore, the energy appears to be extremely stable and emits no harmful radiation that could pose a threat to the Decepticons. Intrigued, Megatron intends to march on the Laboratory but is interrupted by Starscream's protests that he's still damaged from the earlier battle with the Autobots. Megatron immediately rails at him, blaming him for accidentally destroying the Space Bridge and sending them who knows where. However, they are interrupted by the arrival of Baron Ashura and a group of Mechanical Beasts at the Laboratory. Intrigued by the sight of the gigantic robots as well as the black one that emerges from the Laboratory to confront them, Megatron decided to hang back and observe.
Koji complains that Ashura must really enjoy their work if they've come around for another thrashing, pointing out the Mechanical Beasts they're brought along seem pretty run-down while Ashura counters that Mazinger isn't exactly tiptop either. After exchanging barbs, Ashura orders the Mechanical Beasts to attack before calling on the Autobots to join the fray. While the Autobots are much smaller than the towering super robot, it's much faster than it looks and manages to grab Bumblebee. Optimus calls a halt to the attack in order to think of a way to rescue their dimunitive comrade, and Koji is taken aback when not only do the "mini-Mechanical Beasts" not only talk, but seem to be concerned for the yellow one he'd managed to grab.
A blast from behind bring Mazinger Z to its knees, and Optimus demands to know if Ashura is behind it. Confirming the Autobot commander's suspicions, Ashura siccs the Mechanical Beasts on both Mazinger and the Autobots. Caught flat-footed, the Autobots can only evade the Mechanical Beasts' attacks while Mazinger Z is unable to fight back due to trying to shield Bumblebee and the others. Even as Megatron and the other Decepticons are bemused that they may be watching the final stand of the Autobots, reinforcements arrive.
Grimlock, with Boss Borot on his back, joins the fray. Ashura is horrified when the Dinobot's flame breath manages to burn the Mechanical Beasts, and once he transforms Grimlock continues to manhandle the hapless Beasts. With the Mechanical Beasts now caught off-guard, the Autobots and Mazinger quickly counterattack and drive Ashura into retreat.
With the show over, Megatron plots...
=Chapter 3
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Photon Power Laboratory | Underground Empire | Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
and some unnamed Mechanical Beasts. |
|
Quotes
Notes
Transformers references
- The Autobots and Decepticons hail from a very Generation 1 cartoon-esque universe. The space bridge here is clearly based on the cartoon design and the Transformers characters who appear are mostly the season 1 cast (barring Hot Rod's cameo in the epilogue). Just about the only thing that prevents this series from being in-continuity with the actual cartoon is how Starscream is outright killed at the climax of the story and his ghost is spirited away by the hooded observers.
Mazinger Z references
- Doctor Hell's description of Mazinger Z being "An iron fortress that soars through the skies" is taken from the very first line of the Mazinger Z anime's famous theme song. The literal translation of Mazinger Z's nickname is "Castle of Black Iron", but it's often translated into "Iron Fortress".
- Two of the Mechanical Beasts that appear in the video Doctor Hell shows to trick the Autobots are Garada K7 and Doublas M9, the first two Mechanical Beasts Mazinger Z fought and the most well-known among all the Mechanical Beasts. In numerous remakes, reboots or adaptations, they're often again the first Mechanical Beasts fought by whatever incarnation of Mazinger Z is present. They're also almost assured to appear whenever Mazinger Z is included in the Super Robot Wars series of video games.
- Soundwave's description of photon power being extremely pure and efficient is precisely why Doctor Hell was so adamant to get his hands on it—powered by photon power, his Mechanical Beasts would be virtually unstoppable. In-universe, photon power was originally developed by Kōji's grandfather, Jūzō Kabuto as a potent and clean new form of energy.
- The appearance of Great Mazinger in the epilogue could be seen as a reference to how Great Mazinger was the direct sequel to Mazinger Z. In fact, Great Mazinger was one of the first anime series to be a direct sequel to a prior one.
Errors
Other trivia
- Optimus Prime's amazement at the technology represented by Mazinger Z and exclamation that such technology would be inconceivable on their Earth is understandable: Mazinger Z is generally accepted to be the very first so-called Super Robot anime, i.e. robots with such fantastic powers, technology or power sources that they're science fantasy rather than science fiction. Real Robots (e.g. the Gundam series, Macross, Patlabor) are somewhat more rooted in realism in comparison, hence why those series often have the main characters be part of the military or police force. The Brave series would fall under Super Robots.
- It's hard to overstate Mazinger Z's impact on anime and manga. Many tropes now commonplace were either first introduced or popularized by Go Nagai when he created Mazinger Z. Most relevant to Transformers are the command or activation codes (e.g. "Mazin Go!" to have Mazinger Z emerge from its hangar, "Pilder On!" when Kōji Kabuto docks the Pilder craft into Mazinger's head to activate it) and the calling out of attack names (e.g. "Breast Fire!" to emit melting beams from the red plates on Mazinger's chest). Basically if you wonder why the Japanese dubs have Transformers yell out "Transform!" or have all sorts of goofy attack names, you can thank/blame Mazinger Z.
Covers (4)
- Normal Cover: Art by Go Nagai.
- Shop exclusive cover A: Art by Shinobu Kaze. Produced exclusively for Mamegyorai and Shosen Book Tower.
- Shop exclusive cover B: Art by Yuki Ohshima. Produced exclusively for verse COMICS and BLISTER comics.
- Amazon exclusive cover: Art by Tsuyoshi Nonaka. Produced exclusively for Amazon Japan.
