Mazinger Z & Evangelion

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Mazinger Z & Evangelion

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Postby xPearse » Sat Apr 16, 2016 4:59 pm

Has anyone else here read Nagai's original Mazinger Z? It is one of the major inspirations for Evangelion. If you have, what do you think of the many connections and similarities?
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Re: Mazinger Z & Evangelion

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Postby BC Baron » Sat Apr 16, 2016 10:05 pm

I never read the manga, but I remember watching some of the anime during my youth (however, regardless of how many times I was dared to, I never quite had enough guts to yell out "Breast Burn!" while in mixed company).

When it comes right down to it, I suppose you could say that just about every giant mecha anime (or at least the super robot subset) from around the late seventies forward is a descendant in one form or another of Mazinger. If I'm not mistaken, Mazinger Z featured anime's first example of a robot that was controlled by an onboard pilot.

I thought it was Go Nagai's Devilman that Anno has more often cited in interviews as the inspiration for Eva.
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Re: Mazinger Z & Evangelion

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Postby Dima » Sun Apr 17, 2016 3:30 am

No i haven't. Can you mention some of the ''connections and similarities''? My only experience with Mazinger Z is from the SRW games and i haven't noticed anything similar with Eva.
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Re: Mazinger Z & Evangelion

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Postby xPearse » Sun Apr 17, 2016 6:48 am

It's been a while since I've read it, but there were a few things I pointed out when I posted about it on my blog. I'm sure there are more things but my memory is a bit hazy. In any case, if you do read it, you'll easily notice how it has influenced Evangelion. Even more so knowing how it is the granddaddy of all mecha.

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”.
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Re: Mazinger Z & Evangelion

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Postby Alaska Slim » Mon Apr 18, 2016 3:09 am

View Original PostxPearse wrote: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.

But Touji got a mecha. For like, the 5 seconds before it turned evil. BP
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Re: Mazinger Z & Evangelion

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Postby BC Baron » Mon Apr 18, 2016 3:15 pm

I seem to remember the Boss character's robot was put together with a lot of junkyard spare parts and the main control interface was a steering wheel. I wonder if it was part of the inspiration for Megas XLR.
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Postby xPearse » Tue Apr 19, 2016 6:19 pm

I'll take a guess that nobody here has read the original manga? Somebody, please prove me wrong.

View Original PostBC Baron wrote:I seem to remember the Boss character's robot was put together with a lot of junkyard spare parts and the main control interface was a steering wheel. I wonder if it was part of the inspiration for Megas XLR.

Well, anime adaptations of Nagai manga tend not to be faithful to the source material so people should concentrate on the manga and not the anime.

View Original PostAlaska Slim wrote:But Touji got a mecha. For like, the 5 seconds before it turned evil. BP

Ha ha. Yeah, I was thinking more or Kensuke when I wrote that.
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Re: Mazinger Z & Evangelion

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Postby MuscleRobo » Wed Jun 15, 2016 1:02 pm

View Original PostBC Baron wrote: If I'm not mistaken, Mazinger Z featured anime's first example of a robot that was controlled by an onboard pilot.


I'm pretty sure that's correct! Earlier ones like Giant Robo, AKA Gigantor, were remote controlled. I've read a lot of Go Nagai manga and I think Anno had to have been a big fan not just of Devilman and Mazinger but even some of his more out there manga like Scandal School. Although, with Anno being the gigantic Ultra fan that he is I always thought the hangar was based on the design from Ultra Seven when he has to fight the Robotic Seven. I can't find a picture right now but I'll screen grab the dvd when I get home. I may be overstepping though! I just find personally after watching it that Ultraseven might be the biggest inspiration to Anno. Since it's a rubber suit series from the 60's though fans ignore it a bit compared to other anime.

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Re: Mazinger Z & Evangelion

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Postby Retro Chocolate » Tue Jun 21, 2016 2:22 pm

View Original PostMuscleRobo wrote:I'm pretty sure that's correct! Earlier ones like Giant Robo, AKA Gigantor,

Gigantor was an adaptation of Tetsujin 28-go, not Giant Robo. They were both by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, but Giant Robo was its own manga.

Answering the original question, while there are definitely some similarities between Neon Genesis Evangelion and Mazinger Z, that could be said about nearly any mecha anime. While Tetsujin 28-go was the first mecha anime/manga, Mazinger Z introduced a lot of things to the genre that are still used in mecha anime today.

View Original PostBC Baron wrote:I thought it was Go Nagai's Devilman that Anno has more often cited in interviews as the inspiration for Eva.

I believe this is correct. According to EvaGeeks:
http://wiki.evageeks.org/Tributes_to_Other_Fiction_in_Neon_Genesis_Evangelion wrote:Devilman, a manga series by Go Nagai, features a similar apocalyptic ending. Yoshiyuki Sadamoto said in an interview published in the Deluxe Edition of Der Mond that both he and Hideaki Anno were influenced by Go Nagai and that they wanted an ending similar to that of Devilman.

I definitely saw a lot more similarities between Devilman and Evangelion than between Mazinger Z and Evangelion.
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Re: Mazinger Z & Evangelion

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Postby xPearse » Tue Jul 12, 2016 5:50 pm

View Original PostRetro Chocolate wrote:I definitely saw a lot more similarities between Devilman and Evangelion than between Mazinger Z and Evangelion.

Wrong. It has more connections with Mazinger Z than Devilman. Read both manga, and you'll understand. There's only a handful of connections to Devilman and most of them are centred around Asuka (Devilman) & Kaworu.
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Re: Mazinger Z & Evangelion

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Postby Ray » Tue Jul 12, 2016 6:41 pm

Sadamoto himself said in an interview published in Der Mond was that he basic Idea for the series was for a cross between Devilman and Space Runaway Ideon. So the similarities the two share isn't all that suprising

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Postby MuscleRobo » Wed Jul 13, 2016 7:42 am

I'm just glad whenever I get to see some Ultra Seven. Thanks for that interesting picture of comparisons

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Re: Mazinger Z & Evangelion

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Postby Bagheera » Wed Jul 13, 2016 9:14 am

View Original PostxPearse wrote:Wrong. It has more connections with Mazinger Z than Devilman.


The cited interview quote seems to suggest otherwise.
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Re: Mazinger Z & Evangelion

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Postby xPearse » Wed Jul 13, 2016 3:28 pm

View Original PostBagheera wrote:The cited interview quote seems to suggest otherwise.

But I've read both and can tell by myself that it is not the case. Mazinger Z pioneered the mecha genre and had a bigger influence on Evangelion than Devilman regardless of what is said in that interview. However, if that interview was translated, could I have a link? I'd like to have a look at it.
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Re: Mazinger Z & Evangelion

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Postby Retro Chocolate » Fri Sep 02, 2016 3:01 pm

View Original PostxPearse wrote:But I've read both and can tell by myself that it is not the case. Mazinger Z pioneered the mecha genre and had a bigger influence on Evangelion than Devilman regardless of what is said in that interview. However, if that interview was translated, could I have a link? I'd like to have a look at it.

While I will agree that Mazinger Z had quite some influence on Evangelion, you can see the same influence on almost any mecha anime made after Mazinger Z. I think Devilman had more direct influence on evangelion, but that's just my opinion.
As for the interview, the book's been published in English and you can find it on amazon here:
I don't have the book myself, but I would asume that the interview is in there (I don't see why it wouldn't be).
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Re: Mazinger Z & Evangelion

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Postby cyharding » Fri Sep 02, 2016 10:48 pm

View Original PostRetro Chocolate wrote:I don't have the book myself, but I would asume that the interview is in there (I don't see why it wouldn't be).

I have the English edition, and it doesn't have any interviews. :sigh:
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Postby Retro Chocolate » Fri Sep 02, 2016 11:10 pm

View Original Postcyharding wrote:I have the English edition, and it doesn't have any interviews. :sigh:

Well that sucks. I'll probably still get the book anyways for the art, but I really wanted to read the interview.
"That's not it at all. Trying to go on living is different than trying to escape fear. Those who acted in order to live until the end, without losing themselves to fear and what was happening around them, are the ones who survived properly. We don't know what "God" is thinking, but both fortune and misfortune are thrust upon people. Even so, people exist within a domain that is theirs in which to act."
-Luca, Berserk

"Surely, a true Buster Machine pilot, the real Nono-Riri, would have a Buster Machine in the heart!!" BUSTER BEAM SLASH!!!
-Nono, Diebuster

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Re: Mazinger Z & Evangelion

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Postby FallenTabris » Wed Sep 07, 2016 9:48 pm

View Original PostxPearse wrote:But I've read both and can tell by myself that it is not the case. Mazinger Z pioneered the mecha genre and had a bigger influence on Evangelion than Devilman regardless of what is said in that interview. However, if that interview was translated, could I have a link? I'd like to have a look at it.


Sadamoto said in the interview that End of Eva's apocalyptic ending was directly inspired by that of devilman. also the collage you posted doesn't seem to have any Mazinger....

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Postby xPearse » Thu Sep 08, 2016 6:16 pm

View Original PostFallenTabris wrote:Sadamoto said in the interview that End of Eva's apocalyptic ending was directly inspired by that of devilman. also the collage you posted doesn't seem to have any Mazinger....

That's because I didn't make it. However, the apocalyptic ending is nothing like Devilman. It has influences, yes, but overall Majinga Z has more influences on Evangelion. Not the anime (which I haven't seen and is ToeiZinger so it doesn't count), but the Mazinger manga. In any case, Anno and such look up to Nagai so I get the feeling he is just kinda trying to compare himself to his mentor of sorts by putting them both in the same sentence.
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