God Mazinger

Synopsis

In ages long past, the peaceful realm of Mu is under dire threat from the expansionist Dragonian Empire. With scarce military resources and only a giant god statue for protection, Queen Aira and her people are helpless against the Dorado, the Golden Monarch, and his army of dinosaurs. Yet Aira pins her hopes on a champion from a different time. She reaches out to Yamato Hino, a seemingly ordinary but highly athletic high schooler living in modern Tokyo. Initially, Yamato dismisses the spectral messages from the youthful queen as hallucinations, but she eventually persuades him to cross through a magical portal into ancient Mu. Soon after Yamato's arrival, Dragonia launches another offensive, but this time the invaders are driven back when the enormous God Mazinger merges with Yamato. Though Mu has achieved a first victory, much work remains. Yamato must also undertake a personal quest, confronting his own flaws and growing into a true warrior to safeguard the kingdom and discover the path back home.

Background

God Mazinger is a manga, anime, and novel series by Go Nagai in 1984. Despite the title Mazinger being present, this spin-off series has no connection to previous series. Instead it is an original story about a young man who ends up in an alternate reality. While God Mazinger has no connection to the other Mazinger series, it is indeed part of the Mazinger franchise as besides the title and the same author as the other series it is featured in the Mazinger Bible along with other manga such Mazinger (USA) and MazinSaga. The anime version was originally going to feature 24 episodes and while material was drawn up the final epilogue episode was never shown. Part of the reason is because the air date was removed for the 1984 Olympics, and TMS for some reason decided to cut the epilogue from the show entirely.