Slow-paced but dramatic ‘Mazinger Z’ a visual treat

“Mazinger Z: Infinity”

Back in the late ’70s, anime that featured giant robots were all the rage. But sadly, they abruptly disappeared, as a government crackdown on supposed “excessively violent” cartoons took the likes of “Voltes V,” “Mekanda Robot,” “UFO Grendizer” and “Mazinger Z” off the air—and that’s just in one channel.

While the characters may have vanished nearly 40 years ago, some viewers have remained lifelong fans of those shows. “Mazinger Z” was one of the popular ones, with human hero Koji Kabuto piloting the titular robot against colossal beasts on a weekly basis. It was originally a manga series before being adapted into a TV show that regularly recycled its good-versus-evil plot.

It was one of the weirder cartoons, too, as it featured a female-formed automaton, Aphrodite A
—piloted by Koji’s love interest, Sayaka—which had “breasts” that were actually missiles.

And speaking of bizarre, they often fought a recurring human villain, Baron Ashura, who’s half-male, half-female—divided vertically, in the middle.

They’re all back in the film “Mazinger Z: Infinity,” which takes place several years in the future. Koji (voiced by Showtaro Morikubo), now a scientist, returns to active duty after new threats appear. He and ex-pilot Sayaka (Ai Kayano), now heading her own department, work together again to look for his robot-piloting brother, Tetsuya (Toshiniko Seki), who vanished after the onslaught of a kaiju horde.

Koji Kabuto is back.

An enigmatic cyborg, Lisa (Sumire Uesaka), also emerges from a massive ancient object that could doom the world, if the Mazinger team doesn’t figure things out in time.

The film, directed by Junji Shimizu, clearly recaps the main goings-on, which is useful for those who can vaguely remember the show or comics. Visually, it follows the two-dimensional look of the seminal series, but
it’s considerably more detailed, thanks to computer-aided rendering. The people look the same, but the background and machinery are intricately presented.

Its story, however, isn’t exactly balanced, often focusing more on the problematic relationship between Koji and Sayaka, and their new sidekick, the strong but whiny Lisa. It’s interesting, though, that alternate universe theories get mentioned, and play an important part in the heroes’ encounters this time.

It still has its odd parts—four sexy “female” robots now have Aphrodite A’s boob-missile schtick, but they’re not really integral to the story.

Overall, it’s accessible enough for the casual viewer to understand previous dynamics, even the villains’ motivations, but it takes a while to get to crucial moments.

Those expecting knockdown, drag-out fisticuffs, however, might feel disappointed, as it opts to be more dramatic with the protagonists’ troubled romance, instead of depicting unending, explosive combat. But there’s a decent surprise that, while unasked for, intriguingly moves “Mazinger Z’s” mythology forward.