Mazinger Library - Mazinger Z Daizenshuu

Today I want to introduce you to the first in a series of entries in what is going to become the Mazinger Library and I'm going to do it with a book that should be on everybody's shelves. I'm talking about マジンガーZ大全集 (The complete works of Mazinger Z).
This fabulous book was published for the first and only time (it is never been reprinted since) on January 15, 1988 by 講談社 (Kôdansha) in the テレビマガジン特別編集 (Terebi Magazine's special edition) collection. The book is a true 240 page gem (144 of them in full color), containing all kinds of information and details about the three series that formed the Mazinger "classic trilogy" (Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger and UFO Robo Grendizer).

The information is pretty thorough. You will find dissections (frame by frame) on the diverse openings and endings of every series, an analysis on the many weapons of the three main robots, a encyclopedia on the mechanical beasts (機械獣), the combat beasts (戦闘獣) and the flying beasts (円盤獣) and literally thousands of other pictures. In the Mazinger Art Exhibition section, you'll find some never before seen illustrations (like the one that accompanies this text by Yoshiyuki Hane (羽根章悦)) by the authors and/or animators that worked on the various manga or TV series.

The black and white part of the book begins with the story about the development of the series from its conception, showing the first designs for エネルガーZ (Energer Z) where Koji's bike becomes the cockpit itself. It is followed by reports on toys, old books, preliminary designs and finally, a chapter guide for all three series. Needless to say, the book is written completely in Japanese, but it's worth the "admission price" if only for the graphic material alone. Nowadays the book is pretty expensive and difficult to find, but every once in a while a decently priced copy pops up at online stores like Mandarake.

Mazinger at MANDARAKE (in English)