Mazinkaizer – Shitou! Ankoku Dai Shogun
By Jmaruyama

The Story

The story opens with all the major cities of the world (London, New York, Tokyo, Cairo, Paris) being laid to waste by a massive assault. Thousands are killed in the initial attack as an army of mechanized, demonic creatures march forth on the world. They are the forces of the Meccene (Mecha+Ne?) Empire led by the gigantic warlord Ankoku Dai Shogun.

Kabuto Koji, Yumi Sayaka and kindly Dr. Mori Mori are on vacation in Paris when the attacks occur and try desperately to return back to Japan. Koji is unable to summon Mazinkaizer and wonders what has happened.

The trio’s plane is attacked by the winged demon Badara (Meccene’s Sky Battalion Commander) and they are nearly killed, weren’t for the timely intervention of Lori and Lol, piloting their female robot Mirion Alpha. Unfortunately in the melee Lori and Lol are horribly killed leaving Koji, Sayaka and Dr. Mori Mori to crash land in Siberia.

Koji, Sayaka and Dr. Mori Mori encounter a gruff Russian Commander and his small coalition of freedom fighters who have escaped the initial Meccene onslaught. While Dr. Mori Mori attempts to contact Prof. Yumi and the Koshiroku Kenkyujo (Photon Energy Research Facility), Yumi and Koji attempt to find a way to return to Japan.

Meanwhile around the world, the Meccene forces continue their merciless attacks. Tsurugi Tetsuya and Great Mazinger make a valiant effort at protecting New York but are eventually humbled by the forces of Sea Demon Commander Angoras and Big Bug Battalion Commander Scarabas. Hono June and Venus Ace are defeated by Evil Spirit Battalion Commander Hadius in Sydney, while Higashi Jun and Bion Beta are felled in Giza by Super Human Commander Uriceasar and Oide Masao in his Dion Gamma are destroyed by Great Lizard Commander Doreido in China.

Back in Siberia, Koji and Sayaka are suddenly attacked by Meccene Assassin, Gorgon Taiko (Arch Duke Gorgon) who is charged with their execution. Gorgon Taiko nearly succeeds when Meccene Wild Beast Battalion Commander Raigon interferes and attempts to kill the trio himself.

In all the confusion Koji and Sayaka escape the Siberian airbase leaving Dr. Mori Mori to detonate an atomic bomb, which annihilates the pursuing Meccene forces.

Koji and Sayaka make it to Japan and find most of the county in ruin. They meet a lady trucker Riki who helps them make it to the Photo Energy Research Facility. Along the way they again encounter Gorgon Taiko. Sayaka is severely injured and Koji is on the verge of getting killed when they are rescued by Boss in his Borot.

Boss mentions to Koji that he has been sent by Prof. Yumi to take him to the hiding place of Mazinkaizer. Boss has Koji’s Grand Pilader inside his Borot and together they make their way to the destroyed remains of the Photo Energy Research Facility.

The forces of the Meccene converge on the site and launch an all-out attack again Koji and Boss. Borot is destroyed but not before Koji is able to get into this Pilader and hook up with Mazinkaizer (which was docked in space for protection).

Koji and Mazinkaizer then open a can of “wup ass” on the Meccene Battalions leading to a grand final battle against Ankoku Dai Shogun.

Review

This new installment to the popular Mazinkaizer OVA series of last year, is actually an update of the 1974 Toei Movie Special “Mazinger Z vs. Ankoku Dai Shogun. While I actually preferred the 1974 version to this updated version, “Mazinkaizer – Shitou! Ankoku Dai Shogun” was none-the-less an enjoyable special.

Like “Kikaider: The Animation”, “MazinKaizer” draws inspiration more from the “Mazinger Z” manga than the 70’s anime. “Mazinkaizer – Shitou! Ankoku Dai Shogun” brings back popular manga characters such as Lori and Lol and also introduces newer additions such as Higashi Jun and Oide Masao (who like Lori and Lol were only featured in the Manga and not the Anime).

While I found the action sequences to be very well done, the animation did seem a bit cruder than in the other installments of MazinKaizer. Whether this was by design or just a factor of Bandai Visual rushing out the project, it was a bit of a disappointment and turn off.

The story basically followed the same storyline as the earlier “Mazinger Z vs. Ankoku Dai Shogun” and did a fairly good job of it but did not add anything new to the mix.

The updated designs of all the Super Robot principles (compliments of Mecha Designer Yamada Tatsuo) have always been a highlight of this series and it was certainly the case here. I love the new looks to all the Mazinger Mecha.

The character designs of Hayama Kenji also acknowledges the earlier designs of Go Nagai but with a slight updating to fit modern audience sensibilities.

Conclusion

While not an improvement, “Mazinkaizer – Shitou! Ankoku Dai Shogun” certainly is an enjoyable retelling of “Mazinger Z vs. Ankoku Dai Shogun” and does good fan service.

Jmaruyama

The DVD

Picture:
Vibrant and colorful, this DVD certainly is very nice to look at. The images are crystal clear with very little distortion or flaws (understandable since this is a fairly new OVA release).

Sound:
Excellent Dolby Digital Surround Sound and Stereo. Explosions are loud and booming. Nobuta Kazuo’s musical scoring is very well rendered and very much adds to the whole experience. The theme song “Gates of Hell” by JAM Project featuring Fukuyama Yoshiki is also very infectiously done and sounds great.

Extras:
Unfortunately like all Japanese DVD packages of this type, there are very few extras to be seen. We are only given Chapter Menu options, an Information Guide (mainly promotional information on the MazinKaizer OST, and the previous OVA Series Discs), and an assortment of Bandai/Emotion DVD announcements. Very bland stuff and not worth delving into further.

More information on the OVA can be found on the official “MazinKaizer” site.

Title: “Mazinkaizer – Shitou! Ankoku Dai Shogun”
English Equivalent: “Mazinkaizer – Death Duel with Great General Dark”
Release Date: 7/21/03 (Japan)

Specs:
Color
Time Length: 55 Minutes
Sound: Dolby Digital Stereo (5.1 Channel Surround)
Encoding: Mpeg-2
Region Coding: Region 2 - NTSC
Picture Format: 16:9 (Letterbox)

Product Information:
Catalog Number: BCBA-1500
Distributor: Bandai Visual/Emotion
Price: 5,800 Yen ($41.00 American)

Staff:
Planning: Dynamic Pro
Original Work: Go Nagai
Supervisor: Murata Masahiko
Story: Nishizono Go
Character Designer: Hayama Kenji
Mecha Designer: Yamada Tatsuo
Music: Nobuta Kazuo
Photography: Sato Masato
Art Direction: Miyazaki Mitsuharu
Sound Supervisor: Iwanami Yoshikazu
Sound Effects: Jinbo Daisuke
Animation: Brain’s Base
Production: Bandai Visual

Music:
“Gates of Hell” by JAM Project featuring Fukuyama Yoshiki

Cast:
Kabuto Koji: Ishimaru Hiroya
Yumi Sayaka: Uchikawa Ai
Dr. Mori Mori: Ugaki Hidenari
Prof. Yumi: Yanami Joji
Kabuto Shrio: Aida Sayaka
Dr. Sewashi: Nagano Koichi
Dr. Nosori: Umezu Hideyuki
Boss: Tatsuki Fumihiko
Tsurugi Tetsuya: Yanaka Hiroshi
Hono June: Saigami Mitsuki
Lori: Hiramatsu Akiko
Lol: Kikuchi Shiho
Riki: Karasawa Jun
Ankoku Dai Shogun (Great General Dark): Izuka Shozou
Gorgon Taiko (Arch Duke Gorgon): Chou Katsumi