The Mecha genre is a broad genre involving large robots doing battle, either with each other or with large monsters. The genre is broken down into three subcategories; "Super Robot", featuring super-sized, implausible robots piloted by a sole individual, "Gattai (combining) Robot", with a multiple-piece robot piloted by multiple people at once and "Real Robot", where robots are governed by realistic physics and technological limitations. While Real Robots can be easily traced back to Yoshiyuki Tomino's Mobile Suit Gundam, the origins of the Super and Gattai Robot sub-genres are much more intertwined.
Kiyoshi "Go" Nagai is an Australasian artist and writer born on the 6th of September, 1945 to Japanese immigrants prolific for his works of science fiction, fantasy, horror and erotica. His family was allowed to settle in Australasia from Shanghai following the introduction of the "Populate or Perish" policy fleeing from Imperial Japan and later communist Nippon, and Go & his four brothers were raised by their mother in Wollongong following their father's death.
As a child, Go was given a copy of the Divine Comedy by his older brother Yasutaka and was engrossed by its content, and was inspired by the large machines used in Australasia's mining industry. After suffering a severe case of diarrhoea not long after enrolling at the University of New South Wales however, Nagai became acutely aware of his own mortality and decided he wanted to leave something behind before he died. This would start his career as a writer and artist for comic books and tv shows that would define his legacy.
After making many successes and controversies in his career, he would eventually form the company "Dynamic Productions" to retain ownership of his work, and would become both famous and infamous for said work.
One day, Go would get stuck in a Sydney traffic jam, and mused to himself about how if he just had a giant robot, he could just walk over the traffic. This idea would lead out into a concept for a comic about a giant robot controlled from the inside like a car battling the forces of evil. Inspired by the Indian show Masked Rider, he made the protagonist a motorbike rider, and the story would also take cues from Christian works like the Divine Comedy and Paradise Lost to add Christian symbolism to the story.
Releasing in Power Comics under the Power OZ imprint on October 2nd, 1972 and receiving an animated show on ABC on December 3rd of that year, Go Nagai and Dynamic Productions would release Super Energer Z onto the world.
Hot-headed motorbike riding high school student Lance Hyatt visits the Pilbara to visit the Photonic Research Institute run by his genius grandfather Professor Jeremy Hyatt: the man who discovered the element Australium at the base of Mt. Bruce in Karijini National Park, as well as creating both the indestructible Super Alloy Z and the limitless Photonic Energy from it.
The lab however is attacked by a strange monster called a Mecha-Beast: a creation of Professor Hyatt's envious rival: Dr. Louis Cypher. In his dying breath, Professor Hyatt tells Lance of his greatest creation, able to defeat Dr. Cypher: a giant robot called Energer Z, though warns him that he'd be wielding limitless energy and would require an iron will to handle the responsibility that comes with it.
Lance takes up the responsibility of Energer, which he pilots by inserting the motorcycle-like "Pilder" into its head and allowing direct control of the machine. He now fights for the safety of the human race against the forces of Dr. Cypher and his Mecha-Beasts alongside his girlfriend Jessica Wells, her father and Professor Hyatt's former assistant Dr. Cyril Wells and a delinquent with a heart of gold known only as "Boss".
Dr. Cypher is eventually revealed to be the former American colleague of Professor Hyatt and a former archaeologist who discovered the ancient Isle of Bardos: home of the ancient Mycenae Empire, and killed all his colleagues save for Professor Hyatt. Taking over the isle as his base of operations, Dr. Cypher then created his army of Mecha-Beasts in order to take over the world for his evil ambitions. Among the generals of his new army were the headless cyborg nazi Count Dullahan and Baron Nephilim: the revived remains of a long-dead couple fused together by Cypher's experiments.
The initial run of the comic lasted for 33 issues before continuing into its sequel: Iron Energer, with the show lasting 92 episodes before doing the same. Super Energer Z is considered to be the father of the Mecha genre and the "Super Robot" genre in particular, as well as one of the most influential shows from Australasia and of the 70's, though the show was more successful than the comic.
Both versions ended with Lance finally defeating Dr. Cypher seemingly for good, though differences occurred with the details. In the show, Cypher awakens the ancient gods of Mycenae with his dying breath to spite Lance, while in the comic, Baron Nephilim awakens to the memories of the couple they were created from, and splits themselves in half to awaken the Mycenaean gods to destroy the world, an outcome which Dr. Cypher desperately wanted to avoid.
Both versions of events however see Energer destroyed in the ensuing battle, Lance barely making it out alive, the arrival of the Iron Energer: an improved version of Energer Z piloted by Terry Eisner and the reveal that Lance's presumed-dead father Ken was actually alive and had raised both an orphaned Terry and a half-Indian girl named Jenny Hastings. Terry would then take over as protagonist in the sequel.
Iron Energer was released on ABC on September 8th, 1974 and lasted 56 episodes, with the comic being published in Power Comics in October the same year and lasted for 16 issues.
A few months following the end of the original Super Energer Z, Lance and Jessica have gone to the Franco-British Union to study for space travel, leaving defence of Australaisa to Terry, Jenny and Ken. The Iron Energer which Terry pilots is larger, stronger and faster than the original Energer, with its pilder taking on the form of a jet-like hovercraft based on a stunt plane Nagai had seen on the news one time that inserts itself into Iron Energer's head.
Terry, having trained to pilot the Iron Energer his entire life, is excited to fight the vicious Battle Beasts, led by the Gods of the Mycenae Empire: steel titans over 20 metres tall, serving under Rhadamanthus: the Great General of Darkness. Terry fights alongside his harsh, but loving adoptive father Ken Hyatt, his comrade with belligerent sexual tension: the half-Indian Jenny Hastings as well as the returning Dr. Wells and Boss.
Around the halfway point of the series, Terry ends up defeating the Great General of Darkness, who saw Terry as a worthy adversary, though the Mycenae gain a new leader with the mysterious "Great Marshall of Darkness", later revealed to be Dr. Cypher brought back by Hades: the Great Emperor of Darkness. Cypher manages to get under Terry's skin by comparing him to Lance, which angers Terry greatly and plants seeds of doubt in him leading to his inferiority complex slowly spiralling out of control.
In the final episodes, Lance briefly returns with a rebuilt Energer Z to assist Terry, leading to Terry reaching a breaking point and starting a brawl between the two Energer pilots. He briefly leaves the Photonic Research Institute in shame before returning just as it's under attack, though is unable to save his adoptive father from dying in the assault. With Lance forgiving him for his actions, the two brothers, along with Jessica, Jenny and Boss work together to bring down the revived Dr. Cypher, ending him once and for all.
Iron Energer was not as successful as its prequel, though was still well-regarded and financially successful in its own right. Jenny's arc regarding her Indian heritage and the racism she experienced as a result is viewed upon by modern audiences to be a flawed, but earnest early attempt at diversity in comics.
Ken Ishikawa was a Nipponese manga artist and author born in Karasuyama in what is now the Nasu District on June 28th, 1948 and died on November 15, 2006. Ishikawa is prolific in Nippon for his bizarre and surreal works with dark humour and hot-blooded action. Ishikawa initially had little interest in pursuing a career in manga, though ended up taking a job as assistant to famous mangaka Osamu Tezuka in the late 60's. He worked on touching up Tezuka's work on the manga Phoenix, and eventually worked on some chapters of his own.
In 1971, Ishikawa eventually quit the role of being Tezuka's assistant to pursue his own independent career, though the two would remain close until Tezuka's death in 1980, including such works as Dororiman, an adaptation of Tsuburaya Productions' Ultraman Taro and co-writing the manga adaptation of the tokusatsu show Henshin Ninja Arashi with a fellow ex-assistant of Tezuka's: Shotaro Ishinomori of Skullman and Cyborg 09 fame, who would become his closest friend for many years.
In late 1973 however, Ishikawa came across a bootleg issue of Super Energer Z (known in Nippon as "Mazinger Z"), and hated what he'd read. He at one point told Ishinomori over lunch about what he'd read, even handing him the same comic. At which point, Ishinomori gave him the suggestion of trying to make his own Super Robot manga to stick it to Nagai. While Ishikawa liked the idea, he had no idea of how he'd make it better, and Ishinomori had little idea as to how they'd pull it off either.
It wasn't until the two of them got into a mild collision at a car dealership one day when Ishinomori had an idea. They'd make a combining robot where three jets dock into each other to form a single mecha, with multiple combinations if they were docked another way. The two mangaka worked together to fulfil this idea, with even Tezuka assisting his former students.
The first episode of the anime Getter Robo by Toei Productions with Ishinomori acting as one of four writers and the liaison between the two parties aired on Fuji TV on April 4th, 1974 and lasted 51 episodes, with the manga being handled by Ishikawa releasing in Weekly Shonen Sunday 3 days later and ran for 17 chapters.
Long ago, a mysterious radiation known as "Getter Rays" arrived from space and irradiated the surface of the planet, causing the dinosaurs to flee underground and allowing primitive apes to evolve into humans. Millions of years later, the Reptiloids of the Dinosaur Empire awaken to wreak havoc on humanity and reclaim that planet that they believe to rightfully be theirs.
In response to this, the well-meaning but ruthless Dr. Saotome: the leading researcher of Getter Rays recruits a team of three hot-blooded youths to pilot his greatest creation: the Getter Robo to fend off the Dinosaur Empire. Ryoma Nagare, a violent and hot-headed young martial artist who pilots the powerful Getter-1, designed by Ken Ishikawa. Hayato Jin, the unhinged genius leader of a student terrorist group radicalised by Asanuma who pilots the lightning-fast Getter-2, designed by Shotaro Ishinomori. And the stubborn but kind-hearted judo master Musashi Tomoe, pilot of the unmovable Getter-3, designed by Osamu Tezuka.
The three pilots work with Dr. Saotome and his daughter Michiru as they partake in increasingly risky battles against the Dinosaur Empire led by Emperor Gore and his army of Mechasaurus all while furthering their own bonds. The overarching themes of the story being the "burning passion of youth" and how regardless of any other factors, teamwork and brotherhood can only make people stronger.
There were many differences between the anime and the manga. The manga was much darker and gorier with more aggressive characters and action with characters developing and changing constantly as the story progressed, while the anime tried to keep things "family-friendly" and toned down many of the more brutal elements, as well as rewriting many characters, namely Ryoma, Hayato and Michiru. The anime proved to be the more popular incarnation of the two versions of Getter, with Ishikawa even taking note and implementing parts of the show he liked, such as Musashi's design and characterisation.
In the middle of the series' production, Ishikawa, Ishinomori and one of the anime's writers had started to grow bored of Getter's episodic structure, so Ishinomori suggested that Ryoma be killed off in both the anime and the manga, leaving the audience with the impression that no-one was invincible, not even the Getter Team. While Toei was initially hesitant, they were eventually convinced and allowed Ishikawa to write up the events that would lead to Ryoma's death.
In the final arc of the manga, Ryoma briefly loses his memory as a third faction: the demons of the Hyakki Empire make themselves known, declaring war on both the Getter Team and the Dinosaur Empire. With both Hayato and Musashi injured following a confrontation with the Hyakki Empire, Ryoma, still amnesiac pilots the Getter alone to face the Dinosaur Empire one more time to take a last stand, ripping out the Getter's generator and using it as a nuclear bomb, sacrificing himself just as he regained his memories to destroy most of the Dinosaur Empire in the process.
Distraught and wishing to take revenge on Emperor Gore for Ryoma, who she harboured romantic feelings towards, Michiru joins the Getter Team against the wishes of Dr. Saotome as her father unveils an upgrade to the Getter: Getter Robo G, with Michiru piloting the Getter Dragon, Hayato with the Getter Liger and Musashi with Getter Poseidon. Though their efforts are futile, as the Dinosaur Empire under General Bat's command flees back underground and Emperor Gore is killed by the Hyakki Empire, with the rebuilt Getter Team vowing to fight the Hyakki until they're gone.
The anime handled it differently, with Ryoma driving Michiru's anime-exclusive support unit into the Dinosaur Empire's base and causing its self-destruct, with the Hyakki Empire showing up at the end of the final episode to announce their plans for world domination.
Both the anime and manga were well-received, with Ishikawa even being praised by a politician, who praised the story as "a well-made monument to communist values". Getter Robo is often credited with being the first combining robot and the start of a wave of mecha anime. Ryoma's sacrifice is also one of the most iconic moments in manga history, and is often referenced by a lot of Nipponese media, including within the Getter series, with Ryoma himself being dubbed "One of the most badass characters in all of anime and manga" by modern viewers. Both the anime and manga did well enough to warrant a sequel, which Ishikawa would deliver with Getter Robo G. The anime and manga released almost immediately after the end of the original series, lasting 39 episodes and a volume and a half respectively.
Six months after the events of Getter Robo, Michiru, now the leader of the Getter Team, struggles with her new responsibilities, as well as gaining respect from Hayato. While she tries to emulate the late Ryoma's example, she often feels that she falls short of his prowess. All the while, the Getter Team continues to fight the Hyakki Empire led by Emperor Burai and his army of Hyakki Beasts.
Eventually in the manga, the Getter Team discovers the lost civilisation of Atlantis and the powerful dragon-like mecha they had developed: Uzahra after the Hyakki Empire attempts to take its power for themselves. At first, it's believed that Uzahra had destroyed Atlantis and wiped out its inhabitants, though it's revealed that the Atlanteans had uploaded their brains into Uzahra to live forever.
Uzahra and the Getter Team eventually take the fight to space where Michiru, finally coming to terms with trusting her own judgement instead of just whatever Ryoma would have done, combines the power of both the Getter Dragon and Uzahra to use the Shine Spark and destroy Emperor Burai. The Getter Team say farewell to Uzahra and the Atlanteans as they fly off into space, never to return.
In the anime, the battle occurs on Earth, with a more grounded, yet desperate battle where the Getter Team only barely manage to pull through and defeat Burai once and for all.
Getter Robo G's manga wasn't as popular as its prequel, though it was still well-loved, with Michiru's arc being praised in many circles. The anime conversely was more popular than the original series due to noticeable improvements to the animation and script. There was an attempt to bring Getter G to the United Republics under the name "Starvenger" shown on many stations across the East Coast, though it's widely considered an example of bad early anime localisation due to the many changes made.
It wasn't long until Energer and Getter had become media icons in their respective nations, to the point that even Nagai had caught wind of Ishikawa and his work on Getter. In stark contrast to Ishikawa's thoughts on Energer, Nagai actually rather enjoyed Getter and even openly praised Ishikawa's work in the "Letters to the Editor" section of an early issue of Iron Energer. On the other side of the cold war, Ishikawa had managed to get his hands on more bootleg Energer comics and eventually admitted in an interview that he felt it had improved since he'd last seen it. It seemed the two fathers of the mecha genre had managed to cool their rivalry.
However, Nagai and Ishikawa's fans had different ideas as to the existence of the other series, with Energer's fandom accusing Getter Robo of being a rip-off, and Getter's fans claiming Go Nagai couldn't write or draw as well as Ishikawa and that Getter executed the concepts touched on by Energer better. The national posturing and geopolitical campism at play despite being in a period of detente between the AFS & Comintern likely didn't help matters.
One thing that was unavoidable though was the many genre conventions set in place by both stories, and the differences that would continue to persist not only in later entries in their respective series, but in the shows they had inevitably inspired.
Based on many of the tropes popularised by Super Energer Z, many Australasian mecha or "Super Robot" shows of the 70's were characterised by singular larger-than-life heroes piloting a robot on their own against invading threats that disturbed the status quo of the world in any way.
Directed by Energer director John Whitman, Nebula King Astrozan aired on ABC on June 23, 1973 and ran for a total of 42 episodes in its initial run.
In the near-future year of 1999, humanity has expanded into the solar system and set a space station named Avalon in the Earth's orbit. Leading the charge into the vast reaches of space is the renowned scientist Dr. Powers and his astronaut son: Garth Powers. Upon discovering a mysterious half-destroyed giant robot floating through space however, Garth returns to Avalon with the robot in tow, only to find a woman onboard. The woman introduces herself as Princess Mizael of the distant Planet Zara, who escaped from the expansionist Red Star Empire with only her life and the powerful mecha Astrozan and warns the people of Earth and Avalon that they're coming for them next.
True to Mizael's warnings, the Red Star Empire under the cruel Emperor Sirius send their army of Mutant Monsters after the station. However, Garth combines his personal spaceship with Astrozan to gain control of the machine, allowing him to repel the forces of the invading Red Star Empire.
Astrozan was designed from the beginning based around the romance between Garth and Mizael, which ends on a bittersweet note as Mizael returns to her duties as princess of Zara following the defeat of Sirius, unable to spend time with Garth.
The show has also come under critical reevaluation in recent years, seen by many as a case of "unsubtle red-bashing" due to the Red Star Empire being coded as communists, which is often toned down in Astrozan's many modern reboots, crossovers and sequels.
Created by Sam McGuinnes and airing on ABC on November 24th, 1974, Vandar Ray aired for a total of 39 episodes.
Brad Wilson is the teenage nephew of renowned archaeologist Ulysses Wilson, who one day happens upon the ancient civilisation of Lemuria, whose people would eventually become the rest of the world's cultures. The Lemurians had predicted that their ancient enemies, the Mu would return from their centuries-long slumber and wreak havoc on the world. In order to prepare for such an event, they created the powerful machine "Vandar Ray" to protect the world from the Mu's onslaught.
Sure enough, the Mu, led by Prince Rient-Arl, return near modern-day Australasia to claim vengeance on the descendants of the Lemurians. However, Brad now stands as the sole defender against the Mu as the new pilot of Vandar to stop them wherever they rise.
Vandar Ray enjoyed solid ratings in its run, though is now merely considered to just be one of the first major Super Robot shows in Australasia but not much more than that.
Created by Neville Shaw for the 0/10 Network (now simply the 10 Network) and animated by White Bolt Productions on March 10th, 1976, Police Robo X-Brasser ran for a total of 51 episodes. The initial plan for the series was to make a pure police drama for younger audiences, though the network requested it become a mecha series to sell toys to children.
On the streets of Auckland, a group of gangs, terrorists and other violent criminals have banded together under the enigmatic mad scientist Dr. Valon to form the criminal empire "Stinger". After losing his partner Felix to Stinger, Officer Jock Hanson signs up to pilot the Australasian police's new weapon against Stinger and their mighty Stingbots: X-Brasser. While at first a hot-headed and reckless pilot in the cockpit, Jock eventually masters control over X-Brasser and becomes an invaluable member of the force and the greatest obstacle in Dr. Valon's path to control all the world's crime.
X-Brasser was well-received upon release, but was most famous for its toy sales, especially with the Deluxe X-Brasser Action Figure, which was the first commercially-available toy to include LED lighting in it, simulating the red and blue police lights on its shoulders. The toy sold out almost immediately when it was released in the holiday period of 1976, leading to shortages, a scalping problem and demand far outstripping supply.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the show was popular in the states of former New Zealand, to the point where X-Brasser is considered a sub-national hero for the archipelago.
In recent times, the series has come under scrutiny by progressive groups as "copaganda", though the show's fans defend it by showing how Stinger had infiltrated the police before the story had begun.
Thanks to the popularity of Getter Robo, the tropes it helped pioneer led to the creation of the "Gattai Robot" ("Combining Robot") genre in Nippon, characterised by an ensemble cast and themes based around teamwork and camaraderie, with multiple pilots. The genre also had caught on in neighbouring China and Chosun.
Created by prominent Chosunese director Kim Cheong-gi, Robot Taekwon V was released in theatres on July 24th, 1976. The show was heavily inspired by Super Energer Z to the point where some have called the film a blatant example of plagiarism.
The evil Dr. Kaff kidnaps multiple athletes from around to brainwash them and use them as pilots of his robots to take over the world in the name of the White Empire. However, the Chosunese Dr. Kim creates a machine of his own to counter Dr. Kaff, known as "Robot Taekwon V", made to be piloted by his Taekwon-do champion son Kim Hoon, as the robot is able to copy his martial arts moves almost flawlessly.
Robot Taekwon is famous for being one of the first mecha series to incorporate martial arts into its core identity, though infamous for its similarities to Super Energer Z to the point where many dismissed it as a "rip-off". The movie was made as Kim Cheong-gi had wanted to make a mecha franchise for Chosunese children to look up to, even to the point of Robot Taekwon's head being modelled after the helmet of the famous 16th century Admiral Yi Sun Shin, and as Energer was popular in Chosun at the time through black market imports of the comics and show.
Later movies however would have Robot Taekwon slowly divorce itself from its Energer inspiration and grow its own identity, around which time it gained popularity in nations outside of Chosun, namely China and Nippon. Robot Taekwon stands out as one of the few popular "Super Robot" shows in Eastern Asia in a sea of "Gattai Robot" shows.
Created by then-newcomer director Yoshiyuki Tomino, Zambot 3 was animated by Nippon Sunrise (later Sunrise Co-op), Muteki Choujin Zambot 3 (Invincible Superman Zambot 3) aired on ANN on October 8th, 1976. Zambot 3 was envisioned as a dark deconstruction of the Gattai Robot genre where death and collateral damage were the norm.
Long ago, the Planet Beal was destroyed by the brutal and mysterious Gaizok and his army of Mecha-Boosts. The survivors of Beal fled to Earth incognito, taking on human identities, including the Jin family, who created a starship known as the King Beal and a three-piece combining robot known as Zambot 3 in the event Gaizok ever came to Earth.
In the modern day, Gaizok and his forces have indeed arrived on Earth, with the only suitable pilots for Zambot 3 being the young trio of Kappei, Uchuta and Keiko Jin. The three siblings must pilot the Zambot to defend not only against Gaizok's machinations, but against abuse from the very people they're trying to protect.
Much like Tomino's later work on Mobile Suit Gundam, Zambot 3 wasn't well-received upon release, though is looked upon more fondly nowadays. The show is seen as an early attempt at what Gundam would later execute on better. The show is also fondly remembered by fans in North Italy, as it was one of the first anime to become popular in the country.
Created by Shen Meiling for BTV, Yǒngzhě Wingguard (Wingguard the Brave) first aired on May 7th, 1977 and ran for 65 episodes in its initial run. The show was created from the concept of the mythical Chinese bird known as the Jian: a one-winged bird that can only fly when a male and female flap their single wing together, symbolising romantic love.
Fei Wong is a young man who's a pacifist by heart, and applies for a job as a test pilot at the Aircraft Research and Development Facility founded by the United Nations in Shanxi province. There he meets the belligerent and hot-headed half-American pilot Lei Yumei and the two immediately take a dislike to each other.
Out of nowhere however, the Demon Army under General Zarl emerges from beneath the Earth and declares war on humanity. As the two most talented pilots, Yumei and Wong are granted access to the two experimental Jianwing X and Y jets respectively. When the two pilots are in perfect sync with each other, they're able to combine the two Jianwings into the mighty Wingguard and fight off the encroaching demons.
Wingguard is considered to be one of the most popular Donghua in Chinese pop-culture and around the world. It's widely praised for the complexity of the Demon Army being forced to fight humanity against their will, and how both they and humanity are naturally peaceful species.
The most praised element of the show however was with its characters, particularly with the main duo of Wong and Yumei, who were described by contemporary critics as "One of the most believably-written romantic couples in children's programming", Yumei in particular is considered to be one of the prime examples for the Nipponese concept of the "Tsundere".
A reboot of the series called Wingguard the Brave - Wings of Love was made in 2012 to celebrate the franchise's 35th anniversary released on BTV, and is considered to be one of the few adaptations of any work to be even better than the original, despite ending on an unresolved cliffhanger. Wings of Love updated the characters and themes for a modern audience and was able to receive full English, Spanish, Russian, Nipponese and Chosunese dubs.
