Go Nagai is a provocative and prolific creator. He is most known in the US for Mazinger Z, Devilman, and Cutie Honey. All of which were groundbreaking in many ways, but they also all have oddly objectifying themes for the female characters. On one hand, Cutie Honey (1973) has the first female protagonist in a shonen manga series. But every time the character transforms into the heroine, she is nude for a second. Devilman (1972) is full of female characters, but a large number of them are humanoid demons who wear no clothes. And of course, Mazinger Z (1972) introduced female mecha to manga and anime, but that innovative inclusion is tempered by the fact that almost all these robots have breasts that are weaponized and can be launched as warheads. All that said, I don't find any of these traits actually offensive. Sometimes they are worthy of an eye-roll, but nothing is overtly sexual and there is a consistent playfulness that let's you just enjoy the simple retro designs and historical context.
UNITING ALL WOMEN OF PLASTIC
Showing posts with label Centauria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Centauria. Show all posts
Friday, March 20, 2020
Centauria - GO NAGAI ROBOT COLLECTION!
Go Nagai is a provocative and prolific creator. He is most known in the US for Mazinger Z, Devilman, and Cutie Honey. All of which were groundbreaking in many ways, but they also all have oddly objectifying themes for the female characters. On one hand, Cutie Honey (1973) has the first female protagonist in a shonen manga series. But every time the character transforms into the heroine, she is nude for a second. Devilman (1972) is full of female characters, but a large number of them are humanoid demons who wear no clothes. And of course, Mazinger Z (1972) introduced female mecha to manga and anime, but that innovative inclusion is tempered by the fact that almost all these robots have breasts that are weaponized and can be launched as warheads. All that said, I don't find any of these traits actually offensive. Sometimes they are worthy of an eye-roll, but nothing is overtly sexual and there is a consistent playfulness that let's you just enjoy the simple retro designs and historical context.
Thursday, March 19, 2020
Centauria Figurines - MAZINGER ANGELS!
Calling this group the "Mazinger Angels" is a bit of a misnomer. All four of these characters were introduced individually throughout different iterations of the Mazinger series throughout the early 1970s. Then in 2004, they were brought together in a new manga series called Mazinger Angels (a spoof on Charlie's Angels), but with very different color schemes, while these figures here show their original colors. I became obsessed with Go Nagai's female mecha about 15 years now when a friend was reminiscing about his favorite childhood cartoon in the Philippines and how these big female robots would launch their breasts like missiles. I had to Google it out of morbid curiosity and quickly got swept into the world of Mazinger. The series is notable for introducing female mecha to the world of anime and manga. But it's also notorious for the Oppai Missile System, where these characters literally have weaponized breasts. It's ridiculous and weird, but I overlook it for the historical context of these awesome bots.
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