A Nostalgic Ride for the Fans: Mazinger Z: Infinity Review

One of the original giant robot anime’s return is a big one. Mazinger Z: Infinity is a stunning feature, essentially a follow up to the smash hit anime from the 1970s, beautifully animated and even stylized after the original series, but may leave those unfamiliar with the franchise wanting more.

It’s been a big last few months for works of Go Nasai. Along with the release of Netflix’s Devilman: CRYBABY and the announcement of a new Cutie Honey project, Mazinger Z: INFINITY is part of the celebration of 50 years of Go Nasai as a creator and also 45 years of Mazinger Z as a franchise. The Mazinger Z anime helped kick off the big mecha boom in the 1970s, and is a rather influential work on the genre as a whole. Mazinger Z: Infinity is a sequel of sorts to the anime, with lots of nods to the original series, a mix of CGI and hand drawn animation stylized to fit the series’ aesthetic, and even has a fun opening reminiscent of the series, a sure nostalgic hit for the older crowd.

Courtesy of VIZ Media, I recently was able to attend the limited screening of Mazinger Z: Infinity. The film drops you right into where the anime left off, and gives you just enough backstory to get you by. Taking place a decade after the anime’s end, the original gang is back, albeit a bit wiser this time around. Koji Kabuto is a successful and much lauded scientist, Sayaka Yumi is the Photon Lab’s director, Tetsuya Tsurugi and Jun Hono are married and expecting, Shiro has become a great pilot in his own right, and Boss and the crew are still as smart and as zany as ever. With the threat of Dr. Hell behind them, it seems everyone is focused on photon energy, but a newly discovered structure so large that Mazinger Z could pilot it and the mysterious lifeform Lisa could cause problems in this relatively peaceful world.

(Note: mild spoilers below)

The premise of the story is ultimately surprise, Dr Hell is still alive, and wants the large structure, known as Infinity, for his own nefarious purposes, while Koji and the gang are tasked with stopping him and saving the world. A rather thin premise, I have to admit, but one told quite nicely. If anything, the main story thread is really there to show fans of the series how the crew has aged and are dealing with their lives, and how they handle the return of their biggest enemy. Marriages, babies, new jobs, stalled relationships, and more, these human elements were to me more interesting than Dr Hell’s return. For me, one of the most interesting parts of Dr Hell coming back is his insistence that humanity is doomed because its wild diversity means consensus can’t be reached and problems won’t get fixed, and Koji and the crew rejecting that notion.

This doesn’t mean that the film is nothing but human drama. If you’re here for robot fights, Mazinger Z: Infinity is chock full of them, a technocolored ride of demons and mechs and explosions. The animation team did wonderful work on these and the rest of the film, with wonderful color and smooth animation. A few missteps with the CGI robots, and some questionable but very on brand fanservice scenes are a little jarring, but overall the feature is a visual delight. Sound is also great, with a great soundtrack and a new cast of voice actors who did a great job capturing the spirit of the 1970s characters.

The film overall however is a hard sell to those not a fan of the original series, and at times feels stuck in the past. The in medias res drop in for the film results in about 15 or so minutes of characters saying OH I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS EVENTUALLY HAPPENED and IT’S BEEN SO LONG SINCE THAT giving a new viewer just enough backstory to place a character in the story’s hierarchy, but doesn’t give any explanation to motivations and deeper relationship problems. For a film supposedly representing a beloved cast in a more mature and aged fashion, the main cast still seems rather immature at times, with side characters painfully onesided. The philosophical elements in the film are obnoxiously shallow, the political scenes equally so. The movie seems like it would have greatly benefited from either being 2-3 movies or a TV miniseries, which would have given these elements the time the deserved to be more fleshed out.

Mazinger Z: Infinity has much to offer, assuming you’re either already a Mazinger fan or someone willing to toss aside the glaring issues with the film and just want something fun to watch. If you’re looking for a deeper film that you don’t need much knowledge on the franchise to enjoy, this isn’t for you. It’ll still be an okay watch, but your enjoyment probably won’t be as high as the super fan whose waited decades for a new Mazinger project. For what it is, ultimately a movie for the fans, it’s great. For everyone else, it’s a 90 minute slog with good music and some cool mech battles.

-Janette G

Story:C-
Graphics:B-
Sound: A

OVERALL: C+

Pros:
+ Animation is gorgeous and still honors the 1970s anime
+ Soundtrack is amazing
+ A good sequel to an anime series some 40+ years old

Cons:
- Limited appeal to those unfamiliar to the franchise
- Attempts at “deep complex story telling” fall flat and may have been better off left out entirely
- Characterization is lacking, even by anime standards