UFO Robo Grendizer

UFO Robo Grendizer... why the hell did I read this again? Oh yeah, I made the educated decision to read every main-line Dynamic Productions mecha manga that I could get my hands on... why did I do that?

Anyways; UFO Robo Grendizer is the third manga in the Mazinger series. It is by far the most entertaining, and largely because the villains are called Vegans... you can see the potential for funny out-of-context panels that creates.

Grendizer doesn't do anything out of the norm for a Dynamic Productions mecha manga. You got a central robot with some kind of toy gimmick, a generic evil force with some kind of world-dominating plot, robots punching each other with children strapped to their fists- wait hold on, what? Jokes aside, of COURSE there's loads of unexpected violence and gore in a series clearly aimed at selling plastic toys to small children; it's a franchise with Go Nagai's name on it, why wouldn't there be?

As far as the plot goes, there's something about an alien duke or prince from another planet arriving on Earth to alarm and assist the humans in fighting the dreaded Vegans, then some unexpectedly dark stuff happens in a plot involving robots turning into frisbees, and Mazinger and Great Mazinger show up a few chapters in to get their crap punched in by Grendizer. It's absolutely nothing to write home about, but it is pretty amusing at times.

At a brisk 5 chapters in length, Grendizer thankfully doesn't overstay its welcome. If you're looking for some 1970s manga cheese, Grendizer delivers.

All in all I'll give UFO Robo Grendizer a rather generous 5/10. It is far from an essential reading but it is super funny seeing where Getter Robo got the design idea for the giant UFO mechs that appear in its later series.