Go Nagai
Mazinkaiser Vs. Il Generale Nero

I have just been informed that at the end of August I will return to the hospital. 

Good. I already know where I'll spend my holidays.

And I know I'll bring something to watch with me, including this anime with a very, very interesting title.

Before diving into the depths of the story, it is necessary to make a clarification. It is, that is, that "Mazinkaiser Vs. Il Generale Nero" is not a sequel to the late "Mazin-Saga," the one featuring Koji Kabuto with his Mazinger Z and Tetsuya Tsurugi, the super-cool pilot of the even more super-cool "Great Mazinger." This to honor another small clarification... That the one who kicked Black General's ass was THE GREAT MAZINGER! DAMN! And specifically in episodes 30 and 31 ("The Black General Tastes Victory" and "The End of the Black General"), where, in the latter, the most epic clash ever seen in the history of Japanese super robots takes place! The Great Mazinger and The Black General clash in a deadly melee duel. A duel that will see Tetsuya and his super robot emerge victorious.

And perhaps this is the thing I have digested the least... Seeing the ugly face of the Black General and the Mikene Empire screaming "Koji Kabuto!!!! Where are you, Koji Kabuto!!!!!!". A demonic voice means to challenge Kabuto and Mazinkaiser. All, obviously in order to dominate the world.

However, this is precisely the interesting part. World domination. If in the old anime, the world referred primarily to Japan, now it turns out that within the world are also European countries, and so on. This is very gratifying, especially when you see the whole of Paris getting blown up, completely razed to the ground by the Black General's troops who want to find young Koji Kabuto, who is enjoying a well-deserved vacation with Sayaka and Professor Yumi's assistants, to kill him (or destroy Egypt’s great artistic heritage, the Pyramids!).

Most of this anime focuses on the attempt to escape the deadly Black General and Duke Gordon (but this too was taken down by the Great Mazinger, damn it!). In short, you will see Koji Kabuto and Sayaka Yumi, accompanied by the aforementioned professors, fleeing from Paris to Japan.

I won't tell you the whole plot here. Rather, I want to talk about the quality of the anime, which entertains us for over an hour! Go Nagai, this time, has outdone himself, giving us a "special" with a far more adequate duration than the usual meager half-hour (or less) that his previous OVAs enjoyed.

Back to us. While Kabuto is on the run, the Mazinger army is fully engaged in neutralizing the horde of enemy monsters threatening world safety. And this is where deaths are not spared. Say goodbye to Lolly and Laure, pilots of the Million Alpha robot. Just as almost all of the series' protagonists will lose their lives, the professors (Yumi's assistants, including Mori Mori who will sacrifice himself to allow Koji and Sayaka to escape), Masa Ode (pilot of the Dyon Gamma) and Shun Azuma (pilot of the super robot Vayon Beta), who engage in defending continents including Egypt. In short: an unparalleled carnage that strongly recalls Devilman (the manga and OVAs).

It is almost as if master Nagai, this time, wanted to unleash all that he could not do in the seventies. Stuffing this anime with scenes at the edge of gore and malice (terrifying the destruction of Venus Alpha, which is practically mutilated by a mechanical monster, while June faints and finds herself thrown out along with the "Queen of Stars" with her dress shredded and her breasts exposed....).

The most gruesome thing is that Nagai, it seems, wanted to make his super robots appear "alive". In the sense that, when Venus is practically torn apart, it loses "blood" (which I could even overlook, pretending it is some peculiar oil for more than peculiar Japanese super robots, tinted scarlet red). But I absolutely cannot overlook the fact that The Great Mazinger, besides taking quite a beating (though he is the only one who manages to destroy 2 monsters, and even simultaneously.. kudos to Tetsuya!), rises from the ground; then, in a vain attempt to hold himself up, puts a hand on the ground and... COUGHS! But it doesn't end here... from the "mouth" of the Great Mazinger pours the same scarlet oil.... At this point, an exclamation like: "what the hell!" is quite fitting.

I'll let you enjoy the rest.

Among all the characters, one, in particular, will not go unnoticed, namely Boss, who is always made fun of and relegated to the role of an idiot. Well here, he will find a chance to help Koji in a golden opportunity, where he will save his life and, not only that, within which he will also confront Duke Gordon who was about to kill Koji and Sayaka! The legendary Boss Robot will grab Duke Gordon and kill him, all by himself! Legendary Boss! Promoted to hero! He will then be the one to deliver the pilder to Koji for docking with the Mazinkaiser.

And this is where we will witness the bullshit of the millennium.

Professor Yumi's base is no more. Only ruin, desolation, and many warrior monsters wanting to destroy the pilder and Koji piloting it. Everyone thinks of the end. That Yumi and the idiot Shiro are dead (I hoped so, at least for Shiro's death….). Instead, the Photonic Energy Research Center is located in space. That's right! To escape its enemies it has levitated up into the most desolate space. And it will contact Koji saying they are about to send him Mazinkaiser to which they've made some modifications to make it more powerful (as if it weren't powerful enough already). And we will finally witness the so heralded "bullshit of the millennium." That is, the one that sees the docking of the pilder with the Mazinkaiser.

Among the many millions of ways there are to dock a damn shuttle to its super robot, Koji surely chooses the most senseless, idiotic, and dangerous one. But also the one that defies every law of physics.

The Mazinkaiser is dropped from a few light-years distance from space upside down, and Koji will have nothing more to do than to dock, mid-flight, to his super robot's head by following a red trail that will guide him, to a successful docking.

Now, it is known that if I throw a pebble from an elevation (let's say a thousand meters) and this pebble, microscopic in size, hits the noggin of a person who unfortunately happened to be in its path, well…. Poor noggin and poor person.

Now imagine a super robot weighing a few hundred tons, in free fall from the deepest and infinite space….. and imagine a pilder of fairly small dimensions (it fits inside the Boss Robot!) launched at full speed for the "DOCKING!!!!!!!!".

Here they succeed. I don't know how, but they succeed. Everything goes well.

The "God – Demon – Emperor" aka "Mazinkaiser" rises (yes, because it will make a huge hole in the ground) and, in less than ten seconds, will wipe out all the bastard monsters standing in his way.

In the end, we will witness the clash with the Black General. Truly superb.

As always, the story is interesting and manages to entertain the viewer to the end, except for some really unorthodox cues. 
The character design is phenomenal, as far as mechs and super robots, whose physique is really emphasized, especially that of Mazinkaiser and the Black General. At the same time, it's pitiful and of more than inferior quality concerning the same physique of the characters, made flat and really ugly.

Having made this last observation, and knowing that I will never reveal the ending to you, I can only tell you to enjoy this anime which I rate positively, not with full marks, but with an average definitely above sufficiency.

An anime that enjoys an excellent soundtrack, the very evil "The Final Countdown (The Gates Of Hell)" played and sung by Jam Project. Sublime.
While waiting, I am enjoying "Shin Mazinger-Z," in an attempt to understand any damn thing (what is Mazinkaiser doing in the first episode? And then buying an enormous, all-gold guy… too many strange things. Too "strange" our Go Nagai…).

And now, all that remains is to say goodbye.

Sayonara to all!