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| Mazinger Z Mystery Girl "Espionage R1" |
Like most kids growing up in Hawaii, we grew up with a healthy dose of Tokusatsu with shows like Kikaider, Kamen Rider and Five Rangers, and when out local theater showed a limited run of the animated "Super Robot” series Mazinger Z, we made sure to catch them all!
The theater had a special 13 week run, where each weekend they would show one episode of Mazinger Z double-billed with some other, completely unconnected movie (of which I never stayed for, driving my mother crazy: “If you’re paying for it, you should watch BOTH of them!!!”) and after the 13th episode ran, I thought I’d seen the whole series.
It was only when I was older that I realized that Mazinger Z had a LONG and prolific run, clocking in at a whopping 92 episodes! 92 episodes!!! That’s almost as long as Kamen Rider’s original run, and that's not even counting Mazinger Z’s second chapter with Great Mazinger (which itself ran for an additional 52 episodes)!!
The point is, despite my loyal visits to the theater those thirteen weeks, there was an awful lot of Mazinger Z’s story that I just didn’t know.
Years later as adults, me and my friend Jas (who, like me, was a fervent Mazinger Z fan and a fellow theater-goer back in that original 13 episode run) would still collect all the paraphernalia regarding the show (he was more into toys, I was more into the records and books) and one day (around 1998 or so) he showed up at my house with a huge deck of Mazinger Z cards. Whoa!
These were new, stylish cards complete with foil versions, etc, and this series took the time to showcase each and every epsidoe, villian, and hero in the series. there was even a “Great Scene” section and it was through these card we got to see just what we’d been missing!
Of all the monters and villians they featured, I was particularly taken by a very pretty young girl in one of the cards. Not only was she as pretty as the day…but she seemed to be wearing nothing but her underwear! Another card in the “great scenes” category showed this girl pinned down on the ground in a seeming grimace. Who WAS this girl and what was her story???
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| Mazinger Z Cards with Mystery Girl |
Looking at the card, I could read (since it was in katakana) that her name was “Espionage R-1”, but I couldn’t read any of the details. With a name like Espionage R-1 though, I figured she MUST be a Secret Agent of some kind….but it was pure guesswork, and at the time there was no way of verifying my guesses or reading up more; even on the internet, I came up dry.
In any case, Jas had bought the whole case of the MazingerZ cards, and so ended up with a ton of doubles. These he graciously bestowed upon me, and though it’s not the complete set, I’ve always cherished ‘em!
Fast forward to just the other week and I’m dusting off my box of tokusatsu toys (looking for my old Kamen Rider X 5” Doll) and come across the Mazinger Z cards. I of course, rifle through the set looking for those cards of Espionage R-1, and upon seeing them and remembering how much I liked this character and wanted to know more about her, thought it was time to give the internet another try! MAN, was I rewarded!
While not as popular nowadays in America as it was back when we were kids, Mazinger Z (as well as a lot of other anime) has a HUGE following in Mexico, and the net was just filled with Spanish fans’ fanpages about our favorite giant Super-Robot!
Along with other facts, I was rewarded with info of Espionage R-1, including a (translated in English) synopsis about just WHO she was!
Reading, I was informed that Espionage R-1 was a robot sent by Doctor Hell to infiltrate the Mazinger Z Headquarters, under the guise of a woman named Erika. She successfully enters the Kabuto Institution, but instead of pursuing her mission, she falls in love with Koji instead!
Man, what I would have given to watch this episode! Checking the threads on youtube, I couldn’t find any complete episodes, though I did find a few (Spanish dubbed) clips of Espionage R-1 made by loving fans. Of course I watched these...but I really wanted to see the real show!
Then I tried looking up the show by its Episode Number, and typing in “Mazinger Z Episode 67”, I was rewarded with KissAnime, a fully streaming site featuring a BUNCH of Mazinger Z episodes…INCLUDING episode 67!!!! I was FINALLY going to be able to watch the show and see the girl whom I’d only known about through a card for years…and finally get to place those scenes that the card depicted!
The drama begins with Koji Kabuto (driver of Mazinger Z) seeinga beautiful girl being pursued by Dr. Hell’s minions and saves her. (This assault by the soldiers is the first card screencap) She faints from the attack and Koji brings her back to the Headquarters.
LOL, Sayaka (who famously has a crush on Koji) is properly incensed that Koji brought home this elegant lady (“even her perfume is expensive!” she sneers) but no one else suspects anything.
During the night, however, Erika’s “true” side comes out, and in her evil state, she attacks Koji. Koji fends her off in the dark, however and she flees the room before he can recognize her.
The next day Erika says she’s been having troubling visions of a monster attacking Japan and so she and Koji go out to look for it in his jet. Their hunt is to no avail, however, and when the two are caught in a rainstorm, they shack up in an abandoned hut to dry off.
Stripping off his wet clothes, Koji persuades Erika to take her clothes off to dry, too, and here’s where the image on the second trading card comes in, with a giggling Erika shucking off her dress to stand before Koji in only her underwear.
The show continues, however, with Erika reaching back and unhooking her BRA, and even though they cut away (to show a stunned Koji), I was completely shocked by how ADULT this was!
Go Nagai was always known for his bawdy style (Cutie Honey bursting out of her clothes to henshin into her super-form and Boob Missiles launching out of Aphrodite A’s bust are but a few examples) but I was still stunned to see something so RACY in a show for kids!
The two leave the hut that evening, where they are confronted by Baron Ashura (that half man/half woman being no one can forget) who informs Koji that Erika is in fact one of THEIR agents named Espionage R-1 and her mission is to KILL him!
Koji cannot believe Erika is bad and even when she begins strangling him, he holds fast his trust in her.
And of course, with Koji staring into her eyes so passionately, Erika breaks free from the evil trance. In the time she’s been with him, she’s fallen madly in love with him and wants nothing morre that to become human and be with him. She lashes out against the baddies and helps Koji escape.
As Koji leaves to get Mazinger Z (hey, I almost forgot the show was about him) Erika is reprimanded by Dr. Hell’s men, and when she radios Koji to tell him the Monster’s weakness, they kill her in a hail of bullets.
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com on June 8, 2017
