Let’s
get a new perspective on Mt. Fuji, unlike anything Hokusai ever envisioned. It is
time to go underneath, where remnants of the ancient Mycene civilization were
discovered. It turns out there was even more to be unearthed down there,
including technology that could save (again) or destroy (again) the world in
Junji Shimizu’s Mazinger Z: Infinity,
which releases today on DVD and BluRay.
Using
remnants of the Mycene technology, humanity was able to create the Mazinger
mecha ‘bots to defeat Dr. Hell. He sounds like a bad guy, right? Of course,
they were not able to ultimately kill or capture him, so he remains at large.
Nevertheless, humanity has rebuilt itself using the photon energy cultivated at
the Mt. Fuji power station, under the direction of Sayaka Yumi. As further
exposition, Koji Kabuto was a hero of the Mazinger battles, but he has retired
to a life of scientific research. He has also rather abruptly broken off with
Yumi.
Despite
the awkwardness between them, Kabuto has come to Mt. Fuji to analyze the
massive Mycene Mazinger discovered in the far geologic depths. During his initial
inspection, he launches LISA, a biological-AI hybrid that is supposed to act as
the Mazinger’s key. She remains faithful to Kabuto as her activating “master”-controller
but nefarious old Dr. Hell has found a way to hotwire the so-called “Mazinger:
Infinity.” The Galactus-like behemoth does not merely smash things. It can
destroy our entire universe, replacing it with another from the nexus of
multi-verses. So, we’re dealing with some serious cosmic peril here.
Basically,
the Mazinger franchise is a lot like Evangelion without the angst. Frankly,
the most interesting character in Infinity,
at least for newcomers who have not invested in the prior anime and manga
series, is LISA, who struggles with her partially human state, much like DATA
in Star Trek: Next Gen.
Still,
the Mycene backstory is intriguing and it is cool to see Mt. Fuji employed so prominently
as a backdrop and a plot element. There is also plenty of action, including a
prologue that effectively catalogues the Mazingers’ arsenal of weapons for new
arrivals to the franchise.
There
is no shortage of destruction in Infinity
and the stakes are undeniably high. Nevertheless, it mostly feels like another
episode of the original series, rather something really feature-worthy, despite
being largely self-contained. Regardless, mecha viewers who want to see more robots
shooting at each other will find a quick fix here. Just recommended for the pre-existing
fanbase, Mazinger Z: Infinity releases
today on DVD and BluRay.