Rocket Punch!

Blogging about cartoons has made me all nostalgic for my own safe, sweet childhood. I was the kind of kid who loved rainbows, ponies, princesses and… GIANT ROBOTS!

I’d get up at 5 or 6 am to watch Transformers (don’t ask why it came on that early–it’s Pakistan). I caught every episode of Voltron—lions and vehicles. I scoffed at the Go-bots–but still watched.

But none of those were my first robot love. Before I’d ever heard Prime say, “Autobots, transform and–roll out!” or seen Voltron put a big X in his enemies with his blazing sword, there was…

MAZINGER Z!

I was 4 when we got our first VCR. Mazinger Z was one of the few videos my family owned (don’t worry, I had the English version). I watched Mazinger Z every single day after I got home from Montessori school–the same four or five episodes over and over again.

I loved Mazinger Z, not for his power, but for sheer dogged determination. He was the solid, reliable kind of robot. The evil robots were the ones who got all the glamorous super powers–they could fly, break the sound barrier, shoot lighting out of their heads, break apart and reassemble. Poor Mazinger got left behind, electrocuted, beaten up and battered. But he never gave up. I loved him because he was the underdog who persevered and won.

Thanks to the ‘net I get a chance to relive a little slice of my childhood. “From his wrists, hands that fly! Launching a rocket punch! From his chest, laser fire! Fighting with light energeeeeee!” Go, Mazinger, go!