The early 1970s marked another stage in the evolution of robot animation. The turning point came in 1972, with the broadcast of the television series “Mazinger Z” (based on a comic by Go Nagai).
The show marked the dawn of the robot anime era. The robot characters of these shows differed from their Sixties counterparts in three main ways. 1970s robot anime
characters are defined by:
1) Their giant size
2) The fact they were piloted rather than controlled externally
3) Their ability to transform and/or combine
These characteristics led to a new development: the shows acting as vehicles for toy sales. It also occurred in parallel with the trend of “motorization” – the spread of personal car and motorbike ownership in Japan. This image of robots as drive-able vehicles proved irresistible to a new generation of young viewers.
Learning a lot about the history of robots in animation from your daily practices, looking forward to learn more.