Fumihiro Awano

Yokohama, 1963. Japan is picking itself up from the devastation of World War II and preparing to host the 1964 Olympics—and the mood is one of both optimism and conflict as the young generation struggles to throw off the shackles of a troubled past. Against this backdrop of hope and change, a friendship begins to blossom between high school students Umi and Shun—but a buried secret from their past emerges to cast a shadow on the future and pull them apart.

When a Lupin impersonator is arrested for shoplifting in Tokyo, dozens of other copycats converge on the city to clear the name of Arsene Lupin III. The real Lupin is in town too, both to watch the show and to steal a mysterious item called the Ice Cube. But one of those impostors also has sights on the Cube. Is he good enough to beat the original at his own game?

Japan, ten years after World War II. Boy detective Shotaro solves mysteries and fights crime with the help of Tetsujin 28, the 50-foot tall giant robot left for him by his late genius father. But one day he's shocked to learn that his father also adopted and raised another boy named Shotaro, now a repatriated soldier. Just as surprising to our young hero is the fact that his “big brother” can also control Tetsujin, even better than he can. But with the emergence of this elder brother comes danger, as a mysterious assassin, Morning Moon, closes in on the boy for being unworthy of controlling the robot. Meanwhile, the capital faces destruction when multiple bombs are discovered, planted by the two Shotaros' father himself!

Developed from Japanium ore is the super energy, Photon Power. Seeking this energy is Dr. Hell, a madman craving world domination who along with his subordinates Baron Ashura and Count Brocken, commands the Machine Beasts excavated from Bardos Island (believed to be Rhodes) to attack the Photon Power Lab and take it for himself. Meeting the attack head on is our hero, the hot-blooded teenager Kouji Kabuto who pilots the super robot Mazinger Z, constructed by his grandfather Juzo and made from the strongest metal Chogokin Z. But in this battle between Dr. Hell and the Kabuto family, many legends surrounding the Mycenaean Civilization and Bardos Island, as well as the secrets of Mazinger Z remain shrouded in mystery.