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Creator of Grendizer, Mazinger Z meets fans at Japanese Embassy

By Eman Al-Awadhi (with photos) KUWAIT, Oct 10 (KUNA) -- The renowned creator of the Japanese robot animation characters "Grendizer" and "Mazinger Z," Go Nagai, met with his Kuwaiti fans on Saturday, in what many of them considered a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet him.
During the event, held at the Japanese Embassy, Nagai introduced the history of Japanese animation, technique and background, and the fans were privileged to view a screening of the new "Shin Mazinger" series.
In a question and answer session with his fans, Nagai said that he was seriously thinking of completing the "Grendizer" series - the Arabic version of which was broadcast in Kuwait in the 1980s, but said that he was currently working on completing the "Mazinger Z" series.
When asked which of the two robot characters was the strongest in his opinion, Nagai said that although it was difficult to compare his two creations, he believed that "Grendizer" was the stronger of the two.
The animation creator said that he was very happy with the fact that the names of his characters were not changed in the Arabic version, as was often the case in other versions.
He indicated that he was not familiar with Arabic production companies, but hoped that they would be able to cooperate with him to bring animations to Nagais fans in the Arab world in the future.
Following the question and answer session, Nagai toured an exhibition of the fans collections of comic books, animation figures, sketches and paintings.
Tomorrow, Nagai will present a lecture and demonstration on Japanese animation at the Cinescape Theater in 360 Mall at 5:00 p.m. in cooperation with Kuwait National Cinema Company (KNCC).
The aim of the event is to introduce one of Japans modern cultures and to promote mutual understanding between Kuwait and Japan in the cultural field.
Nagai visited Jordan before arriving in Kuwait, and will be going to Egypt next. (end) ema.ajs KUNA 101718 Oct 09NNNN