| Gekiman! | |
|---|---|
Vital statistics
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| Author | Go Nagai |
| Illustrator | Go Nagai |
| Published on | June 4, 2010-September 21, 2012 (Devilman) July 18, 2014-July 29, 2016 (Mazinger Part 1) August 12, 2016-September 29, 2017 (Cutey Honey) 2018 (Mazinger Part 2) |
Gekiman! is an autobiography manga by Go Nagai and is published in Weekly Comic Magazine. The manga covers Nagai as the fictional persona of Geki (Kageki) Nagai, a manga artist departing from his usual gag manga and showing the behind the scenes process of Go's most famous series that are displayed with modern artwork.
Overview[]
Gekiman! has been advertised as a fictional take on Go Nagai's process on his most famous series of manga in a nonfictional setting. As such, the manga displays the social issues surrounding the time of the manga's creation while also showing events that take place in the future such as the Gulf War. The character of Geki Nagai is meant to reflect the nature of the series with the Geki of the Mazinger chapter having a more carefree personality compared to the more serious Geki of the Devilman chapter. The Geki of the Cutey Honey chapter was even changed to a woman named Kageki Nagai with the editor and assistants also becoming female.[1] The mischievous Waru Geki also appears parallel to Kageki during the development of Dororon Enma-kun. Geki's final form however is called Jiji Nagai, an elderly male manga artist who represents the present day Go Nagai.
Gekiman! Editions[]
Each chapter of Gekiman is separated into an edition that covers a series, complete with a distinct version of Geki Nagai and atmosphere. All stories tell the series they are covering in reformatted artwork while going behind the scenes of the writing process.
- Devilman Hen: The initial edition that was the first to be released. The behind the scenes reveal that Geki's conversations with the editorial department had drawn parallels to the manga Harenchi Gakuen, leaving a mark on history for better or worse. Some pages have even added features that were not in the period of publishing including mobile phones and Soviet Union weaponry. Some elements had to be removed entirely including a gruesome death scene and a rape scene with Sirene. The Geki Nagai in this series is shown as an ambitious individual who takes his work very seriously; he even used his appearance for the creation of Violence Jack.
- Mazinger Z Hen: What initially started as a concept of using a humanoid car, became a pioneer in the robot genre. Mazinger Z was born in the TV series planning stages after going through a few transitions from the Energer Z to the current robot. This behind the scenes bits showed more about how the TV series had taken Japan by storm with popularity so high, Geki had difficulty keeping a firm grip on the series he was working on including Devilman. Reluctantly, he had to end his run with Weekly Shonen Jump with both Mazinger Z and Harenchi Gakuen. Also with a financial crisis coming in, Geki had gained a sponsorship with toy company Poppy to market merchandise. Like the Devilman chapter, the remade version of the manga featured new elements like new designs for the Aphrodite A, Dr. Hell, Baron Ashura, the Gamia Q, and Sayaka Yumi. Some elements also filled in plot holes missing from the original edition. The Geki Nagai of this series has spikier hair similar to Koji Kabuto and has a much more Shonen Hero-like attitude. While the initial phase had ended, Go Nagai would return to Mazinger Z in 2018.[2]
- Cutey Honey Hen: To go along with the release of the Cutie Honey -Tears- film, a special edition of the Gekiman! manga was released. The Geki Nagai of this manga is a woman named Kageki Nagai, resembling Cutey Honey and is determined to make a name for herself while straying away from her other series in that regard. Like the above series, a few changes were made from the source material including Alphonse and Pochi being male like their counterparts from Kikkai-kun, Pochi being a scientist associated with Dr. Kisaragi, and Panther Claw being a supernatural organization like in the 90s Cutey Honey manga and Tennyo Densetsu rather than a crime syndicate like the original Cutey Honey manga. Nagai even reveals the title for the series was inspired by an American TV sitcom "Leave it to Honey". After finishing two volumes worth of content in Weekly Shonen Champion, Kageki revived the series 18 years later in Weekly SPA! which lead to a resurgence of Cutey Honey zeitgeist where a new story kept appearing in each passing year including OVAs, TV anime, manga sequels, and live-action productions. At the end of the series, the 72-year old Jiji Nagai reflects on the series, stating it was fun but left him exhausted, wanting to take a break from Honey.
- Z & Great Hen: Geki takes a new form after deciding to continue Mazinger with Great Mazinger including the process of changing magazines from Weekly Shonen Jump to TV Magazine. Other aspects including the joint effort for Getter Robo were also brought up. This doesn't focus directly on the final developments of the Great Mazinger, just the setup for its appearance. Nagai admits that this is because he was so busy he doesn't remember it all.