#because they could retcon Tsubaki being Miwas granddaughter if they really wanted Hiroshi and Kenji being the same age instead of timeskip

[no1ryomafan]

SKL started rotating in my head again over a unrelated 2000s song that just reminded me of Kaido and Magami-not even joking lol-but upon reflecting on its plot I sometimes wonder if it would’ve been better off if like- they didn’t make new characters and just recycled the base cast just characterization them in a different way ala how Getter does it.

Cause I’ve thought about while I’m generally more biased I think Shin vs Neo feels significantly less flawed compared to SKL despite its episode length for not only having the advantage of “it has a lighter plot where as SKL desperately felt like it needed a longer run time” but because it used all the existing characters before and the characterization isn’t even TOO off, they’re all just kinda water downed versions of themselves. (Neo!Ryoma is a really interesting case out of the whole cast though in terms of characterization compared to his go manga self but I’ll save that for another post)

SKL has the issue of it’s introducing NEW characters we never seen to mazinger but we don’t have a justifiable runtime to get to know most of them, Yuki I feel is the only character who is decently developed due to the focus put on her which is why I consider her the MC over the boys even if there can be more fleshed out about her. Kaido and Magami do have a dynamic that bounces off of each other which is why I like them despite not being super deep but its still not fully developed, kinda worst by the fact we don’t get to know ANYTHING about Kaido and Magami’s origins aren’t entirely explain either- and honestly only feel there for the plot rather than expanding his character even if it HAS the potential to expand upon who he is.

But then I thought how this OVA could’ve been if it was like: Kaido=Koji, Magami=Tetsuya, Yuki=Sayaka. (Jun could be Scarlet ig and the villains could be whoever as followed from base show but they could also still get away with the new villains with this tbh) You could keep everything the same, even to the point of having this be a canon where Koji and Tetsuya aren’t related-IIRC they aren’t even related in the Mazinkasier OVA and Tetsuya explicitly calls him Kabuto which would be weird to call your brother/nephew, which would be funny if in this hypothetical SKL scenario they are more referred to as their last names then first-since even if the SKL trio more obviously took more inspo from the devilman trio they match the archetypes these three from OG mazinger canon had.

I’m sure SKL would still be consider a “not really mazinger” series if all other elements were kept the same given Armageddon still is regarded as “not really getter” in terms of source material accuracy but I do wonder if it’s three episode formate could’ve worked better if it it as another au. That said I still like the SKL boys so I’m not saying this should’ve been it over “GIVING IT 13 PROPER EPISODES FFS” and I do wish they could just be reused in a different mazinger iteration whenever we get one-grendizer getting something so hey, there’s hope and it’s slightly more likely than a new getter show-since it be cool if Mazinkaiser had a pilot over just being Koji again but alas my boys are stuck in the void with the Shin Jeeg cast to definitely never to be seen again.