Thanks guys, I'll stick with it - good to hear that it has a twist or two.

Episode 1 has a lot of spoilers. I show episode 1 to group of friends a while back and they found it to be one of the most confusing things ever. Episode 2 is not a bad place to watch as the first episode.

It's SUPPOSED to be like that. It throws you in right in the middle of it to confuse and wow the audience, because they don't have a clue what's going on other than there being all this amazing over the top stuff going on. It's a hook to make you want to watch more. And to counter your group of friends, I screened it to my former anime society and they felt exactly that. You're only supposed to fully grasp the first episode as you continue to watch.

You also have to remember that Shin Mazinger isn't just a straight reboot of the franchise for newcomers. It's a retelling that incorporates a dozen variations of Mazinger along with a bunch of other Go Nagai works, so seeing all that crammed into an action-packed first episode appeals to existing fans.

For someone who talks about how people should watch Japanese audio because "it's the way the show was originally intended" you're showing a noticeable double standard here.

The first episode is what now... Oh god, it's another Gungrave situation? YUCK!! Gungrave is one of the worst anime series I have watched because the first episode gets you pumped up for the show and then the next like 18 episodes are just boring filler with characters you don't give a damn about because you already know how it is going to end. Then when you finally get to the show they advertised it is a rushed mess that is full of nothing but action scenes and no development.

Um okay. Except Shin Mazinger is nothing like that so I don't really know what point you're trying to make.

I see, I was not aware of that. I always feel like Shin Mazinger Z is a great modern update to the franchise and is a good way to introduced new people to Mazinger (I see many causal anime fans that can't watch older anime before the 2000's decade). If people don't like episode 1, they can just skip to Episode 2 and see how the whole story started.

Oh I totally agree that it actually makes a really good introduction to Mazinger, especially since the plot is far more involved than the originals and the characters far more interesting (they did some INCREDIBLE things with Baron Ashura). It's just a case of "you will be confused by the first episode, but enjoy the spectacle of it all and prepare for the ride that follows". If anything, I'd say the first episode is the perfect hook because the actual origin eps are fairly generic in comparison.

Generic because Mazinger wrote the rulebook of course, but you know how fickle modern audiences can be.

Well that is not how I was reading the discussion, so sorry for my misunderstanding.

I finished Soul Eater today. Good show, but the final episode had so many ass pulls.

Anyone recommend me another anime to watch? I'll wait awhile before I watch another one given how hard I went on Soul Eater in the past few weeks.

Tiger Mask W is fun. Good old wrastlin' action plus Shonan no Kaze aka the Gaim OP band sings the OP and ED.
And Osomatsu-san is worth the investment.