Go Nagai

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Uncle Go

Go Nagai (永井 豪, Nagai Gō, born 1945) is a famous Japanese writer and artist, active since 1967. Highly influential in the world of Manga and Anime; he effectively created many of their tropes, such as the Super Robot Genre. While best known for his Mecha and Horror series, Nagai has also created a lot of comedy and erotic material, and even one Magical Girl series aimed at children.

Nagai began his career after he fell sick in college and believed he had colon cancer; he wanted to leave something to be remembered for. By the time he found out he did not have cancer, he was set on his career. Ironically his first efforts at getting published were sabotaged by his own mother! Fortunately, he caught the attention of Shotaro Ishinomori, (creator of Cyborg 009) who helped him get started. Nagai eventually funded his own company, Dynamic Productions. A 1980s OVA series, CB Chara Go Nagai World, was an Affectionate Parody of Nagai's works, with Super Deformed versions of his most famous characters interacting with each other.

Nagai is known for intentionally breaking taboos, and even his milder material has a humorously deranged quality to it. His early works got him in trouble with the PTA, and even today some of them can contain controversial material. Nevertheless, most of his TV work is technically safe in the interest of placating censors even in Latin America and Europe (though not the US).

See also: Ken Ishikawa


Notable Nagai Series:

Contrary to popular belief, Go Nagai merely pitched the idea for a Combining Mecha story that became Ken Ishikawa 's Getter Robo rather than being actual creator.


Tropes common to many (not all) of Nagai's works:

  1. This is because Kekko Kamen - Japanese for "Beautiful Mask" - is nude except for said mask.
  2. or "Gekko Kamen" in the original Japanese, making Kekko Kamen a Punny Name