Diana A

Diana A ダイアナンA
Creator	Go Nagai
Profile
Weapons	Missiles, Scarlet Beams
Construction	Chogokin (Super-Alloy Z)
Energy source	Photo-atomic Energy

Diana A (ダイアナンA, Daianan Ēsu^?) is a female mecha from the Mazinger Z anime and manga series, created by Go Nagai. It was the successor of Aphrodite A after its destruction.

She was named after Diana the Roman goddess of hunt.

History

After Aphrodite's demise, it was necessary to build a new robot to help Mazinger Z fight the enemy. Unlike her predecessor, Diana is conceived with this in mind by Dr. Yumi and his fellow scientists, and is better adapted to battle. However, she is still a symbol of peace, and her weapons are not as powerful as Mazinger's. She features the characteristic Oppai Missile System (oppai means breast in Japanese) of the other Mazinger Ladies (except for Minerva, whose breast fire was identical to Mazinger's.)

Whereas Aphrodite A (named after the Greek goddess of love and beauty) had a rather softer presence and a warmer color scheme, Diana had a tougher presence and a colder color scheme. In contrast to Aphrodite, Diana has a human face, a characteristic that would be seen again in Venus A, Great Mazinger's female companion.

Diana fights alongside Mazinger and Boss Borot from her first appearance (chapter 76) until the end of the series (Chapter 92). Despite being a tougher machine than the previous female mecha, she often suffers great damage in battle. However, her Scarlet Beams prove to be effective in many situations. These beams seem to be similar to Mazinger's Photonic rays, but they are pink instead of yellow.

In the movie Mazinger Z Vs. The Great General of Darkness, her participation is rather short; her weapons are useless against the powerful Warrior Beasts and ends up split in two by Dante's discus. Ironically is thanks to her missiles that the same monster is destroyed; in an attempt to help Koji, who was outnumbered by the Mikene monsters, Borot flies to the battlefield with two of Diana's missiles attached to his feet (a gimmick similar to the one performed by Mazinger and Aphrodite in episode 32 of the series) and hits Dante with his guard down, blowing him into pieces.

Pilot

Diana is piloted by Sayaka Yumi, Dr. Yumi's daughter, and many times the robot's attitudes reflect those of the pilot. This time, Sayaka takes control of the mecha through a motorcycle, the Scarlet Mobile. This motorcycle had a massive front plate and several large exhaust pipes.

At her command, Diana shoots an Aurora beam from her head that serves as a bridge between her and the robot. The space reserved for the vehicle is similar in shape to Mazinger's (It is worth noting that series creator Go Nagai had originally intended for Kouji to link up with Mazinger via a motorcycle component, but changed it to a flying vehicle reportedly to avoid comparison to Kamen Rider. With the Scarlet Mobile and Diana A, Nagai finally got to use this idea.)

Weapons

Diana shooting missiles.

Diana firing Scarlet Beam.

Following the tradition of Mazinger mecha ladies, Diana's primary weapons are the breast missiles she fires from her chest. However, she also has beams similar to Mazinger's called Scarlet beams fired from the headlight of Sayaka's motorcycle. In her Great Mazinger appearance, she also has optic rays. Diana does not get to fly with a scrander like Venus.

The Mazinger Angels version depicts a more powerful mecha and more weapons based on her breast fire, such as Screw Crusher Missiles (similar to Grendizer's weapon) and Liquid Shooters.

Versions

Mazinger Angels Diana concept art.

Diana in the Mazinger Z vs. the Great Dark General OVA.

Diana's interventions are not as common as Aphrodite's in the Mazinger Universe. She appears in the last chapters of the Great Mazinger series and in the movie Mazinger Z vs. the Great Dark General (Majingâ Zetto tai Ankoku Daishôgun) where she is depicted with a slightly modified color scheme, specially in her arms, legs and face.

In the Americanized dub of Mazinger Z, Tranzor Z, Diana appears but is referred to as an overhauled version of Aphrodite (even retaining the name "Aphrodite A"), not an entirely separate robot. This was because the episode featuring Aphrodite's destruction was not included in the 65-episode Tranzor Z package.

Diana was included in the Mazinger Angels manga as one of the main protagonists, alongside Aphrodite, Venus and Minerva. Since Sayaka, Diana's traditional pilot, has Aphrodite (with which she is more commonly associated) in this story, Hikaru Makiba (a classic character from Grendizer) is appointed as Diana's pilot.

She does not appear in the Mazinkaiser version.

Machine Specifications

• Height: 16 meters
• Weight: 18 tons
• Chest Circumference: 10 meters
• Running Speed: 200 kilometers/hour
• Jump Height: 15 meters
• Maximum Lift: 120 tons
• Energy Source: Photonic Energy (Japanese: 光子力エネルギー Koushiryoku Energy)
• Construction: Super Alloy Z (Japanese: 超合金Ｚ cho-gokin Z)

See also

• Mazinger Angels