Go Nagai Shrine

Cantor: "All bow thy heads in holy reverence to the man who has given us so much. 
Let us now bask in his divine aura and commune with his creative spirit..."

Photos scanned from from Go Nagai: All His Works

Next to Osamu Tezuka (Astroboy, Black Jack), Go Nagai has had the greatest impact on anime and manga. Love him or hate him, there is no denying his pervasive influence on many of the anime and manga series we love so much.

Gigantor may have been the original giant robot series, but it was in Mazinger Z that Nagai introduced the revolutionary idea of placing the human pilot INSIDE the robot itself. Were it not for him, we may not have had Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Nagai's penchant for over-the-top violence, profanity, nudity and twisted humor helped pave the way for those elements in mainstream anime and manga. While some of us detest gratuitous amounts of such material, in moderation they can make for excellent plot devices and character development tools. 

To date, Nagai has literally produced over a hundred (often brief) manga series. However, he claims most of what he has worked on are only "studies" - he believes he has yet to produce his "true" manga series.

Nagai pushed the envelope with no apologies, and that is one of the reasons I admire him greatly. He had the balls to stand up to the Japanese PTA and every one of his detractors. We definitely need more people like him...in moderate doses of course.

Cantor: "Oh great one...we thank thee for gracing this world with thy warped sense of humor. May thee continue to push the envelope and inspire us forevermore..."

Timeline

Timeline information source: Cutie Honey '90 #1, published by Studio Ironcat.