Fifty years ago in Japan, UFO Robot Grendizer (UFO Robo Gurendaizā) made its debut — the creation of Gō Nagai, the visionary author who had already given life to legends such as Devilman, Mazinger Z, and Great Mazinger. His new hero, a noble-hearted alien prince with a tragic destiny, would take the concept of the “giant robot” to a new dimension, blending adventure, drama, and science fiction.
When the series reached the English-speaking world in the late 1970s, it did so under a new name: Grandizer. The anime was included in the American television package Force Five, a collection of five Japanese robot series adapted and redubbed in English for Western audiences. It also arrived in the UK in the early 1980s through syndicated broadcasts and local channels.
Although Grandizer never achieved the explosive popularity it enjoyed in France or Italy, it nonetheless gained a small but devoted fanbase in Britain. Its episodes — with their epic storytelling and a heroic yet tormented protagonist — were among the first examples of Japanese animation ever aired in English.
The English theme song, “Goldrake Shooting Star” (1978), was created by Italian authors Luigi Albertelli (lyrics) and Vince Tempera with Ares Tavolazzi (music/arrangement), and performed by the legendary Douglas Meakin, a member of the Motowns, who collaborated with many of Italy’s greatest artists — from Venditti and De Gregori to Rita Pavone, Cocciante, Renato Zero, and even Ennio Morricone.
Today, fifty years after its Japanese debut, Grendizer remains a cornerstone of animation history. Even in the UK — where it appeared in a limited and somewhat “hidden” form — it is still remembered as one of the first ambassadors of anime culture, capable of uniting courage, nostalgia, and the spirit of adventure.
