Top anime in the Arab world (based on Arab News Japan's How Arabs view Japan Study)
Genre: Mecha
Original run: 1975
“UFO Robot Grendizer,” also known as “Force Five: Grandizer” in the US, is a Japanese super robot anime television series and manga created by manga artist Go Nagai.
The series is about a super robot equipped with only a flying saucer that flees the Vegan empire and enters our solar system, landing in Japan on the slopes of Mount Fuji to fight against the forces of evil and protect Earth.
According to the ‘How Arabs View Japan survey’ conducted by Arab News and YOUGOV, 36 percent of respondents ranked “Grendizer” as their favorite anime of all time
The anime series was widely popular in the Middle East, France, French-speaking Canada (as “Goldorak”) and Italy (as “Goldrake”).
“Grendizer” was the second-longest-running animated “Mazinger” series in Japan, having 74 episodes. Some people however complained about its connection to the other “Mazinger” series in the franchise.
Regardless of its disputed success in Japan, “Grendizer” was one of the first anime programs to be a major success in both Europe and the Arabic regions of the Middle East and continues to have a strong following in those parts of the world.