on the series in the show's initial run in Japan under both the Chogokin and Jumbo Machinder labels, which were later released in the United Stated in the late 1970s by Mattel as part of the Shogun Warriors line of super robot toys. The titular mecha is also included in Bandai's line of Soul of Chogokin figures, starting with the GX-04 Grendizer. Cultural Impact Grendizer was the second longest running animated Mazinger series in Japan, having 74 episodes. However, it has been criticized about its connection to the other Mazinger series in the franchise, especially with Koji's status as a mere sidekick and giving him a different romantic interest who wasn't Sayaka, as well as the lack of the other Mazinger mechs. This created the popular assumption that the anime wasn't a success in Japan, especially since the merchandise based on the anime didn't sell as well as the merchandise for both Mazinger Z and Great Mazinger. However, Go Nagai disputes this, saying the anime was actually quite successful in Japan: “It was actually a hit in Japan. Maybe some people thought it was not as popular as Mazinger Z, because Mazinger was super popular.” The average viewership metrics for UFO Robot Grendizer's original Japanese broadcast was around 20.9% audience share across its 74 episodes with a peak share of 27.6% for Episode 21. 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 to this day. In Europe, Grendizer is a major success in France and Italy, known in both countries as Goldorak and Goldrake respectively. In Italy, the Italian dub theme songs were among the best-selling singles of 1978, with the first selling over 700,000 copies and the second selling over 1,000,000 copies. It would also get its own comic series titled Atlas UFO Robot Presenta Goldrake (Atlas UFO Robot Presents Goldrake), whose story diverged even further from the source material. This comic ran for 89 issues and spawned several other similar comic adaptations of anime airing on Italian television at that time. The French dub titled was the first anime series to be telecast in France and legend goes that the series was so popular among French viewers that several episodes scored a