Goldorak 'has never lived so much as now'

“People think I'm crazy when I say that when I was three my mother stuck me in front of the TV watching Grendizer.” Jeremy Cerrone is the producer of the Grendizer exhibition XperienZ.

Figurines, collectibles, board games, paintings and even some original drawings are exhibited in three rooms. “It’s so good to see all this, it’s our childhood, it left its mark on us,” says Rizwana. La Parisienne came out of curiosity, “it reminds me of all the other cartoons like Olive and Tom, Candy and Albator”. There are also pop art works unearthed from artists who are fans of manga which hang on the walls. Some paintings were made especially for the retrospective. “I went to Japan to buy the rights from Dynamique Planning, the production company for the series.”

Obviously, the exhibition at the town hall of the 9th arrondissement, which runs until April 28, is aimed at adults who embrace their childhood passions. “It was a challenge to see if the public would be receptive but for three years, it has been a success,” said Jeremy Cerrone, who has toured Brussels, Toulon, Lille, Riyadh and soon Qatar with his exhibition. Around the windows, teenagers but also many parents proud to show their children their hero.

All the pieces, down to the original drawings which can cost thousands of euros, have been loaned by enthusiasts. “At each exhibition, a third of the objects change,” says the forty-year-old. And with each change of location, always the same anxiety, because certain objects are extremely fragile. “At the airport, I already had a statue like this ripped open,” he explains, pointing to a two-meter-high Grendizer, made of painted resin, a jewel for lovers of the series.

Broadcast in 1978 on Antenne 2, the Grendizer cartoon opened the door to all Japanese productions in France. “Without having characters that represent Japanese. And that’s probably why the West was conquered by the space robot.” However, the series is not the best known in Japan and is only the third from the universe designed by Go Nagai. Previously, the designer had created Mazinger Z and Great Mazinger which worked “much better than Grendizer”, explains Jeremy Cerrone.

But in France, the giant robot with golden horns remains the undisputed master of the genre. This could be confirmed on Thursday evening, at the Grand Rex, with a Retronight XperienZ evening for which two thousand fans are expected. On the program, screenings of the cartoon accompanied by an orchestra and singers from the Dorothée club.