In this hilarious spoof of all things mech--you know, Gundam, Transformers, Voltron--it's the glorious future, and no city better exemplifies why the future is totally awesome than Neo-Tokyo, Capital of Business! Here, businessmen combat one another for corporate supremacy with epic robot battles! Unfortunately, our hero, the restaurateur Goto Onishi, is flat broke and without hope for expanding the family business... that is, until he discovers the secret power hidden beneath the floorboards of his near-bankrupt restaurant. Prepare yourself for Atomic King Daidogan!

Goto Onishi
The embodiment of blind courage and fearlessness, Goto is a man who would not only die for someone in an instant, but would, in the process, insist on taking twelve shots to the head, getting thrown off a skyscraper, and subsequently getting run over by three semi-trucks one right after the other. Fortunately, thanks to his super power of nigh-indestructibility, he can emerge from these kinds of cataclysms with nothing to show for it except for getting really pissed off. Goto is very quick to anger, especially when either his assets or "the justice" are being threatened, and loves to fight at the slightest provocation. Behind all the ludicrous power and bravado, however, Goto is a dedicated and hardworking little guy. His business sense is nil, and his communicative skills are pretty dismal (he only speaks in some sort of horrible kung-fu dub English), but his boundless courage and determination more than make up for these shortcomings.
 
Naoko Umeda
Goto's secretary and confidant, Naoko is a bright young woman who wholeheartedly buys into Goto's philosophy of "business with the justice" to the point where she's become somewhat infatuated with him. Naturally, because this is manga, she puts up a tough-girl front to disguise her true feelings. And of course Goto's not interested in her in the slightest—partly because of her amazingly out of control drinking habit, partly because of his professionalism (no office romances!), but mostly because he finds her horrendously unattractive, being that she has cat ears, a tail, and fur covering every inch of her body.
 
Pimp King Oboe
The owner of the classiest (and priciest) night club in town, Oboe is the most magnificent of all pimps. The term "lady-killer" doesn't even begin to describe him. Which naturally confuses the hell out of everyone else, considering he appears to be a space alien. Oh sure, he kinda looks human as far as basic anatomy goes, but there's no arguing that his blue skin, pointy ears, yellow eyes, and freakishly muscular physique kind of set him apart from everyone else.
 
Kung-Fu Harlots
Oboe's mighty army of deadly black-belt whores. They all swear undying allegiance to their pimp/lord and would break a nail for him in a heartbeat. Every single one of them is highly adept at wearing intimidating (yet skimpy) clothing, flailing exotic weaponry around, and loudly screeching war cries, which is usually enough to frighten most challengers away.
 
Atomic King Daidogan
The tremendously powerful robot left behind in the basement of the Dragon Noodle restaurant. Sporting a pair of gigantic nuclear generators, armed to the teeth with dozens of ridiculous voice-activated super moves, and just plain MEAN-looking, Daidogan is the answer to all of Goto's prayers.
 
Dynomite DX
Oboe's robot is admittedly nothing too special, but considering he basically uses it just to torment Goto, it serves its purpose just fine.

Nathan Maurer:
Nathan Maurer was born in Santa Barbara, California, where he still lives to this day. Originally planning to pursue a career as a pianist, Nathan, thanks to TOKYOPOP, is now following his real passion and trying to pass himself off as a manga artist. Nathan's "Atomic King Daidogan" submission was the grand prize-winning entry in TOKYOPOP's Rising Stars of Manga Volume 3.

Basically, I can sum up Atomic King Daidogan in five words: "Burning Fister of Plasma Gorgeous!" C'mon, admit it. Even if you don't know what the hell that means, it made you chuckle, right? Ever since Nathan Maurer's "Atomic King Daidogan" entry won the Grand Prize in Rising Stars of Manga 3, the demand for a full-length story has been as high as a 15-story robot. And deservedly so. It's action-packed, quirky and clever. I guarantee that this manga is gonna make you bust a gut. Don't believe me? Well, go ahead and read it for yourself. And as our English-impaired protagonist Goto would say, "Now prepare you for the laughing!"

~Paul Morrissey, Editor