Quote Originally Posted by GloatingSwine View Post
Also, Kabuto Koji was actually older than the norm for super robot heroes, who tended to be in the 10-12 range previously. (Partly because he was the first one to be in the robot and therefore directly in peril)
It's that "protagonists age about the same as assumed audience" thing.
Wait, what?
0- Tetsujin and friends are not a super robot series since super robots are mechas and mechas are piloted from inside.
1-Being shielded by multiple layers of super alloy is a lot safer than being in the open when the giant monster comes knocking.
2-Mazinger Z is for the most part a comedy. Kouji is never really in danger in the original series while Boss Borot gets blown up virtually every fight yet Boss and his flunkies always climb out of the wreckage with just a few scratches if that.
3-If the protagonists were just supposed to be aged with the audience, then by now we should have some shows with the main pilot being 40-50 years old.

If anything Kouji's a bit older because a) Go Nagai was recycling the character looks from the much darker Devilman and b)Go Nagai often made his series borderline ecchi/hentai (I believe Go Nagai basically started ecchi/hentai too besides super robots), so Kouji needed to be a bit older so he could have sexual lust.