Grendizer U: The Inception. ­

Gr 7 Up–A young nobleman spars with and is betrayed by his best friend, then flees his doomed planet, arriving on Earth with high-tech gear but no memory of how he got there. That’s the overarching plot of this manga, but the backstory is more ­complicated. The Vega Alliance has conquered all the planets in its sector except for Fleed, which is protected by its deity, a giant robot suit named Grendizer. Only one person can pilot Grendizer, and everyone assumes the king’s son, Duke Fleed, will be the next ­chosen one, as he has been practicing for this role his whole life. Then, just as the power is about to be handed to him, he is betrayed by his best friend and learns that there’s a lot more violence in the history of his peaceful world than he was aware of. This manga was adapted from the anime of the same name, which is a reboot of the anime Grendizer from the larger “­Mazinger” series. But none of that is ­necessary knowledge to enjoy this first volume, which is clearly a setup for a lot of future mech-fighting. The mechs and costumes are complicated, but the figures are drawn with a simplicity that emphasizes their gestures and motion. ­