The world of mecha anime is already fairly obscure, being one of the more niche genres in the anime world. The biggest names are stalwarts like the Mobile Suit Gundam and Neon Genesis Evangelion franchises, with others like Gurren Lagann and Darling In the Franxx occasionally becoming breakout hits. Largely forgotten are old-school Super Robot anime, including the show Voltes V.
Voltes V was a Super Robot series that turned out to be essential to both mecha anime as a whole and the country that loved it the most: the Philippines. The show made an impact on the Filipino youth of the '70s amid political strife, and its enduring legacy has netted it a live-action remake. Here's a look at how the show broke ground for the mecha genre, how it hit big in the Philippines and what to expect from the reboot.
How Voltes V Developed Mecha Anime
The world of Voltes V involved an alien society known as the Boazan, an otherwise human-looking species whose elites are born with large horns. When one of these elites is exposed as a hornless faker, and he escapes to Earth and takes on the identity of Kentaro Go to hide. After Go is forced to return to Boazan and desert his human family, the Boazan Empire, led by Prince Heinel, decides to invade Earth.
Kentaro Go's wife brings together her three half-Boazan children and two specially trained young adults for a last-ditch effort to save the Earth: the Voltes V, a gigantic robot developed in secret to defend the Earth from alien invasion. The mech is the combined form of several powerful vehicles, each piloted by one of the teens.
With its storytelling, Voltes V laid the path for later anime like Gundam. Though many stories were standalone, there were also continuing arcs in the saga, as well as deaths of key characters early on to establish the tone. The characters bicker and fight with each other, and even the villains have progressive development. Prince Heinel, outside of his alien horns, is a bishonen pretty boy with understandable motivations, a far cry from the ugly, two-dimensional villains of other shows, like Mazinger's Dr. Hell.
This, along with the iconic titular robot, would see the series become a consistent part of the Super Robot Wars video games. It's even had homages in totally unrelated shows like Phineas and Ferb. The second part in an unconnected Robot Romance Trilogy, Voltes V would become an huge hit in another Asian country.
How Voltes V Became a Hit In the Philippines
Voltes V was shown in other countries besides Japan, specifically other Asian nations like Indonesia and the Philippines. This was during the regime of Ferdinand Marcos, whose dictatorial rule of the Philippines caused much unrest. Voltes V's general quality and its story of family and friends fighting aliens with a giant robot were surefire recipes for success, but it was the show's cancellation that propelled it to cultural infamy.
Marcos banned Voltes V and other "violent" cartoons of the time, allegedly due to them having an ill impact on the fragile psyches of children. However, many claim that the actual reason for the ban were the show's heavy themes of revolting and fighting against an oppressive regime. This ban obviously didn't go over well with children of the era, who were dubbed the "Voltes V generation" when they were refused the right to watch the show's final fourteen episodes. Some cultural critics also see this instance of children being affected by Marcos' regime as an early political awakening for a generation.
Once Marcos' reign ended, the show finally returned to the Philippines in its entirety, this time with a Tagalog dub. It's been shown in reruns for years now, keeping its legacy alive and being a cultural touchstone in the Philippines, despite not actually being Filipino in origin. The impact of the original ban even inspired Filipino artist Toym Leon Imao to create the sculpture series "Super Robot - Suffer Reboot," which tackled the Marcos regime through the lens of Voltes V and other cartoons. Given how iconic the show is there, it's no wonder that Voltes V is getting its first reboot from the Philippines instead of Japan.
Voltes V: Legacy Brings the Series Back to the Philippines
GMA Network is developing the upcoming live-action series Voltes V: Legacy, which is the first reboot ever for the venerable show. The cast includes GMA contracted actors such as Miguel Tanfelix, who portrays Steve Armstrong (Kenichi Go in Japan), the leader of the group. The names in the series are the same Westernized names used in the original Filipino version of the series, showcasing how it's become even bigger in that country than it ever was in Japan.
Many of the show's elements were approved by Toei, ensuring that it's a faithful representation of the original story. Announced in late 2019, the show will be coming out sometime next year. The original series is also now available to stream for free on the Peacock streaming service, Retrocrush and Tubi TV. Hopefully, the new series will be a success that puts the franchise, the mecha anime genre and Filipino media on the map, allowing a new generation of viewers to "volt in" to a classic and important mecha franchise.
