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Chodenji
Machine Voltes Five
(40 episodes, 1977)
Philip
Nino Tan-Gatue
Introduction
Chodenji Robo Combattler V was such a big
hit in Japan that Toei (with Nippon Sunrise) had to make a
robot that was practically a duplicate of Combattler V, right
down to the transformation design! What, however, makes Voltes
Five so good that it stands out on its own? Let's find out.
Background
Tadeo Nagahama designed Voltes Five to be
the second in what eventually became his "Romance Robot
Trilogy" (Combattler V and Tosho Daimos being the others).
To the naked eye, it is a Combattler V clone, right down to
the character types. In my country, the Philippines, Voltes
V is synonymous with giant robot anime. When Combattler V
was shown here a few years ago (twenty years overdue, in my
opinion), it was marketed as "Voltes Five's granddaddy".
(I'm not kidding) Combattler V flopped here, if only because
it was seen by casual fans (with no history as to the anime's
history) as a lousy clone of their beloved Voltes Five. Voltes
Five was banned when I was a kid, just before the last episodes
were shown (1979, yes I'm that old). Rumor had it that a certain
Philippine dictator (since ousted in 1986) was incensed that
Voltes' plot centered around rebels fighting for freedom against
a dictatorial aristocracy. Official sources say that the banning
was due to violence (cough cough). Nevertheless, when Voltes'
last five episodes were edited into a movie and shown in Philippine
theaters in 1999, it was a hit. Voltes is also popular in
Italy, and an English dub supposedly made it to the US in
1984.
Plot
At first, Voltes Five (V5 for short) seemed
to have a run-of-the-mill plot - alien bad guys want to (together
everybody!) CONQUER THE WORLD! Five good guys (three brothers
and two friends) are called upon to fly a giant robot to stop
them. Simple enough? No. I'll put the rest of the plot at
the end because I can't write it without spoiling a LOT.
Robot Design
Voltes Five can be separated into five components,
Volt Crewzer (sic), a jet, Volt Bomber, Volt Panzer, Volt
Frigate and Volt Lander. These correspond to Combattler's
Battle Jet, Crasher, Tank, Marine and Craft. Even the pilot
types are the same, except in Voltes, the lady pilots the
feet and the kid pilots the legs; the opposite is true in
Combattler. V5 is much more streamlined than Combattler and
his weapons are less ridiculous. I didn't say not ridiculous,
just less. These weapons are: Chodenji Goma (top), Chodenji
String (whip - from the belt), Chodenji Ray, Chain Knuckle,
Voltes Bazooka, Grand Fire (sometimes mistranslated as Ground
Fire in English dubs), Voltes Missile and the finishing move,
the Tenkuken (Heaven's Firmament Sword) V no giri (slash of
V), where Voltes uses a sword to slice up a letter V in the
opponent's body. Later, perhaps in homage to Combattler's
Chodenji hurricane, Voltes V accquires the Chodenji Ball,
a magnetic ball designed to
immobilize the enemy with electromagnetic fields before the
sushi slicing begins.
Characters
May Voltes Five fans forgive me, I've always
consdidered Kenichi Gou, the leader, to be a sort of dweeb.
He's not wimpy, and he's heroic, but he isn't quite Koji Kabuto
of Mazinger Z fame. He makes a goody two shoes impression
about him. Second in command is Ippei Mine, a Japanese rodeo
star and loner. Daigorou Gou is a martial arts expert and
is the token big guy. Hiyoshi Gou is the kid genius, and Megumi
Oka, daughter of Commander Oka, is a ninja. Sounds a lot like
Combattler V and Gatchaman, doesn't it? Just like Combattler
V, the first professor, Professor Hamaguchi, dies, and is
replaced by a brown haired dude named Professor Sakonji. Unlike
Combattler V, Professor Hamaguchi didn't create Voltes V,
Professor Gou (the trio's dad) did, Professor Hamaguchi didn't
die in the beginning but in mid series, and Professor Sakonji
is a strict disciplinarian, unlike Professor Yotsuya of Combattler
V, a drunk. Mitsuyo Gou, the Trio's mother, also appears all
too briefly.
Bad Guys
Prince Heinel of the Boazan Empire is the
quintessential robot anime bad guy for most people I know.
He is noble, yet cruel the son of a traitor to the Boazan
Empire who wants to prove himself to his uncle the emperor.
His staff is composed of Zhangyar, Katherine and Zuhl, later
replaced by Belgan. All of them are portrayed as non-asians
with horns. Subliminal effect,anyone? The Boazan people are
of two types, the horned nobility and the non-horned slaves.
Funny thing about characters with large horns is they never
bother to explain just how the stuff their heads in their
shirts... At least Getter Robo G bad guys could retract their
horns.
Comments
This is the first robot anime, no the first
ANIME I had ever seen, and it blew me away. The plot, while
nowhere near Gundam or Macross in maturity, is quite heavy
for 70s robot anime. The excellent background music never
fails to impress me even up to my ripe old age of twentysomething,
and I doubt if there is a Filipino above 20 who does not know
the classic opening song sung by Mitsuko Horie (I believe
this is the first time a female singer sang a robot anime
opening song...) and Ichirou Mizuki's rendering of the song
"I Want Father" (ending) is so cool. One of my buddies
who normally has nothing to do with anime just loves singing
this song. The "tenkuken v no giri" move is so visually
impressive. All other robots that use swords like Golion just
pale in comparison to the V-slash. In fact, while swords were
already previously used in giant robot anime, I believe that
Voltes Five, (helped obviously by Star Wars) made swords a
standard anime robot (and sentai robot) finishing move. One
thing about this series is a lot of people DIE. In episode
two, the heroes' mother Mitsuyo sacrifices her life to save
her children. That's just the start... Is this anime trying
to show that war eventually leads to casualties? Perhaps.
Comments
Spoiler time! Many years ago, a child was
born to a boazan noble who was without horns. His parents
fitted fake horns for him, but he grew up wondering why the
hornless ones were treated as slaves. This prince became Minister
of Science, and got married and had a son. He was next in
line to be emperor, but the prince Zambojir exposed him as
hornless. Thus Zambojir became emperor and the rightful heir
became a slave revolt leader. Eventually, he escaped, landed
on Earth, adopted the name Kentarou Gou and married Mitsuyo
Gou. He fathered three children, Kenichi, Daijirou and Hiyoshi.
Professor Gou then left the earth with a super robot, Voltes
V. He went back to Boazan Star, and his wherabouts are unknown...
Okay, it wasn't too much of a spoiler, but
you guys simply MUST watch this anime!
Philip
Nino Tan-Gatue
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