Saturday night I watched an episode of Voltes V for the first time. I had heard of it for years as an early super robot anime, but it wasn’t until I read a post on Mastodon about it, referencing the special cultural impact it had in the Philippines, that I decided I should finally watch it.
In Canada the most common introduction to super robot anime was Voltron when I was a kid, and I can see so many elements it must have lifted from Voltes V. The main characters all seem to have a 1:1 match with a Voltron team member.
I’m enjoying this well enough that I plan to watch an episode a week until I either watch all 40 or fall off. You can watch along on Tubi.

These alien invaders look particularly interesting.

It’s obvious this is an old anime from the presence of a Soviet military response to an alien invasion.





These characters are clearly inspirations for Keith, Lance, Hunk, Pidge and Allura.

There seems to be a real menace to the UFOs invading earth.

With the first look at Voltes V and its colour scheme, I can see why it would resonate in the Philippines.

What a fantastic interstitial image!

Ah, component vehicles, one of the key aspects of Voltron that delighted me as a child.

A moth-inspired giant monster was a nice surprise.

Of course, in the intro episode they’re reforming Voltes V almost immediately after separating.

I wasn’t that into the design of Voltes V at first but it’s growing on me.

Some rollout of weapons (including an energy sword) later, and Voltes V is victorious.
The setup here has been fun enough that I’m onboard. There’s so much here that feels familiar because of later shows I’ve seen and I’m looking forward to spotting more.