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.
💬
Apollo Lemmon
