Who can remember Toei Ltd.'s involvement before they decided to enter the American market? Sure, one would know (by now) that the Voltron franchise was a combination of two unrelated shows namely Golion and Dairugger XV. Yeah, I find it weird some people preferred Vehicle Voltron over Lion Voltron. In my case, I felt Dairugger XV had more interesting drama than Golion fighting villains who were more focused on half-brained For the Evulz plans. Before that, there was Combattler V and Voltes V. I remembered seeing Voltes V dubbed in English by Telesuccess Productions. Later, Combattler V was aired. I heard Voltes V was secured first because Combattler V was more popular, therefore more expensive. Hmmm... can anybody kindly explain why it's been cheaper to air Kamen Rider than Super Sentai? I could care less Power Rangers still airs but it's weird really how Kamen Rider airs but not Super Sentai. Heck, GMA-7 aired Mischievous Kiss but not Gokaiger.
Having seen some of the combining robot series with nearly the same team format (leader, rebel, fat guy, child genius, and sole female), it's NOT easy not to compare them. Heck, I even felt that if only more fans were devoted to a fight between Voltes V and Golion instead. It'd be interesting actually but both series are independent of each other. Golion had the setting where the Earth was destroyed in a nuclear war. Dairugger XV takes place in 2200 AD where the Earth still exists. Go figure the independent, self-contained series which only have crossovers in non-canon. All the while, Toei Ltd. was notorious for sequelitis as well. There was the overly popular Mazinger Z (which was super long) followed by Great Mazinger. Later, there was UFO Grendizer which was a loose sequel as the robot was of extraterrestrial origin. I haven't seen the others like Raideen and maybe I don't intend to these days.
Voltes V had a different format. There were three brothers in the team namely Kenichi, Daijirou, and Hiyoshi. Heck, I don't want to even mention their Filipino-English names anymore for a reason. They are the Goh siblings. We have Ippei Mine and Megumi Oka. These people were visually alike to the Combattler V team. Combattler V had a lighter tone. However, Voltes V was darker and edgier. Speaking of 1977, Toei Ltd. also had one show that got canceled too soon namely Kamen Rider Amazon in 1975. Voltes V wanted to do the Darker and Edgier approach by adding more politics than Combattler V already had.
WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD!
The Boazanian political drama was pretty much too deep huh?
I think Toei Ltd. always wants to try something Darker and Edgier but fails at it. I think the bigger charm of the show lies not only with the heroes but also with the villains and the planet they rule. Voltes V episode 28 starts to build tension up. The whole episode was erroneously dubbed as "Prince Zardos' past" but the real title was "Our Father, Professor Gou's Secret". The whole episode would actually be what I'd call hard to appreciate for a child but an older fan can appreciate it. Maybe, even a college student can appreciate it. It had so much depth!
Voltes V's 28th episode builds the tension when we find out that Professor Kentaro Gou was actuall Prince Hrothgar of Boazania. In Boazan, there are two types of people. Those born with horns are normal citizens. Those without are slaves. Hrothgar was born into the royal family but secretly had no horns. It was a royal disgrace. The unnamed previous emperor had a legitimate son unable to take over the throne. Zanbazil was the illegitimate child of the previous emperor and an unidentified mistress. Granted, the plot of Zanbazil was obviously later taken into Daibazaal (Zarkon) of Golion who was later revealed to be secretly the illegitimate child of the previous Galran emperor and Honerva (Hagar). That's something of a shocker later on since I was pretty much raised by my paternal grandmother. Though, that plot was rather too last minute in contrast to Zanbazil's ascension to power.
I think one of my favorite plots is how Zanbazil was truly more cunning. Nobody knew how Daibazaal ascended the Galran throne. Did Honerva help her illegitimate son who has no idea she is his mother? Zanbazil gathered his cronies to find any dirt to prevent Hrothgar's ascension. In spite of being illegitimate - Zanbazil proved himself to be one cunning figure. Zanbazil managed to reveal Hrothgar's hornlessness and ascended the throne. The people had no choice but to crown the bastard son as the new emperor. The whole reign was illegitimate. Later, Zanbazil like any good villain, wants to take over the Universe. Zanbazil began his program of universal conquest. The feud between Zanbazil and Hrothgar was later likened to that of Ninoy Aquino and Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. Did the whole plot here cause it to be banned in the Philippines for some time?
It added more layers than the Campbellians. Garuda was as robotic as he could get. Prince Heinel (Zardos) was pretty much an outcast. I love how Heinel isn't evil for the sake of it like Prince Sincline (Lotor) in Golion. Instead, Sincline is a tragic figure, the son of a "traitor" and has the potential to become the next king if his second-degree uncle Zanbazil didn't usurp the position. What Prince Sincline doesn't realize is that the emperor secretly despises him. Well, Zanbazil did try to offer a post to Hrothgar at one point, even promising to give him exemption, IF the latter would help him in universal conquest. Zanbazil's hatred for Hrothgar would be justifiable. After all, it was Hrothgar who gave Earth the Voltes V weapon - a weapon that would match the invading forces.
There was so much room for tension. Both Zuhl and Bergan (Ozlack, I heard he was dubbed over as Fabian before) pretty much were spies for the emperor. Zuhl was caught red-handed and was later killed. Bergan simply waited for the right time when Baron Gururu (a last-minute character) arrived. Though, it's never explained if Bergan had horns or if his horns were in the most awkward position. Still, it did add layers as how Zanbazil was all too ruthless. All this stuff might've been too complicated for a child. Also, I think shifting directly to a Darker and Edgier tone may have been a cause of ratings to DROP during its airing. Hence, we only had 40 episodes. I feel it's rather rushed. There was so much to explore such as the Voltes V's three members being half-Boazanian or how they're all in a family feud.
The finale would be considered rather daring to portray an actual revolution
I guess Marcos Sr. banning it was because of how it ended. The finale was locked in a revolt done by both Boazanians and Earthlings. The final episode was called "The Liberation" in the English dub and "The Crumbling Tower of Evil" in the original. I still can't get over the cheesy English narration though I prefer the Japanese. I still love how Voltes V's ending was trying to humanize most characters. Though Heinel's last-minute redemption was just too random for me at times. I felt Heinel's death after coming to terms with who his family was something. However, Heinel did die saving the heroes and died a hero even after a whole season as a noble villain. I felt Heinel was a character to sympathize more than I could with Sincline. Sincline's just plain creepy and his Oedipus complex was no excuse to lust after Farla. Then again we know Daibazaal's a terrible dad too, right?
Everything got rushed probably because Toei Ltd. had to end it. Think about how JAKQ in 1977 had to end so quick. Speaking of JAKQ, it was also that same year, right? JAKQ ended with merely 35 episodes and the ending was just pretty much stupid. In this case, the finale did take time to craft a bittersweet finale that could show, "It could be too late." with Heinel's last-minute redemption. Still, the final episode's rebellion was well-crafted. I felt it was even more well-written than what Golion offered to the audience. Golion simply tried to rehash an old finale arc. Here, this one had the revelation that everything the heroes were using was based on Boazanian technology. A video recording later presented that Camp Big Falcon was one gigantic spaceship meant to help the final revolution. The plot was later carried over to Golion with Castle Altea. Though, Camp Big Falcon had a better moment to shine than the last-minute arrival of Castle Altea to Planet Galra.
I think the villains dying was one thing. Jangal's suicide proved he was a true friend to Heinel. I love how Katharine herself was totally taking the u-turn from villainy. Katharine and Heinel pretty much had a tragic heartbreaking scene. Yeah, they had a lot of quarrels and Heinel tends to go berserk like Sincline does. Still, the confession scene was practically heartbreaking. Katharine died defending Heinel at the end. Katharine wanted to save Boazania and even admitted, "What's the use of fighting? The emperor has abandoned you!" All these build tension when Heinel decides to fight all over. Heinel later pilots the Godor robot only to be defeated. Heinel wants to die a warrior's death. Instead, Heinel died in a last-minute redemption.
I think the way Zanbazil died had to be that iconic. Zanbazil wanted to run away from his collapsed empire with his ill-gotten wealth. It does pose a problem though. Other planets may have a warrant on his head too. Zanbazil shows to be a coward as he decides to BLAME Heinel for trying to conquer the Earth. Zanbazil held a grenade and tried to kill everyone trying to stop him from escaping. The fact that Zanbazil falls by Heinel's hands makes it oh-so-poetic justice. The eruption symbolized his eternal fate as to where the wicked go. I felt the build-up, tension, and not-so-typical confrontation with the final villain was creative writing. Well, Janera of Combattler V never had it either. Janera died a karmic death as her abusive bitchy behavior got the best of her. This one also worked its charm as well.
The finale is rather bittersweet. The Go brothers wanted to reunite with the father. However, Hrothgar has a planet to rehabilitate after the long dictatorship. Though, they have the warp technology which may allow them to plan visits to their father. It's a weird Captain Obvious from Kenichi but okay. The finale itself was more or less a well-written bittersweet ending. That's where I felt Golion's finale missed as too many random tidbits were there. Sincline discovering he's Honerva's grandson felt too random. Sincline orders bombs filled with slaves to be used. It seems Sincline was just too focused on being evil than anything else. Here, the finale of Voltes V tries to show the human side of almost everyone. Daibazaal died a generic death as a Mecha Beastman. Zanbazil's attempt to escape was pretty much a depth of realism. I guess all these caused Voltes V to be eventually vindicated by history some time later.
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