Reducing Voltes V's Space Travel Time In Golion, And Dairugger XV

As Buntis Faib Legacy ends this week - I feel like the time to discuss another plot from the Anime. Voltes V has Boazanian which is 14,000 light years away from Earth. That means trying to reach Boazan by standard means will not be possible. The Boazanians had high technology which allowed them to travel from Boazan to Earth at a very fast speed. An earlier episode had Duke Zaki arriving. Later, General Bergan arrived like it was nothing. General Gururu arrived like it was nothing. The Boazanians mastered the warp drive technology to reach Earth in a much shorter amount of time.

The finale of Voltes V had the Solar Bird merging with Camp Big Falcon to form the Solar Falcon. The Voltes team went to Boazan in a much shorter amount of time. After all, the inventor of the Voltes V robot, the Camp Big Falcon, and the Solar Bird was none other than a Boazanian named Lagour. Basically, Voltes V was only able to defeat the Beast Knights (or called Beast Fighters in the dub) sent against it because it was a Boazanian robot. Lagour under his alias as Dr. Kentaro Gou was lending Boazanian technology to Earth. It wasn't like Combattler V which was created using advanced Earth technology. 

However, two Super Robot anime would eventually improve the technology 

 

Golion was four years after Voltes V ended. What really amazed me was the use of Star Wars like travel time. Voltes V kept its battles on Earth. Meanwhile, Golion involved different planets within the Great Nebula where Galra was conquering one planet after the other. Unlike Voltes V, the Galrans would attack Altea repeatedly like it was an eight-hour job. In short, the technology in Golion would allow people to travel to planets like they were either traveling to another country or even to just from one city to another. The show doesn't really explain the travel time but it does get really screw logic in so many levels. 

The beginning episode had the Earth getting screwed in a nuclear war. So yeah, the Earth is later blown up in Golion. Commander Sadak starts getting Earthlings to become part of Emperor Daibaazal's wicked entertainment. The Golion team would end up going to even different planets such as during Daibazaal's birthday episode. Galra kept sending its trademark Beastmen (or I prefer to call them beast fighters instead of Robeasts) with a considerable travel time. How is it that Galra sends an invasion fleet and then retreats back home like it was nothing? That's pretty much like in Star Wars where screw logic! Unlike Star Wars, we never saw a Hyperspace Jump scene in Voltes V. Quite interestingly, Voltes V was released on June 4, 1977, just months after the premiere of Star Wars: A New Hope. The Empire Strikes Back was released in 1980s.

Golion copied a plot from Voltes V namely the base turning into a spaceship. However, unlike Camp Big Falcon, Castle Gradam reveals that it was hiding a rocketship all along. It was all planned by King Raimon before his death. It was in the quest to defeat Galra. What saddened me is how Castle Gradam only went to Galra DURING THE FINAL EPISODE. It did manage to repel the Galran fleet led by Daibazaal. The finale had Castle Gradam back up Golion in destroying Demon Castle for good. They simply flew to Galra back and forth like it was a military back-up. I guess that's what the space age was huh?

Take note that Dairugger XV isn't a sequel for Golion. As mentioned earlier, Golion takes place in 1999 where the Earth later EXPLODES. Dairugger XV has its setting in 2200 A.D. in the sea of stars. Space travel has become far more advanced. The Dairugger XV team would explore other planets hoping to create a map of the galaxy. However, they soon run into the Galveston Empire and its oppressed citizens. True to its motif as a space exploration team - the Anime had the Dairugger team search for a planet as Planet Galveston is slowly dying thanks to Emperor Corsair's idiotic policies. 

One can say that Dairugger XV is a very messy series. It's messy but I did enjoy it unlike the adaptation Vehicle Voltron. I guess I could say that I'm in the minority that thinks Dairugger XV is better than Golion. As a child, I preferred Lion Voltron over Vehicle Voltron. The show had moved from one location to another until they reached Galveston. The final battle was to defeat Corsair and help the Galvestonian people find a new home. It was a series that focused on the brutality of war (and it was censored by WEP for obvious reasons). I guess one reason why I enjoy Dairugger XV better is how the Galvestonians weren't so black and white. Golion could've showed us how the Galran Empire oppressed even its own people. Instead, Golion focused too much on the Galran nobility oppressing the citizens of the other planets. 

In my heart, I just want to pretend Voltes V was the predecessor. I even want to pretend that Dairugger XV is an advanced Boazanian robot five years after Voltes V ended. Maybe, even think that Lagour's new peaceful reign established the Galaxy Garrison with Earth as the center. Maybe, even have Kenichi the head of the Rugger Guard. However, I think it was for the best that Dairugger XV was self-contained as to avoid too many throwbacks.