Related In The Adaptation In The "Voltron" Franchise: Pidge And Chip Aren't Related In Their OG Source Material

Yes, Toei did the Fleet of Doom animation!

What was either surprising (or not) was that Golion and Dairugger XV are both separate shows. The Earth was destroyed in Year 1999 in Golion's setting. Dairugger XV has the Earth in the Year 2200 A.D. When adaptations happen -- there's a trope called Related in the Adaptation. My only guess is that American adaptations put several unrelated shows together for the adaptation -- due to cultural difference. Power Rangers put several unrelated shows or self-contained shows in their own expanding universe. I won't devote myself to writing Dairugger XV episode reviews. The show has TOO MANY characters to write about. What was Toei thinking in putting 15 characters in one Anime? It's probably no wonder why children didn't like it!

Pidge's story is that he's from Planet Balto. However, that planet that blew up in Golion was actually EARTH! Yes, Lion Voltron episode 20 used footage from where the Earth blew up! None of that everyone was evacuated talk. Episode 35 of Vehicle Voltron shows that Pidge and Chip are TWIN BROTHERS. The "Letters from Home" episode shows Chip dreaming of Lion Voltron. I remember that I didn't like Vehicle Voltron as much as Lion Voltron. However, my adult self feels Dairugger XV was better written despite the confusing number of characters. 15 main characters can be very distracting!

The Dairugger XV episode presents a different picture. Mutsu is the ONLY CHILD of his mother. Nothing is mentioned about Mutsu's father. Has Mutsu's father died or are his parents divorced? It's not known. The deleted scene involved Mutsu driving his mother in a car. However, Mutsu wakes up from a bad dream in which his mother disappears. Golion gave Tyuyoshi a flashback of his parents. It was obvious that Toei never intended Mutsu and Tyuyoshi to be twins either! Mutsu was waiting for a letter from his mother. The episode also featured where the main hero Aki has a nephew -- but his sibling's gender or age is unknown. 

Toei worked with WEP for the Voltron franchise. Toei created the 20 episodes that undid the "Final Victory" episode. Toei practically did that again when they created the Zyu2 footage exclusively for Saban Entertainment. The American-exclusive episodes also had an episode where the Drule Empire worked with Doom. Eventually, the movie Fleet of Doom was created where King Zarkon teams up with Admiral Throkk. It should be noted Zarkon was a renegade king of the Drule Empire. Zarkon was called Emperor Daibazaal in Golion. Daibazaal had no connection to Emperor Zeppo's counterpart Emperor Corsair in Dairugger XV. 

I might be someone who dislikes American adaptations of Japanese media. Well, I realized I also dislike most Japanese adaptations of American media too. I couldn't care less if Japan gets inspiration from American pop culture. I could appreciate that Janperson was loosely based on the American Robocop. However, I'd rewatch the Spider-Man adaptation by Saban any time for Toei's strange adaptation in 1978! Fortunately, Toei decided to get inspired instead of adapt American superheroes. I believe Saban knows Marvel better than Toei. However, I still wish Saban asked Toei to do the animation for X-Men: The Animated Series -- all the while maintaining its status as an American production. After all, Toei Animation worked with Hasbro too. That's why probably Hasbro allowed Toei to create the Japanese spin-off Takara Transformers Trilogy. 

Given Toei has recycled some faces and concepts -- it's not surprising that Pidge and Chip are related in the adaptation. However, I wonder why Jeff wasn't made Keith's brother. If one looks at past artwork -- Kogane (Keith) has several lookalikes such as Hyoma from Combattler V and Kenichi from Voltes V. However certain people may look alike but they're not related either.