Dubbing Wikia

Voltes V, (超電磁マシーン ボルテスV Chōdenji Mashīn Borutesu Faibu), also marketed as Voltus 5, is an anime television series that aired on TV Asahi from April 6, 1977 to March 25, 1978. It was created by Saburo Yatsude and directed by Tadao Nagahama.

Voltes V is the second part of the Robot Romance Trilogy of the Super Robot genre.

Synopsis

From out of nowhere, a mysterious alien race known as the Boazanian Forces has invaded the Earth. A group of individuals specially trained to handle this kind of situation has been unleashed. Steve, Mark, Big Bert, Little John & Jamie are the pilots of the Voltes V, Earth's defense against the Boazanians and their terrible Beast Warriors.

Dubbing History[]

Filipino-English Dub (Questor International)[]

In the Philippines, an English-language dub of Voltes V was first aired by GMA-7 on May 5, 1978. The anime series, which was shown every Friday at 6:00pm, became popular across the nation. The dub heavily Westernized the character names, though the dub was generally quite faithful. In April 1979, shortly before the series finale, the authoritarian President Ferdinand Marcos issued a directive banning Voltes V and other similarly-themed anime series (particularly in the Mecha genre), ostensibly due to concerns about "excessive violence". The ban, however, led to speculations that the series was actually pulled from broadcast due to its underlying themes of rebellion and revolution at the time. This left the last five episodes undubbed.

After Marcos's regime fell in the 1986 People Power Revolution, the series returned on Philippine television and was aired on multiple broadcasters like PTV-4 and ABS-CBN in 1986, IBC-13 in 1989 and RPN-9. It returned to GMA in 1999, with the English dub version aired weekly on January and later on Filipino/Tagalog on December. In the same year, the last five episodes of Voltes V were dubbed, compiled together and released theatrically by GMA Films under the title "Voltes V: The Liberation". Due to the time passage, the original cast were replaced, save for Dodo Crisol as Prince Zardoz.

International English Dub (Frontier Enterprises)[]

Vultus_V_-_The_Movie_(Trailer_Internazionale)
The International Trailer for the Compilation Film. Narrated by William Ross.

In 1980, Toei edited together a compilation film of the series consisting of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 9th and 18th episodes and distributed it for overseas markets. The film was dubbed by Frontier Enterprises in Tokyo with William Ross serving as voice director and ADR scriptwriter. Frontier's dub uses all the same Americanized names originally used by the Filipino English dub. Because the compilation movie ended on Episode 18, the movie ends on a cliffhanger.

The dub would later be re-released in 1983 by 3B Productions under the title Voltus 5, (the same company behind the dub of Tranzor Z) with the Japanese background music swapped out for their new soundtrack composed by Douglas Lackey. The movie would also be shown on the Christian Broadcasting Networ, and would be released on VHS by Hi-Top Video in a highly edited format. It was also distributed by TEN (The Entertainment Network) as one of their anime titles[1].

Ross also attested in his autobiography to having dubbed the work in a serial format besides the compilation film, but the TV series version evidently never saw air[2]. It is possible that such a dub is the same one that was to be distributed by United Productions in 1978[3], or the one offered by TEN for the 1986-1987 television season as a companion to the compilation film[4]:

Telepictures is preparing the Silverhawks for the fall 1986 schedule; TEN is offering Voltus V via 65 half-hours for April, and taking its Kid-A-Littles off the air; and King Features Entertainment is going with Defenders of the Earth.

The same article also mentioned that TEN had an agreement with Matchbox Toys to produce merchandise centered around "Voltus V" as well as Tranzor Z. In either case, it is believed the short episode count of Voltes V made it unappealing for syndication as it did not comprise 65 episodes but only 40.

Cast[]

Image Character Seiyū Filipino Dub Frontier Dub
(Comp. Film)
(eps. 1-35) (eps. 36-40)
Voltes V Team
Steve Armstrong
(Kenichi Gō)
Yukinaga Shiraishi Tony Nierras Earl Palma John Armstrong
Mark Gordon
(Ippei Mine)
Kazuyuki Sogabe Cris Vertido P.J. Ramos Cliff Harrington
Robert "Big Bert" Armstrong
(Daijirō Gō)
Tesshō Genda Noel Mallonga Bob Borjal Richard Murphy
"Little" John Armstrong
(Hiyoshi Gō)
Noriko Ohara Celina S. Cristobal Dada Carlos Nancy Culluci
Jamie Robinson
(Megumi Oka)
Miyuki Ueda Christine Bonnevie Gerri Sorrells
Allies
Dr. Richard Smith
(Professor Hamaguchi)
Seizō Katō Joonee Gamboa William Ross
Dr. Ned Armstrong
(Professor Kentarō Gō)
Yū Mizushima Tony Nierras Don Johnson
Dr. Mary Ann Armstrong
(Professor Mitsuyo Gō)
Takako Kondō Christine Bonnevie Judith Sackheim
Commander Robinson
(General Oka)
Hiroshi Masuoka Chito Vicente Cliff Harrington
Dr. Hook
(Professor Sakunji)
Tamio Ōki Joonee Gamboa Joseph Zucatti
General Watson
(General Dange)
Hisashi Katsuta Dodo Crisol Greg Starr
Commander Garth
(General Doir)
Seizō Katō Earl Palma
The Boazanian Nobility
Emperor Zu Zambajil Mikio Terashima Cris Vertido Bob Borjal Richard Murphy
Prince Zardoz
(Prince Heinel)
Osamu Ichikawa Dodo Crisol Tom Clark
Zandra
(Katherine Rii)
Noriko Ohara Celina S. Cristobal Dada Carlos Patricia Kobayashi
Draco
(Jangal Rui)
Shōzō Iizuka Chito Vicente Earl Palma William Ross
Zuhl Hiroshi Masuoka Cris Vertido Mike Worman
General Oslack
(General Bergan)
Kenji Utsumi Noel Mallonga P.J. Ramos
Baron Zander
(General Gururu)
Ryusuke Shiomi Daniel Deopante
Duke Zaki Tamio Ōki Joonee Gamboa
Other
Narration Daisuke Maki Noel Mallonga Cliff Harrington

Additional Voices[]

Filipino Dub (1978)

  • Lynda Acojedo
  • Christine Bonnevie
  • Roger Chua
  • Edwin Decenteceo
  • Javi Garcia
  • Dennis Mesina
  • Dido de la Paz

Frontier Dub

Notes[]

  • The voice of Little John and Zandra is often misattributed as having been done by Christine Bonnevie and later Geraldine Oca. However, the end credits specify Celina S. Cristobal for both of them.
  • Dada Carlos also voices Jamie/Megumi in the original Tagalog dub.
  • The Filipino English dub uses an English cover of the Japanese theme, while the compilation film dub uses the original Japanese version.
  • The English compilation film version of the series has also been dubbed into Latin Spanish and Italian.
  • Discotek Media's release of the series is subtitle-only. They had attempted to include the English dub, but were refused permission.

Transmission[]

Date(s) Channel Country
1978-1979 GMA-7 The Philippines Philippines
1983 CBN* United States United States
1986 PTV-4 The Philippines Philippines
1986 ABS-CBN
1989 IBC-13
1989 RPN-9
1999 GMA

*Compilation Film.

Video Releases[]

Voltus 5

Distributor Year Format Region Country
Hi-Tops Video 1983 NTSC United States United States
Terminal Video 2006 PAL
2
Italy Italy
Yamato Video 2015 PAL
2

See Also[]

  • Mazinger Z - Another anime affected by the Marcos ban and had an ad for an unreleased compilation movie on the ending credits for the Frontier dub of the Voltes V movie.

External Links[]

References[]