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.
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Dubbing History
Filipino-English Dub
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.
American Dub
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. This version would also be shown on the Christian Broadcasting Network. The version would be released on VHS by Hi-Top Video in a highly edited format.
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 | |
|
"Little" John Armstrong (Hiyoshi Gō) |
Noriko Ohara | Celina S. Cristobal | Dada Carlos | |
|
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 | ||
|
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 | |
|
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)
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Frontier Dub
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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 a subtitle-only release. They had attempted to include the English dub, but were refused permission.
Transmission
| Date(s) | Channel | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978-1979 | GMA-7 | The Philippines | 
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| 1983 | CBN* | United States | 
|
| 1986 | PTV-4 | The 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 | 
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NTSC | United States |
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| Terminal Video | 2006 | 
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PAL 2 |
Italy | 
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| 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
- Chōdenji Machine Voltes V (anime) at the Anime News Network
- Chōdenji Machine Voltes V at the Internet Movie Database
