A Look Into Anime History Part I

The Story of VOLTES V in the Philippines

Being the passionate & experienced anime fan that I am, I would like to share my views, knowledge & experiences of this wonderful art form with everyone viewing my Multiply Site. In particular, I would like to tell of an anime that, in essence affected the course of a country's history. It was called VOLTES V. My views about its unexamined importance will be reflected in the essay I have written below. It is my earnest hope to educate, enlighten & even entertain so please feel free to post your views after reading it. Cheers!

From a galaxy far, far away, horned humanoid aliens known as Boazanians invade the planet Earth. Prince Zardoz (originally known as Prince Heinel and whose “new name” was ripped-off from the 1974 British sci-fi film also called Zardoz) leads them. The Earth is doomed unless its ultimate & final defensive weapon is called for. It is the Ultra-Electro-Magnetic-Robot (whatta a mouthful!) called VOLTES V!!!

The magnificent robot is piloted by five highly-trained young people ( paragons of Japanese discipline & determination – and sexual repression ). And they are Steve Armstrong (Keiichi Gou), Mark Gordon (Ippei Mine), Big Bert Armstrong (Daijiro Gou), Little John Armstrong (Hiyoshi Gou) & Jamie Robinson (Megumi Oka), Voltes V crushed the tyrannical aliens every Friday early evening on GMA Channel 7 way back in the good old days of 1979.

Who ever thought of the names – rather alternate names - to these characters? Probably someone who watched too much horrendous American sci-fi staples such as Six Million Dollar Man, Man From Atlantis, Bionic Woman & Lost in Space – with some references to the 1969 Moon landing. Just another uninspired & unimaginative way of “Americanizing” Japanese concepts. Well, it was the 70’s…

Anyway! Back on track…

Young Generation X’ers tuned in to anime show religiously which broke new ground for a new generation. Excitement and wonder filled the eyes and imagination of every young boy - and some occasional young girls in the process. Merchandising, promotions, toys, and what have you! VOLTES V was a cultural phenomenon which launched the first anime boom in the Philippines. In its wake, more anime shows, primarily giant robot shows, followed like the classic Mazinger Z, Daimos, Grendaizer, Danguard Ace, Getta Robot, Starzingers, Mekanda Robot, Balatak and etc.

It was a Golden Age…

However, a dark cloud loomed over the horizon for the heroic robot… It was the prejudice of a conservative generation – mostly composed of people that experienced the atrocities of the Japanese back in World War II. The paranoia of another Japanese invasion, even if it was a cultural invasion, was unacceptable - with the exception of electronics, Japanese food & cars.

Backward, unexamined and misplaced parental concern over the violence in the robot shows gave a tyrant an excuse to flex his political power. And one Monday morning, the children came home to find the TV screens different. And when they learned that a tyrant had killed their hero, they wept. They wept like never before. For some strange, new and unknown reason, in their tender ages, they experienced, in their on way, the loss of a loved one…

And their parents, who didn’t sympathize with them in the beginning, couldn’t truly comfort them… Curtains for VOLTES V…

This pop-culture event has similiarities to the death of George Reeves, the actor who played Superman in the 1950's TV series, and the death of Optimus Prime in the 1985 movie. This happened long before celphones, the Internet, roller blades, network gaming, campy boy-bands, Rurouni Kenshin, the Ipod, interactive gaming, the PS3 & all the other technological amenities we now enjoy.

The tyrant was the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. This would not be the last time he became the “political kill-joy”. Two years later, he banned coin operated video arcade games for the same formulated reasons. For the first time in Philippine history, a head-of-state pissed off the younger demographic age group.

The Philippine History of Voltes V

Around 1980, Voltes V and other similar super-robot-anime shows were altogether canceled by President Ferdinand Marcos from Philippine TV airwaves citing its supposed negative effects on children due to the violence it showed. This was a significant event for a generation of youngsters called the Martial Law Babies, now in their thirties or forties, and eventually became a subject of historical speculation & discussion. Here are some theories as to the reasons why the super-robot-anime shows, with Voltes V as the leading representative, were banned:

One theory suggests that the cancellation of Voltes V was not because Ferdinand Marcos, then President (turned dictator) of the Philippines, thought that it conveyed messages of rebellion. It was cancelled because the television station that aired Voltes V then was the number one station in the country, surpassing other two government-owned TV stations.

To negatively affect the ratings of the stations that aired Voltes V, and other super robot shows for that matter, Marcos banned not only the airing of all of them, but also other top rating television shows including Charlie's Angels. Marcos stated that the violent contents had a negative effect on children. However, the aforementioned Charlie's Angels and its like resumed airing during the martial law era which brings up the question as to why Voltes V and the other super robot shows remained banned.

Speculations also abound that the show could be used by leftist activists who might use it as a tool and an inspration to create a revolution similar to the Ilokula, or use it as part of a class struggle leading to socialism or communism, or the freeing the "slave" class in the Philippines (or a coup d' etat. Voltes V might serve as a code name by the Mutineers and its song as a password, such as the phenomena of Grândola Vila Morena in Portugal's Carnation Revolution in 1974). Most of the scenes in Voltes V carries some leftist meaning, like the class structure, the treatment, as well as the struggle of the oppressed class similar to the revolutions in Europe and in Asia.

Another issue claimed by some was that the Emperor Zambajil's name (sometimes spelled Zambojil or Zambujil) was changed into Ferdinand, General Bergan's name was changed to Fabian or Vergan(for Fabian Ver - Marcos's Chief-of-Staff of the Philippine Military at that time), etc. which intended to mock the administration. Also, Voltes V was planning a people's revolution throughout the series and Marcos feared he would end up like Zambajil, overthrown by his own people including the "nobility".

This is also similar to a comparison, which was later formed into a conspiracy theory, that the Emperor Zambajil, was a representation of Marcos and that Dr. Ned Armstrong (creator of Voltes V) represented his political rival Benigno Aquino, Jr..

The previous paragraphs, of course, would look good as the premise of a scholastic thesis, but it bears little merit due to the overwhelming preoccupation of the youngsters who enjoyed the adventures & the action-packed anime stories Voltes V and its like brought. They are highly unlikely to see any "deep political" messages in Voltes V - if there was ever.

Voltes V's creator, Tadao Nagahama, made Voltes V as part of his "Romance Super Robot Trilogy" and is characterized, not only as a narrative fiction on love (as was shown in Daimos), but as a fantastic general fiction of heroism, adventure & elegiac elements for youngsters. It was made for pure entertainment & enjoyment (initially for Japanese children), and it is highly unlikely that Tadao Nagahama was in tune with the political atmosphere of the Philippines during the 1970s and thus could not have patterned his characters & his story as allusions to the mentioned Philippine leaders or to the troubled political situation of the country at the time. Although, Nagahama often uses the political theme of revolution & uprising in several of his other works like, more notably, Rose of Versailles & Daimos.

These presumptuous & pretentious theories sprang from the drastic changes which influenced the mindset of the generation who tried to formulate a good reason why the shows were banned. For that generation, it was the "longest story ever told" for they waited the ending of the tale of Voltes V, which eventually came close to 20 years later.

There is another conspiracy theory which states that because of the enormous profits the Super Robot anime shows were generating at that time (in terms of merchandising, TV exposure, advertisement revenue, licensing deals & etc.) were so great that Marcos wanted a share of it. But this didn't push through smoothly and as an act of retaliation, and a chance to flex political muscle to impress the conservatives (which was speculated to have been spearheaded by ultra conservative Pili Cayetano, a friend of Marcos' wife Imelda, at the time), Ferdinand Marcos banned the shows altogether.

With this in mind, the cancellation of the Super Robot shows, with Voltes V as the vanguard, could be concluded as a combination of a display & execution of political showboating, media manipulation & censorship characteristic of a repressive dictatorial singularity, failed under-the-counter-dealing and post-war values.

As for "post-war values", Marcos, in some ways, represented a generation that underwent the horrors of the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during World War 2. Voltes V was a product of Japan - the former aggressor. Marcos' generation was in prominence & in power during the 70's and their outlook was shaped by these tumultuous events several decades earlier. It is characterized by a stern, singular & disciplined principle which eventually reconstructed the war-torn nation. This is reflective of Marcos' policies during the early years of the Martial Law/Bagong Lipunan (Filipino for 'New Society') era. Compounded by these, it is likely that animosity towards anything Japanese and a strong desire to pass on the values of "discipline" to the younger generation that prompted whatever moral motivation Marcos might have had in banning the cartoon show/s.

Marcos, it should be noted, called himself a WW2 veteran who fought against the Japanese. However, current evidence shows he was nothing of the sort & fabricated his WW2 achievements (i.e. his infamous fake War Medal collection) and was probably a successful collaborator. Ironically, he was reputed to hate anything Japanese in spite of having good foreign relations with Japan during his tenure.

This disciplinarian act was short-lived and it sowed the seeds of anger in the young who loved the shows. Several years later, Marcos would repeat his political tactics directed at another form of mass entertainment when he banned coin-operated video games - mostly made in Japan. These games were popular with the youth who he wanted disciplined (just like Voltes V and the other robot shows before). These were instances that preceded the 1986 EDSA Revolution which saw the overthrow of Marcos.

The Triumphant Philippine Return

The Voltes V cartoon series resumed its TV run shortly after the People Power Revolution that toppled Marcos in 1986. Ironically, it was the government-run People's Television Channel 4 (PTV-4, now National Broadcasting Network or NBN-4) that aired the program. However, the comeback was lackluster and Voltes V found itself "unfinished" in its story-telling-run and was shuffled from one TV station to another as a cartoon filler. The show was aired on ABS-CBN Channel 2 then on sequestered TV stations RPN-9 and IBC-13. The late 1980s had its share of Japanese tokusatsu / sentai series like Bioman and Shaider & anime in the early 90's like Peter Pan, Cedie, The Little Prince, Sarah - The Little Princess etc. But fifteen years later, around the late 1990s, a new wave of anime appreciation came to the Philippines (and all over the world for that matter) represented by shows like Yu-Yu Hakusho, Rurouni Kenshin (a.k.a. Samurai X), Fushigi Yugi, Flame of Recca & etc.

But the spark which truly brought Voltes V back into the limelight in the late 1990s, oddly & strangely enough, came from a skit of a TV comedy show called Bubble Gang. The skit-in-concern was a parody of a controversial religious television show called Ang Dating Daan (The old path), which in turn was comically entitled Ang Dating Doon (The old there). In the skit, the Voltes V opening theme song was sung as both its opening and closing theme. The song was sometimes sung without instrumental augmentation, relying on the guests' voice to give the song a funny yet anthemic sound. It was the "spark that ignited the fuse".

In January 1999, despite protests from some minor conservative groups, the show returned to its original primetime slot in GMA-7, the station where it was aired during the Marcos years. But fan enthusiasm for the show waned somewhat later that year when a movie containing the last five episodes was shown in theaters as "Voltes V: The Liberation." The decision by GMA-7 executives to show the movie was reportedly to give the Friday primetime slot to Pokemon. But with the movie having been shown in June 1999, many fans of the series had their "closure" and lost interest in the TV run.

Currently, a new Filipino language dubbed version of VOLTES V (an earlier Filipino dubbed version was shown briefly & unsuccessfully around 2002) is being shown in Hero TV a cable channel. The show is called VOLTES V: Evolution.

The Rising popularity of the Filipino Band the "Eraserheads" in the early 90's also popularized its nostalgia with the release of the major record label album " Ultra Electro Magnetic Pop".

Despite being a product of Japan, VOLTES V is a significant cultural & historical focal point in Philippine society. For a generation of youngsters dubbed as the Martial Law Babies (born within the period of the late 1960s - early 1970s), Voltes V was not only an enjoyable part of their youth, but a subconscious rallying cry for revolution. It's revival also makes it a multi-generational phenomena, much like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings, wherein the children of the generation-in-concern appreciate it as much as their parents did. VOLTES V, figuratively, is as Filipino as the kalesa (the native horse drawn buggy) or the jeepney and unique as a historical force in shaping the destiny of a country.