"Voltes Five" was a show that I remember watching when I was a child in my little small town in the Philippines. Or trying to watch anyway. Most of the time I can recall dealing with static on TV. I can't distinctly remember scenes of plot lines, but I do remember the five machines forming into one robot. "Voltron" was another show like this, but for some reason, I kind of remember liking "Voltes Five" more. Not exactly sure why. And Voltron is pretty cool, because their five machines were shaped like lions.
I hadn't seen any of it since I left my home country. But about five years ago, I bumped into some episodes on the internet archive. I took a quick glance at them, and then as soon as I could, I let my son Rusty watch it. He was about five or six years old at the time. It was actually a really cool experience that I wish I got on video. (I take a ton of videos, but somehow it feels like I don't take enough.)
Anyways, he was just sitting quietly and watching as they introduced the main characters. They were training and stuff. And then they were told of their mission. And then they flew their machines. And then... "Let's volt in!" And the five machines volted in to the awesome robot fighter Voltes Five. Rusty stood up and yelled, "Cool!" Or something like that. He was super excited.
I watched a little bit more with him and then let him keep watching. I was fairly busy at that time, so I would often take home work. So after the first few episodes, I let him watch by himself. He quickly got through the entire run of episodes in a matter of days.
I kind of started rewatching random episodes a few weeks ago. It hadn't occurred to me how said it actually was. I mean, the end theme song itself gives that away. The story begins with the main characters' father going missing. And then at some point, I believe their mother dies and they are orphaned. And then there were episodes when they were seemingly reunited with their father, but it wasn't so. And I never thought about how that might have affected Rusty. The kid absolutely adored me at that age, and I wondered if the thought of losing me might have bothered him. I just kind of thought that this was just a cool action cartoon. But it can be profoundly sad. Since finishing the series, he hasn't really asked to see it again. And it's been years.
He saw bits and pieces of the show again recently, and he only commented that he didn't like the voices, especially Zuhl. I was okay with most of them, but yeah there were some voices that were amateurish. The voice of the kid was especially comical.
I did enjoy the thick filipino accents though. I think they were doing their best, but it still amuses me. It's hard to explain but I'm not putting them down. I just like them for who they are.
Anyways, as for my younger one, Dusty, well he did catch some glimpses of that original show. He also enjoys watching them volt in. That upbeat song is what really makes it work. He did wonder though, what the bad guy beast fighter robot was doing the whole time they were volting in. Interestingly enough, in the new "Voltes Five Legacy" series, they actually have an episode where the bad guy attacks them while trying to volt in and they couldn't get together to form into a robot fighter.
Dusty like the new show, even though he doesn't understand Tagalog. They do insert some English phrases, and sometimes that helps him get some context on the scene. He thinks the effects are pretty cool.
But this post isn't really a queue tip. Not sure where you can find this show. There are bits and pieces on the GMA Network's YouTube channel. And then when I checked out their website, it said it wasn't available in my location. That'w why he hasn't really watched full episodes. But I think that's a good thing because it's just too sad.
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