1978: THE YEAR OF "VOLTES V"

LET'S VOLT IN !!!

“Can Voltes V defend the earth against the Boazan empire invasion?” says a 1978 newspaper ad announcing the TV debut of the popular Japanese animated cartoon series, “Voltes 5.” It made its first TV appearance and Premiere telecast on May 5, 1978 on Channel 7 and created a major impact among the Filipino televiewers especially the children. Every Friday night at 6 pm, Filipinos were glued to their seats watching each episode and were thrilled when the heroes headed by Steve Armstrong (Kenichi Gou in Japan) started to volt in to become Voltes V. It eventually became a household favorite and soon the talk of the town. It was such a phenomenon then. Just when the people were enjoying and following every episode of the series, came the fatal blow. Then President Ferdinand Marcos issued a directive banning Voltes V citing excessive violence as the main reason. Many believed that the basis behind the cancellation was the story’s content which can be compared to the Marcos regime. It’s a big blow for all the growing kids who followed the show unfailingly. I’m sure most of these kids up to this time, as an adult, hated Marcos for doing it--- a good example of dictatorship.

Voltes V made a great comeback and was re-aired in the 1990s. The Voltes V craze was relived and rekindled. And it’s bigger than ever!!!

This is an original 70s Voltes V die-cast robot toy posted at ebay selling at a staggering php 35,900. It originally sells for php 500 to php 1,000 in 1978, a hefty amount that time. It became a sought-after piece and collector’s item when the Voltes V TV series was re-released in the 90s.