nostalgia made of alloy

It was the 80s when I first felt the stirrings of the political animal in me. And it did not end with just that. The stirrings were just the prelude to the ranting that was to come. I went home from shcool one day to find out that my favourite afternoon Japanese cartoon programs were no more. I was in grade school and the late president and dictator Marcos was allegedly behind the axing of my aftenoon TV fares of choice. Yes, allegedly...but it did not make the issue easier to digest for a kid who's suddenly in the cusp of activism. The programs were cancelled, and so I was told over and over again after each hysterical outburst and running naked in the street, because they were proving to be such a hit that it's negatively affecting the education of young 'uns like me - curtailing our study time and eating big chunks in our brains that should be reserved for math and science. Pooh that! I was still leading the honors race, my grades were not dipping, and I had the coolest Voltes V mask when the class performed a Tagalized (ie translated in Filipino language) version of its theme for Field Day! Of course, I can only speak for myself. But my classmates were sure not happy either. Whatever the actual merit of the shows' cancellation and its consequences, in retrospect, are now all just part of nostalgia that still disgruntle me to this day. And I have yet to recover from hating the late president.

The animated programs that I feature below were all created in the 1970s and shown during that decade. I missed seeing them the first time as I was too young to make sense of the whole human vs alien dynamics and besides, I still had to have to stake a claim on our 14-inch black and white TV - for a brood of eight, that's quite a Herculean undertaking.

But before we proceed with the lookback, the shows returned on air, some of them anyway, when I was in college. Needless to say, I again did not manage to catch each and every episode of the shows. It's only now, thanks to DVDs, that I completed the amazing stories about freedom, about fighting for Earth and your fellow human beings, about love, about friendship. Yeah, all that big themes are what they are about aside from tons of action usually highlighted by sci-fied firepower and music that rock.

And so, in the immortal words of Steve Armstrong, the lead pilot of Voltes V, LET'S...VOLT....INNNNNN!

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Escaping the evil forces of his home planet Fleed and the wrath of King Vega, the Prince, Duke Fleed, boards the powerful war machine UFO Robo Grendizer and lands on planet Earth. He was rescued by a goodhearted and bright scientist, Dr. Umon, who makes him an adoptive son. On Earth, he becomes known as Daisuke Umon and befriends other earthlings. But the threat of King Vega and his army is far from over. Soon enough, they send saucers and robot fighters to Earth in hopes to seize the Grendizer and with it conquer the planet and eventually the universe. Duke, together with his friends Koji, Hikaru and Maria Grace decide to fight back and defend the Earth using its best weapon - the mighty Grendizer.

Grendizer is armored with "Space Alloy Gren", supposedly the hardest material there is, and is powered by a photonic reactor. It fights back with the use of many weapons it was created with including the Hand Beam, the Backhand Missiles, the Double Harken (a harken with moon blades mounted on the shoulders) Shoulder Boomerang and Dizer Power among many others. Moreover, it can transform into one of many specialized craft called Spazers (for example. it morphs into a saucer when in flight).

The anime was conceptualized and created by manga artist Go Nagai. It debuted in 1975 and is still a popular manga/anime robot in Europe, specially in Italy.

After the destruction of their planet, the survivors of Planet Baam head towards Earth to sign a peace treaty that would allow, among other things, for their emigration. Unfortunately, Baam's leader, General Lion, is assasinated by his second in command, Olban, during the negotiations with scientist Dr Hartford. The general's vengeful son Admiral Richter kills the doctor in retalliation and war starts. The Earthlings easily defends their planet with the help of the karate-using super robot called Daimos piloted by Dr Hartford's son and expert martial artist Richard Hartford. But things make a turn for the worse when Richard meets and falls in love with Erika, the princess of Baam and Richter's sister.

The super robot's main weapon is its capability to mimic the movements made by the pilot which helps in combat. But other than that, Daimos also uses a standard machine gun called the Daimo Gun, a shuriken formed by two blades called the Cross Boomerang, and powerful fans mounted on the chest that can generate a whirlwind called the Double Blizzard among many others. But what I like the most are his karate moves which include a flying kick, a karate chop and his trademark finishing blow called the Hitssatsu Reppuu Seiken Zuki.

Daimos (or Tosho Daimos - "Brave King") was created by Saburo Yatsude, also the man behind Voltron, in 1978.

A group of archaelogists and scientists including Dr Juzo Kabuto and Dr Hell discover remnants of a lost civilization, the Mycene Empire. But Dr Hell loses his mind upon learning that the empire used steel titans and realizing he can use them as prototypes for creating his own mechanical beasts (or mecha) thay can be remotely controlled. Set off by greed and lust for power, Dr Hell has all the members of his team except for Dr Kabuto who manages to escape. In anticipation of Dr Hell's plans, Dr Kabuto constructs the super robot Mazinger Z but is killed by the crazed doctor's hermaphrodite aid Baron Ashura. Fortunately, before his death, he's able to tell his grandson Kouji Kabuto all about the super robot. Kouji becomes the pilot and battles all the mechas and evil henchmen sent by Dr Hell. Occasionally, Kouji and Mazinger Z gets help from a "female" super robot Aphrodite-A which is piloted by his friend Sayaka.

When Kouji, in his cruiser, enters Mazinger Z's cockpit located in the head, he's ready to do battle. The super robot is equipped with Laser Fire, photon beams that shoot out of the eyes, the Rocket Punch which is comprised of rocket-launched fists designed to break down a target's defense, the Iron Cutter or blades embedded on the Rocket Punch and the Chest Fire among many others. But this one I love, on the other hand, Aphrodite-A's main weapons are her Super Bazookas (missiles) that fire off from her metallic breasts.

The Mazinger Z super robot was also created by Go Nagai. It was first chronicled in manga publications and made its premiere as a TV program on 1972. One of the many breakthroughs accomplished by this super robot is that it's the first to introduce the concept of mecha robots that are piloted within its cockpit. It's also the first to feature a "she-bot", a mecha robot inherently female in apperance and is in fact piloted by a female. And arguably, and probably its biggest achievement, it's played a germinal role in the development of the concepts of transformation and combination in robot fiction.

Though it may not be the most popular super robot ever ever the world over, Voltes V is certainly the granddaddy among the many that lorded it over on Philippine television. And personally, it is my most favourite and the first I completed from start to finish - including watching the feature film in the theater, donning the pilot costume complete with the laser sword and mask.

That said (and the tears wiped off), the series starts off with the invasion of Earth by horned humanoids from Boazania In response to the threat, a team of scientists led by Dr Ned Armstrong, his wife Mitsuyo and colleague and friend Dr Smith, develops and creates the Earth's ultimate defense machine, a super robot called Voltes V. The robot is formed when five separately piloted cruisers "volt in". The pilots who were chosen according to their area of expertise include Dr Armstrong's sons: Steve, team leader, marksman and ace pilot; Big Bert, martial arts master and defense tactician; Little John, mechanics and robotics genius. Also in the team are Jamie Robinson, daughter of Voltes V headquarter's Commander, who is a ninjitsu expert and comes from a ninja clan and Mark Gordon, an orphan and rodeo champion who proves to be a slightly off character at times..

Other than the most spectacular fight scenes and suspense-filled action, the series also focuses on the Armstrong brothers' quest to find their long-missing father who is believed to be in the hands of the enemies led by Prince Zardoz. As week after week (actually episode after episode) mechanical fighter beasts are deployed by the enemies, substories unfold that ultimately lead to major twists and turns. I'll stop short of divulging the secrets behind the Armstrong brothers' unique heritage, the unexpected deaths and the mysterious allies.

Although the individual fighter space craft of each Voltes team member is equipped with its own unique weaponry, the weapons that hurt the enemies the most are the ones they use when the have "volted in." These include among many others the Ultramagnetic Top, a top with bladed sides, the Chain Knuckle, a chain with hooked ends fired from the hand - there are other weapons from that part including the Voltes Bazooka and Finger Missiles, and the much dreaded and the super robot's most powerful weapon, the Laser Sword.

Voltes V is a creation of Tadao Nagahama and first appeared on television in April 6, 1977.