#Chōdenji Robo Combattler V

[aroacegundamalex]

Hello again! Last time we spoke, you mentioned that you and a friend were working on a SRW fan roster. Would you be interested in talking about which series you're using (so far)?

Thank you for asking! Since we’re still in the planning phase, the roster is still subject to change. So far, it’s largely comprised of series the both of us like, with a few entries that I love but they haven’t seen (because they’re still new to mecha).

The current roster is:

- Mobile Suit Gundam

- Mobile Suit Gundam 0080

- Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam

- Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack

- Mobile Suit Gundam Wing

- Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury

- Space Knight Tekkaman Blade

- Mazinkaiser (OVA)

- Shin Getter Robo vs. Neo Getter Robo

- Getter Robo Saga

- King of Braves GaoGaiGar

- Chōdenji Robo Combattler V

- Chōdenji Machine Voltes V

- Blue Comet SPT Layzner

- Beast King GoLion

- UFO Robot Grendizer

- Two of our own Original Generations casts

These are series that are tentatively included or under consideration:

- Super Dimension Fortress Macross

- Brave Raideen

- Aim for the Top! Gunbuster

- Mobile Suit Gundam Crossbone

- Aura Battler Dunbine

- Super Robot Wars W Original Generation cast

- Super Robot Wars T Original Generation cast

I’m the reason the current roster is so super-heavy (seven reals, eleven supers, including our two Original Generation casts). I am, in fact, quite biased! The series in the latter section are pretty much all series I haven’t shown my friend so we’re still debating whether they should be included, as well as two SRW casts we both love and are considering including.

If you’re wondering how we’re fitting in so many Gundam series that take place over the course of decades, some of these appear in flashbacks, side stories set in the past, or are post-canon. Time travel is also involved. Possibly alternate universes, should I succeed in my mission to get as many friends as possible to watch Dunbine.

This little project was born out of the conversations my friend and I have had over the course of me streaming as many Super Robot Wars titles as I can get my hands on. We’d made predictions for future entries, talk about crossovers we’d like to see, or how certain series would make for a good game. We then realized that one of us knows how to code, one of us is an artist, and the both of us can write.

Then a GitHub repository and Discord category were made. This isn’t anything we’re planning to make public (even if we could without risking a billion cease and desists) and is just a fun project between two friends.

Because this is essentially just a friend and I’s fanfiction, and thanks to that, it can be as long as we want it to with no concern for budget or licensing. The only limiting factor is how much we’re willing to write.

[dayinanimanga]

Today in Anime History 

April 17th, 1976

Chōdenji Robo Combattler V  premieres. It is the first anime in the Robot Romance triology created by Saburo Yatsude

Directed by Tadao Nagahama

[nomadicism]

Hello! If I may, what is Voltes V? I'd thought it was a part of the Voltron franchise, but apparently it isn't?

Hi Anon! Thank you for the Ask!

Voltes V is one of my favorite combining mecha anime series! I’ve posted about it a little bit before, and if you check my tags, you’ll find some posts that compare a bit with Voltron. I hope to be posting more about it as watch through the recent blu-ray release. I’ve never been able to watch it all the way through from the same source!

About Chōdenji Machine Voltes V

Voltes V (the ‘V’ is pronounced as ‘five’) is not part of the Voltron franchise. The series pre-dates Golion (and thus Voltron) by about a decade. It is a combining mecha series in the super sentai style and was the second part of Tadao Nagahama’s “Robot Romance” trilogy (technically not a trilogy, but that’s how fans refer to them collectively). Voltes V is the better known of the three. Voltes V was also very popular in the Philippines and Italy. The first series in the trilogy was Chōdenji Robo Com-battler V (‘V’ as in Victory), and the third was Tōshō Daimos.

Voltes V follows a team of five pilots, specially-trained and tasked with defending what remains of Earth after aliens lay waste to it. By today’s standards the story might not come across as deep, but for the time, it was a big deal. It has a lot of my favorite tropes, and I love the team and family dynamics, as well as the tragic rivalry between Ken’ichi Gō and Prince Heinel (top shelf angst right there).

Above: My scan from a Voltes V artbook. From left-to-right are Ippei Mine, Megumi Ota, Ken’ichi Gō, Daijirō Gō (in the background), and Hiyoshi Gō (in the foreground). Guess their archetypes based on uniform color and body shape!

Voltes V shows up frequently in the Super Robot Wars video game series and manga. I wish it could get a high quality remake like Space Battleship Yamato 2199/2202.

Above: screencap of game play video of Ken’ichi from Super Robot Wars.

Why Voltes V and Voltron Look Similar

A more thorough answer that explains why Voltes V looks like it would be part of the Voltron franchise would take more time than I have at the moment to get into. I touch on it a little bit in some of my other Golion and Voltes V posts.

Quick summary:

Nearly all of the combining mecha anime series from mid-70s until late 80s were mostly made by Toei, or by Toei in collaboration with other studios (the line between animation studio and production studio is fuzzy for me), which means that there is a very strong “look-and-feel” to all of these shows especially the ones that closely follow the super sentai formula.

Golion picks up some of Nagahama’s narrative tone/big ideas, and character archetypes, and tropes. His take on the combining mecha genre had a lot of impact, and Golion is just one of many series influenced by his Robot Romance trilogy. Some of the same people (not Nagahama) that worked for Toei during his time later worked on Golion. That’s why there is such a strong ‘family’ resemblance. Especially when you compare Nagahama villains like Prince Sharkin (from Brave Raideen, whom Yoshiyuki Tomino can also lay claim to) and General Garuda (from Combattler V) to Sincline/Lotor. Prince Heinel from Voltes V isn’t blue, but he’s also a tragic alien villain.

Above: Some tragic blue aliens. From left-to-right are Sharkin, Sincline/Lotor, and Garuda.

Speaking of ‘family resemblance.’ Below is an animated gif of Daltanius forming his Blazing Fire Sword from the lion head on his chest.

Aside: Mirai Robo Daltanius, was the 4th of Nagahama’s best-known series. Daltanius was originally going to be the source animation/story for Voltron. The only reason we got Golion was because Toei sent the wrong tapes when asked for “the one with the lion”.

So Anon, you’re close to the mark on Voltes V and Voltron being related enough to be part of the same franchise! Personally, I consider Golion/Voltron to be a 2nd cousin twice removed in the Robot Romance family.

I hope more people—especially Voltron fans—can watch it now that it’s finally got a proper English sub on blu-ray. Maybe a streaming service will pick it up soon.

[animarchive]

Chōdenji Robo Combattler V (Animage, 09/1992)

[bearlylegal]

FINALLY! My Robot Romance Trilogy is complete. Haaaaay... it took, what? Two years? Sigh. Totally worth it though. Chōdenji Robo Combattler V, Chōdenji Machine Voltes V, and Tōshō Daimos!

[monsterman]

Chōdenji Robo Combattler V - Soundtrack Artwork

[nomadicism]

My Chōdenji Robo Combattler V manga arrived today (among other things). I am so stoked. The art is fantastic. Garuda’s angst-filled tragic and horrific moments are wonderfully illustrated.

Also, the manga seems bloodier than the anime, and handles Garuda and Miia’s deaths differently. Very interesting. Can’t wait to dig into these.

ミ(✿ʘ ᴗʘ)っ It never ends well for the son of the evil alien scientist in a super robot story, nor for his subordinate who spends most of the story quietly pining for him.

[nomadicism]

Speaking of Voltes V and Daltanious...

Got this book in the other day. Smaller than I thought (especially for the price), but it’s got good line art from Combattler V, Voltes V, Daimos, and Daltanious.