Spotlight on: Megumi Oka

She was renamed “Jamie Robinson” by the talented voice dubbers of the Filipino/English version of Voltes V way back in 1978. Well, I can’t find a connection between the name Megumi and Jamie but I suspect the name “Jamie” was inspired by “Jamie Somers”; the female lead character from the then hit TV series “Bionic Woman”. The voice talents should have called her “Meg”.

Megumi Oka was the only female member of the Voltes Team and she was depicted as a lovely young 16 year old Japanese girl; she’s calm, quiet, resourceful yet very dangerous; her father was Field General Oka, 110th descendant of the fierce Oka ninja clan and just like her father, Megumi grew up with the harsh life of training, honing and perfecting her skills as she and her father starts the day exercising deadly Ninjitsu maneuvers against each other portrayed in several Voltes V episodes. Sure enough, Megumi had used her ninja skills on several episodes where one of them, she had to rescue her father from the pursuing Boazanian troops.

Megumi was the voice of reason and conscience of the team, she was there when Kennichi and Ippei was about to collide from their differences and stop them both right on their tracks. But Megumi had her own moments; she was sweet yet rarely laughs and was seem to be contented to smile to show her satisfaction. An episode revealed that Megumi was some sort of a daddy’s girl and after her father died, Megumi clammed up her emotions when ever she was with her team mates, only to shed her tears when she was alone.

I remember my elementary days, where kids compare Voltes V against Mazinger Z, the childish debates often leads to “Who is more beautiful between the two female characters, Megumi or Sayaka Yumi?” Majority of the answers fall on Megumi...and why not, her oval face, sexy long legs and thick pony tail says it all.
Just more recently, as I attended an anime convention, Megumi was pit against Voltron’s Princess Allura. A super robot enthusiast told me there is no contest; Megumi was a professional “Kunnoichi (Ninja Girl) and she can always assassinate Princess Allura in her sleep, if only Megumi is not so damn sweet.

Spotlights on: Hiyoshi Go

Hiyoshi was the youngest of the Go brothers and the Voltes Team. The TV series illustrates him as a “Child genius” aside from being a seasoned aqua-fighter. He was called “Little Jon” in the dubbed Philippine/English version of the series and there were episodes where he acts as a technical trouble shooter every time a Volt Machine had trouble in the field or if Chodenji Mashin Voltes V was having modifications. Young Hiyoshi loved to invent things and most of the time; he ends up arguing with his oldest brother Kennichi because of his hobbies. Hiyoshi was capable enough to build a small, flying octopi computer called “Tako” (Octo one).

But deep inside, Hiyoshi was just a little boy who was plunged into the harsh reality of a savage invasion and was thrown into danger several times; had seen the death of his own mother and had seen the death of their elderly base commanders. Hiyoshi was the youngest soldier ever to be subjected in an inhuman training session arranged by Professor Sanjuki, student of the late Professor Hamaguchi.

Hiyoshi was a silent yet somewhat tough and cheerful kid who longed to feel the long lost love of his father, and hoped someday to reunite with his missing parent as he and his teammate’s approaches victory.

Spotlight on: Daijiro Go

Daijiro was the largest teenage member of the Voltes Team.
He was called “Big Bert” by the Filipino voice talents who dubbed the series in 1978.
In Japanese, “Dai” means large, important and perhaps that’s where the “Big” in Big Bert must have come from.

Daijiro was the second of the Go brothers and to my relief; he was not depicted as an insatiable pig, prevalent among huge bodied characters. Daijiro was more of a martial artist who mastered exotic techniques in the skill of oriental combat. He was also called as a defense tactician and was said to have studied from an Eastern monk although the series never stressed him having to do with monks, it was clear that Daijiro was a highly skilled martial arts fighter from the start; the Naginata Battle Staff was his especiality.

As I’ve seen in the Voltes V series episodes, Daijiro was a quiet type yet not afraid to voice out his opinions from time to time. He was not boastful and proud and seems to care much about his team mates’ well being in both battles and training. Daijiro was always seen fishing beside the rocky shores of “Falcon Island” if not in his training sessions.

Daijiro was there, helping Kennichi master the art of the “Butterfly Return” technique to be used against a fearful Beast Fighter. Daijiro was there when the Boazanian forces released a robot likeness of Professor Kentaro Go, his long lost father to wreck havoc inside Camp Big Falcon.

Daijiro was there, saving a little puppy from an enemy beast fighter in disguise but the highlight of his adventure in Voltes V was his capture by a Boazanian expeditionary league where he was put into prison with another prisoner who was really his lost father.

It was an emotionally charged reunion that lasted for some moment that leads to a daring yet failed attempt to escape. Daijiro returned to Camp. Big Falcon without recovering his father but he remained hopeful with the Voltes Team until the time he with his other brothers and team mates, venture forth into Boazanian and finally reunited with their long lost father.

Spotlight on: Ippei Mine

The Japanese super robot team format is composed of four to five, usually five heroic pilots, tasked to drive a giant defender robot programmed to protect Planet Earth.
The Voltes Team is not an exception; a leader, a hot shot, a bright kid, a gentle giant and a token female member.

Ippei Mine was the second member of the Voltes Team. He was renamed “Mark Gordon” by the Filipino voice-overs in 1978. Mark Gordon- Talk about ironies; the producer of the so-called Voltron movie is named Mark Gordon...and as I have discussed in earlier posts, Voltron is nothing but an inferior copy cat of Voltes V.

But the “Mark Gordon” name used in the Voltes V shows by the voice-over talents was not inspired by the Mark Gordon who produced the Voltron movie; heck Voltes V was there long before this Mark Gordon fellow made a mark in his career. I believe the name Mark Gordon was inspired by “Flash Gordon” in the early American sci-fi serials.

Ippei Mine was depicted in the series as “Cool under pressure”; the show portrayed Ippei as an immigrant from the United States so he was shown in the usual “cowboy” stereo-type. He thought that his mother had abandoned him and his ailing father, and because of this, he grew up bitter hating all mothers (yeah...right) but it turns out that his mother had died trying to save her family from an attacking wolf pack. There’s a shortfall in this particular plot; the “Old West” scenario every time there were “flash backs” showing Ippei’s past and Voltes V’s time line was supposed to be somewhere in the future...

Ippei grew up in the streets, learning the unwritten laws of the concrete jungle. He was constantly looking for a job until he landed on a ranch (or circus...whatever) where he learned to use a whip and learned to take care of horses. His constant trainings with horses made him a top notch rodeo champion in a very early age. This is enough for General Oka to pick him up forcibly and made him a member of the Voltes Team.


At first, Ippei had his differences with the Go brothers, especially with Kennichi but in the later part of the series, Ippei seem to mellow down and seem to agree with Kennichi at many times, but Ippei appears to show some concerned feelings for Megumi Oka, the only female member of the Voltes Team and the only daughter of the ill-fated General Oka.

Frankly, I feel there’s something wrong in Ippei’s life format, not that it's undesirable or anything but it sounded like it’s not from a Voltes V story or any other super robot show. It was like in a different story like something from the old West (Where the "deer and the antelope play" so to speak...). Anyway, he became a member of the Voltes Team and he had shown his utmost dedication for the defense of Planet Earth.

Spotlight on : Kennichi Go

He was called “Steve Armstrong” by the Filipino dubbers from the 1978 anime series Chodenji Mashin Voltes V, a year where the Philippine public had no or limited knowledge about Japanese Animation.

I can’t reconcile any similarities, how minute they maybe between the name Kennichi and Steve. The dubbers should have named this character “Ken”. I suspect, the character’s name was derived from “Steve Austin” the hero from the hit series “The Six Million Dollar Man”. His family name “Armstrong” obviously came from the U.S. Astronaut who first landed on the moon.

Anyway, Kennichi was depicted in Voltes V as an adroit motocross champ and a master marksman. In some write-ups, he was mentioned as a fighter pilot perhaps these qualities qualify him as the team leader of Voltes V.

Kennichi’s character was that of a kid, who suddenly shouldered all the adult responsibilities after the disappearance of his father. The series showed his love for his parents, especially in the episode where his mother died trying to save him and the other Voltes Team from being dangerously locked in a beast fighter’s grip. Sometimes, his character was firm as a rock on a wavy shore, and many times did he scolded his younger brother Hiyoshi if Hiyoshi was out of line and doing other things than those that require utmost priority. Yet at times, his teenage dispositions overshadow these grownup qualities.

There were several times he insisted on taking on the enemy himself just to make sure that his team mates are all safe. Naturally this does not sit well with the other Voltes Team. There were times that Kennichi was involved in fights; may these against the Boazanian Prince Heinnel and his generals or Ippei, one of his team mates or a grave discussion with Professor Sanjuki, the late Professor Hamagichi’s student who replaced him in command . Kennichi exercise a lengthy stream of expressive rhetoric and emotional outbursts rivaling those of corny tele-novella dramas. These scenes just show that Kennichi’s character is still much very flawed and that makes him ever more human.

Kennichi’s character is not that typical “ladies man” who swept many girls off their feet just like in many shows. The Voltes Team seems to function more in brotherly camaraderie than a group where the female hero tends to have amorous feelings for the male hero.

The series showed three of Camp Big Falcon’s pertinent coordinators perished under the strain of Boazanian onslaughts; Professor Mitsuyo (Kennichi’s mother), Professor Hamaguchi and Field General Oka. Their deaths may have shaken Kennichi but it never toppled his strong resolve. Kennichi’s character was bent on defending the Earth and the search for his long lost father.