Being Gerely

The Best Animé October 14, 2008

In recent years, we have witnessed the deluge of animés in television, video games, or even on-line games. They have become sources of entertainment to the generation of today. Whatever our objections may be over animés, whether on the themes presented or the characters or the storylines, it cannot be denied that they have integrated into popular culture and have, one way or the other, defined communication patterns among those heavily exposed to these.

Animés, however, are nothing new. According to Wikipedia, they have been around since 1929. Can somebody already existing that time validate this? But for those born in the ’70s (like me) or even the early ’80s, the most popular animés were Voltes V, Mazinger Z, and Daimos. Within the past 10 years, we have seen the popularity of Ghost Fighter, Dragon Ball Z, Naruto. For me though Voltes V is still the best animé in terms of storyline, characters, lessons imparted, and the way the series was written. Although the animation is not as sophisticated as that of the cartoons today, the story of this classic animé more than compensated for the technical issues.

I remember the debate over Voltes V when the late President Marcos pulled it out from the airwaves due to its alleged violent contents, which he deemed not suitable for children, or probably to the “new society” he wanted to establish. Regardless of any political motives involved in the decision to stop showing the series, I feel that my generation was vindicated when it was allowed to be shown again in the mid-’90s (even dubbed in Tagalog). By that time, we were no longer the kids President Marcos tried to protect from the “bad influence” of Voltes V. Unfortunately for me, I was still not able to finish the series because law school got in the way. It was shown every 6:00 in the evening when night classes in law school would just begin.

Thank heavens, however, to my youngest brother who gave me, as a birthday present, the entire Voltes V CD collection. I spent one whole weekend watching all 41 episodes and was so relieved to finally know its ending and to find comfort that I will be able to tell my children someday about this great animé.

If we could just see Voltes V for what it is, we can, in fact, appreciate its general theme and not focus on its “violent” aspect (Voltes V always ending up slashing the opponent’s beast fighters with its mighty Laser Sword). It is about love and sacrifice for family (remember how Prince Zardos, the evil conqueror, sacrificed his life for Steve in the end when he found out that they were brothers?), for the Earth, and for one’s country. It is about showing the value of team work and staying true to one’s duty and vision, regardless of the odds. Most importantly, it is about fighting for what is right, regardless of the relations involved (Dr. Armstrong was a Boazanian nobility but he chose to fight for the rights of the slaves in order to achieve equality within their society). Bottomline…selfish interests would not get us anywhere.

Maybe, if our politicians could learn a thing or two from the Voltes V series, this would be a much better country (or world, for that matter) to live in.

Long live Voltes V.