Old School Mecha

I found this on YouTube courtesy of andylau12345. Thanks dude. Hearing the "Voltes V" theme song brings back fond memories of watching mecha anime while I was growing up in the '70s and early '80s in the Philippines.

There were so many robot shows then, it seemed there was one mecha show every day. There was "Mazinger Z" with its weird villains and "Daimos" with its Richard/Erika love story. But "Voltes V" was my favorite with its tale of orphaned brothers and longing for a missing/dead father. Plus Voltes V usually dispatched the enemies by carving a V in their bodies with a sword. I always thought he did that to make sure the baddies knew who crushed them. That's "V" for Mr. Voltes V. And don't you forget it!

Of course even then I wondered why the evil guys never attacked the heroes as the robot was transforming. It seemed to me the best time to attack since the robot would be at its weakest. But why ask why.

The only other non-robot show I watched faithfully then was "Candy Candy" which dealt with the Cinderella-like life of one orphan girl. I was 9 when I saw the episode where Anthony, her first love, died in a riding accident or something like that. I bawled for an hour then memorized the sappy ending song. I remember sniffling again when I sang the song afterward. Hey, I was young and easily moved then.