Referenced By / Voltes V

Here is a list of references to Voltes V by other media.

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Didn't know Leona was a big Voltes V fan.

Advertising

• The Jack 'n Jill's V Cut potato snack from the Philippines might also be a Voltes V reference for its name.
• A Filipino commercial for CDO Karne Norte Corned Beef in the 2000s also references Voltes V, particularly its combination sequence and its iconic theme song.
• Cherifer Vitamins also made "Let's Vitamins!", a commercial jingle based on the Voltes V opening theme.

Anime & Manga

• Daimos:
  • Okane is a gender-flipped Daijiro Gou.
  • Kyoshiro Yuzuki is a French Ippei Mine with an afro.
  • Kazuya Ryūzaki is basically a kung-fu, er, karate-fighting Ken'ichi Gou.
  • Erika is a daintier princess version of Megumi Oka (same voice actress too).
  • The Daimovic Base is basically the Daimos version of Camp Big Falcon.
  • The Baam Mecha Soldiers had the same armor upgrades as the Boazanian Beast Knights.
  • Isamu Ryūzaki is basically the deceased version of Kentaro Gou who's also father to the lead robot pilot.
  • Douglas Banks is seemingly the Token White Expy of Dr. Sakunji from Voltes V. They even both have the same curtain beard as Abraham Lincoln.
  • The maskless, open-mouthed face of God Warrior Godol resembles Daimos and is piloted using a neural helmet and motion controls as well.
  • Voltes V and Daimos share the same villain archetypes too. Richter is Heinel (same voice actor too), Raiza/Aizam is Katharine Rii, Balbas is Jangal (same voice actor too), and Georiya is Zuhl. King Olban is also Daimos's Emperor Zambajil.
• GoLion:
  • Similar to Voltes V and Combattler V, Beast King GoLion (and its U.S. localization, Voltron) ends up with four male pilots and one female pilot following Shirogane's death.
  • There were several powerful four-legged Beast Knights in Voltes V who resembled GoLion's robotic lions, including Jaguard (jaguar), Garus (wolf), and Galgo (purple Bengal tiger).
  • When you take into account the V-Formation and the involvement of electricity, how the robot lions form GoLion is strikingly similar to the V-Together of Voltes V or combination sequence of Combattler V.
  • With its dark eyes and wide-open mouth, the maskless face of the GoLion mech resembles that of Shugoshin Godol or the last Beast Knight Voltes V faced in the series. They both also employ a Finishing Move that involves a sword.
  • GoLion also features the sequence where the pilots sit on their respective cockpits and travel towards their respective Combining Mecha units (as originated by Combattler V). The zip-line pulley sequence, however, is taken directly from Daimos.
• Doraemon: In a 1981 episode of Doraemon, Doraemon's handmade giant robot had a color scheme that somewhat resembled Voltes V.
• Dairugger XV
  • Dairugger itself resembles Voltes V in terms of their shared samurai armor and warrior motifs that are notably absent with Combattler V's design despite Voltes being based on Combattler.
  • The Galveston Skull Ship harkens back to Voltes V and its more esoteric-looking Boazanian Skull Rook mothership.
  • Teles himself looks like the Space Battleship Yamato iteration of Prince Heinel as well as Combattler's Garuda or Daimos's Richter.
  • During Teles' death scene, the flames that engulf him as Galveston succumbs to its own self-destruction are reminiscent of the flames that surround Prince Heinel when he chose to die to redeem himself for all the sins he committed in trying to conquer Earth for Boazan.
• Magical Princess Minky Momo: In Episode 31 of Minky Momo, Momo merges with a legendary Combining Mecha that looks a lot like Voltes V^note (and even her mother once piloted) to defeat the enemy robot that looks like Getter Liger in turn. Momo's mech then uses a literal Laser Sword while they charge at the Liger-like enemy that turns into a tornado reminiscent of the Choudenji Spin.
• Outlanders: While Princess Kahm is an obvious Expy of Lum, her blonde hair; thick, brown buffalo-like horns; and Princess status are also reminiscent of Prince Heinel. Compare◊ their◊ appearances.
• Legend of Lemnear: Lord Varohl heavily has uncanny parallels◊ to Godol.
• Dragon Ball Z: The scene where Goku is stapled to the mountain with glowing energy staples by Majin Vegeta during the Buu Saga is highly reminiscent of Voltes V being stapled to the ground by the Beast Knight Daineegu or to the cave walls by the fully armed defense systems of the Boazanians' hidden mountain base.
• Martian Successor Nadesico:
  • In the series Gekiganger 3 (a Show Within a Show in Nadesico), one of the pilots of the titular Gekiganger robot is named "Ken Tenkuu", which is an obvious reference to the signature "Tenkuu Ken" (Sword of Heaven) or "Laser Sword" of Voltes V.
  • In fact, the main cast of Gekiganger 3 are Expies and Fusions of of both Getter Robo and Voltes V pilots.
• Sergeant Keroro: In Season 3 Episode 142 Part A of Keroro, the Hinata Family enters "Forbidden Battle Mode", which turns their humble suburban home into a mix between Camp Big Falcon from Voltes V and the White Base of Mobile Suit Gundam
• Baka and Test: Summon the Beasts: In Episode 5 of the anime adaptation, Yoshii uses three "pencil dice" (pencils with multiple choice answers around the edge that he rolls like dice) named Striker Sigma V (which seems to be a reference to Voltes V as well as Super Sentai), Problem Breaker, and Shining Answer.
• Beelzebub: The Combining Mecha Max the Ishiyama High King is a parody of Voltes V. He is formed by five smaller aircraft floating in a "V" position, makes a giant "V" when formed, and even his design has big yellow "V" on it.
• Robot Girls Z parodies Raideen, Combattler V, Daimos and Voltes V as cute anime girls◊.^note Raideen is the light blue-haired girl at the top, Daimos is the black haired girl at the bottom, Combattler V is the cyan haired girl with the feather in her cap and Voltes V is the one on the left with green hair
• Cross Ange:
  • In Episode 4, what clearly is the Tenkuu Ken is referenced there. It's seen at the Jasmine "Mall" (where they sell everything from lingerie to artillery) as one of the mech weapons for sale. Ensign Newbie Vivian says the sword would look awesome on Ange's machine.
  • The Grand Finale depicts a Lawyer-Friendly Cameo of Voltes V (amongst other Humongous Mecha) being destroyed by the invading alien ant empire before it gets a chance to do anything.
• One Piece: In Episode 1,019 of One Piece, General Franky uses his "Franken" (フラン剣, Furanken, literally meaning "Fran Sword") and does the "V-for-Victory Flash" (勝利のVブイフラッシュ, Shōri no Bui Furasshu), which are both based on Voltes V's "Tenkuu Ken" and "V-no-Ji-Giri" respectively.
• Frieren: Beyond Journey's End:
  • Lügner is The Heavy of Aura's forces that's also a Manipulative Bastard with prominent horns on his head, just like Prince Heinel from Voltes V.
  • Funnily enough, Lügner is voiced by Jun'ichi Suwabe, who once offered to dub Prince Zardoz/Heinel in Voltes V: Legacy, the live-action adaptation of Voltes V from the Philippines.

Literature

• In the afterword of Scorching Dragoons, Yoshiki Tanaka (of Legend of the Galactic Heroes fame) mentions Fang of the Sun Dougram and Voltes V as masterpieces with revolutionary themes.

Movies & Television

• Vontes V: At the height of Voltes V fever in the Philippines back when it was airing, a Filipino spoof movie was made in its honor named Vontes V in 1979.
• Battle Fever J: Battle Fever J and its concept of five young people using a mecha to fight the forces of evil has technically been inherited from animated shows like Combattler V and Voltes V, but their mech mostly copies Leopardon from Spider-Man (Japan)^note (the first Toku TV series to use a giant robot in that manner).
• Hikari Sentai Maskman:
  • The main mecha for Maskman, "Great Five", is also a five-themed giant robot composed of five combining vehicles (the first of its kind in Super Sentai).
  • It's also no coincidence that the Masky Fighter piloted by Red Mask/Takeru looks a lot like the Volt Cruiser piloted by Ken'ichi Gou. Both also form the head when all their vehicles combine to form their respective giant robot.
  • Voltes V having part of Volt Cruiser's airplane wings serve as a shield is an unused concept that never made it to the anime itself. However, Great Five ended up recycling that concept, with it bearing an airplane shield itself from Masky Jet.
  • Prince Igam is looked down upon by the rest of Tube for being related to the traitor Princess Iyal, mirroring Prince Heinel's relation to La Gour from Voltes V.
  • The heroes also have a kunoichi in their group, Haruka/Yellow Mask. Yellow also happens to be one of the primary colors of Voltes V resident kunoichi Megumi Oka (her piloting suit is yellow with pink accents).
• Chikyuu Sentai Fiveman: As for Fiveman, the main leads of Fiveman are also composed of family members out to defend earth from an upcoming intergalactic invasion.^note However, this time The Lancer and The Heart are also siblings rather than just having three siblings (or brothers, as in the case of Voltes) plus two unrelated allies.
• Bubble Gang: Shortly before the show was brought back on Philippine TV in the late '90s, GMA used the opening theme song to introduce and close, of all things, a recurring skit in their weekly primetime Sketch Comedy show Bubble Gang.^note The skit had no relation to Voltes V at all (it was a parody of a born-again Christian program Ang Dating Daan, "The Old Road/Way", thus Ang Dating Doon, "The Previously There") but it became wildly popular and the theme song became a Couch Gag of sorts as it was covered in different musical styles aside from the original recording being used. In hindsight, it might have been GMA flexing the rights and keeping Voltes V in the public eye in preparation for its upcoming revival on TV. The skit continued well past the revival's debut.
• Voltes V: Legacy: It's only natural for this live-action adaptation to give multiple shout-outs to the original series in the form of Mythology Gags. Its most notable ones include:
  • Dr. Smith canonically having the full name of "Dr. Richard Hamaguchi Smith".
  • Voltes V posing behind a shining V after defeating Zoldier like he usually does when he defeats a Beast Knight in the original series.
  • The appearance of the unused tank mode of Voltes V.
  • Voltes V doing the same pose he does in the intro in the penultimate episode.

Magazines

• Animage:
  • August 1978 has a tribute to Prince Heinel, "Prince Heinel forever".
  • In the October 1985 issue there's a tribute to Tadao Nagahama that features chibi-fied versions of Kenichi, Ippei, Heinel, Katherine, Jangal and Megumi.
• OUT: Prince Heinel is prominently featured in many issues. He was even on the frontpage cover for the September 1978 issue of OUT's spin-off magazine Rendezvous.
• Televi-Kun: Heinel appeared on the cover of the August 1977 issue, and Voltes V's tie-in comic was also serialized there.
• Voltes V was mentioned◊ in the September 2021 issue of Hungarian magazine Animazin, under the "retro anime" section. The reviewer specifically praises Noriko Ohara's performance as Hiyoshi/Katherine and Tesshō Genda's performance as Daijiro, and rates it an 8/10. In addition, it is also compared to The Rose of Versailles.

Music

• Tito, Vic, and Joey: Tito, Vic, and Joey of Eat Bulaga! fame made a parody version of the Voltes V song back in The '80s.^note Throughout the song, they also make references to Flash Gordon, Choudenshi Bioman, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars, Mazinger Z, Buck Rogers, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Ultraman for good measure.
• The Eraserheads: The E-Heads reference the dub name equivalent of Voltes V's "Choudenji Goma" (Ultra-Electromagnetic Top) with their debut album, Ultraelectromagneticpop.
• Parokya ni Edgar: Parokya references Voltes V by singing "Let's volt in!" as one of the lyrics of their collaborative 2005 song, "Bagsakan", which also features Francis Magalona and Gloc-9.
• The Voltes V theme was performed by the Sons and Daughters of Mountain View College in 2014.
• A Philippine Army Parade in 2018 featured the Voltes V theme.

Toyline

• Although the Shogun Warriors comic book only included Raydeen, Combatra, and Dangard Ace in its line-up, the Shogun Warriors Mattel toyline itself also includes its version of Voltes V (known instead as Voltus V) along with Poseidon, Daimos, Dragun, and Great Mazinga.

Video Games

• Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer: The Platonic Twins, Ryo and Suzu Asahina, combine into a mechanical monster that looks a lot like Shugoshin Godol (minus the gynoid comprising his torso).
• The King of Fighters: One of the moves of Leona Heidern is the "V-Slasher" and it's a shout-out to Voltes V's own "V-no-Ji-Giri" or "V-Slash" special attack. It's also a slashing move that results in a shining V-mark at the end.
• Persona 4: Arena: One of Yosuke Hanamura's new attacks in Ultimax is something that looks close to Leona Heidern's V-slasher, which is itself based on Voltes V's V Slash. It's even called V-Slash in the localization!
• Super Robot Wars:
  • It's only natural for Super Robot Wars to feature Voltes V in several of its installments, so its presence there is an obvious reference.
  • However, SRW30 even references the popularity of the series in the Philippines by having Voltes V's debut stage be within the vicinity of the nation's capital.
• Supercharged Robot Vulkaiser: Vulkaiser is made to be a huge pastiche of 70s and 80s Super Robots, especially Mazinger Z, Voltron, and Voltes V. Not to mention, Commander Roz◊, with his thick horns, blonde hair and brown eyes, Bishōnen features and fancy clothing, resembles a certain Boazanian Prince.

Western Animation

• Voltron Force: Keith being part Arusian harkens back to Kenichi and his brothers being half-Boazanian.
• Voltron: Legendary Defender: Keith being part Galra also harkens back to Kenichi and his brothers being half-Boazanian. It's also a reference to Keith's half-breed status in Voltron Force.
• In the Rick and Morty episode "Promortyus", Morty's armor—with it's spiked helmet and the blue-and-white color scheme with red highlights—resembles Voltes V but with a Gundam chest plate. The way he holds the sword is also similar to how Voltes wields the Tenkuu Ken.

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