(Left to right: Erika, Hyouma and Kenichi in front of the robots of the Robot Romance Trilogy, Voltes V, Combattler V and Daimos)
Victory Five (formally, Super Electromagnetic Wars Victory Five (超電磁大戦ビクトリーファイブ, Chōdenjitaisen Bikutorī Faibu) is Japanese crossover sequel series to the three anime of the Robot Romance Trilogy - Combattler V, Voltes V and Daimos written by Yūichi Hasegawa. It was originally serialized in Futabasha's Super Robot Magazine from 2001-2003, though a new edition was later released by JIVE.On the day when planets Earth, Campbell, Boazania, and Baam sign a four-planet non-aggression pact and finally gain a foothold for peace, a mysterious individual, "Jewellion", interrupts the event and kidnaps delegates from various countries who were participating in the peace conference.
In exchange for each hostage, Jewellion demands a thousand alien heads, before leaving to the artificial planet of Dunant, situated 8,700 light years away from Earth. The battle for the peace and future of the four planets begins as the heroes of Combattler V, Voltes V and Daimos take it on themselves to liberate them.
However, as the story progresses, dark horses crop up from each of our heroes' pasts, and they learn that this battle is worlds bigger than they thought...
Be aware, the manga has tons of naked girls and gratuitous violence, which is partially why it's a Broken Base amongst the fans.
Be aware that since Victory Five takes place after the endings of Combattler V, Voltes V and Daimos, spoilers for those series will be left unmarked. Read at your own discretion.
NOTE: Tadao Nagahama did NOT have any involvement in writing the manga.
Victory Five provides examples of:
- A Boy and His X: Hatada Nosuke, Karui Manabu, Komaru, Jiro, Ochame and Tonsuke adore their pet pigs.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Oleana is a caring mother figure to Garuda, unlike her incarnation in the original anime. She even sacrifices herself to save Garuda from Heinel.
- Aliens Speaking English: The humans, Campbellians, Boazanians, Baamites and Dunantites all converse in Japanese without any issue.
- All There in the Manual:
- According to the manga, 3,000 years ago, The Baam Empire was an interplanetary nation that rivaled the Boazanian Empire. However, in Daimos, this is never mentioned, and we're introduced to Baam as a single planet that collided into another one, rendering all of it's citizens, the Baamites, as refugees. It's also stated that Boazania and Baam had contact with each other.
- Apparently, it's a Boazanian custom to hate your twin.
- Aliens Are Bastards: Averted with most of the story's aliens, who seek peaceful relations with Earth, but played straight with Jewellion though she has a really tragic backstory.
- Babies Ever After: In part 2, Erika can't pilot Phobos....because she's pregnant with Kazuya's child.
- Cain and Abel:
- In the original anime, the aristocratic commander Heinel was the Cain to the heroic Kenichi's Abel (though neither of them knew it until the very last episode). However, in Victory Five, it turns out that Heinel has a Cain of his own, in the form of his twin sister Marine. When she was born, Heinel's grandparents had her given away to an aristocrat ruling family of another planet, as in Boazania, it is a custom that twins are unlucky. It is also a Boazanian custom to hate your twin, and Marine despises Heinel. She is a cruel, horned noble who enjoys hurting humans (much like Heinel at the beginning of the series), and Heinel stands up to her cruelty and the Voltes Team helps him defeat her.
- Similarly, Jewellion and Bellion. Though they both wanted to get revenge for the deaths of their parents, Bellion's heart was touched by the Earthlings and what they fought for, and eventually defected from Jewellion to aid them.
- Cast Full of Pretty Boys: Sharkin, Heinel, Garuda and Richter. No, really
- Fanservice: Filled to the brim with it. From Megumi/Erika/Chizuru's bathroom scenes, to Erika being helplessly restrained, to Marine's revealing clothing, to the mysterious girl Chiri being bare naked, to the various female background characters....
- Fantastic Racism: Jewellion's parents were a Baamite and Boazanian who fell in love with each other in spite of Baam and Boazania having a war at the time. Dubbed traitors by both of their planets, they were killed, and their corpses were displayed to set an example for everyone else. Their children (Jewellion and her sister) were deemed as "abominations" by both the Boazanians and Baamites, and when they tried to escape, their spaceship was shot down. Presumed to be dead, Jewellion and Bellion escaped to an artificial planet, while the former began accumulating vast amounts of military power in order to get revenge.
- Horns of Villainy: Two of Victory Five's major villains are Horned Boazanians.
- Human Aliens: Sort of. The Boazanians are split into the Horned Boazanians and Hornless Boazanians, the latter of who are this trope. The Baamites resemble humans, but they have wings. Jewellion looks like a human but has Baam wings and Boazanian horns.
- I Have Your Wife: Jewellion kidnaps Kentaro/Gohl, the father of Prince Heinel and the Go brothers, as one of the delegates she takes to Dunant.
- La Résistance: In an ironic turn of events, after Zambajil was defeated and Gohl re-took the throne, he established a society where Horned and Hornless Boazanians live equally. Some former aristocratic nobles didn't like this after losing their status quo, so they secretly formed their own coalition hoping to overthrow Gohl and bring back the Fantastic Caste System.note
- Love Triangle: Chiri loves Hyouma, who canonically loves Chizuru in Combattler V. However, their romance is retconned here, and Hyouma is left oblivious to both of their feelings.
- New Powers as the Plot Demands: This happens to all three robots:
- Combattler V receives upgrades and becomes Combattler VI.
- Voltes V receives the Volt Roller and the Volt Spinner, becoming Voltes VII.
- Daimos receives a Spear Counterpart in the form of Battle Robot Phobos, who is pink, has a closed mouth, and has wings. Phobos is primarily piloted by Erika, who wants to fight alongside the man she loves, and fuelled by The Power of Love.
- Primary Colour Champion: Voltes V and Combattler V.
- Robeast: Jewellion's mecha has the higher half of a female body and the lower body of a horse, and wields a Sinister Scythe.
- No Name Given: Jewellion's mecha isn't named.
- Pink Is Feminine: Erika pilots the mecha Phobos, which is bright pink in colour.
- Shout-Out: Possibly. Planet Dunant could be a reference to Dune. It wouldn't be the first time the Robot Romance Trilogy gave a shout-out to the novel, as Daimos had a character named Gurney Halleck.
- Red Is Heroic:
- Kenichi and Hyouma don red costumes.
- Kazuya's outfit is white with red highlights.
- Meta example. In one volume cover, Heinel is depicted as red, while Garuda, the volume's antagonist, is depicted as blue.
- Sequel Series: Victory Five is one to the Robot Romance Trilogy. However, it's reviled by a large chunk of the fanbase.
- Sufficiently Advanced Alien: The people of Campbell, Boazania, Baam and Dunant.
- The Smurfette Principle: Discussed. Erika, Megumi and Chizuru remark about how they're the the only girls of their team, and decide to form their own mini-team.note
