[Mesnick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gashatfreak

Holy moly. The Filipino tokusatsu series is finally here!

Quick history lesson for those not aware, Voltes V is an old-school 1977 robot anime that, along with a bunch of other robot shows, found its way to the Philippines and became extremely popular. However, the series was banned and pulled off air by the government at the time before the final four episodes were aired, with the official reason being concerns from Catholic parents for the show's 'brutal violence'. However, considering how the last four episodes dealt with the Voltes V team travelling to the invaders' homeworld to topple a totalitarian government, people started suspecting that this was the real reason for the ban as Phillippines was under martial law by its own totalitarian government at the time.

Banning the show ultimately backfired as it made kids aware of the corruption of the state of the Philippines at the time. After the nonviolent People's Power Revolution in 1986, the last four episodes were compiled into a movie and was hailed as the 'return of Voltes V', cementing the robot's status in Filipino pop culture.

Now, GMA (one of the major Filipino television studios) is creating a live-action remake and adaptation of the Voltes V anime as an entire telenovela series, and is one of the most expensive productions to date. It certainly has a B-movie feel to it, but I assure you that its very impressive for a third-country television studio (especially after seeing GMA's other television series in the Philippines, the quality between Voltes V Legacy and the other shows is massive).

TL;DR - Phillipines is making a live-action adaptation of an old robot anime that proved so popular in the Philippines that the government banned it, which only made it even more popular.

I saw the first episodes of the anime on Toei's YouTube channel. Contrary to the obvious naivety shown to the modern viewer, the death of my mother made me sad. The trailer looks cool and intriguing, although it is clearly designed for viewers familiar with the original. Special effects, of course, are not Hollywood, but for TV they are very high quality, plus they are bright and beautiful. The characters are well chosen too. I'll take a look with pleasure. By the way, is Toei mentioned in the trailer only because it allowed the adaptation to be made, or are the Japanese also somehow involved in the project?