Let's Volt In!
'Voltes V: Legacy' live-action cast finally revealed by GMA
Three of the five cast members for the highly anticipated Voltes V: Legacy series have just been announced. The Philippine-made live-action adaptation is based on the Chōdenji Machine Voltes V series, a beloved Japanese anime that aired in different parts of the world in the late '70s.
GMA Network unveiled who would be playing Mark, Big Bert, and Little John, three of the main cast members in the upcoming series on Monday (Feb. 8) evening on its flagship newscast, 24 Oras.
StarStruck season 7 contestant Radson Flores plays the role of Mark Gordon (Ippei Mine). Aside from his stint in the 2019 reality show, Radson also appeared in GMA shows such as Pepito Manaloto and Dear Uge. Mark pilots the Volt Bomber.
Radson Flores is #VoltesVLegacy's Mark!#V5MarkBigBertLittleJon pic.twitter.com/nIIFYfMfTI
— Voltes V Legacy (@VoltesVLegacy) February 8, 2021
GMA singer-actor Matt Lozano plays the role of Robert "Big Bert" Armstrong (Daijirō Gō). Matt is the grand winner of the singing contest "Spogify ft. Singing Baes" segment of Eat Bulaga in 2015. In the show, Big Bert is the second eldest of the Armstrong brothers and pilots the Volt Panzer.
Kapuso child star Raphael Landicho plays kid genius "Little Jon" Armstrong (Hiyoshi Gō). Raphael, a contract artist of GMA Artist Center, is known for his role as Ethan, the son of Jessie (Max Collins) and Brylle Alejandro (Jason Abalos), in the 2019 teleserye Bihag and Carla Abellana's son in the ongoing prime-time series Love of My Life. Little Jon is the youngest of the Armstrong brothers and pilots the Volt Frigate.
Raphael Landicho is #VoltesVLegacy's Little Jon!#V5MarkBigBertLittleJon pic.twitter.com/mON65268LW
— Voltes V Legacy (@VoltesVLegacy) February 8, 2021
The actors who play Steve Armstrong (Kenichi Gō) and Jamie Robinson (Megumi Oka) will be revealed on Wednesday, according to the network, while the rest of the cast who play the Boazanian empire will be announced later this week.
Earlier in January, GMA released the latest trailer of the upcoming series which shows the Boazanian empire attacking Earth. During the attack, the Voltes V ships are seen launching from their base, Camp Big Falcon. In the trailer, we get a quick glimpse of Voltes V leader Steve piloting the Volt Cruiser. The one-minute clip also shows the familiar V formation and Voltes V battling a Beast Fighter.
The live-action series is directed by Mark A. Reyes, who previously directed the film Moments of Love and television series Encantadia. According to GMA, the entire production was all done here in the Philippines by GMA in partnership with Riot Inc. Post Production with the supervision and approval by TOEI.
A few hours before the cast reveal, Voltes V: Legacy director Mark Reyes V teased fans of the much-awaited live action series on his Instagram account, stating: "I took this picture almost a year ago before the whole world went into lockdown. Starting today you will know whose hands belong to Steve, Mark, Big Bert, Little Jon and Jamie on @24oras tonight."
Riot Inc. and GMA's video graphic department are reportedly handling the animation as approved by TOEI. Riot Inc. Post Production is doing visual effects, CGI, motion graphics, color grading, video offline and online editing.
The entire show is under the supervision of acclaimed Japanese animation studio Toei Animation Co., Ltd., commonly referred to as Toei Animation, which has produced numerous works of animation for over half a century, including Mazinger Z, Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, Slam Dunk, One Piece and The Transformers to name a few.
Voltes V was originally created by Saburo Yatsude and directed by Tadao Nagahama and aired on TV Asahi. The anime television series gained success in the Philippines and has been aired several times both in English and Filipino, with heavily Westernized character names. The English-language dub of Voltes V first aired by GMA-7 on May 5, 1978 became popular across the nation.
In April 1979, shortly before the series finale, dictator Ferdinand Marcos issued a directive banning Voltes V and other similarly-themed anime series (particularly in the Mecha genre), due to concerns about "excessive violence". However, the ban led to speculations that the series was pulled from broadcast due to its underlying themes of rebellion and revolution at the time.
Voltes V: Legacy is expected to premiere soon on GMA.
(Images via GMA and DirekMark Reyes on IG)