Headscratchers / Voltes V

Spoilers are off. You have been warned.

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• When Zuhl created the voice changing machine, how did he know how Kentaro Go sounded like? This was before he captured him and hid him from Heinel.
  • Zuhl most likely hacked into Earth's television and internet, which would be child's play for Boazanian tech and intelligence, to find videos of Kentaro Go in recorded conferences to know how he sounded like for his voice changing machine.
• Why do the Boazanian nobles call Eartherns "primitive" because of their technology, but they travel through horse-pulled carriages while the humans they fight against use cars?
  • Because the horned Boazanians are a bunch of Smug Snake nobles who look down on other races that don't have horns like their hornless counterparts and also humanity at the time has yet to master space travel^note That would change with Big Falcon's spaceship mode that can warp from Earth to Boazan. and colonize other planets in the Solar System. Hence, humanity was looked down on as primitive by the Boazanian empire.
  • In episode 28, the Boazanians are seen driving cars.
• Are the Boazanians aware that there's a country on Earth that has a suspiciously similar culture to theirs? Do they also look down on that?
  • The Boazanians doesn't care whatever similarities they have with other races other than the latter are going to be crushed and enslaved for the glory and benefit of their empire.
  • To them, the French are Hornless Boazanians.
    • Even if the Boazanians did notice it, they won't make a big deal out of the similarities as humans are like Ditto Aliens they enslave as forced labor anyway.
• Why didn't Hamaguchi ever face any legal consequences for kidnapping a person and well-known sports celebrity? He had Ippei Press-Ganged in broad daylight.
  • Hamaguchi might have connections in the government^note Big Falcon needed all the funding and support to build, repair and maintain Voltes V. to have the kidnapping of Ippei be swept under the rug and spin the narrative that the rodeo champion star was chosen to become one of Earth's defenders.
    • But wasn't it said that very few believed Gohl when he warned them? Not many people would buy the "Earth's defenders" narrative.
    • True, but it would serve its purpose to explain why Ippei Mine was taken away even if not all of the people would believe it, and that when the Boazanian invasion eventually happens, that's what they will now realize Earth's defenders in form of Voltes V saving the day every time.
• Episode 2: Could Mitsuyo not have placed the plane on autopilot? Assuming Kentaro created the same machines in Big Falcon like he did with Voltes V, the plane must have had an autopilot function, since the Volt machines have one too.
  • It was a random jet fighter Mitsuyo climbed on to pilot and sacrifice herself to save her sons and free Voltes V from Baizanga.
  • In that case, Kentaro would have upgraded all of the Earth Defense Force machines to be able to deal some actual damage to Boazanian ships and Beast Knights.
• Why is Zambajil scared of Heinel taking the throne from him, when the latter has nothing but respect and admiration for him?
  • Because if Heinel found out that Zambajil usurped the throne through dirty means, he would have a motive to dispose of him
  • He projects his hatred of La Gohl at Heinel, showing his massive insecurities. Even though he could have easily used Heinel's respect for him to mold him as his pawn. But alas, he is a walking case of Stupid Evil.
• Is Belgan a noble? If so, why doesn't he have horns? Or is he like Girion - a hornless Boazanian who worked his way up through the ranks by serving the Horned Boazanians?
  • We know Belgan is of noble blood (being related to the horned Zuhl), but it is unknown if he has horns.
    • Belgan could be similar with La Gohl, both born hornless Boazanian nobles. Like Gohl who rose up to become Minister of Science and Technology, Belgan managed to prove his worth as a science officer by creating the Maxingal Alloy which his armor and the Armored Beast Fighters use. Of course the similarity stops there with Belgan being the Professional Butt-Kisser to Emperor Zambajil while La Gohl stood up against him.
• Why was Kentaro convinced he could persuade Zambajil to leave the Earth alone, when it was common knowledge that Zambajil treated slaves like dirt and viewed him as subhuman for being hornless?
  • In fairness, Zambajil did offer Kentaro/La Gohl that he can have his royal status back, which might correlate with Belgan who is implied to be hornless but remained useful for his Maxingal Alloy, in exchange for making weapons and improve Boazanian technology with his intelligence. Which will only advance his evil ambition of conquering the universe. Of course, Kentaro/La Gohl refused and was re-enslaved.
    • This could also explain why he wants to replace Heinel. If he's at top of the food chain, he won't be oppressed anymore.
• If Katherine is a biozoologist, why is she surprised that humans are capable of feeling love? She accurately understood and explained the mannerisms of many Earthern lifeforms like Garus.
  • Like most horned Boazanians with Fantastic Racism, she looks down on humans and willingly helps Heinel to conquer Earth and subjugate them even though she knows it is futile with repeated failures.
• Did the Voltes Team ever get their stuff back after Sakaonji ordered it to be thrown out? What if it was important/sentimental stuff from Kentaro/Mitsuyo, did the Voltes Team just...never see them again?
  • Probably they got it back at some point after patching things up with Professor Sakaonji, who explained his reason why he had to be a very harsh mentor to them, and took his intense training seriously.
• In episode 8, Heinel says that he has no idea what his father did to be deemed a "traitor", but in his flashback, his fellow nobles would frequently bring him up. Shouldn't they have told him? I mean, if they called him "traitor's child", why not throw in "hornless child" as well?
  • The Boazanians practice Un-person with criminals like Zuhl so it's likely Gohl was Unpersoned as well.
  • Many of the horned nobles themselves could have also had hornless parents.
• Why did Zambajil allow Heinel (and not Belgan/Zuhl) to lead the Earthern Invasion? There is a high chance that Heinel could have successfully conquered Earth, hence bringing honour to his name, therefore becoming more popular than Zambajil himself.
  • Because Zambajil wanted to use Zuhl and Belgan's desire for Heinel's position to have them murder him.
• Why didn't Zambajil ever figure out it was Katherine who was thwarting his assassination attempts?
  • He is Stupid Evil obviously and doesn't regard Katherine as a threat to his attempts to get Heinel killed during the invasion even though she proves otherwise.
• Given how the whole world knows about Voltes V, why didn't other countries also try to make their own Super Robots to fight the Boazanians? It would have made the events of episodes 9 and 10 more convenient.
  • Because building Super Robots might be very expensive and not easy to repair and maintain. Plus it would end up becoming a Lensman Arms Race with Super Robots ala Mobile Suit Gundam.
  • If there are more Super Robots, it might defeat the purpose of Voltes V being Earth's last line of defense as built by Kentaro/La Gohl and his fellow co-designers Professor Mitsuyo, Professor Hamaguchi and General Oka.
    • Especially when the show is titled "Voltes V", not "Voltes V and Super Robot Friends".
  • And if there are more Super Robots, the Boazanians would respond in kind since they were able to create two more Beast Knights to field them against Voltes V, escalating the war between Earth and Boazan further.
• Was there any significance in the Boazanians choosing to destroy the Twin Towers?
  • The Boazanians indiscriminately attack anything and are not picky. Aliens Are Bastards in a nutshell.
• In episode 8, why did Heinel tell Jangal to report to Zambajil that Zaki "died a honourable death" when Zaki was nothing but cruel to him?
  • Heinel might have a case of Blue-and-Orange Morality as he wanted Duke Zaki be remembered for "dying honorably" to Voltes V while he had Zuhl be subjected to firing squad and Un-person despite both of them had betrayed him and are not subtle of their hate towards him.
  • Possibly to win his Uncle's favour.
• Why did Heinel face abuse for having a traitor as a father, but Belgan didn't for having a cousin/brother (Zuhl) as a traitor?
  • It's possible he might have, but since he had Zambajil's favour, he was granted certain protection that Heinel wasn't (in spite of being supposedly hornless).
• If Zambajil fears Heinel usurping him, why doesn't he have any children of his own? Given Heinel's tattered reputation, a new child would garner popular support amongst the Boazanians.
  • Maybe he can't have children.
  • Zambajil could be gay, hence his lack of wives/children. If we go by the interpretation that Heinel is based on Napoleon, and Gohl is based on Jacques Hébert, then by that token we can interpret Zambajil being based on Louis XIII. Like Zambajil, he conquered other territories (Morocco and parts of the Americas). Louis XIII was also suspected to be gay.
  • Zambajil is insecure about having the throne taken from him by his own blood as we see him despising Heinel even though his nephew revered him, he could be worried that if his child came of age, he'd replace him as the new Emperor as soon as possible.
• In the Hong Kong Cantonese dub of the show, why does the theme song depict Voltes V cutting Gokiiru in half? He's a minor character that only appears in one episode.
  • Probably the foreign dubs are allowed to change some aspects in Voltes V anime like how the Philippines changed the Japanese names of Voltes Team with English names for example.
• The show establishes that Voltes V is humanity's last line of defense, and in episode 1, the Boazanians already destroyed/conquered most of Earth. It's also established that Voltes V fights in Japan and not elsewhere. So why isn't Earth effectively declared a Boazan colony? If the Boazanians have taken most of Earth bar a small island nation, is it not theirs at this point? The only reason I can think of for this is Zambajil being extra petty and going "nuh-uh, I want the WHOLE planet, and that includes all the nations and micronations".
  • And yet we see that after Voltes V thwarted the first Boazanian invasion, the world is free and humanity rebuilt themselves while Heinel and his forces are now focused on trying to take out Voltes V and Big Falcon. Along with the fact that the world leaders are present, instead of dead or surrendering to Boazanian invaders, and sent aid against Namazungo after General Oka convinced them in his Gondor Calls for Aid speech.
  • Voltes V is considered as humanity's last line of defense because the titular Super Robot is the only one that can stand up to the Beast Knights and win.
• Did Voltes V have a Korean dub? On the official Toei channel, some comments are in Korean, and searching up the anime leads to some Korean results.