Mainit ang naging pagtanggap ng publiko sa mega trailer ng inaabangang Voltes V: Legacy sa GMA-7.
Unprecedented ang trailer ng nasabing science fantasy series, na napanood nung GMA New Year Countdown para salubungin ang 2023, dahil tumakbo ito ng five minutes at 20 seconds.
Sa oras na isinusulat ang artikulong ito ay mayroon nang mahigit five million views ang trailer ng Voltes V: Legacy sa iba’t ibang official GMA Network online platforms.
Ang Voltes V: Legacy ay hango sa iconic Japanese animé na Voltes V na unang sumikat noong dekada ‘70.
Hindi naman napigilan ng direktor na si Mark Reyes ang mapaluha habang pinapanood ang trailer ng serye kasabay sa pagsalubong ng Bagong Taon kasama ang kanyang pamilya.
“That trailer took me two weeks to work on,” kuwento ni Mark nang makausap ng media, kabilang ang Philippine Entertainment Portal (PEP.ph), via Zoom nitong Martes, January 3, 2023.
Hindi raw naging madali ang pagtagpi-tagpiin ang ilang piling eksena para buuin ang mahabang trailer.
Naging challenge kay Mark ang gumawa ng trailer na hindi labis ang detalye na ipakikita para mapanatili ang sorpresa sa mga manonood.
Sa kabilang banda ay nais din ng direktor na bigyan ng ideya ang mga hindi pamilyar sa kuwento ng Voltes V sa pamamagitan ng mga eksena sa trailer.
Pangunahing bida sa Voltes V: Legacy sina Miguel Tanfelix (Steve Armstrong), Radson Flores (Mark Gordon), Matt Lozano (Robert "Big Bert" Armstrong), Raphael Landicho ("Little Jon" Armstrong), at Ysabel Ortega (Jamie Robinson).
Tampok din sa serye sina Martin del Rosario (Zardoz), Carla Abellana (Mary Ann Armstrong), Dennis Trillo (Ned Armstrong), Gabby Eigenmann (Commander Robinson), Neil Ryan Sese (Dr. Hook), Epi Quizon (Zuhl), Liezel Lopez (Zandra), Carlo Gonzales (Draco), Christian Vasquez (Emperor Zambojil), at Albert Martinez (Dr. Richard Smith).
ACCEPTING THE CHALLENGE
Samu’t sari ang naging reaksiyon ng publiko matapos makita ang mega trailer ng Voltes V: Legacy.
Marami ang pumuri at lalong na-excite na mapanood ang serye na several years na rin in the making, bagay na ikinainip ng ilang Voltes V fanatics.
“That’s why this mega trailer came into being. I wanted to do a five-minute [trailer] and show them what we got so we can pacify them,” paliwanag ni Mark sa PEP.ph.
“Five minutes is unheard of for a trailer. That’s why we call it a 'mega trailer.'
“In a normal trailer you’ll be allowed two minutes, three minutes maximum, and this is five minutes and 30 seconds para makita ng tao [na] ito ang kaya naming gawin and papagandahin pa namin yan, promise, bago mag-ere, so pagbigyan niyo lang kami.”
Isa ang Voltes V sa animé shows na masasabing may malawak at passionate fan base mula sa iba't ibang henerasyon.
Marami sa mga tagahanga nito ang masusing nakamasid sa ginagawang live-action version ng Kapuso network.
Sa simula pa lang ay may mga kritiko na ang Voltes V: Legacy na pumupuna sa kuwento at visual elements ng serye base sa mga lumalabas na larawan, videos, at impormasyon online — official man ito o hindi.
“Oh, I’m ready to be crucified by the Titos and Titas of Manila, pardon the expression,” sagot ni Mark, na self-confessed fan din ng Voltes V.
“Starting off, I knew, and people, close friends were telling me, ‘Are you crazy, you’re doing this?’ ‘Are you up to it?’ Kaya ba natin?’"
Dagdag ng beteranong direktor, “I’m determined na magagawa ito, so that wasn’t a problem for me — the repercussion of doing something this ambitious and how people are going to react.
“I said in my Facebook page that someone has to step up.
"Kung ang mentality natin ay crab mentality, ‘Bakit ninyo gagawin ang Voltes V?’ ‘Kapal niyo naman, wag niyo gawin yan!’ ‘Hindi niyo kaya yan!’
“Kelan pa tayo mag-uumpisa? We’ve been left behind by Korea, by Mexico, by India, in terms of the global market of doing something like this.
“Well, we have shows like Maria Clara at Ibarra that’s creating milestones for us.
“Voltes V might not be that successful pero at least it’s a first necessary step.
“If we don’t go out there and face this challenge, will we ever get anywhere?
“And mali yung 'wag ninyong gawin.' Huwag tayong mag-isip ng ganun. Walang mangyayari sa Philippine entertainment if we think that way.
“Kailangan try nating gawin, that should be the attitude that we have and then support it.
“Again, we go back to the argument that Philippine movies is in this state, nanonood ba kayo?
“Here, pinaggastusan ng network, pinayagan ng Japan, may blessing ng Japan, pinaghirapan namin, hindi namin minadali.
"Ang daming nagagalit na, 'Ang tagal-tagal naman niyan.'
“But at the same time naman, pag minadali ninyo [sasabihin], ‘Ay, minadali.’
“Ito, here we are, we’re working on it for almost four years so give us a chance.
"See what we’ve done.”
ALTERATIONS TO THE ORIGINAL VERSION
Para maisakatuparan ang serye ay kinailangan ng Kapuso network na humingi ng permiso sa Toei Animation, ang Japan-based animation studio na producer ng original Voltes V anime.
May mga kundisyon ang Toei pagdating sa bersiyon ng iconic animé series na gagawin ng Kapuso network.
Normal naman ito sa dahilang pagmamay-ari ng Toei ang Voltes V brand, kabilang nardito ang mga karakter at imahe na naging trademark ng serye.
“[They’re] strict on the costumes because, of course, they’re dealing with their property, which is an animation. They don’t want to stray off too much [from the original],” kuwento ni Mark na nakilala bilang direktor ng youth-oriented series na T.G.I.S. at mga seryeng katulad ng Encantadia, Atlantika, Zorro, Ilumina, Inagaw na Bituin, at marami pang iba.
Si Mark din ang nagdirek ng Philippine adaptation ng seryeng Full House.
“The biggest fear is... you know the story about the Power Rangers? The last alteration that didn’t work? Because they really changed the costume and all, and that didn’t really work out.
“So they’re afraid that we might do something [similar], so we stuck to the grassroots look of the Voltes team — the costume, the colors, the color designation, we have to stick to that.
“They’re very particular with the design: Prince Zardoz costume, those iconic things, the skull-shaped ship, [and] Voltes V himself.
"We know we can’t stray too much away from the color scheme.
“So there are people saying, ‘Ba’t hindi ninyo binago yung ganito?’ We cannot. That is one of the conditions of Toei, that they wanted it to look like the animation, at least the look.
“We had to be careful with changing anything that will totally stray off from what they look like.
“They’re very strict with that, the costume, the entire look of the whole production.
"Even the beast fighters, it has to look somewhat what it looks like in the animé.”
Samantala, may mga elemento naman sa original version ang pinayagan ng Toei na baguhin ng Kapuso network para mas mapaganda ito sa telebisyon.
Sabi ni Mark, “One perfect example that they allowed us to do, if you look at the animé, yung mga Boazanian soldiers dun were so-so.
“So we created something, our version, that they really like. It’s because it was more pronounced, there’s more details. Yun ibang-iba talaga if you compare it to the animé.”
Prince Zardoz (Martin del Rosario) with Boazanian soldiers
Binago rin ng creative team ang hitsura ng costume ni Zandra, ang robotics adviser at personal adviser ng pangunahing kontrabida na si Prince Zardoz na mula sa planetang Boazan.
Ginagampanan ng sexy Kapuso actress na si Liezel Lopez ang karakter ni Zandra sa serye.
Paliwanag ni Mark, “Because Zandra, all throughout the animé version, she looks like she’s in a wedding dress.
“Then we have Liezel Lopez, who is such a, pardon the word, a bombshell.
“Sayang naman if we will enclose Liezel in a wedding dress-like costume all throughout. I’m sure the girls and the gays will enjoy her outfits throughout.
“We really had a fun time creating her outfits because she doesn’t have just one outfit, madami siya.”
May mga konting binago rin ang creative at production team sa bihis ng iba pang Boazanian characters tulad nina Zuhl (Epi Quizon), Draco (Carlo Gonzales), at Prince Zardoz (Martin del Rosario).
Jeffrey Quizon as Zuhl, Martin del Rosario as Prince Zardoz, Liezel Lopez as Zandra, and Carlo Gonzales as Draco
ROMANCE ANGLE, LOVE OF FAMILY
Binigyan din ng Toei ng laya ang creative team para palawigin ang kuwento ng Voltes V: Legacy para mas maging kaaliw-aliw ito sa manonood.
“Because they knew we had 80 episodes to fill up, so they allowed us to expand the Boazanian culture, to put in the love story, stuff like that.”
Patungkol sa love story element ay pinagtanggol ni Mark ang desisyon na ito ng creative team.
“The minute that we did this way back pa, I know there’s a story to tell between Steve and Jamie.
Miguel Tanfelix as Steve and Ysabel Ortega as Jamie
“The cartoons were meant for the kids. We are doing a live-action that we would have to satisfy a bigger audience — meaning from kids to adults, from teenagers to adults.
“That’s why in the trailer, I included that already, specifically for them to know, 'Oh, there’s a love story.'
“Then Zardoz and Zandra had a kiss. So I want to show them that, ‘Hey, this a mature [show].’
Martin del Rosario and Liezel Lopez
“We give you all the fight scenes of the beast fighters and Voltes V, but we also have a story to tell.
“We have a love story between Steve and Jamie, and then we also show the story of the mother Mary Ann Armstrong helping out her three sons.”
Kaabang-abang din daw ang kuwento kung paano napabilang ang menor de edad na si Little John sa Voltes V team.
“Suzette Doctolero [Voltes V: Legacy head writer] was very concerned that we are putting a young boy in the pilot seat to become a fighter to defend the world.
“You know, these days, all the mothers are going to freak out if we allow such boy to do that.
“So it was handled pretty well because we had a whole story of him not being part of the Voltes team in the original and we tell a story on how reluctantly the mother, Mary Ann Armstrong [Carla Abellana], allowed her son to be part of the Voltes team because it’s his destiny
“Just watch that. Yun, very Pinoy yun, talagang pinaglaban ni Suzette yun. We cannot let him become instantly a part of the Voltes team, bata yan, e.
“Yung cartoons okey lang, nung '70s. Pero ito, we have to justify.
“That’s one of the beautiful things written in the storyline — how Little John became a part of Voltes V.”
Raphael Landicho as Little John
At dahil Japanese creation ang Voltes V ay may mga nagtatanong kung meron din bang distinct Pinoy elements na idinagdag para mas maging relatable ito sa local viewers.
"We really didn’t put too much Pinoy culture," prangkang tugon ni Mark.
"But I guess lumalabas yung pagka-devoted to faith natin, being hopeless romantic siguro, that level lang.
"We didn’t dwell too much on being too political kasi it’s not really part of the story.
"But the heart and soul are very Pinoy and I told you, if there’s any Mecca anime around, it’s Voltes V because of the family connections and all — it’s very Pinoy."
Sa kabuuan ay makikita raw sa Voltes V: Legacy ang kumbinasyon ng luma at bago, bagay na lalong nagbigay-kulay sa kuwento ng beloved animé series na unang umere sa Japan noong 1977 at 1978 sa Pilipinas.
“That’s why it took a really long process. Besides, [with] everything having to be approved by Japan, and it’s a tightrope to pay homage and to stick to the canon of Voltes V but at the same time, become modern for the modern audience.
“We stuck to the original storyline of Voltes V, but we took out some elements, some storylines because we felt that it was not appropriate or it was too childish or pambata.
“So we stuck with something [that has] common ground, that would be enjoyed by adults and then kids as well.”
Nakatakdang umere ang Voltes V: Legacy sa GMA-7 sa second quarter ng 2023.