A few years ago I posted about Gladiator Voltron, the proposed third Voltron season which was to be adapted from Lightspeed Electroid Albegas. Ultimately it was abandoned in favor of producing another batch of Lion Voltron episodes. About a year ago Toei released the first two episodes of Albegas with English subtitles on Youtube. You can watch both episodes here and here.
This post is meant to be an update of my first Gladiator Voltron/Albegas post, with more detail about the characters and setting. I also briefly share my thoughts on the show based on the two episodes available.
SETTING AND STORY
In the future, the nations of Earth have been at peace with each other for many years. Our three protagonists, Daisaku, Tetsuya, and Hotaru, are talented students at Aoda School, which is famous for its robotics program and located near Mt. Fuji. Their lives are turned upside down when the evil alien Derringer Empire, who already rules the galaxy, invades Earth. Earth’s only hope against this threat is the super robot Albegas and the three teenagers piloting it.
THE HEROES
Our heroes are teenagers who attend Aoda School in Japan. Each of them created a robot for a school competition. Their bots were later improved and modified so they could combine into Albegas.
Daisaku Enjoji
Daisaku is brash, confident, loud-mouthed, and a total cad. Despite his bad grades, his skills in robotics are apparently superior to both Tetsuya and Hotaru’s. He comes from a working class family consisting of his painter father, stay-at-home mother, cheeky younger brother Jiro, and a younger sister. Both he and Tetsuya have a crush on Hotaru, though Daisaku is more blatant and perverted about it. His hobby is soccer. Pilots Alpha Robo (black).
Tetsuya Jin
Tetsuya comes across as more reserved than his two teammates. Like the others, he’s a student at Aoba School and skilled in robotics. It’s unknown what his grades are like, but at least one of his teachers, Ms. Danko Kibi, scolds him for his rebellious attitude. He and his sister grew up orphans with no other family to take care of them. Currently he lives alone in the school dorms. Tetsuya feels lonely and envies those who still have parents. What happened to his parents, along with the whereabouts of his sister, aren’t mentioned in the first two episodes. Unfortunately, he’s something of a slob; his dorm room is a mess. Like Daisaku, he also has a crush on Hotaru. However, he’s more subtle about it and expresses exasperation at Daisaku’s pervy antics towards her. His hobby is playing guitar. Pilots Beta Robo (blue).
Hotaru Mizuki
Hotaru is the daughter of Professor Mizuki; her mother isn’t mentioned, but it’s implied she’s been out of the picture for a long time. Beautiful, intelligent, and feminine, she’s the star of Aoba School and her class representative. Despite being adored by her teachers and the heartthrob of her male classmates, she’s bullied by her female peers. She also longs for a mother figure; there’s a scene where Hotaru outright tells her father and his assistant, Saeko Asabuki, that she approves of their relationship and hopes they get married so Saeko can be her stepmother. While annoyed by Daisaku’s caddish ways, it’s implied the attraction might be mutual. Her hobby is tennis. Pilots Gamma Robo (red).
SUPPORTING CHARACTERS
The allies, family, and friends of our heroes.
Goro Kumai
HIS JAPANESE BLOOD TINGLES! A well-meaning but bumbling classmate of the main trio who serves as the show’s comic relief. Goro does his best to help defend Earth with his self-made gorilla robot but he’s simply out of his league. Daisaku considers him a burden while Hotaru pities him. He has an unreciprocated crush on Hotaru.
Professor Mizuki
A brilliant scientist and Hotaru’s father. His knowledge of robotics is second to none. After the main trio’s robots were nearly destroyed by invading Derringer, he not only rebuilt them, but made them much more powerful and able to combine into Albegas. He also serves as both a mentor and the voice of reason; he tries to encourage the trio to exercise caution and patience. However, his words often fall on deaf ears, and the trio’s insistence on rushing headlong into battle against his repeated warnings frustrates him. But he believes in the trio’s abilities. It’s implied he’s sweet on his assistant, Saeko Asabuki.
Saeko Asabuki
Professor Mizuki’s assistant and love interest. She’s soft spoken, beautiful, and lady-like. Hotaru wants her as a stepmother.
Ms. Danko Kibi
An overbearing, outspoken and strong willed teacher at Aoba School. She takes her job very seriously, is fiercely proud of the school, and believes it’s important her students grow to be strong, stout, and fearless. Despite not being the head teacher, she often gets her way through sheer force of personality.
THE VILLAINS
The villains aren’t very fleshed out, but given I only had two episodes, that’s not very surprising. Anyway, the Derringer are an evil purple-skinned alien race of conquers who have set their sights on Earth. They desire our planet for its beauty and consider humans primitive. Albegas is humanity’s only effective weapon against their superior technology. Their giant robot Mecha-Fighters are the Derringer’s most fearsome weapon.
Lord Deran the Great
Supreme ruler of the Derringer. We don’t actually see him in these episodes. The only information we learn about him is he desires all things beautiful as his own.
President Azass
The leader of the invading Derringer force stationed in a base orbiting Earth.
General Duston
President Azass’s top officer, at least during these first two episodes. He’s ruthless, prideful, and doesn’t take humans seriously.
General Catastra
Another army officer on President Azass’s orbital base.
Dyme
Yet another Derringer officer. He considers Duston an incompetent moron for not taking Albegas more seriously as a threat
LIGHTSPEED ELECTROID ALBEGAS
The three robots that compose Albegas (Alpha Robot, Beta Robo, and Gamma Robo) were not originally designed to combine together. Instead they were individually built by the main trio as entries into a school competition. When the Derringer attacked Japan, the three teens attempted to fight off the invaders in their robots, but were soundly defeated. Professor Mizuki, seeing the robots’ potential, both rebuilt and heavily modified them, making them far more powerful and able to combine together into multiple configurations. However, the three pilots, at first, don’t know and understand just how extensive the modifications were despite Professor Mizuki’s repeated warnings. Unfortunately, circumstances in the first two episodes have not given them time for proper training. As a result, the pilots are learning about Albegas’s abilities, and how to use them, in the heat of combat.
As stated, the robot comprising Albegas can combine in different ways, with each combination having its own specialization.
Denjin Dimension
Alpha, Beta, Gamma. This is the basic combat configuration. Can use the finishing move Denjin Sanbai Sword.
Sky Dimension
Beta, Alpha, Gamma. We don’t see any of its abilities, but I’m guessing it specializes in flight and/or aerial combat.
Professor Mizuki mentions four other modes: Space, Sea, Underground, and Rescue.
My Thoughts
Do I think American Voltron fans missed out by not having Albegas localized? Not really. Between this, Golion, and Dairuggar, I feel this was the weakest show of the three, and I don’t think it would’ve captured kid’s imaginations the way Lion Voltron did. Granted, in some ways Albegas has more elements in common with GoLion than Diaruggar: small number of pilots, planet bound, faster paced, and a simpler story. But, again, I only have two episodes to go by, so I could be wrong on some of those points. But I’m interested enough that I’d watch more episodes if they became available.
Yeah it was probably a good thing Gladiator never came to be since it’s doesn’t seem to give off the same charm as Lion or Vehicle plus the main protagonist Daisaku seems pretty unlikeable (granted they would’ve probably edited out his pervy moments but still) though I do really like Hotaru character wise
I don't think American fans were deprived of anything from not getting Gladiator Voltron. However, it's hard to say how well it would've done had it came to fruition. I know Albegas flopped in Japan, which is part of the reason WEP scrapped converting it into Gladiator Voltron. Then again, GoLion didn't perform well in Japan either. But I just don't see it becoming the huge hit Lion Voltron did. So I think WEP made the right call by creating a second LV season instead.
If anything, though, WEP's editing probably would've made Daisaku at least a bit more likable. There's no way the scene where he imagines Hotaru's face unto the body of a topless model in a dirty magazine and says "I wish her boobs were that big!" would've made it past the censors.
The full theme to GoLion, the anime WEP adapted into the Lion Voltron portions of Voltron: Defender of the Universe.
The original full theme to Dairugger XV, the completely unrelated anime used to create the Vehicle Voltron portions of V:DoTU.
And just for fun, here’s the full theme to Lightspeed Electroid Albegas, the anime WEP originally planned on incorporating into the Voltron mythos as Gladiator Voltron until they decided to create a second Lion Voltron season instead.
Albegas, aka Gladiator Voltron, made a brief cameo in the Devil’s Due comic book as the Galaxy Alliance’s failed attempt at building their own Voltron. Poor bot can’t catch a break.
Back into Sta.sh Writer I go, and what have I churned out this time? Another concept movie treatment, this time, based around the unseen and unheard of Gladiator Voltron arc of the classic 198...
A lot of you probably have seen mentions of “The Lost Voltron” aka Voltron II, or Gladiator Voltron, on other Voltron blogs and web sites. It’s probably the biggest “What if” in the franchise’s history and to this days some fans hope Gladiator Voltron will somehow make its way into the Voltron mythos. So what was Gladiator Voltron going to be about and why was it abandoned? To answer that we need to look at the reception of Lion Voltron vs Vehicle Voltron and the anime Gladiator Voltron was to be adapted from, Lightspeed Electroid Albegas.
I mentioned in my introduction to Vehicle Voltron post WEP originally planned to take three previously unrelated shows and make them all part of the same universe in what was to be called The Voltron Trilogy. GoLion became Voltron III: Defender of the Far Universe, or Lion Voltron. Armored Fleet Dairugger VX became Voltron I: Defender of the Near Universe, or Vehicle Voltron. However, when Vehicle Voltron didn’t perform nearly was well as Lion Voltron, plans to adapt Albegas into Voltron II/Gladiator Voltron were scrapped in favor of a second season of Lion Voltron.
So what was the anime about anyway? Albegas centered around the adventures of three high schoolers named Daisaku Enjoji, Tetsuya Jin, and Hotaru Mizuki. The trio built their individual robots for a school science fair because building giant robots is apparently a thing teenagers do in the future. When the evil alien Derringer Empire invades Earth, the three hop into their robots to confront the attackers, only to be soundly defeated. Their robots nearly destroyed, the three retreat to a laboratory belonging to Hotaru’s father, the brilliant scientist Professor Mizuki. Luckily for them the professor helps them to rebuild and improve their mechs, and the super robot Albegas is born.
The individual robots composing Albegas are Alpha Robo (black), Beta Robo(blue), and Gamma Robo (red). They could combine in six different ways, with each possible combination giving Albegas different powers.
If Albegas was localized into Voltron, I can say for certain the show wouldn’t be set on Earth. Remember that Near Universe, Middle Universe, and Far Universe stuff I mentioned earlier? That denoted what area of the universe each Voltron robot was defending in relation to Earth. Vehicle Voltron was the closest to Earth, so he was Voltron I: Defender of the Near Universe. Since Albegas was to become The Defender of the Middle Universe, it’s safe to say the action would take place on a planet somewhere between Earth and Arus.
I also find it unlikely the heroes would still be a bunch of high school students. I suspect their school would become a Galaxy Garrison training academy and/or military base, making their ages ambiguous and helping tie the show in with the rest of the Voltron canon. The Derringer Empire would probably become part of the Drule Empire, with the Derringer leader, President Azass, a vassal king like Zarkon in DoTU.
Despite Albegas never making its way to US television, a toy was still released, confusing the hell out of every kid who saw it.
Gladiator Voltron also made a few low key cameos in other Voltron media. The Devil’s Due comic implies it was Galaxy Garrison’s failed attempt at making their own version of Voltron. There’s also a spread in the Robotech/Voltron crossover comic showing various alternate realities which includes a picture of Gladiator Voltron.
Do I think Gladiator Voltron will make his way into VLD or get its own adaptation? No. I think that’s extremely unlikely beyond maybe another cameo. For one it’s uncertain WEP even still owns the North American rights to Albegas. Another issue is its obscurity. Very few people in the West outside a small handful of hardcore old school Voltron fans probably know anything about Albegas/Gladiator Voltron, let alone care about it. I just don’t think the demand exists.
A brief fight scene from Albegas, the proposed but ultimately undubbed “Gladiator Voltron” season of Voltron. World Events Production no longer has the rights to this design, and outside of a brief appearance in an 80′s comic is all but forgotten in the US (although it did have something of a following in certain South American countries).
Albegas is also completely forgotten in Japan as well, considered to be little more than a Getter Robo knockoff with less interesting protagonists. Stil, the idea of a three piece combiner could always return in Legendary Defender...
