Recap: Voltes V: Legacy, Episode 14 – “Cheater na, liar pa!”

Recap: Voltes V: Legacy, Episode 14 – Vaizanger

Steve is making a speech at the celebration. He first thanks “the man up there” and then the guy next to Him, Ned Armstrong, the “mastermind” who created Voltes V. And finally, he thanks his Mama Armstrong for reminding them to always “Be brave, be strong.”

General Robinson awards each member of the team a Medal of Honor and also commissions the rank of Lieutenant to Mark and Bert and Lieutenant Commander to Steve.

Mama Armstrong is very proud as everyone salutes the Voltes team.

Later, General Robinson heads to the command center where Dr. Smith introduces him to Major Kelly Bautista, chief of operations at the command center. General Robinson is happy to see that things have been peaceful and quiet since the big battle, but Dr. Smith is concerned that things have been too quiet.

Back at the party, Steve secretly takes photos of Jamie on this phone. Big Bert notices, but Steve tells him to be quiet or someone might hear. Jamie comes over to congratulate themselves and Bert tells her that Steve wants them to take a photo.

Jamie gets Anna and Tomas to join in the photo. She calls Mark, but he says he’s alright. She heads over to him and tries to pull him up. But he asks her to leave him alone.

Jamie takes a seat next to him and says that she hopes he understands whatever his past is or what may be troubling him, he is not alone. They are a team now and she hopes he can appreciate that they are here for him as well.

Mark nods a silent thank you before Jamie returns for the groufie.

Next day in the locker room, Bert tells Steve that him having a girlfriend while also liking another girl is considered cheating. Steve says he knows, whatever, and changes the topic by talking about presents for Mama Armstrong. But his brothers want to talk more about Jamie. Little Jon suggests their loveteam name be “SteJa” which sounds like a Beastfighter’s name.

Tomas, however, overhears everything they’ve said. Steve is upset at his brothers now that Tomas may possibly tell Eva everything.

That evening, the Armstrong Bros give their mother a surprise birthday party. After blowing out her birthday candle, Mama Armstrong says her wish is for them to be safe and that they can reach their dreams. Little Jon says he hopes his dream of Steve and Jamie ending up together comes true as well. Big Bert agrees.

Mama Armstrong is surprised to hear Steve likes Jamie, but he denies it.

“Cheater na, liar pa,” Big Bert teases.

Mama Armstrong tells Steve not to hurt his little brothers and for Big Bert and Little Jon not to tease their kuya so much.

Up on the ship, Zardoz asks Zandra how their secret mission on Earth is going. She says she and Zuhl are working on the plan to build a palace and it is going well.

Later, Zuhl has found Camp Big Falcon. The next Beastfighter, Vaizanger, is ready to go. Zardoz asks if it can handle Voltes V and his generals assure him this is a more powerful fighter. Zardoz orders Draco to train the Beastfighter and prepare it for battle. They tell Zardoz that they are sure Vaizanger will not be an embarrassment like last time.

Next day, Jamie approaches the Armstrong Bros. Big Bert and Little Jon again tease Steve, saying that Steve has a crush on someone. Jamie asks what about Eva then. Little Jon says it’s okay because it’s only cheating if you act on a crush even while you are currently in a relationship.

Jamie asks who Steve’s crush is and if she knows her. Big Bert and Little Jon say she knows her very well.

Just then, Eva arrives. Big Bert is upset that she’s interrupted the moment. But an announcement comes over the loudspeakers ordering everyone to come to the conference hall immediately. The Armstrong Bros and Jamie hurry over.

But Tomas asks Eva to hold on a minute. He warns her about Steve having feelings for Jamie and suggests she keep an eye on him.

Down in the ocean, Zandra says Zardoz was right all along and Hrothgar did hide here on Earth. Zardoz doesn’t want to waste any more time. He orders them to unleash Vaizanger on Earth.

Episode Thoughts

Definitely a much more soapy, teleserye episode today. No action, but definitely plenty to talk about.

And let’s start out by just saying it directly. Steve is an asshole. He really is. What an absolute jerk. Honestly, and I don’t care how he was in the anime. I didn’t watch it. But I will assume the feeling is much different in an animated series versus a live action series.

The lack of nuance in an old anime can temper a lot of things, including negative personality traits. But in a modern-day live action series, that trashy personality is going to be highlighted x10.

I have already been annoyed by Steve since the first time we saw him. Just an arrogant, cocky, pretentious, condescending douchebag. GGSS personified. He thinks he’s God’s gift to the CBF and to women, apparently.

That’s why when this episode started with his speech, I couldn’t help but laugh. I can’t take him seriously when he’s acted like a privileged asshole this entire time AND he’s a red flag-waving cheater too.

And no Little Jon, it’s not okay for him to be lusting over Jamie while he’s still in a relationship. You may be intelligent in all other areas, but your brothers seemed to have taught you wrong here.

First of all, with that celebration, it felt like when the Power Rangers celebrate prematurely after one win even when the enemy is still obviously out there and waiting to strike. So that whole medal ceremony and evening cocktail party was kind of absurd. Did the alien attack around the world just suddenly end after a day? Is Paris, New York and the Great Wall of China all right now a couple of hours after the defeat of Dokugaga? I mean, I feel like the rubble is still smoking in FutureManila from Voltes V’s first battle and yet they’re already having drinks at CBF like it’s the end of the war. Doesn’t make sense.

Now, we could overlook all that. But then we immediately get Steve secretly taking photos of Jamie in a dress. Like, for what? Really? What are you doing that for and what are you going to use those photos for later in your room? Come on now. Predatory behavior. And toward a supposed childhood friend too.

Seeing his enabler brothers was bad enough. Seeing Mama Armstrong not call him out on his behavior is disappointing.

What’s worse is that Steve targeting Jamie while still with Eva will no doubt put Jamie in a bad light. Because who is Eva going to go after? Jamie. As she’s been doing already. Even though Jamie has nothing to do with Steve drooling over her when he’s in a relationship.

And the fact that Eva herself is an irresponsible, rude and all-around not-nice person doesn’t mean Steve is excused for his behavior.

Now this is all an issue because Steve is supposed to be the lead hero. The typical Toei red hero. Yet, he is so unlikable and not someone you want to root for. How can that work? I tried to justify this odd characterization for myself by saying it’ll lead to some nice character development in the future. But this is getting to a point where he might be too far gone.

I feel like the show is also justifying Steve being a player by making Eva so unlikable. But again, that’s not an excuse.

They’re probably going to go with the idea that Eva breaks up with him so he is free to pursue Jamie. But she’s breaking up with him because he’s an asshole! And deservedly so!

I dunno. We’ll see. But so far, it’s impossible to even like the guy. So the less of him on screen, to be honest, the better.

And that’s why my favorite part of this episode was that little moment with Mark and Jamie. A nice Japanese fan of the show tweeted at me about Ippei’s story in the original anime. And so I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how Mark’s story will play out.

But it was a nice moment and I assume Jamie already knows about Mark’s past after being a Marites with Dr. Smith. So basically her reaching out to Mark and letting him know he can open up to her was really awesome. I had to kind of scoff at her saying Mark could talk to the other guys on the team too. No he cannot. They would probably just laugh at him for being a poor farm boy or something. And we don’t want to see that!

Anyway, thank you Prince Zardoz! We get back to the action tomorrow! Less hambogSteve, more Voltes V! (Does that rhyme? Lol)

Voltes V: Legacy Episode 14 is available on GMA Network’s official YouTube channel:
However, it is restricted to the Philippines only. Hopefully it will be made available worldwide soon!

I’ve seen people talk about how people worldwide should subscribe to GMA Pinoy TV in order to watch the series. I’d recommend that if you are interested in watching lots of Filipino programming. But if you only want to watch Voltes V: Legacy, I don’t think it’d be a good investment. Especially since you can’t watch the series on demand anyway. GMA Pinoy TV is a linear, premium TV channel on most cable and satellite systems.