Abstract
Japan’s anime and contemporary Philippine historical realities are intertwined in this study of the Filipino audience’s reception of Voltes V, the mecha anime considered to be the most iconic and favored by older generations of Filipino viewers. By combining survey findings and history methods (e.g., archival research and oral history) with reception studies, the Filipinos’ fascination for this popular series is examined not in the context of Japan’s Occupation of the Philippines, but within the Filipinos’ cultural and socio-political milieu that has encountered this foreign cultural series for over four decades. First-hand testimonies and narrated memories are mainly provided by Filipino Baby Boomers and Generation X respondents who grew up watching Voltes V in its initial broadcasting years and who also lived through the Marcos regime. Results show that: (1) bitter war accounts and memories do not hinder the popularity of anime in the Philippines; (2) the Japanese creators’ intended message may have been appropriated and decoded differently by the active transnational audiences who pluralize meanings and interpretations in line with their personal lives and certain national events; and lastly, (3) memories derived from oral history interviews can serve as invaluable sources for both historiography and audience reception studies.
