If you are worshiping the animated series “Goldorak”, you will surely be very surprised when reading these lines!
A cult series of the 80s, Goldorak has made a whole generation happy with 74 episodes that have since entered the legend. Fans of the animated series swore by the hero Actarus, who came to earth to defend it from the great strategist for the Planet Stykadès: Vega.
In each episode, Actarus slips into the heart of his giant robot, Goldorak, to thwart the plans of his sworn enemy. There were many obligatory passages like this, eagerly awaited by aficionados, acting as visual signatures of the anime.
The word of discord
Goldorak enthusiasts also awaited the moments when the hero spent in combat mode, chanting aftershocks like “Fulguropoings”, “Astero-Hache” or “Cornolfugue”. However, there is a word that fans particularly love and that comes back to each episode: “Metamorphosis”!
Actarus launches this term as he rushes into the air and is adorned with his emblematic pilot outfit, that of the Prince of Euphor. At that time, we knew that serious things were going to start and that the protagonist was going to stick chills for us by facing his fiercest opponents at the controls of Goldorak.
However, according to Hervé Lesage de la Haye, independent researcher in the fields of cartoon and music in cinema and television, everyone is mistaken about the pronunciation of this word. For 47 years and the beginnings of Goldorak on Récré A2 in 1978, fans therefore declared this precious incantation badly!
“At this precise moment which returns in each episode, the actor Daniel Gall (Actarus) Claims (attention…): Metamorphos! [à prononcer Métamorphosse et non Métamorphoze]””explains Hervé Lesage de la Haye on her websitein an article dated October 26, 2021.
An ill -understood term?
“For forty years, one of the most emblematic terms of the whole series, one of the most often repeated, has been systematically misunderstood by viewers, fans, specialists, to the point that nowhere, unless I could not find a trace of hesitation on this subject, and even less, trace of the term truly used in the French version of Goldorak”underlines the expert.
To corroborate his thesis, Hervé Lesage de la Haye shared a montage, broadcast on his YouTube channel, compiling all the “metamorphos” of Actarus from the 1st to 74th episode.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhdcsnttnu4
The specialist tells us that this invented word is surprising, certainly, but coherent, “When you think about it, with the whole translation that gives pride of place to Greek consonances (Hydargos, Minos, Horos …).”
“It is interesting, too, because 'metamorphos' no longer becomes a kind of magic formula, but a real coded voice command, causing not a metamorphosis in the sense of transformation, but the execution of an operation (whose process will remain unknown) which allows Actarus to put on its combination”he says.
toei
The ultimate proof?
Hervé Lesage de la Haye also supports his words on the cover of the 33 -round vinyl record “Goldorak as in the cinema”. Indeed, the words mention this term and do so faithfully to the VF of the cartoon. “You the prince of space, knight with rose, you laugh at threats, when you say metamorphos”.
“The pocket of the same disc also contains a precious tool: a lexicon in which we find the official spelling of often ill -transcribed terms that I mentioned earlier (like 'planitronk' or 'megaVolt', in the singular). And in this lexicon, we can read, again, the word 'metamorphos' with its correct spelling”exhibits the expert, supporting photos.
toei
For Hervé Lesage de la Haye, this word appears twice, proof that it is not a shell. “On the contrary, it seems to me that this disc, added to the video editing proposed above, makes permanent proof of what I advance. In the original Japanese version, things are simpler: when it rises, the hero crie 'Duke Fleed', which is his own name”concludes Hervé Lesage de la Haye.
If you want to (re) see the animated series, it is available in full on France.TV and DNA.
