Chōdenji Robo Combattler V is the first part of the Robot Romance Trilogy of Super Robot series created by "Saburo Yatsude" and directed by Tadao Nagahama. The robot's name is a portmanteau of Combine, Combat and Battle, and the V is intended both as an abbreviation for "victory" and in reference to the five component machines that form the robot, as well as its five pilots. The V is pronounced as the letter V, whereas in the follow-up series, Voltes V, it is pronounced "5". The series was created by Saburo Yatsude, who would later go on to create Golion. "Saburo Yatsude" is not a real person, but a pseudonym which refers to the collective staff at Toei. The series was animated by Sunrise on Toei's behalf. The first appearance of Combattler V in the United States was in the late 1970s as a part of Mattel's Shogun Warriors line of imported Super Robot toys under the name of 'Combattra', and as such was one of the three Super Robots in the Marvel Comics companion series.