Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/07/27/review-voltron-legendary-def.html
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Noted they did away with the golden cross on Voltron’s chest; The subtext of a defender / crusader against invading monsters is still there, of course. There’s a lot of unexamined racism and I hope to do a better job of unpacking it for my kids than my parents did for me with the original series.
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Apparently Shiro is the original name for Sven in the Japanese Voltron so it’s the same guy just a new name to us. I thought it was good, a bit less serious than the original but it’s character.
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For some reason growing up I was always a bigger fan of the space force Voltron (where dozens of small fighters formed into modules that came together to form Voltron) than the Lion Voltron. Unfortunately, you never hear of it these days. Voltron is always the stupid lions.
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The answer is, YES!
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No, that was Shirogane. Shiro is white in Japanese, and the perfect name for the hero who turns out to be evil in episode 10.
When the team was having a hard time figuring out how to form Voltron, and I did shout out at them to say “GO VOLTRON FORCE!” because that is what you do in these situations, but they were not listening.
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Don’t think I ever actually saw the original; I was quite young at the time. As for the remake, I was fairly pleased with the show.
Animation quality is quite good, fairly entertaining. Plot moves through a couple story arcs well and connected instead of being just monster of the week filler. No surprise that the pilots are mostly following ‘band of five’ group dynamic, but there’s some blending instead of the strictly classic archetypal lines. And I was very pleased that the princess is far from a shrinking violet / damsel in distress. Occasional things didn’t make it past my suspension of disbelief filter, though. Like some of the techno-wizardry Pidge pulls off, ie. hijacking an alien drone bot in a few seconds by opening it up and moving a couple wires, despite having never before encountered that kind of tech before. But it’s a show for kids, so it’s understandable.
I considered the original greasy kid stuff and beneath me Back In The Day, but when I heard the crew behind Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra was behind this reboot, I gave it a try and I am liking it a lot!
BOO HISS ON SPOILERS PEOPLE
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lol your parents watched cartoons with you in the 80s?
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Where’s the bigger size of this image?
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Jeez dude if that’s a spoiler, kind of lame to do in a comment section on a review.
How did you get through that whole review and not mention Rhys Darby?! Frequently funny, and basically just doing Murray from Flight of the Conchords. He just about does a Roll Call…
I have very fond memories of Lion Force, and was not disappointed by this reboot at all. Except that it was only 11 episodes! I knocked it off in only a couple of days and I can’t wait for more…
Haha no, just a cliche.
I keep meaning to watch this show, glad to read (from multiple sources) that it’s not bad. I know i must’ve watched the show as a kid but i have zero recollection of it beyond an OP sword, but this current incarnation seems interesting.
If they truly care about honoring the source material then they’ll make sure that 40 percent of each episode is recycled footage of the lions assembling to form Voltron.
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Transformation sequences: the gift that keeps on giving.
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Did you catch that Roy Focker (of Macross fame) cameo in the first 5ish minutes of episode 1? When I saw that this show had me hooked right then and there.
Well, if they have to get nude in the transformation sequence (nee’ Cutie Honey) then end up with fresh hairdos and accessories plus merch. to wear, they’re inheriting the full canon. They transform as an ensemble though, so maybe one just gets mustache wax and the Princess’s lion gets its leg done? Peeps can just watch this in order to enjoy the omake (ep. 19 or 20?) of Yamato Nadesico Shichi Henge (so… Yamades.) Blurs the line of paste glue and lightning involved in the assembly process nicely.
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