Voltron: Legendary Defender

First things first...

Way back when I was a young antagonist (3 to be exact), a little cartoon called Voltron: Defender of the Universe was brought to our shores (if you really want a pretty good in-depth history on Voltron head over to Birth.Movies.Death and have some fun) and us sheltered American children were introduced to 5 mechanical lions who combined and formed the aforementioned Defender of the Universe.

Old Voltron...like he was made from MEGA bloks

Netflix, in their continuous want to bring in not only kids, but those kids parents (pure effing genius!), has released the complete first season of their new animated show, Voltron: Legendary Defender.  The basis is still the same.  Five people from Earth are whisked away to the planet Arus where they encounter Princess Allura (and her majordomo/manservant, Coran) and are tasked with reviving the lions and forming Voltron to put an end to Zarkon's 10,000-year reign of terror.

New Voltron...so shiny and round

This past weekend I managed to watch all 11 episodes of the first season of this new show, and while not totally blown away (for reasons listed below), it was a very enjoyable experience (reasons also listed below).  The show itself brought in a lot of what fans of the original would like, plus new material to keep it fresh, while making it a little more gritty and dark also.  Instead of just being called "The Voltron Force" which I always found a little corny, even as a kid, the team are now known as the "Paladins", and each has a special weapon called a "bayard" which customizes itself to each paladin.  A quick look at the cast and some memorable things about them

Quick Cast of Characters

• Shiro - team leader, captured by Zarkon's guys and forced to fight for his life for over a year (no bayard...hmm I wonder why)
• Keith - best pilot, but rash and unpredictable (original series Keith was a combo of this one and Shiro) Bayard - sword and shield (though all of the Paladins can manifest a shield)
• Lance - always trying to one up Keith, but overall a good guy. Bayard - small lazer rifle
• Hunk - the big guy.  In the original he was brave and didn't stand down from anything, this version makes him smarter but not as brave, not sure if I like this. Bayard - big freaking lazer gatlin-gun
• Pidge - spoiler alert, is a girl who is looking for her family who was taken when Shiro was. Bayard - a strange shocker/batman-esque grapling hook thing
• Allura - the princess, asleep for 10,000 years when the team finds her (see pros below)
• Coran - the princess' majordomo.  Fanatically loyal to her, but the character was more refined in the original, has become a bit of comic relief in this version
• Zarkon - leader of the Galra Empire (the big bad of the series)
• Haggar - the "witch" that made the ro-beasts (now I think just called monsters/warriors)

The Lions

Allura goes into some speech about what the lions individual traits are and how they choose their paladins, yeah cool.  Watch the first episode to find out why each one gets the one they do (I think it just happens to go with the color of their clothes...but that's just me).

• Black (Shiro) - Forms the "head".  The best blend of the lions (speed and strength) and can fire a powerful beam from mouth.  Also, "wings" form Voltron's shield along with other special things.
• Red (Keith) - The "right arm".  Fast and unpredictable, like it's paladin.  Can fire lava (or something similar), can form a knife of some sort that it can throw around, and even more special super-gun.  Also, when bayard inserted into lion forms the "Blazing Sword" of Voltron
• Green (Pidge) - The "left arm".  Can go invisible.
• Blue (Lance) - The "right leg".  Fires freeze-ray from it's tail.
• Yellow (Hunk) - The "left leg".  The strongest of the lions, and can take the most punishment.  Can bash through things with it's head.  Special ability when merged is a big super-gun that can target multiple things at once.

Pros:

• Same basic origin story; 5 lions form big. bad super robot Voltron
• Great animation compared to the 1984 version.  Though it does through the occasional joke with over-exaggerated anime style to give old fans a taste of that from time to time
• Better overall story that flows from episode to episode.
• Better individual episodes that did not have a monster (called ro-beasts in the original) in every single time for Voltron to form and to slice and dice with his "blazing sword"
• The lions, while still much weaker when not formed into Voltron, can actually hold their own in a fight.  They have more weapons and "special" abilities than originally
• Also, when merged the individual pilots have a little more control and don't just let "the head" lead everything (also, more "special" abilities"
• Princess Allura isn't just a damsel in distress wearing pink.  Her species can change size and color, and she has the ability to speak to giant planet-rock things
• Shiro, has a good back story that I really hope they delve into more in the next season
• Apparently, as you learn in the last episode, Zarkon was the original "Black Lion Paladin", that should be a damned good story
• Reminded me of watching Saturday morning cartoons with my brother (yay!)

Cons:

• No Sven! (that's a joke only a few fans of the original will understand)
• Did they really need to make Pidge a girl?  I mean they already upgraded Allura from damsel in distress status
• While the overall story does flow between episodes, making it a long arc through the season, it almost seems like some of the aspects for the individual episodes are squeezed into the time alotted so that they can make the story-lone flow
• Hunk, in the original brave, kind of dumb, rushed into things.  Now, I just don't like something about the character
• The ending kind of sucked and it just kind of happened.  I'm all for cliffhangers but this was just meh
• Reminded me of watching Saturday morning cartoons with my brother (boo, as this is no longer a thing)

Conclusion

Overall, I definitely recommend that any fan of the original series should watch it.  It's not as campy, people may or may not occasionally die in it, but it's still a fun watch and a good thing to share with a young child you'd like to share some of your childhood with.