Television Thoughts on Voltron Legendary Defender?

Stargazer

Well-known member
Been a few years since this show ended, seems to be fading into obscurity. But it think it's worth discussing. I never really watched older incarnations of Voltron. I primarily watched this because it was a low key spiritual successor of Avatar: The Last Airbender/Legend of Korra, run by people who worked on those series and using a similar hand drawn style as LOK. It's not as good as those series, but was still pretty fun and exciting at times.

Season 1 I thought was a bit slow, dragged some, but was still decent. Everyone seems to love season 2 - I think it's a bit overrated, but it was still fun and the season 2 finale was definitely spectacular.

Seasons 3-5 were... Bumpy. I think the writers struggled to figure out where they were going with characters like Keith and Lotor. There's also some rumors about changes behind the scenes, like Shiro was meant to stay dead after season 2 but because of his popularity the network required that he be brought back. There's still fun to be had here, but I'll admit getting through this part of the show can be a bit of a chore.

Seasons 6 and 7, though, were the highlight of the whole series to me. Everyone saw the twist about Shiro coming, but it still made for a fantastic confrontation between Keith and Shiro. The battle with Lotor's Sincline mech was terrific, reaching a level of excitement I don't think the show had seen since the season 2 finale. And then Season 7 had a great arc with the battle for Earth. It brought things full circle for Shiro.

This part of the show really featured some phenomenal musical cues by Brian Parkhurst, as well:

The Black Paladins - The Facility

The Black Paladins - I Will Never Give Up On You

Defender Of All Universes - I Underestimated You

Defender Of All Universes - You Found Me


Really, I think Season 7 should have been the end of the series...

Because Season 8 was just a mess. It squandered all the momentum Season 7 had built. I just didn't care about Hagar/Honerva. They went with an Allura/Lance romance arc, which was...weird. The whole finale was a mess. Then there was going "woke" with Shiro. The way they promoted it made it seem like they were making some big woke statement with Shiro, but it came across as an afterthought in the actual show. So that bit them in the ass.

So, Voltron Legendary Defender. Fun show, some great high points, a bit bumpy at other points, and a trash ending. Great music. Anyone else have thoughts from watching it?
 

Agent23

Ни шагу назад!
That was the reboot of the Voltron series as a purely-Western production that had the princess as a tanned space elf, right?
And also gender-swapped Pidge.
Yeah, I saw the first season and lost interest, I honestly didn't think that it would get more seasons, tbh.
 

Stargazer

Well-known member
That was the reboot of the Voltron series as a purely-Western production that had the princess as a tanned space elf, right?
And also gender-swapped Pidge.
Yeah, I saw the first season and lost interest, I honestly didn't think that it would get more seasons, tbh.
Yep. Like I said, I wasn't familiar with previous Voltron incarnations, so changes like that didn't really bother me. I know they did use some names and story elements from Golion for inspiration.

It did surprise me that the series ran for as long as it did. It never seemed to be hugely popular, and animation like that is expensive. I do wonder if Netflix got an effective return on their investment.
 

Agent23

Ни шагу назад!
Yep. Like I said, I wasn't familiar with previous Voltron incarnations, so changes like that didn't really bother me. I know they did use some names and story elements from Golion for inspiration.

It did surprise me that the series ran for as long as it did. It never seemed to be hugely popular, and animation like that is expensive. I do wonder if Netflix got an effective return on their investment.
I used to love the "original" Voltron as a kid, as well as Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, which was IMHO the better one.
I think that this reboot was definitely underwhelming.
And as I said, I like choco elves.
I was just unhappy with the quality, japanese do them better:
b125511-HL4bBSML8lhc.png
 

Terthna

Professional Lurker
Honestly? The reboot never really interested me all that much. I also watched the original Voltron as a kid, but while I've got some nostalgia for it, the reboot came out well after I had basically given up on western media as a whole; if I was going to watch anything related to that franchise, it would be the original anime it was based on, Beast King GoLion.

I did watch a few videos that went over the whole show after it ended, and quite frankly? It looks about what I'd expect from most modern western media; a trainwreck not really worth my time. That said, I wouldn't begrudge anyone who happens to like it; entertainment is subjective, and to each their own. Though at least some of the people behind the show probably deserve to be driven out of the industry.
 

Stargazer

Well-known member
I used to love the "original" Voltron as a kid, as well as Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, which was IMHO the better one.
I think that this reboot was definitely underwhelming.
And as I said, I like choco elves.
I was just unhappy with the quality, japanese do them better:
b125511-HL4bBSML8lhc.png
When it was at its best, I felt V:LD could go toe to toe with anything out of Japan.

 

Stargazer

Well-known member
CGI is kinda low quality and obvious, the art overall can be better, and western voice acting is decidedly inferior to Japanese.

Compared to what, exactly? And one thing I like is just the conception of the sequence. They're fighting on top of a ship as it falls through the atmosphere to crash on the surface. How cool is that? There's also some pretty great story and character stuff going on, things coming full circle (but you would have to be following the story to catch that).

This isn't even the very best from the show, just the best clip that's available on Youtube.
 

Agent23

Ни шагу назад!
Compared to what, exactly? And one thing I like is just the conception of the sequence. They're fighting on top of a ship as it falls through the atmosphere to crash on the surface. How cool is that? There's also some pretty great story and character stuff going on, things coming full circle (but you would have to be following the story to catch that).

This isn't even the very best from the show, just the best clip that's available on Youtube.
To almost every single anime relating to giant robots I can think of.But let us put Macross Frontier in as an example.
 

Stargazer

Well-known member
To almost every single anime relating to giant robots I can think of.But let us put Macross Frontier in as an example.
Well the scene I posted wasn't a giant robot fight. I would share a clip of Voltron vs Zarkon's robeast, or Voltron vs Lotor's Sincline mech, or Voltron vs the Altean robeast, but none of those are available on YouTube. Do you have a clip of a fight from Macross Frontier as an example?
 

Terthna

Professional Lurker
When it was at its best, I felt V:LD could go toe to toe with anything out of Japan.


Anything? Even, say, the final fight from the first season of One Punch Man?


I'm sorry, but I'm getting the feeling that there's a bit of ignorance and/or personal bias underlining that statement. To be fair, the clip you posted wasn't bad, in my opinion at least, but it wasn't 10/10 material; though I'm sure the context of actually being invested in those characters, the world they inhabit, and the story being told has something to do with why you feel that way. That said, I'm not even a fan of One Punch Man, so I'd argue my perspective is a bit less skewed when I say that, to me, it looks orders of magnitude better.
 

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