Voltron: Legendary Defender

As a child of the 80s, Voltron was my favorite cartoon. My brother and I rented the videos almost every weekend and watched them over and over. That said, this new incarnation both meets and surpasses the old one in many, many ways. The animation style is very much like the origin and yet looks tons better. The voice talent is really good. The story lines do a great job of keeping your interest and making you crave what comes next. The battle sequences are really exciting, and the comedy is very typical of popular anime series. If you like action animation styled like Japanese anime, you'll absolutely love this series. It's probably one of the best to come out recently.

I was always a fan of the 80's in flux of anime for Saturday mornings, sadly the Voltron that was offered then was not a favourite of mine. Not sure, why but it didn't gel at the time. But I am pleasantly surprised with this Netflix offering, lately i have noticed the Netflix shows are very edgy(I do enjoy those as well), so this offering is a nice palate cleansing. A refreshing change, giving families something everyone can watch, not something easy as we see with Jessica Jones, Daredevil, etc. I love the interactions with the new takes of the Voltron team, and the animation is good, not the usual cheap animation that is everywhere today in shows. If it changed this crusty old school animation fan heart, give it a go. I hope it has a long life on Netflix.

When I first started watching this show, I was skeptical. I didn't really know what to expect and I only watched it because people said it was good. I thought I wouldn't make it through half of the series.

I was wrong.

This is one of the best series I have ever watched. It had the humor, it had the happy moments, it had the heartbreak. In my opinion, there were good character arcs and the plot was good. The first couple seasons were really good and wholesome, but it just got sadder as the show went on. Unfortunately, it started to spiral a lot towards the end. This show had so much potential, and they decided to end it on a very choppy note. It would have been a lot more successful if the kept going a little longer. This is one of the shows major flaws.

I rate 10/10 for the first 6 seasons, but more of a 5/10 for the last two. Better ending next time please.

S7:E13 was the most thrilling animated episode I have ever seen. So full of intense action and glorious animation, this was also a visual treat as well. Kudos to the writers and animators on this one. This episode should win some sort of award.

Overall, I would say that I enjoy this show. It has great animation, excellent voice acting, and characters with potential. Unfortunately, my attachment to this show seems to be relying solely on potential I see that has yet to be met, even after 2 seasons.

The main issue with this show is that it has no idea what its strengths and weaknesses are. It tries to do a TON of different things, just trying to see what sticks. Another big issue is the conveniences. Many characters are capable of or learn special abilities in the show, yet they seem to only work once and NOT when they're most needed.

The series has arguably 7 main characters. While I didn't enjoy Keith or Shiro in the first season, they were virtually the only characters that had any sort of...well, CHARACTER in Season 2. Everyone else is abruptly shoved to the sideline and shoehorned into a single defining trait, making them dull and repetitive. Hunk is the food-obsessed fat guy. Pidge is the tech geek. Lance is the comedy guy. That's all they are, nothing more. The villains are also about as compelling as a cardboard box, as we are given nearly no backstory or decent motivation for them at all.

It's overall pretty disappointing to see people who worked on such great shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender, Justice League Unlimited, and The Legend of Korra write such a sloppy show with so much unused potential. What could be episodes focused on developing characters and working towards the plot are spent on pointless side quests with more-miss-than-hit comedy, most of which having to do with fueling their ship. None of the character balance, consistent pacing, compelling story, atmosphere, or depth from the staff's prior work seems to be fully realized in this project.

That being said, the show is not completely doomed. It still has a lot of potential. If the next season(s) spend more time making the characters interesting and creating a more compelling story, it could definitely live up to the hype. I don't want this show to be bad, and I'm going to continue watching it in hopes that it realizes exactly how great it could be.