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 So this premiered on Netflix today and I thought we could use a thread for it! So what is this show? Once upon a time, people decided to re-imagine two different anime series as one series by chopping them up and rewriting them into one narrative. Of these two disparate shows, people only seemed to remember the one with the robot lions in it. Then they went on to make a bunch of terrible sequels, until someone eventually decided, "What if instead of making terrible sequels we made one that was good?" And thus, Voltron Legendary Defender was born! In all seriousness, Legendary Defender is a new reimagining of the series from the 1980's, done in partnership between Netflix, World Events Productions, and Dreamworks Animation. It modernizes and retells the original story, and is creative staff consists of alumni from Avatar: The Legend of Korra as well as Studio Mir. Taking elements both from the original Voltron and the series that inspired it, Go-Lion, the series tells the story of the five Voltron paladins, Shiro, Keith, Pidge, Lance, and Hunk, along with Princess Allura and Coran, as they struggle to free the known universe from the domination of the Galra Empire and its leader, Emperor Zarkon. As you might expect, there are robotic lions that combine with each other into a larger robot. The Characters  Shiro - Pilot of the Black Lion Voiced by - Josh Keaton The pilot of the black lion, who had previously been captured by the Galra Empire. He reappeared a year later, missing his memories and possessing a robotic arm made from Galra technology. Serves as the leader of the Voltron paladins and is at the center of many of the show's mysteries. Based on Sven from the original series combined with his counterpart from Go-Lion, Shirogane, and voted most likely to be sent one day to the hospital planet.  Keith - Pilot of the Red Lion Voiced by - Steven Yuen The pilot of the red lion. A rebellious youth who washed out of the same fighter pilot program as Lance, Keith is a hotheaded young man who prefers to do things his own way. After dropping out, he began searching for something, which is what eventually leads him and the others to discovering Voltron. He's not the leader this time.  Lance - Pilot of the Blue Lion Voiced by - Jeremy Shada The pilot of the blue lion and Keith's rival. After Keith dropped out, Lance saw it as his opportunity to rise through the ranks and become a fighter pilot, but he was held off by the fact that he kind of sucked. Between being overly sure of himself, always having a one liner, and fancying himself a ladie's man, he could be best described as "Space Sokka". Voiced by Finn from Adventure Time.  Pidge - Pilot of the Green Lion Voiced by - Bex Taylor-Klaus The pilot of the green lion, Pidge signed on to the space exploration program in order to search for their missing father and brother, who disappeared in the same incident as Shiro. Smart and possessing an endless curiousity, Pidge immediately takes an interest in the advanced technology of Voltron and the Attean people.  Hunk - Pilot of the Yellow Lion Voiced by - Tyler Labine The pilot of the yellow lion. An engineer for the space exploration program, Hunk is both friendly and constantly nervous about the new, terrifying situation he and his teammates find themselves in. Nevertheless, he quickly sees the neccessity of the paladins' mission.  Princess Allura Voiced by - Kimberly Brooks The princess of Attea, and one of the last remaining members of her species. Allura was sealed away in a cryogenic sleep by her father in order to safeguard both her and the Voltron lions away from the Galra Empire. Awakening 10,000 years later, she finds not only a galaxy dominated by the Galra, but that she must lead the Voltron paladins towards stopping them once and for all. Rather than piloting one of the Voltron lions, Allura instead pilots the castle ship the lions deploy from, which now serves as a spacefaring battle fortress.  Coran Voiced by - Rhys Darby Allura's royal advisor. While he's more than a bit eccentric, he's knowledgeable and cares deeply for the princess as well being dedicated to bringing out the best in the Voltron paladins.  Emperor Zarkon Voiced by - Neil Kaplan The ruler of the Galra Empire, Zarkon has been searching for Voltron for more than 10,000 years. A powerful and brutal tyrant, he believes in survival of the fittest even among his own people. He has some connection to Voltron itself, which was why Allura's father scattered the components of Voltron rather than risk it falling into his hands.  Sendak One of Zarkon's commanders, tasked with bringing Voltron to the emperor. One of his arms has been replaced with a robotic appendage of Haggar's design. Based on Yurak from the original series, with the name of his counterpart from Go-Lion.  Haggar Voiced by - Cree Summer An ageless witch and leader of the Druids, the mystical order of the Galra Empire. Haggar uses her mastery of both dark magic and science to create the giant monsters that plague Voltron and its paladins. Questions So where can I watch this? Netflix. There are thirteen episodes of the show up right now, effectively making a full season. More are on the way. Is there anything I can see of this show before I check it out? There's the official trailer as well as a sizzle reel, which give you a good look at what the show'll be like if you're still undecided about it. Links Nodosaur fucked around with this message at 01:44 on Jun 11, 2016 |
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Jun 11, 2016 01:27
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I pretty much bingwatched the whole thing, so I'll share my thoughts here, and do my best to avoid spoilers. I was never a fan of the original series, but the trailers for this show and the pedigree of its staff definitely convinced me. In terms of overall DNA, it's very similar in tone to The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra as well as animation, with a similar visual style and sense of humor. In the thirteen episodes produced, I'd say all the characters get a chance to shine, with everyone save Lance getting a fair amount of development. He's consistently entertaining throughout, however. Legendary Defender approaches the titular giant robot differently than its predecessor in several different ways. For one, Voltron himself is not the be-all, end-all of the show's action sequences, and there's situations where, due to the pilots' relative inexperience, forming Voltron isn't the best solution to a situation. They'll use the individual lions and their abilities just as often, with each one given unique abilities to set them apart from the others rather than being interchangeable. There will be entire episodes where Voltron doesn't even so much as appear, and don't expect a "Robeast" to pop up every half hour. When each one shows up, it's more or less an event, which actually serves to make Voltron's appearances more special and less a matter of routine. The first thirteen episodes do a good measure of world building and letting you get to know the characters, and they do a lot to make the Galra Empire appear legitimately menacing as well. Despite a fair number of changes, its overall story and characters is very familiar, which serves to make the areas where it does deviate legitimately surprising. All in all, a very strong start to this new iteration of the franchise.
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Jun 11, 2016 01:38
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Does anyone get Sven'd? That's one of the cool things about the original series I liked as a kid.
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Jun 11, 2016 01:52
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Nope.
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Jun 11, 2016 01:54
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Finished it a few hours ago and yeah, this is some rad stuff, everyone's great. Definitely left me wanting a season 2.
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Jun 11, 2016 02:28
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I like it a lot so far too. Grew up on Voltron as a kid, and this is way better than all those previous attempts to bring the show back.
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Jun 11, 2016 02:33
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Grew up on Voltron as well during the 80s and am really enjoying it so far.
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Jun 11, 2016 03:47
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Wouldn't it be less obvious to tattoo "manchild" on your forehead rather than watch this show? (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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Jun 11, 2016 08:07
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Quality post. Keep up the great content.
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Jun 11, 2016 08:33
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5 episodes in and I think it's great. Episode 5 spoiler Was Pidge a woman in the original series? I don't remember but I think it's a cool change Also thanks for using gender neutral nouns in your description of her :-). I do miss Svens accent, but I don't mind the change they made to him to become Shiro
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Jun 11, 2016 08:45
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Pidge was male in the original Voltron. Anyway, the change from Sven to Shiro was specifically because they wanted to avoid having all the heroes be a bunch of white guys. I'd assume that's the same reason for Hunk and Lance's change in skin tones.
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Jun 11, 2016 08:57
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TFRazorsaw posted:Anyway, the change from Sven to Shiro was specifically because they wanted to avoid having all the heroes be a bunch of white guys. I'd assume that's the same reason for Hunk and Lance's change in skin tones. Ya I guess that makes sense. I honestly didn't even notice Lance and Hunks skin tone change. But wow how about that all star voice acting cast? You know it's something special when you don't even recognize it during the show. I loved Voltron as a kid so this has been nostalgia overload.
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Jun 11, 2016 14:01
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TFRazorsaw posted:Quality post. Keep up the great content. Look, I don't know about whatever life tragedy left you emotionally stunted as a preteen but this poo poo ain't healthy.
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Jun 11, 2016 16:12
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Pretty fun, binged watched it. Looking forward to season 2. Kind of sad it's only on Netflix though.
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Jun 11, 2016 17:29
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Best compliment I can give this show. I got to the end of the season and was legitimately annoyed there's not more episodes. Really fun show although it took me a few minutes to get past Finn voicing Lance in this.
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Jun 11, 2016 20:17
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Rhys Darby is really one of the highlights of the show.
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Jun 11, 2016 22:15
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Altea sounds like a terrible place to live, the way he tells it. Boiling razor sharp rocks falling from the sky? Yeesh.
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Jun 12, 2016 00:05
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Mr. Fowl posted:Rhys Darby is really one of the highlights of the show. And he is super Rhys Darby-ing it up, which is fantastic. Enjoyed this first season and excited for more. I appreciated the character work they threw in, but it will be nice to get a bit more from some of them like Keith. He's still a bit flat. Series spoiler: I liked the Pidge reveal, amusing that only Lance and Allura didn't appear to realize it.
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Jun 12, 2016 05:34
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Teek posted:And he is super Rhys Darby-ing it up, which is fantastic. Episode 6 spoiler Allura knew, one of the mice told her
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Jun 12, 2016 06:19
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Hey whats the spoiler policy since netflix just drops the show and you can binge it? Its weird because the other week I Youtubed through Voltron and beast king go lion. I am alittle young for voltron but we had an old beta tape which recorded an episode I think its when the mice got the keys for the black lion. So that stayed with me as a kid. I later caught it again when it reran on cartoon network. One thing thats very clear in my opinion is that you cant just say Voltron is the Same as beast king go lion. The whole set up is different. one of the biggest is the opening to Voltron https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clm29r9qfgQ What anime is this image from? cause it talks all about this galaxy alliance which was never in Golion, and how those explores were "sent by the alliance to bring back voltron" In beast king the explores come to earth and find it dead from nuclear war thats when they get captured.  Another thing that stands out to me is the music Here is Voltron https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZZv5Z2Iz_s Compare it with Beast King, which is just reminds me of 70s anime soo much. Its just so00 Japanese https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq9yiKvo7ls Then what dream works did with. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtqKaUc6Uas Gotta say I really like the original 80's synth most of all. Last comment I also went back to young justice and was kinda bugged by the constant style of touch holographic H.U.D 's  Then I see the same thing here  Its just pulls me out the show cause thats the current idea of modern/future/alien tech, reminds me of halo.
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Jun 12, 2016 07:10
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SalTheBard posted:Episode 6 spoiler Allura knew, one of the mice told her But everyone other than Lance and Allura seemed to have either figured it out on their own, or never understood she was supposed to be a boy (Lol Coran). I like that they updated the format of the show somewhat, but kept the stock-footage transformation scene. Just in case anyone forgot Voltron was originally an '80s anime. My only complaint with the show so far is that there aren't enough episodes.
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Jun 12, 2016 13:34
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Two eps in and I'm enjoying it. Coran grated in the first episode, but grew on me in the second.
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Jun 12, 2016 19:38
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I put this on in the background while doing the FFV Four Job Fiesta, and I ended up almost not playing. It's really good! I marathoned this in one day holy poo poo.
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Jun 12, 2016 21:29
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A lot of the humor was really really bad, especially early on but I like how well they took all the really dumb elements from the 80s series and made them seem reasonable things to have in a modern story. (mice/witches/explanations why they didn't just form voltron at the start of fights)
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Jun 12, 2016 21:43
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When I was like 4 or 5 I used to watch this show all the time. I had a bunch of the toys, too (wish I still did). Then a few years ago I tried to watch it again, and it was terrible, and I laughed at my younger self. I just started watching this series, and I'm so glad it's been remade with modern sensibilities. Even better, I'm watching it with my 4 and 6 year old, and they love it. Being a dad rules.
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Jun 12, 2016 22:20
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So, because of Zarkon's obsession with Strength and Voltron, I though he was probably someone who couldn't be chosen as a Paladin back in the day and his entire empire was a gigantic temper tantrum. The reveal that he was the original Black Paladin was then not much of a surprise, although I hadn't guessed exactly. The cliffhanger, and the traitor that helped the heroes escape, got me pretty hyped for what comes up next.
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Jun 12, 2016 22:23
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Holy poo poo there's an Animal House reference in episode 2 when Hunk does Bluto's 'zit impersonation' during the food fight
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Jun 12, 2016 22:53
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TFRazorsaw posted:In all seriousness, Legendary Defender is a new reimagining of the series from the 1980's, done in partnership between Netflix, World Events Productions, and Dreamworks Animation. It modernizes and retells the original story, and is creative staff consists of alumni from Avatar: The Legend of Korra as well as Studio Mir. Taking elements both from the original Voltron and the series that inspired it, Go-Lion, the series tells the story of the five Voltron paladins, Shiro, Keith, Pidge, Lance, and Hunk, along with Princess Allura and Coran, as they struggle to free the known universe from the domination of the Galra Empire and its leader, Emperor Zarkon. As you might expect, there are robotic lions that combine with each other into a larger robot. Creative staff from Legend of Korra or ATLA or both? This is a fairly important distinction for how interested I am 
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Jun 12, 2016 23:08
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MonsieurChoc posted:I put this on in the background while doing the FFV Four Job Fiesta, and I ended up almost not playing. It's really good! spoiler for both things same twist
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Jun 12, 2016 23:42
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Captain Oblivious posted:Creative staff from Legend of Korra or ATLA or both? This is a fairly important distinction for how interested I am They're people who have worked on both shows.
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Jun 13, 2016 00:23
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On a whim I decided to give this a shot yesterday, and I've been binging through it since. I never had any special nostalgia for the original 80s series, but this is a genuinely good show.
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Jun 13, 2016 00:32
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Captain Oblivious posted:Creative staff from Legend of Korra or ATLA or both? This is a fairly important distinction for how interested I am Its feels way more like ATLA than the piece of garbage that was Korra.
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Jun 13, 2016 00:48
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IShallRiseAgain posted:Its feels way more like ATLA than the piece of garbage that was Korra. Cool I'm in. Time to inject giant lion robots directly into my veins.
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Jun 13, 2016 04:18
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If someone doesn't call Voltron "a mighty robot, loved by good, feared by evil" soon I'm going to flip out.
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Jun 13, 2016 18:14
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Jonas Albrecht posted:If someone doesn't call Voltron "a mighty robot, loved by good, feared by evil" soon I'm going to flip out. Similarly, I thought that original "BA baba da-ba, bup BA BA" fanfare in the original theme would have made a pretty good sting, but I haven't managed to identify it as a motif in any of the four(ish?) episodes I've caught so far. Am I mistaken? Because roughly 90% of my memory of the original show is that theme playing while Voltron extended his hands for post-assembly lion roars, and since I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this, I find it honestly kind of surprising that it isn't in the pile of appropriations.
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Jun 13, 2016 19:18
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Mr. Fowl posted:Rhys Darby is really one of the highlights of the show. Absolutely true, hes a national treasure.
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Jun 14, 2016 02:40
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Eikre posted:Similarly, I thought that original "BA baba da-ba, bup BA BA" fanfare in the original theme would have made a pretty good sting, but I haven't managed to identify it as a motif in any of the four(ish?) episodes I've caught so far. Am I mistaken? Because roughly 90% of my memory of the original show is that theme playing while Voltron extended his hands for post-assembly lion roars, and since I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this, I find it honestly kind of surprising that it isn't in the pile of appropriations. Nope, I posted the 3 theme songs. and I agree the voltron one was pretty good.
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Jun 14, 2016 04:00
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Really enjoying this show. (It has cool explosions.) But technology hasn't progressed in 10,000 years? Also, this is the correct opinion: Mr. Fowl posted:Rhys Darby is really one of the highlights of the show. He was a lot of fun in that new X-Files episode too, if you haven't seen it.
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Jun 14, 2016 06:11
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Watched the whole thing yesterday and today. Pretty good! Certainly better than I was expecting, though I was glad the stupid barf/fart humor was largely dropped after the second episode or so. I like how it isn't a new monster every episode and the CGI animation was pretty good. I don't like the cliffhanger ending. I thought there'd be at least another episode with an ending like that! I also really like how the princess is apparently super strong (crushes her dad's AI capsule in a bearhug, body checks a dude through a metal door, throws Shiro across a very large room), I just find that amusing for some reason. That said the best part of the show was Lance's slippers. 
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Jun 14, 2016 07:55
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DorianGravy posted:But technology hasn't progressed in 10,000 years? All the druid technology is new. Nothing has progressed with alterian technology because alterians are all dead and they were the most advanced space elves and used magic mixed with technology that science is helpless to understand so no one can recreate the stuff they made.
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Jun 14, 2016 13:17
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