Netflix's Voltron: Legendary Defender

So, while it technically makes sense, something else has been bothering me lately.

All of Sam's "Voltron will save us!" rhetoric, only for Voltron to get there and suddenly it's "no, don't bring Voltron here, it's what Sendak wants!" and thus forcing the Paladins to leave their Lions with no plan on how to get back to them and...what, exactly? They...gather Intel that ultimately doesn't help them much since You Can't Thwart Stage One. Any Game Changer they have, like Cosmo or the Castle of Lions' crystal, wouldn't have been known to Sam, and the Paladins minus their Lions really aren't much better than the cadets.

It was probably the old message that wanted them to get Voltron before they realized that the enemy was essentially baiting Voltron. If they are watching the earth closely they would notice the Lions arrive and ruin any element of surprise.

They probably also didn't expect that the plan was to blow up the earth making Voltron needed in a hurry. I assume the original plan was to dismantle the enemy over a period of time and not one all important operation to prevent the destruction of the earth.

Using the Voltron license along with Atlas as a Backdoor Pilot into a Robotech remake that skirts around Harmony Gold's licensing issues might not be a bad idea. Griffin can be the Rick Hunter Expy, Rizavi can be Misa Hayes, and Shiro gets a living boyfriend.

Actually, Harmony Gold's lisences will no longer be an issue in the very near future. A court ruling last year means that their licences start expiring in 2019 and they lose everything except the copyright for the Robotech name in 2021 or 2022.

Also, am I the only one who thought Atlas looked a bit like an over-sized Phantoma◊ from Zone of the Enders?

The outline gives it that vibe.

Also, with the toyline having bombed, would anyone even be interested in a Voltron spin-off? I can’t see the merchandise companies being too invested, although you could argue Shiro being the main returning character would be great PR.

That’s an argument in favor of a Robotech/Vehicle Voltron mashup, since they can’t use any Macross IP’s. Instead they just make something akin to Macross, only without the Zentraedi, or Minmei, or any of that other thorny legal stuff.

Edited by Beatman1 on Aug 15th 2018 at 7:42:15 AM

As a Netflix show it's less dependent on toy revenue than traditional television series, and draws in what seems to be large numbers. That the merchandisers are shifting away from toys towards other demographics indicates that they're more flexible on that front than you might think.

Agreed. The rights expiring bodes well for actual Macross releases, but since this show has already regularly homaged Macross/Robotech, they can use this room to focus on the aspects that were more unique to Robotech. Given that this show is bearing less and less similarity to the original DOTU series, and Vehicle Voltron doesn't have that many fans, they have plenty of space to remix it with Robotech to make a proper series out of it.

Edited by AlleyOop on Aug 15th 2018 at 8:00:26 AM

I think it could work, and then bring everyone back for a Grand Finale remake of Fleet of Doom, but it’s not a guarantee is all I’m saying. Now I really wish they gave Shiro the Captain esenmble.

That said, if they are looking into new merchandise streams, I’ll give my petty desire right here. Can that Cubes of Olkarion game, and go give Banpresto a ton of money to put Voltron front and center in a new Another Century's Episode game. Of course if I’m the only one who wants that I’ll be quiet.

Edited by Beatman1 on Aug 15th 2018 at 8:05:28 AM

I'm still confused by the VR thing to be honest. You have something that requires an expensive add-on (VR headset) to an expensive piece of hardware (gaming PC, PS 4, whatever), and basically just, as I understand, watch a 3D minisode through a character's eyes, without any gameplay?

From the footage I saw it was a mini game collection coupled with a loose framing device of cutscenes, ending on a cliffhanger. It’s also a rather apt example of The Problem with Licensed Games.

I really loved the plot this season (I think this is my favorite season of the lot, barring a rewatch), even if the final episode came right the hell out of nowhere. But hey, at least they managed to work in a robot vs robot fight to satisfy all the people who were clamoring for one. I think my favorite episodes were the lead-up to the final battle, the characters bouncing off of each other as Voltron brings hope to Earth and they mount a counterattack. It really works to what's been the series' strengths so far (in fact, imo the basic conflict this season arguably plays more to the series' strengths than the immediately previous ones have), and the final fight against Sendak's fleet was pure space opera fun.

The only thing that really bugged me - though it's a very big thing - is the way final battle relies on the characters conveniently not doing things until its dramatically appropriate, even when by all accounts they should. And, I mean, the show (and space opera in general) has always relied on that for dramatic purposes, but I think they overdid it a little here. Near every piece of tension is built (and subsequently diffused) that way.

Like how when they first start to attack Sendak, they discount the idea of going after the cannons because the Lions presumably can't do it, and then find out they have to go after the cannons just in time for them to not have enough time to do it properly, and then after all methods of delaying the cannons fail it turns out the Lions are capable of taking them out within seconds. Thus making it look more like the only reason the battle was so tense at all was because they weren't smart enough to go for the obvious target immediately, or in short creating a bit of a false dilemma. And again, the show is no stranger to doing that, but they kind of overdid it this time.

Also I really, really liked Bob, and his episode.

Edited by KnownUnknown on Aug 15th 2018 at 11:10:34 AM

Bob really brought some levity to a really dark season, all things considered. Still, he was only second best for me, bratty teenager Lotor was the highlight of that episode.

Speaking about things that don't quite make sense this season: in "The Journey Within", why are only the 5 current Paladins immune to the time-stopping anomaly? I understand the Doylist reasoning (the 5 need to bond to finish the arc that had been on hold ever since Keith left for the Blade of Marmora in S4) but the Watsonian reasoning (that the Paladin armor protected them) doesn't really work because Shiro is around wearing the very same armor as they are and still got frozen in time. Again, I'd feel like this could have been fixed with Shiro still needidng to be on the healing pod to finish his recovery, since the excuses to keep him out of the action were wearing thin by the time they finally got to Earth.

Edited by DemonDamian on Aug 15th 2018 at 1:23:11 PM

Really starting to like villains playing family sitcom tropes. It's one of the few things I like about Teen Titans Go, and I really enjoyed it here.

Maybe it's because Shiro wasn't his helmet? Honestly if it wasn't for the reactions of the passengers I going was going to write it off as the Paladin going through a mental journey.

There's a thing somewhere that answers the Druids are not Galrans. Seems like something to explain earlier innthe story as it would further explain the initial dislike we saw of that one Galra commander who was annoyed the Druids were favored by Zarkon over them.

The showrunners reflect on a post S7 interview, flat out stating a few things, as well as tempering expectations for a spinoff series.

Most notably, the Atlas is a Macross Expy. They flat out say it.

For all of the talk about how bad they are at handling robot battles, the producers sure love Robot Anime.

Well, specifically they seem to always mention Super Dimension Fortress Macross. Which might explain why there's always more focus on Old-School Dogfighting while Voltron itself feels stuck in the '80s formula.

Edited by TheGunheart on Aug 18th 2018 at 1:26:50 AM

I know. I wouldnt use such a mean comparison (even if its not totally unkind) but yeah. They suck at the thing they love.-

yeah, sorry about the Ninja edit. Even I thought my Ed Wood comparison went too far.

Irony is such a tricky thing.

I think the problem is once again, wires getting crossed. Macross was about ace pilots in big numbers engaging others in big numbers, as fleets battled each other. Here we have dramatically powerful lions but nothing that equals them, so the skill factor is mitigated.

Come to think of it - They really haven't used the trope most associated with real robot shows, the enemy ace. There could have been a lot of conflict against elite Galra pilots, but every single drone is the same skillset and gets blown up just as easily. No ace custom units, nothing of that sort.

Also, I think it might be possible that the lead time on the animation may be tighter than what's been stated numerous times in the thread. Like, on the one hand we have The Voltron Show having been made before season 1 aired...on the other we had interviews stating season 1 was completed just before airing and they didn't even know they were getting a second season until after it aired. And just this year, the lead story editor dropped off the show and was replaced, despite presumably Seasons 7 and 8 having already been long completed?

Like, what exactly is going on here? There's also a lot of evidence of Shiro's inclusion during the first half of season 7 being possibly a last minute change with him having little to no dialogue, barely interacting with the cast, and even contradicting the line about the Paladin Armor protecting them from that Negative Space Wedgie.

Don't get me wrong, I agree the show has its flaws, especially when looked at as a mecha series, but sometimes I get the feeling you put way too much weight on something the show is not. The show itself is fine, it has some great writing and character moments. I stand by my stance that it's a really good show, just not a good mecha or Sentai show (since, despite being a Trope Codifier for the Mecha genre in the west, GoLion has more in common with Super Sentai shows).

You have to realize that the "second season" was actually the second production season (seasons 3-6) since seasons 1 and 2 are considered a single season from a production standpoint, so they were made as one whole season. We know that after season 2 aired, they were doing reshoots of what would become season 5 (part of the second production season).

Animation Lead Time is strange, especially since they work on multiple episodes at a time, but from questions and common industry practices we can tell that storyboarding finished about a year ago, at the very least. The actors recorded their lines and that material was sent to be animated in Korea, when it comes back it's reviewed, some lines are changed/redubbed (for example the takes with Adam being Shiro's roomate vs his boyfriend) and, in some cases, specific scenes might need to be sent back to be re-animated. If anything, by the time the story editor was replaced, they were doing the final season's reshoots, but that's only an educated guess.

Oh yeah it’s a good show, it’s just funny the whole thing around it.

Like sure the show has its flaws (really what doesn’t honestly?) but overall it’s generally well-made stumbling aside.

I just find it amusing how people on the mecha/anime aside of the fandom express a blithering hatred of it calling it a failure but ya got the people on the West side of the fandom among other parts who genuinely enjoy it for its positive merits.

Again it’s so fun to see the varying reactions.

Edited by slimcoder on Aug 18th 2018 at 2:45:42 AM

Blithering hatred is a BIT too strong. I think the show is...OK. Certainly not the worst thing in the world. To be honest, I wish the show was more like Season 7 than 3-5, but it arguably has a weak middle after a very strong start, and then picks up steam again as the plot engine moves forward and characters who were spinning their wheels actually get resolution for their arcs. Yeah, sure, action is a part of it but it’s a big part. If you think I’m being too harsh though, I’ll dial it back.

As for failure? Only the merchandise. The actual show like I said, is Ok to above average and clearly has a dedicated fandom. That being said as far as space operas go, while I enjoy it, I can safely say most of the stuff the show does was done better in Space Battleship Yamato 2199. Then again, I would also argue one being better doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the other.

Edited by Beatman1 on Aug 18th 2018 at 6:26:20 AM