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First Impressions: Netflix's Voltron Legendary Defender


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HeeroTX



Joined: 15 Jul 2002
Posts: 2046
Location: Austin, TX
PostPosted: Mon Jun 06, 2016 9:48 pm Reply with quote
Agent355 wrote:
If that were the only clue, I wouldn't look too much into it. But the official website's description and the interview with the voice actress, as well as another interview with the show's creators (also on Den of Geek) gives me the strong impression that something is up with Pidge.

From the Den of Geek interview you linked:
I start thinking how much I love the characters. Sometimes I forget I’m not Pidge and also Pidge is a boy.
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Desa



Joined: 07 Mar 2015
Posts: 285
PostPosted: Mon Jun 06, 2016 10:02 pm Reply with quote
Looks like I'm the only one who liked Voltron Force. One of the few shows I know with a memorably written villain and a henchman who's more than just a two-bit lackey.
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relyat08



Joined: 20 Mar 2013
Posts: 4125
Location: Northern Virginia
PostPosted: Mon Jun 06, 2016 10:30 pm Reply with quote
Psycho 101 wrote:
kpk wrote:
wonderwomanhero wrote:
the stereotypical lack of women though....

hard pass.


I agree, it's very weird, especially considering one of the two showrunners is a female...

So not enough tits means it's a pass eh? What a positively charming attitude.


I was going with the more positive interpretation that they weren't happy with the lack of strong female characters for women to relate to.
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Just-another-face



Joined: 08 Feb 2014
Posts: 324
PostPosted: Mon Jun 06, 2016 11:00 pm Reply with quote
Desa wrote:
Looks like I'm the only one who liked Voltron Force. One of the few shows I know with a memorably written villain and a henchman who's more than just a two-bit lackey.


I liked it too, so you're not alone there. Everybody else, referring to the usual morons on YouTube for example, were just lol mad because it wasn't done in their precious anime style. At least it attempted some creative ideas and even poked a little bit of fun at some common tropes you see with combining robot shows ("Why does the enemy always let Voltron fully transform when they could just stop him from combining?"). But of course, when an anime is done in a western art style, it's automatically a giant no-no to people, so it wasn't even allowed to have a chance in 99% of viewers' eyes.
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Beatdigga



Joined: 26 Oct 2003
Posts: 4352
Location: New York
PostPosted: Mon Jun 06, 2016 11:14 pm Reply with quote
Voltron Force was everything wrong with 90's era cartoons...in 2012. Rap opening, dumb kids, one dimensional villains, bad art design and animation, etc.

This show looks way better.
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Agent355



Joined: 12 Dec 2008
Posts: 5113
Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready...
PostPosted: Mon Jun 06, 2016 11:45 pm Reply with quote
HeeroTX wrote:
Agent355 wrote:
If that were the only clue, I wouldn't look too much into it. But the official website's description and the interview with the voice actress, as well as another interview with the show's creators (also on Den of Geek) gives me the strong impression that something is up with Pidge.

From the Den of Geek interview you linked:
I start thinking how much I love the characters. Sometimes I forget I’m not Pidge and also Pidge is a boy.

My first thought was that it's a red herring to avoid spoiler leaks before the show comes out. My second thought is maybe Pidge is trans after all. Or maybe Pidge is an alien (there are multiple humanoid aliens on the show, after all, and Pidge's family members are missing in deep space). Personally, I'm leaning towards "Pidge is a girl," but I'm not ruling anything out, and it makes me want to watch the show all the more
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DrunkAyanami
Get off my lawn



Joined: 27 Feb 2015
Posts: 88
Location: The great state of Vermont
PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2016 1:07 am Reply with quote
Agent355 wrote:
My first thought was that it's a red herring to avoid spoiler leaks before the show comes out. My second thought is maybe Pidge is trans after all. Or maybe Pidge is an alien (there are multiple humanoid aliens on the show, after all, and Pidge's family members are missing in deep space). Personally, I'm leaning towards "Pidge is a girl," but I'm not ruling anything out, and it makes me want to watch the show all the more


So yea, while I was disappointed that there weren't any women pilots, I also thought it was an odd choice to have the five main dudes as men. You'd think there'd be absolutely no reason not to include some women, especially since the princess was a pilot back in the old series. I can't see it turning off male viewers, especially anime fans who are probably used to all female casts. Even if you look at it from a toy marketing perspective, boys are gonna want ALL the lions so they can make the giant freakin robot; they don't care about pilot gender!

I do still think that Shiro guy is not long for this world, based upon the original and how perfect/mentor-ish he is, so I think that will add one X chromosome (also 46 princess chromosomes). But, Power Rangers made bank with two girls, so why not go ahead and add another? Pidge is a great choice for that, regardless of whether the character ends up being trans or just a tomboy/acting as a guy. Although I can see Netflix being progressive enough to go the former route.


Last edited by DrunkAyanami on Tue Jun 07, 2016 2:15 am; edited 1 time in total
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Martin G.



Joined: 22 Feb 2014
Posts: 26
Location: Germany
PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2016 1:37 am Reply with quote
Cyclone1993 wrote:
However I think people are overstating the connection to Avatar. Dos Santos is working on it and he directed several episodes of Avatar and they were great, but the people who actively led and created Avatar have nothing to do with this series whatsoever.

True, but we also have Tim Hendrick as head writer who was on both Avatar-shows. I never watched any Voltron show before but this new one I'll give a try.
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Stuart Smith



Joined: 13 Jan 2013
Posts: 1298
PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2016 5:27 am Reply with quote
While I have zero interest in the show I think people should wait before crying foul for no females. The only reason this franchise is still around is because of nostalgia, so it's esentially guaranteed they're going to retread what the original series did and replace one of the pilots with a girl. Does this show even have a toyline coming out? As for transgender representation, uh, that seems a bit random so I wouldn't hold my breath. Though considering the random ending to Korra I wouldn't put it past these guys I guess.

-Stuart Smith
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Beatdigga



Joined: 26 Oct 2003
Posts: 4352
Location: New York
PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2016 6:43 am Reply with quote
That swerve was the bright idea of Korra's creators, Mike and Bryan, while this show has everyone but them. Which believe me, is a good thing.
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shamisen the great



Joined: 08 Jun 2010
Posts: 658
Location: Oregon, USA
PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2016 7:10 am Reply with quote
Beatdigga wrote:
That swerve was the bright idea of Korra's creators, Mike and Bryan, while this show has everyone but them. Which believe me, is a good thing.
I take it you didn't like Korra then. I thought it was amazing myself and wish they were involved in Voltron. Don't get me wrong I'm still looking forward to it; but I can't help wanting to see what Mike and Brian would have done with the new Voltron
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Beatdigga



Joined: 26 Oct 2003
Posts: 4352
Location: New York
PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2016 7:18 am Reply with quote
Korra was maddeningly inconsistent. When it was good, it was great. When it wasn't, it was a slog. It's like there this amazing show that wants to get out but constantly got shoved to the side by things like romance triangles and teen melodrama that ruined Arrow. I'm just glad everyone else can work without that issue.
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Rivailloli



Joined: 05 Jun 2013
Posts: 562
Location: Virginia
PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2016 9:31 am Reply with quote
Personally, I never watched the older Voltron series, so I don't have that nostalgia factor going on, but I am curious about this new series coming up. I really enjoy the art and some of the previews I watched had cute humor in it. (VERY similar to Korra's/ALTA's humor which I loved!) So I'm kind of looking forward to this!

As for the topic of LGBT representation, I would love if they included gay characters into this. (We got that nice KorrAsami ending after all!) But I highly doubt they'd do something like that. I feel like people are more open to allowing lesbian characters in relationships than they are gay men in relationships when it comes to western media/cartoons. (Steven's Universe is a good example of that even though the gems technically are "genderless.") Just my thoughts though! I'd say they'd be wasting their male cast if two of them didn't end up together, but hey. I won't fault them. As for a transman being possibly represented, I would like to see that as one myself, but that's probably some wishful thinking on my part.

I'll be checking it out though! The cast is cute, so I'll be all over it in order to write bad fanfics of them.
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Chrno2



Joined: 28 May 2004
Posts: 6171
Location: USA
PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2016 2:28 pm Reply with quote
Well I guess I won't be able to check this out until I get to mom's house this weekend. 'Cause that's where my BD player is.

I guess when my old Sharp CRT blows out at my house, and component cables aren't a thing anymore I can buy a new HDTV. Then again by the time I get one 4K will be cheap and a new and improved BD player will be available. No wait I think that's already happening.
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Panoptican



Joined: 03 Oct 2005
Posts: 160
PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2016 5:21 pm Reply with quote
I just watched a trailer. The one female character looks a lot like Anime News Nina. That is all.
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