Sunday 18 January 2015

V Is For...Voltron! Defender Of The Universe!


If Power Rangers was an anime then this would be it. I knew little of this old one from the 80's until my friend in work told me about it and lent me the first season to try. It's good but not my favourite anime.

The similarities to Power Rangers are undeniable though. The Voltron Force consists of five pilots sent to protect planet Arus from alien forces. They each command a robot lion which then combine together to create a giant robot known as Voltron. Didn't guess that did you? The Japanese love their robots after all. Each pilot also wears a different colour uniform just like the Power Rangers costumes.

The first season was edited from an anime series titled 'King Beast GoLion' and would go on for a three season run consisting of 124 episodes and a one hour special.

Voltron would prove popular and later be remade into a new anime series, spawn a couple of video games and a live action adaptation is also planned.

I haven't seen any of the new series and I'm not sure if I'll get around to finishing the original but you never know. I did play the demo of the video game. It wasn't too bad but nothing special which is what you've come to expect with most cartoon, film adaptations.

Still, there is plenty in this anime for hardcore fans to enjoy and I'm sure it will remain a classic for years to come.

Maybe I should start watching older super sentai shows and anime and compare them.    

Go go Power Rang...um Voltron Force!

2 comments:

  1. actually, Power Rangers or Sentai came more from Gatchaman (Battle of the Planets), Zone Fighter and Triple Fighter, plus the early Kamen Rider team ups.
    I liked Voltron, but Golion is bloody (and I mean BLOODY) fun. It wasn't that popular in Japan though.

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    1. Yeah many of those shows have similar themes. I've never actually checked out Golion, I'll have to add it to my list.

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