What’s up with the fascination about Voltron?

[Mr. Adventure]

What I don't understand is why the Lion Voltron is more popular. I heard it was because it had a better story and better characters. Plus, Lion Voltron came out first so I guess people just latched onto that as the defining Voltron.

I think there's something more iconic about the lions plus they were cool looking on their own before forming Voltron. I say this though as someone who never actually saw Vehicle Voltron, it was like an urban legend when I first heard of it in those pre-internet days. I'm not sure it penetrated as many markets as the first Voltron. Maybe not unlike Robotech where the Macross part has much more presence than the later series merged in.

 

[Commander Richard]

Albegas. I watched some episodes. Meh. And it was quite child-oriented, more than the average robot anime. Anyway, the animation was good.

I found this...

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[Commander Richard]

I think there's something more iconic about the lions plus they were cool looking on their own before forming Voltron. I say this though as someone who never actually saw Vehicle Voltron, it was like an urban legend when I first heard of it in those pre-internet days.

I used to watch the Lion Voltron on Saturday mornings and then one day out of nowhere, the show started and it was Vehicle Voltron. I was so excited because I was already familiar with the toy.

 

[Skipper]

I found this...

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^Really, Albegas was quite lame. But as far as I know, a hypothetical adaptation could have turned it into an unsung masterpiece.

 

[theenglish]

https://www.amazon.com/Gatchaman-Co...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=V4J230VRZRRND6NKVC53

Thanks for the link. Its been a few years since I've looked for it.

 

[Christopher]

I never got the appeal of Voltron back when it was in its original run. My introduction to anime was Star Blazers, followed by Robotech. Maybe I saw Voltron before Robotech, since it premiered a year earlier, but Voltron seemed juvenile and simplistic compared to the others, and I didn't much like the voice acting (even though the cast was mostly people whose work I liked in other things, like Michael Bell, Neil Ross, and Peter Cullen).

I watched the new Netflix series because of the creative talent (veterans of the Avatar franchise), and it's fairly good, but that's in spite of the source material.

 

[Cyke101]

I'm not saying this is the primary reason, but I'm betting the kickass theme song added a lot to its appeal. It's just so grand.

I mean, I prefer virtually every other aspect of GoLion over Voltron, but that theme is one of the few things that Voltron has over GoLion.

But I agree about the Netflix series as well. It might seem a little more wacky, but that, I believe, is from American memories of how Voltron was edited from GoLion. But since it's more intentional this time, it fits better this time around. The Netflix story is a tad more complex and developed, and the characters are better defined. But, going back to the music, the Netflix series seems to have awfully generic music -- adapt the 1984 American theme to the current show and it'll probably be close to perfect for me.

 

[shivkala]

It was just a part of pop culture so I latched on. I also loved the Vehicle Voltron toy.

What I don't understand is why the Lion Voltron is more popular. I heard it was because it had a better story and better characters. Plus, Lion Voltron came out first so I guess people just latched onto that as the defining Voltron.

I don't remember the prices, but I imagine collecting the Lion Voltron was cheaper and easier with only 5 pieces fitting together than the 14-15 for Vehicle Voltron. If I remember, the Vehicle Voltron toy had groups which could form together in some combinations, whereas with the Lion toys, either they were lions or they were Voltron.

The fact that they were all lions also, in my opinion, made Lion Voltron more aesthetically appealing than the various Vehicle Voltron pieces.

As far as why Voltron was popular, it featured robots that combined into a giant robot. A giant robot. Let the theme song to Megas XLR say it better than I ever could:

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It also hit around the time of Transformers and with humans controlling the lions, it made it different enough that the problems plaguing Go-Bots didn't apply.

 

[Christopher]

I'm not saying this is the primary reason, but I'm betting the kickass theme song added a lot to its appeal. It's just so grand.

I dunno... It wasn't a bad theme, and it was kind of an earworm, but it had a quality I found cheesy, like so much else about the show. I felt the Star Blazers and Robotech themes were much grander.

But, going back to the music, the Netflix series seems to have awfully generic music -- adapt the 1984 American theme to the current show and it'll probably be close to perfect for me.

I think the new theme is very good. Although that's partly because of the really impressive main-title animation that accompanies it.

 

[Commander Richard]

I don't remember the prices, but I imagine collecting the Lion Voltron was cheaper and easier with only 5 pieces fitting together than the 14-15 for Vehicle Voltron. If I remember, the Vehicle Voltron toy had groups which could form together in some combinations, whereas with the Lion toys, either they were lions or they were Voltron.

The fact that they were all lions also, in my opinion, made Lion Voltron more aesthetically appealing than the various Vehicle Voltron pieces.

Vehicle Voltron had 15 pieces. 5 as part of the Land Team, 5 for the Sea Team (sometimes called Space Team) and 5 for the Air Team. Each of the teams could form a larger vehicle, so you had three modes, either 15 vehicles, 3 larger vehicles or the robot. That's a big part of why I liked Vehicle Voltron so much. It was a lot more exciting than 5 lions. I don't remember if the 15 vehicles were sold separately but you could purchase each team as a set or the full Voltron in one big box and yeah, it was pretty expensive.

 

[Skipper]

Thanks for the link. Its been a few years since I've looked for it.

You are welcome (there is the blu-ray version too, if you are interested). Unfortunately, it seems that there are no available versions of Gatchaman II and Gatchaman Fighter in the United States. Really, the last eight episodes of Gatchaman Fighter are incredibly intense and dark.

I never got the appeal of Voltron back when it was in its original run. My introduction to anime was Star Blazers, followed by Robotech.

Well, Yamato and Macross are in a different league from GoLion (even the americanized versions). Indeed, they still produce sequels/remakes/reboot of the formers, the latter is just a footnote in the history of Japanese animation (obviously I'm talking about the Japanese market).

 

[Skipper]

I have to say that new GX-71 Soul of Chogokin Golion is a thing of beauty.

Updated Soul of Chogokin GX-71 Golion information!

 

[shivkala]

Vehicle Voltron had 15 pieces. 5 as part of the Land Team, 5 for the Sea Team (sometimes called Space Team) and 5 for the Air Team. Each of the teams could form a larger vehicle, so you had three modes, either 15 vehicles, 3 larger vehicles or the robot. That's a big part of why I liked Vehicle Voltron so much. It was a lot more exciting than 5 lions. I don't remember if the 15 vehicles were sold separately but you could purchase each team as a set or the full Voltron in one big box and yeah, it was pretty expensive.

Thanks! I remember both Voltrons coming as a set, but I don't remember them coming as separate pieces. I also remember, despite the extra playability of the Vehicle set, loving the Lions more.

 

[SPCTRE]

Edit: there is Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs too, but it seems that it failed to achieve the Voltron's level of fame.

that one was a big deal here, I think one of the reasons was the exceptional quality of the German dub

 

[Skipper]

that one was a big deal here, I think one of the reasons was the exceptional quality of the German dub

Did you get the American version or the original Japanese one?

 

[SPCTRE]

apparently, they did show the westernized version but they did restore the Japanese broadcast order - weird.

ETA: apparently this fixed continuity errors that were created when they shuffled the broadcast order for the westernized/US version

 

[Skipper]

It's interesting how some anime series ascended to a cult status in some nations.

Grendizer is a national icon in Italy and France, Mazinger Z is incredibly big the in Spanish-speaking world and the Philippines are virtually in love with Voltes V

(…) Somehow, in that brief glimpse of time 25 years ago, Japan had caught the imagination of Filipino children, and their lives would never be the same. I said “brief” because just when my family could finally afford those very expensive colored TVs then, former President Marcos banned the showing of all Japanese anime. If it was just possible to join the rebel groups during those dark, gloomy days, I would have planted a long, hard kiss on my mom’s cheek and headed off to the hinterlands with my toy M16 submachine gun.

Imagine the day after Marcos pulled the plug. An eerie silence soon replaced the animated chatter in the school cafeteria. It was as if someone in the family had died. Voltes V and the rest of the Japanese heroes are gone. But life continues, so they speak, but not without the episodes playing and replaying subliminally in our young minds.

When Marcos was ousted in the peaceful “People Power” revolution in 1986, one of the first things that the new president Corazon Aquino did was put Voltes V back in the air.

How A Mecha Anime Became Part Of The History Of The Philippines

An entire generation was angered by Marcos (WTF PREZ? WHY THE HELL DID YOU BAN AN ANIME ON IT’S PEAK OF IT’S STORY AND POPULARITY? REALLY?). His reason for banning Voltes V and other mecha anime was because of it’s “excessive violence”. And Marcos made a terrible move. He didn’t realize how angry an otaku can get when you take away their anime (you know what I mean). So, the kids realized that Martial Law wasn’t a good thing and started to care about participating in politics since the government itself took away their heroes and waifus. More and more people got into politics after the government not only controlled and closed down media establishments but also banned children’s entertainment.

Many believed that Marcos was just afraid that the show could influence the public the idea of a revolution - just like the finale of the anime. Then 1986, after the People Power Revolution achieved freedom, Voltes V and mecha animes were back on air. More animes came to the Philippines after the Martial Law. Voltes V was re-aired a couple of times on 1999 and 2005. On 2005, ABS-CBN re-aired Voltes V in attempt to promote it to the new generation of kids and was dubbed by popular Filipino celebrities.

 

[Admiral2]

As far as why Voltron was popular, it featured robots that combined into a giant robot. A giant robot.

So did Mighty Orbots:

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It also hit around the time of Transformers and with humans controlling the lions, it made it different enough that the problems plaguing Go-Bots didn't apply.

Again so did Mighty Orbots.

So what confuses me about Voltron's popularity is that here was a more exciting cartoon with better animation and yet Voltron's what gets remembered and remade and people look at you funny if you mention the Orbots.

 

[Commander Richard]

Count me in as a fan of the Mighty Orbots. I wanted a toy of that too but they never made one.

The scale problem on the show... Five human-sized robots merging into a Voltron-sized robot. I wouldn't say it bugged me but it was an issue.

 

[Skipper]

Count me in as a fan of the Mighty Orbots. I wanted a toy of that too but they never made one.

I never heard of it before. It reminds me of God Mars.

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ETA: From Wikipedia

he robot depicted in the show was virtually identical to the robot in the anime for Bandai's Godmars toy, although the colors were changed.