Netflix brought back Voltron from the dead, and rebooted it. This was a treasured show for me. Along with Robotech, I remember it as being a kids show that wasn't afraid to actually develop a long-term story arc and not dumb everything down. So it's with great relief that I can say that the new Netflix version is faithful to the spirit of the original, while being its own thing. And best of all, no car Voltron.
I have the original series on DVD, but it's neat to see the ideas revisited in this new series. It's true in style to the original, Japanese animation, and it emulates it quite well. It translates well to high definition. There are well developed characters, significant back story, some light political commentary, and even a fair bit of humor.
In fact, my 6-year-old finds it hilarious. The exaggerated facial expressions they use crack him up. Thankfully, he is responsive to the idea that a bunch of robotic lions forming a giant super robot is really fucking cool. I think he has probably watched the first season start to finish three times at this point.
There's a bigger point to this, for me at least. I'm surprised at how much of my viewing habits have shifted from traditional network TV to original streaming services. All of my favorite things in the last year have been on Netflix, Amazon or Hulu. There are a few holdouts on network, probably just The Blacklist and Blindspot, but that's about it.
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