'Toon Reviews 17: Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 2 Episode 10: Escape from Beta Traz

Escape from Beta Traz

Like the first two episodes of this season, this and the previous one feature two different adventures fitting the same cause.  In this case, they both progress the Paladins’ Galra attack plan with different Paladins going on their own adventures.  This one is a jailbreak plot where Lance, Pidge, and Shiro break into the Galra prison of Beta Traz to rescue the Blade of Marmora technician, Slav. 

The jailbreak is very engaging with the strengths of the characters involved and a whole mystery element to the operation.  The biggest mystery is that the prison is really big, yet it’s only designed to hold Slav.  Pidge, playing to her technical strengths, even deduces fallacies with the prison description by finding two cells.  This gives Lance and Shiro incentive to go find Slav while Pidge watches over them while downloading a virus onto the security system.  She also finds an opportunity to build upon her personal arc of finding her family who was captured by the Galra Empire long ago, particularly her brother Matt.  This arc got a lot of focus in Season 1, and this being the only episode to give it development in this season, makes said episode stand out more. 

Going back to the jailbreak, another mystery to the operation is exactly who Slav is.  When Lance and Shiro split up, they each find a different creature held prisoner.  One is a tall, lean alien creature who’s always worrying about the future, and the other is a hulking dog-like beast who only says “yup.”  Shiro finds the former alien and has to put up with his constant worrying, complaining, and predictions of negative outcomes.  At times, this potential Slav can be funny, but he gets overbearing quickly and for a technician, his worrying makes him look stupid through actually thinking he can drown in a puddle or thinking his mother’s back will be broken if he steps on a crack.  I think Shiro’s constant frustrations with him will most likely mirror the audience’s feeling for this character. 

Surprisingly, Lance’s moments are more impactful.  While guiding his potential Slav, he laments that compared to the rest of the team, he just hangs around and isn’t useful.  These feelings seem justified since Lance has mostly been known to do very little good and mostly flirt with girls or crack one-liners during serious missions, rarely compensating with any big moments.  This continues here when the guards come looking for the creature, and Lance, without reading the context, jumps in to defend it, blowing everyone’s cover.  It does solve the mystery that Slav is the creature Shiro rescued, and we do get an exciting scramble escape which stands out for giving Lance a shining moment when he gives the shot that saves Slav just in time.  As for the dog-beast creature called a yupper, it belongs to one of the guards who turns out to flesh out the Galra, for in addition to being threating like the rest of them, the guard has a lot of cute and endearing love for his pet yupper.  He’s one of their more human members.  Finally, the jailbreak proves officially satisfying when Pidge uncovers interesting information about what became of her brother, bringing this plot point to new lengths. 

As you can tell, this episode has a lot to love with many strong character moments, solid progression of series plot points, and a great sense of general excitement. 9.5/10

The Ranking

1. Shiro’s Escape
2. Greening the Cube
3. The Blade of Marmora
4. Escape from Beta Traz
5. The Ark of Taujeer
6. Eye of the Storm
7. The Belly of the Weblum
8. Across the Universe
9. The Depths
10. Space Mall

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where just as the Zarkon defeat plan is about to come together, the Paladins get caught in a random Robeast fight.


If you want to stay updated for more reviews, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter.

If you would like to check out other Voltron: Legendary Defender reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

'Toon Reviews 17: Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 2 Episode 7: Space Mall

Space Mall

This episode offers significant progression on the main plot following up on the previous episode’s reveal that Zarkon keeps finding the Paladins because of his strong connection to the black lion.  Its current Paladin, Shiro, sets off to rectify this issue by making his own connection with the black lion stronger so Zarkon can’t overpower it every time Voltron is formed. 

Given the title of this episode, there’s also a lot of focus on the rest of the team going to a space mall for replacement teludav lenses for wormholes.  The mall trip plays out like a comedy with everyone getting up to some wild and crazy antics.  The mall perfectly resembles a common Earth one, meaning the only thing to set it apart from ordinary malls are the alien creatures who work and shop there.  The antics at the mall are very fun and play to each of the characters’ personalities. Hunk is forced to pay off a debt at a food court washing dishes but becomes chef thanks to his culinary interests. Keith gets caught in an auction for his Galra blade.  Lance and Pidge look for money to get a game console.  Coran winds up in an energetic bidding spree for the lenses at a shop resembling an old alien swap meet. 

Some of these antics allow many characters to shine like Hunk becoming a chef bringing something impressive out of his constant thoughts of food, and a deeper look into Keith’s Galra roots through his protection of his blade, suggesting it’s from his family.  All the same, it’s concerning that these subplots take up a lot of the episode. They’re fun sequences, but that’s all they are.  They only exist for humor’s sake and that’s a problem when your show is heavily plot-driven.  There’s more focus on the light-hearted mall scenes than far more important ones like Coran getting the lenses, which doesn’t feel right.  If they existed in short scenes like humorous moments in other episodes, that would be a much better way of integrating them while still focusing on the main story. 

Fortunately, enough time is devoted to the most important plot information we have at this point.  Referring back to Shiro attempting to bond with the black lion, this part is done insightfully.  When he goes to his lion, it flies to Zarkon’s home planet, and grants Shiro visions of when Zarkon piloted it, forming Voltron with other original Paladins including Allura’s father, King Alfor.  Zarkon was even able to unlock powers of the lion that Shiro hasn’t.  The memories are interrupted when Zarkon locates the black lion again, and Shiro ends up fighting the leader of the Galra Empire inside his mind.  It nicely interprets how strong Zarkon’s connection to the black lion is with him constantly popping up around Shiro who can’t strike a blow.  However, as soon as Shiro points out that the true bond to a lion depends on trust, the black lion sides with him which helps him win a fight he could’ve lost.  Then there’s the interesting twist that everything Shiro saw, even leaving, was just a vision set up by the lion, implying that the strengthening of Shiro’s bond was all in his mind, and the growth was all done through his power.  It’s an interesting and creative depiction of overcoming one’s innermost turmoil and a great one to lead into the next phase of our heroes’ mission. 

The episode still loses points for giving too much focus to frivolous stuff no matter how fun it is, but it’s still enjoyable and several moments offer great plot and character progression that must be seen to be believed. 8/10

The Ranking

1. Shiro’s Escape
2. Greening the Cube
3. The Ark of Taujeer
4. Eye of the Storm
5. Across the Universe
6. The Depths
7. Space Mall

The next Voltron: Legendary Defender review officially introduces us to the Blade of Marmora while also brings interesting reveals about Keith.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is another review of a Steven Universe episode, "Chille Tid."

If you want to stay updated for more reviews, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter.

If you would like to check out other Voltron: Legendary Defender reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

'Toon Reviews 17: Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 2 Episode 2: The Depths

The Depths

This episode shows where Lance and Hunk ended up after the wormhole incident.  Their adventure doesn’t really have a big role to play in the main story which would mean that you wouldn’t miss much if you were to skip it, but with how much detail that’s packed into the adventure, it makes sense why this outcome would get its own episode.  There’s so much world building that a few short scenes of Lance and Hunk mixed in with others from the rest of the team wouldn’t fit that well. 

With these details comes an interesting world to add to the show’s imaginative galaxy.  The planet Lance and Hunk end up on is an underwater world where the surface is frozen over, but the area below is completely habitable with mermaids.  As a matter of fact, the place is constantly described as being “safe and warm”.  The ruler, Queen Luxia, loves the environment they live in, from the Baku garden that provides the warmth to the food and entertainment.  In Luxia’s scenes, there’s something unsettling about how she praises her kingdom and all its little things.  She even makes it clear that these are the only things she wants Lance and Hunk to think about, and both Paladins give in and decide to stay forever.  From there, there’s a huge sense of mystery of what Queen Luxia’s intentions are, and when Lance is ambushed by three rebels to the queen, they don't seem to be good intentions. 

Through some entertaining banter from the three of them and explaining their information through simple sketches, it’s revealed that Luxia somehow brainwashes creatures into the Baku kingdom, and they never come out, suggesting potential dangers they can’t figure out.  They also add to the creativity by helping Lance avoid any more brainwashing such as something as humorous as putting a jellyfish on his head.  On this note, it’s a really interesting to see someone cocky and girl-crazy like Lance be the one to figure out the truth of a strange situation and have to save the more reasonable and considerate Hunk. 

As for the truth about Luxia, the story does a good job at convincing the idea that she’s dangerous. Everything we saw of her suggests she’s brainwashing innocent creatures. One scene separate from the heroes even shows her sentencing one of her subjects, Florona, to swim in the Baku garden for failing to keep Hunk and Lance safe, and Florona meets her demise there.  When Lance captures Luxia, there’s a clever twist.  She was never the one brainwashing, and she herself was the first to be brainwashed by the Baku, the worm-like creature of the kingdom’s garden, by eating its food that led her to worship it, and all the other mermaids later did the same. 

So there’s an exciting scene of Lance and Hunk battling the Baku, the true threat, and after it’s defeated, their main problem for the episode is resolved when Luxia, now revealed to be good all along helps them contact their the rest of the team.  That leaves this episode as an enjoyable watch with a creative setup, fun character moments, and surprising twists. 

However, it’s still a persistent problem that so much time is devoted to this place and characters that don’t play a role anywhere else apart from this one episode. There is a newly revealed freeze ray on Lance’s blue lion, but that’s just one thing.  At least it can be considered a strong, enjoyable cartoon by itself. 8/10

The Ranking

1. Across the Universe
2. The Depths

The next Voltron: Legendary Defender review is on an episode that offers more flashbacks of Shiro and is the first sign that not all Galra members are heartless dictators.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is a look at Steven Universe Season 2 Episode 4, "Love Letters".

If you want to stay updated for more reviews, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter.

If you would like to check out other Voltron: Legendary Defender reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

'Toon Reviews 11: Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 1 Episode 9: Crystal Venom

Crystal Venom

I’m a firm believer that the best stories are those that can help you feel a wide range of emotions so to make what happens feel believable, and this episode is one that fits this criteria.  While some may believe that Sendak’s initial takeover of the team’s Castle of Lions was more of a one-and-done deal, it’s been made clear that him plugging in his crystal corrupted the power of the castle, giving what happened much-needed credibility.  The events that go on in this episode are clear results of his actions.  As the Paladins go about their day, they experience some very strange occurences from the castle like Hunk and Pidge getting attacked by food and later floating helplessly in zero-gravity, Keith getting mercilessly attacked by the training gladiator, and Lance getting stuck in a pod and later in an airlock where he’s nearly pulled into space.  There’s a lot of humorous and even intense moments that make up what goes on for our heroes stemming from them innocently starting their day, but the castle’s corruption is really meaningful in two emotional instances.  One of them has Shiro interrogating Sendak about the location of Zarkon’s base for their eventual confrontation with him, but is put through a mental breakdown when Sendak tries to convince him to join the Galra’s side prompting him to send him into space.  It leaves one to wonder if this side of Shiro joining Galra will come into play later on with a potential layer to his background, but it’s a little concerning that no one considers that Sendak roaming free could mean trouble in the future.  It could also be possible that he’ll be left for dead in the void of space, but still.  The real emotional highlight though is of Allura enjoying spending time with the projected memories of her father.  Though we’ve only seen only a little of her interactions with him, the fact that she’s lost something and someone dear to her as her planet and father understands her desire to use these memories to feel connected.  Relating to the castle corruption, she’s led to believe that everything she’s seeing with her father in her dreams is real which leads to her sending the castle towards an impending supernova under the guise of going home to Altea.  With danger imminent, when Allura snaps out of it, she decides to save the ship by destroying her father’s memories, permanently cutting off all connections with him.  It’s a mature, yet heartfelt, move on Allura’s part that can be easily relatable to anyone suffering a great loss, especially since in real life, when people are dead, they’re dead, and while it’s hard, you just have to grow to deal with it.  Because of this, this episode stands as one of the most powerful as well as inspiring when Allura is at least grateful that with her new team and Voltron, she can carry on her father’s legacy.  In spite of the possibilities of consequences of Shiro freeing Sendak being glossed over, everything else amounts this episode to an effective and relatable show of emotions. 9.5/10

The Ranking

1.      Rebirth

2.      The Rise of Voltron

3.      Crystal Venom

4.      The Fall of the Castle of Lions

5.      Return of the Gladiator

6.      Return to the Balmera

7.      Tears of the Balmera

8.      Some Assembly Required

9.      Taking Flight

 
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where the Paladins finally make their first attempt of direct attack on Galra as they set out to find the location of Zarkon's base through "Collection and Extraction."
If you would like to check out other Voltron: Legendary Defender reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

'Toon Reviews 11: Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 1 Episode 6: Taking Flight

Taking Flight

 

 

 

 

 

 

This episode starts up a new part of the main story where the Voltron Paladins and their associates use their castle as a ship to help anyone in the galaxy who’s in need and eventually defeat the Galra Empire.  However, even with this new layer to the plot set up, doesn’t mean that everything we see leaves an impact on the ultimate goal.  At this time, the team is especially set on rescuing the people of the Balmera Hunk and Coran had visited in the last episode with Hunk especially thinking hard about saving Shay and her people.  However, during their mission, the team gets sidetracked by a pair of rebels on the run from Galra, Rolo and Nyma.  At first, they seem perfectly sympathetic on account of trying to escape a tyrannical empire like Galra, and Rolo even gives them vital information about Galra, should they be defeated, leaving the team perfectly fine with try and help them repair their ship.  At the same time, Hunk has the right idea of being wary of what the rebels say which makes for an interesting character moment coming from a large, light-hearted character like him.  However, most just write Hunk’s concerns off as wanting to save his “girlfriend” Shay, particularly from Lance.  Speaking of Lance, his cocky lady’s man ways really go too far here when he’s instantly smitten with Nyma.  It starts off as standard goggling over beautiful appearances, but things really get out of hand when he allows Nyma a ride in his Voltron lion.  While what Nyma says to him can be interpreted as easily impressed by what Lance shows her, it can also be seen as an obvious act, something Lance is idiotically not considering around someone he doesn’t even know.  Plus, going so far as to show her the workings of a component of the galaxy’s most powerful defense weapon is beyond too dangerous to let his guard down, especially since the castle was JUST attacked.  Sure enough, during their flight in the lion, which admittedly has its nice moments, Nyma ambushes Lance and she and Rolo capture his blue lion to turn it over to Galra for money.  Despite being fueled by idiocy, the following scene of the team rescuing Lance’s lion from Rolo and Nyma is a very exciting one that takes us through an asteroid field complete with awesome moments of Keith taking out their ship with his lion, and all for someone he has a rivalry with.  One thing to appreciate is that despite their actions, Rolo and Nyma still show their sympathetic sides for lamenting how they turned out because of living under Galra for so long and hope that the Paladins will defeat their emperor.  This story is overall fine for what it is despite frustrating moments, but it feels like a distraction placed in the middle of something big which we didn’t really need.  Apart from information about how the team can eventually defeat Galra and in-between scenes of Witch Haggar and her druids working on something called to Komar Experiment, foreshadowing Voltron’s impending ultimate threat, the whole episode really lacks in importance.  At least by itself, it’s a good watch with prominent moments. 8/10

The Ranking

1.      The Rise of Voltron

2.      The Fall of the Castle of Lions

3.      Return of the Gladiator

4.      Tears of the Balmera

5.      Some Assembly Required

6.      Taking Flight

 

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where after this detour, we finally "Return to the Balmera."

If you would like to check out other Voltron: Legendary Defender reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

'Toon Reviews 11: Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 1 Episode 4: The Fall of the Castle of Lions

Fall of the Castle of Lions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While all the episodes we’ve seen have always ended well for Voltron and its Paladins, this episode is where their quest to defend the universe starts showing its difficulties as the Galra Empire hits it hard.  Their impeding effect is especially felt when you consider that we open with a celebration the team has with their new allies, the Arusians.  Amidst the happy, light-hearted scenes at the party, we also see a lighter side to Allura as she gathers secrets about the Paladins from a race of mice who are also the remaining survivors of her home planet, including one she skirts around about Pidge, or Katie, being a girl.  However, it’s around here where things start getting heavy when Pidge reveals that she’s leaving the team to find her family.  As emotional as Pidge’s arc is, it’s concerning that she’s not considering the serious repercussions of this move.  Voltron needs all its Paladins to work, and without it the universe is doomed.  They do talk about this later on, but this move is too drastic to get behind.  Not only this, but other Paladins talk about wanting to go home to, which nicely reveals a vulnerable side to someone as full of himself as Lance who considers how far away he is from Earth.  Finally, the Galra Empire, led by Zarkon’s notorious commander, Sendak, initiates their attack which starts putting the odds against what seemed unstoppable.  First, they reprogram Pidge’s drone friend, Rover, to destroy the crystal that powers the Altean’s castle that holds the Voltron lions.  Then, they separate the team by knocking out Shiro and keeping him and Lance, who was wounded when the crystal was destroyed, hostage, and force Hunk to leave with Coran to find a new one, and power the castle up to keep Keith and Allura out.  They also plan to take the castle into orbit to keep the Voltron lions for themselves, but in a tense scene that cements that her loyalty is to the Paladins, Pidge finds a way to destroy the engine to prevent it from takeoff.  However, the episode ends with Sendak demanding her to be found, leaving the audience to guess what will become of her and the rest of the team for that matter.  Even if it’s an abrupt end to the episode in particular, you know that all this is a huge lead in to something bigger.  Voltron, the only hope for defense of evil, is now in danger of being stolen, and our heroes are separated.  After getting to know their personalities, including through the events here, it’s worth being concerned for their safety and hope they can find a way out of this.  While some characters may have head-scratching mindsets at times, this is the point where the care for them hits a high point. 9.5/10

The Ranking

1.      The Rise of Voltron

2.      The Fall of the Castle of Lions

3.      Return of the Gladiator

4.      Some Assembly Required

 

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of this episode's thrilling continuation which also serves as an addition to this show's lore, "Tears of the Balmera."

If you would like to check out other Voltron: Legendary Defender reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

'Toon Reviews 11: Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 1 Episode 2: Some Assembley Required

Some Assembly Required

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With all the major information about Voltron and the Paladins assigned to pilot it revealed in the premiere, we now start easing into more routine styles for our heroes.  At the same time, constant reminders of the Galra Empire promising to keep coming back to attack, backed by newly revealed information of how they’ve been conquering countless planets in the universe, almost being set on the Paladins’ home planet, Earth, remain a serious issue for the heroes to consider.  In the case of this issue, they’re put through constant vigorous training exercises to form Voltron so to be prepared during all future attacks from Zarkon and his armies.  The problem behind all their attempts is that while they have decent individual competence in the heat of battle, the Paladins don’t know how to work well as a team, which is revealed to be the necessary step to forming Voltron.  From this reveal, as well as the constant mentions of how the characters have issues working as a team in the previous episode, it’s clear that teamwork is going to set itself as major theme for the series.  One thing to appreciate about the lack of teamwork is how it’s presented.  At first, you’d think that it’s all because the characters can’t get along with each other leading to pointless incessant bickering.  Apart from Lance and Keith, their problems are mostly due to a lack of understanding on exactly how to do it.  Plus, some characters have deeper reasons for their lack of cooperation like Shiro still being traumatized by his time as a prisoner of the Galra Empire, and Pidge still wanting to find his family, and apparently his “girlfriend” as depicted by constant looks at a picture.  The training exercises themselves have an enjoyment factor to them with how they’re constructed like drones attacking the Paladins and each one falling down a hole when they're not protected, someone going through a maze where the only one watching him can see the walls that can give him a shock, and the use of equipment that visualizes the process of the Paladins clearing their mind.  Through it all though, we also see a new side to Princess Allura.  She has a major sense of urgency to get the team to focus more, making it so that the training courses match the intensity of what future encounters with Zarkon will bring.  As admirable as her desire to get the Paladins ready is, she can get overbearing with expecting so much from them this early on which don’t always come off as enjoyable.  Sure, her bossy attitude may lead the Paladins to finally work together when they stage a food fight against her, but that kind of brings unfortunate implications on promoting nasty behavior to solve your problems.  The team forming Voltron afterwards is still a great payoff though, making me expect all Voltron formations will be awesome visual spectacles.  I have to wonder though if this is truly the last of the Paladins’ teamwork issues.  Getting over them in one episode shouldn’t be that easy, but with a growing enemy threat shown through frequent scenes of Zarkon and his witch wife Haggar sending a mysterious creature to their location, we’ll soon see how good their teamwork really is.  Overall, despite some overbearing character moments, this is a solid follow-up to the premiere with new information on the workings of Voltron and the entertainment mined from learning how to form it. 9/10

The Ranking

1.      The Rise of Voltron

2.      Some Assembly Required

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where see exactly what was sent to fight the Paladins in "Return of the Gladiator."

If you would like to check out other Voltron: Legendary Defender reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

'Toon Reviews 11: Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 1 Episode 1: The Rise of Voltron

From the perspective of the ultimate first-time viewer, I’ll be covering the first season of one of the most popular animated series made for Netflix:

Voltron: Legendary Defender (Season 1)

Basic Premise

In today’s age of entertainment, it’s amazing to note the wide variety of ways to watch shows and movies.  Before, you only had what was playing at the local cinema to consider your options, including short films, newsreels, and even cartoons.  Then, with the rise of suburbia came the rise of television which provided entertainment for the majority of families.  For a long time, TV was the only way to introduce new series, meaning all audiences of certain programs had to make sure they were near their sets to stay updated with what was going on and would lose a lot if they missed it.  Things got better with the rise of physical media such as DVDs which would allow people to view all shows at their own pace, not just favorite recent ones, but also old shows they had never seen before.  Now, we’re in the age of digital streaming where one subscription could make all sorts of shows readily available without the need to put in a disc.  As someone who’s grown up with physical media, I’m not really used to digital streaming, but now that I got a subscription to the popular video site, Netflix, possibilities for more animated series reviews are endless.  Sites like Netflix even have a number of shows made specifically for there, including animated ones.  One of these Netflix-original series is going to be the subject of the coming series of posts; Voltron: Legendary Defender.

Since I’m new to Netflix, I’m going into this show completely blind with very little knowledge of what’s to come.  From what I can gather, it’s about these five guys who control parts of a giant robot and defend the galaxy.  I can easily see that it’s an interesting premise, and with the right execution, there could be a big grand story.  Plus, some of the creative forces behind the show were a part of the crew for the shows of the Avatar franchise and is a production of one of today’s biggest animation studios, Dreamworks, so the show could turn out epic.  However the show turns out, I’m still excited for my first viewing of an animated series made exclusively for Netflix, and how it turns out will all be documented in my first set of reviews on its 11-episode first season.  Special thanks goes to my friend on Facebook, Omar Choudhury for requesting this series for reviewing.

 

Now on with the reviews:

The Rise of Voltron

Kicking off the series with a 68-minute premiere, we get introduced to the main story and characters with a bang.  Everything is told with a big cinematic scope that introduces us to this vast science-fiction world.  Much of it comes from what we learn about Voltron, how it works, and what it was a part of which serve as creative additions to help the series stand out.  It’s a huge robot from the planet Altea used to defend the galaxy from the forces of evil composed by five smaller lion robots of different colors, each one representing a different personality trait.  The lions are also known to have been controlled by just the right person suited for them known as Paladins.  However, Altea was attacked by the Galra Empire led by the evil Emperor Zarkon and the King Alfor, commissioned the Voltron lions to be hidden for safety.  This background of the titular robot is shown to have a lot of layers to it revealed to us in the first episode, which makes it all the more compelling.  Aiding in Voltron’s appeal are the characters that we follow throughout the episode.  The five people selected to be the new Paladins for the Voltron lions all have distinct personalities that bounce off each other as well as identifiable flaws for them to overcome throughout the series.  We have the vain and cocky Lance, the nervous motion sickness-prone Hunk, the studious calculating Pidge, the temperamental Garrison dropout Keith, and the captured explorer who has the most knowledge of the Galra Empire out of the five, Shiro.  Even if their flaws can get overbearing at times, it’s acceptable since this is the first episode and they have plenty of time to develop.  There’s also Princess Allura and her humorous and eccentric royal advisor Coran, the sole survivors of Altea who awaken from hyper-sleep to help the Paladins, teach them about Voltron and their conflict with Galra.  Although Allura herself merely presents herself as a magical being who helps the heroes, the scene of her seeking console from the memories of her late father as well as how she has to deal with being the sole survivor of her planet show that she has some promise for a more realized character later on.  This is just one example of the genuine sense of emotion present here.  Other emotional moments include Shiro slowly learning more about who he used to be before getting captured on his Kerberos mission, Pidge attempting to save his family who were captured with Shiro despite the dangers, and Keith fighting through his tempers to bond with his assigned lion.  Each one of these moments help flesh out these characters and fill them with promise for the future.  Speaking of the future, when Voltron eventually forms in the heat of a siege and beats an invading Galra ship, it’s a well-constructed, epic moment after all that buildup, and the final mention on how the battle was just the beginning of what the Paladins have to do really anticipate you to see more of it, not to mention, if they can manage to successfully work as a team like the entire episode was pushing towards.  For its big grand scope with the story, distinctive characters, genuine emotion, and epic payoffs, this premiere is an effective start to the series letting you know that we’re in for an exciting animated experience. 9.5/10
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where training to form Voltron truly begins in "Some Assembly Required."