Caught in the middle of an ancient war between good and evil, a young girl wakes up in a morgue with inexplicable powers. Her search for answers brings her to The Order of the Cruciform Sword, a secret society of warrior nuns sworn to protect the world from evil. While juggling her responsibilities as the chosen one with the normal obstacles of a teenage girl, this mysterious fantasy drama is full of mystery, action, adventure, and teenage romance, proving our main character might fight in the name of good, but she’s no angel.
For those who aren't aware, but this upcoming series is based off of the comic book/graphic novel by the name of Warrior Nun Areala from 1994.
Warrior Nun Areala is a manga-style American comic book character created by Ben Dunn and published by Antarctic Press, first appearing in Warrior Nun Areala Vol. 1 #1 in December 1994. The story revolves around Sister Shannon Masters, a Joan of Arc-like heroine of the Order of the Cruciform Sword, a fictional military order of WarriorNuns and MagicPriests in service of the Catholic Church. The order was created in 1066 when a Valkyrie named Auria renounced her pagan ways and turned to Jesus Christ for salvation; ever since then, Auria, now Areala, has chosen an avatar every generation to carry on the mission. In modern times, this has grown to a world-spanning organization in the service of the Catholic Church with the current Areala, Sister Shannon Masters, as the best and brightest of all. With her friends beside her, Sister Shannon has led the forces of good against those of evil, ever serving the Lord with faith and humility. Appearing on and off for 20 years since her first appearance, Warrior Nun Areala is creator Ben Dunn's favorite character.
With strong continuity telling storylines in a serialized manner, Sister Shannon Masters' cast, powers, and trappings have slowly expanded throughout the years thus creating an entire society within the Church. There has been some controversy regarding the character from both religious and non-religious people, the former for appropriating Catholic imagery and the latter for how the comic book unapologetically shows the Catholic Church as a force for good. While there have been other comic books emphasizing Christianity and superheroes utilizing Christian imagery, Warrior Nun Areala is unique in that it is a mainstream, albeit independent comic that approaches its subject matter with respect and takes its idea seriously.
Website Comicsutra states "That's what makes Warrior Nun Areala so special. At its core, it portrays people who have unshakable faith in God and their religion. ...Its affection for nuns is also evident—and sometimes returned. One real nun asked about Warrior Nun Areala noted that she and her colleagues give poor children college prep-level educations—that they are superheroes. Amen, sister." -- from Wikipedia
Like other Antarctic Press characters, action figures containing most of the chief characters in various colors and designs were made. However, in addition to the standard look, there was also an anime look based on a failed attempt by Ben Dunn and Antarctic Press to make a Warrior Nun Areala American anime in 1994. There were high hopes and would have been partially fan funded with contributors donating $125 in exchange for their names in the credits. However, that never panned out with the money necessary for Sunrise, the hoped for animation studio, to make the series being about $200,000. In 2001 another attempt was made by Darkain Arts though that too failed. The anime was never completed and only the opening credits are known to exist; they were created by the animators of the X-Men animated series. The opening credits can be seen on YouTube. -- from Wikipedia
Too bad the American anime concept never panned out at the opening animation looked pretty bad ass. The local comic book shop I used to frequent in my youth always had a ton of Warrior Nun Areala figures in there but I never was too familiar with the character so I didn't know what it was. The trailer for this looks interesting enough, even though it seems like the costumes and character designs have been "cleaned up" a bit. I hope this doesn't get hit with the same controversies that the comic book was hit with over the years. In either case, I'm looking forward to checking this out on July 2nd.
TRANSFORMERS: WAR FOR CYBERTRON TRILOGY: SIEGE begins in the final hours of the devastating civil war between the Autobots and Decepticons. The war that has torn apart their home planet of Cybertron is at a tipping point. Two leaders, Optimus Prime and Megatron, both want to save their world and unify their people, but only on their own terms. In an attempt to end the conflict, Megatron is forced to consider using the Allspark, the source of all life and power on Cybertron, to “reformat” the Autobots, thus “unifying” Cybertron. Outnumbered, outgunned, and under SIEGE, the battle-weary Autobots orchestrate a desperate series of counterstrikes on a mission that, if everything somehow goes right, will end with an unthinkable choice: kill their planet in order to save it.
Rooster Teeth (RWBY, gen:LOCK) is producing the Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy. FJ DeSanto (Transformers: Titans Return, Transformers: Power of the Primes) is the showrunner, and contributing writers will include George Krstic (Megas XLR), Gavin Hignight (Transformers: Cyberverse), and Brandon Easton (Agent Carter, Transformers: Rescue Bots).
Polygon Pictures is perhaps best known for the two Ajin television anime series and film trilogy, and the Godzilla: Kaijū Wakusei film trilogy. Its latest works include the Human Lost film and the ongoing Drifting Dragons series.
After playing both of the War For Cybertron video games, I wanted to see an animated series based on those events for a while now. I'm glad that someone is actually green-lighting this endeavor. The only thing that surprises me from this trailer is that they aren't relying on the old classic voice actors for these iconic characters and taking a chance at recasting them, much like Beast Wars Transformers instead of hanging onto the past.
The series was originally planned as a film, developed by producer Kevin Kolde and his company Project 51, and subsequently by Frederator Studios when Kolde joined the same company in 2005. Kolde had a contract for a script with writer Warren Ellis in 2007; the project entered development hell until about 2015, where it finally found a global home on Netflix. Animation studio Powerhouse Animation Studios joined the team and production commenced. Its art style is heavily influenced by that of Japanese anime and Ayami Kojima's artwork in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, with the production team including staff members who worked in the Japanese anime industry. The series premiered on the Netflix streaming service on July 7, 2017, and was renewed for an expanded second season of eight episodes on the same day; the second season premiered on October 26, 2018.
According to lead voice actor Richard Armitage, a third season has been greenlit by Netflix.
Premise:
When his wife is burned at the stake after being falsely accused of witchcraft, the vampire Count Vlad Dracula Țepeș declares all the people of Wallachia will pay with their lives. He summons an army of monsters and demons which overruns the country, causing the people to live lives of fear and distrust. To combat this, the outcast monster hunter Trevor Belmont takes up arms against Dracula's forces, aided by the magician Sypha Belnades and Dracula's dhampir son Alucard.
Voice Cast:
Richard Armitage as Trevor Belmont, the last living member of the Belmont clan, an excommunicated family of monster hunters. James Callis as Adrian Țepeș/Alucard, the dhampir son of Dracula and Lisa Țepeș, who seeks to protect humanity from his father. Graham McTavish as Vlad Dracula Țepeș, a vampire who swears vengeance on humanity for the death of his wife Lisa, summoning an army of monsters to destroy all the people of Wallachia.
Alejandra Reynoso as Sypha Belnades, a Speaker and the Elder's granddaughter who wields powerful magic. Tony Amendola as The Elder, the leader of a group of Speakers aiding the people of Gresit whom Trevor befriends. (season 1) Matt Frewer as The Bishop, a clergyman who orders the burning of Lisa Țepeș for witchcraft, later being named the bishop of Gresit before being killed by Dracula's demons and later reanimated by Hector to serve a role in Carmilla's agenda. (season 1 - 2) Emily Swallow as Lisa Țepeș, Dracula's beloved wife who is burned at the stake after being falsely accused of witchcraft. Theo James as Hector, a Devil Forgemaster called upon to serve Dracula in his war against humanity who with Isaac have turned against their own kind and are called upon to lead Dracula’s army against Wallachia. (season 2 - present) Adetokumboh M'Cormack as Isaac, the other Devil Forgemaster and partner of Hector, who helps to lead Dracula’s army. (season 2 - present) Jaime Murray as Carmilla, a scheming vampire mistress who joins Dracula in his war against humans, although her political machinations reveal questionable loyalties and cynicism towards his plans. (season 2 - present) Peter Stormare as Godbrand, a barbarian vampire warlord called upon to serve Dracula in the battle against Wallachia. (season 2)
Episode Summaries:
Season 1 (2017)
1 "Witchbottle"
In Wallachia in 1455, a young woman named Lisa who wishes to be a doctor seeks out Vlad Dracula Țepeș, a vampire with advanced scientific knowledge. Intrigued by her courage and ambition, Dracula agrees to teach her, while she in turn offers to help him reconnect with humanity. The two eventually fall in love and marry. Twenty years later (1475), in the town of Târgoviște, Lisa is burned at the stake after a Bishop discovers scientific equipment in her home and accuses her of witchcraft. Dracula is devastated and furious upon learning of his wife's death and declares the people have one year to make their peace, after which every human in Wallachia will die by his hand. His son Alucard tells him to instead go after the man responsible instead of all of humanity, but Dracula refuses to listen and attacks him. One year later, the Archbishop hosts a celebration in defiance of Dracula. As promised, Dracula kills the Archbishop, destroys the church and orders his demon army to kill every person left in Wallachia. As the army spreads across the land, the people place the blame on the kingdom's noble families, including the Belmonts.
2 "Necropolis"
Following an altercation at a pub, Trevor Belmont seeks food and respite in the city of Gresit, which has been besieged by Dracula's forces every night. As he passes through town, he learns that the townspeople blame a group of magic users known as the Speakers for Dracula's assault. He saves their Elder from a pair of corrupt priests, who brings him back to his home to meet his fellow Speakers. Trevor insists they leave the city for their own safety, but the Elder refuses, as his grandchild has gone missing after venturing into the catacombs below the city in search of the "sleeping soldier", a legendary hero who they believe can defeat Dracula. Begrudgingly, Trevor agrees to retrieve the missing grandchild.
3 "Labyrinth"
Any long-time Castlevania fan can tell you that Sypha's magical arts are the stuff of legends within Castlevania lore. Her spellcasting is more than a match for what both Trevor and Alucard bring to the table in combat.
Exploring the catacombs, Trevor realizes that they have been unusually constructed and contain devices matching old family descriptions of devices within Dracula's castle. Finding a stone statue in the visage of a Speaker, Trevor is attacked by a giant Cyclops. He defeats the creature, releasing its curse, and rescues the Elder's grandchild, Sypha Belnades. After returning Sypha to her grandfather, Trevor is summoned to the church by the local Bishop, revealed to be the same Bishop who ordered Lisa's execution. The Bishop orders Trevor to leave Gresit before sundown, as they plan to lead a mob to kill the Speakers, offering to spare Trevor and restore his family name in exchange. With the Speakers refusing to retreat, Trevor has them hidden in the Cyclops' chamber and takes on the priests leading the mob before escaping into the city.
4 "Monument"
One of the best sequences of the entire first season.
Night falls as Dracula's army descends upon Gresit, killing the Bishop. As Trevor continues his escape, Sypha appears to aid him, revealing herself as a powerful magic user. Trevor exposes the clergy's actions as the true reason for Dracula's invasion and assists the people in mounting a defense against the demons. During the battle, the floor crumbles beneath Trevor and Sypha and they fall deep into the submerged catacombs of the city. Making their way in deeper, they find the "sleeping soldier", revealed to be Alucard, who has spent a year healing from his last fight with Dracula. Trevor and Alucard engage in battle, but after seeing his and Sypha's resolve, Alucard relents and offers his aid, and the three prepare to challenge Dracula and end the conflict for good.
Season 2 (2018)
1 "War Council" October 26, 2018
In a flashback to January 1475 in the Wallachian village of Lupu, Dracula’s wife Lisa (Emily Swallow) is tending to an old woman, Mrs. Djuvara, and gives her medicine. Lisa's home is invaded by the Bishop (Matt Frewer) and his priests who accuse her of witchcraft after finding an advanced medical device in her laboratory. They plan to subject her to an inquisition and burn her home, ignoring her warnings that her husband will kill them all. Back to the present day, Dracula (Graham McTavish) assembles his war council of generals which includes six vampire overlords from different parts of the world including the viking Godbrand (Peter Stormare), and two human necromancers, Hector (Theo James) and Isaac (Adetokumboh M'Cormack), to whom he declares his war against humanity. Dracula then talks with the necromancers privately, which irritates Godbrand who believes Dracula should rely on his fellow vampires, not humans. Hector and Isaac thank Dracula for trusting them and Dracula assures them their status as humans is more advantageous to his council than the bloodthirsty generals. Elsewhere in Gresit, Sypha (Alejandra Reynoso) with Trevor Belmont (Richard Armitage) bids farewell to her grandfather and fellow Speakers in order to join Dracula’s son, Alucard, to save humanity from total extinction. Meanwhile, Alucard (James Callis) is seen at the Speakers’ former home reminiscing about his parents and his decision to forget his former identity as Adrian Tepes and embrace his new identity as Alucard and honor his mother by killing his father. At the castle, Godbrand talks to Hector in his necromancer forging room and airs his opinion that the war is being fought with no strategy apart from wanton destruction. He believes a war should have some order to it while Hector merely implies that Dracula simply wants all humans dead no matter the methods used. This still does not sit well with Godbrand. Dracula begins relocating the castle to a different location.
2 "Old Homes"
Trevor and Sypha reunite with Alucard and ask how to locate Dracula's castle when it can move from place to place. Trevor recommends revisiting his old family estate since the Belmont Hold underneath the ruins has a store of magical artefacts and information about monsters the Belmonts collected over generations. They leave Gresit immediately. At Dracula’s castle, the war hall is in shambles as the vampires question why they must follow orders from Hector and Isaac. The vampire mistress Carmilla (Jaime Murray) enters and takes her place among the council where she proceeds to criticise his approach to the war and even asks why Dracula never made Lisa a vampire, angering him greatly. The two talk in private where Carmilla explains she tried to give Dracula a chance to explain his decisions to his generals, though she appears to have ulterior motives. Alucard tells Trevor and Sypha the story of his parents and how his mother hoped to use Dracula's knowledge to help humanity, but with her death all his scientific knowledge is now lost and humans may soon cease to exist. Dracula’s creatures suddenly attack and are all slain except one flying demon which was only injured and escaped. At the castle, Isaac is seen whipping himself with a spiked belt while flashbacks show of his past being abused by his master until eventually he killed his master by piercing his eyes with his bare hands. Godbrand then arrives with the injured demon, now dead, in order to have Isaac extract information from the creature with his necromancy. At another assembly the generals argue whether to continue their attack on Arges or move the siege towards Braila at Carmilla's suggestion. Isaac informs everyone of his findings and concludes Alucard may have killed the demon and it is likely that a Belmont is with him. This urges Carmilla to tell Dracula to watch over the ancestral home of the Belmonts, since there could be secrets found their that could lead to their own elimination.
3 "Shadow Battles"
In a flashback, a young Hector resurrects a dog. In the present day, he continues to create night creatures. Carmilla tries to convince him to create creatures to send to the Belmont house and to encourage Dracula to next attack Braila. In another flashback scene, Hector reveals that Dracula found him in the east of Rhodes and he agreed to raise an army for him, though he asked for a humane cull of humans rather than a cruel genocide. Trevor, Sypha and Alucard travel to the ruined Belmont house and Trevor reveals details of his childhood and family history. They find the entrance to the extensive underground library and Sypha magically opens the door. Sypha is very impressed by the collection and Trevor is happy to have rediscovered ‘The Morning Star’ weapon, but Alucard is clearly unhappy about the ‘museum dedicated to the extermination of [his] people’. Back at Dracula’s castle, Godbrand expresses his dissatisfaction with the plan to exterminate the human race and Dracula responds with anger. Carmilla tells Godbrand that Dracula must take the castle to Braila and reveals how she killed the vampire who turned her after he became mad and cruel, saying that Dracula too has become mad and old.
4 "Broken Mast"
In a dream, Godbrand kills a number of fleeing soldiers, and he awakes wanting blood. When he is brought a live pig instead of human blood he comes to agree with Carmilla that Dracula is mad and something must be done to change his plans. At the Belmont library, Trevor discovers a magical mirror which allows them to see things far away. Trevor and Alucard continue to irritate each other. Carmilla continues to try to recruit Hector, criticizing Dracula for not turning Lisa into a vampire and casting aspersions on his sanity. She reveals to him that it is her intention to unseat Dracula if the castle is moved to Braila. In a flashback, Isaac recalls how Dracula saved his life and Dracula recruits him to create an army to end the human race. Back at the castle, Godbrand and the other vampire generals are fed up of living without human blood and set out on demonic horses to a nearby village. Dracula speaks to Isaac about the war hall turning against him and confesses he lied to Hector about his intent to exterminate all humans. The vampire generals terrorize and slaughter the population of the nearby village. At the Belmont library, Sypha and Trevor talk about Alucard and loneliness. As Isaac is whipping himself with a spiked belt, Godbrand appears and suggests that they should pursue the war without Dracula. Proving his loyalty, Isaac kills Godbrand by strangling him with his belt and stabbing him in the heart.
5 "Last Spell"
Isaac releases Godbrand’s ashes from the castle rooftop. Carmilla commands her troops to assemble at Braila. At the Belmont library, Alucard discusses his concerns about Trevor with Sypha and she points out that both of them are immature. Hector and Isaac go for a walk and Hector convinces Isaac to agree to attack Braila next. Hector feeds this back to Carmilla and informs her that the night creatures he made for her are nearly at the Belmont residence. Isaac talks to Dracula about Hector’s request for the move on Braila but asserts that there is no betrayal to be concerned about. Dracula reminisces about a time he enjoyed killing 40 merchants in Kronstadt who disrespected him, and notes that he is tired and no longer takes pleasure in the details of death. Carmilla and Hector go to Dracula and get him to agree to move the castle to Braila. Afterwards, Carmilla turns on Hector and reveals her real disdain for him and everyone else in the castle, but tells him that he is too implicated in her betrayal of Dracula to turn back on her plan now. At the Belmont library, Sypha discovers most of a locking spell that could be used to trap the castle in one place and says that she can complete it herself. The room starts to shake as Hector’s night creatures have arrived and try to break in.
6 "The River"
With great effort, Hector’s night creatures destroy the stone door to the underground library. Trevor fights off the demons whilst Alucard uses the distance mirror to search for Dracula’s castle and Sypha attempts to complete the spell. Alucard finds the castle in time to watch as Dracula moves it to Braila. In Braila, most of the vampire generals lead troops across the bridge to attack the town. Meanwhile, Carmilla and Hector leave the castle by another door and go down to the river with the Bishop, who Hector has reanimated, to make the Bishop bless the river. As Dracula’s army reaches the other side of the bridge, Carmilla’s troops reveal themselves and bring down the bridge, dropping many of Dracula’s soldiers into the now-holy water and destroying them. The remnants of Dracula’s army retreat to the castle whilst Carmilla’s soldiers cross the river on makeshift bridges. Hector is hesitant to go with Carmilla but she reminds him that he has betrayed Dracula and the two of them cross away from Dracula’s castle. Back at the library, Sypha finishes the spell just as Trevor is battling the final demon. Whilst Alucard focuses on the castle in the mirror, she starts to cast the spell to bring the castle to them. At the castle, battle between Carmilla’s and Dracula’s forces rages in the main hall. In the library, Trevor kills the last night creature just as Sypha starts to move the castle. In her struggle to move it, the castle jumps around Braila and lands in the river, sending holy water rushing into the hall and around the town, killing most of the soldiers, with Carmilla and Hector narrowly avoiding damage. Finally, she succeeds, and the castle moves to land above the Belmont underground library.
7 "For Love"
In the castle, fighting still rages. Sypha creates a large platform of ice to lift herself, Trevor, and Alucard out of the library to ground level now that the staircase has been destroyed by the night creatures. The three enter the castle and Dracula’s and Carmilla’s remaining forces turn to focus on them instead. Together, Trevor, Alucard, and Sypha defeat everyone in the hall and the remaining night creatures. Dracula retreats to his study with Isaac. Isaac professes that he will defend Dracula to the death to preserve his wisdom but Dracula, saying that Isaac is the best of his kind, refuses to let Isaac die for him and sends him through a magic mirror back to the desert he came from. Alucard, Trevor and Sypha arrive at the study and Alucard tells Dracula that the war must end. Each of them attacks Dracula but is initially overpowered by him. Angered by the use of the Morning Star whip, Dracula creates a large fireball, which Sypha, Trevor and Alucard fight to push back towards him. Together they manage to send him backwards through the wall into the next room, where Alucard and Dracula engage in hand-to-hand combat. The two are closely matched, rapidly moving around the castle, and Alucard asserts that Dracula wants him to win because Dracula has been wanting death since Lisa died. Eventually the two end in Alucard’s childhood room, and Dracula realizes that he has been trying to kill his son, saying that he must already be dead if he is trying to destroy Lisa’s greatest gift to him. No longer angry, he allows Alucard to stake him through the heart. Trevor arrives to cut off his head and Sypha burns the remains, leaving only his wedding ring undestroyed. Alucard is upset about having killed his father, but Trevor and Sypha reassure him it was the right thing to do, and the three walk out of the castle into the sunshine.
8 "End Times"
Alucard, Sypha and Trevor walk around the ruins of Dracula's castle. Alucard expresses the intention to make the castle his grave, but Trevor gives him the Belmont hold and encourages him to protect them and make something out of them. In the desert, Isaac is accosted by a group of strangers who talk about kidnapping him, selling him or eating him. He attacks and kills them, turning them into night creatures. Sypha talks to Trevor about continuing to fight and explore with him, saying that the war seems to have been good for him. Hector and Carmilla are still in Braila. Once the sun goes down, Carmilla says she will return to Styria, and then chains up and beats Hector with her few remaining soldiers. She tells him she will keep him as a pet so he can forge her an army as after Dracula's death there is a power vacuum in the vampire world that she wants to take advantage of. Trevor and Sypha bid farewell to Alucard and set off to find the Speakers. Alone in the castle, Alucard reflects on the family he no longer has, and sheds tears in his grief.
The Verdict:
I watched Season One back when it first release. Even though I thoroughly enjoyed it, that short length of a mere four episodes didn't justify me doing a review on it at that time. Now that the whole "trilogy" of sorts has come full circle with Season Two on this pseudo-adaptation of the events from Castlevania III, I felt the need to do a write-up of this. I'm no expert on the whole Castlevania timeline and lore in terms of what's canon or not canon anymore following Hideo Kojima's reimagining of those events with his Lords of Shadow prequel trilogy, but I thought that what Adi Shankar and his team did here was excellent work and served as an amazing adaptation to the classic Castlevania mythos.
Animation/Action
There's great fluid action to be found here and nostalgic anime fans can easily see the influences from Vampire Hunter D while fans of Castlevania video games can see influences from the series' older artwork and concept art, notably from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night if you look at Alucard's general design.
There's so much attention to detail that this series shows in regard to the source material of Castlevania lore, even though Adi Shankar and his team took some personal liberties with this adaptation. The instance that definitely stuck out to me was seeing Gaibon and Slogra attack Alucard, Trevor, and Sypha in tandem like they did when Alucard faced them as a boss in Symphony of the Night. There's so many great moments like that across both seasons of this series that any Castlevania fan would just eat all of this up. You don't even have to be a fan of Castlevania or even be knowledgeable of the video game's history either to enjoy some kick-ass demon slaying.
In terms of action, just watch this fight...
If that's not good enough there's plenty more great action in this series from the start to the finish, including that marvelous, yet stylish duel between Alucard and Trevor at the end of Season One. They definitely didn't pull any punches in that regard, nor for majority of the action in this series.
Narrative & Characters
I thought Dracula was fleshed out wonderfully throughout the course of both seasons. They didn't even have to drag this out. His fellow vampires and lieutenants even had sensible motivations, even though Carmilla's motivations seemed to be a bit of a detour from her usual demeanor in Castlevania lore. I couldn't think for the life of me where did Hector and Isaac come from until I went back to refresh myself on the Castlevania: Curse of Darkness stuff, but I didn't mind their characters in the least. It makes perfect sense to have necromancers in service to him to create him an army of undead soldiers. It matters not that those necromancers were human as long as they possessed the talents to get the job done.
Out of Dracula's lieutenants, Godbrand comes off as the most bland, generic, and cliched of the bunch within his armies. I was a little biased towards Carmilla since I was fan of her character in the older Castlevania games and even more so with her revision in the Lords of Shadow trilogy.
I thought both seasons did a great job with what we were given here. The first season was a retelling of how the Belmont family fell from the good graces of the people and how Trevor came to terms with honoring the legacy that his family has for slaying vampires and other various vampires for generations. The second season chronicles Dracula's continued downward spiral as he sought out vengeance for the murder of his human wife while simultaneously painting him more as a tragic figure than a mere cliched monster trope.
Watch it or Don't Bother?
Both seasons of this animated adaptation of Castlevania simply amazing and stunning to watch. I cannot recommend this enough to fans and newcomers alike. I want to say more about this series, but it's just that good. It sells itself if you've seen any of the trailers and teasers.
The success of Zarkon's defeat comes at a price: Shiro has vanished. With the ascension of the mysterious Prince Lotor and without a pilot for the black lion, the team must somehow find the strength to keep fighting. But how can they defend the universe without Voltron? Find out when all-new episodes of Voltron Legendary Defender come to Netflix, August 4.
I know what I'll be binge watching this weekend for sure. I haven't talked about Season 2 much on here, but I'm anxious to see how they follow up the disappearance of Shiro and the defeat of Zarkon after revealing that he was a former Paladin himself.
I meant to post this yesterday, but here it is this fine morning.
I think this looks great so far and they've axed all of my fears of this being a live-action series. Between Underworld, Twilight, and a few other noteworthy offenders, I think Hollywood has damaged vampires enough over the last few decades with live-action outings, so I'm glad this is actually an anime instead. The basis on Castlevania III will give them MORE than enough material to work with - ANY Castlevania fan can tell you that much. That was the jump off point where Hideo Kojima started with for his Lords of Shadow trilogy for inspiration. I'm anxious to see whether if they are going to stick to the source material or go with their own twists on these events that follow.
Either way, we're in for a short wait as the series is set to debut on July 7th.
A 2016 3D movie, based on the Cyborg 009 manga produced by Production I.G. and animated by OLM Digital and Signal MD and distributed by Toho, was released on November 25, 2016. The movie itself was divided into 3 parts, with Part 2 being released December 2, 2016 and Part 3 on December 9, 2016. Kenji Kamiyama was chief director of the project, and Kokai Kakimoto directed the film. Netflix acquired digital distribution rights to the movie, where the movie was shown first on Netflix Japan in Spring 2016, with other territories following later. The films, edited down into 12 episodes, were released worldwide on Netflix on February 10, 2017.
The Blessed, a group of people who possess superhuman powers and intellect, and have manipulated human history since ancient times. Their goals are unknown and they cast a dark shadow over the world.
Though few people believe in the Blessed's existence, one journalist named Lucy Davenport heads to Texas to contact a certain family, and she meets the cyborgs who escaped from the clutches of Black Ghost and have defended humanity from them and other threats. The cyborgs themselves have been freed from their duty of protecting humanity ever since the establishment of the UN Guardian troops, and they now live quiet lives of peace. However, Lucy's visit and the return of the Blessed draw Joe and the others once more unto the breach of a new battle.
The Verdict:
I know that I've mentioned Cyborg 009 a LOT for those who follow my regular discussions and themes on Facebook. So you know I was excited to hear that Cyborg 009 got a new anime. At first glance, I wasn't too crazy about the new look and character designs, but by the end of the 2nd or 3rd episode I was fine with the changes. This is still the same team of 00 Cyborgs that I loved from the 2001 anime.
004 is still my favorite out of the 00 Cyborgs, even though I'm not crazy about how "old" he looks here.
Sadly, there's some things that still plague this anime that existed in the 2001 series that annoyed me about the 00 Cyborgs. 003 is always treated as the damsel in distress, despite her superior reconnaissance abilities. She does get a pretty bad ass motorcycle towards the finale but doesn't do much with it. 008 is limited to being the Aquaman of the group - since he's only useful underwater, despite being one of the only 00 Cyborgs with actual combat experience prior to being abducted by Black Ghost and made into a Cyborg. 006 is still a walking Chinese (at least his design isn't as cringe-worthy as it was in previous iterations) stereotype. And last but not least, they make sure to let 009 win just about every battle they find themselves in. I get that he has better performance specs than the other 00 Cyborgs, but damn, that's so annoying that he's always the only one who can take down the major baddie. I tend to like their battles where it's more of a teamwork effort, like the Fantastic Four would do to combine their abilities in various effects to subdue whoever or whatever they find themselves against. Here, it just seemed like almost every fight was "OK let's stay alive long enough for 009 to figure out what to do to win." It was either that or waiting for 001 to teleport everyone to safety. Speaking of which, I did appreciate that they focused a bit more on 005's Native American beliefs and culture this time around and they finally shed some light on the truth about 001's powers.
In terms of adversaries, I thought the Blessed were something new and fresh and a nice departure from the mad scientists and renegade Cyborgs they always seem to find themselves up against. I just found the plot twist and the "betrayal(s)" far too predictable and obvious. If the rumors are true about this getting another season, I just hope they put more attention into the narrative for the next go-round.
In terms of the voice actors, I don't have any complaints as the new cast for this anime seemed more appropriate than the cast in the Vs. Devilman OVA movie did as they sound closer to the voices from the English dub of the 2001 Cyborg 009 anime. 009 sounds more mature - as would be expected from their experiences to this point and they axed the stereotypes to the voice characterizations from the other Cyborgs' nationalities.
Watch It or Don't Bother?
Get used to a lot of 009 hogging the spotlight...
This catered towards fans who have seen most of the 2001 Cyborg 009 anime or even the Cyborg 009 vs. Devilman OVA movie a while back that was on Netflix. There's some references to the RE:Cyborg 009 movie, but that was regarded as commercial failure by the creators AND the fans, so this is best understood if you have some prior knowledge to the team from the 2001 series, even though this is a small revamp of sorts in terms of design and modernization to their narrative after the Cyborg 009 manga and original anime creator passed away back in 1998.
I think newcomers could enjoy this if they only seen the vs. Devilman movie or new to this anime as there's a minor recap on their previous adventures. If you have Netflix, you should check that out first prior to watching this for you'll know what you're getting into, but it's essentially the same idea that this anime is known for - questioning the value and meaning of humanity. Is it the best thing in terms of anime that you can check out on Netflix? Not really, but definitely worth a watch if you're a fan of Cyborg 009 and can stomach the new visual style.
My only complaint with this anime is that it's over as quickly as it begins and there's still some tropes and themes that still plague this anime that existed in the original anime, despite this modern take on these characters that I mentioned above.
In terms of the ending, I think a lot of that is going to go over most fans' heads as there's a bit of the explanation lost in translation, but fine folks on reddit explained it well below. Mind you, this is major SPOILERS for the ending:
due to some translation errors the ending may seem a little off also you need to know about the actual Accelerator device in 009 Joe.
The accelerator device has no limits to its ability to wrap its user in a field of motion control, which can be used to manipulate the movement of space/time of the user. Its limit is that a human mind can't comprehend the environment, so a Cybernetic governor is needed to help the brain process which is called overclocking. Technically the accelerator would have no limits to how it manipulates the movement of space/time as long as the mind could comprehend what it was processing in the environment around it. 009 has on multiple occasion throughout the series as a whole broken this governing limited and moved beyond the speeds intended for accelerator.
what isn't clear because of translation issues is if Joe was always a blessed (my gut feeling says yes because he's broken the accelerator barrier 3 times before) or if what Linker theorized Joe evolved through his overclocked brain enhancements. This is disputed by 2 things, Ivan who said that 009 had always been that way and the fact they kept showing Joe's brain making connections already existing in his mind. regardless of which origin he is, Joe's mind reached a point where it could now process a world of physical movement laws beyond our understanding, in the end he can now manipulate movement of space and time beyond the realm of normal thought processes which allows him to move beyond space, time, or even existence as a whole.
What he gained and what Emperor could not copy was the ability to understand a level of existence beyond physical movement, Joe had been slowly evolving or unlocking this power for as Ivan put it, over 3000 years due to his usage of standard Accelerator. He is now able to move beyond existence and its law of time and space, which he used to move Emperor outside of existence where he will never age, never die, and never understand what, where, and how he exists.
The ending implied that 009 was able to also return and either saved 004 Heinrich and 002 Jet or 002 and 004 were saved by the other 009 cyborgs. I mean Ivan could technically locate and teleport 004 before he crashes into the sun, and we never really learned if 002 was killed fighting against Pyotr. 009 could easily just have learned to return from his infinite speed.
hope this helps in making that ending make a little more sense
Thanks to ThaBlackReaper on reddit for clearing that one up. I got the idea that 009 was possibly one of the Blessed like 001 was understood as he's surpassed what his Accelerator has been set to do several times throughout the course of the 2001 anime, so the fact that it could "evolve" to this stage doesn't really surprise me. I just hope that this means that the other 00 Cyborgs' powers can evolve as well or at least get performance upgrades to compensate for they won't fall behind in battle.
Stranger Things is an American supernatural horror-science fiction web television series created by the Duffer Brothers. It is written and directed by Matt and Ross Duffer and executive-produced by Shawn Levy. It stars Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Cara Buono, and Matthew Modine. The plot follows the disappearance of a young boy, and a telekinetic girl who helps his friends in their search, while the boy's older brother, mother, and the town police chief start their own investigations.
The show is set in the 1980s in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, and is an homage to '80s pop culture, inspired and aesthetically informed by the works of Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter, Stephen King, and George Lucas, among others.
The show was released on Netflix on July 15, 2016. It received critical acclaim for its characterization, pacing, atmosphere, acting, soundtrack, directing, writing, and homages to 1980s genre films. On August 31, 2016, Netflix renewed the series for a second season of nine episodes, to be released in 2017.
Noah Schnapp as Will Byers
Joe Keery as Steve Harrington Shannon Purser as Barbara "Barb" Holland Ross Partridge as Lonnie
Rob Morgan as Officer Powell
Randall P. Havens as Scott Clarke Aimee Mullins as Terry Yves
Premise:
On November 6, 1983 in the town of Hawkins, Indiana, 12-year-old Will Byers vanishes mysteriously. Will's frantic mother, Joyce, searches for him while Police Chief Jim Hopper launches his own investigation. Will's friends Dustin, Wheeler and Lucas discover a psychokinetic girl who claims to know Will's location. As they uncover the truth, a sinister government agency tries to cover it up, while a more insidious force lurks below the surface.
Episode List:
1 1 "Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers"
In 1983, in a US Department of Energy laboratory in the town of Hawkins, Indiana, a scientist is attacked by an unseen creature. 12-year-old Will Byers vanishes after encountering the creature while riding his bicycle home from a Dungeons & Dragons session with his friends. The next day, a young girl with a shaved head, wearing a hospital gown, steals food from a local diner. The owner, Benny (Chris Sullivan), takes pity on her and feeds her before calling social services. A woman posing as a social worker arrives and shoots Benny. Armed men search the diner for the girl, but she escapes. Joyce, Will's mother, believes she hears Will's voice on a distorted phone call, but her phone short circuits. Will's friends Lucas, Mike, and Dustin find the girl in the woods as they search for Will.
2 2 "Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street"
The boys learn the girl's name is Eleven, which is tattooed on her arm; they nickname her "El". Scientists from the laboratory find a substance oozing from the walls of Joyce's home. At Mike's home, El recognizes Will in a photo. She uses psychokinesis to lock the door and prevent Dustin and Lucas from informing Mike's parents about her. Searching for Will, Hopper discovers a torn piece of El's hospital gown outside the laboratory grounds. Nancy goes with her friend Barb to a party at her boyfriend Steve's house. Will's brother, Jonathan, investigates his disappearance, photographing the woods where Will went missing. Hearing screaming, he runs and sees Steve, Nancy, and their friends in Steve's swimming pool, and he photographs them. Barb vanishes from the poolside. Joyce receives another call from Will, hears music from his room, and sees something coming through the wall.
3 3 "Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly"
Barb wakes up in an empty pool near a dark creature. She tries to climb out in vain, but is dragged down. Joyce strings Christmas lights around her home, establishing communication with Will, who can turn them on and off. Hopper and his deputies research Dr. Martin Brenner, the laboratory, and a woman named Terry Yves who claimed her daughter was taken by scientists. El has a flashback in which Brenner, whom she calls "Papa", has her put in solitary confinement for refusing to telekinetically harm a cat. Nancy worries about Barb, who is missing. Steve and his friends discover Jonathan's photographs and destroy them along with his camera, but Nancy notices a photo of Barb before she disappeared and returns to Steve's house to search for her. Nancy finds Barb's car and sees the creature in the woods. Joyce establishes a code with Will using the lights, which he uses to tell her that he is alive but unsafe. He tells Joyce to run as a creature begins to climb through her wall. Will's body is discovered in the water at a quarry.
4 4 "Chapter Four: The Body"
El proves to the boys that Will is still alive by making contact through Mike's walkie-talkie. Using their science teacher Mr. Clarke's powerful ham radio to contact Will, El and the boys overhear Will talking to his mother, saying he is afraid. Simultaneously, Joyce hears him through her living room wall and tears the wallpaper, revealing a flesh-like substance with Will on the other side. She breaks the wall with an axe, but this opens only to her front porch. Examining Jonathan's photo of Barb, Nancy realizes the monster is also visible. Jonathan realizes that Nancy's description of the creature matches his mother's: a humanoid figure with long arms and no face. Hopper confronts the state trooper who found Will's body. Suspicious, Hopper goes to the morgue, cuts open Will's body, and discovers it is a dummy. He heads to the laboratory and breaks in.
5 5 "Chapter Five: The Flea and the Acrobat"
Will's father Lonnie assures Joyce that her experiences are hallucinations. The boys conclude that Will is trapped in an alternative dimension which El calls the Upside-Down: the same place but on another level of existence. Hopper infiltrates the Hawkins National Lab and discovers the portal. He pursues the creature but is knocked out by suited guards. He wakes up in his own home and finds it bugged. After Will's funeral, the boys ask Mr. Clarke about dimensions, who he tells them that a spacetime tear could create a passage between dimensions. The deputies inform Hopper that Barb's car was found by the state; Hopper finds the state's involvement suspicious. Positing that a tear in spacetime would disrupt the electromagnetic field, the boys follow their compasses to find the source of the disruption. El remembers being placed in a sensory-deprivation tank to telepathically intercept information from a Russian spy; while listening to the spy, she came across the creature. Scared of finding the gate, El directs the compasses away from the laboratory. Lucas notices the distortion and confronts her. Mike defends her, and he and Lucas fight. El telekinetically flings Lucas off Mike; Lucas recovers and runs away. In the woods, Nancy and Jonathan find a wounded deer, which the creature drags away. Following the blood trail, Nancy crawls through a passage to the Upside-Down world and discovers the creature feasting upon the deer.
6 6 "Chapter Six: The Monster"
Jonathan pulls Nancy through the portal, saving her from the creature. In her bedroom, she is afraid to be alone and asks Jonathan to stay. Steve sees them together through her bedroom window. The next day, Nancy and Jonathan resolve to kill the monster and purchase supplies from an army surplus store. After a fist fight with Steve, Jonathan is arrested after he inadvertently assaults an officer. Joyce and Hopper decide to investigate together after Hopper discovers his home has been bugged. They track down Terry Yves; she is El's biological mother, who underwent MKUltra training while pregnant. Jane, now known as "011", was taken by Brenner. El shoplifts frozen waffles and recalls how she accidentally opened the gate to the Upside-Down on a reconnaissance mission, allowing the monster through. While searching for El, Mike and Dustin are ambushed by Troy and his bully friend; Troy holds Dustin at knifepoint and demands that Mike jump off the cliff into the lake where Will's body was discovered, which will likely kill him. Mike jumps but is levitated to safety by El. Lucas sees agents leaving the laboratory and realizes they are heading to Mike's house to capture El.
7 7 "Chapter Seven: The Bathtub"
Lucas warns Mike via walkie-talkie that government agents are en route. Mike, Dustin, and El flee the house and narrowly escape with Lucas; El telekinetically flips a van that blocks their path. At their junkyard base, Lucas reconciles with Mike and El. Joyce and Hopper are called to the police station, where they find Nancy with Jonathan, and Jonathan reveals his knowledge about the creature to his mother and Hopper. The group contacts Mike and his friends, and they rendezvous with him at the junkyard, formulating a plan to make a sensory-deprivation tank to amplify El's powers so she can search for Will and Barb. They break into the middle school and construct the tank in the gym. With Joyce's help, El successfully enters the Upside-Down to find Barbara dead and Will alive, hiding in the Upside-Down "Castle Byers", his makeshift fort. Hopper and Joyce attempt to break into Hawkins Laboratory to save Will, but are apprehended by security guards. Nancy and Jonathan resolve to kill the monster, and steal their hunting gear back from the police station. In the Upside-Down, the monster breaks into the fort where Will is hiding.
8 8 "Chapter Eight: The Upside Down"
Interrogated by Brenner, Hopper gives up El's location in exchange for neutrality and access to the gate. He and Joyce enter in Hazmat suits and discover the creature's nest, where they find Will unconscious with a slug-like creature in his esophagus. Nancy and Jonathan booby-trap the Byers' home, then cut their hands to attract the creature with their blood. Steve arrives, intending to apologize to Jonathan about their fight. The monster attacks and Steve traps it, but it escapes back to the Upside-Down. In the middle school, where El and the boys are hiding, Mike asks El to a school dance, then kisses her. Agents storm the school, but El crushes their brains. As Brenner recovers the weakened El, the monster enters and begins to attack Brenner. The boys escape with El and hide in a room, until the monster finds and tries to attack them. El pins it against a wall, says goodbye to Mike, and both vanish. Will is hospitalized and reunited with his mother, brother, and friends. Hopper is reluctantly picked up by a black car. One month later, Nancy has gotten back together with Steve, and both are friends with Jonathan. Hopper leaves Eggos in a box in the woods. In the bathroom of his home, Will coughs up a slug-like creature, briefly sees the world like the Upside-Down, and returns to dinner.
The Verdict:
After hearing people on social media that I know rave about it so much, I took the plunge to check this out a few months ago. I didn't tell anyone that I was watching this as people I know personally have a knack for spoiling something they've seen before me, even more so for television shows that are "trendy" or heavily popular - hence why you don't see me watching nor covering shows like Empire, Game of Thrones, nor The Walking Dead.
Let's go ahead and get this out of the way now, but the biggest spoiler/reference in this show was the kids mentioning X-Men #134 on the first two episodes. I'm sure that reference along with a lot of the more nerdier things referenced by the kids will go completely over most viewers' heads but for me, it kinda spoiled a few things ahead of time as I saw them coming from that one comic book the kids mentioned, much like the foreshadowing from Will being taken by the demogorgon in the game of Dungeons & Dragons they played before Will is abducted by the monster.
X-Men 134 is in the middle of the Phoenix Saga, specifically the one where Dark Phoenix first appears. The Phoenix Saga is one of the most famous X-Men stories, where Jean Grey, a telepathic mutant, learns to fully unlock her powers and becomes the Phoenix, and then the Dark Phoenix. The panel where she becomes the Dark Phoenix is one of the more famous in all of X-Men.
But that's not all! In the book the Dark Phoenix is accidentally unleashed by the Mastermind who is tinkering around in Jean's brain trying to unlock the full potential of her powers. This is comparable to Brenner pushing Eleven to go poke the monster and then tearing a dimensional wall by accident, letting the monster into our universe. Furthermore, in the comic there is a scene where Jean/Phoenix uses her mental powers to pin Mastermind to the wall, and then unloads on him with the full force of her mind putting him into a coma. Sound familiar? That's how El defeats the monster in the school. Pinning it to the wall and deciding to make it so he can't hurt anyone anymore.
It's a cool reference/homage, and furthers the idea that the Duffy Brothers really did put good care and attention into the references they make beyond just "hey, that's totally 80s!" -- via reddit
The folks on reddit explained that better and possibly less long-winded than I would have but you get the point. The Duffy Brothers blew me away with a compact and concise story that keep me engaged and interested for the duration of all eight episodes. That's not an easy task either as most shows have bullshit filler or other nonsense to extend their airtime and fulfill their episodes per season order but the Duffy Brothers kept it simple and straight to the point.
Outside of Will's mom and Hopper, most of the parents in this show are oblivious to everything - another joke that anyone born after the mid-90's won't understand in this show. That's another thing I have to applaud the Duffy Brothers for. There's so much charm and nostalgia from the American 80's culture all over this show and it was all in good taste. They didn't do like most nostalgic properties do where they reference "popular" pop culture tidbits in the sake of being "cool", "edgy", and "hipster". No, anything and everything that was referenced here tied to the overall plot and contributed to the narrative in some shape or form, whether it was foreshadowing or adding to character development.
If I had to knock this show for anything it's that the Upside-Down is almost a complete ripoff of Silent Hill in terms of visual presentation, especially if you've seen how the two live-action adaptations of that video game. Y'know the decent one and the not-so-good sequel. The fog atmosphere effect is almost a spot on match for the "ash" and fog of darkness from Silent Hill. The "monster" even borrowed a few visual cues from that universe, which showed a lack of imagination on the Duffy Brothers' behalf in that department. When they finally showed what it looked like without the aura of mystery of the Upside-Down, that was ultimately the biggest letdown the entire season for me. Then again, most of these horror movies/shows have that moment so I can't really fault them at that. They did a great job of making viewers crave that anticipation of seeing what horrors lay wait in the Upside-Down and kept viewers hooked from start to finish.
As for the ending, I'm guessing that in the next season El comes back with more mastery over her powers and is established as an impromptu guardian between our reality and the Upside-Down while Will finds himself in peril again as he has been somehow "infected" by the demagorgon and is slowly becoming one himself. I would like to imagine that the Duffy Brothers will shed light on how those creatures come to existence and the whole connection to the slug-like creatures and what-not.
Watch It or Don't Bother?
If you're looking for a quick weekend binge or simply have about roughly eight hours to kill, this is a definitely worth a look. You're going to hear me point this out about more Netflix shows, but goddamn an eight episode season is worth it for these hour long seasons for shows like this. Short, sweet and straight to the point without dragging on just to fulfill the show order by the cable networks.
Voltron: Legendary Defender is an American animated television series produced by DreamWorks Animation Television and World Events Productions and animated by Studio Mir. It is a reboot of the 1984 Voltron series, and its animation is a mix of anime influence for characters and background and CGI for Voltron action sequences. The series premiered on Netflix on June 10, 2016 and consisted of 13 episodes.
Summary:
For millennia, the evil Galra Empire has plagued the universe by conquering planets and destroying their inhabitants. The only known threat to the empire's power and plans, is the legendary "Defender of the Universe" Voltron, a 100 meter tall robot warrior composed of five lion mechas whose whereabouts are presumed to be unknown. In truth, Voltron was separated by King Alfor of Altea in order to protect the Defender from falling into the Galran Emperor Zarkon's possession. At the crux of the war that ended with the destruction of planet Altea, King Alfor bonded the five lion's energies to his daughter Allura's life force, and then sent them across the universe to different locations until the time for the next generation of Paladins to appear and pilot Voltron arrived. Princess Allura, her retainer Coran, and the Altean Castle were hidden on planet Arus along with the Black Lion. In the present, the Galra Empire's path of conquest and search for Voltron has led them to Earth's solar system. A group of space pilots-Shiro, Keith, Lance, Pidge, and Hunk-discover the Blue Lion and immediately get swept up into the Galran War. They meet Princess Allura, become the next Paladins, and reunite the five lions to form Voltron and combat Emperor Zarkon's nefarious schemes and ultimately defeat the entire Galra Empire.
Totally digging the new designs, even though I had to get used to Coran and Allura's new looks.
One small thing I love about the updated Lion designs is the fact that it makes perfect sense to make Black Lion bigger than
the other four Lions since the others connect to that one. You can also notice that Green and Red Lions are the smallest
since they are Voltron's arms while Blue and Yellow Lions are the second largest since they are the legs. It used to drive me
crazy that they were ALL the same size in the original 1984 cartoon.
1–3 "The Rise of Voltron"
During a mission to Kerberos, one of Pluto's moons, an expedition team is attacked and imprisoned by a hostile alien craft from the Galra Empire while Galaxy Garrison - Earth's primary institution for space exploration- has presumed them dead. One year later on Earth, three Garrison cadets Lance, Pidge and Hunk witness a vessel crash land and learn that it contains one of the missing team members, Shiro, who is been quarantined after escaping from the Galra. As they form a rescue plan, Keith - a talented, but reckless academy washout- arrives and rescues Shiro before them and the five escape into the desert. Shiro is unable to remember anything from his captivity, but the group are able to determine that the Galra are searching for a weapon known as "Voltron". They find a large robotic blue lion in the desert and learn that it is only one of five lions that form Voltron. The Blue Lion accepts Lance as its pilot and takes the five through a wormhole to the Castle of Lions on Arus, where they find Princess Allura, her royal advisor Coran and four space mice in cryostasis. Upon awakening, Allura is shocked to discover that 10,000 years have passed since they were placed in cryostasis. Haggar, advisor of Zarkon, leader of the Galra Empire, sense Allura's return and Zarkon sends Galra troops commanded by Sendak after them. Allura names the others as Voltron Paladins, bestows them with armor and bayards (the Paladins' weapons) and tasks them with finding the other lions. Lance and Hunk retrieve the Yellow Lion while Shiro accompanies Pidge to find the Green Lion. The Red Lion, unfortunately, is in the hands of the very Galra ship advancing on Arus. Unsure of whether to run or fight, Allura consults the artificial intelligence formed by the memories of her father, King Alfor, who admits he was wrong to hide Voltron and encourages her to fight. Keith, Shiro and Pidge infiltrate the ship so Keith can find the Red Lion while Shiro and Pidge, who repurposes a Galra drone dubbed "Rover", search the ship for prisoners, revealing to Shiro that his father and brother were the other missing astronauts from the Kerberos mission Shiro was on. With all four lions retrieved, the Black Lion is released from the Castle and selects Shiro as its Paladin. All five lions unite to form Voltron and destroy Sendak's ship before accepting their new roles as the Defenders of the Universe.
4 "Some Assembly Required"
When the Paladins are unable to form Voltron during a training session, Coran puts them through his own rigorous training in order to build a sense of brotherhood and trust between the Paladins. However, the Paladins fail miserably and are unable to connect. It is not until the Paladins engage in a food fight with Allura and Coran that they finally begin to work as a team and are successfully able to form Voltron.
5 "Return of the Gladiator"
As the Castle of Lions continues to prepare for departure, the team is met by the arrival of a local Arusian investigating the castle. Allura heads to meet the villagers along with Coran, Hunk, Keith and Lance while Pidge and Shiro tend to the rescued prisoners from the Galra battleship. From them, they learn that Shiro was a champion fighter in the gladiator ring that he and Pidge's brother, Matt were forced to fight in and that Shiro seemingly attacked Matt in bloodlust. Pidge and Shiro head to the crashed Galra battleship they had destroyed to retrieve prisoner logs, but are interrupted by the arrival of a Robeast created by Haggar to defeat Voltron. During the fight, Shiro remembers the Robeast as the Galra warrior he defeated in battle and is able to use his previous tactics to defeat it. Keith uses his bayard to form the Blazing Sword, allowing Voltron to deliver the finishing blow. Afterwards, Shiro reveals to Pidge that he remembered attacking Matt so that he wouldn't be forced to fight and instead be sent to a work camp with his father. Pidge apologizes for doubting Shiro, who tells him that his family would be proud of him before calling Pidge "Katie" and promising to keep his secret. With the defeat of the Robeast, Zarkon tasks Sendak, still alive and on Arus, with acquiring Voltron.
6 "The Fall of the Castle of Lions"
The team and Arusians celebrate Voltron's victory in the castle, but the festivities come to a halt when Pidge reveals his intentions to leave the team and search for his missing father and brother. As the team tries to convince Pidge to stay, Haxus, one of Sendak's soldiers, is able to sneak a bomb drone into the castle, causing it to destroy the crystal that powers the entire castle and severely injure Lance in the process. Coran and Hunk leave to acquire a new crystal, Keith and Allura rush to the Arusian village as it is being attacked by the Galra while Shiro and Pidge remain at the castle with Lance. However, Sendak attacks and overpowers Shiro before plugging a Galran crystal into the castle, the attack on the Arusian village being a distraction. However, Pidge evades capture and with Allura's guidance is able to sabotage the Galra's efforts to launch the Castle. Meanwhile, Hunk and Coran arrive at a nearby Balmera, a large petrified creature the size of a planet from which the Alteans acquire crystals. However, they discover that it has been taken over by the Galra and crash in the subterranean mines.
7 "Tears of the Balmera"
Hunk and Coran meet local Balmerans, Shay and Rax, who help them hide from the Galra. Shay admires the two and wants to help them, but Rax is cautious and insists they leave. Hunk and Coran are able to sneak past the Galra to find a crystal, but are captured and imprisoned. Shay helps them escape with the crystal, but is captured by the Galra after her brother informs them of Shay's actions. Hunk promises to return and save her people before he and Coran return to Arus. Still trapped outside the castle, Keith and Allura are unable to help Pidge take back the Castle. With Allura's guidance, Pidge is able to continuously sabotage the Castle's systems to further delay Sendak's take off. In flashback, Katie Holt watches the news in horror as she learns of her father and brother's apparent demise on the mission to Kerberos. Katie breaks into the Galaxy Garrison and accesses Commander Iverson's files of the mission. When she is caught by Iverson, she presses him about the crash despite probes showing no evidence one but Iverson reprimands her and bans her from ever entering the Garrison again. Some time later, Katie enrolls in the Garrison, but cuts her hair and wears glasses, passing herself off as a male student named Pidge Gunderson. The space mice are able to take down the particle barrier, allowing Allura and Keith to enter the Castle and help Pidge against Sendak. With Lance in recovery and Sendak imprisoned, Pidge decides to remain on the team.
8 "Taking Flight"
On the way to the Balmera, the team stops to help two rebels, Rolo and Nyma, on the run from the Galra. While the others are open and trusting to the pair, Hunk is cautious and guarded and eager to get to Balmera as soon as possible. Lance flirts with Nyma, who convinces him to take her for a ride in the Blue Lion, but once they are alone, Nyma ties Lance to a tree while she and Rolo take off with his Blue Lion. The other Paladins pursue them into an asteroid field and Keith is able to flush them out and they reclaim the Blue Lion. Rolo and Nyma are left stranded once more, but Rolo expresses gratitude for the Paladins sparing their lives and genuinely hopes that they can defeat Zarkon.
9 "Return to the Balmera"
Allura, Coran and the Paladins return to the Balmera to free the natives, but must hold back their firepower so as not to hurt the Balmera. Shiro and Pidge scout for Galran forces, who are strangely absent, while Lance and Keith work to disable a Galran fleet of ships. Hunk searches for the prisons and is able to find Shay's family, including her brother Rax, but learns that she was taken by the Galra to the heart of the Balmera after they arrived. The Paladins make their way to the Balmera's core to rescue her, but fall into a trap. Shay uses the Balmera to transmit a message to her family, who are able to free them with the Balmera's help. The Paladins form Voltron and are able destroy the Galran fleet, but their victory is short-lived by the arrival of another Robeast.
10 "Rebirth"
The Paladins scramble to battle the new Robeast, who's omni-directional view and multi-firing ability make it difficult for Voltron to counter, forcing them to retreat to the tunnels below and regroup. However, they learn that the Balmera is dying and unless they leave, everything on the Balmera will die as well. Though the Balmerans are reluctant to leave their home, Allura convinces them to flee to safety. The Paladins distract the Robeast while the Balmerans climb to the surface to escape on the Castle-ship. However, the Balmera's waning life force causes structural damage to the tunnels, leaving many of the Balmerans trapped. Unable to fully evacuate, Allura decides to perform an ancient ritual once performed by her people to rejuvenate the Balmeran. Hunk's bayard forms a large shoulder cannon for Voltron, granting the Paladins equal fire power against the Robeast, but they are still unable to defeat it. With help from the Balmerans, Allura's ritual is able to revive the Balmera, which defeats the Robeast by encasing it in crystal.
11 "Crystal Venom"
As Allura recovers, she spends her time enjoying the company of her father's artificial intelligence. With Sendak in custody, they decide to draw out his memories in order to learn information about Zarkon and the Galra empire. While waiting, the Castle begins displaying strange behavior: Hunk and Pidge are attacked by malfunctioning kitchen equipment and later stuck in zero-G, Lance is locked in a cryo chamber and later almost sucked out of an air lock while Keith is attacked by a rogue training droid. Shiro monitors Sendak and begins interrogating him, but is mentally tormented by Sendak's voice prompting him to eject Sendak into space. Coran concludes that Alfor's AI has been corrupted by the lingering effects of the Galran crystal as they try to stop Allura, convinced that Alfor is taking her back to Altea, from driving the Castle-ship into an imploding star. At the urging of the real Alfor, Allura tearfully destroys her father's memories in order to save the ship. Despite the loss, Allura stands strong and maintains that Voltron is her father's legacy.
12 "Collection and Extraction"
While combing through Sendak's memories, the team discovers the location of a secret Galran transport hub. Allura joins the Paladins in infiltrating the station in order to extract information, but find nothing useful. When another ship arrives, Allura decides to infiltrate the ship herself to extract its information by making use of her Altean ability to change her skin color and height, allowing her to resemble a Galran soldier. Shiro accompanies her, unwilling to let her go alone as well as needing his hand to access Galran technology. While waiting, the Paladins spot one of the Druids with two large containers of yellow fluid. Keith pursues them and Coran discovers that the Galrans have found a new way to harvest Quintessence, a form of fuel that has also allowed Zarkon to live 10,000 years. Keith is discovered and battles the druid, but is injured by the druid's lightning only to be healed by the yellow fluid before escaping in Pidge's Green Lion. Shiro and Allura are also discovered and flee to the escape pods, but Allura sacrifices herself to allow Shiro to escape and she is captured by the Galra.
13 "The Black Paladin"
With Allura's capture, the Paladins are quick to mount a rescue mission. When they arrive, Zarkon activates a particle barrier, trapping them inside. Voltron is quick to destroy most of the Galran forces, but are forcibly separated somehow by Zarkon and Haggar. The Paladins scramble to rescue Allura while Shiro is suddenly ejected from the Black Lion. As he tries to get back to his lion, he encounters Haggar and is easily overwhelmed by her powers, only to be rescued by Allura and Hunk. Zarkon moves to claim the Black Lion, revealing himself as the original Black Paladin of Voltron, but Keith intercepts and battles him, against Coran's advice. Zarkon easily overpowers Keith's Red Lion with his mastery over the black bayard, being able to form a multitude of different weapons in an instant. Before Zarkon can kill Keith, Shiro rescues him with the Black Lion. The Castle-ship is unable to form a wormhole to escape, until suddenly one of Zarkon's commanders destroys the sentries guarding the barrier generator and shuts it down. As they escape through a wormhole, Haggar hits it with her lightning, causing the portal to become unstable. The lions are separated from the Castle-ship in the wormhole, each of them falling to parts unknown.
The Verdict:
Netflix released all 13 episodes on June 10, 2016 and I honestly totally forgot about it until a friend reminded me over the past weekend. The first season is technically 10 episodes because the first episode is the length of roughly three episodes rolled up in one.
While I love the updated visuals and reworked designs for the classic tried and true Voltron formula, I have to admit that my biggest issue with this series is how it's titled Voltron, but it's more about the pilots than actually the legend of Voltron itself. Granted, that's not really a bad thing considering in the original Voltron anime, 90% of the plots revolved around a Power Rangers style formula of the Space Explorers/Voltron Force pilots sitting around the castle on Planet Aris until one of Witch Haggar's Robeasts show up. At least we're getting a lot more character development here in this series.
That being said, I felt they rushed a few developments at the cost of less screen time for the Lions and Voltron. The revelation that Pidge was really a girl (Katie Holt) was reminiscent of plot twist used to fool Prince Lotor in the original anime when the pilots were captured and forced to give up their Lions to save Pidge's home planet being held hostage. I don't know what they are planning with Shiro but it seems like they are going to combine both the English and Japanese storylines for Sven Holgersson in the original GoLion Voltron anime. I loved the plot twist where Zarkon was revealed to be a fallen Paladin and proved to be just as formidable without a Lion than with one. It reminded me of the dynamic when Team Dai Gurren fought the Spiral King in the Gurren Lagann anime. It was a nice touch that Haggar the Witch isn't a one trick pony in this iteration as well. I'm looking forward to seeing more from those two as the titular villains moving forward.
For those old enough to remember, but this was Coran's response to how to deal with Allura when she wanted to be a Paladin in the original Voltron anime...
I think the biggest takeaway from this reboot or rather re-imagining of the Voltron lore is that Princess Allura is nowhere from being the damsel in distress cliche that she was in the original continuity to the point that it was pathetic, regardless of the fact she ended up being one of the pilots of the Voltron Lions. I can't be too surprised when Avatar and especially Korra sported multiple strong female characters.
For the most part, I thoroughly enjoyed this reboot of the Voltron lore, even though it screams the same wit and humor that Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra are known for. I guess that's their niche for their works since it's the same studio behind this reboot. At the same time, I guess everyone would be happy for a fresh take on Voltron after that mess Nickelodeon put out there called Voltron Force that pretty much bastardized the original lore to the point it can't be salvaged.
Season Two was recently confirmed and I hope they listen to the critiques of this first season. They sacrificed a lot of action in favor of establishing and laying the ground work for a lot of character development that could have been saved for later down the road. You would have thought that they would have learned from the response from Korra and Avatar that the show thrived more when they had a perfect balance of action, character development, and comedy. Season One had a bit too much of one and not much of the other and I hope they change that with the next season.
Watch It or Don't Bother?
Watch it for sure, but don't go into this series thinking that this is the same Voltron that you grew up with from 80's. This is a different creature entirely - and that not necessarily a bad thing. In this case, change is a good thing. I'm sure there's more fans like myself glad to see Voltron revived for a new generation of audiences in a proper fashion. The season leaves a LOT of questions unanswered but I hope the wait for the second season isn't that far away.
