The Voltron franchise was born in the 1980s, based off an anime for American audiences. While the animation left a lot to be desired and I mean a lot, but the concept wasn’t half bad. A team working together to pilot a giant alien robot man to defeat evil? I can get behind that. Bought out by DreamWorks Animation, the show had a reboot with the first season airing

I was introduced to the Netflix show at Rose City Comic Con, RCCC, and to my dismay saw a poster with a random cast of characters in Sailor Moon costumes. Yes, I know. I did a quadruple take, and kept wandering through the art gallery, feeling perturbed. When I saw the same cast of characters in a different piece of art (with what I would soon discover to be their actual character design), I was curious. Was it a web comic? Some cult classic comic? What was this bizarre phenomenon? Was it merely another mecha anime I wasn’t interested in?

I didn’t think much of it until a week or so later, scrolling through Netflix for something to occupy my time while I did homework. My cursor fell across Voltron: Legendary Defender.

Please, for the love of this show, don’t watch the trailer. It’s hilariously epic, though probably not a super great representation of the show. Okay, I’m probably overly picky, but I’ve watched my way through quite a few children’s TV shows, and it’s too much video editing to be taken seriously.

If I gave you my description, I would tell you to think along the lines of “magic robot space lions which turn into Optimus Prime kicking 10,000-year-old empire of evil’s backside.” I understand this may not suffice as motivation to watch for the animated television fans, so IMDb summarizes, “Five Earth teens - Keith, Lance, Hunk, Pidge and Shiro - who become the last line of defense for the galaxy in an intergalactic battle against the evil alien force led by King Zarkon.”

I am a huge fan of shows demonstrating important values; teamwork, friendship, fighting evil for the good of all, and nothing illustrates it clearer than animated shows for children. As a consistent viewer of franchises that have come and gone, (probably starting with Danny Phantom) there have been more than enough poorly written, executed, or even animated shows to give their intended audience brain damage and poor representations of correct behavior. Or, the show makes absolutely no attempt to engage with the watcher, merely entertain. Voltron, although engaging in a form of violence (conveniently placed robots make some of the action sequences palatable for more sensitive viewers) but as an adult going in to watch, provides some great insight into the human psyche in an easily palatable context. Plus, it’s in space! It’s a space adventure with comradery! Not only do the five humans have to learn how to work together, they each bring their own personal baggage into the dynamic, and they must learn to relate to each other while fighting off an empire which has lasted 10,000 years without any competition.

Enough fangirling, let’s look at why this show is so great. First off, the production team spared us the agony of filler episodes. Despite the movie-length pilot episode (considering the show, saying “pilot” gets a rough chuckle out of me every time), each episode is filled with just the right amount of plot, humor, and food for thought comprehensible by adults and children. The human cast is diverse—each character is a different ethnicity, which reinforces the theme of united humanity in the face of adversity. The problems they face while occasionally painted in a more humorous light are realistic to the scenarios, making a believable story enjoyable.

If you’re a fan of animated shows, I highly recommend giving this a go. Especially if you’re a fan of space adventures, friendship, and good animation.