I'm a 33 year old viewer who grew up on the original Voltron.
When I started watching this, I cringed at the horrible opening theme (which I still think needs to go), the new voice actors and the questionable animation style.
Then it grew on me -- a lot. The storyline is very faithful to the original, and you can tell the writers have a lot of love and respect for its roots. One of the great aspects of this sequel arc is how it answers all the geeky questions my generation had about Voltron when they were growing up. There was an episode based entirely on the fact that Voltron takes so flippin' long to form. Another one had a semi-psychotic Voltron geek who collected Voltron "toys", which included Sven's (!) original suit. Followed quickly by an episode where Sven himself returns, which has a nod to the original series when Hunk goes, "Who's flyin' blue lion?" If that's not enough, Voltron now has the ability to temporarily switch centers so any of the five lions can form the head (though to be fair, Pidge's green center looks a little ridiculous), complete with their own unique weapons. The eight-year-old in me totally came back to life here.
As for the cadets. They grated on me at first, and I'm still not happy about them gradually replacing the original pilots, but their personalities are pretty well developed (especially Daniel's), and there's an actual continuing story arc that leads to a rather...unexpected season 1 conclusion. Definitely darker and deeper than most kids' cartoons.
If you grew up watching the series AND you've got an open mind, give this a chance.
When I started watching this, I cringed at the horrible opening theme (which I still think needs to go), the new voice actors and the questionable animation style.
Then it grew on me -- a lot. The storyline is very faithful to the original, and you can tell the writers have a lot of love and respect for its roots. One of the great aspects of this sequel arc is how it answers all the geeky questions my generation had about Voltron when they were growing up. There was an episode based entirely on the fact that Voltron takes so flippin' long to form. Another one had a semi-psychotic Voltron geek who collected Voltron "toys", which included Sven's (!) original suit. Followed quickly by an episode where Sven himself returns, which has a nod to the original series when Hunk goes, "Who's flyin' blue lion?" If that's not enough, Voltron now has the ability to temporarily switch centers so any of the five lions can form the head (though to be fair, Pidge's green center looks a little ridiculous), complete with their own unique weapons. The eight-year-old in me totally came back to life here.
As for the cadets. They grated on me at first, and I'm still not happy about them gradually replacing the original pilots, but their personalities are pretty well developed (especially Daniel's), and there's an actual continuing story arc that leads to a rather...unexpected season 1 conclusion. Definitely darker and deeper than most kids' cartoons.
If you grew up watching the series AND you've got an open mind, give this a chance.