I'm now halfway through, and, while I really like it (it's definitely better than the 2011 Voltron Force series), as an old school fan, there are nonetheless some issues I'm having trouble getting past:
1. Sven not being 'Sven,' but rather having the name of his original GoLion counterpart; it just seems like another example of shoehorning in cultural diversity purely for the sake of it ::)
2. Pidge now being a girl :o
3. Keith, Lance, and Sven Shiro having their lions - and ranks - switched around purely for the sake of their original uniform colors matching the color of the lion they pilot (I don't know why this was always such a big deal to so many people :P)
4. Allura and Coran now apparently being non-humans'
5. this goofier version of Coran; no longer is he the wise sage and mentor, but more of a second banana :P
6. the complete redesign of Zarkon
7. why the hell was Yurak renamed Sendak?? ???
8. the native Arusians are now goofy little creatures with ram horns? ???
9. as the pervading question with the 2011 series was 'Where the hell are Zarkon and Haggar?', here it's 'Where the hell is Lotor?'
1. I had no problem with this, because Sven was a throwaway character in the original series. I mean he was killed off by the sixth or seventh episode; you might as well redesign him and give him a much more interesting backstory besides "random Swedish guy". Plus, it's 2016, and having a superhero team made up entirely of white men is frowned upon these days. PS: Don't worry, they make Keith look really, really strong later on in the series, even without him being the leader.
2. Let's be honest, everyone was always confused about Pidge being a boy or a girl on the original series. Yeah, they tried to pass him off as a boy, but what was with that girly hair cut? So yeah, if you're going to design him to be girly looking, you might as well officially make him a girl. Also, see last comment about all white men.
3. You underestimate the power of nerds with O.C.D. Yes, even as I child, I wasn't that keen on Pidge being the only pilot whose uniform matched his lion (Hunk's suit was more orange than yellow). So yes, I'm glad the black, red, and blue lions are being pilots by the right colored uniforms. It just makes sense. I'm also liking that Allura's uniform pays subtle homage to the fact she wore pink and piloted the blue lion.
4. I'm totally fine with this, since the pilots are from Earth and Allura and Coran are from another planet, yet were made to be human in the original series without any explanation of the whole Superman-ish excuse of aliens looking exactly like humans. I'm digging Allura's redesign, and again, see comment about all white men.
5. Yes, this goofy, Hugh Grant version of Coran takes some getting used to. Frankly, I never liked the character any way, so I don't mind him being made into a running gag.
6. This one I actually agree with you on. They seemed to go with the most bland design possible. Out of all the redesigns, his is easily the worst.
7. I don't know, but his redesign is the best of the series! You can still recognize him, but now he has that badass mechanical arm!
8. That's just getting too carried away with the Japanese anime influence. If you've watched anime movies like Spirited Away, you'll see what they are lifting from. And this series being twice as kid friendly as the original series.
9. I was wondering the same thing about Lotor, but his original series storyline of having an unhealthy obsession with Allura is rather creepy by today's standards, and there's really no need for every male in the series to be going after the main female.
