Voltron II: The Lost Episode

Presented in 1995 by Seishun Shitemasu - a Good Enough Production. Liner notes by Josh

Galactor is bringing the smack for his captives!

Voltron: The Lost Years is a prequel to Voltron: Hell Bent for Leather, building off the conceit that all five-member hero teams are comprised of the same characters: level-headed, somewhat boring leader, hotheaded second, fat guy, chick, and kid. Gatchaman's famous fashion sensibilities made this our "70s" production, bringing us to three decades of cheap throway gags. As usual, our penchant for anachronisms shined through with both music cues and totally inexplicable references to forgotten 90s pop songs.

Kurt, the original lead singer of Gasp, before Courtney had him killed, and Mark, our leader.

Much like Hell Bent for Leather, this was one of those favorite Battle of the Planets episodes, primarily for the ludicrous image of Zoltar (...Berg..Galactor..) grooving to the rock music with the big headphones somehow in place over the pointy ears of his headpiece. By the time we did this, the only easily-available Gatchaman was in the form of G-Force reruns on the early Cartoon Network. Thus the return of the SS bug in the corner. Also, at the time this was the only production using just one episode for source material (but would not remain so for long).

The script was written largely by committee, abetted by the horrible animation, fashions, and the inexplicable choice of base under a humor-friendly location like Lake Titicaca. My favorite parts include the "irony" joke late in the show regarding harm to the hostage musicians, and Dread Lord's hilarious ad-lib about the Holocaust. Post-production went quickly, and we premiered at AnimeAmerica that year. Haven't been to a bay area con since...

Princess discovers the hidden base! and: Lucas with the lid off? WTF, Doc!