After the wild success of the Lion Voltron in 1984, World Events Productions followed up with the much darker, more complex Vehicle Voltron in the Fall of 1985. With no warning. As a kid, I hated it. I was 8 years old at the time. By 1990 however (and by the time I was 12), I had matured somewhat, and upon hearing the dark horse/melancholy sound of New Edition’s ballad “I’m Comin Home” from their 1988 Heart Break album, visions of the stellarship Explorer (that housed the Vehicle Voltron Force) flooded my young brain, and that song has always reminded me of Vehicle Voltron. So now in 2020, thanks to the free time provided by our current pandemic, I’m finally manifesting my inner-visions into reality with this video mood board.

Thanks to the internet, I’ve also learned a lot more about the source anime for Vehicle Voltron, which is Dairugger XV. That anime (like Golion – the source for Lion Voltron) is MUCH darker than its U.S. counterpart – and from what I can tell, much better. The final scenes of this video mood board depict the martyrdom of Hazar (Teles) – he was someone who was working for peace between the Drules and the Galaxy Alliance, and was assassinated for his work. If that isn’t brutal reality, I don’t know what is. However, it’s beautiful in its honesty – and its the kind of lesson I think the world could use a lot more of. We shouldn’t hide away from this kind of brave storytelling. We should celebrate it, in the hopes it inspires the kind of bridge-building this anime so wonderfully depicted. Hope you enjoy!