Voltron Volume 1 is a three-disc DVD set that includes the first 15 episodes of the Lion Force Voltron series. The set is packaged in a blue tin, with a lid that's designed to look like the face of the Blue Lion. Inside the tin is a cardboard DVD case, which holds all three of the DVDs. The first two discs each contain six episodes, while the third disc contains three episodes and the special features.

The main menu on the first two discs includes "Play All," "Scene Access," and "Setup." The third disc has these options, but also adds in "Special Features." Unfortunately, the "Scene Access" option is rather cumbersome, and I really didn't like the layout for it. In the "Setup" option, you can choose one of two audio options: 2.0 Stereo or 5.1 Digital Surround Mix.

When I watched the DVDs, I noticed on the second DVD that some of the episodes looked a little fuzzy; however, this is probably due to the fact that Media Blasters had to use the best masters they could find. While video restoration can clean up quite a bit, it can't completely compensate for a lesser-quality master tape source. Outside of those episodes on disc two, though, the rest of the episodes on the set look rather decent.

On this set, there are five items in the "Special Features" menu. The first is labeled as "Original Pilot: The Voltron Trilogy." It turns out that this includes two different versions of the original pilot episode. In both versions, the pilot is supposed to be the first episode of Lion Force Voltron.

The first version of the pilot is very different from what ended up being produced as the actual first episode. In this version, Planet Arus is named Planet Nimm. Also, the dialogue and background music is very different. And the most glaring difference is that the part about the five space explorers being captured and taken to Planet Doom is completely cut. This version just has a completely different feel from what Lion Force Voltron ended up becoming. The second version of the pilot more closely resembles the actual first episode, but the music is still drastically different. Also, in this version, there was an annoying bump to serve as a transition between scenes.

The next special feature is labeled as, "Staff Interviews: The Birth of Voltron." This feature includes interviews with World Events President Ted Koplar, Executive Producer Peter Keefe, Director Franklin Cofod, Story Editor Marc Handler, Logo Designer Bill England, and Stereo Sound Effects Producer Paul Vitello. These interviews help to shed some light on how the dubbing, writing, and production for Voltron was handled.

Next is a feature labeled, "Making of the DVDs: Restoring Voltron." This feature explains how Media Blasters ended up having to use the original masters from Beast King GoLion to put these sets together. Although World Events had done a good job of preserving the final broadcast masters, these masters were still noticeably blurry. The documentary goes on to explain how they remastered Voltron for the DVD releases.

This set also includes "Robot Chicken: You Got Robo Served," which is a segment from Robot Chicken that features the Voltron toys. And lastly, some AnimeWorks trailers are included as a special feature.

For fans of Voltron, not only does this set allow you to get the first 15 episodes of the Lion Force series on DVD, it also allows you to gain some insight into how the Voltron series came to be. This DVD set should really be in the collection of anyone who is a fan of Voltron.

I wrote this review after watching a copy of this DVD set that my husband and I purchased.

Disc 1	Disc 2	Disc 3
Space Explorers Captured Escape to Another Planet A Ghost and Four Keys The Missing Key Princess Joins Up The Right Arm of Voltron	The Lion Has New Claws The Stolen Lion A Pretty Spy Secret of the White Lion Surrender Bad Birthday Party	The Witch Gets a Facelift Yurak Gets His Pink Slip Give Me Your Princess Bonus Features