Transformers: Armada

My pal and fellow Transformers fan keeps telling me about how "Transformers: Micron Legend" is superior to its American adaptation "Transformers: Armada". Being curious, i went to check it out.

Sure the script was more coherent, with none of the naming errors and illogical scripting bloopers. A slight change in the story premise about the Cybertrons(autobots) protecting the Microns(minicons) as they escape from Seibertron(cybertron), as opposed to the Minicons escaping during a major space battle between the autobot and decepticon fleets in Transformers Armada. just serves to make the Cybertrons seem more "good" and the Destrons more "evil", essentially adding nothing else to the plot.

Other than that, it is still the same dull, plodding story from Transformers armada for and entire 30 episodes; THe same "who can collect more minicons" pokemon-styled episodes. The animation is as stiff and clunky as ever, the fight scenes are bland and the script is still filled with rambling monologues and unnecessary verbal exposition. Not to mention, THe three kid protagonists are still as annoying.

AT least in Transformers Armada, the performances turned in by the Autobot and Decepticon characters(many of them played by the same voice actors that worked on Beast Wars) are quite strong given the script that they had to work with. Each character had a unique feel and was properly nuanced with just the right level of realistic emotional expression. In the Japanese version, most of the robot characters SOUND ALIKE. Low pitch with a deep tone. A few of them do have more unique voices like Hot Shot and Convoy, but the casting choice was a huge mistake. Hot Shot is even more annoying than ever before and Convoy sounds less like an experienced leader and more like a 40 year old doing his worst teenager impression. The electronic voice effects have been replaced with a booming echo-y voice effect that is just as distracting. Whats more, the effect inconsistent; present in some scenes and missing in others.

Where the Japanese version excels in a more polished script and better lines, two major flaw is immediately apparent.

CHEESY-NESS and OVERACTING.

From the very first introductory narration, the dialogue is riddled with enough corny and cheesy moments to make any hungry rat happy. There are actually a number of purely laughable moments of dialogue that are made even more laughable by how the characters can keep such a straight face saying such lines.(yea of course its animation, but i doubt the voice actors could have done their lines in one take without bursting into laughter)

As for the acting, it is overblown, over the top and sounds less like acting and more like "actors acting as if they are acting". An expression of intense anger sounds closer to a guy with bad constipation than an angry person.

All the kids sound like they got too much caffeine running through them, and boy did Carlos sound terrible. I thought he sounded bad with that horrible Hispanic accent in the English version. He sounds even worse with his all too obvious female screechy voice. Rad and Alexis i got no problems with except when it comes to the more intense scenes, which is when the caffeine comes into full effect.

All these actually make Micron legend LESS enjoyable than Armada. Which ever language you choose to watch this show, it makes little difference. A lousy show is a lousy show and an improved script cannot redeem cheesy lines, overblown acting, terrible animation and dull story.

Like Transformers Armada, i recommend watching just the first 2 episodes then skipping all the way to episode 30 onward.

If you know anything about Transformers: Armada, you likely know anout the somewhat infamous reputation it has with its rushed animation and dub due to the show airing six months ahead of its Japanese counterpart. Now Micron Legend isn't a drastic improvement over Armada in terms of story, characters, or even animation. While the scripts are more cohesive and the animation is overall better, if you were someone who hated the idea of the Minicons (Microns), couldn't stand the human kids, or couldn't get past the first quarter of the show for being too repetitve and boring then Micron Legend still isn't for you. I'll even say that while there weren't as many egregious animation errors as Armada, Micron Legend's animation still can look very cheap at times.

I will say as someone who grew up with the Armada dub, it took some time to get used to the voices of Micron Legend. Say what you will about the translation, but Garry Chalk, David Kaye, Michael Dobson, Brent Miller, and the rest of the Armada cast were fine in their roles, the somewhat stilted voice acting was a result of the lackluster voice direction. I also kinda miss the Armada theme showing up every now and again in the show. While I like the show's music, and I really like the two openings Micron Legend has, the Armada theme makes the show just a bit cooler during certain sequences. While thos goes without saying, many of the character names are different in Micron Legend (i.e. Hotshot is called Hot Rod, Red Alert is Ratchet, Optimus Prime is known as Convoy, etc.)

In all if I had to recommend which version of Armada someone should watch it would be the Micron Legend version. While I'll admit that I have a soft spot for the American dub inspite of its issues, I know that for many people the Armada version just has too many issues with its presentation. That said, I would like to see a remaster of Armada despite the fact that it'll likely never happen. A version of the show with the improved animation from the Micron Legend version and with the dialoge re-edited. There was a channel on YouTube called Queenbell Studios that was making an improved version of some of Armada's key episodes, but unfortunately those stopped a couple of years ago. As for now, If you're not fussed about some of the slight differences from the Armada version, or if you don't mind reading subtitles, Micron Legend is the better way to watch this show.