Toransufômâ: Kârobotto

I have to highly disagree with people who dissed the latest Transformers. While it wasn't as modern and current as I would have liked, I thought the scripts, voice actors and productions were like old times and fun to watch. From what I understand they were number one in the ratings for their timeslot all week and on the Saturday morning shows. I hope it comes back for another season!

A relatively entertaining show that is not that bad but could have done with improvements. From a personal perspective, it's not the waste of time that is described in some reviews(though the complaints do have validity), but some of the favourable commentators really need to relax, last time I checked there isn't a rule about everybody having to like the show and any other opinion is wrong, isn't that what the word "opinion" means. There are things that Robots in Disguise does have in its favour. The character designs are nice and sleek, while the music is catchy and in keeping with the tone of the show and the jokes do tickle the funny-bone, complete with some clever subtle references to the original show. Sky-Byte is a cool character, Kelly is likable enough and Scourge is very interesting here(at least Robots in Disguise knew what to do with him, which is more than can be said for Cybertron). Not all the characters fare as well, Megatron has been much more menacing and authoritative before and since, here he comes across as too dumbed-down and too much of a clown.

The rest of the characters have a uniqueness to them but are not particularly interesting, Tow-Line is too monotonous and Dorrie Dutton is annoying and often pointless. The voice acting doesn't really work either, Barry Stigler as Scourge and Peter Spellos as Sky-Byte the only ones that properly stand out in a good way, the rest range from overdone(David Riordan's Megatron) and bored-sounding(Lex Lang's Tow-Line). The jokes are funny but could have been better placed and maybe not used as much, at times it felt like overkill which interfered with the tone. The story lines could have had more complexity and did feel on the juvenile side, it's not quite as bloated as the Unicron Trilogy Transformers shows but there is too much of a filler-feel with Robots in Disguise. And not all the animation is consistent, the sleek character designs and vivid pastel colours are nice, but the static backgrounds, the tendency to look too over-saturated(could have used more foreboding colours) and lack of fluidity, not so much.

Overall, Robots in Disguise is better than Energon, Cyberton and especially Armada-the three parts of the Unicron Trilogy, and not really worth bothering with-, also Beast Machines(but only just), but for better shows in the franchise look to the original 1984 show, Beast Wars, Prime and Animated. From a personal point of view, Robots of Disguise is not a bad show but it fell short. 5/10 Bethany

Old transformer fans like me have unfortunately fallen into a trap. We remember the original so fondly that anything else seems bad. In fact, it takes an excellent product like beast wars to even make us forgive a TF series for existing.

Sadly, RID isn't excellent like beast wars, so old fans will think they won't like it. Truth be told, the show isn't that bad. The writing is childish because it was meant for pokemon-buying kids, and the producers were at least kind enough to use some stuff from previous series, like the flying shark from the japanese Beast Wars, the combaticons and Ruination's ability to "scramble" from G1, and the stasis pods from Beast Wars.

Fortunately the show doesn't take itself seriously, something that already makes it better than Armada and Beast Machines. In fact, this show has enough personality that I may consider adding it to my collection if someone ever ports it to DVD, after I get the original and japanese episodes of course. Someone should seriously try to bring Beast Wars and Beast Wars II (not Beast Machines) on DVD!!

Bottom line is if you don't take it too seriously, you'll probably like it, and that's the truth.

Every time the latest iteration of Transformers comes out, old-skoolers like me immediately run out and disparage it for not being as good as the last. As a big G1 fan, I can honestly say that the guys who did the translating and voice work for RID did a fantastic job. They took something very foreign, Japanese, and weird (and I say this as a die-hard anime fan) and reworked it into something extremely funny and entertaining. No, it's not as serious as TFBM, and since they didn't have control over storylines like they did with Beast Wars, the character development was dictated by decisions made in Japan. Nonetheless, the finished product looks good and is a blast to watch. The voice actor for Sky-Byte must have garnered the envy of all the other VAs for getting the best lines and funniest dialogue and emotional rampages. No, RID isn't self-possessed and serious. But it *is* entertaining and fun, and for a show about giant robots, I don't think that's such a bad thing.

ROBOTS IN DISGUISE. THE TRANSFORMERS. Why is everyone being so critical of this new series?

OK, so Optimus isn't a semi truck. BIG FREAKIN DEAL! You should be happy he's not a gorilla for once (even though I had no problem with that, what would a semi truck be doing hanging out with a rhino and a cheetah in a show called Beast Wars). Optimus is still awesome, his new voice is just fine and he looks sweet. He's still a great leader and cares about his commrades.

And leave Megatron alone! So what if he looks like a Terrorcon when he turns into his two headed dragon mode! His robot mode looks just like the Epyon Gundam from Gundam Wing. Just look at the two, they both turn into two headed dragons for crying out loud. His voice is mean and a lot more threatening than people give credit.

I like the new Scourge, he's an evil Optimus Prime! He's not the G1 loser we remember with *PINK* fingernails and those lousy Sweeps! Scourge and his Decepticons (formerly known as Combaticons to us G1ers) are great. Ruination is a cool name, so what if Bruticus is a dog now. Remember, this is a series for KIDS.

Kids today live off of, sigh, crap like Digimon and Pokemon. Robots in Disguise targets today's kids. However, there are plenty of moments and characters for us G1 fans to appreciate and enjoy. Look at Ultra Magnus, he's way cooler than the old Magnus who always got beat up. This Magnus is a bad ass, and he's a creation of Alpha Trion. If that ain't a G1 reference for old fans, I don't know what is. There are even references for Beast Wars fans, with stasis pods and slapsticky bumbling Predacons.

Who wouldn't like a singing Sky-Byte?! That's the anime touch for you, a bit of silliness. If you ask me, this new series is just fine. Don't call it G1. Don't call it Beast Wars. It is it's own entity. It's like Gundam Wing or Gundam X to Mobile Suit Gundam; an alternate universe series. Just kick back and have a few laughs!