Toransufômâ: Kârobotto

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!

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!

First off here is a brief explanation of how this series came to be - After the success of Beast Wars : Transformers in America, it was transferred to Japan, where it was redubbed and did just as well. A few years passed and the Japanese audience began craving more Transformer goodness, so Car Robots (later known as Robots in Disguise) was created. To cash in, on the Beast Wars craze of the time the creators set this series in an alternate universe, allowing them to have Autobots, Predacons and Decepticons. The reason many of the names have carried over from the original series is because if they are not used they will be lost to other companies (as an example Rodimus Prime was lost a while ago and is now known as Rodimus Major).

Now, what alot of people tend to forget is that this series had to compete with Pokemon and Digimon, it was also made in another language so many of the jokes dont exactly cross over and it was made with a younger audience in mind rather then those of us who grew up with the original series.

So with all that in mind I begin my review - The two biggest flaws as I see it with Robots in Disguise (RiD) is rather weak voice acting, and the weaknesses of the villains. In many TV series animated or not the 'bad-guys' are either very-smart equal to the hero/s or smarter...or...stronger than the hero/s. In RiD the villains are both stupid and weak, a flying skunk versus an SUV or a flying shark against a firetruck aren't my idea of fair.

So overall I rate this series fairly low when compared to Transformers Beast Wars, and the Original Series, but that isn't what is meant to be rated against. So, as a stand-alone series using Transformers for the core of its story and competing with the like of Digimon and Pokemon, I give it a 6.5 out of 10. If you want Transformers, wait for the next series Armada (due out 23 August, 2002), if you want a fun slapstick series for younger viewers check out Transformers : Robots in Disguise.

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

I don't understand why alot of people are bashing Robots in Disguise. I am one of the biggest fans of the original Transformers series, and I know this dosen't compare to the original, but you can take it many ways..

Try this on for size:

After G1 Optimus Prime and the Autobots returned to Cybertron(sometime before 2001, when this new show takes place)to fight G1 Megatron and the Decepticons, R.I.D. Optimus Prime (from around the time Beast Machines ended) was sent back in time to watch over the earth. This would explain stasis pods, references to the vehicons,ect....

Now, so they wouldn't be detected by the other Autobots, they took their earth vehicle forms and remain hidden until they know that other Autobots have left the planet. (Two different Primes running into each other would more than likely have some sort of effect on time) Same with Megatron and the Predicons.

Now, that might make R.I.D. fit a little better. So, the lines can be a little cheesy, and and some of the names are kinda BLAH...... but some other great anime have been known to have some bad names. (i.e. Ranma 1/2 with Shampoo, Cologne, and Mousse?) Don't get me wrong, I love Ranma 1/2. But a name is a name. This new show is not as bad as some people think. It was made to target kids. Now, if you have to sit there and write 500 words to explain why you don't like this show, you definatly need to get a life. Yeah, I'm sitting here writing this, but I do other things besides spending all my time engrossed in bashing kiddie shows. IT'S A KIDDIE SHOW, SO GET OVER IT....