Transformers: Cybertron

Billed as the final entry in what is called The Unicron Trilogy (with the first two shows being Armada and Energon), Cybertron is a show I saw some of, but not all due to Cartoon Network placing it in a timeslot that is after the Adult Swim block goes off the air.

In this series, the destruction of Unicron has created a black hole that threatens to swallow Cybertron, the population evacuates to Earth after one of the Autobots, Landmine, is warped there by Vector Prime during a battle with the Decepticons. Now in hiding and with air of three human kids, Coby, Bud, and Lori, the Autobots must collect the four Cyber Planet Keys, one on Earth and the other three on different planets with their own Transformers, to save Cybertron from destruction. However, the Decepticons also seek the keys, but instead of saving Cybertron, they seek to use it to destroy the Autobots and rule the galaxy.

This anime can get a bit bumpy. While this was connected to Armada and Energon in America, for its Japanese release as Transformers Galaxy Force, it was made as a different continuity, thus requiring a lot of additional scenes and script edits for the English dub in order to connect it to the past two series. Also, while some of the voice actors do return, some of them end up giving their characters foreign accents (Jetfire now speaks in an Australian accent, while Red Alert, who was in Armada, but absent from Energon, is made British), a move possibly done to show Transformers can be different in more ways than how they look. The show mixes traditional animation for the human characters with the CGI used for the Transformers, and it makes it work. Coby, Bud, and Lori serve as replacements for Rad, Carlos, Alexis, and Kicker (which is due to the Japanese version being its own universe), and thankfully, they are better than Kicker, and even have more of a role aiding the Autobots in some situations. And while the script has some continuity errors, they are well written, and the show does explore other planets (like Jungle Planet, a planet with Transformers who adapted animals as their alternate mode). While not as good as Armada, Transformers Cybertron fixes the many mistakes that Energon (considered the worst of the trilogy in my book) made.

Three things redeem Cybertron somewhat, the character of Megatron, the use of the Transformers, robots in disguise line in the theme song and the dynamic voice acting of Garry Chalk and David Kaye. Apart from them, the voice work is a mix of over-compensating, uninterested under-playing and inexplicably weird accents, sad seeing as from their other work there are some talented voice actors here. The characters are not very interesting, in fact the human characters are very annoying(not exactly old news though, they were in Armada- this show is marginally better than that, Armada was a mess- and Energon). Starscream has always been an interesting character but he's bland here, and the writers clearly had no idea what to do with Scourge(shame he had potential) he is not that fearsome and the constant changing of sides got confusing and you are like make up your mind already. The animation is very little improvement either, the traditional cell animation is rather flat and sloppy and the CGI is over-saturated. Not only that, the mouth movements of the characters are far too Nutcracker-like which was very distracting, and the Transformation sequences are all flash and no subtlety. The theme song has one good line which is gone to waste by a generic hip-hop-styled tune with inane lyrics that gives the music a dated feel. The rest of the music is dull and forgettable, lacking expression or atmosphere. The dialogue is the very meaning of clunky, the light-hearted moments veer on awkwardly goofy and the more intense moments almost too grim and over-serious. It also seemed really stilted. The basic story is a good idea that is sadly also too thin structurally and too padded. The story lines just don't engage for that reason, as well as the uncompelling dialogue and characters and lack of tension and excitement in the action sequences. To conclude, Cybertron is the best of the Transformers franchise's Unicron Trilogy but that doesn't say much, it really did disappoint hugely and really not one of the franchise's finest hours. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Transformers: Cybertron is the final series of the Unicron Trilogy.

As a long time fan of Transformers I have to say this series show so much promise and it did have it up and down about it.

First the pros of the series. The series feature a original story line for the Transformers as the Autobots must race against the Decepticons to collect the four Cyber Planet Keys.

The action figures for the series some were pretty cool and should be look to add to your collection.

The Voice cast is pretty impressive with Transformers Vets. We get Garry Chalk,David Kaye, Lisa Ann Beley, Michael Dobson, Brain Dobson,Mark Oliver, Maryke Hendrikse,Scott McNeil, Paul Dobson,Richard Newman,Trevor Devall, and many more. They each brought a lot to the table of the series

The animation was pretty original with mix of 2D background with 3D animation for the Transformers. It's not something you see all the time for the Transformers. Plus the way the effects work will make you go wow.

We get some good character development throughout the series as we learn more about each character.

The cons of this series mostly are the human characters I swear there were times I wanted to scream because they were such awful characters and they were pretty much useless I couldn't bear to listen to them that I had to mute the TV to avoid them talking.

Transformers Cybertron human characters were just that bad and I refuse to speak their names in this review.

But the series did present some things that make it a interesting series for the Transformers and it finish off the Unicron Trilogy.

While the series did have it up and downs if you're a true fan of Transformers you will watch it

Autobots Transform and Roll Out! Decepticons Attack!

Originally called Transformers Galaxy Force. The series loses some of the flare I got from watching the fan sub of it. Planet Keys are called Force Chips an called Planet Force, Chip Square instead of Omega Square. also the voices sorta confused me a bit...THundercracker an Scattorshot/Backpack have southern accents? When did Cybertrons have accents...not since Quickstrike on Beast Wars has any Trnasformer have an accent. I can tell you this much, watch Transformers Galaxy Force an then watch Transformers Cybertrons an see the changes. Don't get me wrong I like Cybertrons too just not as much as the originals. The Japanese do put lots of effort into there anime an it does show in the final product. Remember these were Prime Time shows in Japan so had to be good.

I watched the original G1 series as a child, and even then it was a little too dumbed down for me.

I (like many others) ground my teeth when they released "Transformers Generation 2" which was just the original show packed with some CG transitions.

I slogged through the first boring season of Beast Wars - but then something happened: The show got good. It got so good, that it became one of my favorite television series of all time. The characters developed, the story moved ahead, and then it ended (though I think they ended it sooner than they would have liked; some things were resolved too quickly).

Despite the horrible character designs Beast Machines was even a larger step forward in terms of story, and the series ended in a way I never would have foreseen.

Then the animes started.

This is where everything Transformers started to come apart for me: The lack of animation, the re-use of the same five minute transformation sequences twelve times an episode (I'm exaggerating, but it sure feels like it), the horrible, trite and contrived Japanese-to-English localization, the introduction of anime child geniuses who you want to fall into a black hole just for opening their mouths...

I'm sorry, I just don't get it. "Cybertron" looked more interesting than previous endeavors because it had computer-modeled Transformers, but FOR PETE'S SAKE WAKE UP PEOPLE - THEY'RE BARELY ANIMATED! It's not difficult to do once the models are made, but apparently the production company doesn't have a single computer animator on staff because the Transformers' stiff, completely weightless movements give less of an impression of living machines and more of the impression of talentless animators. This may be intentional because the models don't seem to move any differently than the toys, but better Transformers shows have always compensated (do you think the "Ironhide" toy from G1 looked anything like his cartoon counterpart?).

I'm sorry, but this show is just anime cliché with some impressive-but-boring computer models and another "we gotta collect 'em all" story line.

They should just call this show "Generic Anime Cartoon-like Show Number 5: Now With Transformers!" and let it stand.