Transformers: Animated

I'll start off by saying I've been an active Transformers fan for years, not someone who watched G1 as a kid and then forgot about TFs until the recent live-action movie came out (In fact, I actually hated the movie, as both a Transformers fan and a fan of movies in general). I'm 22 years old, so I was just a couple of years too late to catch G1 when it first aired (although I now own every episode), and although I had seen a couple of episodes of G1 when it reran as G2, I really became a fan of the franchise with Beast Wars. Since then, I've watched at least some of every TF show, Japanese ones included. Beast Wars (especially the second and third seasons) is my favorite show to date, not because it was the first one I watched, but because the story lines, character development, and voice acting achieved a level of depth, emotion and overall quality which has been unmatched in TF cartoons before or since.

With that being said, I was a bit skeptical going into this show. The last few shows left a lot to be desired, and the odd designs for this one were a bit of a departure from traditional Transformers. Still, I did my best to approach this show with an open mind (after all, many people initially dismissed my favorite TF series because of the changes it made to the franchise), and I was pleasantly surprised. The designs, while a bit jarring at first, are something you'll get used to surprisingly fast. The pacing is nice and the voice acting is the best it's been in years (due largely to this being made for American audiences rather than dubbed over from Japanese), especially Starscream. Since Chris Latta's death, nobody has really been able to fill the role well (though considering his excellent work as Cobra Commander in the '90s I've long said that Scott McNeil would do a fine job), until now. Tom Kenney totally nails the Starscream voice, and it's really a shame that the character hasn't been seen since the pilot (though I have little doubt he'll show up again eventually). The script quality varies a bit from episode to episode, but even at its worst it's better than anything we've seen since the Beast era.

As good as the show is, it's not without its flaws. The biggest flaw at the moment (keep in mind, it's still fairly early in the show's run) is the villains. Transformers has always been about two warring factions, Autobot vs. Decepticon (or, in the Beast-era, Maximal vs. Predacon/Vehicon). In this show, the Autobots have yet to face more than one 'con at a time (even when the Decepticon ship came in the pilot, Megatron was the only one they actually fought face to face), and half the time their enemy is human. Granted, Megatron is often pulling the strings of whatever enemy they may be facing, but so far the Transformer presence on the villains' side has been severely lacking, which is a shame since the episodes where they fight a Cybertronian enemy (be it a Decepticon or the Dinobots) are clearly the strongest of the bunch. No matter what powers a human enemy may possess, it's sort of hard to make him seem like a significant threat to five giant robots. Hopefully once the Decepticons arrive in force (preferably sooner rather than later), this issue will be remedied. The other major issue with the show is the tone, which skews a bit too much toward the kiddy side. Granted, this is a show intended for kids, and it's certainly no kiddier than the last few shows, but honestly, it's still a valid complaint. The people making this show are clearly aware that adult fans watch the show as well (as evidenced by all the G1 references), and could easily make it a bit more mature without alienating the kids (ie Beast Wars).

In conclusion, I encourage you to give this show a chance if you are at all interested, and keep an open mind; you may be pleasantly surprised. Granted, it's not be the best Transformers show ever, but it's far from the worst.

Transformers(1984) is still the jewel of the Transformers franchise, but Transformers: Animated is not a bad show at all and one of the better recent incarnations, better than the Unicron Trilogy at any rate. Of the recent incarnations, Transformers: Prime may be the better animated and written show, has more depth and also has the advantage of having Peter Cullen and Frank Welker as Optimus and Megatron. But what Transformers: Animated does better is that none of the main characters are annoying(Prime had Miko), Bumblebee is much closer in characterisation to the original show, in Prime he was bland, and it is one of the better recent incarnations in terms of recreating the spirit of the original show. Transformers: Animated is not without its problems. The character designs do take some getting used to, in the action sequences they could have done with much more finesse and being less hurried-looking. The human villains could have been better developed and verge on bizarre sometimes. And some of the dialogue- mostly it's fine though- is a little stretched and slap-sticky sometimes, the humans' dialogue at times is not that much of an improvement on that of Prime. The colours and backgrounds though are very nice and detailed, the style is also the closest any of the recent series in the franchise have gotten to the original show too. The music is energetic with some haunting moments, enhancing the action sequences and any of the scenes that require any depth. The dialogue mostly is smart and thoughtful with some funny moments(getting even better once the show found its feet), while the stories are fun and engrossing, taking care also in fleshing out the characters and their back stories. Those for Waspinator and Blackarachnia are particularly well done. The action sequences are thrilling and fun to watch. Optimus and Megatron are still memorable characters, Starscream is a hoot and Sari is thankfully not another Miko, she's interesting and is far from useless. The voice acting is great, you do miss the original voices but these voice actors still do worthy jobs, actually sounding committed and involved in the drama. Standing out are David Kaye, Corey Burton(though these two did have big shoes to fill) and Tom Kenny. Overall, not mind blowing but highly entertaining still, while some of the complaints are somewhat valid Transformers: Animated is not really that deserving of the hate it's gotten. 7/10 Bethany Cox

This is garbage, what is wrong with animators today. Lazy jag-offs. Teen Titans, and hundreds of more American Anime" garbage. The figures look fine, tho the show is some wimpy stuff, sleep overs? come on. I was a fan of all the series up to Beast Wars and even beast machines ( some really interesting effects in the latter). But with the downhill art style they are teaching in schools today. The voices are fine, except for the stewie headed girl and her WB chuck jones designed dad. Ah, this is horrible. I could even sit through one show. What is wrong with cartoons today.

"I am a G1 fan, and proud of it"

Being a G1 die-hard, I was naturally skeptical about this new series (especially after catching glimpses of the questionable character design). But I have to say that after watching the first 3 episodes (or was it a full 1 1/2 hour mini-movie?), I think this new series is pretty good. Not great, but good.

The high points: They kept the original transforming sound (which is more than I can say for that damn live-action movie). The storyline vaguely follows in G1's footsteps (it's not exactly the same, but it's close enough). Oh, and you won't even notice the funky character design after a while...it's not actually THAT bad after all, once you start watching.

The one low point: Most of the characters have changed significantly. A lot of these new Transformers seem to be combinations of different G1 characters. Ratchet in particular is a perfect 50/50 hybrid of Ironhide and Kup, Optimus seems more like Rodimus, Megatron has vague traces of Unicron, and so on. However, it must be said that the writers/producers had the good sense to keep at least a few key characters perfectly intact...namely Bumblebee and Starscream.

For somebody who loved the original so dearly, this series doesn't disappoint. It's an entertaining take on the cartoon that defined my childhood. If nothing else, it's definitely fun to watch!

As a fellow Transformers fan, there's a little confession I would like to make: I was almost a Bayformers fan!!! But don't worry, even though I thought the first movie was good, it still wasn't enough to make me a genuine "Trans-Fan". My best friend knew much more about Transformers than I did, as she grew up with the franchise, so I've mostly learned about the main premise of the story from her.

Anyway, by 2007 I knew almost nothing about G1, Beast Wars, or the Unicorn Trilogy (though, from what I've heard, I didn't miss anything from the Unicron Trilogy). Then it just so happened, on Cartoon Network, I came across a TV promo for this new show simply titled, "Transformers: Animated". The moment I first saw their new designs I thought, "It would never catch on, the proportions of the robots look all wrong!" However, when the show finally aired, I took a look at one episode. My first thought was, "Well, the story seems pretty basic, but this Starscream guy looks like a cool character (by the way, this was the show that made me a Starscream fan-girl).

A couple years later, I soon forgot about it, until my friend show me the Allspark Allminac (which is a book that has information about everything from the show). Eventually, my interest for the show lit up again, and I've watched reruns of it on The Hub, then I realized everything I first thought about this show was wrong. The main Autobots, for example, are not the Superman archetypes you see in the original show, in fact Optimus here isn't even leader of the Autobots, but the leader of a small group of rookies. I really like this change, because not only does it make it a lot easier to root for them, but it also makes them more realistic and sympathetic.

Now the main human character, Sari, is another interesting aspect of this show. At first, she appears to be an annoying tag-a-long that never does what she's told. This of course, was a very common trope in Transformers since G1, but instead of just being a tag-a-long, Sari actually has a story arc in this series! She's also not as useless as most Trans-Fans like to believe, she actually helps the Autobots multiple times. Her father, Prof. Isaac Sumdac, is one of the "weaker" characters in the show. He's way too trusting towards Megatron in Season 1, and is clearly irresponsible letting his 8-year old daughter handle the AllSpark Key, but he's not too annoying and you'll eventually grow to love him.

I was also impressed by how the Decepticons were portrayed. Megatron doesn't get a very big role in the first season, but he is BY FAR superior to the clumsy G1 version, and the bland TF: Prime version of the character. The other Cons are also very well written. Blackarachnia and Waspinator both have tragic and interesting back stories, Blitzwing the triple-changer is given a split-personality, and Shockwave is given a more prominent role in Season 3.

It just makes me said that they were never able to release a Season 4 before it got canceled! This is a vastly underrated show, that has more emotional depth than "Transformers Prime", and much more character development than G1.

My Overall rating-- 8.5 out of 10!