I was just curious as to whether anyone knows why there isn't a Japanese localisation of Animated. I did a brief search but most of the sites I found simply mention that it isn't localised for Japan and that any representation is not from official Japanese products or sources.

Has it been mentioned by any of the people who worked on the project at all?

 

their could be many factors but If I had to make a list...

1. Western style humor and storys might not translate that well out side the west or be that popular.

2. Even the original Beast Wars took a few extra years to get translated and aired after Neo and BWII had gotten their runs.

3. the episode format does not really conform very well to the typical Japanese system of 25 or 50 something episodes

4. Maybe Animated just did not test very well in Japan so they did not push ahead with full production?

5. I think it was in one of the toy interviews (might of been with the last MP toy or the last book) the toy designer was asked what were the difference's between designers in the west and Japanese designers and their priority's were totally at different ends of the spectrum. In Japan it seems that a cool design trumps character while in the west a good character can make a poor design tolerable. I'd personally say Animated's look is maybe just too different from the norm and even if the story works well it seems the Japanese audience just care more about SUPA MODES and Uber attacks then story. E.G typical Sentai shows same format over and over but its more about looking cool then anything else

 

It wouldn't be the first time an American Transformers series wasn't aired in Japan, Beast Machines was only released a couple years ago in Japan.

 

Takara apparently specifically stated in an interview in Gneerations 2009 vol. 1 that they were "waiting for the right time" to release it.

I now fully expect this post to be ignored in favor of rampant speculation and bashing of the show.

 

lol, i'll quote it so more people see it.

 

I heard that they didn't reach Japan's episode quota for syndication, so it won't be receiving a dub.

They were really close too.

 

QED.

 

I'm guessing right after the movie line is through. That would make the most sense, anyway.

 

The show didn't fare well with test audiences. They were confused as to how Megatron could appear in a show with a young girl, and yet tentacle rape didn't happen.

 

what exactly aired in japan INSTEAD OF animated anyway?

 

nothing.

takara hasnt had a TF show on the air since cybertron/galaxy force ended.

given that the only time transformers are successful in japan (since the end of G1) is when they're importing something hasbro made, animated should eventually hit japan. I think it'd do well.

 

So this is like Car Robots and RID. Car Robots was launched in Japan way before it ever came to the United States. I think it took a year or so to get it here?

 

Yeah, Car Robots was 2000, while Robots in Disguise was 2001. Hasbro brought over Car Robots as Robots in Disguise as a filler line while they were working on Armada. It was the first time the American side of Transformers had imported Japanese TF fiction, as far as I know.

 

I've heard the comments about episode quotas which I admit does confuse me a little as there are many OVAs which number less episodes.

As for Car Robots and RiD, it does take a little while to localise a series of that size! A year or two doesn't surprise me.

I was just expecting something might have been mentioned since in general localisation seems to occur more rapidly these days.

 

Did Car Robots have more episodes then Animated? RID seemed to end extremely fast, not that I kept up with the show but it only lasted 1 year right?

 

Hmmm, Tentakil and Sari...there's an idea for a commission...

EDIT: Also, I think we all forgot about the nanobot monster from the very first episode that did grab Sari with its tentacle.

 

i swore i heard they are working on it, it goin to take some time (like beast wars did) but we just got to wait......maybe then we will get ramjet

 

The episode quota is for the TV market. OVAs aren't for the TV market, they're for the direct-to-video market so they can be as many episodes as the company wants to make, which is usually less than a dozen per series.

--Moony

 

Most of my conversations with Japanese TF fans over Animated went something along the lines of-

ME-"SO! Whaddya think of TF Animated?"

Them-"Oh, it's awesome. Love dem toys!"

ME-"And the show?"

Them-"Pfft..........................."

When I asked them why they didn't like it, the usual answer was that it was just too different. The toy line was quite popular among collectors. The show was just largely ignored. I can't see them bringing it over in any real way. Even when BM was brought over, it seemed half-assed. Noone cared. I didn't even realise that it HAD been brought over at the time, such was the word-of-mouth.