You think that fixes it???  
No way dude, You need to apologize.
Say, "Sari"  

No spoilers, as this info was available in the broadcast, but did you know that Bumper Robinson (from Sabrina the Teenage Witch) voiced all 4 voices of Bumblebee and Blitzwing?

Wow, 1st episode and already "...will be" spoilers.  

Technically, only RiD, Armada, & Cybertron were reboots, since Energon was a continuation of Armada.

Captain, whether you watch these series or not, you gatta listen to their fun themes.
-RiD -a cute & nice breath of fresh air, much like the show. Very computerized song
-Armada -Awesome rockin theme!  
-Energon -ok
-Cybertron -Very different. It had a rap!!!  

 

But that would kind of defeat the purpose of doing something new and different.

Except TFP were just shallow, surface-level approximations.

Probably because TFA Ratchet

Spoiler

actually has a history behind his crotchety attitude and isn't just a stuffy jerk for no reason like in Prime.

This comment gave me a mirgaine.

 

I love this series, it's one of the most original Transformers cartoons. I think it's the only series where I liked the Autobots more than the Decepticons. I was sooo dubious when I first saw the character designs, but they work really well.

 

Actually, if you read my post carefully, I never said Energon was a reboot.

 

I think some people might be too hung up on the idea that Optimus has to be the grand leader of the Autobot army. The more grounded, mid-ranking Optimus worked for Beast Wars and also works for Animated. Instead of Optimus already being this perfect Superman-like being, we get to see him try to grow as a leader and a fighter.

One thing to keep in mind is that this series was released the same year as the first Bay film, so there are a lot of similarities, including having the Autobots be a small team of 5 lead by Optimus Prime. Bumblebee was originally supposed to be Hotshot, but they changed him after they saw the popularity of Bumblebee from the Bay movie.

 

Oh come on. At best it was poorly worded. I should have said "soon he will get some more lines and big scenes, and you will realize how awesome this incarnation is".

Spoiler: This version of Starscream will also soon reveal his motives and personality more fully.  

However---I think everyone needs to agree to not even mention the name of the character with the big main spoiler of the series. Because even their name will likely "get you thinking" and will lead to an obvious conclusion. So don't even mention that that character even HAS a spoiler. Though this will likely be hard to do without making it obvious who/what in a certain episode that happens long before the actual spoiler.

 

Dude, revealing Anything about future eps or characters is a spoiler.

Captain, I noticed that you did not put up your spoilers disclaimer. Many people won't know this blog is meant to be spoiler-free, or even what constitutes a spoiler.

for instance,
"I love [blank] later in the 3rd season!",
reveals that character will be in the 3rd season, and probably still alive.

 

New and different aren't intrinsic values. At any rate, it would have been newer and more exciting to have Prime as the stay-home leader and Magnus or someone as the main character for a change. Better than just swapping personalities around for the heck of it, at least.

Not a fan of TF: Prime, I gather?  

The point of the Optimus Prime character is to be the grand leader. If that's such a burden, why not just dump the character altogether?

Ok, that makes sense. The character is kinda vaguely Bumblebee-ish, but more of a Hotshot. Still, like I said, beep beep Bay bow-wop deedoodab.

I miss the large Autobot crews.   Boring seeing the same faces in every ep.

 

If you like the G1 homages you are in for a treat.

 

It's not just swapping personalities around though. What you described has pretty much become the stigma of the Optimus Prime character, in turn becoming very, very predictable and boring.

Look at Optimus Primal. He was the first bearing the name to go against the norm that you say should be ever present and in turn has become a favourite among many fans across multiple generations.

I'd rather they try something new with a character than simply recycle a previous concept and clock in early for the day.

Heavily disagree. Part of what made Animated (and by extension, Beast Wars and possibly Armada) great to watch was the evolution of the cast of characters. A smaller cast of characters allows for more time to focus on said characters and allows the audience to form attachments and understand how certain characters function.

I never want any Transformer series to ever go back to the days of G1 in terms of number of cast and under-developed, one-dimensional characters.

 

They're not trying something new with a character. They've created a new character with the same name and look as the old one. A character is more than just a name and color scheme. If they're not going to honor the personality of a character, why use it?

Equating character development with a small cast is a common fallacy I see used here all the time. Any character development advantage the later shows have on G1 is due to advances in children's program storytelling, which now allows for story arcs, and not due to the smaller cast. I can counter every three-dimensional character from BW with a character of equal value in G1.

Characters receive their development through spotlight episodes, not from repetitive appearances with filler dialogue, and the big G1-characters had as many spotlight episodes as their later counterparts. Rattrap isn't getting more three-dimensional if he says "we're all gonna die" in 50 episodes instead of 15.

Instead of being a hindrance, large casts are actually much more beneficial for character development than smaller ones. The audience will see more different personalities, and characters can be more easily developed by having them interact with each other in different combinations. A large cast also keeps things fresh and less predictable, and is a massive advantage for world-building. 5 vs. 5 isn't enough to make a hockey game, how is it supposed to portray a war between two different races?

 

Agree totally. Afterall, what could you even say about most G1 Autobots that wasn't the most shallow, one-note traits? Half of them barely got that much dialogue, let alone any of it characterful or unique.

 

Ok, what did I spoil? That Blitzwing exists? He appears in the first ep. That he has a "cold" personality compared to G1? That's his first sentence/appearance.

 

That just leaves the other half, then, which is still something like 3 times the number of characters on the other shows. G1 doesn't need to develop all of its characters. All it needs is the same number of three-dimensional characters as the other shows, which it easily did, and the advantages of a smaller cast on character development is proven false. One-note traits? As if every character from the other shows was a winner right out of the pages of a Dostoyevski novel.

 

Small casts allow for more in-depth characterization. I'm all for small casts.

 

I forgot I was gonna watch this show along with you, Captain. So I threw on eps one and two before bed... Then three as well.   Pleased to see it's exactly as good as I remember, I'm definitely excited to rewatch it again not only all these years later with my perspective with the media that followed, but your perspective of someone entirely new.

 

It's good to see you again, David! Don't worry, I didn't take your comment as any sort of spoiler, it was even something I had already predicted. I'm sure all of the current characters will be better in later episodes since I've only just met each of them!

Good eye, JLvatron. I'll add the spoiler disclaimer at the top of the thread asking people not to mention anything I haven't said yet.

I love me some G1. >:]



--------

I'm very happy to see some returning names and new ones as well and I'm happy to see the open discussion happening between all of you.

Since I'm at work, I can't quote each reply and respond at the moment but I did read each of your posts this far and I appreciate your contributions to the thread.

I'll check out the theme songs for the other shows soon!

I do have a question if it can be answered without any plot spoilers, why did the creators of animated choose Black Arachnia as opposed to another Beast Wars character? Why didn't they grab Twitch or Terrorsaur instead? Is there a reason or was it just luck of the draw?

 

If anything was ever officially stated, it's not been recorded on her TFWiki article. I can guess, based on what's done with her in the show, but I am concerned that it's too much of a spoiler to say

Spoiler

she'll have a similar story line to the original

. What does everyone else think?

 

My temptation to scroll over that is immense. Also, I made the mistake of quoting it but the only word I spotted is "She'll" before I shot my eyes down here to safe land...

In addition, the spoiler disclaimer has been added!

Also, for now, I will be doing an episode every other day. This will allow one day for the episode to be posted and one day for discussion to take place. I think that's a good idea but feel free to tell me if you think otherwise!

 

Don't worry. You won't have to wait long before the things I typed becomes apparent. Also, a new episode every other day sounds good, aside form it double how long until you can find out what I said.