@Lovecraft could you please tell me what Graps character was like compared to Smokescreen? In Armada the other Autobots seem to give him a hard time sometimes for being complacent or something but it's so rare that it seems so odd to me when it's mentioned.

Also is Convoys multi-coloured spiraling energy attack thing ever explained in Mircron Legend? I always thought it might come from the Matrix but he used it in Mortal Combat against Galvatron after he's discarded it.

 

The powersets all the characters have is more or less just typical 'super robot anime stuff'. The Unicron Trilogy Transformers are just all way more 'robo demigod' in 'biology' than the more straight played western stuff.

So Convoy's 'power punch' is just something he can do, because he can.

I will note that when he goes 'golden burning justice' to save Earth from the Hydra Cannon that he calls on the 'spark of his soul' to give him the strength to pull it off. Not the Matrix. Starscream also calls on the 'spark of his soul' to attempt and fire on Unicron.

One common theme that seems to stretch from JG1 through JBW to Car Robots and the Unicron Trilogy is there really isn't much difference, if any, between Transformer "lifeforce" (Sparks after beast Wars/Machines clarified the details) and the human soul. That's also the reason the 'roundabout paradox' works between the Microns and the children. The children GAVE them souls in the past by sharing their sentiments from the future, which is WHY the Microns head for Earth when they desert the war on Cybertron.

I don't really remember how Smokescreen was portrayed but Grap was portrayed as what I would describe as a 'more jovial Kup'. He's an older bot and his VA sounds similar to Sunbow S3 Kup in timbre. He's grouchy sometimes but he's usually quite boisterous, hot headed sometimes but really, really reliable. He loves a good rumble too. I don't recall if he's ever called 'complacent' but that might have been a gross mistranslation of a comment on his age and how he's 'set in his ways'. I've only watched through once so far so that earlier material is a bit foggy for me.

I found him to be one of the most enjoyable 'static characters' in the story. He's not as deep as Convoy, Megatron, Starscream, Hot Rod, or Double Face but he's definitely a big plus for me, only speaking on Micron Legend.

 

Thanks for answering those questions for me man. I was just watching a couple of early Armada episodes the other night and just after Blurr debuts he and Hotshot are training, Smokescreen wants to join in and gets mocked a little by the two faster bots. Blurr even says he doesn't have the same "performance chip" that he and Hotshot do. There's other moments too like when they are planning a strategy involving Smokescreen being at a vantage point so he can pass the Skyboom Shield to anyone who might need it. As they are discussing the plan they give Smokescreen a hard time saying he better be ready cause the whole strategy depends on him. Then again at the end of another episode they sort of patronize him for coming through in a bind during one of the missions. Like you say this is all probably just a bit of confused translation from Grap being a more senior member of the team. In Armada though it just comes across as a bit out of the blue so I'm sitting there like "wtf? Lay off Smokescreen guys" haha. He was definatly a character I enjoyed in Armada and some of Graps characteristics did come through in the dub making it pretty sad and memorable when he took a shot from the Requiem Blaster.

 

Want the link to the fansub torrent? It's night and day plus the animation is a little tighter.

 

I did look for it on Karys profile but the link seems down. That'd be greatly appreciated thank you.

 

I rewatched the entirety of Armada as an adult last year, and what surprised me was the episodes featuring Sideways as a prominent character actually dredged up old feelings I had as a young child, feeling legitimately frightened and paranoid about a ghost who was in service to a giant scary planet robot who could phase into my computer and make it do evil things. Other aspects of it reminded me of memories I had long buried, and it still feels like a fun ride with some cute moments and an entertaining moral dilemma regarding whether the Minicons are slaves or not, and whether they are what they were created to be or could grow beyond it. I love it, despite its flaws.

 

I love Armada. Although I later learned through old photos that RID 2001 was my first series. Armada was the one I remember the most. One moment I recall was shutting the TV off when Smokescreen was shot. I shut the tv off, only seconds later I turned it back on wanting to see what's next and tuned in to an heavily damaged, but still still persevering Smokescreen attempting to land just one good hit on Megatron, then the Autobots saluting his passing and Prime's scream was heart breaking. Followed by Prime's death and Jetfire's breaking Ridley Scott's Alien tagline "They can't hear you scream in space.".
Hot Shot's character arc. Iconic Starscream sacrifice.
Although now it is difficult watching the dub and still power through them. Would like maybe a Kai version of the dub. Translations closer to the Japanese, fixed animation, added Micro Legend exclusive scenes.
For example, Micron Legend has Galvatron rip off his damaged tank cannon and throws it at Optimus during their final fight. I'm thinking of editing it in through movie maker. With the dub Mp4 and the sub Mp4.

 

I always remember the episode when the kids ran away with the minicons. Optimus and Megatron were in a desert and everytime they tried to approach the minicons, they would fire on the factions leader, then when Optimus decided to walk towards them, unarmed, fired upon, he endured their shots, eventually causing the minicons to trust him again, and to fire upon Megatron.

 

Has anyone ever noticed that in the dub most of, if not all, the transformer characters talk with a slight metallic echo? It sounds really cool, like their voices are really coming from an entirely metal being. The Mini-Cons "signing" when the Space Team communicated with each other sounded really cool and satisfying too.

 

I think the effect sounds cool, but sometimes the voice is overly filtered and it can be hard to hear what the characters are saying.

I actually think RiD'01 did that voice effect the best.

 

The 'flange' effect is something that actually turns me off of the dubs because while I understand the reasoning I don't think it was executed very well.

Its way too trebly. Garry Chalk and David Kaye both have huge bassy voices that I feel lose gravitas when put through the flange they used, which is like crazy high treble.

 

I just finished watching Armada last night, and while it was very, very flawed... I couldn't help but fall in love with it after a while. It defiantly has a slow start but once it gets good, it gets really good.

The human characters in the show are easily some of the best the franchise ever had at the time of its release, with Alexis being a personal stand-out for me. Most of the episodes were fun and varied, with the series having a good mix of both traditional and more out-there Transformers stories to tell. There are even a few very strong, character-centric stories throughout the show's 52 episode run. The mini-cons were a nice addition to the show, which help separate the action and story in Armada from any other Transformer series.

The shortcomings of the dub are made up for in my opinion with the return of Gary Chalk and David Kaye as Optimus and Megatron respectively. As a big fan of the Beast Era, it was a treat hearing them voice these characters again. Speaking of characters, both the Autobots and Decpeticons are very memorable here, though the Decpeticons in particular stole the show whenever they were all on screen. Where the series truly shines though is in its finale episodes, which were a whole lot of fun, and offered very satisfying conclusions to the stories of various characters and the series as a whole.

All in all, Armada is a solid series, despite its many shortcomings. I can see why it is so beloved by those who grew up with it. Now I can only hope that Energon isn't nearly as bad as the fandom says it is...

 

Sorry, it is. It’ll trick you at first into thinking, “hey, this Energon show isn’t so bad.” It’s pretty average for quite a while. But it never rises above mediocre & by the time you finish, it will have nosedived into “why am I wasting whole hours of my life watching this?”

I say go ahead & give it a watch if you’re So inclined. If nothing else, you’ll know for yourself.

 

Armada was a great show. I reviewed it in a thread in General Discussion.

 

Yeah, hehe... no kidding. I'm wrapping up my viewing of Energon today and oh boy, was it a rough watch.

I could immediately tell from the first episode that it was going to be difficult to sit through, especially as someone who really liked Armada. Seeing how the show disregarded so many characters from Armada, not to mention how it undid that show's phenomenal ending, was extremely frustrating. And don't even get me started on Energon's - let's just say, questionable - change in animation style.

While I don't think it is quite as horrifyingly awful as most others think it is (in fact, there were a few concepts and characters that I genuinely did like), it really isn't anything worth defending all that much.

 

Am I the only one who thinks Alexis might be one of the best human characters in a while?

 

She’s my favorite human in the Unicron Trilogy. At least in Armada. She’s a non-presence in Energon, but I liked her & her whole friendship with Starscream.

 

Starscream's arc is one of the best in Transformers history in my opinion and very remincent of Dinobot's arc especially with how they both end.

 

So I started rewatching Armada again, mostly because I'm bored, and have been wanting another Transformers show to watch. Now I haven't watched Armada since I was kid, never even finished it. So I figured I'd try it out again.

I'm 19 episodes in, and I just have to ask when does it start getting good? For years I've seen people praise this series for its version of Starscream and his relationship with Alexis, and also for its Unicron arc. I know I haven't gotten there yet, but damn this show is painful so far. The animation on this show is rough, and most times even looks older than RiD'01. The dialogue is awful, not even Gary Chalk and David Kaye could save these scripts. Armada Megatron has to be one of the most disappointing Megatron's I've ever seen, he's really not that intimidating at all, and kinda just lets his guys do whatever they want. Its disappointing because some of the character designs are cool and the show has some neat ideas, but it ain't really grabbing me.

Does the Starscream and Unicron stuff really redeem this show?

 

You gotta watch the Japanese dub man. The English dub isn't even the same show. It just loses the whole momentum.