Finished BWII

Discussion in 'Transformers Earthspark and Cartoon Discussion' started by Pravus Prime, Jun 14, 2020.

  1. Pravus Prime

    Pravus Prime Wields Mjolnir!

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    Normally when I finish a series, I give it a day or two to reflect, then I write the review. It's been a week. It may be pandemic brain, but it's the first series where I fell asleep watching an episode, and not only did I, but I did so several times. I'd go back and rewatch them, but the series just didn't grip me and I feel like it squandered some of what it had set up early to boot.

    Anyway, the rankings:


    BWII is another bit of an odd duck, it's really more like three shows jammed together, not entirely dissimilar from Masterforce in that regard. The first 18 episodes are like that awkward first season where no one knows what the show is really about, no one has their voices yet, and the plots are more of a potpourri. Then 19-25 are the arrival of the Seacons and the series shifts to pretty much being entirely about them, 26-43 they figure out that they should have a real plot and try it out. Then on top of that, we have a narrator and two "hosts", Artemis and Moon, who live in the Moon, watching what's going on and commenting on it, including Artemis' perspectives as a teenage girl robot who has crushes on some of the cast.

    The problem is that most of the series just isn't very good. In addition, it really feels like the second opening on feels like a different animation team, there's an uptick in the quality of the animation. Also, just for the record, I loathe Artemis and Moon.

    I fell asleep for more episodes in this bracket then before; I even considered stopping when I realized that I was on episode 9 and had drifted off three times. I did go back and rewatch them, but frankly, most of these episodes are pretty terrible. And they're not "Bad" because they're childish, but for a variety of reasons. They introduce characters and don't do much with them, they bring up and resolve other things way too fast, and then there's Tripledicus. Who they decided should be "Stereotypical" Mexicans. In that Japanese racist way. There are stories that just don't make a lot of sense, stories that feel like first or second drafts, and occasional reductive stories as well.

    On the plus side, I actually liked Starscream and BB. I also found the idea that you had Galvatron as the leader, with his little brother Megastorm looking to quietly overthrow him who in turn has Starscream looking to overthrow Megastorm. Starscream is further aided by his powerhouse of a partner, BB. Roger!

    Scuba is also a bright point, in that unlike the antics of the other good guys (Maximal, Cybertron, whatever you want to call them), generally he becomes a deus ex machina to plots because he's so competent and can spring up anywhere from a convenient underground body of water, like Night Boat!

    From this batch, I'd say watch episodes 1 and 2, then 5, 12, and 18.

    This is good stuff! The Seacons are all developed characters who play well off each other and both faction casts. The comedy isn't much better, but at least when it's employed there's a greater payoff to it, such as Scylla's crush on Scuba, who doesn't realize that's what it is, while Bighorn is trying to woo Scylla. The battles and the plots are more interesting, and the series has a pretty good groove and is a really decent plot arc, culminating in a duel between God Neptune and Lio Convoy.

    Watch 'em all!

    And we're back to the mundane. Even worse, we start with this "Are you my mother" introduction of Lio Convoy Junior who will actually introduce plot devices like Angolmois energy blasts, which is bizarre since both Lio Convoy Junior and Magnaboss have perfectly usable weapons, but instead just do these street fighter moves. Combined with Scuba getting a literal space Fed Ex delivery of an Octopus tank (which is then featured often, toy on sale now!), it's not a great start.

    But it does pick up. Megastorm becomes Gigastorm in a pretty good episode, the other bad guys (Preadcons, Destrons, your choice) get new toys in passable episodes, and with the "Artificial Planet Nemesis" coming for Earth, we get a bit of a countdown to the climax.

    Where I couldn't care less. The final three episodes never felt like they were ratcheting up to anything, nor did it feel tense or involved. They just sort of happened and then they all went away on beams of light to the next battle. No finality, nothing.

    Hrm. 27, 30, 31, 33, 36 - 43 I suppose.


    While Masterforce was disjointed, it did have a plot. BWII barely had a plot for most of the show and then IMHO the plot didn't start until episode 33. Of a 43 episode series.

    I enjoyed the Seacons, I enjoyed Starscream. Galvatron late in the series had some interesting ideas, especially his temptations to Lio Convoy Junior and his philosophical discussions with Lio Convoy also late in the series. But overall, it just doesn't feel like a quality product, the animation isn't very good until halfway through the series where it just gets to where series like BWNeo and Victory start at, the plots are tedious more often then not, and I really do get the feeling that this was intended for a younger audience then both prior series and BWNeo.


    And with that, I guess I'm done? Thanks for reading!
     
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