Okay, this is just a nerdgasm. I watched the first four episodes and I am 100% hooked. Animated rules!

 

It took you this long to come over to the ani-side?

 

Oh no, when the previews and etc. were out, I was psyched. It just took me this long to get the episodes.

<--No cable

Stuff I liked, so far:

-THE TRANSFORMING SOUND MAKE-A ME NERDGASM
-Starscream sounds delightfully like Starscream! Tom Kenny is doing a great job.
-Ratchet is so much more than his old G1 character, now. Much more interesting Autobot.
-The 5-character setup makes it a lot easier to get to know and familiarize yourself with the interplay of each Autobot.
-The 3-episode intro does a fantastic job of recreating the fun of all of the "OMG we landed on Earth WTF!?" intros done in G1, Armada and the movie.
-I may sound like some sort of ****** for saying this, but the colors are great. The show is nice and bright and vivid and the color schemes for each character really stand out. It's easy to identify who you're watching. I mean, hell - for a 27-year-old guy, this doesn't matter much...but for 5-7 year old kids watching the show, I figure this is something important enough to note that I'm glad they made the colors so distinct.
-Prowl's character is a great Amalgam of Tracks, Prowl, Mirage and the Dreamwave-era Sunstreaker. Well done and very cool.
-"It's cool, they're friendly! Well, except for the red and white one, he's kinda grumpy, but they're still harmless!"

Stuff I'm not a big fan of:
-I'm going to have to get used to the "inexperienced Optimus Prime" idea; I mean, I like new concepts, but I'm just used to a deep, booming voice of knowledge rattling off both obvious truths and goofy puns. I'll deal.
-I wanted to see all the dinobots transform.  
-Megatron being stuck in the lab makes for a neat buildup throughout the show, but I'm also hoping that they get him out of there sooner rather than later.
-Honestly, I wish there were a few more Decepticons in the show to give the Autobots something to sweat about.

 

I share your pain over the lack of cable, at least at home.

But at a college with cable and every room and, finally, my very own TV tuner card... not so much a problem.  

 

At least you are among the few who gave it to a chance, Op.

Admittably I was shocked by the way they looked. But I got over it after a few episodes.

It's kind of good that they are not oversaturating the character dynamics for now and The Decepticons will come. Not all at once mind you but they'll come.

Welcome aboard.

 

I have cable, and still didn't get to see any episodes until last week when I discovered that the premiere movie and two other eps were available "On Demand".

It's the curse of working retail though--I wasn't home on Saturday or Sunday morning to see the show.

I've had several nerdgasms as well watching this series: the TF sound, the visual references, and especially the vocal nods -- Corey Burton FTW! doing Victor Caroli (narrator), Robert Stack (Ultra Magnus), and his Ratchet reminds me of an amalgam of Don Messick (the original voice of Ratchet), John Stephenson (voice of Thundercracker), and Peter Cullen's G1 Ironhide. And of course Tom Kenny practically channeling Chris Latta's spirit.

 

No worries, all of these things will be taken care of before the end of the first season.

 

it is! that's what we've been saying!

it's a fantastic show.

and it's finally nice to get something different. i got sick of them all looking the same, heck red alert from armada doesn't even look that much different from red alert from cybertron lol... even if he IS a deluxe... and a different car.

they still look basically the same, and they're not even supposed to be the SAME red alert, if you follow the japanese series, that is.

and it's nice to get an optimus prime that still kind'a looks like prime, yet, but also in away is far different from the traditional one, and it's nice to have one with OUT a supermode, that got old... was good with RID, but the rest were just ok. lol.

and sari's not that bad at all, in my opinion, welcome change from the other human characters in the past. not nearly as bad as the armada kids, which them in themselves were not that bad either, i guess lol...

but yes starscream is easily the highlight of this series, i just wish he would return!

megatron is so much fun though, as a head lol... but i agree he needs to get a body, though once he does, he already knows where the autobots live and what not, so they're like toast lol...

 

WHAT IS THIS?

If you do not hate on this show then you are not a "true fan" and must be burned by the fires of the internet  

 

Your sarcasm is so thick I could cut it with a knife. I love it!  

Twin Twist made me giggle. Course, the beers tonight helped that along.

 

ha ha lol well in the end isn't that what it's all about? having fun watching it?

 

Animated FTW... Animated Reruns FTL!

 

I really hated animated at first. The first few episodes, especially Sari really rubbed me the wrong way. However after watching the last few episodes (I'm up to 8 now) I have had a change of heart. The story is getting much better and the dialogue is improving. I can't wait to see the rest of the season, and I would like to officially apologize for my "TFA=Shit" comment.

 

I started out not liking the designs. Once I saw the toys I started to change my opinion. Then I saw the preview at Botcon and I started feeling good about it, but wasn't 100% convinced. Now that I've seen the show, I'm hooked. My wife even enjoys it, not as much as Beast Wars but she likes it a lot more than G1. I'm really looking forward to seeing where this series goes and what characters they'll bring in.

 

lol good point kickback; i agree!

 

So, basically, you're a big Rodimus Prime fan.... you know, without the pissing and moaning aspect of the G1 'toon incarnation.

Still, I kind of envision Animated Optimus as what G1 Rodimus should've been.

I'm still out on the fence for Animated. I mean, there's a lot of stuff I like and the show doesn't take itself too seriously and IS fun, but it seems just a little, I don't know, episodic, where I'm more into nice deep and dark story arcs which we haven't seen and I'm just afraid we're not going to see.

 

Speaking only for myself. I'm relieved that it isn't that way simply because it would take the fun out of it on principle.

This isn't an anime soap opera like Star Blazers and Robotech you know.

 

I thought the reason they went with an episodic structure was because of the backlash from Energon and Cybertron with their "epic storytelling" structure.

Oh, and welcome to the fold, OWAT. 

 

one thing i immediately noticed was the rather disjointed episodes (admittedly the exclusion of one and its later reinsertion didnt help), i now simply watch with an open mind as to whats in the episode and how/if it links to any others. fun for sure though.