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Cartoon Viewing Club: Zob's Thoughts on Beast Wars Second "The New Forces Arrive" (Pilot Episode)
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New and Improved Zobovor
Oct 15, 2017, 5:27:56 PM10/15/17
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"The Birth of a New Army" or "New Forces Arrive!", depending on how you translate the title, is the first episode of Beast Wars Second, a cel-animated series produced by Takara in 1998. They had previously brought over and translated the first season of Beast Wars, but until season two was ready, this was a stop-gap measure. It not only kept consumer interest in the toy line alive, but also allowed them to feature a number of toys that had never been included in the original Beast Wars series.
The concept for the show is that a separate team of Maximals is battling a different team of Predacons on the planet Gaia (which later turns out to be a distant future version of Earth). This Maximal team is led by Lio Convoy, who turns into a lion, and his forces consist largely of Beast Wars toys from 1997, some of them in different colors than the Hasbro versions. The Predacons are commanded by a dragon who calls himself Galvatron (one of only a handful of new toys designed specifically for BW2), and his team is mostly made up of toys from Generation 2 and Machine Wars. In some ways, this series pioneered the ideas later espoused in Beast Machines, in which the good guys are animals and the bad guys are vehicles.
As the episode opens, Convoy and his subordinate Apache (we know him as Beast Wars B'Boom) are investigating a distress signal when they're ambushed by Predacon laser fire. Elsewhere, a disguised Predacon ship arrives on planet Gaia, freaking out the local animal life forms (including one that will become important a bit later). The Predacons are after an energy source called Anglomois (a plot device which will give the Predacon characters upgraded bodies, aka new toys, later). Galvatron is barking orders, with Megastorm, his "little brother" (the G2 Megatron tank), parroting his commands until he gets bopped on the head and told to shut up. Galvatron makes it his goal to harness the energy.
On the Moon, a female named Artemis and her companion, a robotic bunny rabbit named Moon, observe the Predacons making a move for the Anglomois energy. Moon ends every sentence with the word "moon." Yo dawg, we heard you like Smurfs, so we smurfed a Smurf so you can smurf when you smurf. As guardians of Gaia, Artemis and Moon elect to summon the Maximals into action to stop the Predacons from achieving their goals. Bunny rabbits on the Moon seems to very much be ingrained in Japanese pop culture. It doesn't really have the same resonance with American audiences, but I've seen it enough times (Rabbicrater from Transformers: Zone; the lunar space bunnies in Super Mario Galaxy) to have noticed that it's a thing. Moon got a transforming toy in Japan; Artemis did not.
Wiht Convoy absent, the other Maximals are enjoying some recreational activity when their computer, Navi, alerts them to the problems on Gaia. They haven't taken their beast forms yet, so their designs are a bit different here, but they are recognizable due to their color schemes. We have Kid, who will later become Tazmania Kid, a dark brown version of Beast Wars Snarl. He's playing a chess game with Diver, a green version of Beast Wars Spittor. There's also Scuba, released in the USA as Claw Jaw. Rounding out the group is Bighorn (Beast Wars Bonecrusher), who is rather preposterously lifting weights. Because that builds robot muscles, don't you know. Not joining them today is Apache, who is quite unabashedly drunk. I'm guessing that removing Convoy and Apache from the equations allows the other main characters to fumble around a little and get in some trouble, which is good storytelling if a bit contrived. Apache does try to grab onto a tether hanging from their departure craft at the last second, but is frozen in space for his troubles. (Apache's robot head, up to this point, has been drawn a lot more like the Polar Claw toy than the B'Boom toy.)
Predacon laser fire from the planet showers the Maximal craft and it crashes. Part of the problem is that the Maximals are all arguing over who should be barking the orders. Stasis pods eject from the ship, containing the crew, before it is destroyed. Kid is the first character we see recover from the crash, having been ejected onto the planet's surface. Similar to Beast Wars, the planet's atmosphere is going to short out his robotic form until he scans a local life form and takes on its characteristics. He starts panicking and digging through his pod, unloading far more junk that could have possibly fit in there. Among the items in the pile are a baseball, teddy bears, toy airplanes, and what looks like the head of an Ultraman action figure.
He briefly considers a cheetah or bird form (and his brief daydream of himself in his new form is strongly reminiscent of Cheetor and Airazor, respectively) but when he finally prepares to scan, a Tazmanian devil gets directly into the path of his scanning beam, and this is the form he adopts. It's an interesting way of addressing the idea that this is a strange animal mode that wasn't necessarily the character's first choice.
Of course, this raises questions about why the series writers selected the toys that they did. Obviously, they didn't want there to be any overlap with Beast Wars, so they were largely limited to toys that didn't make featured appearances. Of course, given the extremely small cast in Beast Wars, that still leaves a large number of available toys. This episode introduces two aquatic forms alone (Diver and Scuba) which seems like it would really limit their storytelling options sigificantly. It's like having a team of Autobots where half of them turn into boats.
I don't know if this is the case in future episodes, but in the pilot, Kid is clearly the starring character. In some ways he was a good choice (he can crawl on all fours or walk on his hind legs and manipulate things with his front claws, making him more versatile) but the Beast Wars toy had one of the worst gimmicks (in theory, his spring-loaded tail was supposed to launch him, but since the spring was in the tail and was required to push the weight of the entire rest of the toy on launch, it was incapable of launching very far).
Kid encounters Diver, not recognizing him in his frog form at first until his robot head protrudes through his frog mouth (a function of the toy; the robot head is spring-loaded and doubles as the frog's tongue). Diver offers to take Kid across the river, but it's slow going until Scuba shows up, who seems to have a built-in outboard motor. They reconnoiter with Apache (who apparently isn't drunk anymore) and Bighorn, who have taken on a mandrill form and a buffallo, respectively. This is essentially our entire main cast of Maximals, except for Convoy.
The Predacon ship is enshrouded in a black fog, but as the Maximals approach, it reveals itself to them and they transform for battle. They're captured in a stun beam, and the Predacon team emerges. Galvatron's troops include Starscream and BB (the G2 Smokescreen and Dreadwing toys) and Thrust and Dirge (redeco versions of Machine Wars Megatron and Skywarp; the Thrust toy was yellow, but he's more green in animation). BB only says the word "roger," because he is a Battle Droid from The Phantom Menace. Naturally, Lio Convoy arrives at the last possible minute to save the day. His identity is played up as a big mystery, with everyone present during the battle wondering just who the hell he is, up to and including the Maximals. Of course, the fact that he doesn't transform to robot mode and doesn't talk to them at all isn't helping things. The Maximals chase after the mysterious unknown lion, and that's where our episode ends. Presumably, they catch up to him and he finally deigns to start speaking to them.
So, I don't know. In some ways it's cool to see toys from G2 and Beast Wars actually appear in animation, but the show doesn't really grab me. I know it's only the first episode and there's only so much storytelling they can accomplish in half an hour, but I've read that the rest of the show is a bit of a slog to sit through.
If they had brought this show over to America, it likely would have aired some time between Beast Wars and Beast Machines. The Beast Wars toys featured would only have been a couple of years old, and the G2 toys not too much older than that. I probably would have watched the show and collected the toys, but that's a reflection of my collecting style back then, not really a reflection of the show's quality or entertainment value. Sometimes it's easy to be a consumer and just open your mouth for whatever they're currently trying to force-feed you. To take a step back, analyze what you're consuming and make an informed, conscious choice about it, well... that takes a lot more thought and a lot more effort.
Things I liked: They redesigned the Maximal robot modes so they don't look like they turn into animals before they actually get their beast forms. They don't call the characters Tazmania Kid or Lio Convoy before they get their beast modes. Tazmania Kid getting his beast form by accident. The small cast of characters is reminiscent of Beast Wars. Seeing the G2 toys in animated form was cool. The cel-animated art is more pleasing to the eye than CGI.
Things I disliked: Drunken Maximals. Galvatron's perpetual Ninja Turtle grimace. The slow pacing. BB only being able to say "Roger." The comparatively limited screen time and development of the Predacon characters. The general tone of the show is pretty goofy, but the humor just isn't that funny.
Zob (ready to sink my teeth into a comfortable, familiar G1 episode next month!)
The concept for the show is that a separate team of Maximals is battling a different team of Predacons on the planet Gaia (which later turns out to be a distant future version of Earth). This Maximal team is led by Lio Convoy, who turns into a lion, and his forces consist largely of Beast Wars toys from 1997, some of them in different colors than the Hasbro versions. The Predacons are commanded by a dragon who calls himself Galvatron (one of only a handful of new toys designed specifically for BW2), and his team is mostly made up of toys from Generation 2 and Machine Wars. In some ways, this series pioneered the ideas later espoused in Beast Machines, in which the good guys are animals and the bad guys are vehicles.
As the episode opens, Convoy and his subordinate Apache (we know him as Beast Wars B'Boom) are investigating a distress signal when they're ambushed by Predacon laser fire. Elsewhere, a disguised Predacon ship arrives on planet Gaia, freaking out the local animal life forms (including one that will become important a bit later). The Predacons are after an energy source called Anglomois (a plot device which will give the Predacon characters upgraded bodies, aka new toys, later). Galvatron is barking orders, with Megastorm, his "little brother" (the G2 Megatron tank), parroting his commands until he gets bopped on the head and told to shut up. Galvatron makes it his goal to harness the energy.
On the Moon, a female named Artemis and her companion, a robotic bunny rabbit named Moon, observe the Predacons making a move for the Anglomois energy. Moon ends every sentence with the word "moon." Yo dawg, we heard you like Smurfs, so we smurfed a Smurf so you can smurf when you smurf. As guardians of Gaia, Artemis and Moon elect to summon the Maximals into action to stop the Predacons from achieving their goals. Bunny rabbits on the Moon seems to very much be ingrained in Japanese pop culture. It doesn't really have the same resonance with American audiences, but I've seen it enough times (Rabbicrater from Transformers: Zone; the lunar space bunnies in Super Mario Galaxy) to have noticed that it's a thing. Moon got a transforming toy in Japan; Artemis did not.
Wiht Convoy absent, the other Maximals are enjoying some recreational activity when their computer, Navi, alerts them to the problems on Gaia. They haven't taken their beast forms yet, so their designs are a bit different here, but they are recognizable due to their color schemes. We have Kid, who will later become Tazmania Kid, a dark brown version of Beast Wars Snarl. He's playing a chess game with Diver, a green version of Beast Wars Spittor. There's also Scuba, released in the USA as Claw Jaw. Rounding out the group is Bighorn (Beast Wars Bonecrusher), who is rather preposterously lifting weights. Because that builds robot muscles, don't you know. Not joining them today is Apache, who is quite unabashedly drunk. I'm guessing that removing Convoy and Apache from the equations allows the other main characters to fumble around a little and get in some trouble, which is good storytelling if a bit contrived. Apache does try to grab onto a tether hanging from their departure craft at the last second, but is frozen in space for his troubles. (Apache's robot head, up to this point, has been drawn a lot more like the Polar Claw toy than the B'Boom toy.)
Predacon laser fire from the planet showers the Maximal craft and it crashes. Part of the problem is that the Maximals are all arguing over who should be barking the orders. Stasis pods eject from the ship, containing the crew, before it is destroyed. Kid is the first character we see recover from the crash, having been ejected onto the planet's surface. Similar to Beast Wars, the planet's atmosphere is going to short out his robotic form until he scans a local life form and takes on its characteristics. He starts panicking and digging through his pod, unloading far more junk that could have possibly fit in there. Among the items in the pile are a baseball, teddy bears, toy airplanes, and what looks like the head of an Ultraman action figure.
He briefly considers a cheetah or bird form (and his brief daydream of himself in his new form is strongly reminiscent of Cheetor and Airazor, respectively) but when he finally prepares to scan, a Tazmanian devil gets directly into the path of his scanning beam, and this is the form he adopts. It's an interesting way of addressing the idea that this is a strange animal mode that wasn't necessarily the character's first choice.
Of course, this raises questions about why the series writers selected the toys that they did. Obviously, they didn't want there to be any overlap with Beast Wars, so they were largely limited to toys that didn't make featured appearances. Of course, given the extremely small cast in Beast Wars, that still leaves a large number of available toys. This episode introduces two aquatic forms alone (Diver and Scuba) which seems like it would really limit their storytelling options sigificantly. It's like having a team of Autobots where half of them turn into boats.
I don't know if this is the case in future episodes, but in the pilot, Kid is clearly the starring character. In some ways he was a good choice (he can crawl on all fours or walk on his hind legs and manipulate things with his front claws, making him more versatile) but the Beast Wars toy had one of the worst gimmicks (in theory, his spring-loaded tail was supposed to launch him, but since the spring was in the tail and was required to push the weight of the entire rest of the toy on launch, it was incapable of launching very far).
Kid encounters Diver, not recognizing him in his frog form at first until his robot head protrudes through his frog mouth (a function of the toy; the robot head is spring-loaded and doubles as the frog's tongue). Diver offers to take Kid across the river, but it's slow going until Scuba shows up, who seems to have a built-in outboard motor. They reconnoiter with Apache (who apparently isn't drunk anymore) and Bighorn, who have taken on a mandrill form and a buffallo, respectively. This is essentially our entire main cast of Maximals, except for Convoy.
The Predacon ship is enshrouded in a black fog, but as the Maximals approach, it reveals itself to them and they transform for battle. They're captured in a stun beam, and the Predacon team emerges. Galvatron's troops include Starscream and BB (the G2 Smokescreen and Dreadwing toys) and Thrust and Dirge (redeco versions of Machine Wars Megatron and Skywarp; the Thrust toy was yellow, but he's more green in animation). BB only says the word "roger," because he is a Battle Droid from The Phantom Menace. Naturally, Lio Convoy arrives at the last possible minute to save the day. His identity is played up as a big mystery, with everyone present during the battle wondering just who the hell he is, up to and including the Maximals. Of course, the fact that he doesn't transform to robot mode and doesn't talk to them at all isn't helping things. The Maximals chase after the mysterious unknown lion, and that's where our episode ends. Presumably, they catch up to him and he finally deigns to start speaking to them.
So, I don't know. In some ways it's cool to see toys from G2 and Beast Wars actually appear in animation, but the show doesn't really grab me. I know it's only the first episode and there's only so much storytelling they can accomplish in half an hour, but I've read that the rest of the show is a bit of a slog to sit through.
If they had brought this show over to America, it likely would have aired some time between Beast Wars and Beast Machines. The Beast Wars toys featured would only have been a couple of years old, and the G2 toys not too much older than that. I probably would have watched the show and collected the toys, but that's a reflection of my collecting style back then, not really a reflection of the show's quality or entertainment value. Sometimes it's easy to be a consumer and just open your mouth for whatever they're currently trying to force-feed you. To take a step back, analyze what you're consuming and make an informed, conscious choice about it, well... that takes a lot more thought and a lot more effort.
Things I liked: They redesigned the Maximal robot modes so they don't look like they turn into animals before they actually get their beast forms. They don't call the characters Tazmania Kid or Lio Convoy before they get their beast modes. Tazmania Kid getting his beast form by accident. The small cast of characters is reminiscent of Beast Wars. Seeing the G2 toys in animated form was cool. The cel-animated art is more pleasing to the eye than CGI.
Things I disliked: Drunken Maximals. Galvatron's perpetual Ninja Turtle grimace. The slow pacing. BB only being able to say "Roger." The comparatively limited screen time and development of the Predacon characters. The general tone of the show is pretty goofy, but the humor just isn't that funny.
Zob (ready to sink my teeth into a comfortable, familiar G1 episode next month!)
New and Improved Zobovor
Oct 16, 2017, 11:46:05 PM10/16/17
to
On Sunday, October 15, 2017 at 3:27:56 PM UTC-6, New and Improved Zobovor wrote:
<snip>
...So I was really the only one that watched this?
Zob (typical)
<snip>
...So I was really the only one that watched this?
Zob (typical)
Travoltron
Oct 17, 2017, 8:58:06 PM10/17/17
to
On 10/16/2017 8:46 PM, New and Improved Zobovor wrote:
> ...So I was really the only one that watched this?
I've seen it before several times. Hopefully you're watching the Karyudo
> ...So I was really the only one that watched this?
fansub. Those guys are great and sometimes I help them out with quality
control.
Back when BWII was announced, to be animated by Production Reed, I was
very excited. This was the studio that did the amazing Machine Robo
anime series.
There was some rage from the perpetually outraged babies that used to
congregate here that the Japanese would dare make their own Beast Wars
show. It was like it was blasphemous or something. I told them that this
new show would blow away the clunky CGI of the Canadian one.
Well, the Japanese economy crashed in the '90s and the animation
industry was never the same. This 1998 show cut every corner it could.
They outsourced their BWII animation to Korea, China, Taiwan, and
Indonesia. And it really showed. Often times it reminded me of the AKOM
episodes of Transformers or the Wang Studios animation of GoBots.
I was sorely disappointed once I finally saw it, months later. I had to
pay $30+ per VHS tape when importing the show. I eventually gave up.
Later when I lived in Japan, I rented the whole series and bootlegged it
all.
The animation in the BWII Movie was done by another company and was
actually competent.
New and Improved Zobovor
Oct 17, 2017, 9:37:14 PM10/17/17
to
On Tuesday, October 17, 2017 at 6:58:06 PM UTC-6, Travoltron wrote:
> I've seen it before several times. Hopefully you're watching the Karyudo
> fansub.
There are two versions that Rodimus_2316 posted links to, a subtitled version and an English-language dubbed version. I watched them both, just to see how differently they translated them.
> I've seen it before several times. Hopefully you're watching the Karyudo
> fansub.
> There was some rage from the perpetually outraged babies that used to
> congregate here that the Japanese would dare make their own Beast Wars
> show. It was like it was blasphemous or something.
> Well, the Japanese economy crashed in the '90s and the animation
> industry was never the same. This 1998 show cut every corner it could.
Rougher, cheaper animation doesn't suffer from this "problem." I think there are fewer hands in the pot and fewer revisions. It's illustrating in a much more raw, less refined state. And I find it more interesting. There's more individual flair. In your average Disney animated feature, there really aren't too many objectively "good" or "bad" drawings of the characters. They're all pretty homogenous. Not so with Transformers. There are plenty of examples of truly horrible art that represents the characters poorly. But, that pendulum swings the other way. There are also examples of really striking, dynamic artwork that shows a lot of creativity and style. Moments like this are my favorites to discover because they're such a delightful surprise.
This is, incidentally, why CGI bores me most of the time. You've seen the 3D puppet once and then that's all you get to see. There are no different artists interpreting the character. It's just a model being dragged across the screen like a marionette.
I don't think people realized one of the reasons Toy Story was so successful was because it was about dead, lifeless toys. CGI was the perfect medium to convey that story because the faces of action figures and dolls don't emote. Then, people went "Oh, you can do entire movies in CGI now? Okay!" and proceeded to tell stories like Shrek and Ice Age. Certain characters lend themselves to the format better than others. Wall-E and Cars were fine because they're all machinery. The people from The Polar Express, on the other hand, look like cadavers.
Zob (has strong opinions about things and stuff)
Rodimus_2316
Oct 19, 2017, 2:02:35 PM10/19/17
to
On Sunday, October 15, 2017 at 2:27:56 PM UTC-7, New and Improved Zobovor wrote:
> "The Birth of a New Army" or "New Forces Arrive!", depending on how you translate the title, is the first episode of Beast Wars Second, a cel-animated series produced by Takara in 1998. They had previously brought over and translated the first season of Beast Wars, but until season two was ready, this was a stop-gap measure. It not only kept consumer interest in the toy line alive, but also allowed them to feature a number of toys that had never been included in the original Beast Wars series.
>
> The concept for the show is that a separate team of Maximals is battling a different team of Predacons on the planet Gaia (which later turns out to be a distant future version of Earth). This Maximal team is led by Lio Convoy, who turns into a lion, and his forces consist largely of Beast Wars toys from 1997, some of them in different colors than the Hasbro versions. The Predacons are commanded by a dragon who calls himself Galvatron (one of only a handful of new toys designed specifically for BW2), and his team is mostly made up of toys from Generation 2 and Machine Wars. In some ways, this series pioneered the ideas later espoused in Beast Machines, in which the good guys are animals and the bad guys are vehicles.
>
> As the episode opens, Convoy and his subordinate Apache (we know him as Beast Wars B'Boom) are investigating a distress signal when they're ambushed by Predacon laser fire. Elsewhere, a disguised Predacon ship arrives on planet Gaia, freaking out the local animal life forms (including one that will become important a bit later). The Predacons are after an energy source called Anglomois (a plot device which will give the Predacon characters upgraded bodies, aka new toys, later). Galvatron is barking orders, with Megastorm, his "little brother" (the G2 Megatron tank), parroting his commands until he gets bopped on the head and told to shut up. Galvatron makes it his goal to harness the energy.
>
> On the Moon, a female named Artemis and her companion, a robotic bunny rabbit named Moon, observe the Predacons making a move for the Anglomois energy. Moon ends every sentence with the word "moon." Yo dawg, we heard you like Smurfs, so we smurfed a Smurf so you can smurf when you smurf. As guardians of Gaia, Artemis and Moon elect to summon the Maximals into action to stop the Predacons from achieving their goals. Bunny rabbits on the Moon seems to very much be ingrained in Japanese pop culture. It doesn't really have the same resonance with American audiences, but I've seen it enough times (Rabbicrater from Transformers: Zone; the lunar space bunnies in Super Mario Galaxy) to have noticed that it's a thing. Moon got a transforming toy in Japan; Artemis did not.
Why did Artemis hit Moon on the head with a hammer? For getting too excited? Comic relief?
> "The Birth of a New Army" or "New Forces Arrive!", depending on how you translate the title, is the first episode of Beast Wars Second, a cel-animated series produced by Takara in 1998. They had previously brought over and translated the first season of Beast Wars, but until season two was ready, this was a stop-gap measure. It not only kept consumer interest in the toy line alive, but also allowed them to feature a number of toys that had never been included in the original Beast Wars series.
>
> The concept for the show is that a separate team of Maximals is battling a different team of Predacons on the planet Gaia (which later turns out to be a distant future version of Earth). This Maximal team is led by Lio Convoy, who turns into a lion, and his forces consist largely of Beast Wars toys from 1997, some of them in different colors than the Hasbro versions. The Predacons are commanded by a dragon who calls himself Galvatron (one of only a handful of new toys designed specifically for BW2), and his team is mostly made up of toys from Generation 2 and Machine Wars. In some ways, this series pioneered the ideas later espoused in Beast Machines, in which the good guys are animals and the bad guys are vehicles.
>
> As the episode opens, Convoy and his subordinate Apache (we know him as Beast Wars B'Boom) are investigating a distress signal when they're ambushed by Predacon laser fire. Elsewhere, a disguised Predacon ship arrives on planet Gaia, freaking out the local animal life forms (including one that will become important a bit later). The Predacons are after an energy source called Anglomois (a plot device which will give the Predacon characters upgraded bodies, aka new toys, later). Galvatron is barking orders, with Megastorm, his "little brother" (the G2 Megatron tank), parroting his commands until he gets bopped on the head and told to shut up. Galvatron makes it his goal to harness the energy.
>
> On the Moon, a female named Artemis and her companion, a robotic bunny rabbit named Moon, observe the Predacons making a move for the Anglomois energy. Moon ends every sentence with the word "moon." Yo dawg, we heard you like Smurfs, so we smurfed a Smurf so you can smurf when you smurf. As guardians of Gaia, Artemis and Moon elect to summon the Maximals into action to stop the Predacons from achieving their goals. Bunny rabbits on the Moon seems to very much be ingrained in Japanese pop culture. It doesn't really have the same resonance with American audiences, but I've seen it enough times (Rabbicrater from Transformers: Zone; the lunar space bunnies in Super Mario Galaxy) to have noticed that it's a thing. Moon got a transforming toy in Japan; Artemis did not.
> With Convoy absent, the other Maximals are enjoying some recreational activity when their computer, Navi, alerts them to the problems on Gaia. They haven't taken their beast forms yet, so their designs are a bit different here, but they are recognizable due to their color schemes. We have Kid, who will later become Tazmania Kid, a dark brown version of Beast Wars Snarl. He's playing a chess game with Diver, a green version of Beast Wars Spittor. There's also Scuba, released in the USA as Claw Jaw. Rounding out the group is Bighorn (Beast Wars Bonecrusher), who is rather preposterously lifting weights. Because that builds robot muscles, don't you know. Not joining them today is Apache, who is quite unabashedly drunk. I'm guessing that removing Convoy and Apache from the equations allows the other main characters to fumble around a little and get in some trouble, which is good storytelling if a bit contrived. Apache does try to grab onto a tether hanging from their departure craft at the last second, but is frozen in space for his troubles. (Apache's robot head, up to this point, has been drawn a lot more like the Polar Claw toy than the B'Boom toy.)
>
> Predacon laser fire from the planet showers the Maximal craft and it crashes. Part of the problem is that the Maximals are all arguing over who should be barking the orders. Stasis pods eject from the ship, containing the crew, before it is destroyed. Kid is the first character we see recover from the crash, having been ejected onto the planet's surface. Similar to Beast Wars, the planet's atmosphere is going to short out his robotic form until he scans a local life form and takes on its characteristics. He starts panicking and digging through his pod, unloading far more junk that could have possibly fit in there. Among the items in the pile are a baseball, teddy bears, toy airplanes, and what looks like the head of an Ultraman action figure.
Gaia shooting lasers at the Maximal ship reminds me of the post-BW scene on BMac, from Rhinox's memories, where they came out of transwarp-space, and were attacked by BW Megatron from Cybertron. Maybe the writer of that BMac ep used that idea there?
> Predacon laser fire from the planet showers the Maximal craft and it crashes. Part of the problem is that the Maximals are all arguing over who should be barking the orders. Stasis pods eject from the ship, containing the crew, before it is destroyed. Kid is the first character we see recover from the crash, having been ejected onto the planet's surface. Similar to Beast Wars, the planet's atmosphere is going to short out his robotic form until he scans a local life form and takes on its characteristics. He starts panicking and digging through his pod, unloading far more junk that could have possibly fit in there. Among the items in the pile are a baseball, teddy bears, toy airplanes, and what looks like the head of an Ultraman action figure.
> He briefly considers a cheetah or bird form (and his brief daydream of himself in his new form is strongly reminiscent of Cheetor and Airazor, respectively) but when he finally prepares to scan, a Tazmanian devil gets directly into the path of his scanning beam, and this is the form he adopts. It's an interesting way of addressing the idea that this is a strange animal mode that wasn't necessarily the character's first choice.
> Of course, this raises questions about why the series writers selected the toys that they did. Obviously, they didn't want there to be any overlap with Beast Wars, so they were largely limited to toys that didn't make featured appearances. Of course, given the extremely small cast in Beast Wars, that still leaves a large number of available toys. This episode introduces two aquatic forms alone (Diver and Scuba) which seems like it would really limit their storytelling options significantly. It's like having a team of Autobots where half of them turn into boats.
>
> I don't know if this is the case in future episodes, but in the pilot, Kid is clearly the starring character. In some ways he was a good choice (he can crawl on all fours or walk on his hind legs and manipulate things with his front claws, making him more versatile) but the Beast Wars toy had one of the worst gimmicks (in theory, his spring-loaded tail was supposed to launch him, but since the spring was in the tail and was required to push the weight of the entire rest of the toy on launch, it was incapable of launching very far).
>
> Kid encounters Diver, not recognizing him in his frog form at first until his robot head protrudes through his frog mouth (a function of the toy; the robot head is spring-loaded and doubles as the frog's tongue). Diver offers to take Kid across the river, but it's slow going until Scuba shows up, who seems to have a built-in outboard motor. They reconnoiter with Apache (who apparently isn't drunk anymore) and Bighorn, who have taken on a mandrill form and a buffallo, respectively. This is essentially our entire main cast of Maximals, except for Convoy.
>
> The Predacon ship is enshrouded in a black fog, but as the Maximals approach, it reveals itself to them and they transform for battle. They're captured in a stun beam, and the Predacon team emerges. Galvatron's troops include Starscream and BB (the G2 Smokescreen and Dreadwing toys) and Thrust and Dirge (redeco versions of Machine Wars Megatron and Skywarp; the Thrust toy was yellow, but he's more green in animation). BB only says the word "roger," because he is a Battle Droid from The Phantom Menace. Naturally, Lio Convoy arrives at the last possible minute to save the day. His identity is played up as a big mystery, with everyone present during the battle wondering just who the hell he is, up to and including the Maximals. Of course, the fact that he doesn't transform to robot mode and doesn't talk to them at all isn't helping things. The Maximals chase after the mysterious unknown lion, and that's where our episode ends. Presumably, they catch up to him and he finally deigns to start speaking to them.
>
> So, I don't know. In some ways it's cool to see toys from G2 and Beast Wars actually appear in animation, but the show doesn't really grab me. I know it's only the first episode and there's only so much storytelling they can accomplish in half an hour, but I've read that the rest of the show is a bit of a slog to sit through.
>
> If they had brought this show over to America, it likely would have aired some time between Beast Wars and Beast Machines. The Beast Wars toys featured would only have been a couple of years old, and the G2 toys not too much older than that. I probably would have watched the show and collected the toys, but that's a reflection of my collecting style back then, not really a reflection of the show's quality or entertainment value. Sometimes it's easy to be a consumer and just open your mouth for whatever they're currently trying to force-feed you. To take a step back, analyze what you're consuming and make an informed, conscious choice about it, well... that takes a lot more thought and a lot more effort.
Can't help wondering why this show wasn't dubbed to the U.S.
> I don't know if this is the case in future episodes, but in the pilot, Kid is clearly the starring character. In some ways he was a good choice (he can crawl on all fours or walk on his hind legs and manipulate things with his front claws, making him more versatile) but the Beast Wars toy had one of the worst gimmicks (in theory, his spring-loaded tail was supposed to launch him, but since the spring was in the tail and was required to push the weight of the entire rest of the toy on launch, it was incapable of launching very far).
>
> Kid encounters Diver, not recognizing him in his frog form at first until his robot head protrudes through his frog mouth (a function of the toy; the robot head is spring-loaded and doubles as the frog's tongue). Diver offers to take Kid across the river, but it's slow going until Scuba shows up, who seems to have a built-in outboard motor. They reconnoiter with Apache (who apparently isn't drunk anymore) and Bighorn, who have taken on a mandrill form and a buffallo, respectively. This is essentially our entire main cast of Maximals, except for Convoy.
>
> The Predacon ship is enshrouded in a black fog, but as the Maximals approach, it reveals itself to them and they transform for battle. They're captured in a stun beam, and the Predacon team emerges. Galvatron's troops include Starscream and BB (the G2 Smokescreen and Dreadwing toys) and Thrust and Dirge (redeco versions of Machine Wars Megatron and Skywarp; the Thrust toy was yellow, but he's more green in animation). BB only says the word "roger," because he is a Battle Droid from The Phantom Menace. Naturally, Lio Convoy arrives at the last possible minute to save the day. His identity is played up as a big mystery, with everyone present during the battle wondering just who the hell he is, up to and including the Maximals. Of course, the fact that he doesn't transform to robot mode and doesn't talk to them at all isn't helping things. The Maximals chase after the mysterious unknown lion, and that's where our episode ends. Presumably, they catch up to him and he finally deigns to start speaking to them.
>
> So, I don't know. In some ways it's cool to see toys from G2 and Beast Wars actually appear in animation, but the show doesn't really grab me. I know it's only the first episode and there's only so much storytelling they can accomplish in half an hour, but I've read that the rest of the show is a bit of a slog to sit through.
>
> If they had brought this show over to America, it likely would have aired some time between Beast Wars and Beast Machines. The Beast Wars toys featured would only have been a couple of years old, and the G2 toys not too much older than that. I probably would have watched the show and collected the toys, but that's a reflection of my collecting style back then, not really a reflection of the show's quality or entertainment value. Sometimes it's easy to be a consumer and just open your mouth for whatever they're currently trying to force-feed you. To take a step back, analyze what you're consuming and make an informed, conscious choice about it, well... that takes a lot more thought and a lot more effort.
> Things I liked: They redesigned the Maximal robot modes so they don't look like they turn into animals before they actually get their beast forms. They don't call the characters Tazmania Kid or Lio Convoy before they get their beast modes. Tazmania Kid getting his beast form by accident. The small cast of characters is reminiscent of Beast Wars. Seeing the G2 toys in animated form was cool. The cel-animated art is more pleasing to the eye than CGI.
>
> Things I disliked: Drunken Maximals. Galvatron's perpetual Ninja Turtle grimace. The slow pacing. BB only being able to say "Roger." The comparatively limited screen time and development of the Predacon characters. The general tone of the show is pretty goofy, but the humor just isn't that funny.
>
>
> Zob (ready to sink my teeth into a comfortable, familiar G1 episode next month!)
Questions:
How is it that the Maximals are vulnerable to the atmosphere, thus needing beast forms, but the Predacons aren't? Does the Anglomois energy come to protect them from it by giving them their upgraded bodies? Hope that's explained.
How could this be made to fit with it's inclusion to the IDW BW comics (Gathering & Ascending)?
Could Lio Convoy really be G1 Convoy?
Would like to know if Artemis or Moon can actually transform on the show in future eps.
I'll keep watching this on my own and see what the rest is like.
- Rodimus_2316
Travoltron
Oct 19, 2017, 6:48:45 PM10/19/17
to
On 10/19/2017 11:02 AM, Rodimus_2316 wrote:
> if Artemis or Moon can actually transform
Moon can transform. On the show, IIRC, he had to transform into robot
> if Artemis or Moon can actually transform
mode if he wanted to leave the moon and interact with the Transformers.
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