UK Super-God Masterforce DVD review
Chris McFeely
Cert: PG
Dir: Tetsuo Imazawa
Starring: Hiroshi Takemura, Keiichi Noda, Katsuji Mori, Hidekatsu
Shibata
FEATURE
Released in 1988, Transformers: Super-God Masterforce is the second
Japanese-exclusive Transformers animated series, and hence the second
instalment in Metrodome's "Takara Series" of boxsets, finally
released today (July 3rd), nearly a year after its predecessor,
Transformers: Headmasters.
Although set in the same continuity as the previous Transformers
cartoons, there is a very clear effort by head writer Masumi Kaneda to
make a "fresh start" with Masterforce - whereas Headmasters
followed directly on from the third American season, using older
characters and introducing new ones, allowing them to interact before
pushing the old aside, Masterforce is all new from the get-go. Set a
few years after the conclusion of Headmasters, the Autobot and
Decepticon armies are currently warring in space, and while Earth
appears to have left the conflict at last, a group of Autobot
Pretenders remain in residence on the planet, using their powers of
disguise to hide in plain sight as human beings. The Pretenders, led by
Metalhawk (Mori) have been hidden this way for thousands of years,
quietly guiding the evolution of human society, but in the modern day,
when their formerly-defeated Decepticon foes suddenly reappear in the
service of the mysterious entity, Devil Z (Shibata), the Autobots are
forced to return to battle once more. But this is merely the beginning
of a new kind of Transformer war... in which human beings themselves
must rise to the defence of their own planet as it comes under attack
from their own kind. Imbued with the power of the Masterforce, groups
of young people find themselves drawn into the conflict on both sides,
merging their minds and bodies with Transtectors to become Transformers
themselves, leading to the creation of the most powerful super-robot
lifeform yet - the Godmasters!
The vast majority of toys released in the Masterforce line also graced
toy shelves in the west in 1988, albeit some with altered colour
schemes, but the characters, concepts and storylines behind them were
often wildly different - most specifically, the Headmasters and
Powermasters, who became the "Headmaster Juniors" and
"Godmasters" in Japan. While the head and engine components of
these toys were aliens from the planet Nebulos who bonded with
Transformers in western fiction, in Japan, they are human beings, and
- just as the small robots that form the heads in Headmasters were
the only mind involved in that process - these humans are the only
minds involved here. Although true robots are in no way in short supply
in Masterforce, human beings dominate the series, which is immediately
off-putting to fans who are... well, I don't want to say
"close-minded," but I honestly can't think of another word. The
recent preponderance of scene-stealing humans in modern Transformers
cartoons has engendered a deep dislike of the presence of fleshlings in
the minds of some Transfans, so Masterforce immediately sounds like
anathema to them. In some ways, though, I feel this stems from a
misconception that these human beings in some way "pilot" the
robots from a "Rebirth"-like cockpit, in some sort of "Power
Rangers" style, but this is not accurate - the humans merge
absolutely with the Transtectors. They ARE the Transtectors. They ARE
Transformers. The Transformers in Masterforce are as alive as in any
other series - it is just that the soul within them is that of a
being from Earth, not Cybertron.
It would be pointless to deny, however, that as the series progresses
and more Godmasters are introduced that they DO begin to steal the show
away from the Pretenders, who are sadly left to languish on the
sidelines, receiving no real focus in the latter portion of the series.
What makes this especially disappointing is that they're all really
good characters. Well, except maybe Phoenix, he does very little in
general, you don't get a good sense of him as a character. But the
other Pretenders are all particularly well characterised and enjoyable
to watch in the series - so to see colourful individuals like
ladies-man Lander and arrogant Dauros shoved to the sidelines in favour
of personality-free non-characters like Ranger and Road King is grating
at the best of times.
In a way, Ginrai (Takemura) epitomises this shift from quality
characters to bland ones on his own - we are introduced to him as a
loner, a Japanese emigrant who moved to America to work as a trucker
due to the solitary nature of the job. When he suddenly finds himself
with a Transtector, he faces some tough choices that really shake up
the way he views and treats his life, and the progression of the
character makes for good viewing. However, when he is suddenly (even
arbitrarily) appointed leader of the Autobots, he immediately falls
into the same group as most other Japanese-written Autobot leaders -
the complete and total cardboard cut-out. Say what you will about
Optimus Prime, but while he might have been a by-the-numbers leader, he
had a gentleness and sense of humour that distinguished him. Japanese
Autobot leaders... do not. Indeed, A LOT of Japanese-written Autobots
fall into this stiff, generic soldier cookie-cutter archetype, always
speaking in very formal sentences and using titles for their comrades
(Victory is especially bad for this), which was simply not the way
things were done in the US G1 series. But, anyway, I'm getting off
the point... Ginrai suddenly shifts from being an unwilling combatant,
shedding his personality and falling into this stiff military cut-out
group, droning on endlessly about the "beauty of the blue Earth"
and the "wonder in the soul of humanity" and all that other flowery
rubbish. When he explains the power of mankind to Sixknight before his
promotion to commander, his words ring true... in his role as
commander, he simply goes on about it so much that it loses meaning.
In stark contrast to this, however, the Decepticon Overlord (Noda),
moves in precisely the OPPOSITE direction. When we are introduced to
them, and for much of their role in the series, Giga and Mega - the
two humans who form Overlord - come across as little more than
depth-free cackling super-villains (there is some attempt to cast them
in a "mother and father" role to the other Decepticons, but it is
scarcely touched). Then, slowly, another side of their characters is
explored - as Devil Z's hatred of humanity comes out and he desires
the extermination of the race, Giga and Mega reveal their own desire to
CELEBRATE their humanity, adding a new dimension to their characters
and actions that makes you appreciate them in a new way, unexpected so
late in the series. And when THEY advocate the qualities of humanity,
for some reason, the concept seems much more palatable than when
post-promotion Ginrai launches into his little speeches.
Throughout all this, the constants are most definitely the Headmaster
Juniors of both factions. They are the heart of the show, the young
characters with whom the kids at home can identify, but who are not
limited to cheering on the sidelines - they truly enter the battles,
and fight for their own reasons and goals, with their own hang-ups and
limitations. While on the one hand, you really feel that you get to
know the kids, at the same time, the situation that Cancer of the
Decepticons is placed in as the series progresses leaves you unsure of
how he will act, and how his story - and by extension, that of his
fellow Decepticon Juniors - will resolve itself. Although the basic
outcome is not shocking or unpredictable, it is the individual,
emotional character-based reactions that keep things at their most
interesting.
Masterforce's story is in a constant state of moving forward -
while Headmasters lacked any real sense of an ultimate direction,
operating instead in a series of small bunches of episodes that reached
their own resolutions before carrying the story on in a different
direction, Masterforce is a story that begins with a smattering of
single-episode stories, gradually introducing the cast members, then
carrying on gradually into a building story arc that, in truth, has
rather begun before you even realise it. While it is the halfway mark
of the series which truly marks the beginning of the greater story
which runs to the conclusion of the show, everything that has gone
before has assembled the players and established concepts, questions
and conflicts that play important parts and contribute all the way up
to the end. It does, on occasion, hurt itself through an unusual
failing - a total failure to explain, in-story, some of the most
important concepts of the series, such as the origin of the Godmaster
Transtectors and what Devil Z is. These were later dealt with in a clip
episode produced for video, but the fact that they could not work them
into the show is baffling - made all the worse by the fact that the
one origin story the show DOES offer for the Godmasters is the
contorted version served up by Giga, filled with the lies and
half-truths told to him by Devil Z. The audio commentary on the set,
however, deals heavily in these and other untouched concepts, hopefully
helping to clarify as much as possible for the viewers.
On the audio side of things, Masterforce is also easily the superior of
Headmasters - whereas in that series, the limited range of
characterisation left many characters sounding overly similar and
uninteresting (excepting Banjo Ginga's sinister Zarak), the cast of
Masterforce, or at least those members that are well defined (lookin'
at you, Ranger, Road King), distinguish themselves well with unique,
well-chosen voices that stand out amongst each other. The background
music, meanwhile, starts out sounding like recycled Headmasters, but
soon develops its own tunes and style, and whereas Headmasters had a
grand total of two insert songs, which were barely distinguishable from
each other, Masterforce has twice that number, each quite unique, from
the gentle melody of "We Believe Tomorrow" to my personal
favourite, the energetic, pumping "Super Ginrai's Theme."
In summary, if it wasn't obvious, Super-God Masterforce really is a
top-quality show. Although some characters have trouble sustaining
themselves, or being sustained by the story, throughout the show, and
the approach may be too "Japanese" for fans to traditional western
animation to take (the animation, incidentally, is entirely
anime-styled at this point, and of a consistently good quality), the
depth of story, concept and character puts it head-and-shoulders above
a goodly-sized chunk of other TF fiction. It is a terrible pity, then,
that its wildly different and unusual approach leaves it as a series
that is... well, heck, even Masumi Kaneda fully admits that, if you
were basically to remove "Autobot" and "Decepticon" from the
script, you would have a show that is BARELY Transformers. It is
disheartening that this is likely to dissuade a certain type of fan,
leaving them deprived of one of the better animated series under the
Transformers banner. It is, by a wide margin, certainly the best
Japanese-written Transformers series there is.
DISC SPECS
In a surprise move, this five-disc set has turned out to be Region 2
- not region free, as previously expected, given that Headmasters
was. So any Americans wanting to play this will require a multi-region
DVD player.
The 42 episodes of the series are split across the discs in groups of
8, 9, 8, 9 and 8, with one audio track - the original Japanese -
and accompanying English subtitles. The infamous "StarTV" English
dub is NOT included on this set for reasons of cost.
The subtitles will be essentially familiar to some fans, as the
translations are the work of Jordan "Buster Darkwings" Derber and
previously appeared on TV-Nihon's online fansubs of the series. They
are not EXACTLY the same, however, having been modified by my hand in
certain ways - although the characters have retained their Japanese
names throughout (don't worry, Ginrai's not Optimus Prime!), the
western "Autobot" and "Decepticon" terms have been used to
promote familiarity and continuity with previous releases (and hardly
ill-fitting, as the word "Decepticon" actually appears in text in
the animation at one point). Additional changes include the removal of
the vast majority of explanatory notes (a few still remain, as does the
dual-language format of subs for the assorted songs in the series), and
general Anglicisation of the text - replacing the various untranslated
curses from the original subs (Onore, yatsu-ra, kisama, etc) and
amending the text to English spellings. Even as I observe the subs once
more while writing this review, though, I see that a few American
spellings have slipped through the cracks - I never professed to be a
talented proof-reader, and I guess my frequent exposure to Yank
spellings through my regular Inter-nettery blinded me to a few. I doubt
they'll prove in anyway distracting, and it merely serves to
galvanise me to do a better job on Victory.
The video of the episodes are not remastered in any way, but are still
perfectly watchable. They are complete this time around, with all
pre-title-card sequences (which is an especially good thing, as all
Masterforce episodes have them, and they are essential parts of the
stories), and all next-episode previews.
PACKAGING AND PACK-INS
(Although his review is based on the unpackaged check discs, since
I've yet to get my finished packaged copies, this description should
be accurate.)
The discs are mounted on a card tray, decorated with re-drawn
screenshots from the series, with the discs themselves forming parts of
the background images. The tray folds up to slide inside a cardboard
sleeve, designed in the same style as the Headmasters set with the
"Takara Collection" and original Japanese series logo - the cover
depicts God Ginrai and Overlord clashing in the centre, with Grand
Maximus, BlackZarak and Devil Z in the background while Metalhawk and
the Autobot and Decepticon Headmaster Juniors (in human form) run
across the bottom. The art is the work of fellow Irishman Nick Roche, a
name that will be familiar to members of the UK fan community as a
regular artist for the Transmasters group, convention magazines and
more - US fans are getting exposure to Nick's work through his
covers to IDW's Transformers Generations, and he'll be pencilling
the upcoming Spotlight series of one-shots.
Nick's illustration also adorns the cover of the accompanying 16-page
booklet, written by me. An introduction to the series and a quick table
to explain which western character corresponds to which Masterforce
character kicks things off, and the rest of the booklet contains an
episode guide for the series (separated out per disc this time).
SPECIAL FEATURES
As with Headmasters before it, Masterforce is light on extras - the
only features included are three audio commentaries on episodes 1, 27
and 35. Once again, as on Headmasters, I am the commentary voice, and
I'm really very happy with these ones, if I do say so myself.
They're wall-to-wall chatter - I'm never stuck for anything to
say, and Masterforce is a series with plenty to talk about, thanks to
articles that have found their way online like the interview with
Masumi Kaneda from the Japanese Transformers: Generations book. Episode
1 covers Pretenders, Seacons and other basic series concepts, episode
27 is mainly about Japanese-exclusive toys, and episode 35 is about
Godmasters and "everything else." I think - I hope, at least -
that these will actually prove informative even to Transfans -
although I think I sound a bit too "earnest" in my manner of speech
sometimes, and I did goof my words up a couple of times, saying
"season" where I meant "episode" once, calling Dreadwind and
Darkwing "Pretenders" instead of "Powermasters," and mixing the
mispronounced "Devil ZEE" (damn my Sesame Street upbringing!) and
"Gin-RAY" (should be "Gin-RYE") in with the correct way.
Y'all can ignore the bit where I gripe about how much I want an
Overlord, though, since I got m'self one last week. Hurray!
Nick's illustration gets a little more mileage as part of the Extras
menu, bolstered with pieces of background music from the series. The
main menu itself plays "Burn! Transformer," the show's closing
theme, though it's got a very basic design with a slightly misplaced
"Volume 2," which refers to its place in the Takara Collection, but
which made me think I'd just put the second disc in the first time I
saw it. The set's easter egg, however, offers you an opportunity to
see another way it could have been - on any of the five discs, go to
the extras menu, highlight "main menu," and on discs 1, 3 and 5,
press right twice, and on discs 2 and 4, press left twice. This
activates the egg, which is a string of alternate menu designs -
which, quite frankly, I prefer!
And that, chaps and chappettes, is Super-God Masterforce - a UK
release of a Japanese version of an American concept, translated by an
American living in Japan with contributions by two Irish blokes. You
couldn't get any more multi-cultural if you tried. :)
And now, a little reward for enduring the last four pages - Nick
Roche's cover art for the third and final Takara Collection boxset,
Transformers: Victory, due out in two short months, this September!
http://img417.imageshack.us/my.php?image=victoryb7tv.jpg
- - -
Chris
bar...@shentel.net
Chris McFeely wrote:
> TRANSFORMERS: SUPER-GOD MASTERFORCE
>
Actually I think that might be the problem. If you can turn humans
into Transformers then what do you need alien Transformers for? So in
fact it would be the equivalent if the human characters in the recent
shows were turned into Transformers mid show.
JLB
SteveD
>
>Chris McFeely wrote:
>> TRANSFORMERS: SUPER-GOD MASTERFORCE
[snipped]
>Actually I think that might be the problem. If you can turn humans
>into Transformers then what do you need alien Transformers for? So in
>fact it would be the equivalent if the human characters in the recent
>shows were turned into Transformers mid show.
I actually quite liked the concept. The humans, even with transtectors,
(with the exception of Ginrai) played second fiddle to the true
Cybertronians who drove the series. The powered-up kids were able to be
dragged into dangerous situations plausibly, but were still restricted to
background duties - and their scenes often became a good look at the human
side and human cost of this alien war. The general populace of assorted
cities was not only vaguely menaced, but there were individual rescues and
stories. There were also the scenes where the depowered Destron Juniors
were hanging around a shelter set up for people fleeing from the
destruction.
Given Ginrai's prominence (and also Overlord, to a degree), the series was
pretty much a look from a human perspective - but the look was solidly at
this ongoing conflict, and decisions were often made (by Hawk, Grand,
Devil Z, Black Zarak etc) without any kind of input from humans
whatsoever.
Humans in Masterforce were footsoldiers and the occasional captain - there
to make up the numbers rather than to set the pace. The kids certainly
didn't have the plot revolving around them, although they did occasionally
have their own minor victories. They were constantly being ordered about,
pulled out of 'exciting' skirmishes for 'boring' rescue work, and
generally taking a back seat to Hawk and Ginrai.
Ginrai himself was a fluke, a human who just happened to be extremely
suited (hah!) to his Transtector and who was stubborn as hell. Even so,
Hawk basically manipulated him and used him as a convenient tool of
warfare - Ginrai was all tactics and no strategy.
Do I think turning some humans into Transformers (Transtectors, Autobot X,
comics Fort Max etc) in a Transformers series is a good idea? Oddly
enough, yes. It gives them more chance to be in the thick of the action,
and bring a human perspective to the front lines of an inhuman conflict.
Do I think having human Transformers be the drivers, leaders and generals
of the Cybertronian civil war is a good idea? Hell no. While I like the
idea of humans (and not all humans, just an elite corps) fighting
alongside Cybertronians as near-equals, there's no plausible reason why
near-eternal, nigh-invulnerable superbeings would follow or take orders
from a (mentally unaugmented) bag of flesh with a mere few decades of
experience. At best, we're shock troops, cannon fodder, local guides and
tactical experimenters.
-SteveD
Ground Zero
> Do I think turning some humans into Transformers (Transtectors, Autobot X,
> comics Fort Max etc) in a Transformers series is a good idea? Oddly
> enough, yes. It gives them more chance to be in the thick of the action,
> and bring a human perspective to the front lines of an inhuman conflict.
>
> Do I think having human Transformers be the drivers, leaders and generals
> of the Cybertronian civil war is a good idea? Hell no. While I like the
> idea of humans (and not all humans, just an elite corps) fighting
> alongside Cybertronians as near-equals, there's no plausible reason why
> near-eternal, nigh-invulnerable superbeings would follow or take orders
> from a (mentally unaugmented) bag of flesh with a mere few decades of
> experience. At best, we're shock troops, cannon fodder, local guides and
> tactical experimenters.
>
I always thought of Masterforce, and particularly the Headmasters and
Targetmasters from the G1 comic to be particularly *good* examples of
humanoid characters properly implemented to the TF universe. They add a
different dynamic to the series and their interactions created some good
moments (the deaths of Galen and Zarak, the reluctance of Hi-Q, the impact
of humanoids in the Decepticon army).
Much more effective than just tossing in a wide-eyed kid to watch from the
sidelines and in some cases better than having the robots go at it solo.
-GZ