Transformers Animated

[Bronathair]

What do you all think of Transformers Animated?

The first time I saw it, I hated it. I hated it because they made Optimus Prime sound like he was in his twenties, as opposed to the Optimusses of the past. And they made it all anime-y.

Your guys' input?

[AmadeusWindfall]

I love Animated, it's the best Transformers series since Beast Wars and Beast Machines (not that the Unicron Trilogy were much competition). The characters are all great - In particular, I like Ratchet (Next time I play a Cleric in D&D he'll definitely be a Ratchet expy) and Sentinel Prime (he's just such an arrogant jerk that you have to love him). The Decepticons feel like a threat for once, and the human villains aren't as bad as I thought they might be, especially the Angry Archer. At first I didn't know if the animation style would work, but as soon as designs and screenshots started to leak out I knew it would be brilliant (and it was). When I heard they'd cast David Kaye as Optimus, I was kind of thinking "What the...?", since he's played Megatron since Beast Wars, but in the end, Animated Optimus is probably my favourite of all of them. (It doesn't hurt that they got his death out of the way so quickly. Coming back after 1 minute and 15 seconds? Now that's efficient.) I also can't help but love Captain Fanzone. When you think how he managed to take down two monsters with just Prowl to help that Optimus and Grimlock had a hard time with, you suddenly can't help but think he's awesome (not that he wasn't a favourite character before then).

[Jayngfet]

Haven't seen it yet, but apparently there's a human who isn't the scrappy, no really.

[chiasaur11]

I like it.

I mean, Alien Ninja Robot Police Motorbike. Who was once a zombie.

How can you hate.

[SAMAS]

Once you get past the the character designs (the humans are all but horrendous, the bots will grow on you), it's easily the best Transformers series since Beast Wars.

[thubby]

And they made it all anime-y.

Your guys' input?

transformers started as an anime.

as I see it, it's a great transformers, it doesn't appeal to me as much any more, neither does the original for anything other than nostalgia value, but I think it's great for the new generation.
i do think the animation style is a bit iffy, but its got every thing else.

[Closet_Skeleton]

transformers started as an anime.

No, Transformers started as various unconnected toys, some of which were from anime. The Transformers cartoon was made in America and not based on any pre-existing anime even though some of the toys it was based off came from anime. After Transformers was exported to Japan, some Transformers anime were made.

[Blackdrop]

Definitely the best Transformers series since the original (I watched one episode of Beast Wars and/or Beast Machines, so I have no opinion on it. Is it possible that one of the storylines on either series revolved around them being blind or something.)

The "Teen Titan"-esque animation works really well (much better then Armada) and I like the reason behind giving Prime only 2-6 regular troops to use on a regular basis (Armada Prime was just dumb. "I'm just going to bring the rookie and the pacifist with me at first; the rest of you guys can come along when you feel like it. ")

I'm definitely putting Soundwave and Jazz down on my Christmas List this year.

[Jayngfet]

Haven't seen it yet, but apparently there's a human who isn't the scrappy, no really.

Spoiler

Show

False alarm, not human

[SmartAlec]

The series feels like an attempt to distil the best parts of the various Transformers continuities and serieses.

That's not a bad thing, 'cos for the most part I think they pulled it off.

[Wolfprint]

The animation took a while to get used to, but once I was through "Transform and Roll Out Part 2", I was hooked. I love the fact that Prowl is a ninja, even if he isn't very |33+.

Once you look past the cartoony animation and less than detailed transformation sequences (I loved the Japanese animes for this), it is pretty good. Megatron is very menacing, and comes a close second to the BW Megratron (who I adored).

[Obrysii]

I think the animation is terrible - just watch the mouths as they talk, it's like they spent $20 per episode to animate it.

I hate the girl. And her key. Deus ex machina much?

I hate how they changed Prime. He's supposed to be the wise leader, not the one getting life-lessons from the ... 10? year old girl.

I hate the villains. The archer guy? Yeah - that's just stupid.

The only good thing I like is Megatron's voice ... and they could've done better with that (the original, perhaps?).

No, Transformers started as various unconnected toys, some of which were from anime. The Transformers cartoon was made in America and not based on any pre-existing anime even though some of the toys it was based off came from anime. After Transformers was exported to Japan, some Transformers anime were made.

This is not entirely true.

Written and recorded in America first, and produced originally for American audiences, the series was animated in Japan and South Korea

It's technically anime, as anime is japanese animation ...

[BizzaroStormy]

While the human villians and monsters seem crappy, they are a pretty nice relief from the same 4 decepticons always fighting. I have to say the animation itself is poor. The transformers dont look like robots anymore, they look like fleshy beings in armor. Their new vehicle forms are horrible and the only character I can say looks and sounds decent is megatron's head. I watched it a bit this morning and I can say that I prefered armada.

Also, did anyone notice that they changed starscream from an SU-37 to an 47?

[Ascension]

It's technically anime, as anime is japanese animation ...

Though the animation was outsourced to Japan (and Korea), the character models the animation was based on were prepared (for the most part, though not entirely) by Floro Dery, a Filipino. Though technically, yes, I suppose anything animated in Japan could be called anime, G1 was written, voiced, directed, and designed by Americans (plus Dery); was also partially animated in Korea (and you're not implying that it's a Korean production); and lacks any particularly "animesque" visual stylings.

That's not to say there haven't been anime interpretations of Transformers... Robots in Disguise (aka Car Robots), the Unicron Trilogy, Victory, The Headmasters, Godmasters, Beast Wars II and Neo, Scramble City, there's your anime.

[Closet_Skeleton]

It's technically anime, as anime is japanese animation ...

Many anime are animated in Korea but wouldn't be called Korean.

[Jayngfet]

This would be much better if there was a clearer definition f anime.

[Obrysii]

This would be much better if there was a clearer definition f anime.

Well, regardless of whether it is anime or not, Transformers Animated has extremely poor animation and frankly, poor character design as well.

[chiasaur11]

Well, regardless of whether it is anime or not, Transformers Animated has extremely poor animation and frankly, poor character design as well.

...
Have you watched the show? The designs are fluid, and work well, and the animation really varies from episode to episode. The real draw, however, is the writing which ranges from excellent to merely fairly decent.

[Obrysii]

...
Have you watched the show? The designs are fluid, and work well, and the animation really varies from episode to episode. The real draw, however, is the writing which ranges from excellent to merely fairly decent.

I have. The animation is consistently poor.

As in, low-budget 80s' cartoons have significantly, and consistently, better aimation.

The animation in the new Transformers reminds me of a very, very low budget Teen Titans - where Teen Titans got it right, Transformers got it wrong.

[Revlid]

I have. The animation is consistently poor.

As in, low-budget 80s' cartoons have significantly, and consistently, better aimation.

The animation in the new Transformers reminds me of a very, very low budget Teen Titans - where Teen Titans got it right, Transformers got it wrong.

Here, let me brush that chip off your shoulder.

It's pretty obvious from your earlier comments that you don't like it because it's not almost exactly the same as the original Transformers, which was (let's be honest, here) pretty poor.
Megatron should have his original voice? Please. This Megatron is the first in a long while that actually feels like a threat to anything.

Optimus Prime is a newbie? Good. He still has more combat experience than the rest of the main cast, but isn't a bizarrely omniscient leader. The best-received Prime was Optimus Primal. Do you know why? Because he made mistakes. Because he occasionally doubted himself. This made him a more interesting character than the other Primes, and helped prevent ridiculous Yu-Gi-Oh!esque "Hah! I already planned for the fact that you'd planned for the fact that I knew about your trap!" scenarios.

In summary: Oh no! This Transformers has a vastly more fluid and crisp animation style than the originals, but it's different in a substantial way. Oh no! These characters are interesting redesigns and new takes on old personalities, but they're different in a substantial way.

Hell, I'm not even a regular viewer, and I know Transformers: Animated is a good show.

[chiasaur11]

Here, let me brush that chip off your shoulder.

It's pretty obvious from your earlier comments that you don't like it because it's not almost exactly the same as the original Transformers, which was (let's be honest, here) pretty poor.
Megatron should have his original voice? Please. This Megatron is the first in a long while that actually feels like a threat to anything.

Optimus Prime is a newbie? Good. He still has more combat experience than the rest of the main cast, but isn't a bizarrely omniscient leader. The best-received Prime was Optimus Primal. Do you know why? Because he made mistakes. Because he occasionally doubted himself. This made him a more interesting character than the other Primes, and helped prevent ridiculous Yu-Gi-Oh!esque "Hah! I already planned for the fact that you'd planned for the fact that I knew about your trap!" scenarios.

In summary: Oh no! This Transformers has a vastly more fluid and crisp animation style than the originals, but it's different in a substantial way. Oh no! These characters are interesting redesigns and new takes on old personalities, but they're different in a substantial way.

Hell, I'm not even a regular viewer, and I know Transformers: Animated is a good show.

Well said.

[Piedmon_Sama]

It's a damn good cartoon. Like others said, I love the fact that the Decepticons are all individually more powerful than the Autobots (although Blitzwing and Lugnut are beginning to suffer from Villain Decay). It makes things much more interesting, although I wish the Decepticons would occasionally win a tangible victory the way the Predacons would in Beast Wars. I also like that they're throwing in more plots than "Autobots foil Decepticon Plot #3368," with the occasional human villain.

[TeeEl]

Honestly, yes, the production values are pretty shoddy. Stylistically there's absolutely nothing wrong with the animation... when they bother to animate things. They'll drop a few really well-animated sequences in here or there, but there's a marked trend towards laziness in animation. This is most visible in the tendency for speaking characters to sometimes retain the same mouth position over several syllables or even words. Action sequences often suffer from similar problems too, occasionally going so far as to use a still frame with action lines in the background in lieu of animating part of the action. Generally the idea seems to be to get by with as little animation as possible, and the show visibly cuts a lot of corners to get there. At that point it's not being "stylized", it's being cheap, and it shows.

Animation problems notwithstanding, it's still not bad. It is for the most part kiddie fare, but that's not a bad thing in itself. It's good fun.

[Obrysii]

That's what I've been meaning by crappy animation - significant budget restraints are shown pretty clearly in it.