Episode 1 -
Huh, no intro theme song. Just a title card with the series logo and episode name.
Wonder if Predaking getting buried alive here coincide in any manner with his fate in TF: Prime. Though, from her on out, I'll be referring to him by his Japanese name of "Dragotron".
Interesting how all the Oni Army Predacons just happen to be located in such close proximity to each other in Japan.
Well, that was quick. Optimus wastes no time detecting the Predacons awakening. Or detecting six more, newer signals.
And here's our new human pal, Isami Tatewaki, who practices Kendo. Heh, his grandfather looks kinda like Dr. Wily from the
Mega Man games. He also seems a bit on the strict energetic side.
Incoming Budora and Gaidora. I knew this episode was short, but it's really more fast-paced than I expected.
They've come to steal the Tatewaki Family's sacred mirror, which is in fact a Legendisc. Isami's grandfather refers to the Preds first as "monsters" ("bakemono") and then as "Oni".
Gaidora transformed his Beast Mode claw into his Robot Mode hand with a flash of light to properly grab the Legendisc. What's more is that this can be replicated with the toy.
Run, Isami! Run! Keep the disc away from them!
Toy-accurate transformations.
I can't help but find the Preds' lack of any and all facial movement when speaking (meaning, their mouths don't move at all) cheesy as all get out.
Whoa! The Legendisc is responding to Isami's outrage at the Predacons threatening to kill some children if he doesn't han over the disc, and it's using him as a vessel to scan new altmodes for the Samurai Team. What's more is that the fire truck he looks at/scans is similar to the one that Fire Convoy/Optimus Prime from Car Robots/RiD turned into.
The Swordbots have arrived!
"Kenzan!" "Jinbu!" "Ganoh!" "Swordbot Samurai Team!"
Oh, so that's what the Japanese Abominus Predacons are. Gaidora used a matter alteration ability to turn five nearby automobiles into "Yami no Jaki" (Evil spirits of darkness), who will combine in a "Jaki Gattai" (Jaki Combination) to form Goradora.
Kenzan has a skill-based fighting style, Jinbu's is based on speed, and Ganoh's is based on power.
Goradora is a BIG dude. This is why I want the new upscaled Predacon toys of Twinstrike, Windrazor, and their buddies to be able to combine into a large Abominus; so that it can be redecoed into a large Goradora. The Cyberverse toy is just too small to fight the Swordbot toys on a proper scale.
Isami's pleas to the Legendisc activate it to grant the Samurai Team the ability to combine.
"Sanjō Gattai! GoKenzan!"
GoKenzan quickly decombines Goradora with his attack, but Gaidora forcefully recombines Goradora, who attacks more swiftly. The Swordbots switch to GoJinbu, who defeats the villain yet again. Agitated, Gaidora reforms Goradora
again and has him attack more brutally. To compensate, the Bots switch to GoGanoh, who, predictably, overpowers Goradora. They then go back to GoKenzan who promptly slays the monster for good, and then goes in for Gaidora and Budora (were they seriously just standing there watching the whole time?).
And suddenly, we're in the past. Feudal Japan, where two armies prepare to face each other. To everyone's surprise, each army is possesses a Legendisc! The one Isami still carries glows and brings them back to the present. Was that just a vision, or an actual temporal displacement of our heroes? Even they are unsure.
The Bots thank "Isami-dono" for their new lease on life, and explain that they are to fight against the Predacons, for they are the Super Robot Lifeforms known as "Transformers".
That night, at his home, Isami gets a call from, apparently, his friend, Tobio, who says that he too is involved in the fight, and shows us a quick look at his own Autobot allies, the Swordbot Shinobi Team. Naturally, Isami is overwhelmed by all that has transpired.
The ending theme has a nice ring to it. No lyrics, though.
Overall, a quick, fun, fast-paced, almost no-nonsense story that, while nothing special, was largely harmless and intriguing enough. Though the battle felt pretty predictable and a little awkward. Namely in that Gaidora pretty much emulates a Pokemon Trainer in commanding the Yami no Jaki and forming them into Goradora, rather than actually partaking in the fight at all. And Budora did even less, just standing there in the background the whole time and being all forgotten until Goradora's final defeat. The switching between combinations was an obvious attempt at toy advertisement, but such is to expected from as toyetic a franchise as Transformers. And while many may be put off by the complete and utter lack of any kind of facial expressions from the robots, I wasn't bothered by it too much. All in all, I'll look forward to more and hope for a fansubbed release.
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