TheMuffin wrote:I wanted to post this here as well.
If it's anything like Teen Titans, this will be excellent. That series was panned by people for being too kiddy....Though more often then not, the episodes were quite serious. They had some funny ones of course, but a lot were very dark. Not to mention that the animation itself was extremely fluid. People are already trashing this when they've effectively seen nothing except for a picture. I don't have a problem with that for the most part. I just wish folks would hold off until they've seen a couple episodes.
Hell Titans first episode was pretty generic. It wasn't until the end of the first season where things really started getting good. I could see this being the same way. Having the Decepticons staying in the background for most of the first season, manipulating the humans into doing things for them. That way the Autobots think the humans are the cause of all the problems since they came to Earth. I mean come on guys, it's the writer who did the 2003 Ninja Turtles and X-Men. Those were both excellent series.
They say in the synopsis that the shows aren't linked....Freakishly enough they said the same thing about Teen Titans. And for the most part each episode was it's own self contained story. But many had a little thing happen that made you realize something was building in the background. I can definitely see them taking this approach. And I personally can't wait to see this show. Certainly a breath of fresh air compared to that Anime bullshit we've had for the last 4 series.
I understand what you're saying, but I don't see this as being solely about the writing and story direction; its also about how they look.
The 'look' of Transformers is every bit as powerful as the writing and moreso I'd argue since we're talking about a visual entertainment medium that is rooted to a toy franchise. There's most often been a certain seriousness and plausability to the tech design of Tf's, both as robots and as vehicles, and this I feel is one of the winning aspects to their formula. Kids loved it in '84 and they're loving it now.
Back to writing and story direction, one thing we've seen is that if there is going to be a liberal reinterpretation of how Tfs appear in a series, then the story elements better be recognizable. Beast Wars achieved this balance with unconventional looking characters but still very familiar plot /story elements. Beast Machines tried pushing things further design-wise and story-wise but they ultimately went too far and the fans rendered their judgement. Bottom line: Transformers work as cool robot factions that shapeshift into realistic or plausable /sci-fi vehicles etc, not as as an overly-humanized, zany-proportioned superhero squad.
