The Energon Pub

[GuyIncognito]

Let's argue about it before anyone's even seen it!

[Va'al]

Let's argue about it before anyone's even seen it!

That is the way of the fandom.

[Sabrblade]

Oh ye of so much wisdom...

"Anime" has become to us commmon layman a very genric phrase for animation that's not old-style or childhood cartoon style, shows that are drawn and colored with more of an art than artistry flare and usually with less of an action drive and more of a comedy one. Looney Tunes or *Cringe* Spongebob, (Hate that show, but...). However wrong that definition may be, that's what many see it as.

And, again, there has been no imagery of this show shown to anyone, so why call it an "anime" when we have no way of knowing what it'll look like right now?

For all we know, it could wind up looking like Adventure Time or Uncle Grandpa while still having compelling, action-based storytelling.

[no-one]

Let's argue about it before anyone's even seen it!

That is the way of the fandom.

Argument is the right of all sentient fanboys.

[OptimalOptimus2]

Let's argue about it before anyone's even seen it!

That is the way of the fandom.

What did you expect?

[ClearlySane88]

I'm still fairly new to the fandom, but I was thinking, when was the last time a proper Gestalt combiner was in an American TF cartoon? Has it really been since G1? I know Energon had a two Autobots combine together thing and Armada had Optimus combine with his trailer, but I can't recall a proper, Devestator style combiner in any TF cartoon besides G1. Am I overlooking one?

[Flashwave]

I'm still fairly new to the fandom, but I was thinking, when was the last time a proper Gestalt combiner was in an American TF cartoon? Has it really been since G1? I know Energon had a two Autobots combine together thing and Armada had Optimus combine with his trailer, but I can't recall a proper, Devestator style combiner in any TF cartoon besides G1. Am I overlooking one?

Nergn had a trio of 5man combiners, but the whow treated the combined form as the primary persona and the componeents were nver shown o be more than just limb bots. Thats probblyvbad storyelling though, and not a case of w gmented body forms. Prior to hat, Robots in Disguise 2001 had a character who used Bruticus's toy and several other lesss traditional combiners that veer way off from Scramble City style G1 combination

[Sabrblade]

I'm still fairly new to the fandom, but I was thinking, when was the last time a proper Gestalt combiner was in an American TF cartoon? Has it really been since G1? I know Energon had a two Autobots combine together thing and Armada had Optimus combine with his trailer, but I can't recall a proper, Devestator style combiner in any TF cartoon besides G1. Am I overlooking one?

In addition to what Flashwave wrote above, it also depends on what you mean by "American TF cartoon" since the only ones that have been American-made (as in "U.S.-made") are G1, Animated, Prime, Rescue Bots, and the current Robots in Disguise cartoon (Beast Wars and Beast Machines were Canadian-made, the 2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon was Japanese-made, and the three Unicron Trilogy cartoons were American/Japanese co-productions with most of their story specifics being Japanese-made, and all others were Japanese-made and not aired in America).

Before now, the last main series to really have a combiner in it was the Fall of Cybertron video game (Bruticus), which had its own line of toys in the Generations line, and before that was the Revenge of the Fallen movie (Devastator). Before that was Energon with its three five-bot combiners (Superion Maximus, Bruticus Maximus, and Constructicon Maximus), and before that was the 2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon with its five-bot combiner Ruination (a G1 Bruticus redeco), three-bot combiner Rail Racer, and four-bot combiner Landfill.

Before that, the Japanese-only Beast Wars Second cartoon had three combiners in it: three-bot Magnaboss (redeco of Hasbro's Magnaboss), three-bot Tripledacus (redeco of Hasbro's Tripredacus), and five-bot God Neptune (redeco of G1 Piranacon). Before that, the Japanese-only Victory cartoon had several combiners: four-bot Road Caesar, six-bot Liokaiser, six-bot Landcross, and six-bot Dinoking (redeco of G1 Monstructor). Before that, the Japanese-only Choujin Masterforce cartoon had King Poseidon, who was the Japanese counterpart of Piranacon. And before that, the Japanese-only The Headmasters cartoon had all of the G1 combiners plus new combiner Raiden, a six-bot combiner made out of six trains who combined like Devastator.

Oh, and last year, Japan had the Sanjou Gattai Transformers: Go! cartoon that had the Swordbots, two three-bot teams of Autobots who could combine with each other to form three different combiner configurations each. The Swordbot Samurai Team could combine to form either GoKenzen, GoJinbu, or GoGanoh, and the Swordbot Shinobi Team could combine to form either GoGekisou, GoHishou, or GoSensui. And when each team's leader would combine with both each other and Optimus ExPrime, Optimus and the two leaders could all combine form either DaiKenzan or DaiGekisou.

I think that's everything cartoon-wise.

[ClearlySane88]

Ah sorry about that, I was referring to shows that aired on American TV. I forgot Energon had the 5 bot Maximus combiners though.

[Sabrblade]

Ah sorry about that, I was referring to shows that aired on American TV. I forgot Energon had the 5 bot Maximus combiners though.

In that case, between G1 and now, American TV had combiners in the 2001 RiD cartoon and the Energon cartoon.

And in the ROTF movie and in the FOC video game.

[o.supreme]

For all we know, it could wind up looking like Adventure Time or Uncle Grandpa while still having compelling, action-based storytelling.

Dear God... I think you plucked my worst nightmare out of my head. But seriously... I'm sure the animation will be very good, no matter what style. I'm hoping more traditional animation than anything flash or stylized. Like I said earlier GI:Joe Resolute was by far the best animated incarnation of that franchise, lets hope a mature TF entry can rise to the same level. Studio 4°C comes to mind, so long as they don't make it look like Transformers: Animated.

Also, akin to all of DC's animated film "adaptations", there may need to be some slight changes/adaptations to make the story more relatable.

Concerning Megatron who is nowhere to be seen in Combiner Wars (Obviously because he is in MTME , but viewers of the film/series would not know this). -Sure Starscream is recognizable enough to probably carry a 60-70 minute film, or a short run of episodes as a main villain, but including Megatron might not be a bad idea.

Prowl/Devastator - I of course know Prowl's inclusion with Devastator is a pretty big deal (no pun intended), but without some back story to explain how they got that way, it could be very confusing. They could have traditional Devastator, and Prowl still be the jerk he is , causing problems, but including him as part of Dev... for the uninitiated I don't know... unless there was a way to set it up early on.

I'm sure there are other alterations/adaptations that could be made. Of course we at this time do not know the full scope of this project. Will it be a movie? How long will it be? Will it be episodes? If so how many? - What I'm fairly certain of however, is that the many speculations/fears I hear about the "short" 2-3 minuets bits, I just cant see it. Even though JL: G&MC did have 3 "short" bits, that was just a set up for the main film. I have no doubt that even if these are initially released as "shorts" they will either be made to be seen as a whole movie (as in the case of GI: Joe Resolute), or will lead up to a larger/longer animated film, or series of episodes.

[Va'al]

We may or may not have a new lead on the upcoming Machinima animated Transformers Combiner Wars series, via writer Eric Calderon on Twitter. Calderon is the creator of Megas XLR, along with F.J. Desanto and George Krstic, who are also mentioned in the tweet - and all it does is point to the NYCC 2015 Transformers Generations panel. Writers confirmed? Speculate away below!

Tweet

[King Kuuga]

For some reason the tweet doesn't show up in forum view. Anyway, I look forward to this panel for pointing us in the direction of the future of Generations. Maybe this is the event the Titan Wars backdrops were meant for from Botcon?

[o.supreme]

NYCC would definitely be the place to drop some news. Can't wait!

[RAR]

I think as the Bubble has burst more or less on Combiner Wars the new show might either be a short Combiner Wars lead into Titan Wars with the main bulk being Titan Wars or they might scrap the Combiner Wars bit and just call it Titan Wars but maybe use some Combiners in it too.

That may depend on how quickly and completely Hasbro wants to kill Combiner Wars off and how close to release the cartoon is - also what quality it is - if it's cheap rubbish then I would be saying it's more likely Combiner Wars - if it's better quality then Titan Wars.

Another possibility is a cheap flash style or primitive CGI Combiner Wars series of shorts followed by a proper or at least more Elaborate content for Titan Wars.

The mood music I get from Hasbro though might mean that the next Cartoon will be something else entirely - so I don't see them getting anything out quickly if they had decided to make a proper Titan Wars TV show - which I suspect by the public apathy to RID-15 They won't. hence all the rumours of a Live Action Movie derived cartoon being in development

[o.supreme]

Not sure about that, since CW has a lot of product slated for 2016 (Bruticus, Sky Reign, Victorian, Betatron??). If the animation does tie into TW, I would not be disappointed, but CW is far from dead. I know at BC last year, basically animalistic combiners were out (Predacons, Terrorcons, Seacons), but with the IDW-verse expanding into new planets, including a Beast Wars themed planet who knows. Also I'm a little disappointed that hasbro is ignoring Monstructor. Since he was the *first* combiner in the IDWverse, I'd love to see a proper take on him, something on the scale of Devastator, as opposed to the vastly undersized toy that was produced during the original series.

[DedicatedGhostArt]

Maybe this show will answer some of the questions about CW Cyclonus.

[MaverickPrime]

The creator of Megas XLR will be involved?!? HELL YEAH!!!!
I'm in, I'm sooooooooo in!

[MaverickPrime]

The creator of Megas XLR will be involved?!? HELL YEAH!!!!
I'm in, I'm sooooooooo in!

[Va'al]

During the Hasbro panel at NYCC2015, of which you can see our gallery here, Machinima and IDW took the stage to give some further detail on the upcoming animated series for Combiner Wars. The biggest selling point for the Seibertron.com team is that it will be a Japanese anime-style series, with a focus more on the adult side of the fan base. No artwork or trailers were shown in slightest, and we expect all of the missing information to be revealed at the next Toy Fair. In the meantime, check it out embedded below!

Some highlights:

• Main speaker is Eric Calderon, producer on Aeon Flux and Afro Samurai among others; he underwent 'Transformers boot camp' to understand the franchise.
• Windblade will be the main character/perspective, as was for the comics
• Not really a children's cartoon, something not really attempted previously
• Trying to appeal to new and old fans alike
• The series will be standalone, using previous fiction as sources rather than basis
• 'Combiners have to fight each other'
• IDW editor John Barber talks briefly about Titan Returns, and the re-emergence of Sentinel Prime from the IDW continuity
• Barber, James Roberts and Mairghread Scott will be on writing duties again, creating one overarching story
• Full updates and news in the IDW panel

[griftimus prime]

Windblade will be the main character/perspective, as was for the comics

im out

[Autobot N]

Well, I was never a huge fan of Windblade, but if this series gives me Combiners fighting all Pacific Rim-style, then I'm in.

[o.supreme]

They had me at " Japanese anime-style series". Since this story will not involve any humans (hopefully if it is loosely based on IDW combiner wars), then the style should be *hopefully* closer to Toei, who I consider to be the pinnacle of animation when it comes to Super Robots/Mecha, and not so much the goofier looking anime, or even worse, U.S. companies trying to mimic anime, studio 6C being the exception however, they have produced some pretty awesome stuff.

[MagnusLabel]

Um...they're really working hard to make Windblade become the star of The Transformers, like hanging 'round with titans, combiners, leaders, beasties, etc. Someday (maybe within a year or 2), she can climb to the top and become the face of the entire franchise.

[Sabrblade]

Um...they're really working hard to make Windblade become the star of The Transformers, like hanging 'round with titans, combiners, leaders, beasties, etc. Someday (maybe within a year or 2), she can climb to the top and become the face of the entire franchise.

As long as the live action movies exist, she'll never usurp that position from Bumblebee.