The Energon Pub

some of the voices sound a little off
like shockwave for example

Seibertron wrote:
Cyberverse wasn't for me either, but I respect the opinions of some people that have liked it

However, the NETFLIX Transformers Wars for Cybertron series is intended for people like me.

Skip ahead on Cyberverse to season 3, or at least watch its middle Quintesson invasion arc. It's so good, with some amazing deep cuts on top of the new creative stuff.

Also, I don't think WfC was for us. I think it was for the casual Netflix viewer that probably watched the movies and maybe TF Prime but not much else.

Its true. The voice acting was rough. How many guys voiced OP? Sounded like 3 or 4.

ScottyP wrote:Also, I don't think WfC was for us. I think it was for the casual Netflix viewer that probably watched the movies and maybe TF Prime but not much else.

They'd get more people interested in Transformers and sell more toys and merchandise if they quit making cartoons and comics that aren't great because of acting, writing, directing, etc. The general audience arent a bunch of idiots. They know good entertainment when they see it just like we do, though maybe I'm misunderstanding what you wrote.

Wow, of COURSE avoiding union actors is the reason for Hasbro's recent new little stable of voice actors for Cyberverse, Netflix, RBA, etc. with almost no one I recognize, how the hell did I not think about that before??? It makes so much sense now! That's low-key kinda scummy of them.

EvasionModeBumblebee wrote:I just finished the last episode, here's my thoughts on it:

Ok, first off, when they scan Bee, Arcee, and Cog for weapons they don't find anything and let them through.

COG.

The dude literally made out of weapons with several barrels sticking prominently out of his arms was not found with any weapons on him.
.

I laughed at that too. But what are you gonna do? Judge someone by their alt mode? Isn't that Altist? Lol.

Maybe Cog's weapons systems don't work until he transforms, and they were not expecting him to be able to turn into guns for other people?

I'm glad in a way we have some other voice talent being groomed for the roles, Jason did a fantastic job the first time around with his Megatron in Combiner Warsand we totally should have an "Heir and a Spare" for the day Welker can't do ut any more, which hopefully is a Long, LONG time from now. But I agree that its not good that its happening because they are getting undercut

Jeddostotle7 wrote:Wow, of COURSE avoiding union actors is the reason for Hasbro's recent new little stable of voice actors for Cyberverse, Netflix, RBA, etc. with almost no one I recognize, how the hell did I not think about that before??? It makes so much sense now! That's low-key kinda scummy of them.

Corporations will do literally anything to save money while trying to make as much as they can.

Jeddostotle7 wrote:Wow, of COURSE avoiding union actors is the reason for Hasbro's recent new little stable of voice actors for Cyberverse, Netflix, RBA, etc. with almost no one I recognize, how the hell did I not think about that before??? It makes so much sense now! That's low-key kinda scummy of them.

I don't think the avoidance of union actors is the reason. Some of these actors are very, very talented. It's the directing that is extremely lacking in my opinion.

I moved a bunch of cartoon related posts from the toy discussion of this to the cartoon forum.

Here's the cartoon discussion: netflix-transformers-war-for-cybertron-series-trilogy-discussion-t112705.php

Here's the toy discussion: netflix-transformers-war-for-cybertron-toy-line-discussion-t114589.php

Hard to keep the two separate, but I one should be more for discussion about the toys in general while the other topic should pertain more to the cartoon discussion with plot and character discussion, though admittedly the two will at times overlap.

Seibertron wrote:

ScottyP wrote:Also, I don't think WfC was for us. I think it was for the casual Netflix viewer that probably watched the movies and maybe TF Prime but not much else.

They'd get more people interested in Transformers and sell more toys and merchandise if they quit making cartoons and comics that aren't great because of acting, writing, directing, etc. The general audience arent a bunch of idiots. They know good entertainment when they see it just like we do, though maybe I'm misunderstanding what you wrote.

As if Hasbro is ever going to invest to get the creative talent needed for stuff like this to make truly great fiction.

The best they have gotten to work on stuff recently is Rooster Teeth who aren't even that big overall, but even then it doesn't really count since RT wasn't that involved, they didn't do the animation, majority of the VO (they got one or two RT people to do VO, Miles Luna and I think someone else), story writing, etc. Just some parts of production.

If corporations aren't going to invest in the proper people for bigger franchises like Star Wars then what chance does Transformers have?

It's pointless to hope for good fiction these days in general, the only thing to really do is to be pleasantly surprised when something turns out to not suck.

First Gen wrote:Its true. The voice acting was rough. How many guys voiced OP? Sounded like 3 or 4.

Yah, there was that as well. Yelling voice sounded 100% different than normal talking voice. It was very jarring.

Seibertron wrote:

First Gen wrote:Its true. The voice acting was rough. How many guys voiced OP? Sounded like 3 or 4.

Yah, there was that as well. Yelling voice sounded 100% different than normal talking voice. It was very jarring.

The raised-voice parts of Optimus in the show were the only ones I actually unironically "cringed" at, with others I didn't like such as Soundwave I only thought that they weren't good, they didn't actually get a physical reaction out of me otherwise.

It was simply unconvincing.


Man I actually googled up Jake and he was born only a few months before me, that means he's 23 I think, I don't think he's a terrible VO or anything but man as someone who has practiced doing VO myself rule of thumb is that you should absolutely not try to act as a character who is much older then you, it's one thing for impressions and such but in an official setting it can be unconvincing.

ScottyP wrote:Also, I don't think WfC was for us. I think it was for the casual Netflix viewer that probably watched the movies and maybe TF Prime but not much else.

If WFC wasn't for us fans, then what would be? Not saying it was just for us, but I am pretty sure that out of all the media out there, this was the one that targetted fans most (outside of the current Simon Furman comics) along with being a series anyone could watch.

Deadput wrote:As if Hasbro is ever going to invest to get the creative talent needed for stuff like this to make truly great fiction.

But they've done it before without household names. Transformers Prime, Animated and Beast Wars all come to mind about what good directing can do with the talent they have. It starts near the top.

Deadput wrote:If corporations aren't going to invest in the proper people for bigger franchises like Star Wars then what chance does Transformers have?

I'm just looking for good talent ... particularly with the directors and producers who know talent when they see it. For example, how many of you really knew of Scott McNeil, Garry Chalk or David Kaye before Beast Wars?

Even Robots in Disguise had good acting and the show was fairly entertaining, though the "monster of the week" premise was pretty monotonous in season 1.

Deadput wrote:It's pointless to hope for good fiction these days in general, the only thing to really do is to be pleasantly surprised when something turns out to not suck.

I disagree. When companies like Hasbro hype a show for almost 2 years before it debuts (our first news story about the NETFLIX show was from October 2018), it had better be good if you are pushing the show and building the hype up with fans.

None of these issues were ones that were not fixable given a proper amount of time to fix it (which they should have had considering that the show was in the works since at least October 2018). It just needs a few people in the right positions who are passionate about entertainment. They don't even need to be passionate about Transformers, just bring in some people who know how to tell a good story, and at a minimum, bring in some consultants to provide some feedback to avoid train wrecks like this.

Deadput wrote:The raised-voice parts of Optimus in the show were the only ones I actually unironically "cringed" at, with others I didn't like such as Soundwave I only thought that they weren't good, they didn't actually get a physical reaction out of me otherwise.

Soundwave was another one I flat out cringed at. It's a horrible, horrible Soundwave voice. Couldn't they have been bothered to ask Jon Bailey how to replicate his voice for Soundwave from the Bumblebee movie? I mean, how much more spot-on can you get than what Jon did? Frustrating to say the least!

Deadput wrote: rule of thumb is that you should absolutely not try to act as a character who is much older then you

Optimus Prime is waaaaaaaaaay older than Peter Cullen but that worked out well enough.

I'm sure some won't exactly see this in the same way I do, but I'm very disappointed that Jake Tillman and Jason Marnocha each did a good job as Cyberverse Prime and Prime Wars Megatron while their takes here didn't sound quite right. In fact, a majority of the cast in WFC has voices that almost sound similar to one another, no real variety in tone, and dialogue that tends to be repeated from time to time. I love hearing different Transformer voices from the many shows and films we've gotten, especially when it comes to how distinct they generally sound from one another; even Energon had voices that sounded a bit more distinct from one another than in WFC, and that's a series many disliked for the execution of the dialogue!

All in all, WFC's voice work makes me think less of a cast that's got unique performances from different VAs anre more of a fan-made series that tries to go for the ultra-serious route and has voice work done majority by one individual that doesn't make convincing alterations to how they sound.

Seibertron wrote:

Jeddostotle7 wrote:Wow, of COURSE avoiding union actors is the reason for Hasbro's recent new little stable of voice actors for Cyberverse, Netflix, RBA, etc. with almost no one I recognize, how the hell did I not think about that before??? It makes so much sense now! That's low-key kinda scummy of them.

I don't think the avoidance of union actors is the reason. Some of these actors are very, very talented. It's the directing that is extremely lacking in my opinion.

Oh, don't get me wrong, a lot of these VAs are definitely very talented with good direction, it's just I've been wondering for a few years now why it seemed like Hasbro pretty much just universally switched over to this stable of seemingly mostly fresh talent for almost all projects, and Hasbro wanting to avoid paying more for union VAs makes so much sense as a reason.

I have yet to watch this series, but from what everyone's saying, it sounds to me like Jake still has yet to really find that spark that takes his Optimus voice to greatness. His Peter Cullen impression is pretty good, but often even in his better performances it can still come off as... a little wooden/overly stoic? I don't think it's Jake's fault so much, I just think most of the voice direction he's gotten has likely encouraged him to lean into the Peter Cullen impression at the cost of actually adding that extra dimension to the character Peter usually had and/or making it his own. Jake will definitely get there someday, no doubt in my mind, but for now I'm just frustrated with his Optimus voice not reaching its potential.

Seibertron wrote:But they've done it before without household names. Transformers Prime, Animated and Beast Wars all come to mind about what good directing can do with the talent they have. It starts near the top.

And that was years ago, Transformers Prime was a disaster behind the scenes and ultimately did not pan out the way Hasbro wanted to and ever since then they have been afraid of ever making the same amount of commitment.

Seibertron wrote:I'm just looking for good talent ... particularly with the directors and producers who know talent when they see it. For example, how many of you really knew of Scott McNeil, Garry Chalk or David Kaye before Beast Wars?

Even Robots in Disguise had good acting and the show was fairly entertaining, though the "monster of the week" premise was pretty monotonous in season 1.

This is valid, good vo isn't impossibly difficult to achieve or anything, but besides the actual voice performances, direction/scripting, audio mixing and equipment are all important factors for good performances, and when a company is trying to be as cheap as possible to make as much as possible then it's troublesome.

Seibertron wrote:I disagree. When companies like Hasbro hype a show for almost 2 years before it debuts (our first news story about the NETFLIX show was from October 2018), it had better be good if you are pushing the show and building the hype up with fans.

None of these issues were ones that were not fixable given a proper amount of time to fix it (which they should have had considering that the show was in the works since at least October 2018). It just needs a few people in the right positions who are passionate about entertainment. They don't even need to be passionate about Transformers, just bring in some people who know how to tell a good story, and at a minimum, bring in some consultants to provide some feedback to avoid train wrecks like this.

I agree, the issues with this show for the most part are things that could of been fixed with more time and passion, it is quite frustrating indeed that the show turned out the way it did even if I found entertainment in it myself (my standards are never set to high, so I don't get disappointed as much) and it's even more frustrating when we can see what exactly is wrong with some of those things and how easily fixable they are, hell I think fans could probably do a great redubbing for the show.

But my overall point isn't that it's impossible to accomplish because it certainly is with the right people, my point is that they won't bother doing so because it's easier to be lazy about stuff and just hope it's successful, creative passion is a rare thing these days, I've certainly barely see it anywhere for the last several years and the potential foreseeable future, I'm just choosing to never hype myself up about anything period, it's just better that way since optimism gets people nowhere.

william-james88 wrote:Optimus Prime is waaaaaaaaaay older than Peter Cullen but that worked out well enough.

Literally sure, but Peter Cullen was also the one who invented the voice, so it's less prone to being criticized unlike someone who is just trying to do an impersonation of them because comparisons will be made, it's also kinda why people aren't going to be as harsh to those like say Gary Chalk who are doing their own takes on the character entirely.

Seibertron wrote:Cyberverse wasn't for me either, but I respect the opinions of some people that have liked it, so I'll just chalk it up to it not being my thing. Though I'd argue that the terrible Bumblebee radio voice at the beginning at the attention-deficit appealing 11-minute episode format was very off-putting to me as well as some other aspects, but again, not everything Transformers related has to be for me.

I will say this about Cyberverse. It is definitely an imperfect series, but it does improve dramatically over time. If you've only seen episodes from the first season, it is understandable why you would have been put off by it since that season is the most flawed. But thankfully, Seasons 2 and 3 of Cyberverse are like a completely different show from season 1, so much so that one could practically skip season 1 altogether.

Bumblebee can talk normally again and is no longer the central main character, both the Autobots and Decepticons feature a wide variety of characters with diverse and distinct personalities, and the storytelling is significantly improved with a more serialized ongoing narrative, much higher stakes, and overall stronger writing.

In contrast to the more mundane feel of Cyberverse's anthology-styled first season, Seasons 2 and 3 feel much more like a loving tribute to many things that came before in the past 36 years of the brand while also trying bold new things as well. Myself and others have even gone as far as to consider Season 3 (just Season 3) to be on par with the likes of Beast Wars and Animated (both of which were great but also had flaws too), and that kind of praise is not something to be taken lightly.

And is certainly leaps and bounds better than this show.

Quantum Surge wrote:I'm sure some won't exactly see this in the same way I do, but I'm very disappointed that Jake Tillman and Jason Marnocha each did a good job as Cyberverse Prime and Prime Wars Megatron while their takes here didn't sound quite right. In fact, a majority of the cast in WFC has voices that almost sound similar to one another, no real variety in tone, and dialogue that tends to be repeated from time to time. I love hearing different Transformer voices from the many shows and films we've gotten, especially when it comes to how distinct they generally sound from one another; even Energon had voices that sounded a bit more distinct from one another than in WFC, and that's a series many disliked for the execution of the dialogue!

All in all, WFC's voice work makes me think less of a cast that's got unique performances from different VAs anre more of a fan-made series that tries to go for the ultra-serious route and has voice work done majority by one individual that doesn't make convincing alterations to how they sound.

Jeddostotle7 wrote:Oh, don't get me wrong, a lot of these VAs are definitely very talented with good direction, it's just I've been wondering for a few years now why it seemed like Hasbro pretty much just universally switched over to this stable of seemingly mostly fresh talent for almost all projects, and Hasbro wanting to avoid paying more for union VAs makes so much sense as a reason.

You know I think this just goes to show that the main faults with the VO in the show is whoever the heck is the VO director in "this company" which makes sense since it's probably the same people who did the Prime Wars miniseries.

If it was in the hands of a more competent studio like the people who did Cyberverse or even Rooster Teeth themselves who have had several shows where they have pretty fine Voice Acting in their works. (maybe not perfect but certainly better then the people currently doing these Transformer series) things could of turned out better.

I actually really hope the next few parts get some more RT voice actors in.

Jeddostotle7 wrote:I have yet to watch this series, but from what everyone's saying, it sounds to me like Jake still has yet to really find that spark that takes his Optimus voice to greatness. His Peter Cullen impression is pretty good, but often even in his better performances it can still come off as... a little wooden/overly stoic? I don't think it's Jake's fault so much, I just think most of the voice direction he's gotten has likely encouraged him to lean into the Peter Cullen impression at the cost of actually adding that extra dimension to the character Peter usually had and/or making it his own. Jake will definitely get there someday, no doubt in my mind, but for now I'm just frustrated with his Optimus voice not reaching its potential.

Jake was way better in Cyberverse than in this. So I think Ryan's guess that the problem is more on the voice director's end is on point.

Also speaking of Optimus, I too, like D-Max, found it hard to root for him as the hero. He didn't at all feel like the character I associate Optimus with. Felt more like IDW Barber's Prime or the more recent relaunched IDW Prime which I really do not like. He just didn't feel like the one to lead or someone I would get behind and go into battle with. I got more of the Optimus Prime I can root for in the 5 minutes of him in the BB movie than in the 2.5 hours of this show.

william-james88 wrote:

Jeddostotle7 wrote:I have yet to watch this series, but from what everyone's saying, it sounds to me like Jake still has yet to really find that spark that takes his Optimus voice to greatness. His Peter Cullen impression is pretty good, but often even in his better performances it can still come off as... a little wooden/overly stoic? I don't think it's Jake's fault so much, I just think most of the voice direction he's gotten has likely encouraged him to lean into the Peter Cullen impression at the cost of actually adding that extra dimension to the character Peter usually had and/or making it his own. Jake will definitely get there someday, no doubt in my mind, but for now I'm just frustrated with his Optimus voice not reaching its potential.

Jake was way better in Cyberverse than in this. So I think Ryan's guess that the problem is more on the voice director's end is on point.

Also speaking of Optimus, I too, like D-Max, found it hard to root for him as the hero. He didn't at all feel like the character I associate Optimus with. Felt more like IDW Barber's Prime or the more recent relaunched IDW Prime which I really do not like. He just didn't feel like the one to lead or someone I would get behind and go into battle with. I got more of the Optimus Prime I can root for in the 5 minutes of him in the BB movie than in the 2.5 hours of this show.

Oh no, I agree, the actual problems with the voice acting are almost certainly the fault of the voice director. We have seen many of these VAs do better in Cyberverse, I'm not trying to speak negatively about the abilities of this stable of VAs. My point about Optimus was not directly related to that, and even there I point the finger for my disappointment in Jake's Optimus voice at voice directors. I agree he was better in Cyberverse than what I've heard of his performance in the Netflix trailers, I was just expressing that I've been disappointed with Jake's Optimus voice even there. I don't think it's Jake's fault, I just think he's got great potential that he's not reaching, again probably the voice directors' fault: they probably want him to focus on his Peter Cullen impression to the exclusion of adding much depth to the voice and/or making it his own.

yeah I kept thinking how much more epic this would have been with Frank, Peter, Dan, Greg, Michael and any of the other still living voice actors of the g1 cartoon.

I still need to watch it.