The Energon Pub

Favorite - Beast Wars: Transformers
The first TF series I ever saw. Aside from the cliche nostalgia factor, this series had great character development, good enough humor that both kids and adults can enjoy, excellent plot-driven stories that varied from exotic and mysterious (like those involving the Vok devices) to those that were edgy and intense (like the second and third season finales). It's cast wasn't too large, meaning everyone got a fair amount of screentime and space to grow and develop. Not to mention it had, what I consider to be, the greatest Megatron of all time (he still holds this title in Beast Machines as well). Unlike the G1 cartoon, it's primary focus wasn't to sell its products, but to tell a good and entertaining story filled with great characters, excellent plot twists, and lots of fun, action, drama, carefully-crafted humor, excitement, and adventure. It took things in a more serious direction than previously seen, and put a lot of emphasis on fleshing out the characters and story, only opting to move the plot in a more toy-oriented direction very few times. The acting was great, the writing was great, the scripting was great, the quality itself was all great. It was this series that set the standard of "quality over quantity", and it sure shows wonderfully.

However, Animated is really close to overthrowing Beast Wars as my favorite, especially with the addition of the fantastic AllSpark Almanac books. I mean, this show was made for the fans! In spite of its outwardly childish appearance, there lying beneath the surface was a serious (and, at times, very dark) show. Anyone could pull off something that mainly kids could enjoy. The same goes for adult shows. But to make the plot enjoyable for both kids and adults is simply phenomenal. It wasn't too happy-go-lucky, nor was too to gritty and brooding. There were times where it was light and comedic and times where it wore a serious face. It even kept a realistic feel to it at times while still retaining a slight sci-fi appeal. It didn't talk down to its audience or hide controversial topics from them, but told the story in a way that made it feel real and believable without straying too far away from the realm of escapist fantasy. It kept things focused, and featured strong character development for almost everyone. One-dimensional characters were far and few, being limited mostly to guest characters and some figures of comic relief. The jokes were funny and well thought out, harking references to past TF series that any long-time fan would catch and smile at. These references and homages covered nearly EVERY past series. Not to mention that the Decepticons were actually both powerful and competent threats, needing several Autobots working in unison just to stop one! If Beast Wars had not been made, this series would probably be the best of them all.


Least favorite - The Universe cartoon.
Yes, believe it or not, there does exist something worse than the Energon cartoon (my second-least favorite, for obvious reasons). The Universe (2008) toyline received two web cartoons called "Action Blast 1" and "Fight for Energon", and BOY are they mediocre! Or rather, "mediocre" would be putting it politely. "Pathetic" would be a more literal term. These two are so bad that they make Energon look charming. "Action Blast 1" basically retells the story of how the Transformers came to Earth, using a "motion comic"-esque style of animation and character models that resemble none of the Universe toys (we got ones from G1, Classics, Alternators, IDW, and some new models... but zero Universe ones). It is really lame and really bad. The "Fight for Energon" episode is a little better (in that it's an actual cartoon instead of just moving stills!), but it ain't that much better. It involves Optimus Prime and Bumblebee fighting Megatron and Cyclonus (think about that for a sec... Megatron, not Galvatron, and Cyclonus), trying to prevent to two 'Cons from taking over a gas station. That alone should say it all. Not to mention that everyone (save of Cyclonus) looks aboslutely weird in this thing! Optimus and BB are in models that mix their G1 looks with their Movie looks in a freakish way, and Megatron... has Cyclonus' jet done in silver for his altmode. And to top it all off, it uses the Energon cartoon theme at its end.

MightyMagnus78 wrote:so on that basis I'd have to say Animated is my least favourite show, for no other reason than I don't really like the character design.

No offense but that's a very shallow reason.

Burn wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

MightyMagnus78 wrote:so on that basis I'd have to say Animated is my least favourite show, for no other reason than I don't really like the character design.

No offense but that's a very shallow reason.

Why is it shallow?

I can't stand the aesthetic of Animated either.

Does that make me shallow as well?

I mean, isn't it a little... prejudiced to judge something based entirely on its outward appearance? What about the plot development? Character development? The writing? The acting? The scripting? The effort put into it? Some things are worth looking a little deeper into.

Now, I'm not say that you, Burn, have not looked beneath the surface of Animated's looks, but rather that MightyMagnus78 implies that he hasn't. If I'm wrong on this, then well, to each his own, I guess.

But my point still stands that it's what's on the inside that counts as much as (if not more than) just what's on the outside.

MightyMagnus78 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Burn wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

MightyMagnus78 wrote:so on that basis I'd have to say Animated is my least favourite show, for no other reason than I don't really like the character design.

No offense but that's a very shallow reason.

Why is it shallow?

I can't stand the aesthetic of Animated either.

Does that make me shallow as well?

I mean, isn't it a little... prejudiced to judge something based entirely on its outward appearance? What about the plot development? Character development? The writing? The acting? The scripting? The effort put into it? Some things are worth looking a little deeper into.

Now, I'm not say that you, Burn, have not looked beneath the surface of Animated's looks, but rather that MightyMagnus78 implies that he hasn't. If I'm wrong on this, then well, to each his own, I guess.

But my point still stands that it's what's on the inside that counts as much as (if not more than) just what's on the outside.

It's a cartoon show that you watch on TV not a human being FFS, I can hardly hurt its feelings now can I?

Just because I don't like Animated's rather specific/unique style of aesthetic design doesn't make me a shallow person.

At the end of the day its just a product, produced by a company to make money, like a camera, or a phone or even a car. Visually this particular product fails to appeal to me, and therefore I feel my original comment is justified.

But we are nerds, here. Looking deeper into seemingly unimportant things is what we do. That's why we have such topics like "FIRRIB vs. RIRFIB", "Who is G1 Cyclonus?", "1986 movie vs. Bay movies", "The origins of the G1 Constructicons", "The nature of Multiversal Singularities", "Canons and Continuities", etc. etc.

As fanatic nerds, we go beneath the surface of mere product and use our intellect to obtain a better understanding of it all. If we really enjoy something, we tend to want to know more about it and thus go exploring further into it. That is what separates us from the casual fans who aren't as into the Transformers brand as we are.

MightyMagnus78 wrote:Can you please just except that I don't like Animated?

That, I can accept, yes. It's the reasons behind one's opinion that matter the most.

Though, now that I think about, I don't think I've actually gotten to asking this: Have you given the series a fair viewing chance? Or, did its looks turn you off enough to just skip over it?

If you have seen all/most of it, then all I can say is, "to each his own" and leave it at that. If you haven't, then I highly recommend doing so.

Burn wrote:I personally watched the whole damn thing. I sat through and endured the animation style which I detest, the annoying human characters (except Fanzone, I liked him), and some of the worst jokes i've ever heard.

In that case, since you have seen it all and genuinely did not enjoy it, there's nothing wrong with that. It's your opinion and you have given acceptable reasons to back it.

The only thing I had said was unfair was to judge something based entirely on its outward appearance. You have fully experienced the Animated cartoon series, giving it a fair viewing chance. But you did not find it to be enjoyable due to its art design, its human cast, and its type of humor. None of this appealed to you and that is acceptable.

You gave it a decent chance, but it failed to appeal to you. Therefore, your opinion is justified.