The Energon Pub

Right, I just tried to watch the first episode of Robots In Disguise, and I couldn't get more than halfway through. I've heard that the subtitled version of it is better, but I can't find anything online that I don't have to pay for (I got no money after christmas shopping). Can anyone tell me if it's even worth checking out? I know for damn sure that R.I.D. is pure crap already, but I want to know if I should bother checking out Car Robots at all. Mind you, this question is coming from a guy who doesn't like anime.

Ive watched 36 out of 39 episodes over the last few weeks with my daughter. I dont think its THAT bad and she likes it well enough, thought not NEARLY as much as Beast Wars and Beast Machines. RiD is not adult enough for some people obviously but I dont think its pure crap. They introduce some neat little things, backstory and origin wise. Its fun for kids, its demographic, and not too serious. And since we just finished Beast Machines before watching RiD a little departure from maturity was nice.

I think you should give it a try but youre already saying its pure crap before finishing one episode AND you said you dont like anime. So it may just not appeal to you, no worries, you cant like everything Transformers related. I have a good source for it if youre interested.

RiD was imported from Japan as filler between Beast Machines and Armada since Hasbro cancelled the Transtech line that was to follow Beast Machines. So compared to other Transformers series, RiD really is anime in all aspects.

RiD was not without its own problems, for sure, but I say watch it, if not just take a gander at http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Robots_in_Disguise_%28cartoon%29

Robots in Disguise was what actually caused me to start collecting the toys (Imagine that). I agree that the series was more light-hearted than other series, akin to Beast Wars II and Neo. I guess I was lucky enough to have been exposed to anime a couple years prior thanks to German TV (Ranma 1/2, Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon and some others were the culprits), so I could grasp the humor a bit more.

I did find the show pretty enjoyable, with the humor and the dub-only references to previous series. I don't remember any major problems off-hand, other than IRON MAMMOTH!

Fun fact: in the Netherlands, the show was actually erroneously announced as "Transformers: Car Robot" at times.

Well, I guess I should correct myself. I did see robots in disguise when it was first aired in Canada just after Beast Machines finished (didn't like Beast Machines either ). I watched more than just the first episode back then, and the best episodes had the Decepticons in them more than the predacons. It always bothered me that the only time the predacons were an issue for the autobots was the first episode, then they were never taken seriously again (other than Megatron of course).

Just watching it recently was more like a second viewing, and I couldn't get through much of it at all.

Rodimus Prime wrote:Robots in Disguise is for comic relief purposes only. If you start watching it with any higher expectations, you will be disappointed.

Nah, I kinda had low expectations already. Mostly because of my bias to anime, but also from having seen it before as a kid and not really liking it.

Nutimus Prime wrote:So it may just not appeal to you, no worries, you cant like everything Transformers related.

Yeah, no kidding. I didn't exactly squeal for joy at Beast Machines, Transformers Animated, or Revenge of the Fallen either.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Robots in Disguise was what actually caused me to start collecting the toys (Imagine that).

Yeah, I thought the figures that they made for the series were excellent! (I STILL want to get me a Rail Racer)

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:I agree that the series was more light-hearted than other series, akin to Beast Wars II and Neo. I guess I was lucky enough to have been exposed to anime a couple years prior thanks to German TV (Ranma 1/2, Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon and some others were the culprits), so I could grasp the humor a bit more.

Maybe I'm just not the type who gets into anime easily. I guess there were SOME anime I liked. Gundam Wing (for the robots), Akira (but who doesn't like that?), Cromartie High School (If you don't know it, look it up XD), Dominion Tank Police (chicks and tanks), and Patlabor (for the robots). Of course, I haven't seen any of those anime in years, so I might feel the same about them too. I'll have to check.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:IRON MAMMOTH!

"Sir, you may not have noticed, but actually, he's just a little bit larger than you!" I did like that bit.

Alright and last 3 episodes done. It got better towards the end as far as story and seriousness goes. Still, the whole ride was fun and my daughter liked it.

I like the character design because I like the anime style. Not quite as original as I usually like but seeing how its a blend of anime, mecha, etc. I still like the designs. The toys look cool and Ill probably grab some soon for my daughter to play with. The prices on them dont seem so bad compared to other series.

TV-Nihon, who has fansubbed all of The Headmasters, Masterforce, Victory, Super Link, RobotMasters, Galaxy Force, and the OPs/EDs of Animated, are also fansubbing Car Robots.

BUT, they've only subbed the first 8 episodes and haven't touched the series in forever due to their greater devotion to subbing assorted Tokusatsu series.

As for which version is better, Ive heard very mixed opinions on each. Some prefer Car Robots cuz it's the original unaltered version and find RiD too Americanized and unfunny by comparison. Others prefer RiD cuz they find Car Robots boring and unfunny by comparison. Others just hate both versions altogether.

Notice how I said both sides of CR vs. RiD find the other to be the unfunny one? This is due to the jokes being different between the two due to cultural differences and each party preferring one version's kind of humor over the other's and vice versa.

As for me, I have not seen Car Robots yet due to its incomplete fansubs, but I would still like to. But I have seen all of RiD and, darn it, I cannot help but love it. Don't get me wrong, I hold no delusions about it and recognize that it is far from perfect, but it is a guilty pleasure of mine and tied with Beast Machines as my fourth favorite TF cartoon series.

It starts off slow but improves a LOT further down, introducing more characters, interesting concepts, and bigger-scaled conflicts, leading up to a decently epic story nearer towards the end.

If not to enjoy it, I'd recommend watching it to simply enhance one's knowledge and experiences with the brand so as to become more familiar with another semi-important piece of Transformers history (I say semi-important due to it leaving a lasting impact on the brand despite being a filler series dubbed to tide us over until Armada came).