The Energon Pub

[Sabrblade]

My top three favorite characters so far are Alex, Dot, and Megatron.

Alex is the most relatable character on the show, Dot is the awesomemest character, and Megatron is the most interesting.

[84everfan]

"This leads me to talk about the action: it is excellent. While I am not a fan of some of the human characterizations, the action is what really impressed me. The fights among the bots feels fluid and dynamic, more so than anything I've ever seen in a live action film."

This is the biggest lie I have ever read in my entire life.

[84everfan]

"The show is clearly aimed at kids and not fans, this reference is not meant for fans but rather the writers using elements from the lore of the past 35 years and introducing it to a new generation of fans."
Every show before Prime had the exact same demographics, and they managed to not sound patronizing and childish. This is a piss poor excuse for the immaturity of the writing. It's a MAINLINE TRANSFORMERS SHOW. THEY HAVE HAD THE SAME AUDIENCE FOR 38 YEARS.

The children do not determine what shows get made for them, YOU do. They will watch WHATEVER is put in front of them. This show and CyberVerse are indictive of that.

If you think that a show made for fans and kids is mutually exclusive, you can NOT call yourself a transformers fan.

This is the stupidest take I have ever heard and everyone here is dumber having read it.

You cannot make the excuse that you can't have a mature tone and themes when Prime, Animated, Cybertron, and Armada did the same over a decade ago with the same age range as this show.

[primalxconvoy]

...

Lining in Japan, this isn't even available here. The sites that have been mentioned are pretty awful for ads. A little Laserbeak told me that something called "freemovies2021DOTCOM" might be useful, but I wouldn't know about all of that...

[Sabrblade]

...

Lining in Japan, this isn't even available here.

Send me a PM.

[Bumblevivisector]

I know this comment may be considered off-topic enough to warrant admin removal or a warning, but it's something I've wanted to get off my chest for a bit, and this is a good opportunity.

Have I bashed Beast Machines too much over my years on Seibertron? I'm not going to apoligize, rather explain one benefit of the my unflinching mindset on that cartoon being the worst thing ever to happen to Transformers (no, I'm not conveniently forgetting about Kiss Players; until I see accurate english translations of every bit of Kiss Players fiction, I must objectively give it the benefit of the doubt). Focusing all of my hatred on my eternal least favorite means I never react like this...

"The show is clearly aimed at kids and not fans, this reference is not meant for fans but rather the writers using elements from the lore of the past 35 years and introducing it to a new generation of fans."
Every show before Prime had the exact same demographics, and they managed to not sound patronizing and childish. This is a piss poor excuse for the immaturity of the writing. It's a MAINLINE TRANSFORMERS SHOW. THEY HAVE HAD THE SAME AUDIENCE FOR 38 YEARS.

The children do not determine what shows get made for them, YOU do. They will watch WHATEVER is put in front of them. This show and CyberVerse are indictive of that.

If you think that a show made for fans and kids is mutually exclusive, you can NOT call yourself a transformers fan.

This is the stupidest take I have ever heard and everyone here is dumber having read it.

You cannot make the excuse that you can't have a mature tone and themes when Prime, Animated, Cybertron, and Armada did the same over a decade ago with the same age range as this show.

...to the latest TF cartoon, comic or movie. Having that one scar that will never heal lets me see all the good in each new iteration of the franchise, and Earthspark is at least experimenting with a few dynamics that haven't been tried before.

I especially agree with will's point about the genesis of the Terran Bots referencing the mythos for the benefit of longtime fans without dumping it all on kids new to TF being a good way to start the show. Shoving protaganists through decades of lore too fast can alienate a target audience and leave too little room for a good story; I wish I could think of a more recent example of this than the Green Lantern movie.

Again, not trying to derail the thread, or troll 84everfan, this just gave me an opportunity to say my piece. I won't continue.

I will s#!t on Beast Machines again before too long though. Hopefully I'll see the next 8 eps of Earthspark first.

[Dr. Caelus]

I had to watch some of it with the sound off, so I can't say much about the voice-acting, beyond Danny Pudi is a solid successor to Will Friedle, Alan Tudyk is a... different... Optimus Prime, and Rory McCan's voice is right for Megatron, but his accent sticks out.

Storywise, I really feel like the writer's plotted out two seasons, but then were told to jam the whole first season into the pilot. The pilot feels rushed and hectic, because it introduces so many characters and concepts that would feel like they would ordinarily be dropped in an episode at a time.

Megatron is a good guy! - feels like a midseason viewership bump.

Ghost manipulated someone's employment! - feels like a midseason plot-twist.

Keep the bots hidden from Mom & Dad! - feels like it was probably supposed to be a running plot gimmick.

Decepticon Cameos in Mandroid's lab! - feels like they were supposed to have a couple episodes introducing those characters being hunted.

The thing is, although the pilot feels rushed as a result, I am glad to be spared the tedium of a full season of trying to hide Twitch and Thrash from Mom & Dad, and I was especially excited when we got to the second season plot points early. I think I shouted out loud when I saw the symbol in the cave, and when I made the connection to the magic rock in the first cave.

Other Thoughts:

The counter-intuitive mix of animations makes for really cool action sequences, and the fight scenes are cool - they have some of the over-the-top gymnastics of the Bay style, which is a nice departure from 'lets all stand in separate shots and fire generic weapons at each other' while still remaining visually coherent and easy to follow. Elita-1, Megatron (when he cuts loose), Thrash, and Skywarp were the best to watch, in my opinion.

Twitch scanning one of Wheeljack's drones felt like a bit of plot convenience at the time, but really has a fun pay off later. Also, goofy accent aside, Wheeljack is just wonderful.

Bumblebee being a knowledgeable world traveler makes sense for a scout and is a nice step up from the Aligned iteration that was fascinated by human culture but still mostly learned about it from watching TV.

That said -

Dot's back story is clearly really elaborate, but I felt like you had to be an adult viewer to put it all together from what little was given, and it needed more foreground attention.

Nightshade was badly executed. Their introduction as being non-binary felt clumsy - like it somehow found the worst middleground between downplaying it and addressing it. I'm conflicted about which way I think they should have gone with it, and would be interested to see what kids get out of it, but regardless my real issue with Nightshade is this: in the events that follow, they are the ONLY USELESS CHARACTER IN THE GROUP. Like, Nightshade is nonbinary, and kind of emo(?), and... that's it. Super badass name for a character who is really close to being a liability.

[Sabrblade]

(no, I'm not conveniently forgetting about Kiss Players; until I see accurate english translations of every bit of Kiss Players fiction, I must objectively give it the benefit of the doubt).

You're in luck. It was translated back in July.

[Bumblevivisector]

(no, I'm not conveniently forgetting about Kiss Players; until I see accurate english translations of every bit of Kiss Players fiction, I must objectively give it the benefit of the doubt).

You're in luck. It was translated back in July.

All the audio-dramas too? Yet another reason to wait and see if Nick shows the next 8 eps of Earthspark. Too much to catch up with online.

[Sabrblade]

(no, I'm not conveniently forgetting about Kiss Players; until I see accurate english translations of every bit of Kiss Players fiction, I must objectively give it the benefit of the doubt).

You're in luck. It was translated back in July.

All the audio-dramas too? Yet another reason to wait and see if Nick shows the next 8 eps of Earthspark. Too much to catch up with online.

All of the 2006 ones that were released commercially. The 2007 ones never saw release on CD, but their storyline was retold abridged in manga form.

[First-Aid]

Where can I see this outside of Paramount Plus? I'm not paying for another damned streaming service.

I hope there is a DVD release for this in the end if it's decent.

[Decepticon Stryker]

Only saw the first two episodes but I liked it, I really did. Action scenes were cool to look at especially that opening scene where Elita takes on Swindle and Hardtop (really clever use of her kibble as skates).

There’s definitely more to Mandroid than the trailers have let on as seen during his conversation with Twitch and Thrash, and I’m excited to see a human villain that’s actually a threat to the Transformers again. Silas came close and before that was… Meltdown, I guess? Kinda? Sorta? Not really? And I love the fact that the two main bots are entirely new characters (well, as long as you ignore the fact that Thrash’s name is recycled). This is something that needs to be a staple in every Transformers show going forward: at least one brand new character being a significant part of the main cast. I’m leaning more towards Twitch being my favorite of the two, as I felt we got to know more about her than we did Thrash. I guess this os the double-edged sword with new characters, not having any sort of past incarnation to look back on can make it difficult for me to have an opinion about them when they’re first introduced.

The kids were ok too, Robby’s wanting to go back home and then choosing to stay arc was rushed when it was introduced, then swept to the side for the rest of the pilot, and then rather hurriedly resolved. Mo, on the other hand, feels more mature than Robby at times, and I found her eagerness to bring the Terrans into the family to be heartwarming. I did love the family being together though, kind of a chaotic yet orderly fun-loving mess that reminds me of my family. Dot clearly has a lot of backstory with Megatron and I really hope that’s expanded upon as it seems there was a lot of stuff between them that happened after the war but before the show starts, maybe she’s the reason he’s turned good? I love Alex’s enthusiasm about Transformers (the fact he can tell who’s who based purely on the nose they make when they transform is absolutely amazing. However, outside of that it feels like he was only there to give the kids, Terrans, and audience exposition about the War, and I hope that he gets to do more than just that.

As for returning characters: I’m really liking how Elita’s starting to appear in shows now after being mostly forgotten since Animated. Optimus’ design is growing on me, but the more he keeps that faceplate up, the better (his chin’s massive). It’s going to take me awhile to get used to Tudyk’s voice because hearing someone that isn’t Cullen, Chalk, or someone channeling Cullen or Chalk is really throwing me for a loop, and I’m ok with that. There’s clearly something that happened between Optimus and Dot that appears to have driven a wedge between them, and I’m willing to bet that her relations with Megatron have something to do with it. Bumblebee is… there. Ok. Still has those door wings that I’ve come to hate (thank you very much 2007 game console edition) but I haven’t seen enough of him to actually formulate an opinion on his character yet.

And now we come to the Decepticons. Hoo-boy I love Megatron! Seeing him have a personality other than brooding, calculating tyrant (don’t get me wrong I love those versions of him too) is refreshing. His fusion cannon confuses me though, instead of singular blasts like an actual cannon, it’s more of a beam like a proton pack. Of course, it’s not specifically referred to as a fusion cannon (even the toy descriptions just call it a ‘blaster’) so I guess it works… It was pretty neat seeing the Insecticons (well 2/3’s of them) and Skullcruncher make an appearance, and I hope that they actually get to do more in the show than just be there for the pilot only to be arrested and never seen again. Swindle, who makes his first onscreen appearance since Animated (geez, can’t believe his last appearance was that long ago), was fun too see and I’m looking forward to seeing more of him. And then there’s Hardtop. Freaking. Hardtop. I love his Cyberton toy and I thought that was going to be it for him. A toy and maybe a few cameos in the background of some comics. But seeing him as an actual character in an actual show is nothing short of amazing to me and I really hope there’s more deep cuts like this throughout the series.

Anyway, that’s just my thoughts on it. I liked it. Gonna get Paramount+ in order to watch the rest. I’d say a 3.5 out of 5, maybe a 4, I don’t really do ‘X out of X’ rankings.

[william-james88]

Where can I see this outside of Paramount Plus? I'm not paying for another damned streaming service.

I hope there is a DVD release for this in the end if it's decent.

Currently watching on wcostream.net for free

[Sabrblade]

It just dawned on me that Twitch reminds me an awful lot of RBA Whirl.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

Yeah, call me old fashioned too, but as much as I loved the pilot, I might just wait and see if Nick shows the rest..

Same. I still remember watching Car Robots (via dial-up) back in 2000. Probably the last time I got caught up enough with a new show to do that. WFC, I gave up on after the boring Siege. I could have watched the other two shows, I chose not to bother. As previously mentioned, I'm sick of streaming services. I'm not going to buy into another one for a single show again.

[Sabrblade]

Yeah, call me old fashioned too, but as much as I loved the pilot, I might just wait and see if Nick shows the rest..

Same. I still remember watching Car Robots (via dial-up) back in 2000. Probably the last time I got caught up enough with a new show to do that. WFC, I gave up on after the boring Siege. I could have watched the other two shows, I chose not to bother. As previously mentioned, I'm sick of streaming services. I'm not going to buy into another one for a single show again.

Just to clue you in, Earthrise was a little better than Siege, but still not great. Kingdom, however, was the best of the three. Not perfect or amazing, but decent enough. And by that point, that's all anyone could really ask of it after the dullness of the first two.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

I recall the discourse for Earthrise and Kingdom wasn't overtly positive here, at the time. Which didn't encourage me to seek either show out.
It's funny, the last TF show I watched was Prime. Which I didn't like and tapped out of about halfway through Season one. So I jumped at the chance to get onboard with a new show and even got Netflix for WFC. Now, I wouldn't do that again.

[Rodimus Knight]

I watched the first 2 episodes and it's okay. The voices do bother me, Megatron more that optimus. Is that some accent from the British isles he's got? I keep thinking scottish, but not quite.
The other issue I had is, WHY IS THAT GIRL'S HEAD SO FREAKING BIG? It looks like her neck should collapse on itself, and it's not the hair. Her face is like 75% larger than her older, bigger brother's face. Anytime I see her it wigs me out.

[Sabrblade]

I watched the first 2 episodes and it's okay. The voices do bother me, Megatron more that optimus. Is that some accent from the British isles he's got? I keep thinking scottish, but not quite.

Megatron's voice actor is Scottish. He played Sandor "The Hound" Clegane on Game of Thrones.

[Dr. Caelus]

The other issue I had is, WHY IS THAT GIRL'S HEAD SO FREAKING BIG? It looks like her neck should collapse on itself, and it's not the hair. Her face is like 75% larger than her older, bigger brother's face. Anytime I see her it wigs me out.

She's so radically out of place that my wife and I have a tbeory that the artists were given a significant change in direction at some point that really altered the style of the show, and that (for some reason) the director decided to keep, finish, and use Mo's animation model, even as the other stuff was scrapped.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

Nightshade was badly executed. Their introduction as being non-binary felt clumsy - like it somehow found the worst middleground between downplaying it and addressing it. I'm conflicted about which way I think they should have gone with it, and would be interested to see what kids get out of it, but regardless my real issue with Nightshade is this: in the events that follow, they are the ONLY USELESS CHARACTER IN THE GROUP. Like, Nightshade is nonbinary, and kind of emo(?), and... that's it. Super badass name for a character who is really close to being a liability.

The next step I suppose, from the overt sexualising of Transformers that has always bugged me, since Blackarachnia in Beast Wars. Yet also a thing that is both redundant to Alien Robots and will date this show horribly, in retrospect.

[Dr. Caelus]

The next step I suppose, from the overt sexualising of Transformers that has always bugged me, since Blackarachnia in Beast Wars. Yet also a thing that is both redundant to Alien Robots and will date this show horribly, in retrospect.

How is asking to be referred to as "they" sexualising?

And how is it redundant to aliens?

[AllNewSuperRobot]

How is asking to be referred to as "they" sexualising?

The next step I suppose, from the overt sexualising

Further human gender identities, being erroneously applied to mechanical sentience.

And how is it redundant to aliens?

Alien Robots

Nonbinary: an umbrella term for gender identities that are not solely male or female‍—‌identities that are outside the gender binary.

They are Robots. Constructs, by various means. Humanising should only go so far. Otherwise you end up at Kissplayers.

[william-james88]

Yeah, call me old fashioned too, but as much as I loved the pilot, I might just wait and see if Nick shows the rest..

Same. I still remember watching Car Robots (via dial-up) back in 2000. Probably the last time I got caught up enough with a new show to do that. WFC, I gave up on after the boring Siege. I could have watched the other two shows, I chose not to bother. As previously mentioned, I'm sick of streaming services. I'm not going to buy into another one for a single show again.

Just to clue you in, Earthrise was a little better than Siege, but still not great. Kingdom, however, was the best of the three. Not perfect or amazing, but decent enough. And by that point, that's all anyone could really ask of it after the dullness of the first two.

As an alternate take, all 3 are still some of the most boring Transformers media you will ever see. The animation is stilted and never exciting, it feels too slow. As does the voice acting. None of this changes with Kingdom. The reason it appears less boring is due to the story which incorporates more characters. As a Beast Wars fan though, I absolutely hated it. Instead of giving us something original, they just retread Beast Wars' biggest hits while trying to stuff it into a bigger G1 narrative which feels like shoving a square peg into a round hole. None of it feels competent.

Honestly, that whole trilogy is closer to the Machinima trilogy in terms of entertainment, than any other piece of TF media we got in the west.

[william-james88]

The next step I suppose, from the overt sexualising of Transformers that has always bugged me, since Blackarachnia in Beast Wars. Yet also a thing that is both redundant to Alien Robots and will date this show horribly, in retrospect.

I just want to make sure I understand what is meant here, does this post imply that someone identifying as non binary is something that exists now and will not in the future?