Peter Cullen Interviewed by Den of Geek

Jess Harnell was Movie Ironhide. Cullen just read Ironhide's lines during his audition for Optimus.

It's Tuesday, where's episode 10? Did I miss a memo about its delay?

Surprisingly, it isn't up yet on go90.

Episode is up now.

Windblade wrote:Somebody explain what just happened!

Sums up what I think of the series so far.

"All Things Must Pass" ....so many jokes/puns could be made here, but I'll leave that for others...

Well, that was something. Actually something I think I may have not entirely disliked...not sure yet...It certainly did make the end of the battle with Trypticon anti-climactic, but in an odd way, I feel it was kind of like the end of LOTR. There was nothing really the armies of the world could do to stop Sauron, but the destruction of the One Ring did bring it all to an end, as did giving the Matrix to Trypscream.

Oh and we see Overlord, make sure you don't forget him . Megatron, what terrible language . Also is that Mark Hamill voicing Megatronus? Just a shot in the dark, probably not, but just going by my initial instinct.

Are there any Mazinger fans here? I Initially thought of the Mikene Emperor with the flaming face, and oddly enough, Megatronus had a Mazinger-ish head in his robot form, which is again a completely new design not based on any previous rendition of Megatronus/The Fallen.

No surprise about Evil Rodimus, though they must have done this before getting renders from Hasbro about Rodimus Unicronus. Though the face-plate reveal in PotP could come complete with evil goatee.

This felt much more like Episode 1 of PotP than the end of TR, but it is what it is...Oh and it definitely was also very much like the end of Pirates of the Caribbean "Dead Man's Chest" (the 2nd one). -The Hero is dead, the Villain comes back and asks if the crew is willing to go to the place they need to go, to do the thing they need to do...It's just too bad that Optimus' Death means so little now, its pretty much a staple of every series.

I'll admit I'm more optimistic about PotP now, than I was for TR at the end of CW, but just a bit more. .

o.supreme wrote:"All Things Must Pass" ....so many jokes/puns could be made here, but I'll leave that for others...

Well, that was something. Actually something I think I may have not entirely disliked...not sure yet...It certainly did make the end of the battle with Trypticon anti-climactic, but in an odd way, I feel it was kind of like the end of LOTR. There was nothing really the armies of the world could do to stop Sauron, but the destruction of the One Ring did bring it all to an end, as did giving the Matrix to Trypscream.

Oh and we see Overlord, make sure you don't forget him . Megatron, what terrible language . Also is that Mark Hamill voicing Megatronus? Just a shot in the dark, probably not, but just going by my initial instinct.

Are there any Mazinger fans here? I Initially thought of the Mikene Emperor with the flaming face, and oddly enough, Megatronus had a Mazinger-ish head in his robot form, which is again a completely new design not based on any previous rendition of Megatronus/The Fallen.

No surprise about Evil Rodimus, though they must have done this before getting renders from Hasbro about Rodimus Unicronus. Though the face-plate reveal in PotP could come complete with evil goatee.

This felt much more like Episode 1 of PotP than the end of TR, but it is what it is...Oh and it definitely was also very much like the end of Pirates of the Caribbean "Dead Man's Chest" (the 2nd one). -The Hero is dead, the Villain comes back and asks if the crew is willing to go to the place they need to go, to do the thing they need to do...It's just too bad that Optimus' Death means so little now, its pretty much a staple of every series.

I'll admit I'm more optimistic about PotP now, than I was for TR at the end of CW, but just a bit more. .

TFWiki credits Hamill for Megatronus. So, credit to Hasbro again for upping the voice budget.

His design definitely evokes Mazinger with the helmet and the neck spikes. I guess it looks a bit like the movie incarnation filtered through the RID art style.

Not sure what I think of this. It was certainly a bold way to end this chapter. Megatron continues to entertain, so I guess that's enough for me.

MrBlack wrote:TFWiki credits Hamill for Megatronus. So, credit to Hasbro again for upping the voice budget.

oh wow, I was right for once. . Still this is not his first gig in Transformers, he was Chief Burns brother in Rescue Bots.

When I saw this: https://i.imgur.com/JhKnYpL.png

I thought of this:



and this:

Final episode? You mean "How much can we cram into this one episode because we ran out of time?"

Just like that, Trypticon falls over dead, Ghost Starscream goes flying off, and a flaming eyes and mouth that made me wince.

Basically this entire series was a set up for Megatronus to get his hands on the Enigma of Combination and The Matrix? ugh ...

At least we got a glimpse of Rodimus Unicronus, I thought for sure they'd just skip over that little plot point.

Now that they've discovered more money for the voice actor budget, can they find some money for the script budget for PotP?

Will there be a new Megatronus toy?

Burn wrote:Now that they've discovered more money for the voice actor budget, can they find some money for the script budget for PotP?

Same writers....so I'm going to say no. But, to be fair, I'd say overall it was better than CW (I know not saying much...) But if the trend continues, we could actually, potentially, maybe...live in this crazy world where PotP may end up better then the worst of the Unicron Trilogy...( everybody's opinion of worst is different , so take your pick..) just sayin'

Rysquad wrote:Will there be a new Megatronus toy?

That was my initial thought, but Hasbro hasn't revealed anything beyond the Prime Masters as representing the Prime's themselves (Megatronus is said to be with Bomb-Burst in wave 3 of PotP). Though I must say that Megatronus had that "Toyetic" (points if you know where that's from) look.

Another Tuesday brings another episode of Machinima's Titans Return animated series. We're finally up to the final episode this week, episode ten, and boy are we in for a big one. That's not necessarily saying it's good or bad, just that it's packed to the brim with new, interesting, and slightly confusing moments. So without further ado, let's take a look at the final episode of Titans Return!

We rejoin the action with Trypticon having just eaten Victorion, the Enigma of Combination, Perceptor, and the Matrix of Leadership. This is obviously too much power for even the giant Titan, so he automatically rejects them all, coughing up the two Autobots and the two relics. Starscream's ghost is also released from Trypticon's body, and he falls, having basically been turned into an empty shell. The former council member says his final words to the Megatron and the rest of the cast, and then disappears into the ether. Sort of an anti-climatic end to the main plot thread of the series, but it at least makes some sort of sense. For the first time in a few episodes, Overlord is shown again, now overlooking (badumtiss) the aftermath of the battle.


"Well ain't that downright...finger lickin' good."

Victorion tries to retake the Enigma, but it catches her on fire, burning her right forearm, an entire half of Dust Up (Who may or may not exist as a separate personality in this continuity, given this series' track record with Combiners), completely off.

She recoils from the attack as the fire spreads, creating a ring around both the Enigma and the Matrix. The fire climbs higher and creates the shape of a...fairly non-threatening smiley face?


"Children of my third cousin twice removed's wife's sister's bank teller!"

The Emoji from hell reveals himself to be some sort of God to the Transformers, and Optimus wants to defend Cybertron from his obvious evil intentions, but Megatron convinces Prime to let him talk to the mystical being first. As Megatron approaches, the being reveals himself to be none other than Megatronus. Megatron speaks to him, reminding the God that he has, for eternities, fought under his name with respect and honor, and united the Decepticons Megatronus created. Megatronus tells him to move on to his point, so Megatron continues.

I have a few issues with Megatron's speech here.

The first is that Megatron curses Megatronus, saying "Goddamn you!". It caught me so off guard that it totally pulled me out of the episode. I haven't really shared my thoughts on the PG-13 nature of this series' dialogue yet, so I'll throw those two cents in now. It's not the principle of swearing that bothers me specifically, I think it's fine to use for effect, but in this series it feels like they're including it just because they can. There's no drama to it, no anguish, it's just there. Not only that, but in this specific case it makes no sense, as he's the God doing the damning. Perhaps it would have been more of an effect had he said "Primus Damn you!" or something to that effect, referencing a power higher than Megatronus. I digress.

My second issue with this scene is Megatron himself. Megatron's voice actor is one of the best parts of both this series and its predecessor, Combiner Wars. The sarcastic and flippant take on the classic character is seriously one of the best Megatrons we've seen since G1, but in this specific scene, it doesn't completely work. He's lamenting to his God and Idol about all of these things he's done to try and honor Megatronus, but he still maintains his indifferent exterior. It actually would have been an interesting scene to have him perhaps become slightly vulnerable at the feet of his idol when he's so buffed against vulnerability toward everyone else. It would have deepened his character, and would have really shown that he felt betrayed about doing all these things to gain approval of Megatronus just to receive nothing in response.


It's awesome to see our podcast staff in official media...

Anyway, Optimus and Fort Max use this opportunity to try to attack Megatronus, and it ends, uh, very poorly.

Fort Max actually uses the Master Sword, which is pretty awesome to see in an American series, but Megatronus easily blocks his attacks. He then gets rushed by Prime, though Optimus is similarly no match for the god, and gets blasted through the chest by a lazer. Yep, we get to deal with this again.


Oh, guys, no. Why? Didn't Transformers: The Movie teach you anything about what happens when you kill Optimus Prime?

As the life drains from Optimus's eyes, Megatronus warns of an apocalyptic event that will bring an end to the Transformers. With that cryptic warning, he disappears. Megatron realizes he knows where to find Megatronus, and asks the rest of the team to follow him there, promising the new adventure for the cast in the next series.

Overlord is still on a nearby hill watching what's transpiring before him, and for one final twist to this huge episode, it's revealed to us that he has turned Hot Rod into Rodimus Unicronus. With that, the episode, and the series, ends.




While on the whole this was a very enjoyable episode, there were bits and pieces that irked me. Line deliveries, pacing issues, the norm for this series. It answered a few questions and ended a few plot threads, but started quite a few more, but does lead in to a cliffhanger to transition into Power of The Primes. The amount of new characters and plot twists has definitely peaked my interest, and was an exciting episode, but I feel that spreading some of them out over the past couple of episodes would have been better. Some of the more recent installments have felt a bit too dull and filler-like, but it did make for quite a nail-biting episode today, like I said. And if there's one thing you can say for these Machinima shows, they're always unpredictable.

Looking at the series as a whole, it was not bad by any stretch. I've maintained since the beginning that it is leagues ahead of Combiner Wars, and it really is. In voice talent, animation, pacing, even the mouth movements on the characters, everything is a huge improvement. I can say unequivocally this production team learned a lot from their past mistakes and tried to remedy some of them. There lies the problem, though: They didn't fix enough of them. The pacing still feels off, some of the conversations need, desperately, to feel more natural and flowing. Character movements need to be more natural, and need to express more emotion when someone's talking. It's all very close to being good, and they have made vast improvements and learned a lot, I just think they need to learn a bit more.


Thanks for reading this review, and, as always, please share your thoughts down in the Energon Pub forums. Sorry today's review was a tad longer than what I normally do, there was a lot to unpack. Tell me if you agree with the points I made, or if I'm way off base. See you later this year, with the release of Power of the Primes!

o.supreme wrote:

Burn wrote:Now that they've discovered more money for the voice actor budget, can they find some money for the script budget for PotP?

Same writers....so I'm going to say no. But, to be fair, I'd say overall it was better than CW (I know not saying much...) But if the trend continues, we could actually, potentially, maybe...live in this crazy world where PotP may end up better then the worst of the Unicron Trilogy...( everybody's opinion of worst is different , so take your pick..) just sayin'

Keep my expectations low then.
Not like it was going to be any other way.

o.supreme wrote:Well It was kind of cool to see Fort Max as a fully powered Titan, able to stand up to Trypticon even with augmented Powers. Having Trypticons transformation again shrouded was disappointing. They should have just made this an actual animated series instead of a cheap web-series. Of course when I say full animated series, I mean with professional level writers, directors, animators etc...Yeah I know Hasbro would never go for it, that's why we cant have nice things.

I would have been happy with just an animated comic style affair, with great voice acting and some nice effects. There was a pretty good motion comic a while back about the War Within that seemed better than Machinima's efforts.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JPeHw4laWos

Fan made videos are fine. I have ma favorites also.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYny1tadpPM

but, for better or worse, I always keep them separate form official media.

o.supreme wrote:Fan made videos are fine. I have ma favorites also.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYny1tadpPM

but, for better or worse, I always keep them separate form official media.

I meant that Machinima could have used this style of animation to save money and spend more in the writing, visual effects, voice actors, length, etc.

Some might say that there are practically no differences in frame rate between a motion comic, and what we have got right now

I feel bad for the voice cast on POTP, because Joe's gonna kill them.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:I feel bad for the voice cast on POTP, because Joe's gonna kill them.

I haven't watched rasslin' since 2002, so I have no idea who this guy is. After looking him up online, he seems like a good fit for Predaking.

That wasn't even Rodimus Unicronus at the end. We got cheated out of even expecting that since that was just Nemesis Hot Rod.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:I feel bad for the voice cast on POTP, because Joe's gonna kill them.

..HAHAHAHA!!

chuckdawg1999 wrote:I feel bad for the voice cast on POTP, because Joe's gonna kill them.

Just imagine if the timing had been right, they could have had a different voice actor for when Fortress Maximus WOKE.

Bronzewolf wrote:I haven't really shared my thoughts on the PG-13 nature of this series' dialogue yet, so I'll throw those two cents in now. It's not the principle of swearing that bothers me specifically, I think it's fine to use for effect, but in this series it feels like they're including it just because they can. There's no drama to it, no anguish, it's just there.

I have a minor point of contention regarding this: this show is not PG-13. It's solidly PG. You can fit a few "damns" and "hells" and (according to TF:TM) even a "shit" in a PG film. It's not language alone that determines the rating, it's the level of action, violence, themes, and intensity of what's onscreen, and nothing in this series surpasses is any worse than TF: Prime, it just sticks in a few curse words because..... reasons. I agree with your comment that the profanity doesn't add anything, but considering this a PG-13 work is a bit much.


So, this episode..... I got halfway through, stopped and rewatched episode 9, and I realized they still didn't show the Combiners being released from Trypticon's control. I assume it happened when he ate the Matrix but still, the episode opened with them just standing there. Not a great continuation after last week's cliffhanger. This whole episode felt anti-climactic, and I don't like that the plot thread with Overlord and Hot Rod was ignored for most of the series only to make a brief appearance here teasing the POTP show. I also don't quite get how Menasor and Devastator can be so mad at Megatron for claiming to want to reignite the Decepticons when they're supposed to be his (at least former) underlings, but I guess that goes along with Combiners effectively being their own faction here, which is strange since I think they still have faction symbols. Maybe I'm mis-remembering. The world of this show is not very well fleshed out at all. Megatronus was an interesting development at least, with an all-new design. Kudos for that, let's hope they don't squander that storyline next year. (not holding my breath) Oh and Optimus Prime is dead. How sad, this has never ever happened before in the history of the franchise, and I'm absolutely shaken that they would dare to kill off such a beloved icon permanently.

Well, this has been a trip. The show was, overall, better than Combiner Wars, but burdened with its own flaws. Ultimately we saw 6 standard toys from the toyline (but despite Perceptor's head-legs, none of them appeared to be Headmasters), both titans, and one single Titan Master who never actually formed anybody's head despite clearly having Cerebros's head on his back. And we never saw Cerebros at all, Fort Max just appeared fully formed. Not that I'm terribly surprised but Trypticon's drone never got used either. The show technically lived up to its title with the appearance of 3 titans, but didn't serve to advertise the toyline very well by not featuring its main gimmick at all. (of course, again, neither did CW so I don't know what I expected.) It feels weird to criticize a show for not being a blatant advertisement for toys, I'm not gonna lie, but there's just so much more unexplored potential in this series. I'm now betting that we will see at most 2 Prime Masters and maybe one Decoy Shell in the POTP series, and Elita One will be the only new toy character (barring Nemesis Hot Rod) and we'll never see her combine.

King Kuuga wrote:

Bronzewolf wrote:I haven't really shared my thoughts on the PG-13 nature of this series' dialogue yet, so I'll throw those two cents in now. It's not the principle of swearing that bothers me specifically, I think it's fine to use for effect, but in this series it feels like they're including it just because they can. There's no drama to it, no anguish, it's just there.

I have a minor point of contention regarding this: this show is not PG-13. It's solidly PG. You can fit a few "damns" and "hells" and (according to TF:TM) even a "****" in a PG film. It's not language alone that determines the rating, it's the level of action, violence, themes, and intensity of what's onscreen, and nothing in this series surpasses is any worse than TF: Prime, it just sticks in a few curse words because..... reasons. I agree with your comment that the profanity doesn't add anything, but considering this a PG-13 work is a bit much.

You misunderstand. I never said it was a "PG-13 work", just a PG-13 nature of the dialogue specifically. I understand the action/violence factor, and I agree with you, it's nothing worse than Prime, which is why I specified dialogue.

I hesitate to talk about any 80s movie in reference to PG-13, as it was brand new at the time, having been instituted in late 1984. A lot of 80s PG movies pushed the envelope, and I'd argue that TF The Movie potentially deserved a PG-13 rating, between the language and violence, as many of the 80s PG movies do. (Back to the Future comes to mind) I think the only thing that saved it (other than PG-13 not being very widely used) was the fact it was animated.
You'd be surprised how many people get offended by "Goddamn", which is why it's censored on TV and in songs on the radio, while "Damn" isn't. I stand by my thought, I think it's accurate.

o.supreme wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:I feel bad for the voice cast on POTP, because Joe's gonna kill them.

I haven't watched rasslin' since 2002, so I have no idea who this guy is. After looking him up online, he seems like a good fit for Predaking.

Are we sure he's Predaking? I just thought that pic was for reference.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

o.supreme wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:I feel bad for the voice cast on POTP, because Joe's gonna kill them.

I haven't watched rasslin' since 2002, so I have no idea who this guy is. After looking him up online, he seems like a good fit for Predaking.

Are we sure he's Predaking? I just thought that pic was for reference.

You did read the POTP voice cast announcement, right?

Megatronus seems like a distant cousin of Henry Masterson's Headmaster from TF Animated.

http://tfwiki.net/mediawiki/images2/6/64/Henrymastersonandhead.jpg

This: machinima-transformers-titans-return-animated-series-discussion-thread-t104773s2075.php#p1930620

Dropped off after episode 7, but only watched this episode to hear how Hamill would do a Megatronus. Not bad, and I like the design for him. Reminds me of Animated Overlord a little.

Also, any reason TFWiki is calling him “Rodimus Cron?”

Mindmaster wrote:Also, any reason TFWiki is calling him “Rodimus Cron?”

That's what the voice cast announcement for POTP has the evil Hot Rod listed as.

Sabrblade wrote:

Mindmaster wrote:Also, any reason TFWiki is calling him “Rodimus Cron?”

That's what the voice cast announcement for POTP has the evil Hot Rod listed as.

Like Uni-cron? Surely it would be Rodi-cron?

Wouldn't it be awesome if we could stop calling them "Machinimas" and "Magnas" ?

Cant we just call them what they are ? (cartoons and comics)

Seems like someone is just trying to make something sound overly sophisticated. Like if they feel the need justify adults watching cartoons or reading comics.

I dont know if the terms are offically coined by Hasbro/Takara or just fan made, but thats my 2 cents on them.

Rated X wrote:Wouldn't it be awesome if we could stop calling them "Machinimas" and "Magnas" ?

Cant we just call them what they are ? (cartoons and comics)

Seems like someone is just trying to make something sound overly sophisticated. Like if they feel the need justify adults watching cartoons or reading comics.

I dont know if the terms are offically coined by Hasbro/Takara or just fan made, but thats my 2 cents on them.

I'm a bit confused what you're referring to. I refer to it as Machinima's Titans Return because

1. It's produced by Machinima
And
2. I want to be clear that I'm talking about the cartoon and not the toy line.

And Magnas are a model of car put out by Mitsubishi ... so ... yeah. Cool story X, cool story.

That finale was...odd. Felt like many plot threads weren't properly cliffhanger-ed. Like Overlord and Rodimus? Ominous, yeah, but I wasn't excited by it. Starscream's whole thing? Well that was easily resolved. Honestly felt bad for Trypticon, he was possessed and left to be a rusted out shell. Megatron's snark has been the saving grace of this show. Although, I'm thrilled to see a new take on Megatronus, finally we see him as OP as I expect him to be (and not a walking furnace/wimpy teleporter/angry first Decepticon). And we have honestly my favorite voice actor in the role.

Whereas Combiner Wars was a 3/10 for me, I'll give this show a 6.5/10. The only thing holding me back is the overly drawn out plot and poor dubbing/voice acting. Though it's light years from how bad CW was, Windblade is just so snore-worthy (thank god Mistress of Flame is dead).

One thing I did like, Optimus totally miscalculated that attack. It was a dumb move, and it's honestly kinda funny to me that he would attack so blatantly and get blown away like he's nothing.

REally like the last episode, and cannot wait for the Power of the Primes.

Rated X wrote:Wouldn't it be awesome if we could stop calling them "Machinimas" and "Magnas" ?

Cant we just call them what they are ? (cartoons and comics)

Seems like someone is just trying to make something sound overly sophisticated. Like if they feel the need justify adults watching cartoons or reading comics.

I dont know if the terms are offically coined by Hasbro/Takara or just fan made, but thats my 2 cents on them.

To be fair Manga is used to describe comics of Japanese origin, and is used specifically to distinguish them from the western counterparts, though both cover many varied topics.

General point:
Comics is the Anglophone name of the medium of sequential storytelling with interaction of image and text. The comic book, manga, manhwa, quadrinhos, fumetti, bande dessinnée are various regional incarnations of that medium (Anglosphere, Japan, China, Brazil, Italy, Francosphere respectively; examples, not comprehensive).

News answer:
So yes, we will keep using the accurate term for all of these. If it's an AngloAmerican comic book, it's a comic (book), if it's a Japanese manga, it's a manga. If it's an animated series produced by Hasbro and Machinima, it's Machinima's animated series.

Bronzewolf wrote:

Rated X wrote:Wouldn't it be awesome if we could stop calling them "Machinimas" and "Magnas" ?

Cant we just call them what they are ? (cartoons and comics)

Seems like someone is just trying to make something sound overly sophisticated. Like if they feel the need justify adults watching cartoons or reading comics.

I dont know if the terms are offically coined by Hasbro/Takara or just fan made, but thats my 2 cents on them.

I'm a bit confused what you're referring to. I refer to it as Machinima's Titans Return because

1. It's produced by Machinima
And
2. I want to be clear that I'm talking about the cartoon and not the toy line.

1. I dont see the word "Sunbow" being used in the title to describe every story about the G1 cartoon (such as all the unreleased audio clips)

2. If you want to be "clear" that you are talking about the cartoon and not the toy line, wouldnt using the word "cartoon" make more sense?

Because you sure as hell confused me. Im sure Im not the only one on here who doesnt read the credits and know the names of executive producers or the companies they work for.

Surely there shouldn't be any confusion as to which animation is being discussed as that's the title of the thread? Or is it the title that's being debated?

Burn wrote:And Magnas are a model of car put out by Mitsubishi ... so ... yeah. Cool story X, cool story.

Well im referring to the use of the word "magna" here:

https://www.seibertron.com/transformers ... ine/40367/

Even though other sites clearly skip the Japanese moniker and call it what it is, a comic

http://news.tfw2005.com/2017/09/30/taka ... ine-349980

I love both sites equally but I fail to see the point of using the word "Magna" on this site when describing a comic.

By the way I dont follow Japanese auto makers, I drive a Chevy.

Rated X wrote:

Burn wrote:And Magnas are a model of car put out by Mitsubishi ... so ... yeah. Cool story X, cool story.

Well im referring to the use of the word "magna" here:

https://www.seibertron.com/transformers ... ine/40367/

Even though other sites clearly skip the Japanese moniker and call it what it is, a comic

http://news.tfw2005.com/2017/09/30/taka ... ine-349980

I love both sites equally but I fail to see the point of using the word "Magna" on this site when describing a comic.

By the way I dont follow Japanese auto makers, I drive a Chevy.

I don't see the word "magna" in there. I see the word "manga", but not "magna".

primalxconvoy wrote:Surely there shouldn't be any confusion as to which animation is being discussed as that's the title of the thread? Or is it the title that's being debated?

I wouldnt really call it a "debate".

Im just suggesting the addition of the word "Machinima" is unnecessary. Its a damn cartoon.

Some over-analytical individuals on here will surely seize the opportunity to say X doesnt know his Hasbro affiliated CGI animation companies so he must be a complete moron.

I got better things to do than read the credits at the end of 5 minute cartoons.

Rated X wrote:

primalxconvoy wrote:Surely there shouldn't be any confusion as to which animation is being discussed as that's the title of the thread? Or is it the title that's being debated?

I wouldnt really call it a "debate".

Im just suggesting the addition of the word "Machinima" is unnecessary. Its a damn cartoon.

Some over-analytical individuals on here will surely seize the opportunity to say X doesnt know his Hasbro affiliated CGI animation companies so he must be a complete moron.

I got better things to do than read the credits at the end of 5 minute cartoons.

Noone thinks you're a moron. If anyone states as such, simply report them.

Sabrblade wrote:

Rated X wrote:

Burn wrote:And Magnas are a model of car put out by Mitsubishi ... so ... yeah. Cool story X, cool story.

Well im referring to the use of the word "magna" here:

https://www.seibertron.com/transformers ... ine/40367/

Even though other sites clearly skip the Japanese moniker and call it what it is, a comic

http://news.tfw2005.com/2017/09/30/taka ... ine-349980

I love both sites equally but I fail to see the point of using the word "Magna" on this site when describing a comic.

By the way I dont follow Japanese auto makers, I drive a Chevy.

I don't see the word "magna" in there. I see the word "manga", but not "magna".

Ok you clearly got me on that and I give you all the credit in the world.


So now that weve gotten past the fact that ol X doesnt bother to thoroughly read the spelling of obscure Japanese terminology, lets get to the meat and potatoes of my argument:

Does the news guy feel more sophisticated because he is using Japanese terminology on an American site?

I doubt theres any confusion that the comic originated from Japan considering the comic is wriien in ummmm....Japanese.

News flash: its a damn comic. Call it such. Manga....sheesh

Apologies in advance if I went a bit off topic. I know this is not the Takara Legends comics forum. I was just killing two birds (or words) with one stone.

Rated X wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Rated X wrote:

Burn wrote:And Magnas are a model of car put out by Mitsubishi ... so ... yeah. Cool story X, cool story.

Well im referring to the use of the word "magna" here:

https://www.seibertron.com/transformers ... ine/40367/

Even though other sites clearly skip the Japanese moniker and call it what it is, a comic

http://news.tfw2005.com/2017/09/30/taka ... ine-349980

I love both sites equally but I fail to see the point of using the word "Magna" on this site when describing a comic.

By the way I dont follow Japanese auto makers, I drive a Chevy.

I don't see the word "magna" in there. I see the word "manga", but not "magna".

Ok you clearly got me on that and I give you all the credit in the world.


So now that weve gotten past the fact that ol X doesnt bother to thoroughly read the spelling of obscure Japanese terminology, lets get to the meat and potatoes of my argument:

Does the news guy feel more sophisticated because he is using Japanese terminology on an American site?

I doubt theres any confusion that the comic originated from Japan considering the comic is wriien in ummmm....Japanese.

News flash: its a damn comic. Call it such. Manga....sheesh

Apologies in advance if I went a bit off topic. I know this is not the Takara Legends comics forum. I was just killing two birds (or words lol) with one stone.

Well, to be honest, "manga" is an English loan word. It's not elitist to call it such, especially if it was a comic from Japan. "Comic" is fine, too, as both are just terms of preference.

As for "machinima", well, there are two reasons for the term's use; either it is an animation using (video game) assets, and/or was made for or by the "Machinima" channel/brand/company/whateveritis.

Here's the definition for the former:

- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machinima

Hope this helps.

I think people specifically call it "Machinima's Titans Return animated series" as sort of a qualifier. They're not up to the level of what we expect from a more mainstream animated series, but most web-savvy people are aware that Machinima's platform caters to shorter-form media.

And the comics are referred to as manga because that implies the Japanese sequential illustrated tropes and mechanics they employ that are not seen as much or at all in American comics. Might also remind people to read from right to left.

Bronzewolf wrote:

King Kuuga wrote:

Bronzewolf wrote:I haven't really shared my thoughts on the PG-13 nature of this series' dialogue yet, so I'll throw those two cents in now. It's not the principle of swearing that bothers me specifically, I think it's fine to use for effect, but in this series it feels like they're including it just because they can. There's no drama to it, no anguish, it's just there.

I have a minor point of contention regarding this: this show is not PG-13. It's solidly PG. You can fit a few "damns" and "hells" and (according to TF:TM) even a "****" in a PG film. It's not language alone that determines the rating, it's the level of action, violence, themes, and intensity of what's onscreen, and nothing in this series surpasses is any worse than TF: Prime, it just sticks in a few curse words because..... reasons. I agree with your comment that the profanity doesn't add anything, but considering this a PG-13 work is a bit much.

You misunderstand. I never said it was a "PG-13 work", just a PG-13 nature of the dialogue specifically. I understand the action/violence factor, and I agree with you, it's nothing worse than Prime, which is why I specified dialogue.

I hesitate to talk about any 80s movie in reference to PG-13, as it was brand new at the time, having been instituted in late 1984. A lot of 80s PG movies pushed the envelope, and I'd argue that TF The Movie potentially deserved a PG-13 rating, between the language and violence, as many of the 80s PG movies do. (Back to the Future comes to mind) I think the only thing that saved it (other than PG-13 not being very widely used) was the fact it was animated.
You'd be surprised how many people get offended by "Goddamn", which is why it's censored on TV and in songs on the radio, while "Damn" isn't. I stand by my thought, I think it's accurate.

I still disagree but I see your point. I'm an opponent of the ratings creep that's been apparent in recent years, with g-rated content getting slapped with a PG and PG-13 films running the gamut from family films with some language all the way to bloodless brutal violence. But that's another topic. So we'll agree that the profanity was ill-used in this show, and agree to disagree on how extreme it is in principle.

I went to their tumbler to view the last few, and for some reason, I can't find anything larger than a stupidly small thumbnail - is there any other source out there for watching these?


I feel like one of those hyenas from lion King.... Machinima... machinima.. machinima... sorry

I'd call Japanese Comics Manga - and North American comics as Comics. As a person who writes, it's not an elitist feel when I use a different term or phrase, it's just I like a variety of words. I love learning new words, and using those words when the opportunity arises.

primalxconvoy wrote:

o.supreme wrote:Well It was kind of cool to see Fort Max as a fully powered Titan, able to stand up to Trypticon even with augmented Powers. Having Trypticons transformation again shrouded was disappointing. They should have just made this an actual animated series instead of a cheap web-series. Of course when I say full animated series, I mean with professional level writers, directors, animators etc...Yeah I know Hasbro would never go for it, that's why we cant have nice things.

I would have been happy with just an animated comic style affair, with great voice acting and some nice effects. There was a pretty good motion comic a while back about the War Within that seemed better than Machinima's efforts.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JPeHw4laWos

Awe! Someone remembers my old cartoon Still sad that I never was able to complete it--teaching full time and being the primary guardian of a grandchild has kept me too busy.

Rated X wrote:Cant we just call them what they are ? (cartoons and comics)

Seems like someone is just trying to make something sound overly sophisticated. Like if they feel the need justify adults watching cartoons or reading comics.

I don't think there is any misidentification in most forums. Anything published by Marvel, DW, IDW or Punpub etc... is always referred to as a comic. Anything that is published in Japan such as the in-package stories with Transformers Legends is referred to as Manga because that's what it is. It's short for Mangajin (Romanization of Magazine in Japan). Aesthetically they may be very similar, but calling anything that comes from japan a Manga is not over sophistication, its just correct.

Would you force everyone to stop calling all of Jim Henson's creations as Muppets, and just use the general term puppets? It is true they are all puppets, but what gets the point across more-- "I saw that new Puppet movie with Kermit the Frog", or just I saw "The Muppets"

As for Cartoon. I see it this way...Can you refer to the TR series as a "cartoon" , sure. But for me personally (and I don't expect anyone else to follow this logic...) the word "cartoon" has always been synonymous with humor (think of the film, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"- Toon Town, and all creatures from there were "Toons") -Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Popeye, Scooby-Doo and all their kin' I would consider as cartoons.

However for anything that involves action, adventure, sci-fi etc...I refer to those as an "animated series". Sure its a bit longer, but IMHO it gives a little more respect to the work, and distinguishes it from others. One case in point, I don't think I've ever heard anyone on a forum write "The batman cartoon from the 1990's", or "Fox's Batman cartoon". I've always seen it written as "Batman: The Animated Series". - that title alone makes it absolutely definitive which Batman you are talking about, among the many Batman shows that have been produced over the years.

So when speaking of any Transformers show, in context, I will always use the term "Animated Series", and not cartoon. Though technically cartoon is not incorrect, and I don't call people out for using it. The same goes for "G1". Personally I hate that term. To me it waters down and is completely disrespectful to everything that defined what we have now, almost 34 years later. Star Trek fans use the term "OST" (or Original Series Trek), and I think that's fine. Me personally I always refer to "The Original Series" in relation to anything that occurred with Transformers between 1984-1991. You will never see me use the term "G1" unless I'm quoting someone else. But by the same token, I don't fault others for using it. I know its popular, its just not for me.

Glad to see we're all on topic.