Round Table Review of First 2 Episodes of Transformers Cyberverse 2018

Hasbro's new animated series, Transformers: Cyberverse, has just started airing. While the live action films are probably what gets the biggest reach these days, there is something special about having a Transformers cartoon on the small screen. This is where many fans first became acquainted with the characters and one of the brand's most endearing storytelling mediums. While the times are changing, there is a comfort to having another Transformers cartoon on air trying to sell kids the toys they see at local toy store. Several members of the Seibertron.com staff watched the first two episodes and we wanted to share our thoughts on this show and if it holds any interest for us going forward.



What we liked best:

I like Hasbro's intentions to finally go all out on G1. They were always dancing around it with Animated and Prime (bringing it a bit closer) but now with this show, it is full on G1. They really commit to it. To the point where it assumes you know G1 and the characters enough character's name brings a history and an importance. It's like this giant G1 sandbox that they are playing with, similar to what the IDW comics were like in that perspective but in a very kid friendly version.

I really like the designs too. It helps that some of these are similar to designs we know and already have toys of, meaning if you don't like the Windblade toy from this line you could just pick up the RID Windblade and get a toy of basically the same design/character. Of course, that is not the case for all characters, as we will see more later. Also, I love that intro. - William-James88

How the show looks, in my opinion, is a big factor in my enjoyment. The animation is very fluid, and the new evergreen designs used looks great. The show's main plot, that Bumblebee lost his memories, is a great way to world build and to see more of Cybertron's past. And Windblade's devotion to helping Bumblebee is written well and adds to her character. Episode 2 also named a generic female seeker, "Nova Storm," which was apparently one of the obscure rainmakers from the G1 show. So, yeah, cool reference! Another cool reference was the show fleshing out Windblade's cityspeaker abilities of her able to enter someone's mind easily. Also, no human characters. Yeah. - notirishman

First off, am I the only person who expected to see roadrunner racing next to Bumblebee in the opening scenes? Just me? Okay moving on swiftly. I went I to this show with low expectations after the clips that we'd seen but I actually liked what I saw. The animation was overall very smooth and the character models were expressive, most notably Windblade. Speaking of her, she was the highlight of these episodes for me, I feel that her voice actress has done a good job so far.

Like others have said before and in the threads, I wasn't expecting a stronger narrative structure than what we got and the comedic moments for the kids were more subdued than I thought, expecting a 'zany' type of humour being thrown around everywhere. - ZeroWolf

Like any new show it's hard to get a feel of things from the first few episodes, the fact that they're only 10 minutes long doesn't help the situation.

I can't say there was anything I liked "best" about the show, but, the animation was okay, not as terrible as I expected. - Burn




Of course, it wasn't all great - here is what didn't work so well with us:

I really dislike the use of a radio for Bumblebee's voice. It isn't fun and in a show trying to be as G1 as possible, it clashes pretty badly. - William-James88

Bumblebee's voicebox. The show would've been fine if he just had Jeremy Levy's normal voice the whole time, but no, his voice box is continuity jumping. Hopefully, this can be related to a backstory similar to Prime where it was from Megatron punishing him, which I can get down with. Another complaint of mine is also related to Bumblebee's voicebox, and in that a couple of times, Bumblebee's lines can just drag on forever. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's annoying. - notirishman

Bumblebee's voice actor. If you want to do the radio voice gimmick (I can understand why they would given the close proximity of the Bumblebee movie) then you have to go all out and use different voices for the clips. Having one voice doing all just doesn't work for me. It's a shame as I do like Bumblebee when he's doing his normal speaking. While it's technically more of a 'want' than something I didn't like, I would have liked to see the Decepticons have a bit more depth given to them. I mean, it took the second episode for us to hear any Cons speaking properly. Also did Thundercracker forget he could fly when Windblade kicked him into the ravine? - ZeroWolf

Things I don't like, well, Windblade's ability to pluck all sorts of things from her back. I think we now know where Optimus' trailer goes...

Bumblebee's radio voice. I mean come on - kudos to the VA, but the concept is annoying. And as far as concepts go: Autobots and Decepticons leave Cybertron in search of the Allspark which is believed to be on Earth. Haven't we been here before? - Burn




The biggest difference to previously aired Transformers cartoons is probably the 10 minute format. Here are our thoughts on that:

I don't understand the 10 minute format here. With every other kid show where it is used (Teen Titans Go, Gumball, Dorothy in Oz, etc) you get a beginning, middle and end. It makes for fun and fast storytelling. But here, one episode leads right into the other, making the idea of it only being 10 minutes inconsequential. The end of an episode is the same as a cut to commercial of a 20 minute episode, so why not just do that instead. It just doesn't make you feel satisfied at the end of an episode and you feel like little has happened (similar to my feeling watching the Machinima cartoons).- William-James88

I don't mind the 10 minute format, as both episodes ended in a cliffhanger. Due to this, if every two 10 minute episodes are one, it won't matter, as each episode appears to not have any time progression between each. - notirishman

Splitting the episode up into ten minutes bugged me at first as it followed the trend of all kids' shows at the moment, but I can see reasoning for it from a TV programming point of view as it's easier to slot it in the schedule. It's also practical for fans to catch up quickly on the last episode, like me with my already limited viewing time - ZeroWolf

Again, it's hard to tell from only two episodes. At the very least they seemed to have paced well. And for me personally I'm able to sneak in a 10 minute break easier than a 20-40 minute break. So it has that going for it at least. - Burn




The big question is though, even if this is not made for us, will we be watching more?

I will be watching more to see the character models and just where they take this. But my expectations are back to being very very low (just above the Machinima stuff). - William-James88

Yes, I will be watching more because while yes, it's kiddish, it is still entertaining, and I am curious how the plot will flesh out and how the characters and their world develop. However, if RID'15 or the Prime Wars Trilogy cartoons taught me anything, I shouldn't keep my hopes up. - notirishman

While I'm still unsure how things will end up, I will be checking more out. I also want to see if they'll dive in and make Bumblebee and Windblade a couple *laughs* - ZeroWolf

Yeah, I mean, I'm a Transformers fan. I sat through the Prime Wars trilogy so I could critique it. It's Transformers media, I watch it good or bad. - Burn