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Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media

Posted by Seibertron Mar 10, 2020 at 10:29pm CDT 57,416 views


For many years, the Transformers G1 Manga from Japan eluded Transformers fans. It was once the stuff of much desire and wild speculation. Around October 2002, Million Publishing (currently known as Hero-X), publishers of the popular Transformers Generations series of books, released the first ever compilation of the Generation One manga alongside a Lucky Draw Black Tracks. The manga compilation was titled "Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: The Comics".

This amazing book came into my personal collection courtesy of a purchase I made at OTFCC 2003. Within its many pages were some of the most incredible artwork of the Autobots and Decepticons drawn in such a unique style for someone used to the styles of the Marvel Transformers comic books and the original Sunbow Transformers cartoons. I have enjoyed looking at the beautiful renditions of the Transformers characters who were drawn in a familiar manga or anime style by the very talented Ban Magami, yet very distinct from other popular artistic renderings to which most Hasbro-market Transformers fans are accustomed. 

However, as sensational as the images of our favorite "robots in disguise" were to my eyes and my imagination, I had no damn idea what the heck was happening in the book. Well, other than what was actually shown, and even then it was sometimes challenging to understand what I was looking at due to the small black and white artwork. Needless to say, as much as I enjoyed looking at the back initially, it has spent the better part of the last 16 or so years in storage alongside my original Marvel Transformers comics and my prized (embarrassingly) KISS Players Manga collection. 



Fast forward to March 11th, 2020. This is the day that Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media will be released at book and comic book stores nationwide. Special thanks to Viz Media for providing a sample copy of this book to Seibertron.com for review purposes. What makes this version unique, is that Masumi Kaneda's stories would finally be translated to English at very long last. After so much time, the stories of the Transformers G1 manga would at last be known to Transformers fans outside of Japan. 

The book's presentation is top notch. It is a great addition to the collections of those who appreciate Transformers Generation 1 fiction in all of its forms, as well as the collections of those who collect Manga. As exhilarating as Magami's artwork can be to those of us who can't get enough of this style, the stories were slightly more juvenile than for which I was hoping (though highly suspected) after years of looking over these manga pages from the previous compilation. 





However, I understand that this manga was intended for kids, as were the Marvel Transformers comics that have such a special place in my heart despite their many flaws. Despite the story's simplicity, I enjoyed the desired nostalgic rush as I plowed effortlessly through this book. Page after page, I sucked in as much eye candy as possible, which seemed to hit so many of the right spots, while finally being able to understand what was happening in the artwork which had been the stuff of wonder for so long.



Surprisingly, Abby Lark's translations were pretty spot on. To be honest, I was expecting various flaws, misspellings, incorrect character names or factions or other problems that are unfortunately common with Transformers translations. However, that wasn't to be the case with this book. Lark seemed to know her Transformers very well. The subgroups and characters were all appropriately named and the translations were all sensical. There were few, if any, errors. I was pleasantly surprised by this and truly appreciated the amount of time and effort it took to get all of these things right. The translations used in this book for Convoy, Bumble, Metroflex, Cybertrons, Destrons, etc, are the more well-known American names such as Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Metroplex, Autobots and Decepticons respectively. This might bother some fans but is perfectly acceptable to most. It will be interesting to see how the translations are handled in Volume 2's Masterforce manga for various characters like Super Ginrai versus Powermaster Optimus Prime. 



The last 74 pages of the page are dedicated to bringing some additional artwork into an "Illustration Works" gallery for your viewing pleasure. Many images within this gallery include promotional images for various episodes of the Fight Super Robot Lifeform Transformers cartoon through 2010 and the Headmasters series. In addition to this promotional artwork, there are some very detailed drawings of the alt modes for some characters like Jazz, Starscream, Wheelie, Springer, Arcee, Blurr, Scourge, and others. It is a very nice addition that I don't think was available in the original Japanese compilation (at least, not at this printed size) if I recall correctly.





While not as large as the original Japanese version from Million Publishing, it is only volume 1 out of 3 volumes. Volume 2 will be released later in May 2020 and should contain the remaining Headmasters stories along with the Masterforce. Volume 3 will be released later this year which will contain Victory, Zone, and Battle Star stories (Sidenote: who wants a Super Megatron toy after all of these years???). With a $24.99 cover price per book, it still costs less for all 3 volumes from Viz Media than the $80 I spent for the original Japanese compilation at OTFCC 2003 (not to mention inflation), which makes these books from Viz an absolute steal in my opinion, especially with the nice hard covers. 



In addition to traditional brick-and-mortar stores, you'll be able to find Viz Media's Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 at various online outlets such as Amazon.com and the Seibertron Store. Transformers: The Manga Volume 2 through is currently available for pre-order through Amazon.com.



Transformers: The Manga's long sought after story is written by Masumi Kaneda, brought to life with artwork by the very talented Ban Magami, and made readable for those of us who can't read Japanese courtesy of Abby Lark, whose translations were seamlessly lettered and retouched into the original artwork by Brandon Bovia.

I would recommend this book for those of you who enjoy a nostalgic tug from the past and for those of you who enjoy Transformers Generation 1 fiction. If you're a die-hard Michael Bay Transformers Movie buff or only like comics with "deeper" meaning like some of the Transformers comics from IDW, than this might not be for you. If you can enjoy some of the lighter Transformers content intended for kids or just like awesome pics of cool lookin' Japanese styled robots, than this book is absolutely for you.

As for my rating? Well, by Primus, I am extremely biased and enjoy every page. It was a lot of fun to read through this book. I give it a loud and proud 4.5 Rodimus stars out of 5!

:bigrodimusstar: :bigrodimusstar: :bigrodimusstar: :bigrodimusstar: :bigrodimusstarhalf:


So what are you waiting for? Go get your copy today! In the meantime, join our discussion on our forums to further discuss Transformers: The Manga Volume 1!

Transformers News: Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media
Transformers News: Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media


Transformers News: Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media
Transformers News: Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media
Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media
Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media
Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media
Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media
Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media
Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media
Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media
Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media
Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media
Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media
Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media
Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media
Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media
Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media
Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media
Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media
Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media
Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media
Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media
Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media

More Bots. More News. More Awesome.

Re: Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media (view post)
Comment by Seibertron Mar 10, 2020
Sabrblade wrote:Gotta admit, from the looks of those pages, the official translation sure does look more refined than the old fan translation on TFArchive.

Looking forward to picking this up as well as Volume 2 and Volume 3.


Do we know if there will be a volume 3? I had presumed that the remaining G1 content would be in book 2 but it's been a while since I looked at my original compilation so I can't be certain how much content remains.
Re: Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media (view post)
Comment by Sabrblade Mar 10, 2020
Seibertron wrote:
Sabrblade wrote:Gotta admit, from the looks of those pages, the official translation sure does look more refined than the old fan translation on TFArchive.

Looking forward to picking this up as well as Volume 2 and Volume 3.


Do we know if there will be a volume 3? I had presumed that the remaining G1 content would be in book 2 but it's been a while since I looked at my original compilation so I can't be certain how much content remains.
Yes. I posted an Amazon link to it previously. Volume 2 contains The Headmasters, the Headmasters one-shot, and Masterforce, while Volume 3 has Victory, the Zone one-shot, and the Battlestars one-shot.
Re: Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media (view post)
Comment by Seibertron Mar 10, 2020
Sabrblade wrote:Yes. I posted an Amazon link to it previously. Volume 2 contains The Headmasters, the Headmasters one-shot, and Masterforce, while Volume 3 has Victory, the Zone one-shot, and the Battlestars one-shot.


Thanks for the info, Sabrblade. I updated the news story to have the correct info about Volume 2 and 3. :)
Re: Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media (view post)
Comment by BW Megatron Mar 11, 2020
Now will this book work in traditional manga form, where you read back to front?
Re: Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media (view post)
Comment by It Is Him Mar 11, 2020
Great review. These stories definitely spark joy, and remind me why I’m such a big Transformers fan in the first place. I read a few chapters last night, and I’m looking forward to reading more tonight. Highly recommended.

BW Megatron wrote:Now will this book work in traditional manga form, where you read back to front?


Yes
Re: Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media (view post)
Comment by triKlops Mar 11, 2020
Got mine in late last night after work and gave it a quick thumb through. Looks absolutely amazing for a comprehensive compilation. Really looking forward to a chance to sit down and go through it cover to cover. For the low MSRP versus what it would have cost to hunt these all down, its a great value as well.
Re: Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media (view post)
Comment by ScottyP Mar 11, 2020
My copy arrived yesterday, went straight to the top of my manga to-read pile and it has me refocused on finishing Gundam: Ecole du Ciel so I can get to it. Excellent review here, helps set expectations though it's in line with what I'd assumed. Very happy to see this released!
Re: Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media (view post)
Comment by Seibertron Mar 11, 2020
Courtesy of the fine folks at Viz Media, we have even more images to share with you from the just-released Transformers: The Manga Volume 1. This is a combination of images that are publicly available in the free preview at Viz.com along with additional images that their PR company sent us to share with all of you. The free preview includes almost the first 20 pages, and then we added in some of the extras (in appropriate order) that we received separately. You can click on the thumbnails below to view the full images.

This book can be purchased at Amazon.com, comic book stores, or other specialty retailers such as the Seibertron Store. Don't forget to check out Seibertron.com's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 and share your thoughts about this excellent book on our forums!

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Re: Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media (view post)
Comment by Rodimus Knight Mar 11, 2020
"Marvel Transformers comics and my prized (embarrassingly) KISS Players Manga collection. "
Truth Be told, I'd like to see the Kiss Players Manga done here too. It sounded so bizarre I'd like to see it.
Re: Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media (view post)
Comment by Sabrblade Mar 11, 2020
Rodimus Knight wrote:"Marvel Transformers comics and my prized (embarrassingly) KISS Players Manga collection. "
Truth Be told, I'd like to see the Kiss Players Manga done here too. It sounded so bizarre I'd like to see it.
Eh, it's content is kinda pornographic, though. Not exactly the same audience that this manga was aimed at (as in, young kids).
Re: Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media (view post)
Comment by Seibertron Mar 11, 2020
Sabrblade wrote:
Rodimus Knight wrote:"Marvel Transformers comics and my prized (embarrassingly) KISS Players Manga collection. "
Truth Be told, I'd like to see the Kiss Players Manga done here too. It sounded so bizarre I'd like to see it.
Eh, it's content is kinda pornographic, though. Not exactly the same audience that this manga was aimed at (as in, young kids).


Transformers KISS Players is not pornographic. It does have a level of adult sexual content that some many find inappropriate (especially when associated with Transformers), but it's not pornographic. Hustler and Penthouse magazines are pornographic.
Re: Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media (view post)
Comment by ZarenPRIME Mar 11, 2020
Where can I purchase the Kiss Player Manga. I dig anything Japanese and Transformers and they look fun as heck.
Re: Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media (view post)
Comment by Rodimus Knight Mar 11, 2020
Seibertron wrote:
Sabrblade wrote:
Rodimus Knight wrote:"Marvel Transformers comics and my prized (embarrassingly) KISS Players Manga collection. "
Truth Be told, I'd like to see the Kiss Players Manga done here too. It sounded so bizarre I'd like to see it.
Eh, it's content is kinda pornographic, though. Not exactly the same audience that this manga was aimed at (as in, young kids).


Transformers KISS Players is not pornographic. It does have a level of adult sexual content that some many find inappropriate (especially when associated with Transformers), but it's not pornographic. Hustler and Penthouse magazines are pornographic.


What I found weird about it, is you couldn't find a copy of it online. Like so many manga and comic books can be found to read, and yet this one, nadda.
Re: Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media (view post)
Comment by ZarenPRIME Mar 11, 2020
I've been trying to find copies of it to buy and can't find anything :(
Re: Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media (view post)
Comment by Sabrblade Mar 11, 2020
I, uh, have scans. :-|

Never looked at them, knowing what they contain, but I got them since they were included with the fansubbed release of Car Robots.
Re: Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media (view post)
Comment by Sabrblade Oct 13, 2020
Volume 3 has finally been released, as of today!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1974711781?tag=seibertron07-20&

Originally serialized in Japan’s TV Magazine, these classic stories from the Generation 1 era of Transformers are now available in English for the first time!

The Autobots and the Decepticons have been locked in a brutal civil war for eons, and now their battle has come to Earth! The Autobots seek peace and coexistence, while the Decepticons seek power and control. Earth and its populace are caught in the middle as these mighty factions go head-to-head. Transformers took the world by storm shortly after their debut, and these previously uncollected stories were a vital part of that takeover!

The final volume of Transformers: The Manga is here! This deluxe volume collects three classic stories and a beautiful art gallery. “Victory” is the tale of the legendary battle between Starsaber and Deszaras. In “Zone,” the Nine Great Generals run wild. And in “The Battle Stars,” Super Megatron attempts to feed on planet Earth, but Optimus Prime stands in his way!
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Re: Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media (view post)
Comment by ZeroWolf Oct 13, 2020
Greetings Seibertronians! Fellow Seibertron user, Sabrblade, has let us know that Volume 3 in Viz Media's Transformers: The Manga series is now available to purchase from Amazon!

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This compilation contains manga stories from the Transformers: Victory, Transformers: Zone and Transformers The Battlestars: Return of Convoy, portions of Japanese Generation 1.

Here is the description from the Amazon listing

Viz Media wrote:Originally serialized in Japan’s TV Magazine, these classic stories from the Generation 1 era of Transformers are now available in English for the first time!

The Autobots and the Decepticons have been locked in a brutal civil war for eons, and now their battle has come to Earth! The Autobots seek peace and coexistence, while the Decepticons seek power and control. Earth and its populace are caught in the middle as these mighty factions go head-to-head. Transformers took the world by storm shortly after their debut, and these previously uncollected stories were a vital part of that takeover!

The final volume of Transformers: The Manga is here! This deluxe volume collects three classic stories and a beautiful art gallery. “Victory” is the tale of the legendary battle between Starsaber and Deszaras. In “Zone,” the Nine Great Generals run wild. And in “The Battle Stars,” Super Megatron attempts to feed on planet Earth, but Optimus Prime stands in his way!

About the Author

Masumi Kaneda: Born in Tokyo in 1958. Representative of KND Limited. He works as a writer, planner and organizer of publishing and broadcasting for licensed character media. The original writer for the G1 series Transformers comic, and writer of the Japanese Toei Transformers anime, and supervised production of the Japanese version of The Transformers: The Movie. Writer of Transformers TV Magazine specials and all related book media. From Super-God Masterforce to Transformers Zone, he and Ban Magami did the character designs. He created all non-toy creatures and original characters for Masterforce.

Ban Magami: Born in Kanagawa in 1957. As the apprentice of manga artist Leiji Matsumoto, he worked as an assistant on “Planetary Robot Danguard Ace,” “Galaxy Express 999” and other works. In 1985, he debuted “Fight! Super Robot Life-form Transformers” and he handled all of the serialization after that as well. He worked on the Kodansha Aoi Tori chapter book “The Secret of Tutankhamen,” the Studio DNA anthology based on the Playstation game “Space Battleship Yamato: The Far-Off Star of Iskandal,” the Heibonsha book “Engineer Story: The Power of Higher Education to Open the Door to the Future” and many other books.



Want the first two volumes? Check these links!

Volume 1.

Volume 2.

Have you bought any of these so far? Will you be picking this one up? Let us know in the Energon Pub and stay tuned to Seibertron for all the latest news and reviews!
Re: Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media (view post)
Comment by o.supreme Oct 13, 2020
I purchased the first two, and #3 should hopefully be delivered tomorrow. The others were nice fillers to series I've already seen , but it is this 3rd volume I've been anticipating the most. I'm just a little disappointed Operation Combination was not included.
Re: Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media (view post)
Comment by Sabrblade Oct 13, 2020
o.supreme wrote:I purchased the first two, and #3 should hopefully be delivered tomorrow. The others were nice fillers to series I've already seen , but it is this 3rd volume I've been anticipating the most. I'm just a little disappointed Operation Combination was not included.
Surprisingly, the story pages for Zone, Battlestars, and Operation Combination are all included in this volume, but only the artwork without any of the toy catalog parts.

Though, the inclusion of the story pages in this volume makes me wish that they had done the same with the previous volumes. FSRLTF, 2010, The Headmasters, and Masterforce all had story pages too, and some of which aren't even available to find online (particularly those for The Headmasters, Masterforce, and even Victory).
Re: Check out Seibertron's review of Transformers: The Manga Volume 1 from Viz Media (view post)
Comment by o.supreme Oct 13, 2020
ok cool, that's good to know, even though they are only story pages, I'm glad they were all included.

It would have been nice to get the story pages for the older series as well, not sure why they were left out, maybe Viz thought they were redundant since those series had actual Manga stories? How different are the content of the story pages for FSRLTF, 2010, The Headmasters, and Masterforce vs Their respective Manga ?

Anyway, this is my chance to, in my head cannon, finally see how the original series ends. It may be no more satisfying than Rebirth (it may n fact be less so...), but at least it went on longer ;) .

Also, does anyone ever wonder what sort of weird alternate reality would exist if DIC had picked up the animation license for Transformers as well as GI Joe? I mean, 1989 was pretty much just Micromasters, and 1990 was Action Masters, but one would think/hope that Hasbro would have come up with different/better concepts with animation to support it (even as bad as DIC was in the early 90's heh...) perhaps even just importing some of the Japanese characters.
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