Masterforce & Victory

[kup]

I have just finished watching Masterforce and I have to say that its an AWESOME series. I had somewhat neutral expectations going in while expecting a lot of annoying cutesy/Kawai Anime stuff but thankfully that sort of thing was kept to a minimum and the series is certainly a standout despite its odd concepts. It is somewhat awkwardly shoehorned (as in forced) into the continuity of the previous Headmasters series but this does not take away that its a fantastic series on its own.

Excellent characterization and an although unusual (by TF standards) but entertaining plot. It has become one of my favorite TF series. Despite its age, it felt like a breath of fresh air.

I have recently just seen the first episode of Victory and I have to say that it is VERY Japanese. It has a lot of cutesy/Kawai humor and very odd things that only the Japanese would understand or apreciate. To be honest it left me all weirded out and the closing credits themed left with a pronounced 'WTF?!?'

However I still intend to watch Victory although I am already getting a feeling that it will pale in comparison to Masterforce. Hopefully I am wrong or it will be a chore to watch the series from beginning to end.

I am curious to know. If anyone else have seen both Masterforce and Victory, what do you think of them?
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Fetish black (http://www.fucktube.com/categories/507/black/videos/1)

[dirge]

I have watched all of Headmasters & Masterforce, some of Victory (about half), Masterforce was my favourite, and is the best G1 cartoon series in terms of character and storyarc.

[GoktimusPrime]

I agree that Masterforce is teh coolest of the G1 cartoons. :) Victory is my 2nd favourite and while there are goofy elements in it (especially Dino Force) there are some neater elements and the ending is really freaking awesome (unlike the G1 Victory manga which had the suckiest ending ever).

[benben2142]

WHat the heck is tf zone nobody talks about them?

[Saintly]

WHat the heck is tf zone nobody talks about them?

What are talking about dude? nobody you know or just nobody at all??

[dirge]

Zone was a single episode straight-to-video episode very late on in Japan's G1 run. The short duration and nature of the release mean it has a very low profile, and the fact that it's a single episode means there's just not that much to talk about.

[Gutsman Heavy]

Is matserforce better than headmasters? I'm part way on disk 2 and finding it a real chore to sit through.

[Saintly]

Is matserforce better than headmasters? I'm part way on disk 2 and finding it a real chore to sit through.


I have watched all of Headmasters & Masterforce, some of Victory (about half), Masterforce was my favourite, and is the best G1 cartoon series in terms of character and storyarc.


I agree that Masterforce is teh coolest of the G1 cartoons. :) Victory is my 2nd favourite and while there are goofy elements in it (especially Dino Force) there are some neater elements and the ending is really freaking awesome (unlike the G1 Victory manga which had the suckiest ending ever).

I haven't seen it or haven't been bothered to snitch it but looking at those two comments, it seems like masterforce is the best!

[GoktimusPrime]

Oh yeah. The Headmasters is the weakest of the Japanese G1 series (but a lot better than The Rebirth).

[STL]

I'm going to have to find time this year for this series with subtitles. I've watched very little of it but the vibe definitely glowing for these series.

[GoktimusPrime]

The UK Metrodome box set has Japanese language track w/ English subtitles and I've heard that the Madman set has the Japanese track w/ English subtitles as well as the "English" (and I use that term loosely) dub track too.

I'd rather get the Metrodome version... works out cheaper even w/ postage and 'sif you'd want to watch it dubbed. :/

[kup]

In the Metrodome release, only Headmasters has the Stardub (dodgy english). Masterforce and Victory dont have it and they make it clear in the Masterforce booklet why.

In Headmasters despite the dodgy dub you can still follow the general plot even if the dialogue is awful In Masterforce you can't because they did not understand that most of the Japanese characters portrayed in that show despite their similarities, are not the same as the American characters of the same toy mold.

Example: Ginrai is not Optimus Prime yet he is addressed as such in the Star dub. Hydra and Buster are not Darkwing and Dreadwind yet they are addressed as such. The worse Minerva is Nightbeat o_O

It goes on and on to a point where nothing makes sense. It is understandable why the dub was removed entirely from Masterfroce and Victory but left on Headmasters aside from being a god awful dub.

Strangely enough I have met a good amount of people who absolutely refuse to watch anything with subtitles on and some who like Transformers prefer to watch the Star TV dub instead of the original Japanese.

I understand why Metrodome and in turn Madman kept the Stardub as an option in Headmasters, afterall despite is horrendousness of it, its an official English dub so its left as an option for those lazy people who hate subtitles.
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Toyota a-bat (http://www.toyota-wiki.com/wiki/Toyota_A-BAT)

[dirge]

What I never quite understand is why anyone would want to watch a bad translation. Even if you dislike subtitles in general (and I dont want to get into _that_ argument), surely watching a proper translation beats watching a hacked up translation. Yes it might take more effort, but you'd get more out of it.

I can't understand more than about five words of Japanese, but I could tell that the Headmasters subtitles tried to preserve the spirit of the original dialogue - even if certain things like puns and idioms are inevitably lost. Sure, some aspects were Anglicised to make sense to an english-tuned ear, but they still retained the basic information from the original Japanese dialogue.

I find I can usually pick up a bad translation anyway (in subtitles or a vocal track) - because often what's being said in the translation either doesn't quite match what's happening in the video or it's referring to a cultural phenomenon which doesn't exist in the original source (eg Headmasters referring to say the 4th of July holiday...).

[GoktimusPrime]

Sure, some aspects were Anglicised to make sense to an english-tuned ear, but they still retained the basic information from the original Japanese dialogue.
Exactly. The subtitles translating "Convoy" as "Optimus Prime" and "Cybertrons" as "Autobots" is entirely different from the dubs translating "Minerva" as "Nightbeat" (which someone remarked that on a female character makes her sound like a street hooker), "Blaster" as "Billy" and "Ginrai" as "Optimus Prime" - which, as kup pointed out, is factually incorrect.

And I've heard that the Madman set has two set of subtitles - one with the Anglicised names and one with the Japanese names, which is good for people who insist on reading "Cybertrons" being translated as "Cybertrons" instead of "Autobots."

I'd prefer the Anglicised names... not that I use the subtitles. :p

[Paulbot]

And I've heard that the Madman set has two set of subtitles - one with the Anglicised names and one with the Japanese names, which is good for people who insist on reading "Cybertrons" being translated as "Cybertrons" instead of "Autobots."

I've been watching the Madman Headmasters series with English name subtitles and - maybe this is because I work as an editor - I just keep finding problems with them. Apart from typos and some find and replace problems (like skullcrunchercruncher, who was also called Rippersnapper once) the translations to English are sloppy. I've lost count of the number of times where it still says the "Cybertron base" when with English names it should be saying "Autobot base".