And yet your oddly misplaced affection for me that you try to hide under a facade of low key hostility continues - so which one of us in the most messed up in the end? The finger methinks is pointing at you boyo ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by 5FDP
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And yet your oddly misplaced affection for me that you try to hide under a facade of low key hostility continues - so which one of us in the most messed up in the end? The finger methinks is pointing at you boyo ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by 5FDP
LMAO... you got me :o :DQuote:
Originally Posted by BigTransformerTrev
Hey all
Just watched the last episode of RID 2015 and I was really excited because in the episode description it said after the stuff about Bumblebee and co hunting Decepticons, it said 'Optimus prepares for a danger that will destroy Cybertron and Earth' or something like that. Optimus doesn't even appear, or even a referance to him. I was SO disappointed :(
Was anyone else?
Yeah saw that in the ep description too. Not too upset over it as it was a nice little episode although Sideswipe's character arc has already gone down this road before.
I never read the episode description, but I'm glad that Optimus Prime didn't appear. One thing that I've been enjoying about this series is that Optimus hasn't returned and that Bumblebee is now leading the Autobots. I'm also glad that Steeljaw has become the de facto boss of the Earthbound Decepticons. Why? Because I am utterly sick and tired of Optimus and Megatron being the leaders all the time!!! :rolleyes: This series is trying something bold and different, and I like it! Although I'm not a fan of Optimus occasionally appearing as an Obi-Wan-esque Force-ghost... guh... I really hope that they do NOT bring either Optimus or Megatron back.
And here's another reason: continuity and story integrity.
At the end of Transformers Prime Beast Hunters (re: Predacons Rising), we saw Megatron renounce his ways and formally disband the Decepticon faction.
"Because I now know the true meaning of oppression, and have thus lost my taste for inflicting it." <---Megatron experienced a significant epiphany and major character development here. Having him return as a Decepticon leader would undo all that, and render this powerful moment useless. We also saw Optimus Prime make an emotional sacrifice to save Cybertron. This sacrifice also loses its impact/meaning if Optimus Prime were to return.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...psbe7006bd.jpg
I'd rather see Hasbro focus on actually developing all of the Decepticons who appear in the show as TOYS, and not just one-step changers, but Warrior Class figures too.
I wasn't implying I wanted him to be a leader, just at least a short end credit like scene or something.
Also I would like more Warrior Decepticons.
I think it was cartoon network that messed up the episode description. It can be disappointing when something doesn't happen story wise. Optimus' story arc is the b story, the thing that will be a slow boil and pay off at the end of the season or series. Don't worry he'll be back and I don't think it will be to resume command of the autobots and especially not Bee's team.
As RID stands I like the fact that Bee and Steeljaw are at the moment on equal footing as leaders. It will be interesting to see how they both "level up" as the series progresses
I hope that Bumblebee finds his footing as leader though. The whole self-doubting, uncertainty thing got old fast and is too reminiscent of G1 cartoon Rodimus Prime. G1 comic Rodimus Prime was a preferable character because he wasn't plagued by self doubts and trying to compare the size of his Matrix with Optimus'... :rolleyes: he just got on with the job of leading the Autobots in their continuing war against the Decepticons!
Loving this series, can't wait for it's return. I think the best course of action for optimus to return (because its going to happen at some point) would be that he comes back to life but leaves to cybertron for some leadership thing there. That would allow prime to be alive and out of limbo (I'm calling it that) and bumblebee can continue his mission on earth with the rest of the crew hunting down the remaning escaped prisoners.
My idea:
The AllSpark has refused to integrate Optimus Prime's Spark because they still have plans for him. After the events of Transformers Prime Beast Hunters, Queen Airachnid has been slowly but surely building a power base on the Insecticon lunar colony, now thriving with legions of warriors serving their queen in a blasphemous state of undeath. The colony is all beneath the lunar surface, thus unseen by Cybertronians. Optimus Prime returns to exercise gunboat diplomacy towards the Insecticons -- i.e. bring armed forces to attempt negotiations with Queen Airachnid; hopefully avoiding conflict but prepared to fight if need be.
The TV episode should just BRIEFLY touch upon this before seeing Optimus Prime lead a force of Autobots away. The actual story of Optimus Prime's mission could be told in a spin off series (e.g. IDW comics) rather than in the TV show, as the show should still focus on Bumblebee and his story-arc.
(merged the two review/discussion topics)
So now that several people have seen the first 13 episodes, has there actually been anything within the episodes that has specifically mentioned or referred to something in TFPrime?
Like, we have Optimus as a ghost, but do they actually refer to how he died, so that it clearly links this series to TFPrime?
Do the characters that were in TFPrime (Bumblebee, Optimus, Grimlock) actually behave the same, or are too different to be the same characters?
With so many new characters, and only three (so far) from TFPrime, I just haven't been hearing or seeing anything significant that makes this series a follow-on from the TFPrime cartoon... other than press releases telling us that it is. So far the episode descriptions and comments make this sound more like a stand-alone universe that shouldn't be shoe-horned into TFPrime.
Beast Machines was a clear follow-on from Beast Wars, while Energon and Cybertron were each including characters or plot elements from their preceding series even though the Japanese versions had "Cybertron" a separate universe. This one just doesn't feel like it would be a follow-on series if Hasbro marketing didn't claim it was just to help sell it to retailers and consumers.
Not exactly TFPrime specific but Bumblebee did mention that he had been to Earth before under Optimus' leadership in one of the first few episodes.Quote:
Originally Posted by griffin
All that really says though is that it is a sequel to some TF series.
Which one though is anyones guess.
I'd have to rewatch what's been on so far to see if there are more clues I may have missed, I have a niggling feeling there was at least one other thing mentioned...
Oh, this may or may not be the thing but as I was writing that I also recalled Bumblebee talking about how he loved all the old cowboy stories, so again more references to him at least having been to Earth before (but not in which series dammit!).
I've not watched Prime, and there was nothing in the episodes so far that had me scratching my head or looking to a TFwiki for explanation.
Like DarkHyren says, the few mentions of BB being on Earth before with Optimus Prime, and name drops of Megatron and Starscream could be any TF series.
And I think it's a good idea actually that this isn't so tightly bound to a previous series, means a newcomer like me or a young kid can pick it up easily.
It feels like a 'soft sequel' to Transformers Prime. It has numerous indirect references to TF Prime, but not so direct that you wouldn't get it if you hadn't seen TF Prime before. Indirect references include:
+ Bumblebee being the war hero (as mentioned by DarkHyren)
+ Cybertron enjoying peace time with the Decepticon Remnant being reduced to a crime syndicate rather than a military faction.
+ Optimus Prime is deceased
+ Bumblebee speaks and is also voiced by Will Friedle
+ Starscream is mentioned at least once
As Paulbot said, it does make it more accessible to new viewers, but it doesn't feel like a complete reboot or different continuity either. :)
You forgot:Quote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
+ Is fun to watch
Well I finally watched the last two episodes. I will say they were better than many of the previous ones - I quite like that Fracture and Drift both had Mini-Cons attached to them that they could deploy - makes the use of Mini-Cons mythos rather than them just being little bots.
The final episode, well, it was better than those that had come before which made it seem alright. And Steeljaw is proving to be an ok nemesis for Bee. However take into account the last two TF cartoons:
TFAnimated - at the end of Season 1 Starscream gets taken offline, Megs comes back to life, Optimus betrays Sari, Omega Supreme crashes into Dinobot Island, the Allspark is detroyed etc etc. Awesome!
TFPrime - at the end of season one they had just battled a bunch of gigantic stone Unicrons, having found out that Unicron actually IS Earth, and then Optimus and Megs are fighting side by side within Unicron himself as his antibodies attack. That was a freakin brilliant fight scene which ended with Optimus seeming to destroy Unicrosn spark and then revert to Orion and joining the Decepticons!
Considering how epic of an end to S1 we had for the last two TF cartoons, for this to be a half-hearted fight on a garbage scow with very little peril or really anything being at stake, it just didn't set me alight.
To be fair this was just the mid-season final. Hopefully something super epic comes when the true season ending appears :)Quote:
Originally Posted by BigTransformerTrev
Oh, ok, didn't know that :oQuote:
Originally Posted by drahsrebu
Kinda defeats my above rant doesn't it :p:o
I enjoyed reading your rant if that makes it any better :p:D
I've really enjoyed the first 10 episodes, it's nothing spectacular, but it's good light hearted fun. The voice actors obviously enjoyed their roles, there's a real cohesiveness to the voices and the art style.
Fixit is a perfectly cast comedic foil, the humans aren't too pushy, whiny or incompetent and the Decepticons, while mostly one dimensional, it's all they need to be on this show. They all seem to portray a negative aspect of humanity, greed, selfishness, bullying etc, the Decepticon designs are interesting, however I cannot see them translating well to toys, they are mostly obviously made for the show only (bar Underbite and Steeljaw, the recurring fugitives). I love that they name drop the cons as well, just in case they release them, the "gotta have them all" shtick!
Grimlock is easily my favourite, but I think he is about the only relatable character, the others all have too much to "learn".
I like that it only vaguely calls back to Prime, it was a series that didn't know what it wanted to be, dark and serious or fantasy and came up a mess, only being a spiritual successor with light associations works better for this far more light hearted series.
I'll keep watching, the toy line is now far more interesting to me, so the show works! Hopefully the young ones enjoy this as much as I have.
I've bought the episodes of RID that are available now on iTunes that have not yet aired and they seem good. So far I've watched 3, the first two seem darker than the average RID episode.
Even Robots Have Nightmares. I liked the nightmares, especially Grimlock's.
Some Body, Any Body. Good to see a new train Transformer.
One of Our Mini-Cons is Missing. Possible RID Fort Max alt mode or just Fort Max inspired tank???
heh, yeah that tank was way overkill. Wouldn't be surprised if it reappears in a later episode to be "scanned" by one of the incoming bots...
I wonder when we'll see Windblade's debut episode?
-edit-
Wrong thread!
Agreed but wrong thread. This is for the New Animated series.Quote:
Originally Posted by i_amtrunks
On topic of RID. Really enjoyed the back half of this series. Got a bit more trhough plot rather than con of the week and set's up nicely for season 2. The animation continues to be amazing as well. All in all I'm cery happy with this new iteration of TV Transformers.
Side note: Windblade was awesome.
Yeah got to agree the episodes leading towards the season finale were better than the start but I wasn't really happy with how it wrapped up. Won't mention why I feel this way because spoilers.
Really want a kickback figure hasbro.
Finished watching last night - not bad, typical wrap up for a kids' show, so I'm not too fussed there.
Liking Windblade - especially considering she's almost a 1:1 match to the Takara Legends Windblade deco, apart from the weird bits behind her fans (which make no sense at all) - characterisation is great (considering the episodes with her were written by the same author who wrote the first Windblade comics.)
Plenty of Decepticons throughout the series that'd make great toys... hopefully they're realised.
I'm behind -- only just finished watching Deep Trouble. I'm skipping other posts in this thread to avoid spoilers. Anyway, thoughts about this episode:
* I like how Bumblebee uses telescopic (microscopic) sight, a nice nod to G1 Bumblebee's ability. Would've also been cool to see him drive underwater, but I guess one G1 nod is enough. :p
* I also like how the architecture/design of the sunken Cybertronian craft and various other features within it (e.g. console interfaces etc.) are reminiscent of the Nemesis in TF Prime. Helps to visually reinforce that this is the same continuity. On that note...
* Ooh! Ground Bridge! :D
* Also interesting to see all those Fixit-type Mini-Cons.
* Hearing Grimlock - as the team's resident beast-moded Autobot - being referred to as "Big Bot" was a nice little nod to Beast Wars.
I barely even noticed Octopunch's alt mode. :o Meh. Kinda felt sorry for Denny when his miniature vintage car collection got wrecked by flooded sea water. Ouch. ;)
Finished watching the whole season, The finale was very good. Can't wait for next season..
you can watch it all at www.animeflavor.com .. it's in the cartoon section along with other TF titles (Prime/BH) if you missed any of those. Can't say Ill be buying the toys still though. hahaha okay mebbe just the minicons ;P, always a sucker for minicons...:D
Okay, just watched the ending, and I must say that the return of Optimus Prime was done much better than I thought. I really liked how Optimus Prime isn't looking to usurp Bumblebee of his position as Autobot leader. The one thing I've enjoyed about this series has been seeing the Autobots not being led by Optimus Prime. I also like how Megatronus wasn't Megatron -- cos yeah, don't want to see Megatron come back to lead the 'Cons either. I also quite like how the episode made explicit continuity links with Transformers Prime; specifically how Unicron is still Earth's core, and how he contains the Anti-Spark. Having said all that, I'd rather that they didn't bring The Fallen back and let someone else resume the reigns of Decepticon leadership. Steeljaw still has the potential to be a credible threat to the Autobots, particularly now more than ever since he's been scorned by Megatronus.
I bought the season set on DVD today from JB Hifi, and have started watching it.
First impressions... it's like the return of Armada - "gotta catch 'em all".
One good thing about it is that my toys now make sense or are more familiar, by actually resembling something I have now watched "in motion" as a cartoon.
The bad thing is having these Decepticons get so much character and nice looking forms, but then fail to get toys to play along with. It's a shame that we only get an episode or less for most of them too.
Chopshop (the combiner from five spiders) would be lot of fun if it were a toy. I wonder how many of these Decepticons Hasbro has plans to produce. We have a couple of hundred prisoners, so I'm pretty sure we will see a lot of Decepticons who will never get toys.
(poor Fixit... I don't wanna know what socket of his Chopshop plugged into)
Underbite is a lot bigger than I was expecting... definitely needs a larger sized toy than the three we already have (Legion, 1-step, Tiny Titan).
He reminded me of Fat Bastard from Austin Powers... and kept saying, "I ate a city", like Fat Bastard saying "ah ate a baby".
The sudden appearance of Optimus at the end of episode two didn't make sense, nor did his vague explanation.
Grimlock is definitely not the FOC Grimlock... unless there is something later that explains his completely new personality.
He sounds a bit Australian though, or, fake Australian that American actors do.
Where are the humans? They drive through cities and not a single human.
A lot of the music reminds me of the Tron Legacy music by Daft Punk.
Watched the second volume, which is 14 episodes so far.
Okay, Grimlock doesn't sound like a fake Aussie anymore... but did in the first two episodes.
The Decepticon symbols on Grimlock bugged me, considering it wouldn't have been by choice after seeing his character in FOC... but since Steeljaw was scratching his out to remove a tracking device, I guess in this series the Decepticon symbols are a tracking/branding device, so whatever Grimlock did to earn a prison sentence, he was given the Decepticon Brand as a result.
Steeljaw (a shame that it is using a classic Autobot name) sounds a lot like Knock Out. I actually had to look up who the voice actors were of both just to see if it was the same guy (it isn't).
Damn I want some of those Decepticons as toys. I can now see why American fans who had been watching the episodes a few months back are so frustrated, and there is an obvious drop in interest in the RID toyline than the TFPrime toyline, because the non-gimmick toys are almost entirely Autobots (similar to the TF4 movie ratio).
I know that if a villain isn't featured heavily it won't sell as many toys as random good-guys toys, but most of these Decepticons are quite interesting, both as a character and how it looks in terms of both modes. If they don't show up again I can understand why Hasbro were only focusing on the recurring Decepticons for their toys, but still, I would have thought we'd see a lot of the Decepticons done as Legions, which are cheap and profitable (compared to larger sizes), or at the very least, filling out the 1-step toyline.
The RID Decepticons (and Autobots) all have interesting unique designs and fun (if somewhat clichéd/obvious) personalities. The design aesthetic of an animalistic robot mode and earth vehicle mode is new and if this series had a toyline with the budget and design creativity that Animated had, the new RID line could have been a hit.
But the Warrior class toys suffer from the cost cutting (and are more expensive than Generation deluxes), the legions are okay, and the rest of the toys are gimmicky things.
The Legion toys are the ones that I like the look of most when together on the shelf, even though most are not accurate to the cartoon. (the 3-steps are the most cartoon accurate, but I only have four of them so far)
Now that I've seen the episode with the Deployers and Minicons, it makes me wonder why TakaraTomy didn't pack in with their Fracture Deployer, the Minicon Divebomb. They are packing with Drift the two Minicons he had in that episode, but are packing with Fracture Sandsting instead of Divebomb.
Usually TakaraTomy are pretty good with these sorts of things for collectors, otherwise they wouldn't be releasing non-RID toys in the Adventure line and Combiners that match the Gen1 toys more than Hasbro did.
So now that the whole first season is available, I have to ask: is it actually any good? The toys look remarkably dull, but the show might still have some hope - right?
The person that started this thread should have put a poll on it. Oh wait that was me!
Poll now added.
The series is good, very different to Prime (as far as I can tell) but enjoyable to watch.
I am enjoying the series, (9 episodes in) its ok. I really liked TF Prime and that series had me instantly hooked, I am hoping RID will eventually do the same.
I finished watching the season.... it was better than average. A lot better than TFPrime and most of the Unicron trilogy (to me).
One thing I don't like is how there is no unified Decepticon force, and as such, no real threat. (not a crushing threat like Beast Machines or TFPrime which has the Autobots/Maximals hiding most of the time)
I also don't find it very realistic that very few own guns (even the Autobots who are supposed to be the police force), and the guns that do show up don't do any damage on others (but can blow a massive hole through a thick bank safe).
It might look visually more interesting to have swords or fists, and pad out the episode more, but these are technologically advanced robots that can build spacebridges but not a gun.
I was disappointed to see Windblade show up just because the comic writer of Windblade is a writer on the show.... and look exactly like her IDW version, even though everyone else is a new version of their namesakes. The flashback version of her should have been what she looks like as her regular version. It's a year too late to sell the Generations toy, so it was an unnecessary inclusion in that form. Just like all the other characters in the cartoon, Windblade should have received a new visual form that could have been similar to a previous version, but not exact. Otherwise it causes confusion over possibly being a shared universe to the IDW comic universe.
Drift is another writer creation that is now looking to be a long-term character in Transformers... and despite being part of the main cast for the second half of the season, he didn't get included in the opening credits. The Autobot team is now twice as big as the start of the season, so hopefully new credits next year includes all the new members. (I would have liked to see Jazz return again as well, after a single episode at the start of the season.)
There were a couple of "laugh out aloud" moments in, but I think there could have been a little more humour. The Fixit glitches were more annoying than amusing, while Bumblebee's attempts at finding a motivating warcry got old fast. I think he should have found one by halfway in the season and just stuck with it.
Although, in one of the last two episodes he says "Let's roll to the rescue... no wait, that's already being used by someone" - which was funny because I watch Rescue Bots a lot to know what he was referring to.
Megatronus was interesting, but short-lived (unless like Beast Wars Inferno, a disintegration isn't real if it is done in the final episode of a season).
I was surprised that Frank Welker wasn't voicing him. The voice though sounded like the original Zordon from MMPR (to me).
The "Clash of the Transformers" ToysRUs store exclusive toyline concept featured in the final episode... well, aside from the inclusion of Megatronus (which is yet to show up as a regular toy in other stores). Three of the Autobots took on an "Allspark blue" deco, which I was surprised to see, but I guess was part of the agreement with ToysRUs to take on the exclusive toys... they coloured Strongarm instead of Optimus (the Clash Autobots were Optimus, Bumblebee & Sideswipe).
Speaking of selling specific toys, the upgrade for Optimus was definitely drawn to look like the Mega 3-step Optimus. They couldn't have been any more obvious if they had a flashing sign over his head when he first appeared saying, "buy the Mega 3-step Optimus toy". :p
Right at the end of the series we finally get something that could link this series to TFPrime - Unicron's essence being in the core of the Earth... but with multiple universes existing over the last 30 years, there could easily be another universe with Unicron as the core of Earth, it is not exclusive to this universe as evidence that this series is following on from TFPrime.
Actually, if I wanted to waste some time, I think it would be easy to prove that this series is more likely to be separate to TFPrime than actually a part of it, as there is more evidence against it than supporting it.
Like, when they were visiting the ghost town in episode 24, it was clearly Nevada, but Bumblebee didn't make any mention of them once having an old base nearby. Considering it was for most of his life on Earth, that would be a pretty significant thing to mention... and maybe get new viewers of this show to go find out what it was and then watch TFPrime as a result.
And finally, I am really tired of the "hiding from humans" concept, because it is spoiling the overall story potential. It makes the episodes less realistic when there are no humans anywhere, and the plot devices they come up with for some occasions are just stupid.
The name "robots in disguise" refers to their ability to transform into something else, which they do for mobility or for battle, not to hide from humans. The Decepticons don't have a need to stay hidden, so when there are hundreds or thousands of them running around, you can't tell me that not a single human sees them.
The concept of them being hidden from human society didn't last long in the movie universe (during TF2) because it wasn't practical for the story to maintain that idea... and in all seriousness, after three years of TFPrime having global battles and Decepticon warships flying around, humans would know about it. With the way our western media, social media and paparazzi works at finding all sorts of secrets we don't even need to know about, something as massive as an alien invasion of thousands of bots (in TFPrime) or hundreds (in RID), is going to be seen and shared.
Get it out in the open, and it will make the episodes more interesting as there won't be deserted cities or cringe-worthy reasons for no humans being around... and might even make them more of a threat element, as the Autobots will need to put in more effort saving them when Decepticons attack.
I know I know... it's only a cartoon. But really, kids aren't stupid - they should be wondering the same thing.
^This is my biggest gripe with this franchise. :( I just started reading the comics, and it gets even worse as they introduce more "Decepticons of the Day" which will probably never get a toy. :(Quote:
Originally Posted by griffin
All the Decepticon toy talk aside (only cause it frustrates me as well that we aren't getting them :mad:)
I finished watching the series over the weekend and was impressed with the overall ending. I do like how the team has new team members. I like all of the minicons.
Some of the Decepticons were really cool, like Steel Jaw, Fracture, Chop Shop, Underbite, Scowl, Hammerstrike, Terrorstrike, Thunderhoof & Groundpounder but most of the rest were forgettable some were just awful like Zizza, Malodor, Ped, and the worst of all Springload.
Despite some lame Decepticons getting 1 or 2 episodes I did enjoy the series and really like how the Bee team interacted and worked together.
While its not my favourite series of all time (Beast Wars is hard to beat) it will be one that I will re-watch again.