TF Animated General Discussion

[griffin]

Posted by Kup:
I have just finished watching Animated. Its okay but that is all, don't expect anything epic or truly exciting about it because it doesn't offer it, at least in this first 'movie length' episode.

The biggest flaw is the animation, particularly when it comes to the Humans and Earth in General. There is no doubt about it, the reason for this animation style is because its cheap. There is nothing artistic about it, just cheap. The human character designs are exceptionally bad and have a 'Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy' feel to them. Overall the episode was okay but fails to produce any sort of geek fan boy reaction.


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The plot starts off reasonably well but moving too fast for you to get a sense of the Universe this series takes place in. However after they reach Earth things begin to get boring real quick with their first confrontation with this nanotech monster thing which frankly lasted way too long. Although the Humans were not initially annoying, its very difficult to 'accept' the poor character and animation style, If you can't stomach the Transformer designs you will definitely not stomach the Human's. Only at the end with Starscream's involvement do thing pick up again but its nothing too fulfilling. Sari, the girl looks to be the new Kicker with her Allspark channeling power and although she has not reached Kicker's level of annoyance yet she looks to have the bad potential to do so.

This first episode very clearly sets what the tone of the series will be which is not so much about Autobots and Decepticons on Earth but mainly about a Super hero team saving the City of Detroit with the odd Decepticon showing up every now and then. It is made clear that they will be fulfilling a similar role to a robotic Justice League or something of the sort. Also the whole concept of 'Robots in Disguise' was ditched within the first 4 minutes of them acquiring Earth Alt modes as They were made Public Heroes with ceremonies and all very early on.

This premiere was a bit Mediocre and don't expect much from it based on the limitations that they have already imposed on themselves and since 2 Seasons have already been produced, it is very doubtful that the tone of the series will change since they never allowed for them to study fan reaction to the initial few episodes before working on the next.

Overall, I am neither disappointed nor excited. It is very unlikely that I will be collecting any toys from this series.

Rest of topic discussion can be found here:
http://otca.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=3448

[Robzy]

Well, I don't mind it! I'm definitely hooked - and I'll be getting the figures too!

[Thanatos]

I definately want to get myself a lumberjack prime!

[Paulbot]

I have just seen it so need some more time to consider my opinion before doing a mini-review. It's not better than Beast Wars but is better than the Unicron Trilogy shows.

It's certainly done it's job as a toy commerical - I want the toys of the characters right now too!

[kup]

I am sorry but I find G1/typical 80s & 90s animation much more pleasing to the eye and detailed than Animated despite the regular animation errors.
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[iceburn]

where can i get a copy of the animated ep1 and 2???

[Gutsman Heavy]

I watched it on youtube (don't laugh, bittorrent never works for me)

I thought it was pretty good, much better than A/E/C or RID, got nothing on Beast Wars but over time who knows, ALL HAIL THE TRETCHEROUS CHIN OF STARSCREAM!

[STL]

After 10 episodes the tone and mood of the series has been set and it is very unlikely to come away from it and sadly this is not to my taste. This is the first Transformers series that I have found so frustratingly annoying to watch that I am quiting watching it altogether, not even Armada and its dumb Pokamon plot managed that, so this is a first.

Come on, Kup, there are disappointments to the stories but they're still pretty decent. I've seen bits of Cybertron and Armada and I think those are far more cringeworthy and I can't be bothered following those. The dialogue is also second rate but here I think it's far better controlled.

Yes the cringeworthiness factor can be high but I think the caricatures are good here b/c I feel each character has a voice. Bulkhead may be dumb but he serves his purpose to the young audience. Bumblebee is annoying and immature but that's cool too. I think you need that rather than everyone's favourite little bot. Making him a little snot actually makes the team dynamics work better. I could keep going but what I think is that between the 5, I think they synch together far better. They're bigger than the sum of their parts. They are strongest when they bounce off each other imo.

I think more of the "Earth" elements birthdays, Halloween in themselves are fine. I think it's good to connect with kids even though they gnarl at me.

Overall, you don't have a perfect cartoon but I think for there is still a charm to it with a small core cast allowing us to warm to the characters. It's just that key that keeps making everything trivial that holds it down for me.

[kup]

That's my point, I am not criticizing the core of the story or the main characters, I am criticizing its overall execution.

The silly moments ruin the atmosphere for me and on top of that several episodes dont even feel like Transformers to me and more like a Super Hero series. Sometimes it even reminds me of Beast Machines in the sense that sometimes it doesn't even feel as if I am watching a Transformers series at all. Thankfully, unlike BM some episodes do go back to form (Thrill of the Hunt) but in most other episodes, even when the plot premise is good, it ends up being ruined by some stupid overhanging silly theme and the solution is almost always that damned key.

I did give this show a good worthy try but overall after watching 10 episodes, I have found it to be a poor attempt at Transformers and overall substandard despite the promising bits.

I am happy that you guys are enjoying it but to me it has become pretty crappy.

In regards to the 'kiddy' themes: I used to hate them when they were used back in the 80s and 90s when I was a kid for basically the same reasons that I am hating them now. They felt out of place and hurt the overall 'inmersiveness' of the fantasy world created. Fortunately back in the 80s it was the odd episode in a series that had this overly kiddy 'birthday!' or 'Halloween!' theme unlike animated which seems to have it every second episode at least.
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[GoktimusPrime]

STL: I find it amusing that you're far more forgiving toward Animated compared to your far less forgiving appraisal of Furman's work at IDW.