Transformers: Armada
Director
Hidehito Ueda
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Year
2002
Transformers: Armada
By Darrell Ford
23rd May 04 If you don't know what Transformers are, you have obviously been in a coma for the last three decades, or you don't believe in commercial advertisement. Anyway, this is Hasbro's one-year Transformer toy line for 2002-3 and unlike the older series' (or G.I. Joe); it doesn't scream 'BUY OUR TOYS KIDS!!!' Transformers: Armada is the last series of TF before it hits its 20th Anniversary, HOORAH! Armada is called 'Micron Legend' in Japan and was animated by Aeon Inc. The plot itself is rather simple (and commercial), The war on the planet Cybertron (Seibertron*) has raged on for millions of years now between the heroic Autobots (Cybertrons*) who are led by Optimus Prime (Convoy*) and the evil Decepticons (Destrons*) who are led by the maniacal Megatron. Until one day a small group of Transformers called the Minicons (Microns*) 'magically' appear decide they want peace and no war. Minicons can boost a Transformers strength, speed, firepower, etc, so the Decepticons grab some of the Minicons to boost their power to conquer Cybertron. Some of the Minicons decide to ally themselves with the Autobots to help save Cybertron. But, eventually the Minicons didn't want to be a part of this war any longer, so they get stuffed in a ship and sent to another galaxy to seek peace. The ship crashes on Earth with all the dormant Minicons scattered everywhere (Although one is on Mars and one is on the Earth's moon). About one million Earth years later, the ship is reactivated and a warning beacon is sent to Autobot and Decepticon HQ's on Cybertron. Optimus gathers his best men...well Red Alert and Hot Shot and travels to Earth, but when he arrives, his archrival Megatron is there first and almost got his mitts on the first Minicon (Highwire/Bank*)! And so the battle for the Minicons has begun (again) This series is mainly disliked to fans due to several reasons; one of the biggest reasons is, the kids.
I mean sure I'd love to hang out with Optimus Prime and the other 'Bots' but these kids are really annoying!
I don't see why Optimus lets these kids tag along with them everywhere (Including Cybertron) especially when 20 to 30 foot robots were blasting the crap out of each other (Not unless he hopes they are killed in the cross fire). Animation isn't exactly great, there's always a colour or animation mistake in one episode. Aeon seriously could have tried harder. The animation really shines in the transformation or combining sequences, really thought Sideways' transformation was cool, when he practically slams his head on his shoulders (this is only in one episode though). Music is well, interesting. The US version has a TF theme (Sounding like the original 80's version) tune incorporated in the transformation sequences and intro. The background music is rather bland but still it's decent enough to be called music. Dubbing job is JUST below average; several verbal mistakes are usually made like character speaking with someone else's voice or someone getting called something else. Previous voice actors like David Kaye who played Megatron who also played Beast Wars Megatron, Don Brown, Gary Chalk and Scott McNeil save the dubbing. In overall Armada is a pretty ok 52 episode series, the first 26 episodes are rather dull, but the second season 'The Unicron Battles' saves it. If you get a chance to see the series, try to watch the episode 'Drift', it is honestly one of the best Transformer episodes ever since Beast Wars 'Code of Hero'. *Name in Japan 8/10
-- Darrell Ford 23rd May 04
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