Chou Robot Seimeitai Transformers Micron Densetsu

(this review will be for the English version, Transformers Armada. There are some dialogue differences between the English version and the Japanese version, Micron Legend).

Transformers Armada is the first of the Unicron Trilogy, a series plagued by animation errors and dubbing errors, among other things. Although not as badly hit as Energon, Armada still suffers a lot of these and it prevents fans from watching or enjoying the show.

But is this show any good? Let's find out.

Story: At first the story starts slow, I'll admit that. A small team of Autobots and Decepticons land on Earth, in a race to capture Minicons, small transformers that ... can enhance the power of a large transformer and turn the tide in a battle. However once new characters are introduced-especially the enigmatic Sideways-it becomes clear that there is more at stake in this war than just control over the Minicons. Midway the story becomes better, and the 3rd part of the series is definitely the best part.

Animation/Dubbing: Oh dear... where do we start. Frankly, animation is bad. Armada is animated by Actas, and you can tell what a rush job this is. Animation errors abound in this series, including a scene where jet-mode Starscream is represented by a flying black dot. Yeah. There are also lots of mistakes in the dubbing. Calling characters by their Japanese names (for example, calling Tidal Wave Shockwave) or giving the wrong name to a character (Sparkplug, Optimus's Minicon, is almost always called Leader-1). Animation and dubbing is clearly the low point of this series.

Characters: First of all, the human characters. Yes, they're annoying, and for the most part, useless. But I hope that you learn to tolerate them, since they're here to stay. The Autobot and Decepticon teams are better; they all have different personalities, from the battle-crazy Cyclonus to the loner, Blurr. However special mention must be given here to Starscream. This version of Starscream breaks away from the traditional mold of Starscream characters and is not a backstabbing second in command. His character arc is very interesting to watch, and this makes him the best character in the show.

Enjoyment: At first I was forcing myself to watch, especially at the first few eps. But once the hunt for the Miinicon weapons begins, the story takes a more interesting turn, and I found myself very excited to watch the next episode.

Overall: Don't let the bad animation and dubbing stop you from enjoying this series. It's actually good, and I'd recommend it.

First all why don't we see the kids in school. Alexis one of the best humans because she's lives a normal life, but helps by using tech, and not being a Nerd Like a Ralph in Transformers Prime. Adult Alexis is my Type.

Another Problem Hot Shot was going to be Bumblebee because he's Yellow and Black-Water, and Hot Shot gets G1 Hot Rod's colors as a paint job because he's called Hot Rod in japan. Hot Shot even has the same role of a kid becoming leader like G1 Hot Rod because he's named Hot Rod in the Sub.

I do like how Optimus aka ... Convoy, and Megatron are equally corrupt like real world leaders. Just because world leaders have a good motivation like Optimus doesn't mean there power hungry like Optimus. I like how we see that Optimus is just a corrupt.

I like how Hot Shot Aka Hot Rod Aka Bumblebee was envious and left his best Autobot friend Wheeljack friend to die to become a war hero because all war heros aren't good, or evil.

I don't get why Wheeljack whos based on G1 side is called Wheeljack in the Dub, and Rampage in Japan. No what I do get it because he's called Carwheeljack in some dubs, and Rampage because Rampage was a good Maximal Aka Autobot Aka Cybertron who became Predacon Aka Decepticon Aka Destron in Beast Wars.

Unlike Beast Wars Rampage who was created evil Micron Densetsu Aka Aramada Rampage was betrayed by 1 member of his military faction, went awal, and betray his whole faction as child soilder.

I like hw Wheeljack is Jelious of Hot Shot's new best friend Sideswipe, and tries to kill Sideswipe in order to prevent Sideswipe being betrayed by Hot Shot by Sideswipe in order for Sideswipe to join the Decepticons.

Sideswipe is called Stepper Aka Ricochet in the Sub who is a repaint of Jazz which explains why Sideswipe looks Jazz and Stepper.

Why would Stepper be called Sideswipe in the Dub if he's doesn't Sideswipe people.

I do like Wheeljack's Labo mode which is like G1 Sideswipes, and Sideswipe's Drift Car Nissan mode like Night Bird in Rise Of Beasts, and Drift in the comics.

I'm proud to be the first negative review for this show. Fam... It's bad. The 6.82 that the show currently has is being very generous. This is about as average as an anime can be. I have to assume that the people who rated it anything higher than a 5 just have nostalgia for it OR they really love Transformers and haven't seen enough anime to know how to spot a bad one.

First thing to know is that this show had an unusual production where it was written, produced, and animated in Japan, but it was released with English voices first. If you watch the ... English dub, you're literally watching the inferior version. A lot of animation errors were corrected for its Japanese dub release. For some reason, the English version renamed all of the characters. Some of the names feel totally incorrect for the character while others make more sense. For example, if you find yourself wondering why Red Alert doesn't seem like the Transformer named Red Alert that you're familiar with, that's because he's actually called "Ratchet" in the Japanese version of the show. But I personally don't think either name fits this character. So who is he supposed to be? I have no idea. It's a mess. I don't know what they were thinking. If you aren't familiar with ANY Transformers, you probably won't be bothered by this, but it WILL probably confuse you later when you try to engage with any other Transformers media.

I feel bad for the minicons in this show. They're treated like literal robots without personality. None of them speak and they're just used as weapons and accessories by both sides. They're one of the weakest parts of the show, which is extremely unfortunate because they're supposed to be the central focus of the story. I can appreciate what they were going for in THEORY, but the execution is just uninteresting and passionless, and it makes it feel kind of perplexing as a decision overall. It really feels like it must've been a "We don't have enough time, so we just have to go with whatever we come up with first and make it work" kind of situation. (Apparently production was being rushed by the network, so that feeling doesn't seem to be unfounded.) People complain about the Transformers cartoons feeling like toy commercials (because they are), but this is definitely one of the most blatant examples. This show exists as an excuse to flash robots on the screen to make you buy them. Quality be damned.

The human characters are what I expect from this era of low-effort anime for children - especially from the shows that were trying to make you buy something. Which is to say, they aren't interesting. There's the girl, the boy, and the other boy. They occupy more screentime than they deserve because they effectively do nothing. Their relationship with the Transformers is paper-thin. At best, they're in the way. At worst, they're annoying. I feel a little mean, but there's nothing substantial enough about these characters to make them worth defending.

Most of the episodes take place in a vague field or canyon where the two sides fight in boring, poorly animated battle sequences. Once you've seen one fight, you've seen them all. They don't get more interesting. I found myself zoning out through 70% of most episodes.

I've seen fans say that the designs of the Transformers is what they like most about Armada. As toys, they look too blocky and cluttered. In animation, they look stiff as hell. I don't know what possessed them to make designs that would be that difficult to animate.

You know it's dire when even the out-of-context compilations on YouTube can't make this show seem funny or interesting. It's just boring, and that's one of the worst things a show can be. If you're easily hypnotized by Optimus Prime, I guess this show is for you.