wip !

Transformers is a franchise that I love very much. My mom actually watched it while it was running growing up, and she raised me and my siblings on it too. I’ve been watching it since I was very young and it was a pastime for my family and I to bond over. I still recall my brother always really enjoyed the Autobots while my sibling liked the Insecticons. Which worked out well considering I loved the Decepticons. I’ve had a huge bias towards the G1 continuity cartoons but, I really enjoy the new content as well! I also collect some of the toys – specifically Starscream and Blitzwing! I’m hoping to find more Rodimus Toys in the coming future.

Transformers was created from the collaboration of Takara Toy's Diaclone toy line and Hasbro. Since 1984, the franchise has had comics, shows, movies, and of course toys. I think this franchise is the reason why mecha and super robot genres are so important to me. I love the franchise with my whole heart so here is an overlook on some series I've seen!




Cartoon Section - this section is dedicated to the animated works I've watched.



The Transformers!

The original and first cartoon, lovingly called G1, aired from 1984-1987! Contains 98 episodes and a movie. My mom actually grew up watching this show and its why my siblings and I were raised on this. I always had such a strong preference towards the Decepticons and adored Starscream since I was a kid. If you love old cartoons, I highly suggest checking it out as your first Transfomer’s series. There isn't much to say, if you know the basics of Transformers, you know the original cartoon. Iconic rivalry of Megatron and Optimus and getting to see the origins of a lot of these characters is one of the reasons why I always will love The Transformers series. I personally still love a lot of the original personalities of some characters such as Ratchet that leaves me a bit biased towards The Transformers versus new adaptations.


Favorite Decepticon: Starscream | Blitzwing | Cyclonus

Favorite Autobot: Hot Rod / Rodimus | Perceptor

Rating: 7/10, overall, very nostalgic but very obviously from the 80’s! not for everyone and that’s ok.


The Head Masters!

The second cartoon that aired! Airing from 1987-1988 and contains 35 episodes. A series I genuinely really enjoyed. It introduced somegimmicks like the Headmasters and Targetmasters! We can see similar gimmicks of Headmasters back in the original Diaclone line with Ultra Magnus, which I think is cool to see them use something like that as a main series mechanic. This series actually introduced one of my favorite characters of all time which is Chromedome! It’s so neat to see his origins as a character and compare to how his more modern adaptions are. I really love the characters shown and they're all very charming and interesting. I think the Headmasters are probably one of my favorite groups ever introduced into the series. Overall, I really love the Headmasters and believe they are some of the most enjoyable main characters. Highly suggest checking it out if you have read the IDW continuity and want to see where some characters came from!


Favorite Decepticon: Mindwipe | Misfire | Cyclonus | Scourge

Favorite Autobot: Hot Rod / Rodimus | Chromedome

Rating: 7.5/10 similar to G1 but I personally enjoyed the gimmicks and characters a tad more!


Super-God Masterforce!

The third cartoon that aired from 1988-1989, containing 42 episodes! This series but a bit odd in my opinion. While it’s the origins of one of my favorite bots by design, Overlord, the show is a bit confusing. It focuses heavily on the humans in the world and introduces new gimmicks called Pretenders. The story is a bit confusing and is very different from series we saw prior. I personally believe this series is closer to the Brave series then it is to the Transformers series. This leads to some confusing reactions and story telling that I personally didn't really enjoy.


Favorite Decepticon: Overlord

Favorite Autobot: N/A

Rating: 4/10 this is heavily based on the fact that I loved the setup of prior series and felt like they tried to do too much and not really sticking to one thing during the course of the show!


Victory!

Transformers Victory! I've been dying to talk about this series! This is the fourth cartoon that aired with 44 episodes and a short running time from March 1989 to December 1989! This is genuinely one of my favorite series and I might be heavily biased to the fact I love Starsaber as a character and Autobot leader. This series tried really hard to remove itself from the American style animation and takes heavy inspiration from anime airing at the time of its release. The characters are really unique to prior continuities, and I love the rivalry of Deszaras and Starsaber. The characters and animation make it really hard to say anything negative about it. I think the only downside is they have some confusing choices regarding canon. Otherwise, if you haven't enjoyed a Transformers series before and prefer older anime, I heavily suggest watching Victory.


Favorite Decepticon: Deathsaurus | Hellbat

Favorite Autobot: Starsaber | Road Caesar

Rating: 9/10, overall one of the best in my opinion of the Transformers Series! Amazing animation and new characters! What's more to love?


Zone!

The first OVA of the Transformers series! This aired in 1990 and was 30 minutes long. It continued off Transformers Victory and introduced new characters such as the new leader Dai Atlas. It brings back some of the big villains and combiners from previous series such as Devastators, Menasor, Bruticus, Predaking, Overlord and among others. I really enjoyed the OVA but desperate wished for a full fledge show. I feel like the characters and set up were very cramped for an OVA!


Favorite Decepticon: Overlord | Devastator

Favorite Autobot: Dia Atlas | Sonic Boomer

Rating: 6/10, I really loved the OVA but as a standalone series its very confusing. I love it and think it hones in on a lot of improvements that Victory made with the series.


Beast Wars!

Onto the next continuity! Beast Wars aired from 1996-1999 containing 52 episodes! This is a really neat series as it was the first computer animated series! Also in this series, the characters transformer into animals instead of vehicles. I genuinely think the story line and characters are really amazing and memorable. However, it does defiantly look funky now looking back on it! I associate this series with my brother a lot, this is his favorite series and insisted I push past the animation. Genuinely, I’m really glad I did as it was an amazing adventure!


Favorite Decepticon: Dinobot

Favorite Autobot: Optimus Primal

Rating: 7/10, Again, a notable and amazing series but suffers the age that came with G1 Transformers, this time with really early on computer animated models. Though I defiantly think it is worth checking out despite that!


Beast Wars II!

This one is very interesting! Beast Wars II aired 1998-1999 and had 43 episodes! This was a sequel to Beast Wars but it was changed to be more kid friendly and go back to the humor that was present in the original G1 series. The characterization and humor are still easy to enjoy and I enjoyed seeing more history of Lio Convoy!


Favorite Decepticon: Starscream

Favorite Autobot: Lio Convoy

Rating: 6/10, overall, I feel very similar to Beast Wars II as I did G1! The humor is very obviously not for everyone and it was defiantly aimed more towards children but the characters are really funny and interesting as whole.


Armada!

Armada was my first Transformers I chose on my own. This aired from 2002-2003! This series is actually very important to me as it had very interesting characterization of one of my favorite characters - Starscream! I love how they portrayed Starscream and the Autobots in this series. It defiantly influenced a lot of my biases with this character and I feel like the series had a very unique spin on the Decepticons and Autobots! While this series is aimed more towards children and preteens, I defiantly think the story is very unique and can capture your attention.


Favorite Decepticon: Starscream

Favorite Autobot: Jetfire

Rating: 8/10, an amazing series with interesting adaptations to well-known characters! If you love Starscream I highly suggest giving Aramada and the Unicron Trilogy as a whole a shot! I think the dynamics they chose to feature were unique for the franchise and reminded me of the early cartoons like Headmasters. Overall, the show is a very interesting take on the franchise, universe and characters.


Animated!

Transformers Animated genuinely was such a shock to me. This show aired from 2007-2009 and contained 42 episodes. It was supposed to have another season, but it was sadly cancelled. This continuity was really fascinating. I originally didn't want to get into it as it was defiantly geared towards younger fans and contained its own continuity that seemed to make no sense to older fans of the show. For example, Prime is not a high rank amongst the Autobots and Optimus wasn't the leader of the Autobots, but instead a small team of bots. It took a lot to get me into this show, but it was really amazing to watch. The characterizations of both known and more obscure bots was really fun to watch and get to know these characters all over again. Also, while geared towards younger fans- the show still has darker and more serious themes then I expected but I was used to from the franchise. Overall, this show was really shocking to watch, and I ended up really enjoying this continuity.


Favorite Decepticon: Starscream | Blitzwing

Favorite Autobot: Jetfire | Jetstorm

Rating: 9/10, This series is simple and has some very interesting characters featured! I feel like it’s a relaxed Transformers series and some lovely characterizations! I feel like many people turn away from this show due to the art style, but I think its defiantly worth the shot! The show is very charming despite the differences they made that can be confusing for older fans. It can be a bit jarring stepping into it but I think once you learn about the universe and the characters, you can appreciate the series for what it is!


Prime!

This defiantly going to be my longest entry. Transformers: Prime aired from 2010 to 2013. This show is genuinely so amazing if you are really interested in Transformers lore. The inspiration that it takes from not only the IDW and G1 continuity, but also every continuity featured before it was amazing and made me super nostalgic while watching. It follows the same premise set forth in IDW, however, it expands on the characters and their emotions that they felt. For example, we got to see Optimus's grief and feelings regarding Megatron's betrayal their race. The show has some really fascinating characters that show up that we don't get to often see such as Knockout, Dreadwing, and Airachnid. I also really enjoyed Starscream's characterization a lot. This is one of the only continuities that reflects the fact that Starsream's downfall isn't that he's dumb but actually the fact that he is very quick to act which leads to misjudgement. I really appreciate the care they took to characters like Megatron, Optimus, Starscream, Unicron, and many others. It feels like a continuity written by people who were really interested in the plot of the franchise. I loved the show as a whole and the story was a unique spin on the premise.


Favorite Decepticon: Starscream | Knockout

Favorite Autobot: Smokescreen

Rating: 9/10! Same as Animated, had some wonderful characters featured and I feel like many people overlook this series due to the style. However, I’ve to say how amazing this continuity is. This show's version of Megatron and Optimus's story is such a unique and in-depth take on their history- personally making this my favorite depiction of their relationship. The personality they give the robots and the storylines we see hit me way harder than I ever expected. If you needed to choose your first Transformers continuity and had no preference or idea where to start, I'd highly recommend Prime.





Comic Section - this section is dedicated to the comics I've read.



Transformers IDW & MTMTE!

This is an incredibly heavy one. I combined the Transformers Comic and More Than Meets The Eye as they're one continuity. This comic continuity is absolutely amazing. I personally loved the darker turn of the story line that reflects a lot of the things that were hinted at in G1, while also talking about the realistic effects of a war would have on a planet. I only recommend this storyline to people who enjoy or don't mind a darker and sadder story as it does realistically show the effects of a war and also touches on topics such as systematic oppression and religion. The characters in this comic are all incredibly charming and all have their own unique and amazing storylines. I think another positive of this storyline however is that fact there is outright canonical gay and trans characters in this story. Chromedome, Rewind, Tailgate, Cyclonus, Whirl, Pipes, Anode, Lug, Arcee, Brainstorm, Nickle, and way too many more to name are all canonically gay and/or trans. It’s a breath of fresh air to see a lot of characters that are LGBT in genres like this. It is also amazing to see LGBT characters in a well-done tragic storyline that isn't just "bury your gays" trope.


Favorite Decepticon: Starscream | The Scavengers | The DJD (unfortunately)

Favorite Autobot: Rodimus | Tailgate | Whirl | Drift

Rating: 9/10! This series is genuinely amazing and one I want to recommend without a second thought. However, this comic is extremely heavy and has a lot of mature and potentially triggering topics. If you do want to check this out, please be careful and heed trigger warnings from fans!