What came first, the chicken or the egg? That has been a debate for years. Another question many have asked is, what came first, The GoBots or the Transformers? While there has actually been some debate over that, many know which one was the best.
The Transformers rocked the toy industry from the first day it premiered. Who could forget that robot transforming into a tape cassette player complete with tapes that transformed into other small creatures? That was pretty damn cool! It wasn't long before those toys became a hit cartoon series along with a cult classic movie that many are still trying to get their hands on. In fact, the Transformers still live on today in the form of Beast Wars, where robots turn into animals. In fact, the Transformers never left us at all.
While the show disappeared in America, only to come back as Beast Wars, The Transformers lived on in Japan, where new episodes were created up until the Beast Wars saga began. The strange part is, while new shows were created in Japan, little is known about them. While we were importing anime to our shores, Japan imported Transformers from the US. They loved the show so much that they continued the show it even though American studios would not. There are hundreds of Transformers/Beast Wars shows out there, half of which we know nothing about. ButBANDWIDTH knows all!
The Transformers started in 1984. The cartoon was about the adventures of living mechanical beings from the planet Cybertron. The good guys, were the Autobots. The Autobots battled the evil Decepticons for control of Cybertron. In the series' first season, both warring groups crash land on Earth and continue their battle there with the Decepticons stealing energy to get back to Cybertron and take it over with their newfound riches. The Autobots come into contact with Spike Witwicky, a human who decides to help them in their quest. The battle continues into the second season with more robots joining each side, enriching story lines and toy sales alike. Who can forget the Constructicons, The Insecticons or the Dynobots?
At the end of the second season a movie was released. The movie was set in the year 2005 and the battle escalates as Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots, and Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons, battle to the death. (SPOILER ALERT!)Optimus dies in a shocking, and actually emotional scene. Megatron is dying, but is given new life and reformed as Galvatron. At the time it was strange to see death scenes in an animated American movie, and done so well, and many fans were happy with it.
The movie also contains new life and coming of age story lines. Hot Rod, the young, wild and sometimes ignorant Autobot becomes Rodimus Prime, the new leader. He helps vanquish the Decepticons away from Cybertron and into season three, which continues right where the movie left off. The battle continues and at the end of the season, a virus takes over both Autobots and Decepticons and Rodimus Prime has Optimus Prime rebuilt before he himself succumbs to the virus. Optimus saves everyone, takes over the role of leader, and Rodimus becomes Hot Rod, once again.
Season four is rare as it was only three episodes long and rarely repeated. Optimus is still in charge and new alien races are introduced. Cybertron is also re-energized as the show comes to an end for the American fans. Season four never existed as far as Japanese audiences are concerned. What takes that season's place is Transformers: Headmasters. Headmasters' starts the run of Japanese shows never seen in America. Galvatron leads a new batch of Decepticons to wage war on Cybertron. Headmasters are a group of human-sized robots who transform into heads and can attach and control Transformer-sized robots that they built. Some join the Decepticons and some join the Autobots. A new Autobot, Cerebros, is revealed to have left Cybertron a million years ago in search of energy. He helps the Autobots in this new war that once again claims the life of Optimus Prime. Rodimus Prime returns to take control again, and the Decepticon group gets a new leader who is killed by Cerebros. Galvatron was frozen in ice and most importantly; Cybertron is destroyed in this show. Rodimus leads the Autobots in search of a new home and the show ends.
From April 1988 to March 1989, Transformers: Super God Masterforce premiered in Japan. This show takes place on Earth. Groups of Autobots, called the Pretenders, were able to pose as humans just in case the Decepticons returned. This show doesn't contain the regular characters well known to fans. In fact, the humans are the main stars of this show. The Autobot Pretenders and Decepticon Pretenders do battle and the human's fates hang in the balance.
The next year, Transformers: Victory premiered. This series restarts the Autobot-Decepticon feud on Earth. No Pretenders here-just the regular robots doing battle in what has the feel of the original series that so many people loved in the past. New characters are shown and another cool aspect is introduced in an Autobot who happens to be an expert swordsman. This show was considered to be the best of the series shown in Japan.
That was it for the Transformers on TV. Still, the show lived on in TV Magazine, a Japanese manga magazine. For years, stories were written about the continuing adventures of the Transformers. One series even included the return of Optimus Prime and the return of a rebuilt Megatron, now known as Super Megatron. Strangely, Super Megatron battles Galvatron, who is also Megatron. Guess it makes sense if you are a robot. Super Megatron goes through other forms as the series goes on and finally ends.
In Beast Wars, Optimus is not the same Optimus Prime from the original Transformers. None of the characters are, but the Decepticons vs. Autobots feud is mentioned in detail. The show was a major success in Japan and in between season one and the import of season two, Japanese animators made a cartoon based on the Beast Wars' setup to satisfy people's appetite. Of course, Beast Wars became the Beast Machines show we see today.
As that show goes on, word was announced that the original Transformers franchise was going to be brought back to Japan sometime in the year 2000. The original car robots would make a return and a fire Optimus Prime character would lead the Autobots (or whatever they will be called here) and Gigatron will lead the enemy. No word on if America will follow suit on this new series.
Wow! That's a whole lot of history. While many of our childhood shows have faded away, I was glad to see that the Transformers have survived it all and are still around for a new generation of kids to enjoy. I still wonder though, what ever happened to the GoBots? (Anyone with info on this series please contact me ASAP!)
Comments, suggestions, or if you find any errors in my information should be sent to Badseed@ybfree.com.