:redface  you make some good points.

It's all because of why we're fans.

 

 

I mean be honest, if you're sat there thinking "I'm sick of Prime, I'm sick of Unicron, of the Matrix etc," you're bored with everything that made Transformers different from all the other giant Transforming robot shows in the first place.

There are plenty of giant transforming mech shows that are already not Transformers, stop watching the only one that is and moaning about it.

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But the moaning is what also makes us fans, because no matter how much we b**** we still love the fact new series draw from the old one.

To answer your question, no

You know Josh, you make some good points with that X-men comparison, but I'm going to have to go with gundam on this.

 

Every series they introduce new characters and a new cast. I know what characters I'm going to get if I pick up Gundam Seed compared to Gundam Wing. When a new Transformers series is introduced I expect new characters. I'm used to change has long has it makes sense. So far Armada to Energon to Cybertron has not made sense. Why did Prime get fat? Why did Hot Shot grow up and then revert to a young kid again.

Now I understand Cybertrons issue. Hasbro wanted a continuity and Takara didn't.

 

What I want to know is why can't we do a side story with limited characters? In current Transformers series so many characters are introduced that you don't have much time to get to know all of them or they are just given boring personalities. I can say I want different characters. I want a Gundam 08th team side story. To me Beast Wars felt like a side story. The events on ancient earth could affect Cybertron, but if the danger is stopped then no one knows any better. That's the essence of a side story and I have no problem with it.

 

I can understand people pining for G1. The current Optimus and Megs are pretty boring overall, their Cybertron incarnations are superior to the previous series though. That's part of what made Beast Wars so much fun, the original characters. And we got to know them on a different level. That's all why the original G1 characters are so loved. They were given some character depth, not much but some.

 

I do think it's time for some new leaders. Some brand new characters. And a story that ties into the series in a logical way.

If people are bored with TFs, there is always

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go-bots  :wtf

The Victory series proved that a TF line could be successful without Op or Megs as the central figure in the story.  I like the idea of side stories for TF (much like how Gundam has Blue Destiny and Astray)- these could be used to explain gaps in continuity or to follow the G1 characters that were lost to time (Tracks?  Red alert?).

 

Admittedly, I haven't watched a whole lot of the new series.  But the two points that I think are the biggest turn-off for me are:

 

1. There is continuity, but not in the sense that G1 had with the original series, TF 2010, The Headmasters, etc.  One of the points about the G1 characters that I loved was that they had personality, and this was in part because they were allowed to develop over numerous seasons without being reformatted, name-changed, etc.  Not to draw too many comparisons to Gundam, but the current pattern of TF series seems to be similar to Gundam, which has started developing 'alternate timelines' to explain every new series.

 

2. I'm not a big fan of the CG style being used in the newer TF series.  An overuse of CG kills anime, in my opinion.  Gundam Seed Destiny used CG pretty well (for the ships and colonies), but the TFs seem to lose something in the translation (i.e., in Galaxy Force).  Maybe it's their facial expressions (or lack thereof). 

 

I'm probably making too many generalizations about the modern TF series for someone who hasn't watched enough of it, but those are the things that make the older series more endearing to me (flawed animation and all).

I agree with some of the points raised here.  Im all up for a new show that has new charachters instead of the same names being rehashed.  We as fans get tired of the names optimus prime and megatron being used for every show when clearly there not the same personalities.  I think we get mad when we see the name of a charachter whom we've loved and grown up with being recycled to sell a new toy when in fact the charachter whos been given the old name has nothing in common with the original.  I think thats why fans love alternators/binaltech so much, besides the obvious reasons, but they take the charachters we knew and love and dont try and change them, just update them a bit, which is what they should do if there going to use names like optimus prime or megatron again.  And the shows now, the charachters are bland and generic, very few are original or give us that sense of wow like G1 or to an extent BW and BM.

the one this that bugs me to no end is how one series starts off giving no logical resion for the new bodys

 

if i had to make a new show idd stick with the current toys then just add more guys along the way rather then having a new prime every year

You know Josh, you make some good points with that X-men comparison, but I'm going to have to go with gundam on this.

 

Every series they introduce new characters and a new cast. I know what characters I'm going to get if I pick up Gundam Seed compared to Gundam Wing.

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In my opinion there's a slight difference.

 

See, you can watch a series and hate the main protagonist but love the Gundam itself.

With Transformers they are one in the same.

I actually like Gundam's, but not overly being a mech fan (fan yes, just not overly), I've never had enough interest to buy one as they have no actual characters.

What makes me want a G1 prime is the same thing that would make me want a human figure from a Gundam series.

I might say I'm a Duo fan for example or a Gundam Wing fan, but I'm not a Gundam fan.

 

Like I said, slight difference, but enough.

 

Now, although my approach is different, I actually think we want something similar.

As a G1 fan, I wanted to see it continue, not repeat, but continue.

Masterforce for example had no old characters at the time, but was still within G1 continuity and therefore accepted by people.

 

And you mentioned Beast Wars.

It was flawed in many ways, but making itself a part of the G1 continuity whilst introducing new characters instead of bringing back the old was among it's biggest strengths in my opinion.

 

If they'd have continued like that I think a lot of the G1 one fans that want to see repaints all the time would take these continuities more "seriously" and wouldn't want to see another Megatron 'cos he's still on earth etc.

 

Basically, if it'd have been all G1 continuity to start with, it'd probably be much less G1 influenced than it is now and we'd ALL enjoy it more.

I actually wouldn't mind the current series if they were good and if they made sense has a continuity. Cybertron is pretty good so far, but it has the largest problems tying in to the continuity has a whole due to Hasbro and Takara's difference of ideas. I'm also sick and tired of gimmicks and each series being so strongly focused around said gimmicks. Transformation is the main gimmick of the line, but when gimmicks became more dominant in G1 it was spread out. Masterforce is the prime example. Pretenders, headmasters, and powermasters all in the same series, but none of these was the focus of the series.

 

Has a continuity it makes no sense for everyone to suddenly stop using minicons and start combining with each other instead. Armada was all about finding the minicons, why would they abandon their use? The current series tend to feel to tied down. Another bonus that Beast Wars had, while their was an overall story each episode was not dedicated to push the story forward. The show seemed to move at a natural pace. My concept for a side story could take place in any universe but not get tied down by the full events of the series. Most of G1 had little to no effect in the Beast Wars story and that's what helped it to work.

 

To me Masterforce made no sense to the G1 story. If the pretenders had been on earth for millions of years why didn't the help out earlier? Their tie to G1 felt pretty forced to me.

 

Another problem I have is the scope of the story. Again here is where I think Beast Wars did it right. In Cybertron the danger is large to begin with. It doesn't really get bigger, the enemies just get stronger but the danger stays the same. Beast Wars started small and slowly grew in risk. The best moment was when beast Megs nuked Prime's head.

 

Whatever comes next needs to be well thought out. What the next series will be we won't know for a while. Their won't be any more series until after the movie and the next series may tie into the movie. That means Optimus and Megatron will return. I just hope that they're interesting characters and that the story has some depth to it. In the end that's all I hope for from the next series.

 

I'm not tied to G1. Far from it. I would like to see updates of the older characters just to see them with today's standards for the toys. I don't crave them though. I just hope whatever comes next has some decent writing and a good story.