View source for Transformers: Armada (cartoon)

{{nav-armada}}
'''''Transformers: Armada''''', known as '''''Chō Robot Seimeitai Transformers Micron Densetsu''''' (超ロボット生命体トランスフォーマー マイクロン伝説 "Super Robot Lifeform Transformers Legends of the Microns") in Japan, is a ''Transformers'' cartoon series that ran from [[2002]]–[[2003]], in support of the franchise of the same name.  Animation for the series was produced by [[Actas Inc.]] (with animation for the Japanese [[title sequence]] being produced by [[Raretrick]]). The series initiated a total continuity reboot, setting up a brand new ''Transformers'' universe separate from any previous storyline. Together with its two sequels, this continuity family is now known as the [[Unicron Trilogy]].

''Armada''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s universe is most distinguished by the presence and importance of [[Mini-Con]]s, a race of human-sized Transformers that, when "[[powerlinx]]ed" to their larger brethren, would unleash a flood of energy. Because of the great potential for their exploitation, the Mini-Cons attempt to abstain from the [[Autobot]]/[[Decepticon]] war and flee [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], crashing on [[Earth]] and the [[Moon (moon)|Moon]]. When some Mini-Cons are accidentally reactivated in [[2010]] by clumsy teenagers, a beacon alerts both the Autobots and Decepticons on Cybertron, who track them to Earth and continue their battle here.

''Micron Densetsu'' has the [[Japanese themes|opening songs]] "[[Transformer: Dream Again|TRANSFORMER -Dream Again-]]" and "[[Transformers: Kōtetsu no Yūki|Transformers ~Kōtetsu no Yūki~]]", with the ending songs "[[Never Ending Road]]" and "[[Don't Give Up!!]]".

==Characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Optimus Prime (Armada)|Optimus Prime]] ([[Garry Chalk]])
* [[Blurr (Armada)|Blurr]] ([[Brian Drummond]])
* [[Hot Shot (Armada)|Hot Shot]] ([[Brent Miller]])
* [[Jetfire (Armada)|Jetfire]] ([[Scott McNeil]])
* [[Overload (Armada)|Overload]] 
* [[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]] ([[Brian Dobson]])
* [[Scavenger (Armada)|Scavenger]] ([[Ward Perry]])
* [[Side Swipe (Armada)|Side Swipe]] ([[Sam Vincent]])
* [[Smokescreen (Armada)|Smokescreen/Hoist]] ([[Dale Wilson]])

|c2=
* [[Megatron (Armada)|Megatron/Galvatron]] ([[David Kaye]])
* [[Cyclonus (Armada)|Cyclonus]] ([[Don Brown]])
* [[Demolishor (Armada)|Demolishor]] ([[Alvin Sanders]])
* [[Starscream (Armada)|Starscream]] ([[Michael Dobson]])
* [[Thrust (Armada)|Thrust]] ([[Colin Murdoch]])
* [[Tidal Wave (Armada)|Tidal Wave]] ([[Doug Parker]])
* [[Wheeljack (Armada)|Wheeljack]] ([[Michael Daingerfield]])

|c3=
* [[Rad White]] ([[Kirby Morrow]])
* [[Alexis Thi Dang]] ([[Tabitha St. Germain]])
* [[Billy (Armada)|Billy]] ([[Andrew Francis]])
* [[Carlos Lopez]] ([[Matt Hill]])
* [[Fred (Armada)|Fred]] ([[Tony Sampson]])

|c4=
* [[Sideways (RID)|Sideways]] ([[Paul Dobson]]), ([[Mark Acheson]])
* [[Nemesis Prime (Armada)|Nemesis Prime]] (Paul Dobson)
* [[Unicron]] ([[Mark Acheson]])

|h5=[[Mini-Con]]s|c5=
* [[Sparkplug (Armada)|Sparkplug]]

*[[Street Action Mini-Con Team (Armada)|Street Action Mini-Con Team]]: [[Perceptor (Armada) |Perceptor]]
** [[High Wire (Armada)|High Wire]] ([[Terry Klassen]])
** [[Grindor (Armada)|Grindor]] (?)
** [[Sureshock (Armada)|Sureshock]] (?)

* [[Air Defense Mini-Con Team (Armada)|Air Defense Mini-Con Team]]: [[Star Saber (Armada)|Star Saber]]
** [[Jetstorm (Armada)|Jetstorm]]
** [[Runway]]
** [[Sonar (Armada)|Sonar]]

* [[Race Mini-Con Team]]: [[Skyboom (Armada)|Skyboom Shield]]
** [[Downshift (Armada)|Downshift]]
** [[Dirt Boss (Armada)|Dirt Boss]]
** [[Mirage (Armada)|Mirage]]

* [[Space Mini-Con Team]]: [[Requiem Blaster (Armada)|Requiem Blaster]]
** [[Astroscope]]
** [[Payload (Armada)|Payload]]
** [[Sky Blast]]
|nonumbering=true
}}

[[Narrator]]: [[Jim Conrad]]

==Major Locations==
* [[Lincoln, Nebraska]]
*[[Cybertron Base (Armada)|Cybertron Base]] (Autobot HQ)
*[[Cosmoscope Research Center]]

* [[Lunar Base (Armada)|Lunar Base]] (Decepticon HQ)
* [[Cybertron (planet)#Unicron Trilogy|Cybertron]]

==Production==
''Armada'' was the first Transformers cartoon to be co-developed in the United States and Japan. The show was produced in Japan with animation by [[Actas Inc.]], but wound up airing first in the United States with a dub by ADR studio [[Voicebox Productions|Voicebox]], and was then broadcast in Japan six months after the American premiere. By contrast, the last story arc of the series debuted in the [[United Kingdom]], followed soon after by [[Canada]], and then the US; by the end, the Japanese airing had also overtaken America. 

When ''Armada'' was first announced, an unnamed Hasbro source was quoted as claiming [[Mainframe Entertainment]] had been "tapped" to make the show. Sadly, this didn't happen. <ref>[http://www.seibertron.com/infozone/armada.php The 2002 Armada page at Seibertron]</ref>

==Criticisms==
[[Image:TacticianMiniConChanges.jpg|thumb|250px|Between the American (top) and Japanese (bottom) airings, the entire back row of Mini-Cons was changed or recolored.]]
The English dub of ''Armada'' was plagued with errors—not deliberate changes in premise and dialogue (although those did exist), or other things that would make a typical anime fan claim the dub was "bad", but genuine, quantifiable technical faults on a scripting and production level that make it clear the show was put together hastily, haphazardly, and was, ultimately, simply not up to modern broadcast standards when it was released. Most explicit are the repeated instances of characters being referred to with the wrong name, particularly the Mini-Cons, but evidence strongly suggesting that many scripts were translated only very roughly, and never given proper re-writes to either adapt them for a Western audience, or to even check if they actually corroborated what was happening on-screen. Characters give long, rambling, semi-coherent monologues, react strangely to one another's dialogue, have very disjointed "conversations", reiterate obvious plot points to one another, and repeatedly use stock phrases such as "Hey, wait up!" Moments of intended silence are filled with babble, especially the dreaded "Uh?" every time a character reacts to anything.

''Armada'' is also well known for its widely fluctuating animation quality, with many episodes often ''riddled'' with not only animation errors, but woefully frequent, badly-drawn, off-model artwork that puts even some of [[The Transformers (cartoon)|Generation 1]]'s infamous animation errors to shame. ''Some'' of this animation was cleaned up for the show's later broadcast in Japan—the most publicized example is the episode "[[Linkup]]", which featured some significantly altered and corrected animation—and smaller alterations were made in many episodes, such as changing incongruous Mini-Con lineups or fixing blatant coloring mistakes (such as Cyclonus being colored as Demolishor for one scene in "[[Swoop (episode)|Swoop]]"), but on the whole it is not ''nearly'' as different as internet pundits may lead you to believe. Generally speaking, it pretty much looks as bad in Japanese as it does in English.

These problems are generally understood to be due in large part to an extremely rushed production schedule—a fact that should be obvious when one realizes that ''Armada'' was an English dub of a Japanese series that was not ready to air until ''six months after the dub premiered''. The cause of this rush job is still under speculation, but there appear to be two primary suspects:

* Initial plans called for [[Dreamwave Productions|Dreamwave]] to supply character models for the series (at least, that was the claim), but that never materialized, possibly throwing off production schedules.
* [[Cartoon Network]], the channel that aired the show, reportedly would not sign off on the series without a certain number of episodes already finished, forcing a rush job to get the cartoon out to coincide with the toy line's release.

Debuting with a premiere three-part "movie" at the same time as the 21st century reinventions of ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' and ''Masters of the Universe'', these immediately-apparent twin flaws led ''Armada'' to stumble out of the gate into a torrent of hatred from the internet fandom that stands out as one of the rare moments in fan history when everyone seemed to be on the same page. Flack continued to pile up as the first quarter of the series proved to be a series of repetitive one-shot adventures in which the same small groups of Autobots and Decepticons hunt for Mini-Cons in one episode after another. The threat of Unicron, as well as the gradually expanding cast, eventually led to more wide-ranging stories, in particular a well-received story arc centering on Starscream, but the consistently poor animation and dubbing, coupled with the fact that by the time these stories came around, the show had been consigned to the 6am "death slot" on Cartoon Network, meant the show never truly recovered in the eyes of adult fans. In the grand scheme of things, it is only the existence of ''Armada''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s even-''worse''-received sequel, ''Energon'', that keeps it from being widely considered the worst Transformers cartoon ever (and even then, in many corners of the fandom, it still "wins" that poll).

All of this, however, did not stop the toyline being a runaway success, spawning a new generation of Transformers fans for whom ''Armada'' was the gateway into the franchise. So, it's got that going for it, historically speaking.

==Reception==
Although fans had a [[Pokeformers|mixed reaction]] towards the product as a whole (which is [[Ruined FOREVER|typical]] of ''any'' new series), it was ''incredibly'' successful with the target audience, children ages 4–9. The toys sold like hotcakes, prompting Hasbro to pad out the tail end of the toyline with a number of ''Beast Wars'' redecos.

The success of ''Armada'' led to the more expensive R&amp;D that went into the next two franchises, ''[[Transformers: Energon (franchise)|Energon]]'' and ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)|Cybertron]]''. It also prompted the launch of the ''Transformers [[Transformers: Universe (2003 franchise)|Universe]]'' subline, as demand for Transformers product continued to outstrip Hasbro's ability to develop new molds.

==Episodes==
{{main|List of Armada episodes}}

{{collist|4|
#[[First Encounter]]
#[[Metamorphosis]]
#[[Base]]
#[[Comrade]]
#[[Soldier (episode)|Soldier]]
#[[Jungle]]
#[[Carnival]]
#[[Palace]]
#[[Confrontation (episode)|Confrontation]]
#[[Underground]]
#[[Ruin]]
#[[Prehistory]]
#[[Swoop (episode)|Swoop]]
#[[Overmatch]]
#[[Gale]]
#[[Credulous]]
#[[Conspiracy]]
#[[Trust (Armada)|Trust]]
#[[Vacation]]
#[[Reinforcement]]
#[[Decisive Battle]]
#[[Vow]]
#[[Rebellion]]
#[[Chase (episode)|Chase]]
#[[Tactician]]
#[[Linkup]]
#[[Detection]]
#[[Awakening]]
#[[Desperate]]
#[[Runaway]]
#[[Past]]
#[[Past II]]
#[[Sacrifice]]
#[[Regeneration]]
#[[Rescue]]
#[[Mars (episode)|Mars]]
#[[Crack (episode)|Crack]]
#[[Threaten]]
#[[Crisis]]
#[[Remorse]]
#[[Depart]]
#[[Miracle]]
#[[Puppet]]
#[[Uprising]]
#[[Dash (episode)|Dash]]
#[[Drift (episode)|Drift]]
#[[Portent]]
#[[Cramp]]
#[[Alliance]]
#[[Union]]
#[[Origin]]
#[[Mortal Combat]]
}}

==Home video releases==
{{anchor|DVD}}
===''Micron Densetsu''===
{{main|Columbia Music Entertainment}}
The ''Micron Densetsu'' version of ''Armada'' was released on DVD by Columbia Music Entertainment in [[Japan]] while the series was still on air for a total of thirteen volumes. Initial releases of each volume included a bonus Mini-Con figure and [[Linkage (comic)|an original comic side story]] which helped to fill in some of the series's gaps.
[[Image:Tf micron legend vol 01.jpg|thumb|150px|]]
*''Transformers: Micron Densetsu'' 1 (2003)
*''Transformers: Micron Densetsu'' 2 (2003)
*''Transformers: Micron Densetsu'' 3 (2003)
*''Transformers: Micron Densetsu'' 4 (2003)
*''Transformers: Micron Densetsu'' 5 (2003)
*''Transformers: Micron Densetsu'' 6 (2003)
*''Transformers: Micron Densetsu'' 7 (2003)
*''Transformers: Micron Densetsu'' 8 (2003)
*''Transformers: Micron Densetsu'' 9 (2003)
*''Transformers: Micron Densetsu'' 10 (2004)
*''Transformers: Micron Densetsu'' 11 (2004)
*''Transformers: Micron Densetsu'' 12 (2004)
*''Transformers: Micron Densetsu'' 13 (2004)
{{-}}

===''Armada''===
====United Kingdom====
{{main|Universal}}
[[Image:Armada Collector's Edition DVD.jpg|thumb|100px|]]
Universal released several DVD collections of ''Armada'' in the UK.
*''Transformers: Armada'' — Vol:01 (2003)
*''Transformers: Armada'' — Vol:02 (2003)
*''Transformers: Armada'' — Vol:03 (2005)
*''Transformers: Armada'' — Triple Collection (2005)
*''Transformers: Armada'' — Vol:04 (2005)
*''Transformers: Armada'' — Collector's Edition (2007)
*''Transformers: Armada'' — Bumper Double DVD Collection (2008)
{{-}}

====Australia====
{{main|Warner Bros.}}
Warner Music Video released a random assortment of ''Armada'' DVD collections in Australia.
*''Transformers: Armada'' — Vol:02 (2003)
*''Transformers: Armada'' — Vol:04 (2003)
*''Transformers: Armada'' — Vol:09 (2003)
*''Transformers: Armada'' — Vol:10 (2003)
*''Transformers: Armada'' — Vol:14 (2003)
{{-}}

====United States====
{{main|Kid Rhino}}
[[Image:KidRhinoTransformersArmadaPart1.jpg|thumb|100px|]]
Kid Rhino released a few DVD collections in the United States, before releasing the entire series in two box sets.
*''Transformers: Armada'' — Best Battles (2004)
*''Transformers: Armada'' — Flashbacks (2004)
*''Transformers: Armada'' — Battle for the Mini-Cons ([[June 22]], 2004)
*''Transformers: Armada'' — Power of the Mini-Cons ([[June 22]], 2004)
*''Transformers: Armada'' — Best of the Autobots (2004)
*''Transformers: Armada'' — Best of the Decepticons (2004)
*''Transformers: Armada'' — Season One: Part One (2004)
*''Transformers: Armada'' — Season One: Part Two (2006)

Additionally, three episodes were released by Tiger Electronics as a boxed set for their Video Now system. 

{{-}}

====Germany====
{{main|KSMFilm}}
KSMFilm released two DVD boxsets in Germany, each including 26 episodes with German and English audio. A Complete Colledtion of the Series will be released in 2011.
*''Transformers: Armada'' — Volume One (2008)
*''Transformers: Armada'' — Volume Two (2009)
*''Transformers: Armada'' — Superbox (2011)
{{--}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.geocities.co.jp/Playtown-Knight/6670/my_micron/armada-legend.html Site comparing animation differences between ''Armada'' and ''Micron Densetsu'']

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[[Category:Television series]]