Henkei! Henkei! Transformers (Comic BunBun)

Generation 1 continuity family « Henkei! Henkei! » Toyline Pack-in manga Serialized manga Visualize prose

Henkei! Henkei! Transformers
Don't think it's unbecoming of a Prime to go "In your FACE!"
Henkei! Henkei! Transformers Volume 1
Publisher	Poplar (2009 printing); Fukkan Dot Com (2023 printing)
First published	May 15, 2009 (Poplar); December 19, 2023 (Fukkan)
Manga by	Naoto Tsushima
Colors by	Sayuri
Editor	TakaraTomy
Continuity	Henkei! Henkei!
ISBN	ISBN 4591109607 (2009 Poplar), ISBN 978-4591109601 (2009 Poplar); ISBN 4835459040 (2023 Fukkan), ISBN 978-4835459042 (2023 Fukkan)
Page count	189 (2009 Poplar); 374 (2023 Fukkan)
Price	490 yen (2009 Poplar); 2,750 yen (2023 Fukkan)

The Henkei! Henkei! Transformers manga is drawn and written by Naoto Tsushima, serializing in the pages of Comic BunBun with the first chapter debuting in the November 2008 issue and the final chapter in the October 2009 issue, which was also the final issue of the failing BunBun magazine. Tsushima explained that Henkei! had to cover a lot of ground in order to establish the line for children that might not be familiar with it; his earlier Transformers manga, The Battle of the Star Gate, was written for those that were already fans of the G1 cartoon. In 2023, publisher Fukkan Dot Com was able to collect all 12 chapters of the manga into a single tankōbon format, with four promotional cards of brand new art by Tsushima featuring Optimus, Bumblebee, Megatron, and Starscream in their Henkei designs as Fukkan's store exclusive.

The series is not in continuity with the Henkei! Henkei! mini-comics included with the toys nor the Visualize shorts, though they do share some similar story points.

	Henkei! Henkei! Transformers issues
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12

Overview

The Henkei! Henkei! story centers on two small groups of Autobots and Decepticons, led respectively by Optimus Prime and Megatron, who pursue the legendary Energon Cube through space to Earth—a plotline clearly inspired by the live-action film series and its AllSpark. Allying with Osamu Kihara of the Governmental Special Diplomatic Agency, the Autobots establish a base beneath the cube's impact crater in the Japanese town of Hoshinochō and begin searching for the shards of the shattered cube.

The series begins eleven years after the Transformers' arrival on Earth, as their secret war is discovered by the young human boy Wataru Hoshinoumi, who befriends the Autobots. When Megatron's scheming lieutenant Starscream mind-controls the Autobot Skyfire into attacking a power plant, the resultant battle reveals that Wataru is a "Booster"—a being capable of detecting and manipulating the energies of the Energon Cube, given his abilities by the energy released by the cube upon its impact at the moment of his birth. With Wataru's newfound power, the Autobots can track down pieces of the Energon Cube with much greater speed, but Megatron soon learns of the boy's abilities and covets Wataru's power for his own.

Gravely wounded by Optimus Prime in battle for possession of Wataru, Megatron uses molten energon to transform himself into the monstrous, deranged Galvatron, but he is betrayed by Starscream, and his body is crushed in a cave-in. His spark persists, however, and possesses Cyclonus, staging a massive attack on Hoshinochō that forces the Autobots to reveal themselves to the world. Optimus Prime uses the power of the Matrix to apparently destroy Galvatron, and the Autobots then work with the government to round up the remaining Decepticons on Earth. In truth, however, Galvatron loaded his ruined body onto a spaceship before beginning his rampage, and the series concludes with Wataru, Kihara, and the Autobots taking off in pursuit of their enemy.

Featured characters

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans
Bumblebee Grimlock Mirage Optimus Prime Skyfire Rodimus Ironhide Hound	Astrotrain Cyclonus Galvatron Megatron Nightstick Ramjet Ravage Starscream Tankor	Wataru Hoshinoumi Akira Kihara Doctor Osamu Kihara

Notes

• Disappointingly, the original collected edition by Poplar did NOT keep the first two pages in "Enter! The Transformers" colored as they originally appeared in Comic BunBun, Poplar opting for gray-scale. Fukkan's edition actually kept the first two pages in "Enter! The Transformers" colored, as well the first two pages of "Creation! The New Emperor of Destruction!!" (which was never collected in Poplar's edition).
• Fukkan apparently didn't have access to the original clean artwork, as at the end of each chapter there's still the standard "Continued in next month's issue" message at the bottom of the page as seen in the original magazine release.
• In Fukkan's edition, there's a two-page postscript from Naoto on learning about the Classics toyline in 2006, Takara asking him on doing the package art for Henkei, the creation of this Henkei manga, and finally thanking the fans.

Collections

• 
  Original Poplar TPB
• 
  Collected cover from Fukkan

External links

• Henkei! Henkei! Transformers manga article at Japanese Wikipedia