Transformers: Combiner Wars (cartoon): Difference between revisions
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Like in ''Energon'', the combiners are never actually seen ''combining'', and the only components seen individually are just ''half'' of the Constructicons. Even when their limbs are severed, the show doesn't acknowledge the fact that these can ostensibly become individuals. In the climax of the series, it briefly appears Starscream will become a super-combiner with the other combiners forming his limbs. Instead, he becomes ''a giant screaming head''. No, really. | Like in ''Energon'', the combiners are never actually seen ''combining'', and the only components seen individually are just ''half'' of the Constructicons. Even when their limbs are severed, the show doesn't acknowledge the fact that these can ostensibly become individuals. In the climax of the series, it briefly appears Starscream will become a super-combiner with the other combiners forming his limbs. Instead, he becomes ''a giant screaming head''. No, really. | ||
In terms of characterisation, while Optimus Prime and Megatron generally hew close to classic Generation 1 fiction, other characters received wildly different interpretations. [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]], usually depicted as a kind and heroic diplomat, was re-imagined as a vengeful psychopath aiming to kill anyone and everyone associated with combiners. | In terms of characterisation, while Optimus Prime and Megatron generally hew close to classic Generation 1 fiction, other characters received wildly different interpretations. [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]], usually depicted as a kind and heroic diplomat, was re-imagined as a vengeful psychopath aiming to kill anyone and everyone associated with combiners. | ||
Revision as of 04:23, 15 September 2016
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Transformers: Combiner Wars is an animated web series. Co-produced by Machinima and Hasbro Studios with animation done by Tatsunoko Production, it is targeted at older audiences, and ties into the concurrent Combiner Wars imprint. [1] The series is run by Eric S. Calderon, George Krstic, and F.J. DeSanto.
Four prelude videos were released weekly beginning June 28 2016, followed by the premiere of the series proper on August 2, on the go90 platform in the US, and on Machinima's YouTube channel elsewhere.
| “ | [...] so as we go through the story we’ll have very sophisticated story ideas and sophisticated visuals. | ” |
—Eric Calderon, exaggerating wildly[2] | ||
Overview
Forty years after the conclusion of the Great War on Earth, the Autobots and Decepticons are no more and Optimus Prime and Megatron are relics of the past. Cybertron is at last at peace, ruled by the triumvirate of Starscream, Rodimus Prime, and the Mistress of Flame. However, the Enigma of Combination, an ancient artifact of Primus, has triggered new conflict through the creation of huge, dangerous Combiners, and now Cybertron's fragile peace is in danger of collapse.
Cast
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Others |
|---|---|---|
|
Combiners |
Combiners |
Episodes
Preludes
Main episodes
Criticisms
While Combiner Wars was advertised as a series intended for mature fans, the series was roundly criticized by the fandom for a variety of reasons. Eerily, many of said criticisms also apply to the infamous Energon cartoon.
Storytelling flaws
Combiner Wars is split into eight five-minute episodes. As a result, the miniseries runs for forty minutes overall, which wouldn't be so bad if not for the obvious padding that permeates most episodes. "The Council", for instance, spends a minute depicting Starscream flying over an empty Cybertron before leading into the action.
The story's setting, meanwhile, is supremely ill-defined. The prelude videos for the series vaguely allude to the "Combiner Wars" beginning shortly before the end of the Great War and somehow continuing to the present despite the end of Autobot-Decepticon hostilities. No explanation is ever given for how or why this war started, or indeed for what the Combiners are doing exactly that constitutes a war. Caminus's cities have apparently been wrecked by the Combiner Wars, but whether this is collateral damage from Combiner brawls or the result of Combiners just plain smashing stuff, we are never told. The Enigma of Combination is a similarly nebulous concept, with its capabilities at no point described or explained, beyond the fact that has created some (all?) of the Combiners. At one point, Rodimus Prime talks about using it to "control" the Combiners, but by this he apparently means using it to create a Combiner army. Later, with Combiners fighting at their doorstep, the council decide that they must now "use" the Enigma. There's nobody else around to combine, so can it control existing Combiners? Can it just create Combiners out of thin air? We have no idea.
Beyond this, for a series named Combiner Wars, the series puts very little focus on the characters that it was ostensibly created to advertise, treating them as interchangeable background extras. While Devastator receives some dialogue and characterization, Victorion appears out of nowhere seconds before she's assimilated by Starscream - even though she was the only combiner to receive a prelude video that hyped her up as a key player in the series. The closest we get to any kind of "combiner war" on-screen is the brief scuffle between Menasor and Computron in "The Fall", which lasts for all of a minute. While the Council describes this combiner threat as a massive, out-of-control problem, the threat they pose in the actual show feels very empty - Menasor, for instance, dies to one slice of Windblade's sword.
Like in Energon, the combiners are never actually seen combining, and the only components seen individually are just half of the Constructicons. Even when their limbs are severed, the show doesn't acknowledge the fact that these can ostensibly become individuals. In the climax of the series, it briefly appears Starscream will become a super-combiner with the other combiners forming his limbs. Instead, he becomes a giant screaming head. No, really.
In terms of characterisation, while Optimus Prime and Megatron generally hew close to classic Generation 1 fiction, other characters received wildly different interpretations. Windblade, usually depicted as a kind and heroic diplomat, was re-imagined as a vengeful psychopath aiming to kill anyone and everyone associated with combiners.
Starscream's prelude video, meanwhile, depicted him as an individual who was genuinely seeking redemption for his prior deeds, a noble and refreshing interpretation of the character. He sticks rigidly to this new role for most of the series until the eleventh hour; in "A War of Giants", he immediately regresses to his old backstabbing ways for no real reason other than to provide an antagonistic role to our heroes.
Production flaws
Timing
Combiner Wars ended up being rather infamous for having very poor timing. While the Combiner Wars toyline debuted in mid-2015, the scripts for the first seven episodes of this series were only finalized in January 2016. As a result, the lead time required for animation led to the series debuting in August 2016... at which point Combiner Wars had ended in favor of the Titans Return line.
Animation
Despite the fact that the series is animated by the legendary Tatsunoko Production, the series suffers from below-Cybertron-quality CGI, with cel-shading distressingly similar to Energon. The problems are compounded by the very noticeably low framerate – possibly an attempt, like the concurrently running Robots in Disguise series, to emulate hand-drawn animation, but not one that's at all successful. Characters have very basic mouth flaps when speaking, and whilst they can at least pull off facial expressions a little better than in Energon, it's still generally unexpressive.
Alright, let's just be honest here: this series makes Energon look like a masterpiece.
