Transformers: Armada (cartoon): Difference between revisions

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|h5=[[Mini-Con]]s|c5=
|h5=[[Mini-Con]]s|c5=
* [[Sparkplug (Armada)|Sparkplug]]
* [[Sparkplug (Armada)|Sparkplug]]
* [[Street Action Mini-Con Team]]
* [[Longarm  (Armada)|Longarm]]     
[[Street Action Mini-Con Team]]
** [[High Wire (Armada)|High Wire]] ([[Terry Klassen]])
** [[High Wire (Armada)|High Wire]] ([[Terry Klassen]])
** [[Grindor (Armada)|Grindor]] (?)
** [[Grindor (Armada)|Grindor]] (?)

Revision as of 14:49, 31 May 2010
Unicron Trilogy continuity family
Armada »

Armada (Micron Legend in Japan) is a Transformers cartoon series that ran from 2002-2003, in support of the franchise of the same name. Produced by Actas Inc., 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's universe is most distinguished by the presence and importance of Mini-Cons, a race of human-sized Transformers that, when "powerlinxed" 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, crashing on Earth and its 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 Legend has the opening songs "TRANSFORMER -Dream Again-" and "Transformers ~Kōtetsu no Yūki~", with the ending songs "Never Ending Road" and "Don't Give Up!!".

Characters

Autobots Decepticons Humans Others Mini-Cons

Street Action Mini-Con Team

Narrator: Jim Conrad

Major Locations

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., aired first in the United States, and then aired later in Japan. Dubbing for the US version was done by ADR studio Voicebox.

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. [1]

Criticisms

Between the American (top) and Japanese (bottom) airings, the entire back row of Mini-Cons was changed or recolored.

The US dub of Armada was plagued with errors. Most explicit is the repeated misnaming of characters, particularly the Mini-Cons. More subtle clues point to scripts that were transliterated and never given a proper re-write to adapt them for a Western audience.

The show also featured wildly varying animation quality. This is due in large part to an extremely rushed production schedule; Voicebox rarely had time to get more than a first-draft translation of the script together in time for recording, and would often have to work with unfinished animation. As a side note, it is often claimed that much of the animation was cleaned up for the show's later broadcast in Japan, which is basically true; aside from the well-publicized example of "Linkup", which featured some significantly altered and corrected animation, 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").

The cause of this rush job is still under speculation, but there appear to be two primary suspects:

  • Initial plans called for 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.

Even accounting for the rushed dub, Armada's scripting tends to be of poor quality. Characters give long, rambling, semi-coherent monologues, react strangely to one another's dialog, 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.

The show has also taken flack for the repetitive nature of its first half, 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.

Reception

Although fans had a mixed reaction towards the product as a whole (which is 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&D that went into the next two franchises, Energon and Cybertron. It also prompted the launch of the Transformers Universe subline, as demand for Transformers product continued to outstrip Hasbro's ability to develop new molds.

Episodes

Main article: List of Armada episodes
  1. First Encounter
  2. Metamorphosis
  3. Base
  4. Comrade
  5. Soldier
  6. Jungle
  7. Carnival
  8. Palace
  9. Confrontation
  10. Underground
  11. Ruin
  12. Prehistory
  13. Swoop
  14. Overmatch
  15. Gale
  16. Credulous
  17. Conspiracy
  18. Trust
  19. Vacation
  20. Reinforcement
  21. Decisive Battle
  22. Vow
  23. Rebellion
  24. Chase
  25. Tactician
  26. Linkup
  27. Detection
  28. Awakening
  29. Desperate
  30. Runaway
  31. Past
  32. Past II
  33. Sacrifice
  34. Regeneration
  35. Rescue
  36. Mars
  37. Crack
  38. Threaten
  39. Crisis
  40. Remorse
  41. Depart
  42. Miracle
  43. Puppet
  44. Uprising
  45. Dash
  46. Drift
  47. Portent
  48. Cramp
  49. Alliance
  50. Union
  51. Origin
  52. Mortal Combat

Home video releases

Micron Legend

Main article: Columbia Music Entertainment

The Micron Legend version of Armada was released on DVD by Columbia Music Entertainment in Japan while the series was still on air for a total of 13 volumes. Initial releases of each volume included a bonus mini-con figure and an original comic sidestory which helped to fill in some of the series' gaps.

  • Transformers: Micron Legend — Volume 1 (2003)
  • Transformers: Micron Legend — Volume 2 (2003)
  • Transformers: Micron Legend — Volume 3 (2003)
  • Transformers: Micron Legend — Volume 4 (2003)
  • Transformers: Micron Legend — Volume 5 (2003)
  • Transformers: Micron Legend — Volume 6 (2003)
  • Transformers: Micron Legend — Volume 7 (2003)
  • Transformers: Micron Legend — Volume 8 (2003)
  • Transformers: Micron Legend — Volume 9 (2003)
  • Transformers: Micron Legend — Volume 10 (2004)
  • Transformers: Micron Legend — Volume 11 (2004)
  • Transformers: Micron Legend — Volume 12 (2004)
  • Transformers: Micron Legend — Volume 13 (2004)


Armada

United Kingdom

Main article: Universal

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 article: 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 article: Kid Rhino

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 (2004)
  • Transformers: Armada — Power of the Mini-Cons (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)


Germany

Main article: KSMFilm

KSMFilm released two DVD boxsets in Germany, each including 26 episodes with German and English audio.

  • Transformers: Armada — Volume One (2008)
  • Transformers: Armada — Volume Two (2009)


References

  1. ↑ The 2002 Armada page at Seibertron
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