The Human Element: Difference between revisions
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* Once again, Ultra Magnus's demonstrates his uncanny knack of coincidentally showing up at the right place at the right time. He was taking a nap in the middle of a desert in central Africa? Yeah. | * Once again, Ultra Magnus's demonstrates his uncanny knack of coincidentally showing up at the right place at the right time. He was taking a nap in the middle of a desert in central Africa? Yeah. | ||
* Corralling trainloads of children and teleporting them into a Libyan desert is something the Autobots can just do at short notice, it seems. | * Corralling trainloads of children and teleporting them into a Libyan desert is something the Autobots can just do at short notice, it seems. | ||
* This episode shows one of the only times a Transformer has switched to robot mode while carrying a human passenger. Rather than being either squished to death or torn to pieces by the moving metal parts, the passenger is ejected. The same thing happens in "[[The Secret of the Ruins]]". [[Miko Nakadai|Miko]] survived inside [[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]] during his transformation in "[[Darkness Rising, Part 4]]," but was not ejected. [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]] in [[Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen]] and [[Bumblebee (Movie)|Bumblebee]] in [[Dark of the Moon (film)|Dark of The Moon]] also did this, with the passenger (in both cases [[Sam Witwicky]]) being ejected. This kinda defies logic but Transformers is for kids so.... | * This episode shows one of the only times a Transformer has switched to robot mode while carrying a human passenger. Rather than being either squished to death or torn to pieces by the moving metal parts, the passenger is ejected. The same thing happens in "[[The Secret of the Ruins]]". [[Miko Nakadai|Miko]] survived inside [[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]] during his transformation in "[[Darkness Rising, Part 4]]," but was not ejected. [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]] in ''[[Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen]]'' and [[Bumblebee (Movie)|Bumblebee]] in ''[[Dark of the Moon (film)|Dark of The Moon]]'' also did this, with the passenger (in both cases [[Sam Witwicky]]) being ejected. This kinda defies logic but Transformers is for kids so.... | ||
==Home video releases== | ==Home video releases== | ||
Revision as of 04:20, 2 February 2012
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| "The Human Element" (Brave Maximus no Nazo) "The Mystery of Brave Maximus" | |||||||||
| Production company | TV Tokyo, NAS, Studio Gallop | ||||||||
| Airdate | 22 November 2000 (Japanese) February 23, 2002 (English) | ||||||||
| Written by | Junki Takegami (Japanese) Tom Wyner (English) | ||||||||
| Director | Yoshiaki Tsutsui | ||||||||
| Animation studio | Studio Gallop | ||||||||
Scourge has Maximus
How can the Autobots win?
The Onishi plan
Synopsis
Galvatron is unhappy that Scourge failed to control Fortress Maximus and tasks the Decepticon with finding what went wrong. Sky-Byte, hoping to ingratiate himself with Galvatron once more, spies on Scourge and Mega-Octane as they examine Cerebros. Scourge comes to the conclusion that Maximus obeyed Koji because of his humanity, and locates Maximus in Sector 18 (with some help from Cerebros and Movor).
At the Autobot base, T-AI has also been working on the problem of why Maximus obeyed Koji. Side Burn suggests that Koji might have some special power, but his father rubbishes the suggestion. Suddenly T-AI reports Decepticon activity in Sector 18, and Optimus realises they're after Maximus. He and the Autobot Brothers rush there with Dr. Onishi and son.
Scourge has already found Fortress Maximus by the time the Autobots arrive, and he has the other Decepticons form Ruination to hold them off. Side Burn's left babysitting Koji and his father as X-Brawn and Prowl try to take down Ruination with no success at all. Scourge announces that he's realised that Maximus will only obey humans—fortunately when he scanned in his Earth mode, as well as Optimus and the truck, he also scanned Kelly, which gave him human bio-energy—bio-energy which he has magnified a hundred-fold. Sure enough, when Maximus transforms, Scourge is able to enter his command centre and control the giant. Sky-Byte, who's been lurking in the sands, laments that now he won't be able to redeem himself with Galvatron.
Ultra Magnus arrives and merges with Optimus, but even Omega Prime's formidable arsenal is unable to shake Maximus. Koji believes he can still make Maximus obey him, and Side Burn takes the boy closer to allow him to try to issue commands. Scourge's control is too powerful, and Maximus kicks up a wave of sand which sends Side Burn flying into the air. Side Burn transforms in mid-air causing Koji to fall, but the boy is caught by the unwitting Sky-Byte. Sky-Byte flees in embarrassment at Koji's gratitude.
Although all seems lost, Dr. Onishi announces he has the answer—more human bio-energy. Team Bullet Train and the Build Team arrive via the Global Space Bridge, carrying a thousand children between them. With the children all shouting at once for Maximus to stop, Scourge finds himself unable to make Maximus move, and is blasted out of the command centre by Omega Prime. Fortress Maximus sinks into the ground, but at the last moment Galvatron swoops down out of nowhere and carries Cerebros off.
Koji apologises for endangering himself to try to stop Maximus, but Dr. Onishi responds that he is proud of his son for risking everything to help his friends. Optimus says that they will get Cerebros back and defeat Galvatron's forces.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Predacons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Quotes
"I'm not special, I'm just... me."
- —Koji is a humble boy.
"Nonsense. There's no evidence to support such an outlandish theory."
- —Doctor Onishi is somewhat blunt in ruling out his son's specialness.
"Koji, being able to eat three cheeseburgers in one meal is your special power."
- —Doctor Onishi on his son's specialness.
X-Brawn: Aren't you forgetting something? One of us has to stay with Koji and his father.
Prowl: And we agreed that it would be you, remember?
- —What's the bet that "we" didn't include Side Burn?
"I was taking a nap, but your whining was so loud it woke me up. What's your problem, Side Burn?"
- —Ultra Magnus is not a morning person.
Koji: Gee, Sky-Byte! Thanks for saving me again!
Sky-Byte: Ahhh?! It was an accident! A fluke, a fin, a flounder! Noooo! If Galvatron finds out I've saved you again, he'll -- I don't even want to think about it!
- —You can't keep a good shark down.
T-AI: When Dr. Onishi contacted me and asked me to send a thousand children into the desert, I thought he'd lost his marbles. But as it turns out, he was right all along.
- —The moral of this story is: when in doubt, send a thousand kids into the desert.
"We'll rid this planet of Galvatron and his gang of evil-doers, I promise you."
- —...did Optimus just say "evil-doers"?
Notes
Differences with Car Robots
Animation and/or technical glitches
- The strange-looking eel/fish that swims across the opening shot of the Megastar is presumably supposed to be swimming close to camera, but it then passes behind the rock on which the ship is resting, making the creature appear absurdly gigantic.
- When Sky-Byte is half-buried in sand, his exposed flipper is wrongly coloured white instead of blue, and appears to be an uncomfortably large distance away from his main body.
- The children accompanying the Build Team in the finale are really, really small.
Continuity errors
- Optimus says they found Maximus in Sector 18 (which appears to be in Libya), but Maximus was found underneath Metro City!
Transformers references
- Scourge announces he's going to crush the Autobots like Insecticons.
- When Side Burn super-charges, he first turns transparent. This brief appearance is based on the "clear" redeco of his toy released as an exclusive at a few Japanese conventions, featuring body panels that turn clear while their flames remain colored, and coloured interior components (like his robot limbs) visible beneath them. The one major difference is that this is a clear version of his regular coloration, featuring blue highlights and visible parts, whereas the toy itself is a clear version of his super coloration, with orange highlights.
Real-world references
- As Scourge pilots Maximus forward to achieve the aforementioned crushing, he quips that it's "one step for Maximus, one giant leap for the Decepticons", an obvious reference to Neil Armstrong's first words upon setting foot on the moon. Except with somewhat more evil.
Trivia
- Dr. Onishi gets a ride to the desert in X-Brawn. He sits in the passenger seat next to X-Brawn's head, which appears to be driving. (Toy accuracy!) X-Brawn's head isn't always there, or else Kelly would surely have noticed it by now.
- Once again, Ultra Magnus's demonstrates his uncanny knack of coincidentally showing up at the right place at the right time. He was taking a nap in the middle of a desert in central Africa? Yeah.
- Corralling trainloads of children and teleporting them into a Libyan desert is something the Autobots can just do at short notice, it seems.
- This episode shows one of the only times a Transformer has switched to robot mode while carrying a human passenger. Rather than being either squished to death or torn to pieces by the moving metal parts, the passenger is ejected. The same thing happens in "The Secret of the Ruins". Miko survived inside Bulkhead during his transformation in "Darkness Rising, Part 4," but was not ejected. Optimus Prime in Revenge of the Fallen and Bumblebee in Dark of The Moon also did this, with the passenger (in both cases Sam Witwicky) being ejected. This kinda defies logic but Transformers is for kids so....
Home video releases
- DVD
2001 — Transformers: Car Robots — Vol. 9 (Pony Canyon) — Japanese audio only.
2005 — Transformers: Robots in Disguise — Three-Disc Box Set: Part 2 of 2 (Maximum Entertainment)
2007 — Transformers: Robots in Disguise — Season Two (Maximum Entertainment)
2007 — Transformers: Robots in Disguise — Ultimate Collection (Maximum Entertainment)
