Transformers: Combiner Wars (cartoon)
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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.[2]
As of January 31st, 2016, the scripts for the first seven episodes were finalized, according to Machinima.[3] On June 23, screenshots from the series were released[4], and a prelude trailer was released on June 28.[5] The series debuted August 2 on the go90 platform in the US, and on Machinima's YouTube channel elsewhere.
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 the series was hyped up by Hasbro as being for "adult" fans, this series has instead been heavily criticized by the fandom for a multitude of reasons.
Storytelling flaws
Structure
The series is split into eight episodes, which wouldn't be so bad if they weren't five minutes long. As a result, the series adds up to merely forty minutes. For the first three episodes, it proceeds to squander its limited run time with obvious filler, such as Starscream flying over an empty Cybertron for most of The Council.
Portrayal of the Combiners
Rather ironically, the series has very little focus on the Combiners, and largely treats them as discardable. The combiners are never actually seen combining; only the Constructicons are seen in individual forms - and even when their limbs are severed, the show doesn't even acknowledge the fact that the limbs are individuals. The council even talks about creating more Combiners with the enigma within a context and tone that suggests they just create them out of mid-air rather than actually joining together any individual Transformers; giving more the feeling that Combiners are simply large Transformers that can be summoned by the Enigma like a genie lamp rather than the united form of five or six Cybertronians. The threat posed by the Combiners as alluded to their war tearing apart multiple words and Windblade swearing vengeance upon them also feels very empty, as evidenced by Computron and Menasor being killed very easily - Menasor by one strike of Windblade's sword - in The Fall. In addition, while Devastator is given some screen time, Victorion shows up for only a few moments before she's assimilated into Starscream's super-combiner form, despite the fact that she had a prelude video that heavily hyped her up as a central character.
Basically, if you want a series that portrays combining characters well, go watch Steven Universe.
Characterization
While there aren't as many widespread problems here as there are in other elements of the storytelling, Windblade's characterization is highly controversial. She's depicted as a vengeful psychopath who's out to kill anyone and everyone associated with the combiners. Even more baffling is that moments after she tried to kill Starscream (and professing a desire to kill everyone else) in The Duel, she then says that she wasn't trying to kill Starscream. Talking of Starscream, his prelude video portrayed him as a character who genuinely wishes to redeem himself for what he did offscreen before the series begins as a new and fresh take on the character; differing even from his similar current portrayal in IDW's comics. Suddenly, A War of Giants regresses him to his traditional backstabbing characterization for no reason whatsoever.
Production flaws
Animation
Despite the fact that the series is animated by the legendary Tatsunoko Production, the series suffers from Cybertron-quality CGI, with cel-shading distressingly similar to Energon. The characters have very basic mouth flaps (to the animator's credit, they can at least pull off facial expressions when they aren't talking), which is only made worse by the fact the CGI framerate is annoyingly choppy. It's possible that it's attempting to emulate hand-drawn animation much like the concurrently running Robots in Disguise, however, while Robots in Disguise manages to pull it off (largely due to Polygon Pictures being one of the few Japanese animation studios that's actually good at CGI animation), this series... Does not.
Scheduling and synergy
While this is arguably the least of the series problems, Combiner Wars ended up being rather infamous for having very, very, 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 well after the toyline ended in August 2016, at which point the Titans Return line had already succeeded the Combiner Wars toyline.
