Transformers: Cyberverse (cartoon)
| This article is about the 2018 animated series. For the 2011 toyline, see Cyberverse (toyline). |
 |
| |||||||||||||||
Transformers: Cyberverse is a computer-animated series developed by Boulder Media Studio. It debuted on the Cartoon Network app and website on August 27, 2018, and made its television premiere on Cartoon Network on September 1, 2018. The story is divided into chapters: Chapter One ran for 18 episodes in 2018, while a second chapter is targeted for a late 2019 release. Unlike nearly every prior Transformers TV series, episodes are only 11 minutes in length as opposed to 22 minutes.
The series focuses on the adventures of Bumblebee; having damaged his memory chips, he and Windblade must recover his missing memories in order to help him remember his mission on Earth. Unfortunately, the Decepticons are after their friends.[1]
The series is intended to "focus more on characters and their mythology" and utilizes the "evergreen" character designs. It is set in a new continuity and is not a sequel to any previous series.
Storyline
During the war on Cybertron, Optimus Prime and a team including Bumblebee have left the planet to search for the AllSpark. The Decepticons catch wind that the ancient artifact is on Earth, and leave to investigate, which forces Windblade to take a one-way space bridge journey there herself. Unable to find any trace of the Ark or Optimus Prime, she manages to find her old friend Bumblebee. However, he is suffering from amnesia and has no recollection of who he is or how he got there. With the pair being pursued relentlessly by Decepticons, Windblade must help Bumblebee unlock and repair his damaged memories of the war and his journey to Earth so that they can locate Optimus and the AllSpark before their enemies do.
Main cast
(Recurring characters only.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Others |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Episodes
Chapter One (2018)
Chapter Two: Power of the Spark (2019)
Japanese Release
Notes
- Cyberverse draws some concepts from the Bumblebee film, released a few months after Cyberverse debuted; in particular, the plot point of Bumblebee's amnesia is lifted directly from the film, as is the "honeycomb" design of Bumblebee's internal readouts.
- The show's premiere episodes, "Fractured" and "Memory," were both put up on Cartoon Network's mobile app and website several days before their U.S. television premiere. All subsequent episodes of the show were uploaded the day before they were aired on television, followed by a release on Hasbro's YouTube channel the day after, region-locked to United States users; following a weekend without any videos due to American Thanksgiving, the YouTube release moved to the next Sunday after airing starting with episode 13. Cartoon Network's app/website split each episode into two separate parts, each with a generic title card, and were numbered as such. By the second season, the Cartoon Network site began putting up episodes over a week before they would hit the airwaves.
- While the first season was aired at a rate of one episode per week in the United States, in Canada, two episodes aired every week in a half-hour block. Consequently, "Megatron Is My Hero" through "Maccadam's" all premiered on Canadian television ahead of their US broadcasts. In fact, the entire rest of the first season was initially scheduled to debut in Canada over the following weeks, but it was all pulled and replaced with re-runs, presumably because someone US-side didn't like how far ahead they were getting! However, the show still couldn't catch a break, as the next two episodes premiered on the Xfinity X1 service more than two weeks before they aired on television, with the remaining Chapter One episodes each airing in Singapore at least a week ahead of their US broadcast. This unfortunate scheduling continued during Chapter Two's broadcast, with the season premiering in France two weeks ahead of its US broadcast and airing at a rate of four new episodes each weekend.
- Compared to past Transformers cartoons, the presence of humans in the series is extremely limited, despite being largely set on modern day Earth. Aside from a kid in the first season episode "Teletraan-X", no humans make physical appearances, with their presence limited to unseen voiceovers on television or online videos.
