Reinforcement
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| "Reinforcement" (Arate) "Reinforcement: Newcomer" | ||||||
| Production code | TF: A-20 | |||||
| Production company | TV Tokyo, NAS | |||||
| Airdate | January 23, 2003 (English) 23 May 2003 (Japanese) | |||||
| Writer | Shōji Tonoike | |||||
| Director | Shigeki Hatayama | |||||
| Animation studio | Actas Inc. | |||||
| Continuity | Unicron Trilogy | |||||
Scavenger introduces the Autobots to Blurr, the Autobot who nobody really gets along with.
Synopsis
Another day at the office wherein the Autobots battle the Decepticons for a Mini-Con. From the Autobots' base, the kids watch (with Billy and Fred also there this time). While Megatron holds off the Autobots, Demolishor digs up the Mini-Con. Cyclonus, in a rare moment of competence, blasts away Red Alert's attempt to snipe at Demolishor. But just as the Decepticons teleport home, the Mini-Con is blasted from Demolishor's hands by a new Autobot, who Scavenger introduces as Blurr. Blurr activates the Mini-Con panel, which turns out to be Incinerator.
Returning home from victory, the Autobots are greeted by the kids, who show interest in their new friend Blurr, who barely acknowledges the kids.
Later, Incinerator makes beepy conversation with the Street Action Mini-Cons. The five kids try to start a discussion with Blurr but are sidetracked by the topic of Fred's big fat stomach. When Hot Shot arrives, Blurr icily departs. Carlos and Billy give chase, and Blurr almost mistakes them for the enemy when they jump out and surprise him. Hot Shot tries to break through Blurr's tough-guy persona, and Blurr explains that he doesn't need to have a personality.
The Decepticons detect the activation of a new Mini-Con and head out. Demolishor takes extra caution not to lose the Mini-Con at the last minute as he did last time. And Megatron barely registers that the two captured panels containing the components of the Skyboom Shield have started to resonate.
The Decepticons arrive at the general location where the Mini-Con (Downshift) has already activated and begun to run laps around a human-made racetrack. The Autobots show up soon after and try to intercept the Mini-Con. Hot Shot and Blurr give chase, while the rest of the Autobots and Decepticons get into a standing firefight.
On the track, Hot Shot and Blurr have conflicting directions and impact each other a few times. Blurr, however, is unresponsive. Smokescreen uses his Mini-Con Liftor to blast away Starscream, Sideways, and Cyclonus. Blurr and Hot Shot have to stop and combine with their Mini-Cons to overcome the chasm interrupting the racetrack.
On the other side of the track, Blurr, in car mode, begins to rotate rapidly, blowing away Cyclonus and blowing the Mini-Con into the empty stands. Blurr opens up fire on the Mini-Con, causing it to fall beneath the stands where Hot Shot catches it to Blurr's confusion. Cyclonus yanks the Mini-Con away, and the Decepticons retreat.
At the Autobot base, the kids scold Hot Shot for not getting along with Blurr. Hot Shot heads to apologize to Blurr, who appreciates the sentiment and concedes that he was unaware that the Mini-Cons were more than just tools, and that he doesn't interact with others very smoothly. Hot Shot and Blurr give each other respect knuckles like the first episode, and everybody is happy they made a new special friend.
On the moon, Megatron returns with Downshift to discover that Dirt Boss and Mirage have awakened on their own, and they combine to form the Skyboom Shield.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Mini-Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"I hate when she's right, but this is one of those times."
- —Rad, about Alexis
"I found my very own Mini-Con! Megatron will love me for this!"
- —Demolishor, head of the Megatron/Demolishor slash club
"Sorry to break up the party."
- —Red Alert, about to take a shot on Demolishor
"Arrogance and pride, a tragic combination, may cause a bot to make mistakes—like this."
- —Blurr, also about to take a shot on Demolishor
"Hey, do you happen to have a website I could check out?"
- —Fred, on meeting Blurr
Notes
Differences with Micron Legend
- The first line of dialogue heard in Micron Legend is when Megatron charges at Optimus with the Star Saber. Later, instead of offering to be "diplomatic" in choosing who to dismantle first, Megatron says he doesn't care either way.
- Armada extends Carlos's line about the Decepticons, possibly grabbing another Mini-Con to cover the silence in the Japanese dub. During the shot of Red Alert running in the background behind Cyclonus, Rad's line about it being an ambush is exclusive to the English dub.
- Then, Rad's opening narration in Armada is about how, despite the Decepticons' long winning streak, the kids and Autobots are more determined than ever to save the Mini-Cons. Micron Legend changes it slightly to have Rad say the 'Cons are holding a massive advantage in battle, but everyone believes the Autobots will rescue the Mini-Con from today's fight.
- Blurr's first line in Armada is about pride and arrogance (quoted above). In Micron Legend, it's about the goddess of victory smiling upon him.
- Rad's monologue introducing Blurr is shortened a bit in Micron Legend to end just before the scene cuts to the close-up of Blurr holding the Mini-Con panel.
- Optimus doesn't understand Incinerator, so he doesn't refer to him by name.
- After seeing Blurr on the launch gate, Billy's off-screen lines are exclusive to the English dub. Also, unlike Armada, Carlos, Billy, and Fred tell Blurr their names when the kids introduce themselves.
- Instead of threatening that Demolishor will never step foot in the base again, Megatron threatens to sever Demolishor's hand.
- In Armada, Fred comments on how he needs to work out, and Billy and Carlos ridicule and scold Fred for his stupidity and overeating. In Micron Legend, Fred says his body isn't hard like Blurr's before Billy and Carlos say that's obvious since all the Transformers' bodies are hard. When Billy fights with Fred over his bag of chips, Billy tells Fred to share them in Armada but to hand them over in Micron Legend.
- When Hot Shot arrives, his line of wondering if he said something wrong is an Armada addition. Instead of telling Blurr to do better in trying to give him a complex, Hot Shot asks Blurr if he is listening.
- When Carlos and Billy surprise Blurr, Carlos's line ends when Blurr jumps into the air. In Armada, Carlos has two separate lines in the scene: the first, where he says Blurr wasn't expecting them; the second is Carlos regretting sneaking up on Blurr. In Micron Legend, he has the one line where he sheepishly tells Blurr that he and the others want to hang out.
- In Armada, Blur scolds the boys for acting foolishly in an era of combat, that there's no room for pranks in dangerous times like now, and that they should act their age. Micron legend changes it to Blurr not sounding as harsh, saying the Autobots are still on the front lines despite being in the base, and the boys should remember that messing around on the battlefield results in dire repercussions.
- Carlos and Alexis's lines heard in the next shot before Rad speaks are only in Armada. In Micron Legend, Carlos sounds more hurt by Blurr's scolding as he says they don't seem to be the type that Blurr likes. Then Alexis says, "No way..." in disbelief. The rest of the scene is silent except for Hot Shot's frustrated grunt at the end.
- When confronting Blurr, Hot Shot doesn't speak until entering the frame, and instead of accusing Blurr of being anti-social, he asks if Blurr heard his question. Blurr says it has nothing to do with Hot Shot. Hot Shot accuses Blurr of not caring about his comrades. Then Blurr says there's no time for that and that he can only rely on himself in battle.
- Smokescreen's line about Blurr "getting to know the staff" is replaced by him thinking that Blurr and Hot Shot are forming a rivalry, and instead of asking Red Alert about Blurr, Smokescreen takes Hot Shot's response as proof of his theory.
- Rad tells Optimus about two Mini-Cons heading toward the Autobots in Armada; he only says one Mini-Con in Micron Legend. The English dub is correct in this case as Rad is talking about Downshift and Swindle.
- Armada adds Hot Shot's internal monologue about being stuck with Blurr.
- Red Alert tells Blurr off for throwing Swindle to him so hard. When Starscream calls for Swindle, he also tells Swindle to powerlinx with him before repeating it.
- While driving after Downshift, Hot Shot only tells Blurr to stay out of his way. His extra lines were added to the English dub.
- Instead of Billy's "bot testosterone thing" line, he says Blurr and Hot Shot must think they're in a race, and later, he doesn't say that it's cool. Later, Smokescreen says he can't aim at Cyclonus because he's moving all over the place.
- After Blurr blows Hot Shot and Downshift into the stands, he says the Mini-Con won't "die" from it after Hot Shot asks if he was trying to "kill" the Mini-Con.
- Armada extends Blurr's dialogue in the scene of him asking Hot Shot why he saved Downshift.
- In the scene of the kids scolding Hot Shot, he says he has no excuse for his actions, and Rad says Hot Shot doesn't need to trust Blurr like he does Optimus and Scavenger.
- In the ending talk between Hot Shot and Blurr, Armada adds some extra lines, including internal monologues for Hot Shot, and extends them to cover the moments of silence from the Japanese dub. In Micron Legend, after Blurr recognizes Incinerator as his partner, he says the same about the kids, and the battle taught him that.
- Rad's closing narration in Armada is more touchy-feely as he says making a new friend and having more people on their side makes up for losing another Mini-Con. In Micron Legend, Rad says instead of the team being discouraged about losing the Mini-Con, Blurr joining them gave them hope.
Animation and technical errors
- After Blurr first transforms and during the Autobot pan, Smokescreen is missing his antenna/horn.
- Incinerator, relative to Blurr, shrinks visibly between his first appearance and the epilogue.
- In his first scene with Incinerator, Blurr is missing the shadow around his eyes.
- Hot Shot's mouth doesn't move when he asks if Blurr is on their side. This is because the line is only heard in the English dub.
- In some scenes, there is a black spot on either one or both of Hot Shot's arms.
- Hot Shot's mouth doesn't move when he asks if Blurr is on their side. This is because the line is an Armada addition.
- As he tries to keep up with Billy and Carlos when they try to sneak up on Blurr, Fred's dialogue crosses over into the next shot of Blurr walking toward the screen.
- The background of the shot of Blurr reaching for his blaster before Carlos and Billy surprise him looks like it's from the control room instead of the corridor.
- When Demolishor says the new Mini-Con is nearby, it's as though he is talking to Blackout. The Japanese dub fixes this mistake so that Demolishor refers to Megatron instead.
- When the Decepticons jump the track's cliff, and the camera adjusts to a different angle, Swindle is visible as the first one to jump when it should be Downshift.
- As Blurr lowers his hands to grab Swindle, his hands already show Swindle on them even before he gets a hold of him. The same applies to Hot Shot when he grabs Downshift, and Downshift is miscolored red like Swindle in Hot Shot's hands.
- After Megatron and Demolishor jump off the cliff, the top of Optimus's mouthplate is miscolored blue.
- In one shot of Blurr and Hot Shot chasing Downshift in vehicle mode, Blurr's right side is orange instead of white.
- In the shot of the kids discussing Hot Shot and Blurr going at each other, Carlos's jacket is closed instead of open.
- Once powerlixed, Smokescreen calls Liftor Longarm.
- When Hot Shot catches Downshift and says, "Got ya," his mouth doesn't move. He doesn't say anything in the Japanese dub.
Continuity errors
- Demolishor says that he found his very own Mini-Con, although he already has one.
- Interestingly enough, this happened to Demolishor before with another Mini-Con.
Trivia
- The kanji 援軍 would be pronounced as "engun," while "arate" uses 新手.
- Carlos nicknamed the Decepticons the "D-Cons."
Foreign localization
Hungarian
- Title: "Bajtársak" ("Comrades")
Polish
- Title: "Wsparcie" ("Reinforcement")
French
- Title: "Un précieux renfort" ("A Valuable Reinforcement")
Korean
- Title: "선볼트의 등장" ("Sunbolt's Appearance")
Home video releases
- DVD
2003 — Transformers: Micron Legend — Volume 5 (Columbia Music Entertainment) — Japanese audio only.
2004 — Transformers: Armada — Season One: Part One (Rhino Entertainment)
2008 — Transformers: Armada — Volume One (New KSM) — English and German audio.
2014 — Transformers: Armada — The Complete Series (Shout! Factory)
