ShÅhei Kohara
Shōhei Kohara (小原渉平 Kohara Shōhei) was an artist, animator, and mechanical designer from Kaname Productions, who translated the earliest Transformers' toy designs into character models that formed the basis of the designs used in the cartoon series and comic books. Having formed Kaname Productions in 1982 alongside several fellow animators, Kohara's studio had previously provided designs for prior Toei Animation robot anime, such as Lightspeed Electroid Albegas and Video Warrior Laserion. According to fellow Kaname Productions member and Transformers animator Kazuhiro Ochi, Kohara created the initial eight Transformers animation models at Kaname's studio during Albegas's broadcasting period. While making the models, Kohara utilized a 360° turntable to aid in translating Takara's toys to animation.[1]
Indications are that Kohara designed the first animation models for the characters who appeared in the original 1984 Transformers commercials, likely having been commissioned by Toei no differently from their previous anime collaborations. His designs were simplified for the commercial animation by Floro Dery, who generally removed wheels in robot mode and enlarged the characters' heads; Dery would revise the models further for the cartoon, and would go on to design most new Transformers characters for the series.
The most notably different of Kohara's designs was Megatron's, which he based on a prototype image of the toy, rather than the finished figure. Dery's modified version of the design, seen in the commercials and early issues of the Marvel comic, retained many of the distinctly-different details from Kohara's model, such as the head and fusion cannon; Dery's second revision, for the cartoon,altered these elements to better match the toy.
