User:Sabrblade/sandbox
The Stage of Battle is the Second War...Beast Wars, Maximize!!
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 You have NO idea how much strife this one little catalog has caused. | |||||||||||||
| "The Stage of Battle is the Second War...Beast Wars, Maximize!!" 闘いの舞台は2戦争...ビーストウォーズ、変身!!
(Tatakai no Butai wa 2 Sensō...Bīsuto Wōzu, Henshin!!) | |||||||||||||
| First published | Spring 1998 | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Its own (see "Continuity" below) | ||||||||||||
| Packaged with | Spring 1998 Japanese Beast Wars toy releases | ||||||||||||
New leaders are appointed as a new war begins.
Synopsis
While Optimus Primal and Megatron are off fighting their own life-or-death struggle, a new conflict, the "Second War", is about to unfold on a planet within a star system located in a remote part of the galaxy. The participants of this conflict are each members of the heroic Maximal Space Guard and the evil Predacon Armored Corps, respectively. Their battle is fought over a mysterious weapon hidden in ancient ruins of the planet, a weapon known as the "Great King of Angolmois". It is said that the victor of this conflict, be it Maximal or Predacon, will be decided in the seventh month of the Cosmic Year 1999.
The leaders of both sides of this new conflict are each introduced by their immediate predecessors. Megatron introduces Galvatron as the New Emperor of Destruction, and recalls a time when, back on Cybertron, the two once disagreed over how to conquer the universe. This led to a fight between the two, in which Galvatron bested Megatron after catching him off guard. Though he acknowledges Galvatron's ambition and concern for those under his command, Megatron must also begrudgingly admit that Galvatron may hold enough dignity to succeed him as Emperor.
Meanwhile, Optimus introduces Lio Convoy as the new Maximal leader, and reflects on how he was once an ace in the Maximal Space Guard. Optimus notes that he is strong, valiant, and even kind, but also a bit too frank at times, admittedly. Nevertheless, Optimus considers Lio Convoy to be an ideal leader, and remains hopeful that he can count on Lio Convoy to do all that he can to help keep the peace throughout the universe.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Maximals | Predacons |
|---|---|
|
Quotes
Galvatron: "Your time is over, Megatron!"
Lio Convoy: "Please leave it to me! Optimus, sir!!"
Continuity
Notes
Transformers references
- The "Maximize" in the title of this story is actually "Henshin" (変身), a Japanese word for "transformation" that was used in the Japanese dub of the Beast Wars cartoon as the Japanese equivalent/replacement for both "Maximize" and "Terrorize" in the original English version. "Maximize", rather than "Transform" is used here to both reflect that dubbing decision and because Beast Wars II would distinguish "Henshin" from "Transform" by specifically using the former for those with beast modes, while the latter would be used by those with mechanical vehicle modes.
- Also included in this catalog is a brief recap of the final events of "Other Voices, Part 2", which had, at the time, recently aired in Japan on March 25, 1998. Said recap is given the title of ~Convoy's Great Explosion~ (〜コンボイ大爆発編〜 Konboi Dai Bakuhatsu-hen). At the bottom of this recap is also an ad for the then-new Beast Wars II animated series and manga series.
Real-world references
- The "seventh month of the Cosmic Year 1999" and "Great King of Angolmois" are both derived from The Prophecies of French seer Nostradamus,[1] whose prophecies were popular in Japan at the time. What these two bits actually mean, however, is a lot to unpack, but most interpretations basically boil down to either a prophecy of doom brought about by a tyrannical warlord like Genghis Khan or by terrorism, or a prophecy of prosperity brought about by a rich philanthropist or a king like Francis I of France, occurring at some point in July–September of the year 1999.[2] In reality, it is still not entirely certain what, if anything, this prophecy referred to.
- Lio Convoy addresses Optimus Primal with the honorific of "senpai", which is used to refer to a person of senior experience, hierarchy, level, or age who offers guidance, friendship, and general assistance to a new, younger, or inexperienced person (known as the "kōhai") belonging to the same group, like a personal mentor. It is commonly used in the Japanese education system to refer to elder students of higher grades by younger students of junior grades. In this case, it is used to indicate that Optimus Primal is Lio Convoy's personal mentor/superior (and is translated in the Quotes section above as "sir").
Other trivia
- Galvatron is depicted here mostly in shadow because, at the time, the color scheme for his toy had not yet been finalied. Indeed, his toy pictured elsewhere in the catalog is represented by an unpainted gray hardcopy.
References
[[Category:Beast Wars II media]] [[Category:Pack-in material]]
