Triple Combination: Transformers Go! (franchise)
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Triple Combination: Transformers Go! (参乗合体 トランスフォーマーGo! Sanjō Gattai Toransufōmā Gō!) is a TakaraTomy franchise launched in 2013.
It is a sequel to Transformers: Prime, with the story set after the events of the Beast Hunters portion of the Prime cartoon (which, to date, has not been released in Japan). It primarily follows two new Japanese-exclusive teams of Autobot combiners, three bots per team, who can each combine into three different forms of super-robot. These six warriors are tasked with hunting down the remaining Predacons on Earth after Optimus Prime and company have headed off into deep space.
Franchise elements
Notes
- This series is very, very, very Japanese, moreso than any prior Transformers series. The story takes place in Japan. Virtually all of the characters introduced in it have Japanese names. The six Autobots are split between being designed as samurai and ninja (as are their two human kid sidekicks), and the major Predacons they face have been given new head designs patterned after Japanese oni demons. The protagonists travel through time, meeting heroes from Japanese folklore.
- Go! was written well before the Prime show had finished production, so its "Autobots go out into space to hunt the Predacons"/"Predaking imprisoned on Earth" backstory is kinda accurate, if you squint.
- Of course, the Japanese broadcast of Prime ended on a truncated cliffhanger based on the Season 2 finale, so this whole shebang could ultimately be another Headmasters contra Rebirth deal.
Translation notes
TFWIKI's English translation for Sanjō Gattai Toransufōmā Gō! is purposefully simple and utilitarian, as the title is full of that kind of mostly-untranslatable wordplay Japan loves, largely centered around the series's "feudal Japan" theme.
- Sanjō, using different kanji (参上), is also a phrase meaning roughly "I am here!", a dramatic pronouncement often used in samurai-period pieces.
- The 参 "san" used is a more formal kanji for "three", typically used in legal documents, than the commonplace "三". Think of it as writing with an accent.
- "Sanjō" can also mean "to the third power" 三乗, but within the specific context of the series's "gattai" ("combination"), that's a bit... obtuse, as the three-bot teams can only combine three ways. But it does invoke power, doesn't it?
- While "GO!" is presented in English lettering because it's a powerful, positive-sounding English word that sounds cool and actiony, "gō" has quite a few meanings in Japanese depending on the kanji used. "合" can mean "merge/unite/combine", while "剛" can mean "strong/hard/manly".
- "Go" meaning "five" is right out.
