Transformers: Energon (cartoon)

Energon

The Energon cartoon series, aired from 2003 to 2004, was a direct sequel to Armada, and forms the second part of the "Unicron Trilogy".

The show takes place ten years after the finale of Armada, opening in an age of peace on Cybertron and Earth which is destined not to last long. Energon pits the Autobots against an array of villains: the reborn Megatron, the barely functional Unicron, and the mysterious Alpha-Q and his Terrorcon minions.

Energon, like Armada, was written and animated in Japan and dubbed for US consumption. The series employed the popular technique of combining cel-shaded computer animation with 2D cel-animation, creating a fusion between the CGI of Beast Wars/Machines and traditionally animated series such as Robots in Disguise.

Even moreso than Armada, Energon suffered from rushed production. Scripts for the US dub often sound like first-draft transliterations, with no re-writing to adapt them for Western sensibilities. The voice acting, even when coming from respected talent like Gary Chalk and David Kaye, is often flat and uninspired—a common result of the antiseptic ADR environment. Seemingly arbitrary changes to the dialog further hampered the show's clarity. The final result is a show that at times makes little or no sense and is prone to bizarre non sequiturs. Capping all this off is the show's generally sluggish and erratic pace, which was more in tune with Japanese sensibilities than those of the West.