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Transformers: Cybertron

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Transformers: Cybertron
GenreMecha, Science Fiction
Anime
Directed byHiroyuki Kakudou, Manabu Ono
StudioGONZO

Transformers: Cybertron, known in Japan originally as Transformers: Galaxy Force (トランスフォーマー ギャラクシーフォース, Toransufōmā: Garakushī Fōsu), is the 2005-2006 Transformers toy line and animated series, another co-production between Hasbro and Takara and a sequel to the previous series, Transformers: Armada and Transformers: Energon (see Continuity, below). In the anime, all of the Transformers are computer-generated, while the human beings and backgrounds are rendered in traditional cel animation.


Storyline

Main article: List of Transformers: Cybertron episodes

When the destruction of Unicron results in the formation of a massive black hole, the planet Cybertron, home world of the Transformers, is threatened, and its population is evacuated to Earth, taking the forms of local vehicles and machinery to hide from humanity. As this occurs, Optimus Prime's elite team of Autobot warriors are approached by the ancient Transformer Vector Prime, who has emerged from his resting place in the void outside of time to inform them of the legendary Cyber Planet Keys, ancient artifacts of power which can stop the black hole and save the universe. Lost due to an accident during an attempt to create a cross-universal space bridge network, the Cyber Planet Keys now reside on four worlds somewhere in the universe - unfortunately, Vector Prime's map showing their location is stolen by Decepticon leader Megatron, and both forces relocate to Earth as the race to find them begins.

On Earth, the Autobots befriend three human children named Coby, Bud and Lori, who aid them in locating the Omega Lock, the focusing device for the Cyber Planet Key's power. With new "Cyber Key Powers" awakened in them, the Transformers battle on many fronts, searching for the Lock on Earth while Hot Shot and Red Alert head for Velocitron, the Speed Planet, which is the resting place of the first key. As Hot Shot competes in the planet's grand racing championship to win the key from planet leader Override, the Lock is located on Earth in the bulk of the crashed Transformer spaceship the Atlantis, and Autobot Overhaul heads for the next world, Jungle Planet, where the power of its Cyber Planet Key reformats him into Leobreaker. Megatron ingratiates himself with Jungle Planet ruler Scourge, while at the same time, his scheming lieutenant Starscream teams up with the mysterious Sideways, working towards his own goals.

Ultimately, the Autobots succeed in acquiring the Keys of both Velocitron and Jungle Planet, at which point the existence of Earth's own Cyber Planet Key is revealed. Starscream makes his power play and overthrows Megatron, stealing the Omega Lock and all three keys from the Autobots and using them to grow in size and power. Their forces bolstered by the ancient Autobots from Earth and the arrival of Wing Saber, who combines with Optimus Prime, the Autobots fight their way through a vengeful Megatron and defeat Starscream - but the battle is not without casualties, as Hot Shot, Red Alert and Scattorshot are gravely wounded and rebuilt into the even more powerful "Cybertron Defense Team."

Returning to Cybertron, the Autobots use the Omega Lock and Cyber Planet Keys, which awakens the spirit of Primus, the deity who is creator of the Transformers, and Cybertron itself actually transforms into the god's body. After a battle in which Starscream taps the power of Primus and grows to planetary size - only to be defeated by Primus himself - the location of the fourth and final key is determined as Gigantion, the Giant Planet. Gigantion, however, exists in another dimension, having fallen through a rift in space/time, and while the Autobots are able to reach the planet, the Decepticons are led there by the enigmatic Soundwave. Bested by the planet's leader Metroplex, Megatron taps the key's power to become Galvatron, and Sideways and Soundwave reveal themselves to be inhabitants of Planet X, a world destroyed by the Gigantions, upon whom they seek revenge. Galvatron blasts them and Starscream into another dimension and acquires the Lock and Keys for himself, intending to use their power to accelerate the universal degeneration caused by the black hole and remake the cosmos in his own image. Vector Prime sacrifices his life to allow the Autobots to return to their home universe, and the five planet leaders confront Galvatron within the black hole and defeat him. With all the Cyber Planet Keys now in his possession, Primus uses their power to finally seal the black hole, ending its threat.

As the planet's various civilizations attempt to return to life as normal, Galvatron attacks the Autobots for one final time. Without any troops to call his own, Galvatron engages Optimus Prime in a one-on-one duel, and is finally destroyed for good. Optimus says "We're like the two sides of a same coin, never leaving, so, I'll have to finish this on my own" With this final victory, Optimus Prime begins a new space bridge initiative, and the Transformers set sail for the four corners of the universe, and new adventures.

Characters

Main article: List of characters in Transformers: Cybertron

Transformers: Cybertron features a large cast of diverse characters; with each planet the Autobots and Decepticons visit offering civilizations with differing ideologies, mentalities and transformations. The vehicular inhabitants of Velocitron are obsessed with racing, which shapes the entire culture and commerce of the world. In contrast, those who dwell on the Jungle Planet settle their differences the old-fashioned way, through shows of unrelenting might in their feral animal modes. The industrious robots of Gigantion, on the other hand, would much rather work together than compete, and prefer to build instead of destroying. And traveling from world to world are Optimus Prime's Autobots, a team of loyal, trustworthy soldiers who work so well because they're all so different, and Megatron's Decepticons, a rag-tag band of troops plucked from different planets, forced into servitude by Megatron's fearsome power.

Continuity

Cybertron was conceived by Hasbro's Transformers Design Director Aaron Archer to be the third and final installment of the trilogy begun by the two previous series, Transformers: Armada and Transformers: Energon. Visually supporting this idea are certain character designs, such as those of Hot Shot, Red Alert and Jetfire, which are blatantly designed to resemble updated versions of the characters from Armada and Energon, and the new appearance for Megatron, which is based upon the fact that he has absorbed the power of Unicron after his encounters with him.

In producing the anime however, GONZO chose not to follow this idea. Although a special preview DVD for the series described scenes from Armada and Energon as past battles, and the biography included with the Japanese release of the Megatron toy[1] notes that he has indeed absorbed Unicron's power, the series created by GONZO began afresh, rebooting the continuity and telling a story unrelated to Armada, Energon or any previous Transformers shows.

With Hasbro's toy biographies consistently promoting the series as a continuation of Armada and Energon, there was some concern among fans over how the English dub of the series would handle the disconnect, if at all. Ultimately, the dubbed Cybertron series featured several alterations to confirm it as a continuation - for example, establishing that it was Unicron's destruction that created the black hole, repeatedly referring to Megatron's "Armor of Unicron", and most notably, inserting two new sequences of animation into the final episode, depicting the human characters from Armada and Energon to firmly tie the series together.

This procedure, however, was not perfect. Although the link was established in broad strokes, several specifics failed to line up between the series. Characters had new voice actors, with most of them having accents (Jetfire in particular gained an Australian accent, which was attributed to his visiting another planet between the events of Energon and Cybertron). Megatron and Starscream had suddenly returned to life after their seeming death in a sun at the end of Energon with no explanation. Characters made claims that were contradictory to earlier series - such as when Hot Shot professed not to know Wing Saber and when Optimus Prime claimed that he had never heard of two Autobots combining together; both things which had happened in Energon, the latter happening even in Armada. Also humans seem to have forgotten about the Transformers existence and Optimus is again against them knowing of their prescence.

Seeking to iron out the inconsistencies, Hasbro biography writer Forest Lee began to explain these glitches through the Official Transformers Collectors Club's exclusive magazine. Through longer, more detailed biographies and the newsletter's comic strip, Lee established greater and greater ties between the series; noting, for example, that the black hole was specifically created by the collapse of the new sun created at the end of Energon, which allowed Megatron and Starscream to escape it; and explained that the black hole was a multiversal threat that warped reality itself, creating the memory glitches, personality shifts and differing voices that disconnected Cybertron from its predecessors. Lee carried on this process through other media as well, explaining the connection between Unicron, Planet X and the two differing depictions of Sideways in the Armada and Cybertron cartoons through a summary on the packaging for Soundwave's toy.

With these actions, Cybertron is established as part of the Armada and Energon universe, collectively referred to as the Unicron Trilogy.

In a surprising move, the booklet included with the final Galaxy Force DVD joined in on this trend, presenting information to further tie Planet X and its survivors to Unicron; here, Planet X is revealed to be the deactivated body of Unicron from another dimension (though whether or not this holds true for the American continuity is unclear). Timelines subsequently published on Takara's website have carried this notion through, retroactively placing Galaxy Force in the same continuity as the previous series.

Cast

Japanese cast

English cast

Actor Role
Brian Drummond Jetfire | Jolt
David Kaye Megatron/Galvatron
Gary Chalk Optimus Prime
Michael Dobson Starscream | Brakedown
Paul Dobson Overhaul | Landmine
Brian Dobson Red Alert | Clocker
Kirby Morrow Hot Shot
Richard Newman Vector Prime
Richard Ian Cox Scattorshot
Lisa Ann Beley Override
Mark Acheson Crumplezone
Dale Wilson Mudflap
Louis Chirillo Ransack
Mark Oliver Thundercracker | Undermine
Sarah Edmondson Lori
Sam Vincent Coby|Menasor | Wing Saber
Ryan Hirakida Bud
Scott McNeil Backstop | Snarl
Tabitha St. Germain Dr. Lucy Suzuki
Trevor Devall Scourge | Megatron ("Fallen" only)
Terry Klassen Brimstone | Stanton | Tim
Maryke Hendrikse Thunderblast
Ron Halder Metroplex
Alvin Sanders Evac
Blu Mankuma Leobreaker
Michael Daingerfield Quickmix | Crosswise
Michael Donovan Primus | Dirt Boss
Ted Cole Sideways
Robert O. Smith Soundwave
  • Writers - Joshua Izzo, Dave McDermott, James W. Bates, Marc Handler, Seth Walther, Charlotte Fullerton
  • Unidentified voice actors briefly fill the roles of Bud and Lori, taking over from their regular actors for several episodes. Bud's replacement voice can be heard from the episode "Ship" through to "Champions," while Lori's substitute appears in "Retreat," "Revelation" and "Inferno."

Theme songs

Japan (Galaxy Force)

  • Openings
  1. "Call You - Kimi to Boku no Mirai [The Future of You and I]" by Shinji Kakijima (Eps 1-27)
  2. "Ignition!" by CHINO (Eps 28-52)
  • Endings
  1. "Itsumo" by Tomoka Issei (Eps 1-27)
  2. "Growing Up" by Shinji Kakijima (Eps 28-52)

U. S. (Cybertron)


References

  1. ^ This bio can be seen (in Japanese) at TV Aichi's website.
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