Headmasters is appalling, though, isn't it?

[Warcry]

You two! Stop being so insufferably cute so that I can believably feign being angry to scold you!
 

[inflatable dalek]

Originally Posted by Warcry

You two! Stop being so insufferably cute so that I can believably feign being angry to scold you!

Still, at least we now know how Hound has success with the ladies, he uses Headmasters to make himself look interesting in comparison.

I've just started on Victory in my big rewatch, and I think the big flaw across all the Japanese shows (and one that a few of the previous posters have touched on) is that the characters, especially the Autobots, tend to be very, very dull and formal. I'm sure some subtleties are being lost from my lack of Japanese knowledge, but that doesn't make it more exciting to watch.

It actually creates a bizarre imbalance where anyone who has even the slightest hint of a character becomes awesome almost by default, I remember being pitiably grateful when Counterpunch had some comedy stuff about him getting all confused as to what body he was supposed to be wearing at that point.

The Decpticons do do somewhat better though, usually the unashamedly funny ones. The Dinoforce deserve their own show. IIRC Star Saber is a rather wonderful smug git as well, constantly exasperated as the sheer uselessness of those around him. Certainly in the first two episodes he seems to be developing a catchphrase of shouting "LET ME FINISH" at his subourdinates as they try to run off in the middle of being given orders.
 

[Cliffjumper]

Without wanting to be sweeping, the Japanese stuff suffers from being Japanese. The TF shows are a lot like a lot of pre-Gundam Super Robot stuff - the good guys are flawless and heroic, the bad guys are morons, there're ****ing kids everywhere. It's almost a fundamental misunderstanding of Transformers, where half of the Autobots are borderline basket-cases anyway. Masterforce and Victory especially are just Japanese mech shows that happen to be about Transformers; considering their large continuity disconnect to earlier stuff, you could probably change either to being about Brave or Machine Robo or whatever with surprisingly little effort.

I don't mind Star Saber, and find him to be exactly the same as cartoon Optimus - he plays the straight guy 97% of the time, which makes the occasions he 'breaks character' and loses patience with someone or whatever that bit more awesome. If the Star Saber VA was anywhere near Cullen's level it'd come across a bit better, plus the format of the US show (no ongoing plot, numerous fire-and-forget one-shot episodes) is more conducive to mucking around.
 

[Hound]

Now I really want to watch Victory that guy needs to hurry up with that set Cliffy! How long do you figure it will take to get here once you send it?[/impatient Hound]
 

[Cliffjumper]

Set was posted to me today; should have it by... Wed/Thurs, will post as soon as I've got it - probably talking end of next week.
 

[StarscreamX]

Originally Posted by Cliffjumper

Having ended up with the DVD set of this through a slightly dim Amazon seller, I've been watching it all day, and it's sort-of making me want to kill Japan. Let's not be boring and lazy and roll out all those Singapore dub lines, because this is a genuinely atrocious series - the dub at least is funny. The Japanese is just outright shit.

Particularly moronic stuff: -

- The Autobot Headmasters all have exactly the same personality. They're all brave and... well, that's it. Seriously, what's the difference between Highbrow and Brainstorm? I learnt more about these guys in Rebirth than I have in what feels like 65 hours of Headmasters.
- The Throttlebots seem to commit suicide for absolutely no reason, and everyone just watches going "Huh".
- Sixshot in shadow still looks exactly like Sixshot, morons.
- Daniel is, what, six months old. And retarded. If anyone can name a worse scene in anything Transformers than Fortress pulling faces to stop him from crying I'd love to hear it. It makes 'bee pissing on people look like Last Stand of the Wreckers.
- Bee people, beast people, giant ****ing plant. Even Season 2 wasn't this stupid.
- Soundwave and Blaster have the most awful 'fight' ever, and then are both brought back an episode later in slightly different colours, but with exactly the same plot function, sorry, personality.
- Fortress turns into Fortress Maximus' head. Okay, fair enough. Fortress Maximus is then treated as "OMG shock". What was this, aimed at four year olds?
- Arcee makes her US counterpart look like ****ing Cleopatra Jones.
- Sixshot is nowhere near as awesomely cool and epic as whichever moron is making this stuff seems to think. He's basically Drift.
- The fight scenes are hilariously bad. If it's combiners, it's typically two of them wrestling badly and killing time. If it's smaller robots, both lots pile behind convenient rows of rocks or other debris situated about 20 yards apart and fire ineffectively. Sooner or later, one bunch just wanders off.
- The head-swapping thing is the most stupid random robot anime power I've ever seen, and I've watched all of Revenge of Cronos.

You've forgotten the nightmarishly ghoulish "Everybody laughs" ending for "The Miracle Warriors" Cliffjumper. Where, moments after Chromedome has had to murder his friend, who has been tortured and brainwashed into serving the Decepticons, everyone has a good laugh at Chromedome chasing Danny and Wheelie around. HAHAHAHA isn't it hillarious that everyone he ever cared for is now dead thanks to the Decepticons! Oh what larks!

Lulz at the "Sixshot = Drift comparison" as well as that is who he basically is. He's the Poochie of Headmasters. Everyone treats him as the ultimate in ninja bad assery (Also: He is not an effing ninja) when in fact he's really a bit crap isn't he? He has the power to create illusions of himself which seems like a dangerous ability except that he just stands there politely, doing bugger all while the Autobots shoot at the illusions until they hit the real one. And apparently one shot from Chromedome is enough to blow his arms off. And in the entire series he managed to kill two pacifists and Ultra Magnus, who even a couple of Sweeps could finish off.

Originally Posted by Ulcrain

What, no mentions of Ultra Magnes and Galvatrons deaths?

"Darn my dream is ruined, someone come and help me quickly!"

A moment of silence please for the Decepticon leader who holds the honour of dying in the stupidest bloody way imaginable.

Galvatron. 2005-2006.

Died by way of spinning circle of friendship
 

[StarscreamX]

Oh Christ, I'd almost forgotten this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n79KigeG6Tg

Kup, Blurr and Arcee essentially spent every episode either back at base or in this memorable example, about one foot away from a battle, doing bugger all to help while their leader gets the slag beaten out of him by Galvatron. I love how Blurr waits until AFTER Galvatron has damn near killed Rodimus to say "Now let's go help out". Or the way that Galvatron decides he should go have a chin wag with Soundwave immediately, rather than taking five seconds to kill his arch nemesis.

EVERY BLOODY EPISODE these three just stood there like Statler and bloody Waldorf, commenting on what was going on but never actually joining the plot. Until the conclusion of Cybertron is in Grave Danger anyway, where Rodimus took the MANLY MEN off to go look for a new homeworld and left Arceee to...I dunno, be Danny's babysitter or something.

Jesus Jones
 

[Tetsuro]

Okay, so the Headmasters manga doesn't really do anything remotely interesting apart from giving Rodimus the courtesy of showing up one final time instead of putting him and the other MANLY MEN on a bus to oblivion.

This is continued in the Masterforce manga where they show up again when Ginrai and his cohorts travel to Athenia for...some reason I can't remember, some fight happens, Scramble power gets demonstrated, I dunno. Masterforce is a pretty solid show but the manga brings more focus on the "family" aspect of the decepticons that was kind of subtly hinted at in the anime.

And the Victory manga is...well, it's the Victory manga. It blows the TV show clean out of the water solely because of how completely insane it is.
 

[Thunderwave]

Originally Posted by Tetsuro

And the Victory manga is...well, it's the Victory manga. It blows the TV show clean out of the water solely because of how completely insane it is.

This coming from a person with a Dio sig and Sky Lynx with a mustache and a monocle as an avatar.

I'll have to check it out then.
 

[inflatable dalek]

It's really been bugging me why a bit of the Victory incidental score sounds really familiar, and it's just clicked. It's basically a jazzed up version of the baseline from the James Bond theme (well, the naah nahh naaaaah naah bit anyway, not so up on my musical terms). As such it sounds almost identical to a bit of the incidental score to Tomorrow Never Dies from the best part of a decade later.
 

[relak]

I was 6 when i first watched Headmasters on TV.

YEs im from Singapore so we got THAT dub.

IT was big among the school kids but for all the wrong reasons.
Headmasters was hilarious for all the wrong reasons.

I still remember re-enacting some of the showdowns with my friends, complete with over exaggerated voice acting and weird lines.

"Hey WeirdWolf, how'd you wanna fight!"
"Lets try the Buddah Transformation"
"Whats the Buddha Tranformation"

Then we'd try to climb on each other's shoulders