New cartoon: Robots In Disguise

No noses? No problem! Zombiebots? Sure, why not. A confusing new canon that allows loose and contradictory material? And now a new sequel show with an entirely different art style that takes place way in the future!
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BWprowl
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Re: New cartoon: Robots In Disguise

Post by BWprowl »

Onslaught Six wrote:Sounds like it's actually cool and fun. Hasbro seems to be taking the route of actually making the damn thing for kids, which is probably a step in the right direction.
I can understand what TFPrime was trying to do, and could maybe have appreciated it, but in its case, the dour tone and demand to be taken so seriously only served to exacerbate the gaping flaws in its writing. RID15 has the luxury of being ridiculous. I'm not so much questioning why Grimlock apparently can't scan a new altmode when it results in the fantastic gag of him strapping wheels and grille to himself and shuffling around going "I'm a truck!".
Imagine a GI Joe show with this tone, though. Which would basically just be the Fenslerfilms dubbed PSAs given life.
Wasn't Resolute a comedy? I know I laughed pretty hard at it.

How was Sigma 6? That one had the reputation as the 'kiddy' GI Joe, though that could've just been the artstyle.

At any rate, RID15 isn't full-on parody status (unlike, say, Car Robots in Disguise), just a TF show that happens to have a lot of comedy in it.
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Re: New cartoon: Robots In Disguise

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BWprowl wrote: Wasn't Resolute a comedy? I know I laughed pretty hard at it.
You take that back about Warren Ellis or I swear to god you're going to have to type your next review of a figure using your tongue after I paralyze you from the neck down.
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Re: New cartoon: Robots In Disguise

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Almighty Unicron wrote:You take that back about Warren Ellis or I swear to god you're going to have to type your next review of a figure using your tongue after I paralyze you from the neck down.
Man, I don't care who wrote it (I still need to read Transmet one of these days), Resolute was terrible, full-stop. Best-case scenario, it was a poorly-communicated satire of 'mature cartoons' riffing on people who demand such things from GI Joe, but all it really came across as was a shallow, badly-written mess.
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Re: New cartoon: Robots In Disguise

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BWprowl wrote:
Almighty Unicron wrote:You take that back about Warren Ellis or I swear to god you're going to have to type your next review of a figure using your tongue after I paralyze you from the neck down.
Man, I don't care who wrote it (I still need to read Transmet one of these days), Resolute was terrible, full-stop. Best-case scenario, it was a poorly-communicated satire of 'mature cartoons' riffing on people who demand such things from GI Joe, but all it really came across as was a shallow, badly-written mess.
I legitimately enjoyed it.

"Warren Ellis made tender, passionate love to our childhoods, and he had an enormous dick."
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Re: New cartoon: Robots In Disguise

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It was exactly the same level of shallow swear/stab/explosion-fest as we got from Bay's TF movies. Oh, but the characters looked more like the classic characters and it kinda had continuity with the classic Joe setting, so it was a love letter to a childhood worth remembering, okay.

Whatever, this is a dumb subject to debate and the absolute wrong forum to do it in, so I'll refrain now. I think RID15 is an excellent, entertaining, fun cartoon, let's talk about how that's wrong and everyone but me hates it.
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Re: New cartoon: Robots In Disguise

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Finally managed to watch the first 3 episodes. I have to say, I've enjoyed it thus far. Kinda wish we'd gotten to see a bit more of Cybertron. It's been completely rebuilt and repopulated since the end of Prime, although no clear indication of how much time has passed between series. I like how Strongarm notes for all Bumblebee did during the war and helping to restore the planet that she would have thought he'd have gotten something bigger than simply being a lieutenant in the Cybertronian police force. But 'Bee is destine for more as in short order he gets a vision from Optimus telling him to go to Earth, and ends up having Strongarm and Sideswipe follow him. Really not sure why Bumblebee feels that Optimus was telling him this was his mission alone. I would have thought Bumblebee would call the former Team Prime members or something, but no.

Anyway, on Earth an Autobot prison ship has crashed and hundreds of Decepticons prisoners have escaped. Not sure why a ship with hundreds of Decepticons only had a single glitchy mini-con on it to crew it, even if the Decepticons were all in stasis but whatever. Like Cybertron, we really don't get a clear indication of how much time has passed on Earth. The action thus far pretty much sticks to the Clay's junk yard and surrounding woodsy area. Speaking of which, FINALLY a human kid who isn't some kind of super genius or has a death wish like the past couple series have had, and he actually helps out the Autobots in realistic ways for a kid. Bumblebee references his time on Earth from the previous series, but makes no attempt to contact anyone that already knew about the Autobots (assuming they're still alive) or at least let the government know seeing how they helped them out in some situations. You'd think Bumblebee would appreciate a little help, but he seems to be stuck on the idea this is his mission.

It's interesting to see Optimus somehow appears in physical form and helps Bumblebee's new team capture their first Decepticon. Optimus himself doesn't seem to know what's happening, but he gives the new team a speech encouraging them to do their best to protect the Earth before he vanishes. The Decepticons I have to say have been pretty entertaining so far. Still a little odd seeing them all have animal influences and apparently are all Cybertronian sub-species, but it does make them pretty unique and allows for some pretty interesting personalities.

It's definitely a more light-hearted show so far compared to what Prime was, but I don't feel that they've toned it down too much either. It strikes a pretty good balance. I wish the story was a bit more developed than it is, but they've certainly set the stage to build a lot more development as the series progresses.
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Re: New cartoon: Robots In Disguise

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So I caught up on this weekend's twelfth and thirteenth episodes, "Hunting Season" and "Out Of Focus". This former is alright, introducing Drift and Fracture and their respective Mini-Con gimmicks. Drift is a somewhat annoying sammer-eye stereotype, though at least not to the degree as his AOE counterpart, but Fracture is very enjoyable, and the Mini-Cons for both are handled well. But then the next episode, oh man you guys, that one is pure motherfuckin' magic. We're introduced to Clampdown, a crab-shaped Decepticon blackmailer, voiced by the inimitable Jim Cummings. He turns into this adorable wood-paneled hatchback thing, his sideways walking creeps Grimlock out hilariously, it turns out he has an antagonistic past relationship with Thunderhoof, and everything surrounding him leads to this fantastic slugfest between the Autobot team and all the Decepticons Steeljaw's recruited so far. RID15, as I mentioned before, has been a fun cartoon, and this is it operating at MAXIMUM FUN. The episode really shows off a shift in the situation of the series, with there being an actual TEAM of Decepticons now to antagonize the Autobots, but with the various escaped Decepticons still out there as an omnipresent thread (and the acquisition of the ground bridge on Fracture's ship promises more globe-trotting shenanigans like in the earlier, also great Springload episode).

It's hard for me to overstate just how much I'm enjoying this series, and this latest episode just encapsulated so much of the 'why' of that. I genuinely can't wait for the new ones next weekend.
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Re: New cartoon: Robots In Disguise

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I've seen pieces of episodes before, but I've yet to see the full thing. We're already 13 eps into this? I REALLY need to catch up.
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Re: New cartoon: Robots In Disguise

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Shockwave wrote:We're already 13 eps into this? I REALLY need to catch up.
In Australia and some other countries. Only the first 2 episodes have aired in the US so far though, with episode 3 scheduled to be on April 4th.
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Re: New cartoon: Robots In Disguise

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I've been watching clips of the show lately, mainly dealing with Optimus Prime's plot line. Cartoon Network is only up to episode 19 I believe, so there will be spoilers up through episode 26 here...
Spoiler
Earlier in the season we see Optimus is training with Micronus Prime in the Realm of the Primes. For what task though, Micronus refuses to tell him. Later on, Megatronus contacts Steeljaw, telling him he caused the Alchemor to crash on Earth in order to free the Decepticons so that they could free him from his prison in another dimension. Steeljaw isn't really interested in helping Megatronus, but agrees to do so if he's allowed to keep the Earth to which Megatronus agrees. Eventually Optimus is summoned before 6 of the 13 original Primes to undertake his mission, but they feel he still isn't prepared. Micronus explains they need to share a portion of their spark's with Optimus, but if he isn't ready, the power will kill him (even though he's basically dead already). Optimus, ever ready to sacrifice himself to save others, tells them to do it anyway and is upgraded to a new form resembling his bulked up form from Prime and is sent to Earth.

Meanwhile, the Decepticons free Megatronus who reveals his plot is to draw out the remnants of Unicron's spark from the Earth's core (even though Predacon's Rising established Unicron's spark is now contained in the former container for the Allspark after he'd possessed Megatron's body) and summon the Allspark from Cybertron to fuse them together (apparently Megatronus wants revenge against both Unicron and Primus for his 'humiliating banishment', and says the Earth played a role in that, even though Prime established the Earth was formed around Unicron's body after he'd been defeated by the 13 Primes and was left floating in space). Steeljaw realizes this will destroy both planets and turns against Megatronus. Optimus is able to destroy Megatronus' spark fuser at the last moment, restoring the Allspark to Cybertron and Unicron's spark to the Earth's core. Enraged, Megatronus goes all out against the Autobots, but the power of team work defeats him. After the Autobot's hit him with a powerful blast, only a crater remains...

With the crisis over, the Autobot's talk about returning home, but there are still Decepticons at large on Earth so they all volunteer to stay. Bumblebee tells Optimus they need him and he agrees to join Bumblebee's team, but only as Bumblebee's equal, not as their leader.
While I haven't seen all the episodes in the season, I have to say I'm disappointed with it. I thought that it started out with a lot of potential, but I don't feel they utilized it to the fullest. It almost felt like another season of Prime, only instead of the race to get the MacGuffin of the week, it's the new Decepticon of the week. Although I will say it's nice to see so many new characters getting introduced, unlike Prime that hardly ever expanded its cast. It also seems almost odd Optimus would have to go through special training from several of the original Primes to deal with this threat when he already had to deal with a lot worst in the previous series with out any help from them. I was hoping if they were going to use the original Primes that we'd get to know a little more about them, or at least see them each training with Optimus as the season progressed. But he's hardly in any episodes as it is and the only other Prime we see, outside of shadow, is Micronus.
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