Headmasters discussion

[Gomess]

Concerning looking at Headmasters through the lens of a fan of the US show... I know it's automatic, but don't cling on to that too much. You've no doubt noticed Daniel and Wheelie's sudden contrived friendship, Arcee being relegated from gunner to secretary, and basically all of the old guard (notably the recently revived Optimus Prime, and Rodimus) all being unceremoniously shoved aside in a few episodes to make way for the new Headmasters. Even S3 wasn't that callous! O6 points out that Masterforce goes off in its own direction, but Headmasters does too. TF fan friend of mine was *really* disappointed with it 'cos it was so different to the American show in tone (some of the episodes, notably The Demonic Meteorite Approaches, are so Generic 80s Anime it hurts) and characterisation.

Hmm.... Would a casual fan even *buy* a subtitled TF show? Presumably the packaging makes it very clear that it's Japanese, and that- in my experience- is enough to put off those who have fond memories of TF from childhood but don't care about it now. Diff'rent strokes, I guess.

Anyhoo, yeah, calling rookie trucker Ginrai "Optimus Prime" is ridiculous, and calling schoolgirl Minerva "Nightbeat" is practically child abuse. I'm sure they wouldn't do that... Would they??

I hope Shout Factory just start making up names like Omni did. Call Twincast "Blaster", 'cos Broadcast was called "Billy". Soundblaster becomes "New Soundwave".

Hope you can make it all the way through Headmasters without losing faith, Anderson, if only so you can move onto Masterforce (one of my favourite TF series) and let me know what you think of that. =3

[Onslaught Six]

My frame of reference is the G1 cartoon and characters, so I'm happy to see familar characters called by the names I've always known them by.

And that's part of my main thing I'm getting at--if all you know is G1's cartoon, you don't even know who the hell Getaway is anyway, so why does it matter if he's called Getaway or Lightfoot?

I guess sales of Headmasters might determine whether or not we get Masterforce. I haven't heard anything about it at this point.

False! They're releasing the box set of all of them soonish; then Masterforce and Victory. No guarantee on Scramble City or Zone yet though.

[Gomess]

if all you know is G1's cartoon, you don't even know who the hell Getaway is anyway, so why does it matter if he's called Getaway or Lightfoot?

Presumably Anderson knows Getaway from the toys or comics, so he'd be looking forward to seeing him animated for the first time. But you've still got a point, I mean... calling Lightfoot "Getaway" really doesn't enrich the Masterforce experience at all, it's *so* far removed from Getaway's original western depictions. No escape artistry, no binary-bonding to an alien named Rev...

But for Headmasters, they should just include an option where you can choose whether the subs use the western or Japanese names. For all those who prefer "Butt" to "Blot". I know I do!

[Onslaught Six]

if all you know is G1's cartoon, you don't even know who the hell Getaway is anyway, so why does it matter if he's called Getaway or Lightfoot?

Presumably Anderson knows Getaway from the toys or comics, so he'd be looking forward to seeing him animated for the first time. But you've still got a point, I mean... calling Lightfoot "Getaway" really doesn't enrich the Masterforce experience at all, it's *so* far removed from Getaway's original western depictions. No escape artistry, no binary-bonding to an alien named Rev...

And not just that, but y'know, it's pointless. Almost arbitrary. In fact, I specifically chose Getaway/Lightfoot rather than a more high-profile character like Ginrai or Minerva specifically because of his almost interchangability.

[Gomess]

Mm. I do start to agree with Anderson's point about referring to him as Optimus Prime, so long as *somewhere* it says his name in Japan is actually Convoy. Otherwise that just breeds casual ignorance and a situation where What Subbers Say Goes (which is unfortunately already prevalent).

Would be interesting to compare these subs you guys just got to the ones that came out here a few years back! Do let me know of any particular funnies or anomalies.

[Shockwave]

I've watched the whole thing. They never mention Optimus Prime as "Convoy". I think the intention here was for those that haven't seen it here in the US to regard it as "G1 Season 4" and so they went with the US names whenever possible. Twincast was never released here so he's still Twincast and Soundblaster is still Soundblaster, they use Japanese names for Japan only characters. The real test of this is going to come with Ginrai. Idealogically, I could understand them using the "Powermaster Optimus Prime" name since that's what the toy was called here in the US, but, since he's a different character in the story, I would be annoyed if they didn't call him Ginrai. Not sure it would turn me off of the series though.

[Gomess]

...Ok, I have to ask, and I accept full responsibility for sounding like a dick, but Trekwave and Anderson, you guys know Ginrai is a human, right? There's really no way any human being could take him being referred to as Powermaster Optimus Prime seriously. =|

[andersonh1]

Hmm.... Would a casual fan even *buy* a subtitled TF show? Presumably the packaging makes it very clear that it's Japanese, and that- in my experience- is enough to put off those who have fond memories of TF from childhood but don't care about it now. Diff'rent strokes, I guess.

I don't know... $25 for a whole new season of unseen G1 Transformers? I think I'd have been delighted with such a find, subtitles or not. I don't know how a more casual fan might view it, but it's fairly cheap and accessible. Someone who wouldn't go to the trouble of downloading the series might enjoy having a DVD of it on their shelf and watching some episodes.

Hope you can make it all the way through Headmasters without losing faith, Anderson, if only so you can move onto Masterforce (one of my favourite TF series) and let me know what you think of that. =3

We'll see. I'll be honest about what I like and dislike about it. So far I'm enjoying it, though it's only a couple of episodes in. There are a lot of episodes still to go.

False! They're releasing the box set of all of them soonish; then Masterforce and Victory. No guarantee on Scramble City or Zone yet though.

Nice! I need to stay more up to date, obviously.

I've seen Scramble City. I have a copy of it on VHS that I got in a tape trade once, and it's on the latest TFTM movie release, but it has commentary. I'd like to see a subtitled copy of it.

Presumably Anderson knows Getaway from the toys or comics, so he'd be looking forward to seeing him animated for the first time.

Exactly, and that's often the case with a lot of these characters. I look forward to seeing them animated. How far do the series get, by the way? Do we ever see micromasters? Or Action Masters? I know the next series gets at least as far as some Pretenders.

...Ok, I have to ask, and I accept full responsibility for sounding like a dick, but Trekwave and Anderson, you guys know Ginrai is a human, right? There's really no way any human being could take him being referred to as Powermaster Optimus Prime seriously. =|

Yeah, I knew he was a human, but I wouldn't put it past Hasbro to call the character Optimus Prime. We'll have to see.

[Gomess]

How far do the series get, by the way? Do we ever see micromasters? Or Action Masters? I know the next series gets at least as far as some Pretenders.

Micromasters debut in Victory and get most of the spotlight in Zone. Actionmasters were a western deal (I think a couple might've been mail-away exclusives in Japan?), so no anime appearances for them. A lot of those later gimmicky TFs are exclusive to east or west, so don't expect to see any Double Targetmasters in anything Japanese, but you will meet the Brainmasters! It all gets a bit unfamiliar after Masterforce.

[Shockwave]

...Ok, I have to ask, and I accept full responsibility for sounding like a dick, but Trekwave and Anderson, you guys know Ginrai is a human, right? There's really no way any human being could take him being referred to as Powermaster Optimus Prime seriously. =|

The only frame of referrence I have for that is what was in the G1 comic where he was Optimus Prime powered up by Hi-Q and then later Hi-Q got reformatted or rebuilt or some shit into Action Master Prime. As for what happened in Masterforce, I'm given to understand that what became Power Master Prime over here was originally a completely different character with a completely different origin but I have only the vaguest of notions regarding what that might be.