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Reviews
Transformer: Super Link (2004)
Absolutely abysmal- truly the measuring stick of bad Transformers cartoons
Energon is 51 episodes of a show with no plot. In fact, it actively tries to cut out the plot for some reason. Its Japanese counterpart, Superlink, actually had 52 episodes. The one they decided not to dub? An essential episode that reveals critical backstory for one of the major characters.
Everything is terrible- the writing, the dialogue, ESPECIALLY the animation. Did you know that the American version of the show was so rushed it actually uses unfinished animation for several episodes? It's true! The only thing not utterly terrible is the voice acting, because the voice actors are actually good at their jobs. Sadly they were obviously given terrible direction so even that is soiled.
Anyone who enjoyed this was either half asleep while watching it, has absurdly low standards, or is looking at the series through the rosiest rose-tinted glasses. I usually hate saying things like that, but for this show it's absolutely true.
Transformers: Combiner Wars (2016)
The worst Transformers cartoon since Energon
Yikes.
Okay, first off, screenshots of this show don't look terrible. The CGI models and cell shading are actually competently done... which is the best thing I can say for this series. The actual animation is okay, but the lip-synch is horrid and the character's faces are constantly blank.
The story and characters are all over the place. Windblade chucks her comic counterpart's ideas of compassion in exchange for vengeance. Starscream actually seems like he wants whats best for Cybertron, only to do a complete 180 out of nowhere (granted this is in-character for Starscream, but it was implied this version of him would be like all the other incarnations from the past decades). The only tolerable character is Megatron, and even then it's because he goes through the whole show without giving a crap.
And that's not even mentioning all the other plot holes. What was that obviously organic planet Megatron was fighting the Constructicons on, and how did Optimus and Windblade get there? Where did Victorion come from? Why is there no mention of the fact that the combiners are made of 5-6 smaller robots? Does Windblade want to kill just the combiners, or the whole Cybertronian council- she says contradicting things throughout the show.
Overall it's just terrible. If you have some time (and brain cells) to kill and like riffing on bad media then maybe give it a watch. Otherwise, avoid it at all costs.
Transformers Prime (2010)
Starts off great but goes downhill fast
I watched PRIME when it originally aired, and i was super into it. However, it's one of those things where looking back after the fact reveals that it's not as good as you remember.
The 5-part series premiere, Darkness Rising, is pretty good- definitely the highlight of the series. Unfortunately, it does TOO good of a job of setting the tone by killing a character in the first five minutes of episode one. Form there the show has to try and keep raising the stakes, which it struggles to do. The rest of season one is actually pretty good, and ends with a really unique cliffhanger...
...which is immediate resolved in the beginning of the second season before segwaying into a season-long game of 'find the ancient Cybertronian relics buried on Earth'.
By the third season, the behind the scenes troubles (which was a major thing, look it up) become obvious. The best example of the show being a mixed bag is the episode 'Thirst', which is both the best and worst episode of the series. It's the best because the A plot is entirely focused on two Decepticons- Starscream and Knockout- trying to contain a zombie robot outbreak that they accidentally started. It's also the worst because it lazily and haphazardly cuts off no less than 4 different plotlines/characters (Silas/Mech, Breakdown, the Insecticons and Airachnid). This season also contains the laziest line of dialogue in the show- when Starscream complains about a mission being "Another scavenger hunt", referring to essentially the entire plot of the previous season. This line is an obvious case of 'we acknowledged our lazy writing so that means we don't have to fix it'.
Overall, PRIME was a show that had everything going for it but somehow managed to take all of its potential (along with some of its characters and interesting plotlines), tie them to a brick and throw them in a river. It's not bad, but it's not the 'best Transformers cartoon' that everyone hails it as.
Transformers: Animated (2007)
Of course it's not like the original cartoon
Yes, I know, some people hate the artstyle. That alone does not make a show crap, nor does it not being just like the original show. Have people who compare it to G1 actually seen the original since the 80's? Because it really wasn't that good as a show. Fun and entertaining, yes, but not good.
It astounds me to this day that people think Transformers Animated is water-down, child friendly crap. Sure, the first season takes a bit to get going. But it's worth it when you get to the third season, which features mature/dark storytelling, legitimate stakes, and on-screen character death- all things that the cartoon that aired after it, PRIME, failed to do properly.
I could write a whole novel about how this show is actually really good, but instead I'll just highly recommend you give it a watch for more than 3 minutes.
Unikitty! (2017)
A fun show that does not deserve the negativity its getting
I'm gonna be honest, Unikitty probably isn't a 10/10 show. Problem is, it's DEFINITELY not a 5.8/10 show (the average rating as of the time of this review).
It's ironic that a show about positivity and fun has been so negatively received. Even the official LEGO sets seem to be shunned by the larger LEGO community, despite being perfectly serviceable builds. Unikitty is a Spongebob-style show in that it mainly relies on absurdist/random humor. It's not a breakthrough cartoon like Spongebob that will last for decades to come, but if you want some fast-paced and clever laughs this is a good watch. The humor doesn't even rely on typical crude or gross out gags- I can only think of one, maybe two times there was a fart joke in the entirety of the ~35 episodes that have aired thus far. It amazes me that in a world where the Powerpuff Girls reboot exists there are still people who think this is the worst CN show in recent history.
In short, Unikitty isn't fantastic, and I admit that being both a fan of LEGO and the Unikitty character makes be biased, but even beyond that it's just a fun, goofy show with entertaining characters and competently written jokes. I'd say a more accurate rating would be a 7.5/10. Nothing too deep, but not as shallow as some of CN's other offerings in recent years.