Mediocre
Okay, I'm gonna skip all the explanations to how Headmasters came to be, and cut the chase; Headmasters continues relatively straight from where the season 3 of the American cartoon left off; it ignores the Rebirth three-parter altogether in favor of giving it's titular characters an entirely different concept and origin. This time, there are no little aliens from planet Nebulos; instead, the Headmasters themselves are human-sized robots who fled the planet Cybertron millions of years ago. evacuating to planet Master, where some of them built themselves larger robot bodies they could combine with, called transtectors.Taking place a year after the events of the hate plague, the autobots have established a new base on planet Athenia (which, according to the Japanese series guide, is supposed to be the same planet where the galactic Olympics seen in Five Faces of Darkness took place in). For some reason or another, Cybertron's core computer Vector Sigma has become unstable, allowing Decepticons to attack once more. The Decepticons have help in form of Headmasters, led my mysterious Zarak, but the autobots will not remain devoid of their own Headmasters for long.
The first three episodes play pretty much as a single story arc which establish the series premise. Optimus Prime dies again, allowing Rodimus Prime to take the lead once more. This is but one of the show's many weaknesses; his death is handled very poorly, without any dramatic tension, and considering he only came back a few episodes ago (if we include the season 3 into the equation), it feels sort of insulting. Considering Rodimus Prime and pretty much all the 'classic' Autobots take off ten episodes into the series anyway, there's really no reason for it either, they could have kept him along till then. The only major player who sticks around is Arcee, who is reduced to little more than a secretary.
Anyway. Within the first ten episodes, there's a bunch of single-episode stories, in fashion of the old show, where Galvatron tries to come up with new ways to attack the Autobots, which is kind of nice as it gives a sense of familiarity that should ease you up into things after the third season. In one of these episodes, Battle Beasts make an appearance, which is an interesting crossover.
However, the 9th and 10th episodes are a two-parter; Vector Sigma has began constructing a new type of indestructible alloy, which could change the course of war forever. However, while Galvatron's and Rodimus' troops fight, Zarak reaches the conclusion that the risk is too great, and decides to destroy the entire planet. And the scary thing is...he actually *succeeds*.
Yes, Cybertron is destroyed, entirely. This, too, feels downright insulting, considering the entire American cartoon had the two factions wrestle over it's control, and suddenly it's *gone*. It's like all this fighting has been in vain...
After this, Rodimus hands the leadership (but not the Matrix) to Fortress, the leader of the Autobot Headmasters, and after this, the overall story arc becomes increasingly prominent, with Scorponok building his transtector, Fortress showing off his, and both trying to discover each others' weaknesses.
Although the overall story is fairly engaging, and the occasional one-off story is nice...each episode just seems to use it's plot as an excuse for a fight scene. For a bunch of peace-loving Autobots, the Headmasters sure love to run headfirst into battle. Chromedome, who is the Headmasters' field commander in a way, comes off as a bit of a runt (like Hot Rod, only even more inclined to pull off stupid stunts) while Fortress frequently broods. The dialogue is downright goofy, with almost every command being returned with the exact same phrase in form of a question, and even insults being returned with the exact same ones.
And, of course, the show seems to have made Daniel and Wheelie it's stars. As if these two weren't annoying enough...well, at least Wheelie doesn't talk in rhymes with an annoying voice anymore, but Daniel acts like a total crybaby as opposed to the 14-year old he's supposed to be.
Overall...it's mediocre. You'll be delighted to see a sequel to the third season, with many classic characters showing up, even some from the first year (including Jazz, and Prowl who died in the movie!)...while some from the third season are nowhere to be seen (Sky Lynx I can understand since the toy was never released in Japan, but it doesn't explain Grimlock and Springer, to name a few). The Japanese concept for Headmasters is decidedly less ridiculous than the American one as well. However, Headmasters is pretty *stupid* show, with characters doing stupid things for stupid reasons, like Fortress Maximus running around with a giant floppy disc with his own blueprints on it, as opposed to having used a fake. All this, and not helped in a bit by Daniel. Only hardcore TF fans need apply.
It's still better than Victory, though.
score 6/10
Taketsuo 13 March 2008
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1839279/14653
Pages:
[1]