TheLittleSongbird Transformers(1984) is still the jewel of the Transformers franchise, but Transformers: Animated is not a bad show at all and one of the better recent incarnations, better than the Unicron Trilogy at any rate. Of the recent incarnations, Transformers: Prime may be the better animated and written show, has more depth and also has the advantage of having Peter Cullen and Frank Welker as Optimus and Megatron. But what Transformers: Animated does better is that none of the main characters are annoying(Prime had Miko), Bumblebee is much closer in characterisation to the original show, in Prime he was bland, and it is one of the better recent incarnations in terms of recreating the spirit of the original show. Transformers: Animated is not without its problems. The character designs do take some getting used to, in the action sequences they could have done with much more finesse and being less hurried-looking. The human villains could have been better developed and verge on bizarre sometimes. And some of the dialogue- mostly it's fine though- is a little stretched and slap-sticky sometimes, the humans' dialogue at times is not that much of an improvement on that of Prime. The colours and backgrounds though are very nice and detailed, the style is also the closest any of the recent series in the franchise have gotten to the original show too. The music is energetic with some haunting moments, enhancing the action sequences and any of the scenes that require any depth. The dialogue mostly is smart and thoughtful with some funny moments(getting even better once the show found its feet), while the stories are fun and engrossing, taking care also in fleshing out the characters and their back stories. Those for Waspinator and Blackarachnia are particularly well done. The action sequences are thrilling and fun to watch. Optimus and Megatron are still memorable characters, Starscream is a hoot and Sari is thankfully not another Miko, she's interesting and is far from useless. The voice acting is great, you do miss the original voices but these voice actors still do worthy jobs, actually sounding committed and involved in the drama. Standing out are David Kaye, Corey Burton(though these two did have big shoes to fill) and Tom Kenny. Overall, not mind blowing but highly entertaining still, while some of the complaints are somewhat valid Transformers: Animated is not really that deserving of the hate it's gotten. 7/10 Bethany Cox

LadyMiraculous As a fellow Transformers fan, there's a little confession I would like to make: I was almost a Bayformers fan!!! But don't worry, even though I thought the first movie was good, it still wasn't enough to make me a genuine "Trans-Fan". My best friend knew much more about Transformers than I did, as she grew up with the franchise, so I've mostly learned about the main premise of the story from her. Anyway, by 2007 I knew almost nothing about G1, Beast Wars, or the Unicorn Trilogy (though, from what I've heard, I didn't miss anything from the Unicron Trilogy). Then it just so happened, on Cartoon Network, I came across a TV promo for this new show simply titled, "Transformers: Animated". The moment I first saw their new designs I thought, "It would never catch on, the proportions of the robots look all wrong!" However, when the show finally aired, I took a look at one episode. My first thought was, "Well, the story seems pretty basic, but this Starscream guy looks like a cool character (by the way, this was the show that made me a Starscream fan-girl). A couple years later, I soon forgot about it, until my friend show me the Allspark Allminac (which is a book that has information about everything from the show). Eventually, my interest for the show lit up again, and I've watched reruns of it on The Hub, then I realized everything I first thought about this show was wrong. The main Autobots, for example, are not the Superman archetypes you see in the original show, in fact Optimus here isn't even leader of the Autobots, but the leader of a small group of rookies. I really like this change, because not only does it make it a lot easier to root for them, but it also makes them more realistic and sympathetic. Now the main human character, Sari, is another interesting aspect of this show. At first, she appears to be an annoying tag-a-long that never does what she's told. This of course, was a very common trope in Transformers since G1, but instead of just being a tag-a-long, Sari actually has a story arc in this series! She's also not as useless as most Trans-Fans like to believe, she actually helps the Autobots multiple times. Her father, Prof. Isaac Sumdac, is one of the "weaker" characters in the show. He's way too trusting towards Megatron in Season 1, and is clearly irresponsible letting his 8-year old daughter handle the AllSpark Key, but he's not too annoying and you'll eventually grow to love him. I was also impressed by how the Decepticons were portrayed. Megatron doesn't get a very big role in the first season, but he is BY FAR superior to the clumsy G1 version, and the bland TF: Prime version of the character. The other Cons are also very well written. Blackarachnia and Waspinator both have tragic and interesting back stories, Blitzwing the triple-changer is given a split-personality, and Shockwave is given a more prominent role in Season 3. It just makes me said that they were never able to release a Season 4 before it got canceled! This is a vastly underrated show, that has more emotional depth than "Transformers Prime", and much more character development than G1.My Overall rating-- 8.5 out of 10!

Kareiyasu When I first heard or rather saw that Transformers the TV series was going to be remade, I like many other fans ran to our TV guides and marked the date of release.Unfortunately to many and my own dismay, this was nothing like the old shows.In fact I felt that this was a whole other show on its on, because it didn't feel like a remake or a continuation.My problems with the series begins with the voice actors.It feels as if they brought a heavily underpaid group of VA's to fill in some very huge shoes.I didn't expect A+ voice acting, but what was given isn't even worth of a C grade.They fail mostly on Optimus Prime's voice.While he is very articulate he sounds more like an angst teenager than a grown autobot.One could blame the poor writing but the voice itself just doesn't match the drawn character.Another problem I noticed was the transforming itself.I'm a huge fan of the transformers, mainly due to the unique transformations of every Autobot and decepticon.Now I know the old shows didn't lay out every part switching panel to panel, but some sort of transformation was shown.In this series it's only masked by a flash of light and some well sped action line.Ultimately leaving anyone wanting more out of a simple transformation that took Michael Bay all of five minutes to show.In conclusion this series needs a major overhaul and even some new artists.The show feels like it was rushed just to match the date of the movie.The action is very lackluster and most episodes consist of slapstick humor the easily becomes very old and very boring.If your a fan, you'll hate it, and if your into Animated Series you'll watch a few episodes here and there but will ultimately find something better to watch.

stumpmee77 Uglymost Prime. This isn't about fanaticism with 1st G1 prime, indeed the younger Prime approach doesn't annoy me. (I sat through '86-'87 Rodimus Prime; still am convinced no Autobot leader could be worse.) Voice actor David Kaye is doing a good job. But I pity Kaye as the character he's portraying--Specifically looking at it--NOTHING LESS THAN AN EYESORE! He knocks my rating TF:A a 6 to two, I hate his look that bad. Focus episodes on everyone but him until revision is decided upon his physical design. Can't stomach seeing "Prime" on screen for any length of time, standing alone or amongst his friends. The instant he's on screen and want him to go away or darken my computer. If they don't want their Prime to rise to prominence this is a good move. I got over Bay prime's mouth REAL fast looking at "this". Mouth plate on or off doesn't help, ugly stick as in beaten with multiple times. My favorite optimus prime v/a doing the voice could not take away from the fact accident bashed truck or Bot, TF:A Prime looks like utter crap.