calloyal After watching the series all the way through, I can say without a doubt that it isn't as bad as a lot of people say it is. Out of all of the different generations and shows, this is sort of the black sheep. First, while most transformers shows simply focus on the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons, this series is more like a superhero show, with a few episodes not featuring a single decepticon. Though the decepticons are by far the most reoccurring villains. Second, Optimus Prime is no longer the wise and experienced supreme leader of the autobots, that honor now belongs to Ultra Magnus. Instead he's a much younger Prime who was kicked out of cybertrons elite guard and put in charge of a repair ship. Third, The animation. The animation, more specifically the character designs, seem to be what most people have a problem with. They were created Derrick J. Wyatt, who's also did the original Teen Titans show. A lot of People Hate how this show looks, though since I grew up watching Teen Titans this art style doesn't bother me. Granted the series isn't perfect, The animation is sub par at points, the writing is a bit too by the numbers at points, the ending feels rushed as the show was on the verge of being canceled, and there are a few loose ends. But if you can look past this, the series is incredibly fun and the most unique transformers show barring maybe Beast Wars.

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

Michael Pollard Those looking for this series to fill all their dreams of what the original 1984-1987 show was will be disappointed. Not because this show is that bad, but because the original show had the same flaws. But many don't remember the original flaws due to their "rose-colored glasses".This show starts with a few weak elements, from the viewpoint of an older viewer. But the show was originally intended as a superhero show with the Autobots playing the role of the superheroes. Fortunately the concept was revised, but much of the initial season, with some holdovers for later, were victims of the original concept; these aspects remind me strongly of the PowerPuff Girls. However, those who were fans of the original show will be thrilled by many elements in the second season, and by almost everything in the third season, rose-colored glasses or otherwise. If they can get past the weak spots at the beginning of the series, which do still have their good points.Transformers: Animated does have Teen Titans-influenced animation. The style is popular. Yes, this means that mechanical heroes that transform into vehicles tend to favor superheroes in tights for some reason. Remember, this was the original concept. Characters introduced later in the series do not have this problem. Early shows involved human villains. Later shows do not have this problem. Earlier shows have a human sidekick, one of the main complaints of the previous three serieses. (SPOILER) Later shows revealed this was not actually the case. And despite the unusual style (from the technological point of view), the toys are more accurate to the show, in both modes, than with any other Transformers series.The later seasons bring in many new characters which were closely patterned after characters in the original series, though some has different personalities for plot-driven reasons (Ultra Magnus needed to be a superior officer, not a peer, and Alpha Trion also involved a plot- driven personality shift). These original-series inspired characters include Arcee (voiced by Sue Blu, the original VA and voice director for the TF:A series), Wreck-Gar (voiced by Weird Al Yankovic, the original VA), Blurr (voiced by John Moschitta Jr., the original VA), Elita One, Blackarachnia, Jazz, Shockwave, Wasp/Waspinator, and Omega Supreme. And cameos of original characters were abundant, including, but not limited to, Cliffjumper, Ironhide, Powerglide, Warpath, Beachcomber, Brawn, Wheeljack, Perceptor, Rodimus Prime, Cyclonus, and Stryka.Oh, and for the reviewer who complained that the Allspark looked like a car key: Did you actually watch the original series, or Beast Machines for that matter? The Allspark key in TF:A is clearly patterned after the Key to Vector Sigma, a plot device in a number of shows in each series.By the way, the Headmaster unit and Starscream clones were also ways to incorporate G1 elements without too much overhead. Headmasters were involved in a technology at the end of the series (more fully developed in the comics), and the Starscream clones were clearly colored after Decepticon jets who were not introduced in this series. This last point was amplified when at one point Lockdown gave two of the clones different helmets; the G1-era toys were designed that the jet nosecone could be positioned either way, and the animators chose to give the three face-vents and three cone-heads.

Ithorianjedimaster2 "Transformers" by Michael Bay was a box office hit. With the mix of action movie and special effects expertise of Michael Bay with the superior CG mastery of Steven Spielberg, the movie was a real treat to anyone who can look past the robots' new looks. Transformers: Animated is Cartoon Network's answer to try and get quick ratings, by introducing a new storyline with timeless characters like Optimus Prime and Megatron, but in the end, Transformers: Animated becomes only a cheap movie cash-in, reminiscent to the Transformers video game.The plot is different than what fans are use to. You remember the whole Autobots VS. Decepticons war for control of the Allspark that the movie revolutionized? In the show, it's over and the Autobots won. Now, Optimus Prime and his pals are all miners of some kind, digging through asteroids looking for artifacts or something. Suddenly, they just happen to come across the great, supposedly-lost Allspark, and where there's Autobots with the Allspark, Decepticons survivors of the war aren't far behind. Soon, the Autobots end up on Earth and like every other Transformer story, they become determined to protect the shards of the Allspark and humanity from the forces of Megatron.The story seems like it's always trying to shake off the presence of the "Transformers" movie, and yet the characters the producers place into said story are in the movie. The opening credits make sure you know that fearless Optimus Prime, youthful Bumblebee, elderly Ratchet are in the show as well as non-movie characters like stealthy Prowl and lame Lugnut. On the side of evil, and just as annoying as their Autobots foes, the Decepticons are very disappointing with a round-up of bots that consist of fan favorites Megatron, Starscream, and Black Arachnia, and two new bots in which one is a Megatron fanatic and a Transformer version of He-Man's Many Faces who has an aristocratic voice, a mischievous voice, and a really pathetic Arnold Schwarzeneggar impersonation thrown in for some cheap humor.Speaking of cheap humor, I know they're robots and have mechanical parts, but after a hundredth pun like "Over my cold, offline servo", "I'm going to rip out your piston through your tail pipe", and "You're frying my circuits!", it becomes grating and you're wondering if the robots are actually unsure of their own roles in the cartoon.Transformer fans may have been forgiving when they saw the remodeled robots in Michael Bay's film, but Transformers Animated is just unforgivable. For one, the characters are all terrible. Hell, even the robots' Autobot/Decepticon symbols don't look right on several occasions. And two, some may be fooled by the idea that making an all-new Transformer that has never been in a cartoon is very difficult, but it's inexcusable when three of the Autobots plus one of the Decepticons have ridiculously long chins and sound terrible.Then the producers decided to throw in a girl named Sarry whose father creates robots (and ends up housing the head of the 'late' Megatron after Starscream's signature for treachery). Sarry has an Allspark key of sorts that lets Sarry do about anything to machines. You'd think with the key, Sarry would be useful to the Autobots, but she ends up just tagging along for the fun.The first few episodes are just plain wrong. You have the hour-long pilot episode and then a universe of fillers until the actual plot continues with Megatron's resurrection. These filler episodes turn the Autobots, guardians of Earth and Cybertron, into freakin' superheroes! You have Marvel villain rejects like the Angry Archer and Princess. Sooooo threatening. It would be nice if the show threw in more bots, which doesn't happen for a long time, and the robots introduced are usually around for an episode like two construction worker robots who has a deep love for oil and a retarded garbage bot. It's pretty bad.Transformers: Animated may have sounded like a good show on paper, but when you try so hard to not be like the movie and yet want people to think it's the movie at the same time, what you got is just a jumble of terrible ideas from people who read a few robot names, looked at the basic plot through a Transformer fan fiction, and decided "this would make an awesome cartoon!" I can't understand why there are people who actually like this show when it's only a cheap cash-in that fails on nearly every level. The two stars I gave this trash was because Megatron and Starscream are the only decent characters in the whole show and personally, I'd rather be ruled by a tyrannical war machine than be protected by the most disappointed Optimus Prime character this side of Beast Machines.