Friday Review! Transformers Headmasters

In the world of animation, few properties have the staying power of Transformers. For the last three decades the franchise has spawned a number of iterations that have graced the airwaves in one form or another (not to mention a toy industry unto itself and four box office smashing films). It all began in 1984 when the Transformers aired on U.S. television and captured the hearts and minds of kids everywhere. The series lasted four seasons and a animated film that, for many, is the benchmark milestone of the entire property. Though the final season of Transformers only consisted of three episodes, it made an attempt to wrap up the series for American audiences, much in the same way that the animated G.I. Joe (1987) movie provided closure to the series.

While the Transformers’ television ratings and toyline may have been starting to fall short in the U.S., Japanese viewers wanted more. And thus the Headmasters were born, the first of several animated Transformers shows to be produced exclusively for Japanese television. Discarding the three episode conclusion that made up the fourth season, the new series titled Transformers: The Headmasters focused on the further conflicts between the evil Decepticons and the heroic Autobots. Joining the ongoing war on both sides are the Headmasters – Transformers that can detach their heads to form miniature robots and convert their bodies into vehicles.

Fans of the original Transformers cartoon will be thrilled at seeing ‘Generation 1’ favorites return to the small screen, including Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, Soundwave, and Galvatron, among an assortment of newcomers like Fortress Maximus, Scorponok, and Six Shot. While the series never delves into the darker territory of the 1986 animated film, the plotlines in Headmasters do offer a sense of ‘higher stakes’ than the initial series. In the original show, no matter how much punishment either the Autobots or Decepticons doled out, there were never really any casualties (and if there were, the characters would often return in a future episode). That’s not the case in Headmasters. In actuality, Headmasters is somewhat brutal in its manner of killing off characters. Within the first three episodes, several major characters meet their end. This continues in an effort to phase out many older Transformers with new ones, not unlike the ’86 movie.

In the 1990s an English dubbed version of Headmasters aired in Asia – which would go on to be known as the “Singapore dub,” a cringe worthy translation that was notorious for both mixing up characters’ names and having some of the oddest dialogue in Transformer history (though worst dialogue still rests with the Michael Bay films). Headmasters was finally given its official North American DVD release thanks to Shout Factory. These DVDs are worth checking out, though don’t expect any substantial extras save for an art gallery. Even so, Shout Factory’s release gives viewers a well done subtitle track with the original Japanese audio. The much maligned English dub is not included, which may very well be for the best – even so, it would have been a nice addition just for reference.

Overall, Headmasters is a worthy entry into the Transformers legacy and certainly truer in spirit to the initial series than what Beast Wars gave viewers in the mid ‘90s. Fans hungry for the cel-shaded glory of the robots in disguise will find that Headmasters is a must see – and thankfully, the two Japanese follow-up series’ Masterforce and Victory have also found their way onto DVD as well, thanks to the efforts of Shout Factory.