VIEWTIFUL JOE

VIEWTIFUL JOE
(TV Tokyo, October 2, 2004-September 24, 2005 JAP
The WB, November 5, 2005-May 20, 2006 US)
 
Group TAC, Medianet, TV Tokyo, Capcom, Geneon Entertainment

  

MAIN CAST:

Tomokazu Seki (Japanese) & Jason Palmer (English) – Viewtiful Joe/Joe Black

Natsuko Kuwatani (Japanese) & Philece Sampler (English) – Silvia Lumière/Sexy Silvia/Go-Go Silvia

Banjou Ginga (Japanese), Bob Papenbrook (as John Smallberries, episodes 1-21) & Paul St. Peter (as George C. Cole) (English) – Captain Blue/Almighty Leader/King Blue

Makoto Tsumura (Japanese) & Katie Leigh (English) – Captain Blue Jr./Junior

Mayumi Asano (Japanese) & Wendee Lee (English) – Sprocket

Shin-ichiro Miki (Japanese) – Alastor

Milton Lawrence (as Ross Lawrence) (English) – Alastor, Gran Bruce

Terrance Stone (English) – Biankies, King Charles III

  

In the late 80s and early 90s, Nintendo enjoyed a monopoly on the video game home console market; their original NES being responsible for reversing the slump of the video game industry after the crash of 1983. This allowed Nintendo to be very selective with third-party developers (one of the underlying causes of said crash), and to compel them to make exclusive content for their systems on their schedule. Nintendo’s restrictions were forced to relax a bit in regards to the SNES when Sega’s Genesis console became a legitimate competitor. However, everything was turned on its head when Nintendo decided to retain a proprietary cartridge-based system for their next console, the Nintendo 64. Turned off by the limited memory and added expense of manufacturing and stocking enough of the cartridges, third party developers turned their attentions towards the disc-based PlayStation that allowed them to avoid those issues.

The GameCube was Nintendo's hope to turn their fortunes around.

The N64 proved popular and performed strongly in its launch year. However, the cartridge format was said to have contributed to a diminished release schedule and higher price point than its competition. Although it continued to outsell the Sega Saturn, it would soon fall behind the PlayStation in the United States. In Japan it was a different story, as the small game library turned off consumers resulting in low sales. Nintendo tried to correct these mistakes with their next system, the GameCube, which had powerful hardware and a disc-based system (although still a proprietary one using mini-discs).

The four surviving members of The Capcom Five.

Unfortunately, the system had its own problems. For starters, the console didn’t offer DVD playback or internet connectivity like its contemporaries. Once again, third-party support was lacking, which meant it didn’t have a wide variety of games available to play at launch. And there was new competition in town as Microsoft had released their Xbox just three days prior. As a result, the GameCube only sold 4.7 million consoles in its first year. Looking to boost sales, Nintendo entered into a partnership with Capcom to produce five exclusive games for the GameCube; a deal Nintendo would hastily announce in November of 2002. Known as The Capcom Five, these games were futuristic third-person shooter P.N.03; shoot ‘em up Dead Phoenix; action-adventure shooter Killer7; the next entry in the hit survival horror franchise, Resident Evil 4; and Viewtiful Joe.

Joe and his super alter-ego.

Viewtiful Joe was developed by Team Viewtiful, a subgroup of Capcom Production Studio 4, directed by Hideki Kamiya and produced by Atsushi Inaba. Originally known as “Red Hot Man” until copyright conflicts arose because of the American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, the game was inspired by 1960s and 1970s Japanese costumed tokusatsu programs such as Kamen Rider and Ultraman and combined with the concept of superheroes found in American comic books. The characters were designed by Kumiko Suekane.

Joe taking on Hulk Davidson.

Players took on the role of the protagonist Joe (Dee Bradley Baker), an ordinary guy from Earth who loved movies, comics and action figures. While attending a film starring the aging superhero Captain Blue (Gregg Berger) with his girlfriend, Silvia (Cristina Pucelli), the film’s antagonist seemed to have defeated Blue and then proceeded to kidnap Silvia into the film and into Movieland. Joe was then taken after her by Blue’s giant mecha, Six Majin (or Six Machine), in order to defeat the organization of villains known as Jadow and their Almighty Leader to rescue her. Blue gave him a device known as a V-Watch that allowed Joe to transform into a superhero when he said the word “henshin (transform)”, coming up with his own catchphrase “Henshin-a-go-go, baby!” Joe proceeded to battle through members of the Jadow through various Movieland locations with Blue’s guidance, and came to learn that Silvia was abducted as the Jadow needed “the DNA of the creator” to escape to Earth and avoid forever being forgotten when celluloid becomes obsolete. It was then revealed that Blue was Silvia’s father who had become trapped in his own films and was the real mastermind behind the whole plot, becoming the final boss: a giant robot named King Blue. Upon his defeat, Blue came to his senses, reunited with his daughter, and told Joe he would need to save the world two more times. Silvia requested a V-Watch of her own and together the two of them set out to be heroes.

Joe and his new partner, Sexy Silvia.

Viewtiful Joe was a traditional 2D platform side-scrolling beat ‘em up that was intermixed with 3D cel-shaded graphics to create “stunning visuals and fluid gameplay”. Joe had the ability to double jump, punch, kick and dodge, the latter of which caused enemies to become dazed when performed successfully. He also had three special abilities called Viewtiful Effects (VFX) Power used to combat enemies and solve puzzles: “Slow”, which slowed time and increased Joe’s strength and reflexes; “Mach Speed” allowed Joe to move faster and unleash a flurry of attacks as well as envelope him in a temporary heat shield that protected him from attacks and set enemies on fire; and “Zoom In”, which brings the camera to focus tightly on Joe and granted him more power for his normal attacks, a new set of attacks and paralyzed weaker foes nearby—however, it also meant the amount of damage he took increased as well. Using a VFX Power caused the VFX gauge to drain and revert Joe to his non-super self, leaving him weaker for a time until it refilled over time or by picking up bottles of VFX Juice. Any two VFX Powers could be combined and their gage temporarily expanded by collecting a number of V-Films in a stage. Hamburgers could also be collected to replenish health.

Captain Blue: Hero? Villain? Absentee father?

Each stage was broken up into several interconnected missions, or scenes, which Joe must complete before moving on to the next. Between each stage, players had the chance to purchase upgrades for Joe using V-Points, including abilities, weapons, health items and health increases. V-Points were earned several ways: by collecting coins that appeared when defeating enemies; while using special attacks earning V-Marks or Viewtifuls, which could be converted to V-Points; using combos and long chains of attacks, particularly while using Slow, and increasing the multiplier called X-Bonus; and the player grade at the end of the stage that tallied up the number of V-Points earned, the amount of time past, and how much damage Joe took. Completing the game on various difficulties unlocked new playable characters such as Silvia, Captain Blue and one of the bosses, Alastor (Mikey Kelley), as well as Dante (Drew Coombs) from the Devil May Cry series.

The game was released in Japan on June 26, 2003, with North America getting their release that October. The game was well-reviewed and earned a number of awards and nominations from various magazines, game sites and award shows. Unfortunately, that didn’t translate into sales as only 275,000 copies were sold worldwide. However, as the game was made on a small budget, it ended up being relatively successful commercially enough to warrant a sequel. Team Viewtiful was spun off into its own semi-autonomous production company, Clover Studio, to begin work on it and develop other new intellectual properties for Capcom. This was done in part because of the tensions between Capcom and Shinji Mikami after the console exclusivity of Resident Evil 4 that Mikami touted was undone. The Capcom Five ended up not being as exclusive as Nintendo believed and Capcom seemingly backed-up—a mistake they blamed on poor communication with their parent company—with only one of the four games actually produced, P.N.03, remaining solely on GameCube. The other games, including Joe, were eventually ported to other consoles.

Sexy Silvia getting her licks in this time around.

Viewtiful Joe 2 (given the subtitle Secret of the Black Film in Japan) picked up where the first game left off: with Joe and Silvia (now with the alter-ego of Sexy Silvia) setting out to fend off an invasion of Movieland by the alien organization called Gedow. Their leader, the unseen Black Emperor (Keith Szarabajka), desired to claim the Rainbow Oscars: seven statuettes that contained the power of the happy ending, with Blue being turned into the blue one. The Emperor ended up being Jet Black, Joe’s father, who worked as Captain Blue’s cinematographer and obtained a Black V-Watch after being twisted into evil when he found a cursed piece of celluloid known as the Black Film. While similar to the original game, this time around players could choose between Joe and Silvia and switch between them during gameplay using the “Viewtiful Switch”. Both characters shared health and VFX Power. Instead of Mach Speed, Silvia had the VFX Power “Replay”, which allowed her to record and repeat an event three times in succession but had the same benefits and cost as Joe’s ability. They also had a team-up attack utilizing the Six Machine, in place of an initially-teased co-op feature. An additional gameplay mode, the “36 Chambers of Viewtiful”, was a series of stages designed to test the player’s skills to accomplish set goals.

The Black Emperor.

The game released in Japan on November 18, 2004, with North America’s landing on December 8^th. This time it was directed by Masaaki Yamada as Kamiya had signed on to direct Ōkami; although Kamiya contributed to the storyline scenario in order to maintain continuity. Reviews were once again generally positive, but the game still didn’t make a strong impact on the sales charts; selling 270,000 copies in North America and 80,000 copies in Japan, and failing to chart at all in the United Kingdom.

To coincide with the sequel, Clover commissioned the creation of a manga published in V Jump magazine and an anime based on the games. Produced by Group TAC, the anime largely followed the same plot of the games. Joe (Tomokazu Seki & Jason Palmer) had been largely neglectful of his girlfriend, Silvia (Natsuko Kuwatani & Philece Sampler), until she was abducted into the movie screen where they were watching the film of his idol, Captain Blue (Banjou Ginga & Bob Papenbrook until his death, then Paul St. Paul). Joe was brought into Movieland by Captain Blue and his mech (renamed Machine Six in the English dub) and given the V-Watch, turning Joe into a superhero of his own. He set out to rescue Silvia in his own bumbling fashion, dealing with members of Jadow he encountered along the way. Silvia was shown to be proactive while waiting for Joe to rescue her; using her charms on her captors to keep herself somewhat comfortable while she actively looked for a way to escape.

The bad guys (from top): Alastor, Gran Bruce, Charles III, Fire Leo, Hulk Davidson and Another Joe (an alternate form for Alastor).

All of the villains from the game were featured, including Blade Master Alastor (Shinichiro Miki & Milton Lawrence), who wasn’t really loyal to the Jadow cause so much as looking for the ultimate battle, becoming an admirer of Joe’s skills and declaring him his rival (and ultimately gave Joe the “Viewtiful” part of his name when Joe misheard him say “beautiful”); Iron Ogre Hulk Davidson (Akimitsu Takase & Jamieson Price [as Joe Cooker]), a rhino-like strongman who loved to collect motorcycles and sing (badly); Dark Fiend King Charles III (Mitsuru Ogata & Terrence Stone), a bat-like being that spent his time napping in a coffin in his haunted temple; Inferno Lord Fire Leo (Yōji Ueda & Jonathan Lipow), a flaming lion with sharp talons that got annoyed by Joe constantly thinking he’s a dog; Aquatic Terror Gran Bruce (likely named after the animatronic shark featured in Jaws, voiced by Shouto Kashii & Lawrence), a humanoid shark wearing scuba gear with an inability to finish sentences and a limited intellect; and the Biankies (Stone), the legion of faceless, nameless, brainless minions that comprise the bulk of the Jadow’s forces. Biankies came in various forms: the helicopter or jet-powered Verdy, the ballerina Prima, the sword-wielding Red Leader, the elite Jokester, and the cowboy Bianco Billy.

Joe, Silvia and Junior in his eventual powered-up form.

New characters created specifically for the anime included Sprocket (Mayumi Asano & Wendee Lee), the second-in-command of the Jadow who was from Earth as well and was pulled into Movieland with Blue; Captain Blue Jr. (or just Junior, voiced by Makoto Tsumura & Katie Leigh), a fanboy of Captain Blue who was meant to become his successor but instead joined Joe on his quest; and Jefferson Buik, another member of Blue’s film crew who was sucked into Movieland and stumbled upon the Jadow’s plans, making him the most wanted man in the land.

Gran Bruce gets a little over-inflated.

Viewtiful Joe debuted on TV Tokyo in Japan on October 2, 2004. Geneon Entertainment (now NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan) would distribute the anime to The WB on the Kids’ WB! programming block on November 5, 2005. The anime retained the overall cel-shaded look and feel of the games as Inaba and his team provided Group TAC their designs, plus designed the new characters for the anime. Yukiko Oohashi was also credited as a character designer, with Nobuaki Nagano handling the Mecha designs. Animation was done by AniVillage, BUZZ, Digital Engine, EASIA, Hayashi, Hiryu Animation, Meta Studio, Studio Sign and Triple A. The English dub maintained one of the two theme songs performed by SaGa, “Brighter Side”. The rest of the series’ music was composed by Takehiko Gokita and Yuusuke Hayashi.

Sprocket zipping up.

The original anime was translated by Yurika Dennis with Grant Moran writing the new scripts, and Darlene Waddington writing the ADR scripts for the new voice recordings at phuuz entertainment. As with other anime imports, Joe was edited for content deemed a bit to risqué for American audiences. Some of those changes included editing out Joe’s middle finger during his transformation sequences; the amount of cleavage Sprocket displayed and her constantly zipping up her jumpsuit; and Sexy Silvia being renamed Go-Go Silvia. A new sense of comedy was infused by giving the various villain characters over-the-top personalities and filling Joe’s dialogue with a lot of outdated “cool dude” slang. Additionally, jokes about Blue’s weight were frequent. For whatever reason, the first episode aired of the dub was the 5^th episode, “Howdy, Partner!”, which introduced Junior. The actual first episodes wouldn’t air until the following month.

Promo art for Red Hot Rumble, featuring some of the season 2 characters.

The anime actually ran for two seasons, however only the first was ever dubbed in English. The series was dropped from the network once it made the branding changeover to The CW, but did air in its entirety in other territories like China and Latin America. As with the second game, the second season focused on the Gedow invasion led by Joe’s father, Jet Black (Jȗrôta Kosugi & Carlos Vitale in the Latin America dub), after he was corrupted by the Black Film and gained his own Black V-Watch. When not under the influence of the Evil King possessing him, Jet would actually aid Joe and his crew, unaware of his role as their foe. Junior gained a transformation of his own by being given V-Yo-Yos, while Blue was turned into a hammer with magical properties. The heroes would chase the Gedow through various film parodies to prevent them from ruining their happy endings, which would allow the Evil King to escape into the real world and control humanity’s dreams. Instead of the Rainbow Oscars from the game (likely for legal reasons), the heroes had to find the White Film—one of the first shot with Captain Blue and imbued with the power of justice.

The new bad guys (clockwise from top): Frost Tiger, Rachel, Dr. Cranken, Flinty Stone, Big John and Cameo Leon.

Along with the former minions from the Jadow, the Gedow came with new foes in the form of Drill Sergeant Big John, a Tyrannosaurus Rex clad in army gear; Blizzard Hazard Frost Tiger, the icy brother of Fire Leo; Cyber Phantom Cameo Leon, a humanoid chameleon capable of turning invisible; Ancient Guardian Flinty Stone (likely a play on The Flintstones), a narcoleptic sentient stone with an Aztec motif; Serial Killer Android Miss Bloody Rachel, an android built with all the data of Joe and Silvia and the ability to turn into other members of the Gedow, but managed to develop a heart and turn against her programming; Dr. Cranken, a squid-like mad scientist that was the Gedow’s second-in-command and responsible for creating most of their weaponry and minions; and Flaties, the foot-soldiers of the Gedow.

Joe drooling over Captain Blue merch while Silvia tries to have a serious discussion with him.

Unless you watched this season as it aired, it’s very hard to come by. It only aired in Japan once, and Cartoon Network, where it was carried in Latin America, aired it during the late-night hours. It also never saw release on home media, with only a few episodes of the Chinese subs, poor-quality recordings of only a few of the early Japanese episodes, and fan-recordings of the Spanish dubs preserving that version in its entirety popping up on video hosting sites on the internet.

The DVDs.

Geneon released the first season across 8 DVDs and UMDs between 2006-07. In a partnership with Kids Foot Locker, copies of the DVDs were included with purchases at the retailers. SaGa released two CD singles of their songs from the anime in 2005, both came with a DVD featuring a music clip while the singles for “Brighter Side” and “And You” featured the opening and ending cinematics with those songs. A full soundtrack of the series’ music was made available on CD, and also packaged with a special edition of the first DVD collection along with a lenticular cover. Using screenshots from the anime, Capcom published five manga-style film books in 2005. In 2006, Jazwares released a single wave of action figure 2-packs featuring Joe in both forms, Captain Blue, Junior, Charles III and a Bianky (however, they were packaged together randomly rather than in any set combination, making it difficult to get a complete set without duplication).

Joe knocking around Captain America on Spider-Man's stage in Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

Although Viewtiful Joe 2 ended with an allusion to another direct sequel, one has not yet been produced. Instead, two spin-off games were released in 2005. Red Hot Rumble, a mission-based platform fighter similar to Super Smash Bros., featured established Joe characters as well as the new characters and footage from the anime; however, the regular game actors reprised their respective roles, with Tara Strong taking over Junior and Vanessa Marshall the additional female roles. Double Trouble!, a Nintendo DS exclusive, was a 2D side-scroller that utilized the console’s touch screen mechanic and introduced Joe’s sister, Jasmine (Hynden Walch), who offered Joe support during gameplay. Clover was shut down in early 2007 after the departures of Kamiya, Inaba and Mikami from Capcom, effectively putting an end to the Joe franchise. Joe, however, has appeared as a playable character in the Wii version of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars in 2008 and both versions of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 in 2011. Joe-inspired costumes also appeared in Dead Rising 4 as part of the Capcom Heroes mode, giving protagonist Frank West several of Joe’s moves, and in Street Fighter V Arcade Edition for the character Rashid.

       

EPISODE GUIDE:

Season 1:

“Just a Dude Named Joe” (10/2/04 JAP, 12/16/05 US) – Silvia is kidnapped into Movieland by minions of Jadow, and Joe is given powers by Captain Blue to rescue her.

 

“What’s-His-Name to the Rescue!” (10/9/04 JAP, 12/16/05 US) – Joe tracks Silvia and her captor down and eventually defeats him, but she ends up abducted again before they can reunite.

 

“Dude, Did You Say Viewtiful?” (10/16/04 JAP, 12/16/05 US) – Silvia is dropped into a new prison while Joe is made to face off against two foes on a deserted island.

 

“Tutus to You, Too” (10/23/04 JAP, 12/23/05 US) – Silvia begins to comfortably adjust to life as a prisoner prompting Sprocket to break her spirits by showing edited footage of Joe losing his fights.

 

“Howdy, Partner!” (10/30/04 JAP, 11/5/05 US) – Joe comes across the home of Captain Blue and defends it from a motorcycle gang, ending up with the Captain’s former protégé in tow.

 

“Junior Sucks it Up” (11/6/04 JAP, 11/12/05 US) – Joe summons Captain Blue’s flying machine in order to deal with Jadow’s aerial assault.

 

“Attack of the Slugoon Platoon” (11/13/04 JAP, 11/19/05 US) – A hot new kid’s product ends up being a ploy by a Jadow goon to take over their minds and turn them into a personal army.

 

“Fire on the Mountain” (11/20/04 JAP, 11/26/05 US) – Joe and Junior encounter and battle Fire Leo as Alastor watches on, curious as to what Silvia sees in Joe.

 

“Roamin’ Holiday” (11/27/04 JAP, 12/3/05 US) – Joe and Junior come across a town with no food, and after a girl gives Joe some bread he ends up promptly arrested.

 

“No Kidding” (12/4/04 JAP, 12/10/05 US) – Charles III, Hulk Davidson and Gran Bruce come together to create an invincible robot to take out Joe.

 

“When Pigments Fly” (12/11/04 JAP, 12/17/05 US) – Joe and Junior must reclaim and restore a town’s color from two Jadow agents.

 

“Dude, Where’s My V-Watch?” (12/18/04 JAP, 1/7/06 US) – Joe gets fooled by a shapeshifting Jadow agent who disguises themselves as Silvia to steal his V-Watch.

 

“The Fugitive From Beyond the Screen” (12/25/04 JAP, 1/14/06 US) – Jefferson Buik stumbles upon the Jadow’s plans and looks for a hero to tell, but he ignores Joe entirely in favor of Junior.

 

“Jadow Greatest Hits Collection” (1/8/05 JAP, 1/21/06 US) – The Jadow agents disobey a direct order and head into the editing room to alter their footage to make themselves look better.

 

“To Have and to Hold Captive” (1/15/05 JAP, 1/28/06 US) – Not only must Joe free a town from Jadow, but he must stop the wedding of Silvia and Alastor!

 

“A Fairy’s Tale” (1/22/05 JAP, 2/4/06 US) – Joe and Junior decide to stick around when they discover a mysterious girl being extremely protective of a mystic flower.

 

“Captain Blue vs. the Squid of Inescapable Doom” (1/29/05 JAP, 2/11/06 US) – Joe and Alastor spar to cheer up a sick kid, but Jadow agents make the show a difficult one.

 

“V-Watch Out!” (2/5/05 JAP, 2/18/06 US) – Joe’s V-Watch ends up in the wash and may not make it through intact.

 

“V is For…Veggie-Burger?!” (2/15/05 JAP, 2/25/06 US) – Entering a new city ends up putting Joe and Junior on the hunt for a runaway girl.

 

“Express Train to Yesterday” (2/19/05 JAP, 3/4/06 US) – Joe, Hulk Davidson, Charles III and Gran Bruce all mysteriously end up on a train bound for Toyland.

 

“Bianco Billy Rides Again” (2/26/05 JAP, 3/25/06 US) – Junior ends up separated from Joe and finds himself forced to deal with a new foe on his own.

 

“Cleanliness is Next to Escape-liness” (3/5/05 JAP, 4/22/06 US) – Silvia discovers some footage from her childhood in the Jadow base, as well as a possible means of escape.

 

“Crush Hour” (3/12/05 JAP, 4/29/06 US) – Joe and Junior save Silvia from a clock tower, but before they can celebrate Alastor challenges Joe to a fight.

 

“Hero Takes a Fall” (3/19/05 JAP, 5/6/06 US) – Joe and Junior must save a town from Hulk Davidson, Gran Bruce and Charles III.

 

“In the Belly of the Jadow Beast” (3/26/05 JAP, 5/13/06 US) – Joe gets help from an unlikely ally in rescuing Silvia from Fire Leo and discovers the true identity of Almighty Leader.

 

“It All Comes Down to a Dude Named Joe” (4/2/05 JAP, 5/20/06 US) – The support from his friends allows Joe to defeat Blue and Silvia is given her own V-Watch to become Joe’s sidekick.

 

Season 2 (aired in Japan only):

“The New Enemy! Gedow’s Invasion” (4/9/05) – The Black Emperor seeks to ruin the happy endings of movies and turns Captain Blue into a hammer.

 

“Junior’s Transformation, Henshin a Yo-Yo” (4/16/05) – Junior gains his own power and joins the heroes while Blue’s former minions join Gedow, currently invading a dinosaur movie.

 

“Silvia and the Woman Who Summons Storms!” (4/23/05) – Gedow corrupts a robot and has her unleash tornadoes on her own film while Silvia comes across a depowered Alastor.

 

“Wild Wild Kick!” (4/30/05) – Gedow spoils a sports movie by making a kids’ soccer team so good that they no longer need their coach for motivation.

 

“The Alien Next Door” (5/7/05) – Joe joins up with a pair of men in black suits to stop a group of aliens the Gedow changed from being peaceful.

 

“Fierceness! The Cannon Race” (5/14/05) – Joe must stop Gedow from sucking the passion out of the racers in a film to save it.

 

“A Lot of Heroes!” (5/21/05) – Joe and his friends must find a way to bring back all the supervillains to a superhero film.

 

“Reclaiming the Black Diamond!” (5/28/05) – Gedow tries to make off with a diamond that will ruin the end of a heist movie, but Joe and his friends are ready to stop it.

 

“A Kind, Mysterious Person from Gedow?!” (6/4/05) – Rachel uses the Blue Hammer to turn a killer robot good, but it calls on Joe for help when the people still fear it.

 

“The Target is Joe!” (6/11/05) – Joe and his friends confront Rachel, who has used Captain Blue to suck all the electricity from a city.

 

“Burning Metal Heart!” (6/18/05) – After defeating Joe and his friends, Rachel suddenly stops taking orders from Gedow and rescues them from their enemies.

 

“Revived lack Wings!” (6/25/05) – Alastor seeks to restore the power to his alternate form while Joe and his friends try to save a town from perpetual Halloween.

 

“Enemy is Captain Blue!” (7/2/05) – Joe and his friends enter the Black Film to investigate appearances of Captain Blue, and discover him within acting very strangely.

 

“Movieland Crumbles!” (7/9/05) – The Black Emperor’s machinations causes Movieland to break and fissure apart.

 

“Courageously Engraving the Earth!” (7/16/05) – Joe and his friends get help surviving in the desert by a man and his son, who happen to be on the run from some knights.

 

“Raw Hook-up! Joe VS Junior” (7/23/05) – Joe and Junior end up on a television show where they’re forced to fight each other.

 

“Sprocket’s Love for Glasses!” (7/30/05) – Sprocket seeks to steal Silvia’s glasses to use them to lead her to the white negative.

 

“The Flaming Lion Returns!” (8/6/05) – Frost Tiger intends to destroy the castle of the ice princess Fire Leo has become infatuated with.

 

“Gedow’s Romantic Operation!” (8/13/05) – Silvia becomes annoyed with Joe ignoring her on their boat trip and then comes across a mysterious object that makes people fall in love.

 

“Rachel’s Trasured Item” (8/20/05) – Dr. Cranken tricks Rachel into accepting a heart that will reawaken her dark side.

 

“Actual Records! Gedow’s Battle is Confirmed!” (8/27/05) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.

 

“Fierce Battle! Eternal Rival!” (9/3/05) – As Joe and his friends prepare to leave Movieland, Alastor takes his chance to engage his rival in one final battle.

 

“Triumph! Gedow Destroyed” (9/10/05) – Joe and his friends are joined by their old Jadow enemies in the real world to take on the Black Emperor.

 

“Exhibition! Viewtiful Film Festival” (9/17/05) – Jet is revealed to be the host of the Black Emperor, but he begins to fight back against his darker side.

 

“Tomorrow’s Hero is You!” (9/24/05) – The heroes, rendered powerless, find new power in the first film shot of Captain Blue brimming with the power of justice.

TRANSFORMERS: ROBOTS IN DISGUISE (2000)

 

TRANSFORMERS: ROBOTS IN DISGUISE (2000)
(TV Tokyo, April 5-December 27, 2000 JAP
FOX, September 8, 2001-March 23, 2002 US)
 
We’ve, Nihon Ad Systems, TV Tokyo, Saban Entertainment (US)

 

MAIN CAST:

Neil Kaplan (English) – Optimus Prime, Ro-Tor

Satoshi Hashimoto (Japanese) – Fire Convoy/Optimus Prime, God Fire Convoy/Omega Prime

Daniel Riordan (English) – Megatron/Galvatron, Omega Prime

Yōichi Kobiyama (Japanese) – Gigatron/Devil Gigatron/Megatron/Galvatron

Masao Harada (Japanese) – Hepter/Ro-Tor, Kenta’s father/Carl’s father, Yoshimoto’s assistant

Takashi Matsuyama (Japanese) & Kim Strauss (English) – God Magnus/Ultra Magnus

Sandy Fox (English) – T-AI, Dorie Dutton (1 episode)

Chieko Higuchi (Japanese) – Ai/T-AI, Junko/Kelly

Wayne C. Lewis (English) – Prowl, various

Takayuki Kondō (Japanese) – Mach Alert/Prowl, Danger/Armorhide

Wally Wingert (English) – Side Burn, Mirage

Shunta Kobayashi (as Punch UFO) (Japanese) – Speedbreaker/Side Burn

Ryō Naitō (Japanese) – Counter Arrow/Mirage, Goosher/Slapper

Masahiro Shibahara (Japanese) & Bob Joles (English) – Wild Ride/X-Brawn

Steve Blum (English) – W.A.R.S., Dark Scream, Fortress Maximus

Masayuki Kiyama (Japanese) – Brave Maximus/Fortress Maximus, Plasma/Cerebros

Steve Kramer (English) – R.E.V., Cerebros

Kizatomi Nimura (Japanese) – Eagle Killer/R.E.V.

David Lodge (English) – Midnight Express, Rail Racer

Naomi Matamura (Japanese) – J-Four/Midnight Express

Mike Reynolds (English) – Railspike

Hisashi Izumi (as Shōji Izumi) (Japanese) – JRX/Rail Racer, J-Five/Railspike, Daichi Ōnishi/Dr. Kenneth Onishi

Keith Diamond (English) – Rapid Run

Eiji Takemoto (Japanese) – J-Seven/Rapid Run, Artfire/Hot Shot, Dr. Akashi/Dr. Akase

Michael McConnohie (English) – Hot Shot, Ironhide, Dr. Yoshimoto

Ōsuke Yoda (Japanese) – Ox/Ironhide

Dan Woren (English) – Crosswise, Yoshimoto’s assistant

Junichi Miura (Japanese) – X-Car/Crosswise

Yūki Tamaki (Japanese) & Michael Reisz (English) – Build Boy/Wedge, Build King/Landfill

Yoshikazu Nagano (Japanese) & Daran Norris (English) – Build Typhoon/Heavy Load

Joe Ochman (English) – Hightower

Masami Iwasaki (Japanese) – Build Cyclone/Hightower, Wrekcer Hook/Tow-Line

Tom Wyner (English) – Grimlock

Hiroki Takahashi (Japanese) – Build Hurricane/Grimlock, Guildo/Dark Scream

Atsushi Kondo (as Konta) (Japanese) & Peter Spellos (English) – Gelshark/Sky-Byte

Peter Lurie (English) – Slapper

Norio Imamura (Japanese) & Jerry DeCapua (English) – Gaskunk/Gas Skunk

Taiten Kusunoki (Japanese) & Barry Stigler (English) – Black Convoy/Scourge

Holly Kaneko (Japanese) & Bob Papenbrook (English) – Dolrailer/Mega-Octane, Baldigus/Ruination

Richard Epcar (English) – Armorhide

Michael Lindsay (English) – Rollbar, Skid-Z

Riki Kitazawa (Japanese) – Greejeeber/Rollbar, Wars/W.A.R.S.

Hidenori Konda (Japanese) & Robert Axelrod (English) – Shuttler/Movor

Akikio Kimura (Japanese) & Jason Spisak (English) – Yūki Onishi/Koji Onishi

Philece Sampler (English) – Kelly

 

At the end of the 20^th Century, Beast Wars was the dominant entry in the Transformers franchise. Mainframe Entertainment’s CGI cartoon was a hit in North America and eventually made its way over to Japan as Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers the following year with a decidedly more kid-friendly dub. While waiting for the second and third seasons to be localized, two exclusive Japanese anime entries were made to fill the gap: Beast Wars II and Beast Wars Neo. The American-produced episodes then resumed as Beast Wars Metals. The sequel series, Beast Machines, wouldn’t hit Japan until 2004 under the name Beast Wars Returns.

In the interim, there was another anime produced called Transformers: Car Robots. It was the final entry of the Japanese-exclusive Generation 1 cartoon continuity. Set on Earth at the turn of the century, the evil Gigatron (otherwise known as Megatron, voiced by Yōichi Kobiyama) led his Destronger faction—an elite unit of Predacons—through a dimensional fissure to conquer both our planet and Cybertron. Gigatron was able to further bolster his ranks by taking protoforms (Autobot blank slates, basically the first stage in their lifecycle), time-displaced from several decades in the future, and converting them into Combatrons. Following them to foil their schemes was Fire Convoy (otherwise known as Optimus Prime, voiced by Satoshi Hashimoto) and his Autobot Dimensional Patrol. The anime debuted on TV Tokyo on April 5, 2000 and ran until that December. It was the first Transformers anime to be animated by Animation Studio Gallop and Dong Woo Animation; replacing long-time franchise animators Ashi Productions.

Transtech concept design for Silverbolt.

Over in North America, a follow-up to Beast Machines was in the works called Transtech. It would have featured returning Beast Machines characters Blackarachnia, Cheetor, Nightscream, Silverbolt and Rattrap with the addition of Beast Wars character Depth Charge and Generation 1 characters Optimus Prime, Shockwave and Starscream, as well as all-new character Immorticon. While not much is known about the story, the proposed toy designs by Canadian studio Draxhall Jump saw characters transform into Cybertronic vehicles with animalistic features; such as Cheetor becoming a race car with a paint job reminiscent of a cheetah and Optimus Prime becoming a truck with an ape face on the front end (invoking his Beast Wars counterpart, Optimus Primal). These designs were shown at The Official Transformers Collectors Convention in 2002 before being pulled by Hasbro, and online retailer BigBadToyStore posted preliminary listings for 2001 Transformers offerings that included the proposed characters of the Transtech line.

Megatron, aka Gigatron.

Transtech was eventually scrapped (although the name was recycled several times in the franchise) due to the Beast Machines’ toyline’s poor performance, the financial instability being experienced by the company at the time, and the introduction of Brian Goldner as CEO, who wanted a “back to basics” approach to the franchise. It was at this point that Hasbro decided to work directly with Takara (now Takara Tomy), the originators of the Transformers toys, to develop the next entry together for the first time: Transformers: Armada. However, they needed something to keep the franchise fresh in consumers’ minds while they worked. It was decided to import one of the exclusive anime programs and its toyline for the first time; settling on the recently-concluded Car Robots. This would not only mark a return to the roots of the franchise with the Autobots fighting the Decepticons while using realistic modern Earth vehicle forms, but would be the first cel-animated production after five years of strictly computer animation. It would also be the first in this period to not feature a Canadian voice cast.

 

Optimus Prime.

The localization, renamed Robots in Disguise, took a slightly different approach to the story. In order to stop Megatron (Daniel Riordan) and his Predacons from attacking Earth, Optimus Prime (Neil Kaplan) and the Autobots hid themselves in secret among the human population as common vehicles. Megatron’s opening salvo was to kidnap famous scientist Dr. Kenneth Onishi (first name revealed in episode summaries, Daichi Ohnishi in the anime, voiced by Shōji Izumi & Kirk Thornton), an archaeologist and leading expert on energy (as well as train enthusiast), who held the secret to the locations of ancient Cybertronian O-Parts on Earth. The Autobots would eventually rescue Onishi with the aid of his son, Koji (Yūki in the anime, voiced by Akikio Kimura & Jason Spisak), and the race was on to find the remaining O-Parts and resurrect Fortress Maximus (Brave Maximus in the anime, voiced by Masayuki Kiyama & Steve Blum)—an immense Autobot guardian hidden on Earth to protect it from evil—before the Predacons. 

The Autobot Brothers: Side Burn, Prowl and X-Brawn.

Unlike other iterations of Transformers, the Optimus of Robots in Disguise changed into firetruck rather than a semi. His team of Autobots included several subgroups: the Autobot Brothers, Team Bullet Train, the Spychangers and the Build Team. The Autobot Brothers were Optimus’ three most-trusted allies: X-Brawn (Wild Ride in the anime, voiced by Masahiro Shibahara & Bob Joles), a rough-and-tumble cowboy that turned into a Mercedes-Benz ML320 SUV; Prowl (Mach Alert in the anime, voiced by Takayuki Kondō & Wayne C. Lewis), a strict by-the-book police bot that took it upon himself to keep everyone in line and turned into a Lamborghini Diabolo police highway pursuit vehicle (painted in Japanese police ministry colors); and Side Burn (Speedbreaker in the anime, voiced by Punch UFO & Wally Wingert), who loved being lazy almost as much as sexy red sports cars, and turned into a Dodge Viper. 

Team Bullet Train: Railspike, Midnight Express and Rapid Run.

Team Bullet Train was a trio of deep-cover operatives that took on the form of Shinkansen bullet trains: leader Railspike (J-Five in the anime, voiced by Izumi & Mike Reynolds), who always tried to lead by example and was often frustrated by his younger teammates, turned into a 500 Series Nozomi; Rapid Run (J-Seven in the anime, voiced by Eiji Takemoto & Keith Diamond), who was the strongest of the three, cool-headed and sarcastic, and always ready for action, turned into a 700 Series Hikari Rail Star; and Midnight Express (J-Four in the anime, voiced by Naomi Matamura & David Lodge), who was easily flustered and had a habit of getting lost and separated from his teammates, transformed into an E4 Series “Max”. All three could merge together to become the powerful Rail Racer (JRX in the anime, also Izumi & Lodge). 

The Spychangers (clockwise from top): Ironhide, R.E.V., Crosswise, W.A.R.S., Mirage and Hot Shot.

The Spychangers were a special team of stealthy ninjas: Hot Shot (Artfire in the anime, voiced by Takemoto & Michael McConnohie), the leader with pyrokinetic abilities and a  gruff, no-nonsense, duty-driven personality that changed into a Porsche 959; R.E.V. (Race Exertion Vehicle, Eagle Killer in the anime, voiced by Kizatomi Nimura & Steve Kramer), the tactical officer with superior leaping skills that could change into a Lamborghini Diablo; Crosswise (X-Car in the anime, voiced by Junichi Miura & Dan Woren), the gravity-manipulating brains of the group that liked to keep busy maintaining and upgrading his teammates when not researching the potential of Spark Engines (a device that would be used to give many of the Autobots a super form that enhanced their particular abilities), and transformed into a rear-engine concept sports car; W.A.R.S. (Wicked Attack Recon Sportscar, simply Wars in the anime, voiced by Riki Kitazawa & Blum), a belligerent and violent bot that could turn into Ford Thunderbird stock car; Ironhide (Ox in the anime, voiced by Ōsuke Yoda & McConnohie), the super strong and short-tempered transport expert that kept his team well-supplied and could turn into a Ford F-150 pickup truck; and Mirage (Counter Arrow in the anime, voiced by Ryō Naitō & Wingert), Ironhide’s best friend—despite being a loner that preferred to work solo—that could drive on almost any surface and make himself invisible, and turned into a Lola T94 Indy Car.

The Build Team: Grimlock, Wedge, Hightower and Heavy Load.

 The Build Team were engineers and architects keeping Autobot technology and their base functional. Wedge (Build Boy in the anime, voiced by Yūki Tamaki & Michael Reisz) was the chief architect and designer of the Global Space Bridge the Autobots used to teleport around the planet quickly. However, he was a hot-head with a strong desire to prove himself in battle, often putting himself in unnecessary harm. He transformed into a bulldozer. Heavy Load (Build Typhoon in the anime, voiced by Yoshikazu Nagano & Darran Norris) was the most powerful member of the team with incredibly thick armor and a proficiency in martial arts. He turned into a dump truck. Hightower (Build Cyclone in the anime, voiced by Masami Iwasaki & Joe Ochman) was the team’s marksman whose weapon of choice, oddly, was an imprecise flamethrower, and who had an incredible admiration for Wedge; acting as both his bodyguard and advisor. He turned into a crane truck. Grimlock (Build Hurricane in the anime, voiced by Hiroki Takahashi & Tom Wyner) was the team’s tactician, most seasoned warrior, and whose rough-looking exterior belied his calm and upbeat demeanor. He turned into a backhoe. The Build Team could all combine into the powerful Landfill (Build King in the anime, also Tamaki & Reisz).

Skid-Z getting a celebratory shower.

Not affiliated with any subgroup were Skid-Z (Indy Heat in the anime, voiced by Jin Nishimura & Michael Lindsay), a Penske PC-18 Indy Car who was extremely fast and extremely competitive with an intense drive for victory, and Tow-Line (Wrecker Hook in the anime, voiced by Iwasaki & Lex Lang), a tow truck with an almost compulsive desire to tow any vehicle away he deemed as not adhering to human traffic laws (including emergency vehicles on a call and children’s bikes). T-AI, or Tractical Artifical Intelligence (Ai in the anime, voiced by Chieko Higuchi & Sandy Fox), was the Autobots’ main computer system in their base that kept tabs on events around the planet and coordinated the Autobot response to them. She projected herself in hologram form as a human woman in a maroon Japanese police uniform. 

Ultra Magnus vs. Optimus Prime.

They would eventually be joined by Ultra Magnus (God Magnus in the anime, voiced by Takashi Matsuyama & Kim Strauss), Optimus’ jealous brother who resented his being given the Matrix of Leadership over him. He initially came to Earth to try and take it by force, but ended up reluctantly joining the Autobots in the battle against the Predacons. He and Optimus could combine into the doubly-powerful Omega Prime (God Fire Convoy in the anime, voiced by Hashimoto & Riordan). Magnus’ alternate form was a car carrier that could transport the Autobot Brothers.

Sky-Byte, Slapper and Dark Scream.

Like Optimus, Megatron forewent his usual transformation into a gun to take on several forms: a giant bat, a two-headed dragon, a jet, a unique-looking racecar, and a giant hand. Eventually, an accident at an ancient location would see Megatron evolve into the more powerful Galvatron (Devil Gigatron in the anime). Megatron’s forces initially consisted of the Predacons, including Slapper (Goosher in the anime, voiced by Ryō Naitō & Peter Lurie), a stealthy dim-witted thug with a cruel sense of humor that turned into a techno-organic toad;  Gas Skunk (similarly Gaskunk in the anime, voiced by Norio Imamura & Jerry DeCapua), a skilled inventor with extensive knowledge of Cybertronian law and computer programming that often managed to mangle large words when he spoke, was a bully and a coward, and turned into a techno-organic skunk; Dark Scream (Guildo in the anime, voiced by Takahashi & Blum), a skilled—but weak—swordsman useful for aerial transport and recon (despite his poor flight skills) that turned into a techno-organic flying squirrel;  and Sky-Byte (Gelshark in the anime, voiced by Konta & Peter Spellos), whose constant need for validation from Megatron often undercut his intelligence and military prowess, and changed into a techno-organic shark..

The Decepticons in vehicle mode being led by Scourge.

Eventually, they were joined by the Decepticons: Autobot protoforms corrupted by the darkness in Megatron’s spark. Along with Scourge (Black Convoy in the anime, voiced by Taitem Kusunoki & Barry Stigler), an evil doppelganger of Optimus (except he turned into a Western Star 4964 EX truck) with ambitions of overthrowing Megatron, there were the Commandos: Mega-Octane (Dolrailer in the anime, voiced by Holly Kaneko & Bob Papenbrook), the cool-headed militaristic leader of the Decepticons that often had to keep hot-headed Scourge at bay, and turned into a flatbed truck with a cannon; Ro-Tor (Hepter in the anime, voiced by Masao Harada & Kaplan), arrogant and smarmy with near-silent flight capabilities and amazing maneuverability in his alternate form as a Kaman Aerospace SH-2 Seasprite helicopter; Armorhide (Danger in the anime, voiced by Kondō & Richard Epcar), an aggressive warrior that liked taking cover under scorching hot sand and could become a Leopard 1A3 MBT tank; Rollbar (Greejeeber in the anime, voiced by Riki Kitazawa & Lindsay), a martial artist with more restraint in combat than his teammates that became a FMC XR311 combat support vehicle; and Movor (Shuttler in the anime, voiced by Hidenori Konda & Robert Axelrod), who was able to rain fire down from orbit with devastating results (however very poor aim), thanks to his ability to become a space shuttle. The Commandos could combine to form the deadly-efficient fighter Ruination (Baldigus in the anime, also Kaneto & Papenbrook).

Koji talking to Optimus.

Other characters included Dorie Dutton (unnamed in the anime, voiced by Mariko Nagahama & Tiffanie Christun, with Fox redubbing 1 episode), who was a reporter that typically found herself in the midst of some robot activity; Carl (Kenta in the anime, voiced by Mariko Nagahama & Joshua Seth) was one of Koji’s friends whose father designed and built industrial machinery; Jenny (Miki in the anime, voiced by Mami Fukai & Colleen O’Shaughnessey), another of Carl’s friends; and Kelly (Junko Shiragami in the anime, voiced by Chieko Higuchi & Philece Sampler), who was a bystander with the running gag of always having the bad luck of having her day derailed by the Transformers’ battles. Kelly was never audibly named on screen in the English dub; instead, her name was revealed on a casting sheet released when the show premiered. However, in the Italian dub of “Secret Weapon: D-5”, she mentioned her name in a moment of self-congratulation. There was also Cerebros (Plasma in the anime, voiced by Masayuki Kiyama & Steve Kramer), a mindless drone that was the key to controlling Fortress Maximus, and Emissary (Brave in the anime), a robot whose only function was to transform into Maximus’ head.

T-AI monitoring the situation.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise debuted on FOX on September 8, 2001 as part of the final line-up of the Fox Kids programming block. Localization was handled by Saban Entertainment, who owned and programmed Fox Kids at the time. The English dialogue was written by Kramer, Epcar, Wyner, McConnohie, Marc Handler and Matthew V. Lewis and largely stuck to the intent of the original. Car Robots was aimed at a much younger audience than Hasbro usually shot for and featured many typical anime light-comedy tropes (exaggerated faces, giant drops of sweat, etc.). Robots in Disguise kept some semblance that humor in place; however more cultural humor was side-stepped and dialogue could differ wildly from the Japanese scripts. Despite being technically a whole-new continuity for the franchise (the very first reboot in its history), Hasbro employee Andrew Frankel often added references to past Transformers series when scripts were submitted for approval; creating some confusion for fans as to where exactly Robots in Disguise fit into established canon (further confused by Takara clarifying where Car Robots fit in to the overall Japanese Generation 1 continuity). New music was composed by Deddy Tzur, Paul Gordon, Glenn Lacey, David Hilker and John Costello, with the international music and theme composed by Shuki Levy and Haim Saban (as Kussa Mahchi).

All-new CGI targeting overlay.

Personalities for some of the characters were entirely reworked. Dark Scream lost his samurai overtones to become more of a thug. Megatron gained a theatrical flair and a tendency to throw tantrums. Rapid Run was changed from a gruff, seasoned warrior into a young, cool dude. Midnight Express went from being kid-like to an older fusspot with an aristocratic air, to name a few. CGI enhancements were made to episodes, including scene transitions based on the original Transformers cartoon and display overlays from the point of view of a character targeting their opponent.

Gaskunk carries away Kelly in her bomb-laden sports car.

Other edits came about as the result of unfortunate timing. Shortly after the series premiered, the United States was hit by the September 11 terrorist attacks. The episode “An Explosive Situation”, which dealt with a terrorist’s bomb, never aired again. “Battle Protocol!”, which featured the destruction of New York City buildings, had those sequences edited out. References to a plutonium energy generator exploding if attacked in “Spychangers to the Rescue” were altered to have the reactor instead threatening to crack open and release a gas harmful to the robots (they also took advantage of the redub to fix a line, add a line and remove a scene where a deflected missile destroys a truck). Additionally, episodes were quickly redubbed to remove any mention of terrorism or similar phrases. The episodes “Attack from Outer Space”, “Landfill” and “Sky-Byte Saves the Day” were deemed unsalvageable and never aired in the United States as a result; first premiering in Canada and the United Kingdom instead. Three clip shows were cobbled together to fill in the holes left by the missing episodes (Car Robots also had three clip show episodes, but Robots in Disguise never used them). As the series was initially airing six days a week, these new edits meant that the episodes aired out-of-order. The afflicted episodes were largely the ones that dealt with the ongoing O-Parts plotline.

Fortress Maximus.

A cute version of Optimus and Megatron were planned for inclusion in the kid-friendly Robot Heroes toyline in 2009, but were ultimately scrapped. Optimus, Prowl, Side Burn, Landfill, Ultra Magnus, Ironhide, Omega Prime and Ruination were included in the Transformers: Universe comic between 2003-04; one of three produced by 3H Productions as part of the Official Transformers Collector’s Club. Based on the toyline of the same name that was rereleases of prior figures from various lines, and was released annually during The Official Transformers Collectors Convention. Two script readings based on those stories were also conducted, with actors from various Transformers franchises reprising their respective roles. Optimus and Prowl made cameo appearances in Dreamwave Productions’ Transformers Armada #17 in 2003, and Optimus alone had a cameo in Transformers: Requiem of the Wreckers Annual from IDW Publishing in 2018. Dreamwave’s 20^th Anniversary Transformers Summer Special released in 2004 was an anthology featuring stories from various incarnations, including Robots in Disguise. Through it, readers were given a chance to vote for a Robots in Disguise or Beast Wars mini-series to be published the following year (Beast Wars won the vote, but Dreamwave’s closing kept it from ever being published). The Build Team would appear in a crowd shot of IDW’s Transformers: Lost Light #2 in 2017. Many of the characters would also appear in various entries of the Transformers: Timelines series by Fun Publications and throughout the 2005 IDW continuity.

Megatron vs. Landfill.

Maximum Entertainment, in association with Jetix, released the complete series in the United Kingdom across various volumes. Initially planning to release the series 2-discs at a time, they abandoned the plan after Volume One and released the entire show across two 3-disc sets from 2004-05. In 2007, tying into the release of the live-action film, they released three single-disc sets containing two episodes each, later combining them into one mega pack. The first 2007 release, Battle Protocol, was included in a 3-disc set that included episodes from RoboCop: The Animated Series and M.A.S.K. The second release, Evil Intent, was included in another set with episodes from Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation and Action Man (2000). The original 2004-05 releases were rereleased in 2007 with new artwork; the 2-disc set called Special Edition and the 3-disc sets called Season One and Season Two, respectively. The latter two were combined the following year into the Ultimate Collection.

Galvatron vs. Omega Prime.

Stormovie handled the home media releases in Italy, which included all-new opening and ending themes (the western and Japanese ones were included as special features). The first 16 episodes were released across four volumes in 2005. Episodes 1, 2, 14, 16 and 19 were combined and released as Transformers: Robots in Disguise II Film in 2007. Later, episodes 29-30, 32-33 and 37-39 were combined into Robots in Disguise II Film: Battaglia Finale. As for the United States, Robots in Disguise remains the only American-broadcast Transformers series to not even be partially released to home video. This was likely due to Disney’s acquisition of Fox Family Worldwide from Saban in 2001, which would include their dub of the series. While Saban would later reclaim some of their library from Disney in 2010 and 2012, Robots in Disguise likely wasn’t one of them. It remains the only English-language series not completely owned by Hasbro.

  

EPISODE GUIDE:

“Battle Protocol! (First Deployment! Fire Convoy)” (4/5/00 JAP, 9/8/01 US) – Koji joins the Autobots in rescuing his father from the Predacons, who kidnap him for his work with energy.

 

“An Explosive Situation (High-Speed Battle! Gelshark)” (4/12/00 JAP, 9/10/01 US) – Sky-Byte approaches the Predacons with a solution to their power troubles: steal an energy bomb planted in a sports car in the city.

 

“Bullet Train to the Rescue (Combine! Bullet Train Robo)” (4/14/00 JAP, 9/11 & 9/12/01 US*) – The Predacons target various trainlines with bombs, and Optimus brings in the Autobot Brothers and Team Bullet Train to help stop them.

*Aired earlier in select markets and widely the following day.

 

“Spychangers to the Rescue (Ninja Robo! The Spychangers Enter)” (4/26/00 JAP, 9/13/01 US) – T-AI calls in the Spychangers to help the Autobots keep the Predacons from making off with a plutonium energy generator.

 

“The Hunt for Black Pyramid (Resolute Jump! Mach Alert)” (5/3/00 JAP, 9/14/01 US) – The Predacons decide to tap into the underwater Black Pyramid for power just as Koji and Dr. Akase prepare to explore it.

 

“The Secret of the Ruins (Gigatron’s Raid!)” (5/10/00 JAP, 10/11/01 US) – Megatron launches an attack on the city in order to draw out the Autobots and keep them from interfering in Sky-Byte’s mission at some ancient ruins.

 

“Sideburn’s Obsession (Speedbreaker’s Crisis!)” (5/17/00 JAP, 9/15/01 US) – The Predacons use Side Burn’s taste in cars to lure him into a trap to serve as bait for a trap for Optimus.

 

“Secret Weapon: D-5 (Mysterious Weapon! D5)” (5/24/00 JAP, 9/17/01 US) – Stealing a disk from Dr. Onishi leads the Predacons to believe an old steam locomotive has some kind of significance they can take advantage of.

 

“Mirage’s Betrayal (Counterarrow’s Betrayal!?)” (5/31/00 JAP, 9/18/01 US) – Mirage turns the tables on the Predacons by taking advantage of a listening device the plant on him during a heist.

 

“Skid Z’s Choice (Out of Control! Indy Heat!)” (6/7/00 JAP, 9/19/01 US) – Assuming his alternate form causes newcomer Skid-Z to become obsessed with racing, necessitating the Autobots to find and fix him.

 

“Tow-Line Goes Haywire (Parking Violation! Wrecker Hook)” (6/14/00 JAP, 9/20/01 US) – New Autobot recruit Tow-Line is captured by the Predacons and reprogrammed to believe his friends are the enemy.

 

“The Ultimate Robot Warrior (The Ultimate Extreme! The Large Buddha Statue Transformer)” (6/21/00 JAP, 9/21/01 US) – Believing a movie Transformer is real, the Predacons set out to capture it and add it to their ranks.

 

“Hope for the Future (Gigatron’s Ambitions Revealed!)” (6/28/00 JAP, 10/26/01 US) – The Autobots review their encounters with the Predacons thus far to try and predict their next target.

 

“The Decepticons (Friend? Foe!? Black Convoy)” (7/5/00 JAP, 9/22/01 US) – A downed UFO ends up containing 6 protoforms, which the Predacons take and program into their new allies: the Decepticons.

 

“Commandos (5-Body Combination! Baldigus)” (7/12/00 JAP, 9/24/01 US) – The Decepticons plan to destroy Sherman Dam, and to make Scourge look bad Sky-Byte plans to disguise his team as Autobots to stop him.

 

“Volcano (En Garde! Two Convoys!)” (7/19/00 JAP, 9/25/01 US) – Megatron sends his minions to investigate a volcano that could be used to make Energon cubes, but a fight between Sky-Byte and Scourge ends up causing an eruption.

 

“Attack from Outer Space (Aiming from Space! Shuttler!!)” (7/26/00 JAP, 1/12/02 CAN) – Intent on finding the Autobots’ base, Megatron sends Movor into space in place of the actual space shuttle.

 

“The Test (Awaken to Righteousness! Black Convoy)” (8/2/00 JAP, 9/26/01 US) – The Autobots put the Decepticons to the test when they come around claiming to want to join them.

 

“The Fish Test (Secret Strategy! Gelshark)” (8/9/00 JAP, 9/27/01 US) – Jealous Scourge scored better in a test than him, Sky-Byte leaks his plans to the Autobots but ends up humiliated when Scourge strikes elsewhere.

 

“Wedge’s Short Fuse (Hot-Blooded Warriors! Buildmasters)” (8/16/00 JAP, 9/28/01 US) – Wedge makes a deal with Optimus to let the Build Team fight the Predacons, but they all end up falling right into a Predacon trap.

 

“Landfill (Four-Body Combination! Build King)” (8/23/00 JAP, 6/22/02 UK) – The Decepticons sabotage the Transformer’s Space Bridge so that it will send the Autobots to the wrong locations.

 

“Sky-Byte Saves the Day (Friend of Righteousness? Gelshark)” (8/30/00 JAP, 6/23/02 UK) – Sky-Byte wants to topple a building for notoriety, but ends up needing to save it when his unintended hostages could land him all of the O-Parts.

 

“A Test of Metal (Targeted Buildmasters)” (9/6/00 JAP, 9/29/01 US) – The Build Team sabotages the Space Bridge so that they will be the only ones able to fight the Decepticons after being challenged.

 

“Ultra Magnus (Enter! God Magnus)” (9/13/00 JAP, 10/6/01 US) – Ultra Magnus comes to Earth for Optimus’ Matrix, but ends up saving the Autobot Brothers from a Decepticon ambush instead.

 

“Ultra Magnus: Forced Fusion! (Forced Combination! God Fire Convoy)” (9/20/00 JAP, 10/13/01 US) – Magnus pretends to come to Optimus’ rescue from the Decepticons but instead attempts to absorb Optimus into himself to get the Matrix.

 

“Lessons of the Past (Assemble! New Warriors)” (9/27/00 JAP, 12/14/01 US) – Optimus, T-AI and Koji review their past encounters with the Decepticons in order to anticipate their next move.

 

“The Two Faces of Ultra Magnus (Stalemate! 3 Car Robo Brothers)” (10/4/00 JAP, 10/20/01 US) – Megatron orders Sky-Byte to recruit Magnus to their side, and Magnus accepts…as an Autobot spy.

 

“Power to Burn! (Invoke! Double Matrix)” (10/11/00 JAP, 10/19/01 US) – Optimus has the Autobot Brothers keep tabs on Magnus while Scourge attempts to recruit him for help in overthrowing Megatron.

 

“Fortress Maximus (Arise! Cybertron City)” (10/18/00 JAP, 10/27/01 US) – Dr. Onishi discovers a new power source in newly discovered ancient ruins, and the Cybertronians race to claim it first.

 

“Koji Gets His Wish (JRX Versus Baldigus)” (10/25/00 JAP, 11/3/01 US) – While Optimus and Magnus are busy with Scourge at the ruins, Sky-Byte kidnaps Dr. Onishi to reveal the nature of the power within.

 

“A Friendly Contest (Gelshark’s Trap)” (11/1/00 JAP, 11/10/01 US) – While competing with Side to see who can find the most O-Part fragments, Wedge is captured and held hostage by Megatron.

 

“Peril from the Past (The Final Key? Farewell, Ai)” (11/8/00 JAP, 11/17/01 US) – The assembled O-Ring leads the Autobots to the Orb of Sigma, which Dr. Onishi discovers is used to unlock Fortress Maximus.

 

“Maximus Emerges (Stolen Plasma)” (11/15/00 JAP, 2/16/02 US) – Scourge attempts to pose as Optimus to control Fortress Maxmimus, but it ignores his orders and goes on a rampage through the city.

 

“The Human Element (The Mystery of Brave Maximus)” (11/22/00 JAP, 2/23/02 US) – Scourge discovers a human component is needed to control Fortress Maximus and uses Kelly’s DNA to finally take control of it.

 

“Mystery of the Ultra Magnus (Gelshark’s Blues)” (11/29/00 JAP, 3/30/02 US) – The Decepticons review archival footage to find a way to defeat Ultra Magnus.

 

“Mistaken Identity (Black Convoy’s Ambition)” (12/6/00 JAP, 3/2/02 US) – Carl ends up abducted by the Decepticons when they mistake him for Koji.

 

“Surprise Attack! (Brave Maximus’s Rise!)” (12/13/00 JAP, 3/9/02 US) – Galvatron leads an attack on the Autobots’ base and possesses a new weapon that may even be too powerful for Maximus.

 

“Galvatron’s Revenge (Counterattack! Devil Gigatron!)” (12/20/00 JAP, 3/16/02 US) – Galvatron absorbs energy from Maximus and sends duplicates of himself around the world to take children hostage to control future generations.

 

“The Final Battle (Final Battle! Fire Convoy)” (12/27/00 JAP, 3/23/02 US) – Omega Prime challenges Galvatron to a battle at the Earth’s core while Koji attempts to enlist the aid of the planet’s children to beat him.