Transformers universes: Encyclopedia II - Transformers universes - Japanese Generation One

Transformers universes - Japanese Generation One

• Fight! Super Robot Life Transformers! (seasons 1 & 2 of American Transformers series)
• Scramble City (Japanese-exclusive OVA to bridge seasons 2 & 3)
• Transformers The Movie
• Transformers 2010 (season 3 of American Transformers series)
• Headmasters
• Super God Masterforce
• Transformers: Victory
• Transformers: Zone (one-episode OVA, story later completed in manga form)
• Battlestars: Return of Convoy (not a cartoon - supporting fiction came in the form of one chapter of manga, and colour spreads in TV Magazine)
• Operation Combination (TV Magazine spreads)

Headmasters is the branching-off point of Japanese continuity from America, as it supplants the fourth and final American season. Headmasters is notable for killing or destroying many famous Transformer icons, including Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus and Galvatron, as well as Cybertron itself, which is devastated in an explosion.

Headmasters proceeds to lead into the wildly different Masterforce, creating a new story for Powermasters and Pretenders different from the American take on the concepts. Masterforce revolved around Transformers who could disguise themselves as humans and humans who could use Transformer battle suits known as Transtectors. Instead of a Convoy/Optimus Prime character, God Ginrai, the Japanese version of Powermaster Optimus Prime, was a human using a body originally meant for Convoy.

Masterforce leads into Victory, which is almost wholly uniquely Japanese. Victory is considered one of the high marks of the Japanese series by fans, and told the story of an interplanetary struggle between the Autobots (known as the Cybertrons in Japan), and Decepticons (Destrons).

The final animated cartoon, Zone, was intended to be a direct-to-video series, but was cancelled after one episode, and had the remainder of its story played out in manga format. Zone told the story of Dai Atlas, an Autobot who became a massive jet, fighting nine of the mightiest Decepticon generals - Devastator, Menasor, Bruticus, Trypticon, Predaking, Abominus, Piranacon, Overlord and Black Zarak. Many of the generals (Devastator, Trypticon, Predaking & Piranacon) were killed in the first episode, and the rest were killed, and then merged into the final villain (the insectiod Violenjiger), who was then killed.

Subsequently, the Japanese resurrected Optimus Prime yet again as Star Convoy in the Battlestars: Return of Convoy toyline. The supporting fiction comprised only one chapter of manga, with the remainder of its tale being told via color spreads in the Japanese publication, TV Magazine. Resurrected through Zone Energy, Star Convoy leads the Autobots against Megatron, who has now been resurrected as Super Megatron by the evil force of the series, Dark Nova. Megatron is upgraded into Ultra Megatron, and fuses with Dark Nova into Star Giant for the final clash.

The story of the final Japanese G1 line, Operation Combination, was told only through colour spreads, featuring Guard City and Battle Gaea - repaints of Defensor and Bruticus - along with the new Micromaster combiners and the Autobot Rod Army and Decepticon Jet Army Corps (direct imports of the UK-exclusive Turbomasters and Predators). The final villain of Operation Combination, Scrash, was left unrevealed, but it seems apparent that he was intended to be an import of the UK Predator figure, Skyquake.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Japanese Generation One", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki