Transformers: Armada, known in Japan as Super Robot Life-Form Transformers: Legends of the Microns (超ロボット生命体トランスフォーマー マイクロン伝説), is a Japanese anime series which debuted on August 23, 2002. As the first series co-produced between the American toy company Hasbro and their Japanese partner Takara, Armada begins a new continuity/universe for Transformers, with no ties to any of the previous series, including its direct predecessor Transformers: Robots in Disguise (known as Transformers: Car Robots in Japan) in 2001. It inspired two sequels, Transformers: Energon (2004) and Transformers: Cybertron (2005).
Hasbro handled the production of the English dub of the series, which was outsourced over to SD Entertainment. Hasbro themselves handled North American rights, with Entertainment Rights securing international rights, while Takara handled the distribution of the Japanese license. Transformers: Armada and both of its following series are all part of a saga known as the "Unicron Trilogy".
Contents
Plot
On the planet of Cybertron, war rages between the two factions known as the Autobots and the Decepticons over the race of smaller, power-enhancing Transformers called Mini-Cons. Seeking to flee the conflict that surrounds them, the Mini-Cons escape Cybertron with the aid of the Autobots, but an attack by the Decepticons cripples the ship as it flees through a space bridge. The ship materializes in the Solar System and impacts with the Moon, breaking in two. One portion of the ship stays embedded on the Moon, while the other plummets to the planet below. The Mini-Cons, all locked in pentagonal stasis panels, are scattered across the globe. The ship crashes to Earth and 4 million years pass.
When two boys Bradley "Rad" White and Carlos Lopez investigate the caves outside their hometown, one of the small towns in an area known as the "High Desert" they accidentally uncover the wreckage of the Mini-Con ship and activate it, causing it to send a signal that alerts both the Autobots and Decepticons as to the Mini-Cons' presence on Earth. Megatron and Optimus Prime's forces teleport to Earth from Cybertron as a result. Rad, Carlos, and their friend Alexis Thi Dang befriend the Autobots, along with the Mini-Cons High Wire, Grindor, and Sureshock (known commonly as the Street Action Mini-Con Team in the toyline). The Transformers assume earth vehicle alternate modes and the hunt begins to locate the scattered Mini-Cons.
After a series of battles, each of the Transformers successfully acquires a partner Mini-Con. Smokescreen arrives to join the Autobots' team. Hologram recordings in a sunken city reveal the existence of the mighty Mini-Con weapon, the Star Saber sword. The Decepticons possess one component of the weapon and invade the Autobot base to steal the remaining two pieces, only for the Autobots to seize possession of the sword.
A mysterious mercenary named Scavenger arrives on Earth and sides with the Decepticons, urging them to locate the components of the Skyboom Shield, another Mini-Con weapon that can counter the power of the Star Saber. At the same time, an Autobot drifter named Sideways enters the fray but soon reveals his allegiance to the Decepticons after he betrays Hot Shot, allowing the Star Saber to fall into the Decepticons' hands.
Concurrently Scavenger reveals himself to be an undercover Autobot, and rejoins his fellows, soon followed by Blurr, the latest arrival from Cybertron. When the Decepticons complete the Skyboom Shield, a mighty battle ensues that ends with the Autobots gaining possession of the shield. The two weapons unleash a powerful energy flare, drawing the Decepticons, Thrust, a master tactician, and Tidal Wave, a large and powerful warrior, to Earth.
Production and release
Development
Transformers: Armada was written and produced in Japan, with creative input from America. However, the show premiered on Cartoon Network's Toonami in America before its original Japanese counterpart had aired—the result of a demanding production schedule set by the network, which caused the series to be fast-tracked out of production. Consequently, Armada features a lot of unfinished animation (which would go on to be perfected for the completed Japanese episodes), and a hastily produced dub which features many errors in naming such as Sureshock being repeatedly called "Grindor" in multiple episodes, Hot Shot being called "Hot Rod", and Optimus's Mini-Con partner Sparkplug being called "Leader-1" (the same name as Megatron's Mini-Con), as well as transliteration and nonsensical dialogue which does not match the action onscreen.
Veteran Transformers voice actors Garry Chalk and David Kaye appear in the English dub of series as Optimus Prime and Megatron respectively. Chalk previously voiced the equivalent character Optimus Primal in Beast Wars: Transformers and Beast Machines: Transformers, while Kaye voiced a different version of Megatron in the same shows.
When Armada was released on DVD in Japan, each of the thirteen volumes came with a four-page mini-manga and an exclusive repainted Mini-Con figure. The manga, titled Tales of the Microns: Linkage, feature these repaints in an original story which served to fill in many of the blank spots and plot holes in the animated series.
Airing
Despite Transformers: Armada being made by a Japanese studio, it premiered first in the United States. The series premiered on Cartoon Network (via the network's Toonami block) on August 23, 2002 at 4 P.M. with a 90-minute movie special, consisting of the first three episodes titled "First Encounter", "Metamorphosis" and "Base". Following its premiere, new episodes started coming out on August 30, airing every Friday at 6:30 P.M.
On November 4, 2002, the series also began airing from Monday to Thursday until March 14, 2003. During this time, the series also moved to the network's Saturday Video Entertainment System programming block from March 1, 2003 to May 10, 2003 and in the early mornings from March 17, 2003 to June 27, 2003. The series returned to Toonami for a second run beginning on September 1, 2003, airing exclusively on Fridays until September 29, 2003, when it also returned to the Monday-Thursday lineup. The series then stayed in the lineup until January 2, 2004. The series also appeared on Toonami's Super Saturday lineup from September 21, 2002 to February 22, 2003, the final airing of the block before its cancellation.
In the December issue of Japanese magazine Animage, it was announced that the anime would start airing in Japan on January 10, 2003 on TV Tokyo, with new episodes coming out every Friday at 6 P.M.
In Canada, the series premiered on Corus Entertainment's YTV on December 18, 2002. In Spain, Armada aired on Cartoon Network from 2003 to 2004. The series also aired on Cartoon Network in Australia in 2004. In India, the series also aired on Cartoon Network from May 12, 2004 to 2005.
In the Philippines, the series premiered on GMA Network on March 12, 2005 with a Filipino dub.
The series is also available for streaming online on Tubi, Pluto TV, Amazon Prime Video and The Roku Channel, as well as the Transformers YouTube channel (the first 15 episodes only).
Home media
Entertainment Rights owned worldwide home video rights to the series.
In 2003, Entertainment Rights signed a North American home video deal with Rhino Entertainment Company to release the series on DVD in North America. These sets are now discontinued and out-of-print.
In August 2013, it was announced that Shout! Factory had partnered with Hasbro Studios to release numerous Transformers series on DVD in the United States, including Transformers: Armada. Shout! Factory would then subsequently released Transformers: Armada: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 on March 11, 2014.
In the United Kingdom, Right Entertainment and Universal Pictures Video released several VHS and DVD volumes of the series.
In Australia, Madman Entertainment released both volumes of Transformers: Armada on DVD in Region 4 in 2013 and 2014, respectively.
Related media
Video game
Developed by Atari Melbourne House and released for PlayStation 2 by Atari on May 11, 2004, in North America and May 7, 2004, in Europe, the Transformers video game (originally called Transformers Armada: Prelude to Energon, but simply titled again as Transformers.) is loosely based on the Armada series. The player controls three Autobots: Optimus Prime, Hot Shot, and Red Alert. The general story is the same as the TV show: the player must find and collect the Mini-Cons and fight off Megatron and his Decepticons. The player travels through various large environments on Earth (such as the Amazon Jungle and Antarctica) while fighting off Megatron's "Decepticlone" army and finding Mini-Cons that give the player's character different abilities in order to get further into the game. The player will also fight a number of familiar Decepticons from the Armada show, such as Starscream, Cyclonus, and Tidal Wave. The plot is similar to Armada, right down to the final battle with Unicron at the end. A few of the voice actors from the show (notably Garry Chalk as Prime and David Kaye as Megatron) voiced for the game. There are also subtle references to The Transformers: The Movie. The game is rated T on the ESRB ratings scale.
Comics
From 2002 to 2003, Canada-based Dreamwave Productions published a Transformers: Armada comic book, that ran for 18 issues.
Merchandise
Built to Rule was a building blocks toyline from Hasbro that is compatible with such leading brands as Lego. Each Transformers kit is centered around a "Trans-Skeleton", a very simple humanoid body that folds up for vehicle mode without dis-assembly. From there, extra parts are added to the Trans-Skeleton for either mode. For Armada, the Trans-Skeleton was a very broad, flat solid plate with thin, stick-like limbs attached to it, which led to very awkward-looking robot modes.