Anime REVIEW: Beast Wars Neo

Beast Wars and the wider Beast Era is largely considered one of the best (if not controversial) periods in Transformers history, but over in Japan there's much more to the story than some fans might realise. During the long delay between the release of seasons one and two of the original series, Japan took things in their own direction with two of their own 2D animated Beast Wars series – 1998's Beast Wars II and 1999's Beast Wars Neo. Now 20 years later, once again thanks to the work of Karyuudo Fansubs Beast Wars Neo: Super Lifeform Transformers joins its predecessor in being fully available with English fansubs. With its own cast of exclusive characters and the return of one of the most iconic figures in Transformers history, is Beast Wars Neo everything fans had hoped for?

Anime REVIEW: Beast Wars II

While the majority of the Transformers franchise’s 35-year history has been available officially or via fansubs for many years, there are two particular series that have repeatedly eluded English-speaking fans. In 1998 Japan experienced a delay between receiving seasons one and two of Beast Wars (the latter of which became known as Beast Wars Metals), prompting them to fill the gap with their own Beast Wars shows. These were of course Beast Wars II and Beast Wars Neo, both of which were traditionally animated in comparison to Beast Wars’ CGI. Both shows have remained completely unreleased in the West, and thanks to a recent DVD release in Japan and the hard work of Karyuudo Fansubs it is only now that Beast Wars II (read aloud as Beast Wars Second) can be enjoyed with full English subtitles. Has this elusive piece of Transformers history been worth the wait, or is it a forgotten gem that was forgotten for a reason?

Toybox REVIEW: Transformers Masterpiece MP-24 Star Saber

Six years ago I started this blog with the aim of reviewing my then-ever growing Transformers collection. However thanks to a variety of circumstances (raised prices, difficulty finding the figures I wanted in the UK, Hasbro’s increasing focus on the movie franchise) my collection diverted away from transforming robots and into the world of mecha and tokusatsu heroes. My love for the Transformers franchise never went away though, and I continued the then-airing Transformers Prime along with catching Dark of the Moon and Age of Extinction in cinemas (both of which I thought were awful, but that’s another topic altogether). I keep an eye on what’s going on with the toy line though, and right now it seems to be in a pretty great state. Almost makes me want to return to what was once one of my biggest fandoms, but I guess you can’t collect everything.

Masterpiece Star Saber however was a figure I could not pass up. The Autobot (or Cybertron in Japan) Supreme Commander from the 1989 series Transformers Victory, Star Saber managed to receive the prestigious Masterpiece line treatment from TakaraTomy after winning the “Fan’s Choice” poll in 2013. The 24th figure in the line, he is the first in that does not hail from the main Generation One cast (although Victory is technically part of G1, it just never aired in the West) – a fact that has proven quite divisive among Transformers fans. As one of my favourite characters, all I have to say is “Good job Japan!”

Custom Figure: Classics Bludgeon, Landmine (Lander) and Waverider (Diver)

A 3 figure G1 Pretender extravaganza of customs to show off this time round, with a custom Bludgeon made from a Cybertron deluxe class Unicron, and the first 2 of my big project to create classics versions of the whole cast of Masterforce (well, second and third if you want to be precise, since I did already do Blackzarak...)! Lander is made from a Movie scout class Hardtop and Diver is made from a Movie Scout class Storm Surge.

As before I'll give you an image of the original G1 figure first so you know what I was going for. Enjoy!