Transformers: Zone

Legend tells of the mystical Zodiac, a power source that supposedly gave birth to the whole universe itself.  Determined to claim it for his own, the Decepticon Emperor of Destruction, Violen Jiger, sends his Nine Great Demon Generals to ravage the galaxy and obtain The Zodiac.  Their search soon leads them to a helpless Earth.  From the far off planet of Zone, a new generation of Autobots, also under Decepticon attack, send a small force to defend the planet.  Among them are Dai Atlas and Sonic Boomer, a pair of Autobot Power Masters, tasked with defending the Zodiac at all costs. Once more, Autobots and Decepticons will clash again.

Back in the late 1980’s, when the Transformers TV Series was winding down in the US, Toei Animation, who had helped out with animating later seasons, got the OK to continue the saga over in Japan.  The end result were three additional TV Anime, only one of which was tied directly to the original TV Show, Transformers: The Headmasters.  The other two sequels: Super God Masterforce and Victory, were both their own separate continuities and delved more into the “Super Robot” Anime side of things.  By the time Victory had ended, popularity of the original Transformers had begun to die down in Japan.  Thus, a proposed 4^th Series, Transformers: Zone, would only see one episode produced and eventually released as an OVA.  Seeing as how I did First Impressions on the other three Transformers Anime over the last few weeks, it only felt right to see what kind of note the early Japanese Era of Transformers ended on.

By this point in the Japanese saga, it’s all about what kind of cool designs you can bring to the marketing department to keep the merchandising going.  As such, many of the classic Transformers from the US Series and Headmasters, i.e. Optimus Prime, Megatron, Soundwave, Starscream etc., are long gone.  Taking over for them are a bunch of Autobots who you cant really tell apart, or commit their names to memory, and a bunch of hugely overpowered Decepticons who should really have wrapped their conquest up in a matter of minutes considering we see them destroy a planet in the opening act.  Even if this is a one off special, there’s nothing memorable about any of the characters introduced.  They either talk menacingly, heroically, or with extreme concern and all roles could be interchanged and no one would stand out.  Same goes for human characters Kaine and Akira, who could be removed from the OVA entirely and nothing would be lost.

The proposed story for Zone could have gone somewhere…if they hadn’t found the Zodiac in the first episode.  I think the Transformers could’ve benefited from a galaxy hoping search for a magical maguffin.  Still for what it is, a pilot episode for a TV series that wouldn’t be picked up, Zone’s solo outing is ok.  While there’s still plenty of Super Robot elements to it, this is the first Transformers series in a while that seems to be going back to it’s classic, Generation 1 roots (aka the first TV Series).  You have different kinds of Transformers in size and strength but you don’t have Transformers masquerading as humans (Super God Masterforce) or five micro Autobots forming one standard Autobot (Victory).  Save for the overpowered Decepticon Generals who seem pretty invincible from the punishment the smaller Autobots dole out, Zone gave us some classic Autobot vs. Decepticon goodness at its purest.  What’s more, even if this wasn’t intended to be an OVA, this is the best looking of the classic Transformers Anime.  Everything shines, especially the pretty bad ass looking Dai Atlas and Sonic Boomer, and the action benefits from the extra animation umph.  I shouldn’t be surprised that the action is a bit more violent too, with one Decepticon General painfully melting in lava while another is cleaved in half (we see its brain and everything).  But this is a Transformers Anime, you can get away with a lot more than you ever could on 80’s childrens TV programming.

Maybe if Transformers: Zone had come after Super God Masterforce instead of Victory, it could have had a chance at a much longer life.  With a bit more retooling of the main story and a chance to give the cast some depth, Zone could have really worked.  As a single feature OVA, its harmless fun and probably my second favorite of the first episode offerings from the Transformers Japanese Collection (the beginning of The Headmasters always wins thanks to the actual inclusion of the old G1 Cast).  I know this wouldn’t be the end for the relationship between Transformers and Anime.  But as a final note on these first endeavors, Transformers: Zone is painful example of something promising coming in far too late.  Shame, this could have been something.

5/10