Masterforce

[Grand Moff Muffin]

Ah, right.

Maybe when we're done with Masterforce someone can suggest another TF series on YouTube to give a go?

Martin

[bertie]

I have the box set. Less than a fiver. Far more than a bargain. Nice matt card box and gatefold presentation with gloss embossing and a booklet detailing the characters and episodes.

But you guys know this already don't you?

[Grand Moff Muffin]

Yes.

The Masterforce box set is the only TF cartoon I still have on DVD. And I'm keeping it for keeps!

Martin

[bertie]

It was your article in T-25 that got me interested Martin.

[Grand Moff Muffin]

Hurray! If it got someone interested, then it did its intended job.

Martin

[The Doctor]

Nov 5, 2009 10:22:33 GMT bertie said:

I have the box set. Less than a fiver. Far more than a bargain. Nice matt card box and gatefold presentation with gloss embossing and a booklet detailing the characters and episodes.

But you guys know this already don't you?

HMV were recently selling them for a fiver. Dunno if the offer is still on though.

-Ralph

[bertie]

I picked mine up from a seller on Amazon who also sells them on eBay for a touch more.

[legios]

Episode 25 :”Will the Bomber project be destroyed?”

<With Ginrai injured and restricted to hospital the Destrons launch an attack on the British Motors factory to destroy Bomber project. Meanwhile, Giga and Mega set out on a journey to the Moon to rendezvous with Black Zarak, the Destron secret weapon.>

After last episode, with its introduction of Overlord and the epic beating handed out to Ginrai, this episode feels more like a building block than an epic. Not that this is a bad thing, Masterforce is a series which builds from episode to episode and so some episodes have to function as connective tissue by definition. Indeed, the events of this episode feel very much like a logical result of what has happened in previous episodes. With Ginrai out of action, and the location of the Bomber project in their hands it feels eminently sensible that the Destrons would mount a major operation to destroy Godbomber before it can be completed – a belt and braces approach to ensuring that it cannot be used. The only unexpected thing is that they leave the Headmaster Juniors and the Seacons at home rather than going in with a truly overwhelming force. That said, having reserves is a sensible strategy, and also this may be partly a result of arrogance and a desire to prove something on the part of the Pretenders and the Darkwings – taking everybody with them doesn't give them a chance to demonstrate their strength and thus regain lost prestige and standing.

The battle for the Bomber project is, in some ways, sold more by what happens amongst the people who are not directly involved than it is by the actual combat. Watching the Pretenders get more and more concerned as it draws closer to the underground factory, and Hawk coolly reigning them in and keeping them focused on the job at hand, sells the sense of the situation growing more and more tense. (Hawk actually gets quite well treated by this episode – appearing very much the calm, self-possessed and completely focussed figure that we saw in the early episodes. It serves as a good reminder of why he was the leadership figure amongst the Pretenders in the first place).

There is also a certain amount of cheese in play in this episode as well – the idea of tackling the Darkwings by leaping into the air, grabbing hold of them and punching a fighter jet has a kind of endearingly heroic daftness to it.

The final turning of the tables – using the Destrons' determination to destroy the Bomber Project to decoy them away – feels fitting and appropriate. It is the sort of slightly crazy scheme that Ginrai might have come up with had he been there. It is fitting then that Road King is the one to come up with the idea. Much of his characterisation in this episode seems to be directed at making a point of how similar in personality he is to Ginrai – with their shared tendencies towards goofieness, the banter between them in the hospital and their shared “Oooh, nurses!” schtick. There is a definite distinction drawn here between Ginrai and Road King's lightness and Lightfoot, who is very definitely a serious young man who takes things very seriously. (That makes sense though, given that he is running a large company at a fairly young age). Indeed, a lot of the first half of the episode is given over to banter between the Cybertron Godmasters. After the dramatic ending of the previous episode it is quite a sharp shift in tone but I think it makes for a good comparison between the two sides. The Destrons are doom-laden and focused on destruction, whilst the Cybertrons are joking around despite the injuries handed out to one of their number. (It is a notable just how much Ginrai's injuries are played light-heartedly in this episode. His “I'm fine. Owch” routine is very much aimed at comedy but somehow seems very in character for Ginrai, who has previously demonstrated a tendency to bounce back and refind his equilibrium quite swiftly

One thing that does mark this episode out as being a “middle of series” episode is the rearing of the head of stock-footage and reuse of animation sequences. There are a fair number of sequences in this episode (several of which originally came from other episodes) that are reused whole-cloth of the course of its running time. I do not refer here to transformation sequences and the like – the reuse of the abstract transformation sequence or a good launch sequence is a tradition not restricted to Transformers, or even generally to Super Robot, shows. It is common all over the place, from live action costumed hero series like Ultraman to shows like Sailor Moon. It isn't restrict to Japanee shows either – Thunderbirds made a lot of use of its stock launching sequences. Indeed, so standard a technique is it that it argueably barely counts as using stock footage This is not unexpected though – most series try to balance their budgets so that they can scavenge a bit of money from the middle to use at the front and back of the series. It makes sense to make sure that you have the money to make sure that you can really grab the attention when you launch, and to salt something away to make your big finale as good as you hope it will be. In honesty the only reason that I comment on it here is that Masterforce has done so well at getting by without having to reuse sequences up until now. Either they blew a bit more than they planned on recent episodes, or they are laying away some money for something to come that they want to lavish a bit more attention on.

As I said right at the top of these thoughts, this is very much a connective tissue episode. It serves to move the story of the Bomber Project out of the wings and into centre stage, and to move the Black Zarak subplot out into the open. In that regard it does a very good job of what it sets out to do. It feels like an episode that has something definite to contribute to the ongoing story and as well as being entertaining in its own right it helps to build expectation both for the proper debut of Blak Zarack, whose power and menace is once more hinted at, and for Godbomber – the weapon on which the Cybertrons are clearly pinning so much of their hope. It is a shame about the need to tighten the animation purse strings a bit, but they were going to have to do that eventually anyway. Better to do it here than in some other episodes in all honesty. They can't all being groundshaking episodes which disturb the status-quo of the series, some chapters simply have to move us to where we need to get to next in the story, and this episode does a good job of that.


Karl

[Grand Moff Muffin]

Yeah, all that you said.

(Sorry, I'll get in first with thoughts next week, you see if I don't! )

Edit: Does Ranger have eyes or not?

Martin

[legios]

Nov 12, 2009 19:29:34 GMT Grand Moff Muffin said:

Edit: Does Ranger have eyes or not?

Mostly not is my impression.....

Karl

[Grand Moff Muffin]

Masterforce #26, "God Ginrai: Into the Sky" is almost like an end-of-season spectacular with a cliffhanger to boot, if Masterforce were to be split across more than one series. (As it is, we're not quite two thirds of the way through the 1988 season.)

Overlord has conquered the Moon, Black Zarak is ominously approaching the Earth, and the Autobots are pretty much of the opinion that if he gets here, civilisation will be at an end. (Later episodes prove them right.) Shuta's nightmare premonition of Black Zarak dismembering the Autobot Pretenders is particularly chilling.

Meanwhile, Godbomber is still not quite built, and Ginrai, whose physical wounds have healed, has been psychologically traumatised and is scared to face Overlord again.

Ginrai and Hawk have some words, and Ginrai, in a hot mood, finally pulls himself together and combines with Godbomber to form God Ginrai, and blasts off for the Moon, hoping to defeat Overlord before Black Zarak arrives. He does well in the fight to begin with, but has left it too late, and finds himself facing both together. He promptly gets a spear through his shoulder, and things look grim... as the episode ends! None of his friends on Earth can help him now!

Martin

[legios]

Episode#26: God Ginrai, into the sky!

What's that, someone has beaten me to the weeks episode in this thread? Their Chokon power must be truly amazing!! :-)

This is a cracker of an episode, despite the fact that the Destron's only really feature at all in the last third of the episode. The first two-thirds are pretty much devoted to building - building Godbomber, and Ginrai rebuilding his confidence. The fact that Ginrai is still shaken by his first confrontation with Overlord gives a bit more impact to their eventual confrontation in the third act of the episode. We've seen a lot of emotions from Ginrai, but to date we haven't really seen him admit to being scared. This, quite understandable, fear and his drive to overcome it make for the character spine of this episode. It is quite satisfying to see Ginrai struggle with his feelings and have to work to overcome his fear. The interaction between Ginrai and Hawk, with the latter trying to warn him about the dangers of overcompensating is quite good as well. It certainly all makes the battle with Overlord that much more rewarding to the viewer - when we have seen Ginrai struggle with the after-effects of the beating that Overlord handed out to him it makes the fact that he holds his own in the one-on-one battle that much more rewarding.

Of course, there is something else being built in this episode. The episode also concerns itself with building up the anticipation for Black Zarak's arrival. This is something it achieves very well. The sense that there is no fall-back plan should Ginrai fail to stop Black Zarak getting to Earth gives him a real sense of menace. There is a real feeling that the Cybertrons really believe that Black Zarak is able to cut through them like a hot knife through butter. Something which very much seems to be backed up when he drives God Ginrai to his knees without really seeming to put in much effort.

It is in fact a testament to how well the Destron threat has been built up in Masterforce that they cast a long shadow across this episode whilst barely being in the opening acts.

The ending of the episode is superb. It is very much a classic cliffhanger. The Cybertrons had a simple plan, to take out Overlord before he could join up with Black Zarak because together they would be next to unstoppable - but everything that could go wrong has gone wrong and now Ginrai must face off against both Overlord, who has defeated him once before, and Black Zarak, the Destron secret weapon whose fighting power apparently far out-strips Overlord. I don't know about anyone else but that certainly makes me want to tune in next time to find out what happens.

Karl

[legios]

Episode 27: God Ginrai - Showdown on the Moon

<God Ginrai engages Black Zarak and Overlord in battle on the Moon, determined to stop the new Destron from reaching the Earth, but can even Ginrai's upgraded power prevail against the two powerful Destron's and will Grand Maximus be able to reach the moon swiftly enough to aid him?>

This episode picks up literally where the previous episode left off - with Ginrai dropped to his knees by Black Zarak's attack and faing both Overlord and the former. If last episode concentrated heavily on character stuff, and setting up the battle to come it is clear from this episode why - it clears the way for Episode#27 to concentrate firmly on Ginrai's desperate battle to prevent the Destrons adding Black Zarak's power to their ranks. And what a battle it is - Ginrai takes on Overlord and Black Zarak both singly and in tandem in a truly epic confrontation. The battle rages for almost two thirds of an episode with Ginrai up against cruel odds and persevering despite seemingly hopelessly outgunned. (One of my favourite character moments is the fact that when Black Zarak seems to have Ginrai down for the count it is the memory of his friends and comrades that energises Ginrai to rise up and keep fighting - Ginrai does not have loyal friends because he is awesome, his awesomeness comes from the fact that he has people that he cares about and that he would exert his all to defend. It is what marks him out as heroic, more than his combat prowess or his Chokon power).

Black Zarak comes across as an imposing presence in this episode. He may not be fast and fluid in a battle but he has an implacability to him that more than makes up for it. Indeed - Black Zarak seems very different to most of the characters that we have met so far. Even his voice, with its flanging, declares his non-humanness. Whilst even the Pretenders have shown distinctly human traits (and most of the rest of the cast are humans), everything about Black Zarak says "machine". It certainly makes him distinctive, even in what little screen time he gets. They are continuing to build him up as the end of everything even now he has made his proper debut in the series - with Ginrai suggesting that Black Zarak alone could turn the world into a scorched ruin if he gets past the line that Ginrai has drawn. No-one could accuse the show of playing the stakes too low.

An entire episode devoted to a single, extended fight scene might not sound very promising at first glance, but because the plot has been building to this moment for so many episodes there is a genuine sense of the importance of this battle. There is a feeling that a fair chunk of the series has been leading up to this moment and that the fate of the Earth might just ride on the outcome. That more than carries the episode - it could have easily been a series finale in some shows and it wouldn't have felt entirely out of place to be honest. But here victory simply means that the fight goes on - the Destrons still threaten the Earth and all Ginrai's herculean efforts have won is a reprieve from immediate destruction.

This episode is also important in the development of some of the themes of the show - I've already mentioned the fact that we get a hint of Ginrai's might coming in part from his emotional ties to his friends - but also important is Ginrai's overt statement that humans have to rise up and fight for their own world. This has been an implicit theme of the series since almost its beginning - but it is only here that it is addressed head on. Indeed, there is a real sense of a torch being formally taken up here - with Ginrai facing the Destrons alone as a defender of humanity, and then Grand playing only a supporting role when he does enter the battle. Ginrai's little speech is a codification and a summation of what the show has been telling us for quite a while.

Whilst the epic showdown makes this episode in many ways a vehicle for Ginrai, the other characters are not completely overlooked. Giga and Mega's combined form is defined a little better as a character (to be honest it seems that it is mostly Giga who comprises Overlord's personality, but that may be just a quirk of the voice acting choices). Giga and Mega have both seemed at times to espouse slightly old-fashioned values and gender roles, and this remains noticeable even here in a pitched battle. The fact that Overlord feels proper introductions are necessary, so that he knows who he is fighting alongside creates a little bit of an anachronistic element to him.

His reaction to his high-handed treatment by Black Zarak is telling as well. Giga and Mega are used to being very big fish in a small pond, and the fact that Black Zarak appears to see them more as flunkies in the employ of the Destron Emperor brings them up rather short.

The Cybertrons don't get a lot to do this episode other than wait and hope that Ginrai emerges victorious, but their reaction to this does allow for some nice little character moments. Lander's pragmatic - "well, we can't do anything but wait. So lets have a drink to pass the time" - is quite amusing. The fact that Cab and Shuta fall back on bickering, and in Shuta's case a nervous energy that means he can't just sit still and wait is a well-observed moment and very true to their characters. Predictably it is Lightfoot and Hawk who are shown to be competely dedicated to the task at hand - if all they can do is wait then they will remain at their post and devote all their energies to the waiting. I would expect nothing less from the two most serious-minded members of the Cybertron team.

In summation, this is an episode that brings a lot of the ongoing plotlines together in an battle that pits Ginrai against the two most powerful Destrons with the existence of human life itself as the prize. It is a battle that is epic not just because it more than adequately fills an entire episode but because the plot has built to this point and told us why this encounter is so important. No shilly-shallying around, no preliminary bouts, this episode is one hundred percent main event.

Can you fill an entire episode with a single battle and still make it satisfying? You can if you do it like this.

Karl

[Grand Moff Muffin]

Nov 25, 2009 22:04:19 GMT legios said:

His reaction to his high-handed treatment by Black Zarak is telling as well. Giga and Mega are used to being very big fish in a small pond, and the fact that Black Zarak appears to see them more as flunkies in the employ of the Destron Emperor brings them up rather short.

It seems to me that in the space of just two episodes, Overlord has gone from being the toughest robot in the world to perhaps only the fourth-toughest. As this demotion coincides with their first foray into space, and sight of the wider universe full of unknown Transformers, it probably gives Giga and Mega a new perspective on life - which may be seen to develop through the remaining episodes. Of course, it's likely that Overlord could defeat Grand Maximus or pre-Devil-Z Black Zarak in battle, given his Godmaster self-healing and energy powers, but his very brief moment of undisputed supremacy is over.

Can you fill an entire episode with a single battle and still make it satisfying? You can if you do it like this.

Darn straight.

One thing you didn't mention, Karl, that I'm conscious of throughout this episode, is the beauty of its colours. The four main robots have very rich and regal colour schemes, and what with all the weapon discharges and explosions they look magnificent against the blackness of space. Violence is often portrayed in a realistic, gritty, ugly way, but (admittedly unrealistically) here it is quite majestic. Also, despite there being no humans around the big robots are often viewed looking up at them, which makes them feel big.

This episode has a very artistic feel to it. I mean, just look at 8:10 on the clip below where Ginrai does his 'God Fire Guts' completely gratuitously with the globe of the Earth he's fighting for as his backdrop. The Earth doesn't look that big on the Moon, but it is portrayed big in this episode for legitimate artistic and storytelling reasons.



Martin

[legios]

Episode 26: Overlord - Terror of the Chokon Tornado

<Giga and Mega plan an ambush to destroy God Ginrai, can even a surprising development related to Godbomber save him?>

From a synopsis you could be forgiven for thinking that this episode marks a return to business as usual - with the Destron's seeking to gang-up against and destroy Ginrai. However, if you look - or just as importantly - listen to the characters performances this episode is very different from those that have gone before. Giga and Mega have sought to eliminate Ginrai before, but it has always been on the basis of a carefully calculated plan. This time is very different. The anger that erupts from both of them at different times in the story demonstrates that this time they are proceeding from far more personal motives.

In truth this episode revolves around "face". Giga and Mega have lost face through their defeat at Ginrai's hands, and they clearly can't rest until they do something about it. It is an interesting turn for these characters, who have been so controlled and precise up until now, to be driven so strongly by their emotions. Their defeat on the Moon has sent these two characters spinning off in an unexpected direction and gives a different flavour to this episodes events.

It also underlines just how ruthless both Giga and Mega are - prepared to sacrifice the lives of the Darkwing's brothers for their own pride. (And make no mistake, they may sell the mission to the brothers as being in the best interests of the Destron cause, but that is a fringe benefit if anything. Giga and Mega's motives are purely personal).

The same theme reflects through in some lovely character stuff for the Headmaster Juniors. At the root of their clowning - the skullduggery to get ahead in the race to the base, the "I'll sound my sirens and make myself really loud. Well I can do that too" - is a sense of competitiveness, a desire to establish oneself and show how good one is at something. In many ways this is a much healthier mirror to Giga and Mega's obsession.

(This is actually a good episode for the Juniors - Cab and Shuta get to have their "I'm better than you" tussles, only to be resounding outflanked by Minerva's much quicker thinking. But just to be even-handed the episode lets Cab and Shuta get the physical heroics of their Red Adair bit).

In terms of developing the shows mythology we see a couple of new abilities demonstrated here. Overlord's "Chokon Tornado" very much fits in with what we have been shown Chokon power can do previously. As an elemental energy force we have seen it used to move earth, harry an opponent with sand and the like. Overlord carries this to a new high though. Living up to the implied levels of Chokon power that have been suggested they prove to be capable of twisting nature into a powerful destructive force. It feels appropriate to their emotional state as well somehow.

Godbomber's new power is slightly more surprising (assuming that one hasn't been "reading" ahead). Not the ability to transform - although that hasn't been suggested as yet - but the fact that he appears to have some degree of individual will. This is the first time that we have seen Godbomber act of his own volition. Indeed, there has been no suggestion so far that he was anything other than a drone power-up for Ginrai. The fact that he suddenly takes very direct action to protect Ginrai therefore comes as much as a surprise to the audience as it does to the characters. (And it is always nice to be in the same boat as your heroes, learning things along with them. It is a nice way to promote identification with characters).

I'm not sure if it was intended to be this way but this episode is really structured in terms of reinventing things we thought we knew. Godbomber is a drone manufactured to enhance Super Ginrai - except he may not be. Giga and Mega scheme to eliminate Ginrai because he is the most powerful Cybertron - except that their motives are rather more personal than that. Although it looks on the surface that this episode is something we have seen before, that surface exists to throw into relief the things that have changed.

The story is progressing and as it does it changes and develops people, whose actions feed back to drive the story forwards.

Karl

[Grand Moff Muffin]

Argh, getting behind on this. Will catch up next week. I can't remember what comes next, but there are some good episodes coming up.

Martin

[legios]

Dec 11, 2009 7:51:34 GMT Grand Moff Muffin said:

Argh, getting behind on this. Will catch up next week. I can't remember what comes next, but there are some good episodes coming up.

Martin

Me to, I need to write up the episode for this week but it will be the weekend before I get a chance I suspect. As far as I recall episode 27 is "Escape from the exploding underwater volcano".

Karl

[Deleted]

I haven't been keeping up on this thread at all despite Masterforce being my favourite TF cartoon of all time.

[legios]

Episode 27: "Escape from the Exploding Underwater Volcano"

<Construction of a new undersea advance base for the Destrons triggers an eruption of an underwater volcano and brings Lightfoot and Super Ginrai to investiage the resulting devastation. In battle against King Poseiden they find themselves trapped on the sea-bed with the volcano about to explode. Can Godbomber rescue them in time, or will Lightfoot's spirit of self-sacrifice bring about his death.>

This is a slightly unusual episode for Masterforce. The Cybertrons are, as they had done at the beginning of the series, investigating the activities of the Destrons but for once it is not the results of a sinister plot that the are alerted to. Instead it is s simple miscalcultion that alerts the Cybertrons to the new, partially-completed, Destron base. Whilst the Cybertrons have spent a fair amount of the series improvising a response to the Destrons activities, here both sides are making things up as they go along. It makes for a bit of a change of pace.

It is also a chance to see Turtler and his Seacon armada in action once again. We haven't seen much of Turtler for a while, but that makes a certain amount of sense - if he is the resident underwater combat specialist then it would after all be a waste of his talents to send him to battles in the middle of the desert. Indeed, this episode stands as a reasonable explanation of what he has actually been doing whilst the spotlight has been elsewhere (And the answer is that he has been doing a spot of construction supervision rather than just playing video games or something).

This episode also lays another block in the mural of Giga and Mega's obsession with Ginrai. Mega's outburst is one of the few times we've really seen her lose control of her anger. Clearly the stress of Ginrai's continued survival is beginning to tell on both of the leaders of the Destron cult.

Mind you, although Ginrai does feature quite heavily in this episode it isn't really _about_ him. Instead the episode serves to give us some quality time with Lightfoot and Godbomber, and both of them are quite well-served. Lightfoot reinforces our previous sense of him as a very dedicated individual, who takes his job very seriously. To our eyes it does look like he is somewhat over-serious about his job. His readiness to lay down his life to save his leader is a value that is somewhat out of fashion these days. It does create a sense of Lightfoot as a rather old-fashioned individual, which is in keeping with his previous characterisation. Ginrai is mostly used to provide a contrast to Lightfoot here. Whilst the latter espouses the idea that to die doing ones duty is noble thing Ginrai by contrast expresses the idea that you should do everything you can to avoid dying - even if the situation look hopeless you should always look for another way than sacrificing your life. (Of course, in many situations Ginrai would be the first person in line to lay down his life for others, so he probably knows very well what is going through Lightfoot's mind here).

Godbomber gets some good characterisation here as well, despite not getting any actual lines. Indeed, at this stage I'm not entirely sure that Godbomber _ can _ speak. But then, he doesn't seem to have been originally designed with the humanoid mode that he has demonstrated, let alone the degree of independent thought that he shows here, so who knows. But you get the idea that even if Godbomber is able to speak he isn't the kind of ribot who would have many words to say. He is definitely prone to letting his actions speak for him - whether this is by going head-to-head with a shoal of Seacons, or smashing his way through the rocky sea-bed in Superman fashion in an endeavour to save his trapped comrades. He is very much a Cybertron of action, and impressive action it is too.

All told this episode may not overtly move the main plot on that much, but it does have things to offer the ongoing narrative. It does remind us of the level of threat that the Destrons pose - even their construction accidents end up levelling parts of cities and, by implication, inflict a terrible toll of death and injury. It also reinforces the extent to which the war is becoming a matter of personal pride for Giga and Mega, and how emotionally invested they are in defeating Ginrai. It also gives Lightfoot a chance to step out from Ginrai's shadow and define himself a little, and for Godbomber to look resolute and hand out a bit of thumping to the Destrons.

Karl

[Grand Moff Muffin]

Strangely, I have no memory of this episode. I may have only watched it properly once and not given it my full attention. Re-watching it now!

Yes, it's not bad at all, a worthwhile reinforcement of established characters on the whole, rather than a hurried progression of the plot. And it's the first time the Seacons have really appeared in such numbers as to be scary, at least to poor Lightfoot all on his own. And King Poseidon isn't as useless as he usually is today, presumably because he's operating underwater. Even against God Ginrai, he holds his own, and surprises both his opponent and the viewer with that competent split-and-recombine-behind-you move just when we thought he was going to get spitted on his own sword.

I don't think Godbomber ever speaks in Masterforce.

I like the way Super Ginrai can't combine with Godbomber when the Junior Headmaster vehicles are inside Godbomber. It adds a little touch of realism that the Sunbow series wouldn't have bothered about.

Just a shame that Cab's robot mode isn't bigger than those of Shuta and Minerva, as it is in vehicle mode. The curse of mass-shifting still hangs on.

Why do Transformers always build their bases on natural features that are prone to explode?

Hey Karl, I think you've got your episode numbering a bit squergled. We're on episode 29 now, not 27.

Martin

[legios]

Dec 15, 2009 7:40:15 GMT Grand Moff Muffin said:

And it's the first time the Seacons have really appeared in such numbers as to be scary, at least to poor Lightfoot all on his own.

It does make good use of the idea of them as hunting in shoals. Usually there seem to be just their to make up the numbers and give us something that the heroes can satsifyingly blow-up. It is nice to see them given a bit of menace once in a while.

I don't think Godbomber ever speaks in Masterforce.

I don't recall that he does, but future weeks will tell for certain I guess.

Why do Transformers always build their bases on natural features that are prone to explode?

If it was only the robotic ones I would say it was due to not really ever having gotten to grips with the geophysics of rocky planets. But what with the Godmasters being in play I think we have to put it down to lack of foresight really.

Hey Karl, I think you've got your episode numbering a bit squergled. We're on episode 29 now, not 27.
Martin

Hmm. You are right, somewhere along the line my numbering is gone badly out of sink - most probably due to the unfortunate combination of a DVD booklet that doesn't have any episode numbers and a reviewer who is not exactly the worlds greatest at this counting thing......

Karl

[legios]

Episode #30 (or thereabouts): “Destroy Godbomber!!”

<The Destrons launch an attack on food stockpiles in the United States, but it is really a trap designed to separate Ginrai from Godbomber so that they can destroy the two of them individually. Only unexpected developments can save the Cybertrons from this deadly trap.>

This episode continues the recent plot thread of Mega and Giga's determination to destroy Ginrai. It seems that their anger is no longer quite ruling their reason to the same degree as it has done. The planning and forethought that marked out their previous operations returns to the fore here. They have clearly remember that Ginrai alone is an enemy that they have resoundingly defeated before, and that it is only allied with Godbomber that he has become their equal (a reasonable chain of inference from their point of view). So they set out to destroy Godbomber and deal with their God Ginrai problem by proxy. It is a good plan, and it isn't really their fault that it fails.

Indeed, it wouldn't have failed if it wasn't for the unexpected things we learn about Godbomber in this episode. Up until now it would have been reasonable to assume that Godbomber is like one of the Pretenders – a pure Super Robot without a connection to the Chokon power that the Godmasters channel. But instead it appears that he is in some manner animated by the Chokon power of others. New information, but I'm not sure whether it clarifies things about Godbomber or just muddies the waters even further.... In previous episodes we have seen Godbomber appear to act with independent volition, but here we discover that he is equipped with a seat to allow a human to pilot him, and when the Headmaster Juniors are aboard him he seems to require a pilot to allow him to take action. Or is he just deferring patiently to their judgment? (In which case he really does have nerves of steel to stand there under fire whilst Cab, Shuta and Minerva get their act together).

Ginrai gets a decent showcasing in this episode. We get to see his self-sacrificing aspect when he stands alone against Overlord to buy time for the Juniors to get Godbomber to safety. Interestingly enough though he couches this in terms of the idea that he needs to learn to face up to Overlord on his own, which calls back in some respects to a conversation that he had with Hawk before heading off to the moon and does reinforce the suggestion that Godbomber has in some ways been a bit of crutch that Ginrai has been supporting himself with psychologically since his earlier defeat. If so then Ginrai is quite right, he does need to learn to stand without it – after all Hawk told us early on in the series that belief is very important with the Masterforce. If we hadn't already felt fairly convinced of it, this episode also confirms that Ginrai is extremely strong in his ability to channel Chokon power – with it taking all three of the Headmaster Juniors to equal one Ginrai apparently. (Interesting – three Headmaster Juniors, and we have seen in a couple of previous episodes that Ginrai channels all three kinds of Chokon power. Perhaps there is some significance to that parallel. Are each of the Juniors contributing a different form of Chokon power to the mix perhaps?)

Actually, the Juniors, on both sides, are reasonably served by this episode. The Cybertron Juniors more so – we see how far they have come as Cybertron warriors in the fact that Cab and Minerva can manage to tie up both Darkwing brothers in a fight, where previously three of them wouldn't have been able to stand against one of the brothers. (In fact, the running battle is so fierce that both side eventually run out of ammunition. I think that may be the first time that has happened in a Transformers series.)

The Destron juniors don't get quite as well served, making more of a cameo appearance. It is nice to see them nevertheless, and Cancer's “I know we are only henchmen..” line is a wonderful moment of self-awareness. Bullhorn's line about the wide open space being great for destruction sums him up so wonderfully as well – he is not a deep thinker, he basically just enjoys smashing things. It is a simple motivation but one that does remind us that he is actually a fairly ordinary bully at heart.

I like the fact that the script takes the time to subvert itself a little, with Bullhorn and Wilder falling about laughing before explaining to Cancer that, no this is not where all the food in America is stored that they are setting on fire. The Sunbow series could easily have featured a hairbrained Decepticon scheme to destroy all the food in a country in order to “RULE THE EARTH!” but to Masterforce the idea is instead fodder for a comedy misunderstanding. It exemplifies the difference in style and outlook that separates Masterforce from lot of the other Transformers animated series.

It is nice to see an unexpected cameo appearance by Sixknight as well. He is clearly still playing the wandering swordsman to the hilt, appearing out of nowhere to save the Cybertron Juniors and offering only that he happened to be passing as explanation. He still isn't prone to speechifying either I notice – his only explanation when challenged on his conversion to the Cybertron side being that he feels more comfortable that way. You may not be able to rely on him to be around, but you can rely on him to be consistent when he is.

This is an episode that I have sometimes dismissed as being a bit filler-ish in the past, but rewatching it I think it actually has more to contribute than I thought. It adds more complexity to Godbomber, moves the story of the Overlord/Ginrai rivalry along and also reinforces the growth of the Cybertron Headmaster Juniors as protagionists. It has more to offer the unfolding narrative than perhaps I have previously given it credit for.

[Grand Moff Muffin]

A so-so episode by Masterforce's high standards.

Martin

[legios]

Episode# 31 The Appearance of the Final Godmaster!

<The Final Godmaster appears, and he has a surprising secret that sparks an insidious Destron plot.>

With this episode we move strongly into the shows end-game phase, with a new thread woven into the story that will take us in an unexpected directions.

Giga and Mega's decision to suddenly reveal a final Godmaster, who has been unknown to the Cybertrons and most of the Destrons up is surprising. It seemed for a moment as if the “search for the Godmasters” phase of the story, which we thought was concluded a while ago, is back on. But this is really a little bit of bait and switch. The introduction of Doubleclouder is very different from the introduction of the previous Godmasters. For a start, he is the first Godmaster who has actively sought out the Cybertrons or Destrons rather than the other way around. Doubleclouder is presented to us as having already embraced his status as a Godmaster and having mastered his new-found abilities without being mentored by one of the active characters. He is also the only person we see actively weigh up the merits of which side to join and make an explicit, rather than an implicit choice of which side to take. His reason for his choice does strike me as incredibly shallow though. Choosing the Destron side simple because Destron mecha look cooler is a very facile piece of thinking and does betray the fact that he is clearly quite young. (It isn't that different actually from the reasoning of Cancer, who seems to have joined the Destrons because they were willing to let him show off the awesomeness of his kung-fu).

Presenting Doubleclouder to us as a fiat accompli is an interesting choice. On the one hand it means that we don't get to see him built up as a human character and then assume the mantle of a Godmaster. On the other hand the fact that he enters the story already informed and in possession of his powers in some ways becomes his character. Rather than being chosen unwittingly by fate and thrust into his role somewhat unwillingly like Ginrai, Doubleclouder almost seems to be running toward his role as a Destron Godmaster. He is certainly anxious enough to take on the role of a spy and to infiltrate the Cybertrons. Indeed, when we first see him he even has is own secret headquarters – not on the scale of the Destron lair or the Cybertron base – but enough to suggest that he is, consciously or unconsciously trying to imitate them.

There is a bit of a non-sequiter in the Japanese language version (I can't recall if it remains in the English dub, it has been too long since I saw that version). We open with footage of the battle between Grand Maximus and Black Zarak and a voiceover telling us that footage of this battle has only just been received by an American Government intelligence agency (not, from the dialogue, one of the ones we have in the real world but one that sounds more like it is based on one of the Japanese Government agencies). We segue from that to a scene of Doubleclouder watching a tape of the Destron and Cybertron Godmasters in battle. I'm not sure if this is supposed to be telling us that Doubleclouder works for this intelligence agency or not. He seems quite young to be an intelligence analyst. The intelligence agency reference never comes up again in the episode either, so I'm at a loss as to exactly what it is intended to imply.

It interests me that Giga and Mega don't express any surprise at the special feature of Doubleclouder's Master Bracers. It is as if they already know that they allow him to transform into a Destron and a Cybertron. They clearly knew more than they were letting on, even at the start of the episode, about the final Godmaster. I'm not sure whether they have known all this all along and just not told anyone (not impossible, the Destrons in this show are very much depicted as being prone to keeping secrets on all levels amongst their own ranks). It is possible too that Devil Z has only just passed on the information to them as well, having held it back until it suited his masterplan.

I do like the plan that the Destrons cook up to get Doubleclouder into the Cybertron ranks. It is a decent example of them whipping up a decent plan in short order – going to the rescue of a poor damsel in distress Doubleclouder looks every bit the picture of the noble Cybertron warrior. Indeed, if we weren't privy to the privileged information that we have and had only seen him introduced as the Cybertron do then he would seem pretty convincing to us as well.

I also like the fact that Giga and Mega aren't particularly holding back when Ginrai acts to draw fire away from the Cybertron Headmasters. They lay down a fair thumping on him and for a moment think that they have wiped him out. There is no sense of “We must let Ginrai escape to further our cunning plan mwhahahahahah!”. Instead the tone of the conversation is more like:-

“I think we got him darling.”
“Fantastic! Infiltrating the Cybertrons and destroying Ginrai in the same day. Bonus!”

Of course, Ginrai survives their massive onslaught and turns the tables with a nice display of lateral thinking. I actually like Ginrai's plan at the end of this episodes battle. Faced with Overlord dug in against a mountain that guards its back, and thereby in a position of strength, rather than just wading in thumping he finds a way to turn that strength into weakness. It is a nice bit of strategy which reminds us that Ginrai's edge doesn't just come from his tremendous power but that he has the guile and intelligence to identify ways to use that strength.

There are a couple of other noticeable things about this episode. Firstly that the Destron Headmasters are becoming more restive all the time. They were always arrogant and a bit restive, but now they are starting to show distinct signs of being actively bolshy.

Coming quite late on, this is the first time we see Overlord's base mode in Masterforce, or even – if we went on just the television series - suspected that such thing existed . It is nice that they resisted the temptation to squeeze all of Overlord's modes into his first episode or anything, depicting them instead when their use makes sense in the context of the story.

This is a solid episode, which plays with our expectations a bit – for a moment we think there is going to be a race to the final Godmaster, until he himself subverts this. It sets up imminent story possibilities, with the Cybertrons having taken an infiltrator into their ranks. We have had a bit of a breather for the last few episodes – giving us a chance to rest up after the do-or-die battle against Black Zarak. Breaktime is over now though, and it is time for the plot to start developing in spades once again.

Karl

[Grand Moff Muffin]

Overlord's base mode is devastatingly powerful.

Strangely, we see Super Ginrai's base mode on the opening credits for the first half of the series (with the Trainbots flying past for some reason) but I don't think it ever appears in an actual episode.

Martin

[The Doctor]

I could swear we saw it on a beach in one episode, but I may be mis-remembering.

-Ralph

[chrismcfeely]

If memory serves, it appears one time, in a late episode, when the Autobots are up a mountain after their headquarters is destroyed. It seems like they're using it for a sort of temporary base, and Ginria tries to use its computers to contact Grand Maximus.

[Grand Moff Muffin]

Gonna use my unexpected new DVD player to catch up on the last two Wednesday's episodes tonight.

Edit: Episodes 32 & 33:
"Secret Orders: Destroy the Autobot Base!"
"Disaster: The Autobot Base Explodes"

A two-parter with oodles of story arc development and a cliffhanger in the middle. I don't know if it's me, but it seems like the quality of the animation has got more detailed as the series progresses. The fights are now more visceral and desperate - no more fighting just to be the victor of the episode, but fighting to be a winner/survivor of the war. From this point on, everything gets a lot more serious for the Autobots. Brilliant stuff.

Oh, and there's the Doubleclouder stuff too. But for some reason he just doesn't convince me as a believable character like the other humans. He's too shallow and fickle. The slow evolution of the Decepticon Junior HMs is much better in my opinion.

Martin

[legios]

Like Martin I have been lagging a bit with these episodes over the Christmas Hiatus, so I am forced to tackle them as an omnibus. Normal service will be resumed from the forthcoming week.

Thus, I turn my attention to

Episode 32: Secret Orders! Destroy the Cybertron base
and
Episode 33: Disaster! The Cybertron base explodes!

<Clouder has successfully infiltrated the ranks of the Cybertrons and uses his access to their base both to reveal its secrets to the Destrons and to commit acts of Sabotage. With Ginrai and the Godmasters lured away by the Darkwings' attack on nearby city can Hawk and the Headmaster Juniors defend the Cybertron base or will a full force attack by the Destrons overwhelm them.

Secret Orders: Destroy the Cybertron Base! & Disaster! The Cybertron Base Explodes represent a bit of a turning point in the story of Masterforce.Up until now we have been able to rest assured that the Cybertrons' hidden base is a safe location for our heroes to return to and sortie from. That all changes with these two episodes. Clouder's subterfuge reveals the secret location of the Cybertron base allowing the Destrons to launch a, quite frankly, brutal-looking assault on it. The show doesn't really pull its punches here – there is no real suggestion that the Destrons want to capture the base, or to put the Cybertrons in any kind of “inescapable” death-trap. Instead the suggestion conveyed is that they want to burn the base, and the Cybertrons inside it, to the ground. Indeed, the Destrons plan to trap the Cybertrons inside the base and then allow them to be burned alive by the volcano – and as a bonus to force Ginrai to watch as his allies burn in agony - is particularly unpleasant when you actually stop and think about it. The fact that they go to the extent of calling Ginrai back specifically so that he will be there to watch his friends die carries it over into the vicinity of outright sadism really. There is no sense of comic relief about the Destrons here – they are an undeniable threat to life and limb. (Giga and Mega do seem to have got their obsession with destroying Ginrai under control a little bit by these episodes – at least to the extent that they are prepared to decoy him away from the battlefield to improve their chances of success, and to want to break his spirit first rather than going straight for the throat).

It is only really the fact that Ginrai is around to remind us of how precious life is when weighed against mere things that makes the viewer feel like anything has been salvaged from the events of these two episodes. Otherwise you would have to feel that the Destrons had very much this exchange on points. The Cybertrons may have survived, thanks to some impressive quick-thinking on Ginrai's part but their base and all its resources, so carefully established, is gone.

It is pleasing to see that the Cybertrons are not played as fools in this story. When the sabotage of their base begins Hawk and Ginrai are quick to identify Clouder as a likely suspect – and swiftly lay a plan to confirm their suspicions. It is a reasonably clever plan too, considering that they are throwing it together partly on the hoof. Indeed, they only person who is completely taken in by Clouder is Minerva and that is as much because she, as we have seen before with Cancer, wants to believe the best in everyone. It is heartening to see that she her retain her compassion even in the face of all the evil that she has seen the Destrons perpetrate, even if it does leave her somewhat open to being manipulated by unscrupulous Destron spies.

Unfortunately, Clouder himself is the character that suffers here, and I am not referring merely to being nearly burned alive and buried under rubble. Because Clouder is rushed straight from his introduction to this storyline we don't really have the chance to get to know him as a character. With him being so loosely-defined it is hard to get involved in the character arc that they attempt for him here. I can see what they are going for – his realisation that the Cybertrons will struggle even to save their enemies whilst the Destrons are quite prepared to let him burn once he has served his purpose being cause to rethink his goals in life. The problem is we haven't really had a chance to get a feel for what Clouder does want. He is too thin a character for his conversion to really carry any dramatic weight. In essence it feels rather like a cut-down version of the character arc that they are exploring with Cancer, but there is has the opportunity of having more room to breathe which makes it more effective.

Something I notice when re-viewing these two episodes is that the principal cast is almost entirely human. The Destrons don't even make a pretence of involving the Pretenders in their plan. Indeed, the only full-robot Destrons involved are the Seacons, of whom only Turtler really counts as an individual – the rest are just near-mindless drones used and expended as a weapon. Likewise the only fully robot Cybertron involved is Hawk, with the rest of the Pretenders being one assumes too far away to be able to assist. It does underline the thematic idea of the show, that this is a battle not between robots from another planet but between hose humans who want to use the astounding powers they have been given to defend humanity and those who see them as a means of conquest and destruction. It is only fitting then that the desperate battle of the Cybertron base should be primarily a human affair.

It is also a battle that has had a bit of money lavished on it. One of the advantages of planning a series from the outset to run over a certain number of episodes is that you can budget so as to make sure that you have money when you really need it, and it does look like they made sure to keep a good pot of money for the back half of the season. It pays off nicely here. The animation is rather good, with some nice flourishes and some good realisation of the pitched battles that make up a lot of the running times of these episodes.

All in all these are a cracking couple of episodes which indicate that the gloves are really coming off as we move into the end-game of Masterforce's story.

Karl

[legios]

“Blackzarak, destroyer from space!”

<Whilst Ginrai heads into space to investigate a loss of contact with Grand Maximus, the Destrons unleash the power of Overlord and Blackzarak to devastate the Earth and force its people to surrender. Deprived of their leader the Cybertrons seem helpless to stop the Destrons laying waste to both New York and Tokyo.>

This episode continues very much in the grim vein begun by the previous couple of episodes. The Destrons “Operation M-1” sees them visit horrendous destruction on the people of Earth. Overlord brings chaos to Paris before heading off to visit destruction on Tokyo. Meanwhile Blackzarak appears to be almost unstoppable as he reduces New York to a smouldering hole in the ground, whilst almost casually destroying whatever the US Navy and Airforce send against him. There is no real sense here that this is the usual cosmetic damage that one might expect from previous Transformers series. Instead the tenor of the episode strongly suggests that the Destrons leave real, lasting, carnage in their wake this time.

(A historical aside – Tokyo was traditionally a city built mostly of wood and paper. As a result it was extensively ravaged by fire on number of occassions during its history. The most historically recent one being the result of an American air raid with incendiary bombs during World War II. So when the Cybertrons look out over a Tokyo that has become a “sea of fire” the show is invoking something with a distinct historical resonance – and indeed something that might well have been within the living memory of some of their parents and grandparents. I guess that the closest analog would be the resonance that invoking “The Blitz” would have had for British audiences).

The grim tone continues throughout the episode. Whilst Ginrai and Grand Maximus arrive to help the rest of the Cybertrons drive the Destrons away from Tokyo it is at best a phyrric victory. Whilst they may have spared Tokyo from total destruction the city has still been badly ravaged by the Destron assault, New York is implied to be totally destroyed and who really knows what damage Overlord does to Paris beyond what we see on screen. At best the Cybertrons can mitigate the damage and try to save as many of the injured as they can.

This is probably, up to this point, one of the darkest animated portrayal of Destrons or Decepticons I would wager. They aren't building flying sphinxes that shoot lasers to conquer the Earth – instead they are prepared to destroy the planey city-by-city, inch-by-inch, until humanity bends it knee to them. I think it makes Overlord that bit more frightening to realise that Mega and Giga have no moral qualms about this plan at all. They are quite content to seize power by fear, no matter how many humans are killed in the process of achieving Destron rule. It underlines the theme in earlier episodes of the divide between the Cybertron Godmasters, who revel in their humanity, and the Destrons who actively deny it (and the series isn't done with this theme yet, we shall be returning to it in a few weeks).

In amongst this darkness the Cybertrons, fortunately, shine that much brighter. Whilst the Cybertron Godmasters remain somewhat thinly drawn they cut a fine heroic dash as they try to hold the line against the Destron onslaught. It is nice to see them retain their emphasis on protecting the innocent first and foremost. The Cybertron Headmaster Juniors represent extra combat power against the might of Blackzarak, but they – and we – are reminded that their first duty is to the innocents caught amongst the devastation. That said, Shuta's growing need to face off against the Destrons is a very credible character beat. He has become rounded enough as a character that we can empathise with his loss of one of the last reminders of his father – the base his father helped to establish for the Cybertron team. - and with his need to even the score. Minerva's starry-eyed crush on Ginrai makes a return here as well, and it seems somehow appropriate that in the midsts of the chaos and disaster she clings firmly to the absolute belief that Ginrai will win through. Even Cab, reverting to insensitivity and terrible humour seems like an appropriate defensive reaction to the situation. I like also Ginrai's only partially successful attempt to keep up an optimistic front and to motivate his team, despite his own fears that this is only the beginning. It gives him a little bit of definition when stood against his defiant words to Overlord and Blackzarak.

I haven't mentioned Ginrai much in this episode, partly because he spends a lot of it trapped in a hole. Specifically a black-hole created by Blackzarak's “magnetic warfare” powers. Now, on the one hand this whole plot-thread makes Doctor Science want to run away whilst muttering brokenly “Black-holes. Don't. Work. Like. That.” Almost from the first moment that Ginrai sees the whole there are egregious deviations from what we believed black-holes were like even back then. I have a tendency to let them off with all of this though, for several reasons. Firstly, my brain just consoles itself with the idea that Devil Z knows full well that what Blackzarak creates is not a black-hole but he sees no reason to explain that to his worshippers when he can just say “my minion creates black-holes and is therefore scary”, and also with the thought that Ginrai is a truck driver and not a physicist so when he sees a hole in space that is black he is going to call it a black-hole and have done with it. Secondly, I really like the idea that the combination of the three forms of Chokon power can overcome anything, even the power of a black-hole. It is thematically appropriate to the series as it has been unfolded and also represents a nice example of heroic defiance in the face of terrible adversity which this episode in part revolves around.

Thirdly, this is a series about characters who can bond with mecha-forms to fight to protect their world and can channel Qi to perform amazing feats. I'm prepared to accept that in this narrative space black-holes are just different to what I expect them to be.

Heroic Ginrai and the other Cybertrons may be, this episode that really underlines the stakes that are being played for in Masterforce's final act – the whole of the Earth is at risk and there is no guarantee that even fending off the Destrons attacks will be enough to prevent humanity suffering terribly under their lash. The end-game of Masterforce doesn't promise a happy ending on a plate. The Cybertrons have shown they will fight for one, but as this episode shows us it will be a hard and painful battle all the same.

Karl