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Transformers: Robots In Disguise

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Distributor: Saban
Original Story: Hasbro
Volumes: N/A
Rating: TVY7
Anime Code: A

In this incarnation of the famed series, Megatron, evil leader of the Predacons, arrive on Earth to steal its supply of energy.  The Autobots, who have since integrated into human society as various vehicles, must reveal themselves to battle them and save the day once again.

Review: The Transformers originally debuted back in 1984 as a toyline by Hasbro.  A TV series debuted at the same time.  And they have been a part of American and Japanese society ever since.  After the flop that Mainframe did with Beast Machines, the TF line has redeemed itself by revealing Robots in Disguise.  Being a big fan of the old show, I loved seeing my favorite characters like Optimus Prime and Megatron, incarnated into different forms but still retained the characteristics of their namesakes.  What I also liked was how they gave subtle nods to the original series like naming the RiD characters with G1 names.  The only sad thing is that there was a whole bunch of episodes that never aired (here's a hint as to why it happened: the series was running strong in the early fall of 2001 and one of the episodes included a toppling landmark.  Yup.)

Action Level: 4/5
The fights were somewhat repetitive but it was fun to see real robots fighting instead of robot/animal hybrids (Sky-Byte and the Preds notwithstanding).

Romance Level: 2/5
Sideburn always hits on a red sports car not realizing that it's not a Cybertronian.

Comedy Level: 4/5
Sky-Byte and his Predacon henchmen were the funniest in all Transformersdom.

Adult Level: 1/5
Entirely for kids.  Hey, it was Saban doing the dubbing after all.

Drama Level: 1/5
Too much comedy, not a lot of drama.

Overall Level: 4/5
Remembering clearly the days where I would see the Autobots fighting their arch-enemies, I was happy to be brought back to those times, this time in a different form.