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Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers

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Transformers-Beast-Wars-Jpn-Logo.png
Japanese Generation 1 continuity
«Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers»

Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers (ビーストウォーズ 超生命体トランスフォーマーBeast Wars Chō Seimeitai Transformer) is the title given toBeast Wars franchise inJapan. Like itsGeneration 1 predecessor it was overseen byTakara directly, and saw yearly branding refreshes accompanied by additional cartoons and toys. It consists of the following components:

Contents

Continuity

PrimalLioConvoyCatalog01.jpg

Where Japan-exclusive seasonsBeast Wars II andBeast Wars Neo are situated relative to previousTransformers continuity, the firstBeast Wars series, and any contemporary Earth calendar was a source of confusion for many years. Fans in the West spent years attempting to understand two series that were never officially translated into English, which led to a number of misconceptions based on reports from people who spoke Japanese, observing visual media without the context of translated text, and so on. Theinitial understanding was thatBeast Wars II andBeast Wars Neo starred characters who were contemporaries to the Maximals and Predacons from the AmericanBeast Wars cartoon, who lived a mere three centuries after the end of theGreat War. This was mostly a "default" assumption (as in, there was no reason NOT to think it), and it appeared to be confirmed at first bythe firstBeast Wars II toy catalog, which depictedLio Convoy andGalvatron directly interacting withOptimus Primal andMegatron, respectfully.

By the end ofBeast Wars II, however, information surfaces that refute this assumption. Like ancientVok-occupied Earth ofBeast Wars, the planetGaia ofBeast Wars II is only later identified as afuture version of Earth. As early asEpisode 2, the Predacons encounter remnants of a long-abandoned advanced civilization on Gaia. Eventually,Episode 36 reveals that the long-vanished civilization belonged to humanity, who had left the planet behind tens of thousands of years ago, placing it in the distant future relative to bothBeast Wars and other works ofTransformers fiction. Indeed, duringtheBeast Wars II movie special, Optimus Primal is pulled out of space and time to Gaia, and Lio Convoy's crew treats him as a legendary figure from the past. TheBeast Wars II comic series, meanwhile, sticks to the backstory as established in that early catalog and treats Lio Convoy and Optimus Primal as contemporariesin its third chapter.

Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers

Transformers-Beast-Wars-Jpn-Logo.png

The subtitle-less first year of the Japanese franchise was released in 1997, one year after its launch inHasbro markets. It focused solely on the first year of the cartoon while combining Hasbro's 1996 and 1997 products into one large line. It is notable as theTransformers dubbing debut of prolific voice directorYoshikazu Iwanami. More on him later.


Beast Wars II

TF-Beast-Wars-II-Logo.png
Japanese Generation 1 continuity
«Beast Wars II»

Beast Wars II: Super Lifeform Transformers (ビーストウォーズII 超生命体トランスフォーマーBeast Wars II: Chō Seimeitai Transformer), pronounced "Beast Wars Second", was the first Japan-onlyBeast Wars sub-franchise, debuting in 1998.

TheBeast Wars II cartoon series aired in Japan between season one ofBeast Wars and seasons two and three, in order to fill the gap until the later seasons could be dubbed into Japanese. The Cybertron (Maximal) team starts off withLio Convoy,Apache,Bighorn,Tasmania Kid,Scuba, andDiver. The Destron (Predacon) side starts off with Galvatron,Megastorm,Starscream,BB,Dirge, andThrust.

TheBeast Wars II toyline consisted almost entirely ofredecoes (and the occasionalretool) ofGeneration 1,Generation 2,Machine Wars, and AmericanBeast Wars toys, although all new molds were created for the two faction leaders:Lio Convoy, a white lion,Galvatron, a purple dragon, andMoon an oft-abused robot space bunny anime mascot. Most of thePredacons are mechanical while theMaximals all have beast modes.


Beast Wars Neo

TF-Beast-Wars-Neo-Logo.png
Japanese Generation 1 continuity
«Beast Wars Neo»

Beast Wars Neo: Super Lifeform Transformers (ビーストウォーズネオ 超生命体トランスフォーマーBeast Wars Neo Chō Seimeitai Transformer) was the second Japanese exclusive sub-franchise, released in spring 1999.

Beast Wars Neo followed (and was a semi-sequel to)Beast Wars II. Of note is the fact that theBeast Wars Neo comic was considerably more different from its anime counterpart thanBeast Wars II's had been.

Unlike theBeast Wars II toyline, which consisted almost entirely ofredecoes (and the occasionalretool),Beast Wars Neo was largely composed of all new originalmolds with only a few reused AmericanBeast Wars toys to fill them out. TheMaximals have organic beast modes of mostly present day animals (with the exception of the MammothBig Convoy), while thePredacons featured mainly extinct/prehistoric animals such as dinosaurs.

Beast Wars Metals

TF-Beast-Wars-Metals-Logo.png
Japanese Generation 1 continuity
«Beast Wars Metals»

Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals (超生命体トランスフォーマー ビーストウォーズメタルスChō Seimeitai Transformers Beast Wars Metals) is the third and final Japanese sub-franchise ofBeast Wars released in fall of 1999.

TheBeast Wars Metals cartoon consisted of the North American season 2 and 3 episodes. WhileYoshikazu Iwanami and his voice team had been relatively restrained with respect to ad-libbing for the franchise's subtitle-less first year, Beast Wars Metals was a full-bore self-parody, constantly breaking the fourth wall and demonstrating awareness of its own status as a TV series. For good or ill the show proved a shot in the arm for the franchise, and this aggressively "punched up" dubbing style has become synonymous with imported Transformers cartoons in Japan to this day.

Metals was a smaller line than its predecessors, sticking entirely with characters who appeared in the show (even if not inTransmetal bodies). The first wave of toys had different, more "show-accurate" decoes and, notably, name tampographs were replaced with generic "CYBERTRON" and "DESTRON" markings. However, toys in later waves were functionally the same as Hasbro releases (other than minor changes to Optimal Optimus/Powered Convoy). The line also included a Takara-only retool ofTransmetal Cheetor intoRavage (reflecting a character model re-use in show), which was quickly a very sought-after item outside Japan.

Post-series media

Telemocha

Beast Wars Telemocha logo.png
Japanese Generation 1 continuity
«Beast Wars Telemocha»

Ten years after the release of the cartoon, theBeast Wars characters were revisited with theBeast Wars Telemocha Series toys,redecoes ofBeast Wars figures packaged with DVDs including first-season episodes as well as a brand new "Diorama Story" feature.

IDW Publishing

IDW Publishing'sBeast Wars comics from20062008 took place parallel to the originalBeast Wars cartoon. They starred other Maximals and Predacons leaving from the same present and traveling to the ancient past to have their own conflict behind-the-scenes while theAxalon andDarksyde warred. These comics incorporated characters from bothBeast Wars II and its immediate sequel,Beast Wars Neo, into itsrebootedBeast Wars timeline. In IDW's timeline, however, the events of those two series did not take place thousands of years afterBeast Wars, but hundreds of years before it. Lio Convoy, Magmatron and others were already veterans of those conflicts when theAxalon andDarksyde vanished. Relevant material includes:


Fun Publications

BWUprising logo.jpg

Fun Publications'2015 English language prose epicBeast Wars: Uprising made heavy use ofBeast Wars II andBeast Wars Neo characters in its dramatic reimagining of theBeast Wars setting from the ground up, centeringBeast Wars II commanderLio Convoy as the de facto protagonist of the small franchise.

Beast Wars Again

Beast Wars Again Logo.png
Japanese G1 continuity
«Beast Wars Again»

2023 saw a sudden revival of Japan'sBeast Wars franchise as TakaraTomy sought to ensure children knew what the heck a "Beast Warrior" was ahead of theBeast Wars cast's big screen debut inRise of the Beasts. The franchise was composed of meticulously screen-accurateredecoes of theBeast Wars figures from the earlierWar for Cybertron: Kingdom toyline along with a re-airing of the original cartoon.


Trivia

  • Despite its scramble to fill air time between imported material, constant flip flops between mediums, casts, and settings, steadily declining sales, and razor thin turnarounds,Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers nonetheless managed to air like clockwork onTV Tokyo in the 6:30 PM Wednesday slot fromOctober 1,1997 all the way throughMarch 29,2000, even frictionlessly passing the baton to the next JapaneseTransformers franchise,Transformers: Car Robots.
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