Japanese Generation 1 continuity Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers » Toyline Cartoons Commercials Comics Story pages Video games

If you've ever thought "I love G1 but I wish it had more logos," we have fantastic news.

Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers (戦え! 超ロボット生命体 トランスフォーマーTatakae! Chō Robot Seimeitai Transformer) is the ostentatious title given to theGeneration 1 franchise inJapan. Unique amongst international Generation 1 franchises, this line was overseen byTakara directly. As such it received yearly branding refreshes and with them various exclusive products and fiction well into the 1990s.

The franchise comprises:

• Atoyline, consisting ofmost of the toys released by Hasbro as well as quite a few that weren't once the Japanese line outlived the western one. The omissions are, unsurprisingly, largely the toys not sourced from Takara.
• Variouscartoons.
• Variouscomics, primarily run inTV Magazine.
• A series ofstory pages, which ran alongside the comic and provided prose adventures with two page magazine spreads.

Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers

The subtitle-less first year of the of the Japanese franchise was released in 1985, one year after its launch inHasbro markets. The various aspects ofF!SRLTF combined Hasbro's 1984 and 1985 products into one large line.

Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers 2010

Japanese Generation 1 continuity « Transformers 2010 » Toyline Cartoon Commercials Story Pages Manga 1 Manga 2

Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers 2010 (戦え!超ロボット生命体 トランスフォーマー 2010Tatakae! Chō Robotto Seimeitai Transformers Ni-Zero-Ichi-Zero) is the title given to the 1986 Transformers media in Japan, including the third season of theAmerican cartoon. It was the first instance of what would become Takara's standard method of operation—the annual rebranding of the franchise with a new subtitle. It accompanied the fictional shift of the animated series from the present day to the 21st century, but while the original American version of the series took place over 2005/06, the Japanese version advanced the setting to 2010, hence the new name.This rebranding was not entirely followed by the toyline, which only used the 2010 branding sporadically, while toys like Metroplex or the Combatrons received "Scramble City" branding to accompany the all newstraight-to-home-video special released a bit ahead of the new season.

Transformers: The Headmasters

Japanese Generation 1 continuity « The Headmasters » Toyline Cartoon Commercials Game Story pages Manga Beastformers

Transformers: The Headmasters (トランスフォーマー ザ★ヘッドマスターズ) was the first Japanese-exclusiveTransformers sub-franchise, released in 1987. Following on fromFight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers 2010 in 1986,The Headmasters began the period of distinction between American and Japanese products that would continue throughout the rest ofGeneration 1.

The Headmasters' story greatly expounded upon the toys and characters solely supported by the cartoon's concluding specialThe Rebirth in the west, featuring fairly dramatic deviations in characterization and dropping theNebulos angle entirely. Most idiosyncratically, the franchise contained thebackdoor pilot forBeastformers, Takara's version of the toyline launched asBattle Beasts in Hasbro markets the previous year.

Transformers: Super-God Masterforce

Japanese Generation 1 continuity « Super-God Masterforce » Toyline Cartoon Commercials Manga Story Pages

Transformers: Super-God Masterforce (トランスフォーマー 超神マスターフォースToransufōmā: Chōjin Masutāfōsu) is theTransformers sub-franchise in Japan for 1988. Breaking radically from previous series,Super-God Masterforce featured all-new characters and locations, dropping many of the futuristic elements and focusing on human characters that bonded with robot bodies.

Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Victory

Japanese Generation 1 continuity « Victory » Toyline (Japan) Toyline (China) Cartoon Manga Story Pages Commercials

Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Victory (戦え!超ロボット生命体 トランスフォーマーV (ビクトリー)Tatakae! Chō Robot Seimeitai Transformers Victory) is the sub-franchise that ran in 1989. It starredStar Saber and the otherBrainmasters, along withVictory Leo as they foughtDeathsaurus and hisBreastforce andDinoforce. The last year of the Generation 1 franchise to receive full-throated support from Takara,Victory is notable for establishing the bulk of the format that would spin out into theTransformers-adjacentBrave franchise the following year.

Transformers: Zone

Japanese Generation 1 continuity « Zone » Toyline Cartoon Commercials Manga Story Pages

Transformers: Zone (トランスフォーマーZ (ゾーン)), sometimesFight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Zone (戦え!超ロボット生命体トランスフォーマーZ (ゾーン)), is the JapaneseTransformers sub-franchise for 1990. The waning popularity ofTransformers became evident withZone, which received very little in the way of the traditional media support with its cartoon being truncated to a singledirect-to-home-video special mid-production.

Zone's brief story sawDai Atlas and hisPowered Masters do battle with the ghostlyViolengiguar as he commandedpretty much every big ticket item from the past five years in a desperate all-out attempt to sell kids on the new heroes in twenty minutes and change.

Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Return of Convoy

Japanese Generation 1 continuity « Return of Convoy » Toyline Manga Story Pages Commercials

Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Return of Convoy (戦え!超ロボット生命体トランスフォーマーリターン・オブ・コンボイ) was the fifth Japanese-exclusiveTransformers sub-franchise, released in 1991. It received even less media support than its predecessor, eschewing animation completely.Return of Convoy continued the storyline of the animated continuity, picking up whereZone left off. The story was told through a single comic issue and a series of story pages.

TheReturn of Convoy storyline went back to basics, revolving around the resurrection ofOptimus Prime as Star Convoy by theBattlestars and their battle againstDark Nova and the similarly revivedSuper Megatron.

Developed byMasumi Kaneda, the original subtitle for this stage of the franchise wasDai Ginga Seidan (大銀河星団, "Galactic Stars").^[1] Initially planned withBig Bang as the Autobot leader, development decided on "Star Convoy", at this point a new character separate fromConvoy. At some point, the title was changed toThe Battlestars (ザ・バトルスターズ), which the comic and story pages still retain. Eventually, the plot was finalized as the resurrection of Convoy, hence the "Return of Convoy" branding used by the toyline.^[2][3]

Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Operation Combination

Japanese Generation 1 continuity « Operation Combination » Toyline Commercials Story pages Audio adventure

Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Operation Combination (戦え! 超ロボット生命体トランスフォーマー 合体大作戦Tatakae! Chō Robot Seimei Tai Transformers Gattai Dai Sakusen) was the sub-franchise that ran throughout 1992. It marks the final vintageGeneration 1 series released in Japan, as the line was cancelled followingOperation Combination, not to be revived until 1995 andG-2.Operation Combination lacked even comic support, continuing the story of the animated series exclusively through story pages.

Operation Combination's plot saw Decepticon High RegentScrash sendBattle Gaia and theJet Corps to plunderEarth's energy. A new team of Autobots composed oftheeponymousquintetofcombiners and theRoad Corps are deployed byStar Convoy to defend the planet.

Legacy

Main article:Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity

The precedent of the latter installments of the Japanese Generation 1 franchise, that entire waves of product could be supported via the continuation of the cartoon's story through a comic or a couple story pages, had a peculiar effect on JapaneseTransformers media going forward. The story pages ofJapan'sGeneration 2 franchise picked up right whereOperation Combination left off in 1995, and the storyline of the Japanese Generation 1 cartoon never really stopped from there. The resulting sprawling exquisite corpse attached to TakaraTomy's Generation 1 andBeast Wars flavored products continues to this very day, and has becomethe largest continuous setting in the entire Transformers brand.

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