Transformers - Takara - Headmasters (DVD)

The Japanese got three series of Transformers cartoons after the American run that we're familiar with ended, and this is the first, in its first official Western release. I first watched the Headmasters series in the unofficial version which circulated on the Internet, with a distinctly dubious English dub, done by people whose lack of acquaintance with the Transformers universe was seemingly only matched by their lack of acquaintance with a coherently translated script. However, even with this disadvantage, I found myself enjoying these episodes more than the American cartoons that I'd grown up with. Okay, the characterization is as ropey as ever, but Transformers cartoons are all about big fighting robots, and the Headmasters series captures that brilliantly, whilst introducing a steady stream of new characters to keep you interested. In addition, the individual cartoons are linked by an ongoing plotline rather than just being self-contained, the Autobots don't come out on top in every episode and characters even die, none of which was the case in the American cartoons. I'm not making any claims for these cartoons being mature adult viewing, but they're cool and they're exciting - what more could you want?

Well, decent dubbing for one, but since re-dubbing the series with decent voice actors would have made the boxset prohibitively expensive, we don't get that. Instead, you can choose the worthless dub I mentioned before, or some newly-commissioned subtitles, which are clear and easy to follow, and definitely improve the viewing experience, as do the clearer images compared to the unofficial version.

In short, this is a great release of some unjustly overlooked cartoons, and well worth getting if you maybe bought some of the classic American episodes and found them much patchier than you remember them being, or if you saw the unofficial versions for free, and are wondering whether to pay for this new box set. I will say though, don't get it if you object to reading subtitles, because the dub is not even worth considering. The Headmasters series might not be to everyone's tastes, but I really rate it. Many of the characters featured are ones who plenty of people outside of Japan owned as toys but never saw in any cartoons, so there's the nostalgia aspect, and as long as all you want from these DVDs is some cool fighting robots, you really can't go wrong.