And so it begins. I dedicate this opening post to Stephy.
I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.
But here we go.
Sometimes, I think an English translator needs to work at Takara's offices. I understand the designation of RA (Revenge of the Fallen Autobots), but still somebody should have told them that in English, it means other things, too. Oh well. Breastforce, anyone?
Optimus Prime, Robot Mode
I really need to put more effort into photo taking.
Anyway, back to Optimus. Compared to his chunkier previous model, this mould gives him anime proportion legs, and generally creates a sleeker look for him. Really long legs. Like, Megan Fox legs. OK her legs aren't that long, but you get the idea. Isabel Lucas legs. There you go.
I also like his double blades! Really, guns are cool only if they are massive cannons. Having melee weapons gives a more visceral feel to him. And who isn't going to re-enact the Optimus vs Megatron & Starscream & Grindor battle? Slashing with his nifty blades, too.
Even for the first Movie, I preferred Premium Optimus Prime - simply because he had a knife/axe/sharp melee weapon. I felt his gun didn't do him justice. If you give him a gun - giant cannons please. Which is why I think Buster Optimus Prime is such a great idea - dedicated giant cannons specially incorporated into the design.
After all, weapons are really important to any Transformer. Weaponless Transformers are kinda... well, look at Minicons.
Are those ribs or serratus anterior?
At any rate, Optimus is not without his flaws. See those ribs of his? Or muscles. I don't actually know - he's a robot, after all.
How they all connect
What happens, in the process of transforming, you have to dislodge his ribs.
And it's not an easy task.
Surgery
Either you master the skill of pulling something bigger through a hole that's smaller (useful for making love too, I'm sure), or you just use brute force to drag the peg through the hole.
The problem with brute force is that it will wear out the peg sooner or later, and then you'll have droopy ribs for Optimus. So here I'm scared of transforming him too many times. Just let him fight, that'll be enough for me.
Optimus Prime, Alternate Mode
It's amazing how his first movie and this movie have the same alternate modes - but transform into completely different looking robots.
At any rate, I think Optimus is lots of fun to play with. Largely because of his sexy long legs, and mostly because of his giant blades.
Rip!
I'm very sad to say this, but...
Megatron wasn't really much fun.
He's not that poseable, neither does he have alot of... gimmicks? He's also not very well balanced, weight-wise. So there aren't a lot of things you can do with him.
The biggest beef I have is with his general design aesthetic. Chunky legs, one huge arm, and one... er... not-so-huge arm.
Now, I have fat legs. But I'm not a toy. Or a cool robot. Megatron has huge legs, and I'm not entirely sure what purpose that serves. It just looks awful. It's not like Megaman legs, where it's a really muscular calf, but a small thigh. Megatron's legs are just triangular slabs of metal that don't look very... agile. Powerful, maybe, but not agile.
And then the assymmetrical arms. I'm OK with a little assymmetry, but this is ridiculous. A massive cannon arm is cool. But the other withered arm looks awful - enough to overshadow the coolness of the cannon arm. It makes Megatron look slightly cancerous, or that he's on steroids gone wrong.
He also looks like he might fall over anytime.
Sigh.
Cybertronian vehicles are nice, if they're like Galaxy Force Soundwave or the Fallen. But not this.
I've said it before... please, designers, don't let "Cybertronian" be an excuse to throw aesthetics out the window and do whatever you want with the design. Creativity is good. Creativity without limits is just chaos.
Oddly, the tank looks like Animated Shockwave's design.
Megatron vs Optimus Prime
Hm. When you place them side-by-side... Megatron looks like a really wussy, mismatched tank. I evidently don't like the design, and I really think some more thought needs to be put into the Decepticon leader.
More to come when I next blog! Soon. Hopefully.
