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LBD "Nytetrayn"

Broke the Matrix
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Council of Elders
Citizen
I mean, that is literally the same vocals just used on a different track. Then they add some guy saying,"Energon" to it that seems completely out of place.
I dunno what to say. I'm not the biggest vocals guy, but while that may be the same, the instrumental part sound really different to me.

Saying these two are the same are like saying the three G1 TV show themes are the same thing to me.
 

CoffeeHorse

Hanging in there
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Council of Elders
Citizen
The first time I encountered Armada I thought "What am I stupid or something?" Like someone had to have read these dialog scripts at some point prior to recording and apparently didn't find an issue, so am I just missing something? What are they talking about?

I really have to watch Energon sometime. I'm told it's even worse. That has to be a hoot.
 

Sabrblade

Continuity Nutcase
Citizen
The first time I encountered Armada I thought "What am I stupid or something?" Like someone had to have read these dialog scripts at some point prior to recording and apparently didn't find an issue, so am I just missing something? What are they talking about?
We can thank Cartoon Network for the rushed production early on. They wanted the episodes ready to go months before they were even done and ready to air in Japan.

As for any script/acting issues late in the series, however, there simply is no excuse.

I really have to watch Energon sometime. I'm told it's even worse. That has to be a hoot.
The truly sad thing about Energon is that it actually starts off rather decently before it just goes down the tubes. The first few episodes actually feel a bit watchable, even in the dub (though, Episode 1 does actually have two different dubs, but both are about the same quality in terms of acting and scripting). It really made that show seem promising early on before it ultimately became the train wreck that it did.
 
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The Predaking

Administrator
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Energon is worse only in the fact that it is not Armada and thus the Armada fanboys hate it. Here is one of my favorite earlier scenes.


"Be my shield!"
 

The Predaking

Administrator
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Citizen
I dunno what to say. I'm not the biggest vocals guy, but while that may be the same, the instrumental part sound really different to me.

Saying these two are the same are like saying the three G1 TV show themes are the same thing to me.
Yeah, the music is different, but it literally is the same recording of the same people singing put on a different background music track. At the time, we couldn't easily compare and contrast them, so they got away with it for a while. :)
 

LordGigaIce

Another babka?
Citizen
I really have to watch Energon sometime. I'm told it's even worse. That has to be a hoot.
You can just stop after the first ten episodes. Nothing of consequence happens afterwards.
 

Sabrblade

Continuity Nutcase
Citizen
At the very least, since the English dub kept the original Japanese score, the BGM is legit amazing. It has no right being as good as it is for such a terribly written (and terribly English-dubbed) show.
 

CoffeeHorse

Hanging in there
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
I have to watch this now. Having competent music playing over the insanity can only make it funnier. Like the Robot Monster of Transformers.
 

LBD "Nytetrayn"

Broke the Matrix
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
Energon is worse only in the fact that it is not Armada and thus the Armada fanboys hate it. Here is one of my favorite earlier scenes.


"Be my shield!"

Got a time stamp? It just starts from the beginning when I hit Play.

Yeah, the music is different, but it literally is the same recording of the same people singing put on a different background music track. At the time, we couldn't easily compare and contrast them, so they got away with it for a while. :)
I mean, I could. XD

I got an MP3 of the RiD alt theme from... gosh, where was it? BWTF.com, maybe?

Well, I got it somewhere before RiD started airing, when it was believed to be the theme song.

But I don't think I ever had to. To me (especially after having it in my Winamp playlist for a few years -- I really loved that theme, more than the one they went with in the show. I just loved how fast and hard it hit by comparison to the TV intro), they sounded distinctly different, even if the vocals were mostly the same.
 

The Predaking

Administrator
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
Sorry about that, I would recomend starting off halfway through the episode or the whole episode for that matter, but if you want to see what I was talking about, start at 19:40.
 

unluckiness

Somehow still sane
Citizen
It’s not even entertainingly bad. Just boring bad, the plot is basic and drawn out and the script frequently gets names wrong, making it difficult to follow.
I have to watch this now. Having competent music playing over the insanity can only make it funnier. Like the Robot Monster of Transformers.
 

lastmaximal

Administrator
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
The problem is twofold. One, the series sucks. Two, as with so many things, the discourse around the series has gotten cluttered with parroted jokes and ideas from people who haven't actually watched it and whose commentary is performatively marching along with the understood accepted fandom stance, rather than in their own personal experience with and resulting distaste for the material. So the descriptions get inflated and clouded via the decades-long-now game of telephone of repeating jokes from the wiki and from influencers and from social media. It's basically the melodrama over Kiss Players, but applied to how bad Energon is and in what way.

Energon not even particularly bonkers or entertainingly bad, despite the aforementioned discourse -- it's tedious. It is very hard to even make it funny.

And even rewatching that Nemesis Prime clip from Armada -- a less terrible show -- reminded me that I just could not with the sheer anime cadence of it. Even a better dub would have precious little to work with in those scenes: long stretches pass without anyone actually talking, and when they do, it's a few syllables of mouth-flap. The camera lingers on Nemesis Prime for long stretches, during which all he has is animalistic growls and the occasional evil laugh and/or roar. It takes a long time for anyone to do anything; it's like they're fighting underwater. And this is an action scene, which is meant to be exciting and dramatic.

And, again, that was Armada. Energon is more of the same style, but with writers who seem to have just given up and played mad libs with "You serious?" and "Uhhh?!". Even the good parts (again, put on higher and higher pedestals until one actually rewatches them and recalibrates that expectation to This Was Okay, It Wasn't Gibberish Yet) were hampered by the dub format and the writing. (The music isn't always a great fit either; the score is oddly incongruous with the tense "I am your enemy now; fire on me" standoff of Demolishor facing the returned Megatron.)
 

CoffeeHorse

Hanging in there
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
I have to know.

...

Maybe my sense of humor is just broken or my expectations of this show were set just right, but this is immediately hilarious.

I just got my first "Are you serious?"! The legend exists!

This is... not good. I hope it gets worse.
 


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