War for Cybertron Siege (Netflix) Isn't Like Other Transformers Cartoons

Style, Tone, and Actual Nuance? Cool. 

We've had those three things before but not all at once, ya' know. Ya'll know how CGI based animations can look like trash, right? Shows like Transformers Prime, Jimmy Nutron, and... oh, I dunno, Beastars are all charming but they reside somewhere in the uncanny valley because their 2D expressions don't neatly fit in a 3D world. Also, shading and contrast often suffer with 3D animated shows.

Y'all, listen, this is the first CGI show that 1) Ya don't know is 3D until someone points it out and 2) there's no disclaimer required to say it looks amazing. The incredible detail, shading, and lighting turns the expectation for typical, cheese-fest Transformers cartooning on it's head.

This is some dank, 80s style neo noir eye candy, my dudes.

Every time I paused to explain Transformers lore to my captive, but consenting and willing audience, my TV looked like it had a cool screensaver goin' on. Be sure to watch at least some of the video clips just to get a real good idea of how wonderful this show looks.

Yum-a-rooni. That's my new catchphrase. Yum-a-rooni. Do you like it?

The show's sense of style help you feel what it was like on Cybertron during the last few hours of the infamous war. Most of the other Transformers cartoons in their own continuity mention warring on Cybertron in some fashion through tantalizing flashbacks here and there, but this is the first series to actually take us there. 

You can see differently shaped skyscrapers, windows, and streets and imagine the shops, museums, libraries, and what-not of normal, pre-war Cybertronian life. The characters themselves even comment on these things and it's glorious.

So too are the mentions of how Decepticons were once Cybertronians relegated to mine work while Autobots come from upper-crust types sippin' fine Energon without a care in the world. There are even mentions of how another, evil race probably enslaved or at least controlled a huge portion of the Cybertronian population until one brave robot rose up against them. 

Oh, and as evident from the screenshots and trailers, this isn't a very happy show. I mean, c'mon, Elita-1 is pointing a rifle at the cutest Transformer of 'em all, Bunblebee. There's no question that the Decepticons are the bad guys, but there's a little more to it than "Grrr, we da evil!" this time around. You'll have to watch the show to really grasp what I mean, but the way the show's setting blends into the lore and history of the Transformers is very well done. 

...and that perfectly ties into why this show is kinda...

...Dull

With it's TY-Y7 rating, limiting 6-episode run, and copy-pasted background characters, it feels like there's a ton of story the writers had to cut due to budget. All of those aforementioned details are awesome, but the show never answers the question "So what?" For all of the set-up this show does with it's own lore, it need really explores it... They're just campfire stories, ya' know, instead of actual experiences for the audience.

That's a real shame when Avatar The Last Air Bender proves you can entertain people no matter their age despite a limiting TV-Y7 rating.  It's also mega-hinted that Elita-1 and Optimus Prime are totally doing it on the side, but nooooo, all we get to see are scandalous, long gazes between the two.

Some more confidence would've gone a LONG way here, guys. 

And while I'm having a moan, there's too much cliché cartoon villain for my tastes with such great liners as "What's this!?" and "Well done, Prime. Well done." Miss me with that excuse "it's for kids" because this show can be for kids and also have brilliant writing. 

A lot of the show, by the way, happens when the bots are kinda just... standing there talking. There was one sequence where we see Autobots visit the grey-market run by a crazy Cybertronian named Sundblaster and it was a good time hearing the Autobots talk about something other than how bad war is.

In fact, any time the bots are actually doing a thing beyond running for cover or discussing "freedom" is inherently a better time simply because it's something more than the usual.

The show needed more of that, and less Elita-1 worry-shouting at Prime. Look, I get it, the show all takes place over one night and the Autobots were really getting their buts handed to them, and Optimus Prime is stubborn as heck, but yo... Elita-1, chill for two seconds. Maybe if the show better displayed your love for Optimus, your constant, worrisome tone would've made a lot more sense. I know the show hints at this, but again, its just a hint.

Even Optimus sounds a tad off, flatly delivering his empty-shell lines without much emotion except for that one time he shouted like the dog from Rick and Morty. 

Honestly, the voice acting is just fine to my ears. At least Jetfire, Soundwae, and Wheeljack sound convincing and robotic enough. But that's just my taste as I like my cartoon characters to sound like actual people (robots in this case) than goofy voiced children. This show mostly avoids that, but still, some lines are delivered with too-thick drama.

Anyway, You Should Go Watch It

Alright, so the story hints at a bigger story that never comes to fruition, there's only 6 episodes, the voice acting is just fine, and worst of all, the writing feels dumbed down for a younger audience when it doesn't have be and avoids getting to the meat n' potatoes of why the Autobots and Decepticons are fighting to begin with.

BUT WHO CARES, guys, this is beautifully dark and gritty reboot that Transformers needed and those negatives aren't enough to make it a pass. Finally, we can feel how the Transformers as we know them were once just regular beings that are now desperately fighting a war of survival.  

There's no cute one-liners like with Transformers Prime or the cheesiness from the G1 cartoon. Instead, there's injury, close calls, torture, death, apathy, and desperation in the voices and faces of otherwise steely-faced characters. 

These are life-like characters first and toys second, and for that reason it's an easy, imperfect show to recommend to anyone, and I can't wait to see what the sequel brings.