With anime the “cool new thing the kids are into”, 2002 saw the first Transformers toyline and TV show jointly developed by Hasbro and Takara for both markets: Armada. And while the toys were exciting and innovative, the show was… less so.
With the Autobots out screaming dramatically at the Decepticons, Alexis, Rad, and Carlos find the base’s computer being possessed by Sideways! Soon they’re pulled into “cyberspace” with their Mini-Con partners, where they get a glimpse of Cybertron, fight Sideways, and end up chased by an awfully familiar-looking evil planet! Will they ever find their way out? Did anyone working in cartoons in 2002 know anything about computers? And just what were the animators smoking? Join us this week for an episode of Transformers: Armada–Chase!
Podcast: Stasis Pod
Stasis Pod Episode 81: Chase
Stasis Pod Episode 80: Attack From Outer Space
After Beast Machines, Hasbro took a break from cartoon production and imported Takara’s Car Robots under the name Robots in Disguise. But only a couple episodes into the show’s American run on Fox Kids, something happened that lowered the American viewing public’s appetite for casual urban destruction. Many episodes had to be edited; a few had to be pulled from airing entirely, though they later saw release on DVD in the UK.
This week we watch one of the latter.
The Decepticons replace a human space shuttle with their own Movor in hopes that a spy in Earth orbit will be able to find the Autobot’s secret base. But the Autobots he finds are too busy doing other things to be much help! Will he be able to fulfill his duty? Is it still too soon for that much casual urban destruction? And do any of us believe that the replaced astronauts are totally safe? Join us this week for some ani-mayhem with the original Robots in Disguise episode, “Attack From Outer Space”
Stasis Pod Episode 79: The End of the Beast Era
With Beast Machines finished, our rewatch of the Beast Era comes to an end. Join us this week as we talk collective fandom fits, the influence of the Beast Era on later Transformers fiction, and Rob tells us all about Bob Skir’s Beast Machines prose story! (Also David apologizes in advance for some “sketchier than usual editing”.)
Stasis Pod Episode 78: Endgame Pt. III: Seeds of the Future
This is it: the final episode of the Beast era! Every Maximal but Optimus Primal has had their spark removed, and now Optimus must face Megatron in his own upgraded body! With the souls of every Cybertronian at stake, with the two of them left as the only living beings on Cybertron, can Optimus defeat him? Or will Megatron succeed in remaking the planet in his image? And will Waspinator ever catch a break? Join us this week for Endgame Pt. III: Seeds of the Future!
Stasis Pod Episode 77: Endgame Pt. II: When Legends Fall
With the sparks of every Transformer on Cybertron at stake, the Maximals try to hold the grounded Grand Mal against the full force of Megatron’s Vehicons. But just what is this new body Megatron is building for himself? Can the Maximals glow and crash into things enough to make a difference? And how far will these titles keep stretching for the sake of hyperbole? Join us for the penultimate episode of the Beast era of Transformers, Endgame Part II: When Legends Fall!
Stasis Pod Episode 76: Endgame Pt. I: The Downward Spiral
The Downward Spiral is the second studio album by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released on March 8, 1994 by Nothing Records and Interscope Records in the United States and by Island Records in Europe. It is a concept album detailing the destruction of a man, from the beginning of his “downward spiral” to his attempt at suicide. The Downward Spiral features elements of industrial rock, techno and heavy metal music, in contrast to the band’s synthpop-influenced debut album Pretty Hate Machine (1989), and was produced by Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor and Flood.[x]
This is not that “The Downward Spiral”.
Stasis Pod Episode 74: Spark of Darkness
Megatron is TOTALLY DEAD. He is NOT any sort of rogue spark flying about possessing random conglomerations of reused models. And he was absolutely NOT made that way by some completely incomprehensible techno-babble. Join us this week as we watching something that sure isn’t Spark of Darkness!
Stasis Pod Episode 74: Sparkwar Pt. III: The Siege
The Maximals finally find the sparks in perhaps the most obvious place possible, but what Megatron’s doing with them is downright grimdark! Can they escape with their own sparks intact? Why can’t they just leave Nightscream behind with Noble and get rid of two nuisances at once? Will Noble’s reappearance turn out to be super convenient? And how far can an episode title be stretched to fit a theme? Join us this week for the last part of Sparkwar, The Siege!
Stasis Pod Episode 73: Sparkwar Pt. II: The Search
The Maximals split the party in their search for the sparks of Cybertron’s missing population, but when is that ever a good idea? Will they find them? And how can it be that hard to find porn in a post-apocalyptic wasteland? Join us this week for Sparkwar Pt. II: The Search!
Stasis Pod Episode 72: Sparkwar Pt. I: The Strike
With Trust as the only remaining Vehicon general, Megatron bolsters his army with two new ones, Obsidian and Strika, whose sparks he chose specifically for their inherent loyalty. Will the Maximals be able to defeat two of the greatest strategists in Cybertron’s history? Will Botanica be willing to put aside her disdain for violence to defend her new home? And could the new female characters in this season possibly be any better? Find out this week as we watch Sparkwar Part I: The Strike!