Joshua Reviews Transformers – Japanese Collection: Headmasters [Shout Factory DVD Review]

With Transformers: Dark Of The Moon both blazing up the box office and tanking with critics, one can argue that the Transformers franchise as a whole is one of the most popular ones within the public eye, even if the big screen fair hasn’t been of the highest quality.

And as any good company would, Shout Factory is jumping at this rise in robot popularity.   Having released a great first season set of the amazing animated series Beast Wars, Shout have now gone and given us a Transformers cartoon of both a different speed and language.

The distributors have released a new set of the Japanese anime series Transformers: Headmasters, and I must say, as a novice to the franchise, this is an absolutely eye opening experience.

Following in the wake of the battle with Unicron, peace once again finds itself within the galaxy and on the planet we know as Cybertron.   The Decepticons and Autobots are one with the planet, and the world is thriving.   However, that all changes when the race known as The Headmasters come into play, tossing the world back into disarray.   A rare gem of a TV series, this series has been something of legend this side of the world, never truly finding a release on any home entertainment medium.   However, not only has Shout Factory done just that, but they, in doing so, have given Transformers fans something to chew on while the film franchise continues to flounder quality wise.

With animation by Toei Animation, Transformers: Headmasters is something of a visual spectacle.   This release is visually top notch, allowing for the amazing action animation to really pop.   Character design has always been something of a strong suit for the Transformers franchise, and here it’s no different.   Toei really was at the top of their game here, and particularly during the bigger set pieces, you can see where the company would go later on with shows like ‘Sailor Moon,’ ‘Yu-Gi-Oh’ and yes, even the underrated ‘Digimon’ a show that still holds up to this day.

35 episodes are featured within this release, really allowing for the show and franchise to give an expanded look at this world and its characters.   Each character has its own idiosyncrasies, be it through the solid voice acting or the narrative that unfolds.   There are various characters that really catch the eye of the viewer, and will leave each fan of the show wanting more of their favorite names.    The music is very much corny at this point in time, but it also adds to the show’s charm and nostalgic appeal.   Nostalgia can always be something of a blinder when talking about a show critically, but here, nostalgia may be the reason for someone to give this a shot, but if one does add this to their collection, the quality of the show will prove to be something of a shock to many.   It’s a wonderfully rewarding bit of action sci-fi anime, and it is a franchise that will capture the imagination of the younger set while giving the older crowd just the right amount of entertainment.

However, while this release may feature a ton of episodes, it ultimately lacks in reasons to keep the discs in your player.   Only including art galleries, the release is relatively small in scale, which is definitely an issue.   Yes, it’s nice to finally have this show on US shores, but it would have been even better if we were privy to features further adding context to what was a really rare show in this part of the world.   Retrospective interviews with fans or those involved would have really been killer within this release.

That all said, Shout Factory again brings the world a top notch piece of cult animation that may have otherwise gone unreleased.   Featuring a densely rich narrative and some really fun characters, Transformers: Headmasters is a beautifully animated piece of anime that still works today as well as it did the first day it hit TVs.   Despite the lack of features that accompany the discs, this is an absolute must own for fans of anime, Transformers, or simply engaging television.   It’s impossible to recommend this disc any higher than that it embodies why the Transformers still rule the roost.