is a Japanese

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

that is a part of the ''

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the Autobots and the Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms, suc ...

'' robot superhero franchise. It aired from July 3, 1987 to March 25, 1988, and its 17:00–17:30 timeslot was used to broadcast ''

Mashin Hero Wataru is a mecha multimedia franchise originally created by Sunrise and Red Entertainment. The first series aired on April 15, 1988, replacing the 17:00–17:30 timeslot used for '' Transformers: The Headmasters''. Sunrise credited "Hajime Y ...

'' at the end of its broadcast. It serves as the first sequel series to the Japanese dub of the original 1985 '' The Transformers'' cartoon series in the ''Generation 1'' franchise, followed by '' Transformers: Super-God Masterforce''.

Development

Initially,

Takara Takara Co., Ltd. (株式会社タカラ) was a Japanese toy company founded in 1955. In March 2006, the company merged with Tomy Co., Ltd. to form Takara Tomy. The Takara motto was 遊びは文化」("playing is culture"). Products Toys In ...

, the Japanese producers of the ''Transformers'' toyline, imported the American ''

'' cartoon series from 1985 to 1986. When the series came to an end with the three-part miniseries "The Rebirth" in 1987, however, Takara decided to continue the series themselves, declining to import ''The Rebirth'' and instead creating a full-length 35-episode spin-off series, ''Transformers: The Headmasters'' (two additional clips episodes were produced after the fact for direct-to-video release). Supplanting ''The Rebirths position in Japanese continuity, ''The Headmasters'' occurred one year after ''The Return of Optimus Prime'', introducing the title characters to the Transformers universe in a different way. Whereas in western fiction, the Headmasters result from the merging of a Transformer with an organic alien being from the planet Nebulos, the Headmasters of the Japanese series are a group of small Cybertronians who departed the planet millions of years ago and crash-landed on the inhospitable planet Master. To survive its harsh climate, a select few Cybertronians constructed larger bodies called "Transtectors", to which they connected as the heads.

Story

Six years after the decisive battle against

Unicron Unicron is a fictional villain from the ''Transformers'' media franchise. Designed by Floro Dery, he was introduced in the 1986 animated film ''The Transformers: The Movie'' and has since reappeared in ''Transformers: Armada'', ''Transformers: ...

, a group of rebellious Headmasters led by

Weirdwolf is a Japanese anime television series that is a part of the ''Transformers'' robot superhero franchise. It aired from July 3, 1987 to March 25, 1988, and its 17:00–17:30 timeslot was used to broadcast ''Mashin Hero Wataru'' at the end o ...

join with

Galvatron Megatron is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the ''Transformers'' media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. Megatron is the cruel and tyrannical leader of the Decepticons, a ...

Decepticon The Decepticons are the main antagonists in the fictional continuities of the ''Transformers'' multimedia franchise. They are depicted as a faction of sentient robotic lifeforms led by Megatron, identified by a purple face-like insignia. Capab ...

s in an attack on Cybertron. The Headmasters, led by Cerebros, return to their home planet to aid in its defense. The situation soon gets worse when it is revealed that Vector Sigma, the super-computer at the planet's heart, is destabilizing, and

Optimus Prime Optimus Prime, , is a fictional Character (arts), character in the ''Transformers'' franchise. The Transformers characters were developed for an American market after Hasbro representatives visited the 1983 Tokyo Toy Show. The characters were ...

again sacrifices his life to save Cybertron. This proves to be only delaying the inevitable, however, as a bomb attack instigated by Scorponok turns Cybertron into a burnt-out, inhospitable husk. Rodimus Prime departs to search for a new planet for the Transformers to live on, leaving Cerebros in command, operating from the planet Athenia. Meanwhile, Scorponok replaces Galvatron- who had vanished in the explosion- as Decepticon leader, constructing a personal Transtector and redubbing himself MegaZarak to battle Cerebros' own giant form, Fortress Maximus. Although populated mainly with new characters, ''The Headmasters'' featured characters from all previous seasons, including new versions of Soundwave and Blaster, rebuilt after a duel destroyed them both as Soundblaster and Twincast. Human

Daniel Witwicky ''The Transformers'' is an American animated television series that originally aired from September 17, 1984, to November 11, 1987, in Broadcast syndication, syndication based upon Hasbro's Transformers (toy line), ''Transformers'' toy line. T ...

and his young Autobot friend

Wheelie In vehicle acrobatics, a wheelie, or wheelstand, is a vehicle maneuver in which the front wheel or wheels come off the ground due to sufficient torque being applied to the rear wheel or wheels, or rider motion relative to the vehicle. Whe ...

also played major roles in the series, serving as the youthful characters for the audience to identify with. More new characters were introduced when Galvatron returned to leadership and the Decepticons embarked on a space voyage, ransacking planets in a chain of stories that introduced the Horrorcons, Autobot and Decepticon clones. Later, the Decepticon ninja six-changer

Sixshot ''The Transformers'' is an American animated television series that originally aired from September 17, 1984, to November 11, 1987, in syndication based upon Hasbro's ''Transformers'' toy line. The first television series in the ''Transformer ...

kills Ultra Magnus, and the Autobot Headmasters manage to destroy Galvatron, leaving Scorponok to become leader of the Decepticons again. When the Decepticons then return to Master, refugees from the planet are caught in a plasma bomb accident that fuses them to the arms of several Autobots and Decepticons, creating the Targetmasters, and in a final move, Scorponok attempts the destruction of Earth, only to be foiled, thanks in part to a traitorous Sixshot.

Adaptations

Not professionally released in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

until July 5, 2011, ''The Headmasters'' was dubbed into English in Hong Kong by the dubbing company Omni Productions, for broadcast on the

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

n TV channel, RTM1, and later the

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

satellite station,

StarTV ''Startv'' is a Canadian weekly entertainment television program. It profiles Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For m ...

, where it attained greater fame, leading it to often be referred to (albeit erroneously) as the "StarTV dub". The dub is, however, infamous for its poor quality, full of mistranslations and incorrect names (for example, Blaster becomes known as "Billy", Blurr is "Wally", Jazz is "Marshall", Hot Rod is "Rodimus" (pronounced "Roadimus"), the Matrix becomes the "Power Pack", Spike is "Sparkle", Soundblaster is "New Soundwave", Metroplex is called "Philip", and Fortress Maximus is occasionally called "Spaceship Bruce"), as well as stilted and even bizarre dialogue, such as ''"I'll send you express to hell!"'' and ''"Fortress Maximus has come himself"''. Also, Wheelie does not speak in rhyme (but seems to have a slight Scottish accent), the Dinobots speak normally (Grimlock does not say his famous ''"Me Grimlock"'' at all), Raiden is known as "Grimlock", and Blurr speaks abnormally slowly (though this at least can be chalked up to the difficulty of imitating John Moschitta's famous fast-talking style). Omni also dubbed the 1990s and 2000s ''

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film ''Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produc ...

'' movies and '' Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky'', both of which are often ridiculed for extremely bad and at times cheesy dubbing. This dub has seen some releases in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, when it aired on

AnimeCentral Anime Central was a British television channel owned by CSC Media Group. The channel launched on 13 September 2007. It was first announced on 5 August 2007, though its license first appeared on the Ofcom website in January (initially named "Toon ...

from September 13, 2007. In 2005, the full series with the original Japanese audio with subtitles and the English dub were released over 4-discs on DVD in Region 2. The full series was released on DVD in North America by

Shout! Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...

on July 5, 2011, without the English dub. In 2008,

Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatri ...

released the series on DVD in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in Region 4, PAL format. A

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

based on this anime titled was written by Keisuke Fujikawa and released on August 25, 1987. An eight-chapter

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

adaptation of this anime was written by Masami Kaneda and illustrated by Ban Magami as part of their series.

Theme songs

* Openings # #* July 3, 1987 - March 25, 1988 #* Lyricist: Keisuke Yamakawa / Composer: Takamune Negishi / Arranger: Katsunori Ishida / Singers: Hironobu Kageyama #* Episodes: 1–38 * Endings # #* July 3, 1987 - March 25, 1988 #* Lyricist: Keisuke Yamakawa / Composer: Takamune Negishi / Arranger: Katsunori Ishida / Singers: Hironobu Kageyama #* Episodes: 1–35, 38 * Insert Songs # #* January 22, 1988, February 5, 1988, February 19, 1988, March 18, 1988 #* Lyricist: Shinobu Urakawa / Composer: Takamune Negishi / Arranger: Katsunori Ishida / Singers: Hironobu Kageyama #* Episodes: 24, 26, 28, 32 # #* February 12, 1988, February 26, 1988 #* Lyricist: Keisuke Yamakawa / Composer: Takamune Negishi / Arranger: Katsunori Ishida / Singers: Hironobu Kageyama #* Episodes: 27, 29 # #* Lyricist: Keisuke Fujikawa / Composer: Takamune Negishi / Arranger: Katsunori Ishida / Singers: Korogi '73, Mori no Ki Jido Gassho-dan #* Episodes: None # "TRANSFORM!" #* Lyricist: Keisuke Yamakawa / Composer: Takeshi Ike / Arranger: Katsunori Ishida / Singers: Hironobu Kageyama #* Episodes: None # #* Lyricist: Keisuke Fujikawa / Composer: Takamune Negishi / Arranger: Katsunori Ishida / Singers: Hironobu Kageyama #* Episodes: None # #* Lyricist: Keisuke Yamakawa / Composer: Takamune Negishi / Arranger: Katsunori Ishida / Singers: Hironobu Kageyama #* Episodes: None # #* Lyricist: Keisuke Fujikawa / Composer: Takamune Negishi / Arranger: Katsunori Ishida / Singers: Hironobu Kageyama #* Episodes: None # #* Lyricist: Keisuke Yamakawa / Composer: Takeshi Ike / Arranger: Katsunori Ishida / Singers: Hironobu Kageyama, Ikuko Noguchi #* Episodes: None

Episodes

Video game

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

based on the series was released by

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

for the

Family Computer Disk System The commonly shortened to the Famicom Disk System or just Disk System, is a peripheral for Nintendo's Family Computer home video game console, released only in Japan on February 21, 1986. It uses proprietary floppy disks called "Disk Cards" f ...

(FDS). It can be played in either

single-player A single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. A single-player game is usually a game that can only be played by one person, while "single-player mode" is usuall ...

multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...

, and it uses a

Floppy disk A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, or a diskette) is an obsolescent type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined w ...

. In the game, players control one of the Autobot Headmasters through four planets – Earth, Cybertron, Master, and Chaar fighting the Decepticons. Unlike its predecessor, '' Mystery of Convoy'', players cannot switch between robot and vehicle mode, as they are predetermined by level. Players also cannot choose which Autobot to play. Players must collect them throughout the game, as they will be flown in by helicopter and will replace that Autobot when they die. Due to ''Headmasters'' being for the FDS, the game came with a save game feature similar to those found in early '' Zelda'' and ''

Metroid is an action-adventure game franchise created by Nintendo. The player controls the bounty hunter Samus Aran, who protects the galaxy from Space Pirate (Metroid), Space Pirates and other malevolent forces and their attempts to harness the powe ...

'' games.

References

External links

* * *
Transformers Japanese Collection: Headmasters
' at

''The Headmasters'' at the Transformers Wiki
{{Portalbar, Japan, Anime and manga, 1980s, Children's literature 1987 anime television series debuts 1987 Japanese novels 1987 Japanese television series debuts 1987 manga 1988 comics endings 1988 Japanese television series endings Adventure anime and manga Children's manga Interactive television Transformers: Headmasters Transformers: Headmasters Transformers: Headmasters Transformers: Headmasters Japanese television series based on American television series Light novels Manga series Mecha anime and manga Nippon TV original programming Space opera anime and manga Television series set in the 2010s Television shows set in the United States Toei Animation television Headmasters Transformers: Generation 1