TRANSFORMERS: THE MANGA VOL. 2, PART 2

"SUPER-GOD MASTERFORCE"
Story by Masumi Kaneda | Art by Ban Magami

Now we plunge into an era of Japanese Transformers mythology with which I'm mostly unfailiar, aside from reading articles about it on the Transformers Wiki. Though I own the SUPER-GOD MASTERFORCE series (and its follow-up, VICTORY, whose manga tie-ins we will examine next week), I have never watched it. So, with that said, here we go!

The MASTERFORCE manga appears to begin in the future at some point, during an era where the Transformers have become legends on Earth, believed by humanity to have been gods who walked the word years ago. But when the Decepticon Pretenders appear, a clandestine group of Autobot Pretenders stationed on Earth reveal themselves. Following from some of the nomenclature oddness from HEADMASTERS, in this go-round, Viz has elected to present all the characters with their Japanese names -- so the Decepticon Pretenders, known in the U.S.A. as Bombburst, Skullgrin, and Iguanus, are referred to consistently in the manga as Blood, Dowlos, and Gilmer. Likewise for the Autobot Pretenders, the "Junior Headmasters" on both sides, and all the other Transformers presented here.

Personally, I don't really like this choice. I mean, I kind of get why they did it: MASTERFORCE is its own thing. It is not the American continuity. One need look no further to confirm that, than the fact that the character we Americans know as Powermaster Optimus Prime is a completely different character in Japan; an Autobot named Ginrai who was built to resemble Optimus. And while the early manga chapters were set in the American Generation One universe, telling "side stories" of that continuity, everything from HEADMASTERS on is more of a parallel universe. So it makes sense, even if I would rather be reading the American names I remember from my childhood.

So -- the story follows three kids, Carb, Minvera, and Prince Shuta, who are students at a prestigious international school, but who are swept up in the war between Autobots and Decepticons. The kids become the Autobots' Junior Headmasters, and join them in their battles. Besides the Decepticon Pretenders, we meet the Decepticon Junior Headmasters as mentioned above, as well as the Seacon combiner team.

Eventually, Ginrai shows up. Like the Junior Headmasters, he's a kid -- though a bit older -- who combines with a larger body to fight the Decepticons. And shortly after his arrival, creators Masumi Kaneda and Ban Magami appear to be feeling nostalgic, becuase they bring in a bunch of stuff from the prior manga and anime series. It starts with an illusory Decepticon army consisting of the likes of Galvatron, Soundblaster, Devastator, Menasor, etc., and then it continues with the Autobot kids heading to planet Athenia (the Autobots' base in HEADMASTERS), where Fortress, Rodimus Prime's successor as Autobot leader, turns the reins of the Autobot army over to Ginrai -- who we're told is the anointed leader simply because he looks like Optimus Prime, which seems odd, but I guess that's how the Autobots roll (pun very much intended).

And at this point, the long-banished Deceptcons return from space -- specifically, one representative from each of the Decepticon combiner teams shows up to join with the Seacon commander for a fully "scrambled" robot to challenge the Autobots. Ginrai and his Autobots team up with the Headmasters to fight off this rejuvenated Decepticon army. Afterward, it's a flurry of new characters introduced in chapter after chapter, so quickly that it's hard to keep track: Godbomber, the robot that combines with Ginrai for his ultimate form. Overlord, the Decepticon commander on Earth. Black Zarak, the Decepticon commander in space. Grand Maximus, the Autobot leader in space. Doubleclouder, who can transform into both an Autobot and a Decepticon (this character was known as Doubledealer in the United States, while all the others I just mentioned were excluseive to Japan).

Honestly, this all makes my head spin. I"m not sure if that's because I'm an adult now -- i.e., would it have been easier to follow if I was a child, really invested in all the new toys? -- or whether perhaps there really is just too much going on here. I mentioned in a week or two back, but I will reiterate here: for all the flak the original TRANSFORMERS cartoon got as a "30-minute toy commercial", these manga chapters are far worse. The TRANSFORMERS episodes at least told stories about the hot new toys. The manga just drops them in, one at a time, shows them use all their crazy powers, and then moves immediately along to the next one.

I should stress that this seems to be specific to the manga. As mentioned, I have not seen the MASTERFORCE anime, but I did watch HEADMASTERS, and that told a story as well. Indeed, it had both individual episodic stories and an over-arching plotline, something the American series never engaged in. I think it's really just the manga, with a limited number of pages per installment and ton of characters to introduce in those pages, which suffers from this problem.

As for the MASTERFORCE story -- or what I can glean from it in these manga pages -- I don't think it's really my thing. The "Transformers" in it are really humans who merge with Transformers, and the plot seems to be concerend with a Decepticon "family" who wants to adopt the Autobots' Junior Headmasters and rule the world with them. It's about as far from what I like about Transformers as one can get -- and this is coming from someone who generally likes humans in Transformers stories! Some of my favorite issues of the original Marvel comic run were the little "slice of life" stories where Bob Budiansky would bring in a random human and show them interacting with the Transformers' war.

Lastly, before we wrap up -- I find the presentation of the Autobot and Decepticon Junior Headmasters kind of amusing. The Autobot kids are children of privilege; wealthy students at an exclusive school -- while the Decepticon kids are a trio of spunky orphans who grew up on the streets and want to wreak havoc. I feel like this wouldn't fly for today's audience, at least in the U.S. The roles would probably be reversed nowadays!