HE-MAN

Mattel's action figure line Masters of the Universe was selling extremely well, and Filmation had animated a few early adverts to promote the figures. Looking for a way to further increase the success of Masters of the Universe they asked Filmation to go beyond animating mere toy adverts, and create sixty-five episodes of what was to become known as He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

Mattel wanted a simple cartoon that advertised its action figures and nothing more. What they had not counted on was that these episodes would have writers trying to prove themselves, trying to breakthrough into the animation industry. Filmation was known as being a great place for opportunities, thus a lot of great animation writers started out here, Paul Dini, Larry DiTillio, Bob Forward and J. Michael Straczynski to name a few.

The series had limited animation, thus it relied on its storytelling and animation direction more than anything. The talent at Filmation turned He-Man and the Masters of the Universe from a simple action figure advert into one of the most memorable animated shows ever produced! He-Man and the Masters of the Universe had a total of one hundred and thirty animated episodes, two made-for-TV specials and a spin-off series. But that's another story...

SILVERHAWKS

They fly on silver wings they fight with nerves of steel. Partly metal partly real, they are the SILVERHAWKS! Born in a time beyond time, they sacrifice their human bodies, modified to withstand the stress of their long journey through space, to the galaxy of Limbo; sent there to defend the universe against the terrible MON*STAR and his intergalactic mob.

The Silverhawks

• Stargazer Stargazer:A curt commander who first requested help in the galaxy of Limbo, prompting the Interplanetary Control Force to create and release the Silverhawks.
• Quicksilver: Jonathan Quick, former head of Interplanetary Force H. Leader of the Silverhawks.
• Steelhart & Steelwill: Emily and Will Heart. Technicians and designers, who are both as strong as steel. The only members of the group who had replacement steel hearts during their mechanical alterations.
• Bluegrass: A young colonel who is perhaps the most laid-back of the Silverhawks. Bluegrass is a guitar playing pilot who can handle anything with wings. Blugrass, unlike the other silverhawks, has no wings. His weapon is Hot Licks a sonic blasting guitar.
• Copperkid: A mathematical genius from the Planet of the Mimes, who communicates through a complex system of tones.
• The Vehicles

The Mirage
The Silverhawks main transport vehicle. This is the ship Bluegrass piloted to the galaxy of Limbo. There is a compartment for each of the Silverhawks. when in battle all but Blurgrass eject from the ship to engage the enemy. Blugrass uses the Jump Seat. The Jump Seat is the front part of the Mirage. This part of the ship disconnects from the main ship. After detatching the main ship is cloaked until the battle is over

The Bad Guys

• Mon*Star: A diabolical villain who uses the power of a moon star to transform into an armored beast. He lives only to cause chaos whenever and wherever possible, with the help of his henchmen
• Melodia:Mistress of evil notes, her musical power has shattering consequences
• Buzzsaw:A sharp opponent whose ready to cut up the competition.
• Yessman:An agreeable snake-like space goon who is always under Mon*Star's thumb.
• Pokerface:A crafty risk-taking casino owner with eyes to prove it.
• Molecular:Molecular master of disguise, he can assume any shape or form. He is Mon*Star's "under cover guy."
• Windhammer:The storm master, with his dreadful tuning fork what can summon lightening and other meteorological anomalies.
• Mumbo Jumbo

THE MUPPETS

The Muppets are a group of puppets and costume characters, and the company created by Jim Henson. Individually, a Muppet is properly one of the puppets made by Jim Henson or his Creature Shop – though the term is often used erroneously to refer to any puppet that resembles the distinctive style of The Muppet Show and Sesame Street characters, the term is both an informal name and legal trademark linked to the characters created by The Jim Henson Company.

The word "Muppet" itself was said by Henson to have been created by combining the words "marionette" and "puppet"; however, Henson was also known to have stated that it was just something he liked the sound of, and he made up the "marionette/puppet" story while talking to a journalist because it sounded plausible.

Muppets are distinguished from ventriloquist "dummies", which are typically animated only in the head and face, in that their arms or other features are also mobile and expressive. Muppets are typically made of softer materials. They are also presented as being independent of the puppeteer, who is usually not visible, hidden behind a set or outside of the camera frame.

Appearance
The most common design for a Jim Henson Muppet is a character with a very wide mouth and large protruding eyes. The puppets are often molded or carved out of foam rubber, and then covered with fleece. Yarn, nylon string, or (most commonly) ostrich feathers are used to create hair. Muppet eyes are often made (as in the case of the original Kermit) from ping-pong balls, from fishing floats, or from a hemispherical toy called a Wacky Stax. Muppets may represent humans, anthropomorphic animals, realistic animals, robots or anthropomorphic objects, extra-terrestrial creatures, mythical beings or other unidentified, newly imagined creatures.

Operation
The puppeteer typically holds the puppet above his head or in front of his body, with one hand operating the head and mouth and the other manipulating the hands and arms, either with two separate control rods or by "wearing" the hands like gloves. One consequence of this design is that most Muppets are left handed as the puppeteer uses his right hand to operate the head while operating the arm rod with his left hand. There are many other common designs and means of operation. In advanced puppets, several puppeteers may control a single character; the performer who controls the mouth usually provides the voice for the character. As technology has evolved, the Jim Henson team and other puppeteers have developed an enormous variety of means to operate puppets for film and television, including the use of suspended rigs, internal motors, remote radio control, and computer enhanced and superimposed images. Creative use of a mix of technologies has allowed for scenes in which Muppets appear to be riding a bicycle, rowing a boat, and even dancing onstage with no puppeteer in sight.

Famous Muppets
Famous Muppets include Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Rowlf the Dog, Beaker, Scooter, Statler & Waldorf, and Animal. The most widely known television shows featuring Muppets are Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and The Muppet Show. A recurring adult-oriented cast of Muppets (in a setting known as The Land of Gorch) were part of the first season of Saturday Night Live. Other less-popular series have included The Jim Henson Hour and Muppets Tonight. The puppet characters of Farscape, The Storyteller, The Hoobs, and Dinosaurs, as well as from the films Labyrinth, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and The Dark Crystal, are not considered Muppets, although they were also made by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. For a history of Jim Henson's Muppets, see Jim Henson.

After earlier unsuccessful attempts, The Walt Disney Company finally bought the Muppets in 2004. Exceptions include characters appearing on Sesame Street (as they were previously sold to Sesame Workshop), the Fraggles of Fraggle Rock, along with the above-mentioned non-"Muppet"-brand characters.

The Muppets' popularity has been so expansive that Muppet characters have been treated as celebrities in their own right, including presenting at the Academy Awards, making cameos in Rocky III and An American Werewolf in London, and being interviewed on the newsmagazine 60 Minutes. Kermit the Frog was interviewed early on in Jon Stewart's run on The Daily Show. and has served as Grand Marshal of the Tournament of Roses Parade. Michael Parkinson once famously interviewed Miss Piggy on his UK chatshow.

Muppet-like and Muppet-inspired puppets star in the 2004 Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Avenue Q (which disavows any relationship with Sesame Workshop or the Jim Henson Company).

TRANSFORMERS

Launched in 1984, the Transformers toyline was promoted through both a comic book by Marvel Comics and an animated series produced by Sunbow Productions. Although the comic outlived the animated series by a number of years, it was the animated series that truly captured the hearts and minds of children worldwide more so than any other piece of Transformers media from its twenty year history. With the original show's conclusion in 1987, original series exclusive to Japan were created which ran until 1990, and the franchise was later re-imagined with the fully CGI Beast Wars in the late 1990s. The current run of cartoons have been co-productions between America and Japan.

Transformers: Generation 1
The term "Generation 1," or "G1," is a retronym, coined after the advent of 1993's Transformers: Generation 2. Although frequently used to simply refer to the original 1984-1987 animated series, the term encompasses all Transformers fiction from 1984 to 1992.

The Transformers
With its debut in 1984, The Transformers began with a three-episode miniseries (later titled More Than Meets the Eye) that introduced audiences to Optimus Prime, Megatron and their armies, as they travelled from the metal world of Cybertron to Earth in search of new sources of energy. The final episode ended on an open note, should the series prove popular enough to continue, which it did. A standard season's worth of 13 more episodes were commissioned, expanding the Transformers universe in which the Dinobots, Constructicons and Jetfire (the latter called Skyfire in the series) made their debut. With popularity rising, the second season soon followed in 1985 at a mammoth 49 episodes (in order to bring the total up to 65, for syndication). Dozens of new characters were introduced throughout the season, including the Triple Changers, the combining teams the Aerialbots, Stunticons, Combaticons and Protectobots, and more new Autobot cars and Decepticon planes, while many new ideas and concepts began to establish the history of the cartoon universe.

These 65 episodes were exported to Japan in the same year, where their airing order was restricted and the series was broadcast under the title of Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers. An OVA exclusive to Japan entitled Scramble City was released which cast focus on the combining teams and introduced Ultra Magnus, Metroplex, Ratbat, Trypticon, Blaster's cassettes although it does not perfectly fit into the continuity of the American series due to its different origin story for Trypticon (known as Dinosaurer in the Japanese version).

1986 marked a huge change for The Transformers with the summer screening of Transformers: The Movie, which jumped the action forward in time twenty years to the then-future of 2005 and pitted both the Autobots and Decepticons against the menace of the giant planet-eating robot, Unicron. Optimus Prime met his end at Megatron's hands, and Ultra Magnus briefly replaced him as a leader before being succeeded by Rodimus Prime, while Megatron himself was recreated by Unicron as Galvatron. Many more of the old guard fell in battle as their toys departed store shelves to make room for a new cast of characters created for the movie.

1986 also saw the start of the third season of the animated series, which took its cue from the movie, picking up precisely where it had left off with Rodimus in command and the Decepticons in exile with Galvatron missing. The season opened with a five-part mini-series entitled Five Faces of Darkness which saw Galvatron return and brought to prominence the Quintessons, multi-faced aliens introduced in the movie who were revealed to be the creators of the Transformer race, and who became a recurring third factor as the season continued through its setting of 2006. The addition of Flint Dille as story editor saw a strong sci-fi aspect infect the season as the Transformers' battles spanned many alien planets, while continuity between episode was tighter than ever before as plot concepts were revisited and expanded to truly flesh out the show's history. Running to 30 episodes, the third season ended with the two-part Return of Optimus Prime, bringing the legendary Autobot leader back to life. Broadcast in Japan once again, the series was retitled Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: 2010 (or Transformers: 2010 for short), advancing its setting to the eponymous year.

1987 marked the end of the original American series, mirroring its beginning with a three-part mini-series entitled The Rebirth. Penned by regular series writer David Wise (who had previously written several of the series' mythology-building episodes), this finale story introduced the Headmasters and Targetmasters, as well as several other characters. Concluding with the restoration of Cybertron's Golden Age, the Decepticons stole the final scene of the series to prove that their threat still lingered.

Additionally, a fifth season of sorts was aired in 1988, serving as a kind of "best of" collection of the series. The most notable feature of this twenty-episode run was the new intro and concluding segments added to the episodes, which consisted of Powermaster Optimus Prime (rendered in a mixture of puppetry and stop motion animation) relating the events of the episodes to a human boy named Tommy Kennedy. The opening sequence comprised animation taken from contemporary toy adverts, and Prime occasionally referenced new toy characters like Cloudburst. Apparently never re-run after its original airing, the series aired More Than Meets the Eye Parts 1-3, The Ultimate Doom Parts 1-3, Five Faces of Darkness Parts 1-5, Dark Awakening, the out-of-place Surprise Party, The Return of Optimus Prime Parts 1-2, and most notably, Transformers: The Movie, split up and aired in five segments, with Stan Bush's music video for The Touch included in the final part.

Transformers: The Headmasters
Rather than import The Rebirth as a conclusion, Takara, the Japanese producers of the Transformers toyline, opted instead to continue the Generation 1 universe by creating the full-length 35-episode series, Transformers: The Headmasters (two additional clips episodes were produced after the fact for direct-to-video release). Supplanting The Rebirth's position in Japanese continuity, The Headmasters occurred one year after The Return of Optimus Prime, introducing the titular characters to the Transformers universe in a wildly 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 of the most-highly trained constructed larger bodies called "Transtectors," to which they connected as heads.

When a group of rebellious Headmasters led by Lord Zarak joined with Galvatron's Decepticons in an attack on Cybertron, the Autobot Headmasters, led by Fortress returned to their home planet to aid in its defence. The situation soon went from bad to worse when it was revealed that Vector Sigma, the mega-computer at the planet's heart, was destabilizing, and Optimus Prime again sacrificed his life to save Cybertron. This soon proved to be only delaying the inevitable, however, when a bomb attack instigated by Zarak turned Cybertron into a burnt-out, inhospitable husk. Rodimus Prime departed to search for a new planet for the Transformers to live on (or in the American Dubbed version, left out of depression about losing cybertron), leaving Fortress in command, operating from the planet Athenia. Meanwhile, Zarak replaced Galvatron - who had vanished in the explosion - as Decepticon leader, constructing a personal Transtector so that he could battle Fortress's own giant form, Fortress Maximus, and redubbing himself Scorponok.

Although populated mainly with new characters, The Headmasters did continue to feature characters from all previous seasons, including new versions of Soundwave and Blaster, rebuilt after a duel that destroyed them both as Soundblaster and Twincast. Human Daniel Witwicky and his young Autobot friend Wheelie also played major roles in the series, serving as the youthful characters for the audience to identify with. More new characters continued to pour in when Galvatron returned to leadership and the Decepticons embarked on a space voyage, ransacking planets in a chain of stories that introduced the Horrorcons and Autobot and Decepticon Clones. The return to Earth was no less momentous, as the Decepticon ninja six-changer Sixshot killed Ultra Magnus, and the Autobot Headmasters finished off Galvatron. When the Decepticons then returned to Master, refugees from the planet were caught in a plasma bomb accident that fused them to the arms of several Autobots and Decepticons, creating the Targetmasters, and in a final move, Scorponok attempted the destruction of Earth, only to be foiled, thanks in part to a traitorous Sixshot.

Never professionally released in the United States, The Headmasters was dubbed into English in Hong Kong for broadcast on the Malaysian TV channel, RTM 1, and later the Singapore satellite station, StarTV, where it attained greater fame, leading it to often be referred to as the "StarTV dub." The dub is, however, infamous for its poor quality, full of mistranslations and incorrect names, clearly the work of a small group of individuals (literally, less than half-a-dozen actors fill every role) with little knowledge of the material. This dub has seen some DVD releases in the United Kingdom, and the entire series was released in a dual-language format in 2005.

Transformers: Super-God Masterforce
The second of the Japanese-exclusive animated series, 1988's Transformers: Super-God Masterforce takes place some years after The Headmasters, introducing the Powermasters and Pretenders to Japanese fiction in ways even more different from their portrayal in the west than those of the Headmasters before them.

With the departure of the Autobots and Decepticons from Earth at the end of The Headmasters, a small group of Autobots remained to guard the planet, having hidden amongst mankind for thousands of years thanks to their "Pretender" powers, which allowed them to shrink down and adopt the forms of human beings. However, the sudden re-appearance of their formerly-defeated Decepticon counterparts, now in the service of the mysterious energy entity Devil Z, means that the Autobots must drop their disguises and return to battle once more. But this is only the beginning of the most unusual Transformer war yet - as the battle escalates, human beings themselves take sides, and, imbued with the power of the "Masterforce", merge with Transtectors sent to Earth by the Autobots in space to become Transformers themselves as the "Headmaster Juniors." But the Decepticons have Headmaster Juniors of their own, and as the conflict rages, events converge on the creation of the most powerful super-robot lifeforms yet - the Godmasters!

The Godmasters are the Japanese version of the Powermasters, with human begins transforming into engines and combining with Transtectors to transform into robots capable of wielding "Chokon Power," the primal energy of life. Most notably, their ranks include Ginrai, a character based on the Powermaster version of Optimus Prime, reinvented as a Japanese trucker, and the Japanese-exclusive character, Decepticon ambassador of destruction Overlord.

Running to 42 episodes, Super-God Masterforce had six additional clip episodes made after the fact for video release, one of which, serving as an overview of the series, was selected to be broadcast as the 43rd and final episode of the series. The 42 main episodes received the same dub treatment as The Headmasters, but the dubbed version of the series was not included on the DVD release of the series in July 2006.

Transformers: Victory
Taking place in an unspecified amount of time after the events of Super-God Masterforce (there is a common misconception that the series takes place in 2025), 1989's Transformers: Victory is the third Japanese-exclusive series, the final complete Generation 1 cartoon. Led by their new Supreme Commander Star Saber, the Autobots battle the Decepticons under the command of Deszaras for control of the galaxy's resources.

In contrast to The Headmasters and Super-God Masterforce, both of which had an over-arcing plot direction, the majority of Victory is directionless, returning to the episodic adventure tradition of the original American series which culminates in the much-threatened attack of Deszaras's planet-destroying fortress. In another difference, the characters and toys of Victory are predominantly unique to Japan, and those that are not are remoulded in unique, distinguishing ways - the series debuts the Brainmasters, Brestforce and Multiforce, all new toys, as well as the Dinoforce, remoulded versions of the American Monster Pretenders. Micromasters also make their debut in Victory.

Of the 38 episodes of Victory broadcast, six are clip episodes containing no new footage, leaving 32 main episodes, which comprise the DVD collection released in the United Kingdom in September 2006. Six further clip episodes were produced for video, taking the total to 44. Victory also received the "StarTV dub" treatment - when the three Japanese series were broadcast on StarTV, it was under the umbrella title of "Transformers Takara," and all three were branded with Victory's opening sequence.

Transformers: Zone
Originally intended to be a full-length direct-to-video (OVA) series, 1990's Transformers: Zone was cancelled after only one episode, making it the very last Generation 1 animated project. Following on from Victory, the mysterious three-faced insectoid being, Violenjiger dispatches the nine "Great Decepticon Generals" - Devastator, Menasor, Bruticus, Trypticon, Predaking, Abominus, King Poseidon, Overlord and BlackZarak - to acquire "Zone Energy," destroying the planet Feminia to obtain the world's store. Caught in the destruction of the planet, Star Saber is rescued by Dai Atlas, who then repels an attack by the Decepticons, and is appointed the new Autobot commander at the conclusion of the episode.

The cast of Zone is heavily comprised of Micromasters, who also made up much of the toyline. Dai Atlas is a "Powered Master," so named for his motorized gimmick, as is his combining partner Sonic Bomber - the toyline also featured another partner for them, Roadfire, who was not in the episode. The solitary Decepticons in the toyline were the Race Car Patrol, and Metrotitan, a redeco of the Autobot city Metroplex, neither of whom appeared in animated form. They absent parties did go on to appear, however, in the pages of the Japanese publication, TV Magazine - this monthly magazine had always included Transformers manga and "story pages" (splash page illustrations and prose text) from the beginning, and although no manga was released for Zone (barring a single chapter available through mail-away which simply re-told the episode), its tale was completed through the story pages.

These story pages were also used to provide supporting fiction for the remaining two years worth of toylines - 1991's Battlestars: Return of Convoy and 1992's Operation: Combination.

Transformers: Generation 2
When the Transformers: Generation 2 toyline fully launched in 1993, it began with a small collection of original Generation 1 toys, redecoed in various ways, and equipped with ostentatious new gimmicks such as electronic sound boxes and large, firing missile launchers. Although the toyline itself would grow to include many brand new figures, and the comic book which accompanied it was a continuation of Marvel's Generation 1 title, the Generation 2 animated series stuck very closely to the toyline's opening cascade of "rehashed G1." Around fifty Generation 1 episodes from seasons 1 to 3 of The Transformers were chosen and, as the show's narrator proudly proclaimed, "computer-enhanced" with the "Cyber-Net Space-Cube" - a gimmick that essentially consisted of inserting new, computer-generated borders and scene-changes into the existing episodes. CGI clips from toy commercials served to make up the show's opening sequence and commercial bumpers, while the episodes themselves were shown in no particular order.

BEAST ERA

Beast Wars: Transformers
After the unremarkable performance of the Generation 2 line, Hasbro aimed to completely re-work the Transformers premise; the result was Beast Wars: Transformers, which featured robots with familiar names and organic beast modes. As per the original toy packaging bios and mini-comic, the intention was originally to have the series be a direct continuation of the adventures of the "Generation 1" Transformers, but that would soon change with the advent of the animated series. Produced by Canadian animation house Mainframe Entertainment, the computer-animated show was unlike any Transformers cartoons before it, both visually and in terms of story. With Larry DiTillio and Bob Forward at the helm as story editors, it was planned for the show to start afresh, with no ties to anything that had gone before, but the off-handed reference to the "Great War" included in the first episode set the internet fandom ablaze. DiTillio and Forward became occasional posters on the alt.toys.transformers newsgroup, and through this back-and-forth interaction with fans, plus their own research of previous Transformers fiction, the Beast Wars animated series soon began to grow, establishing its place as the future - and past - of the larger Generation 1 timeline.

Running to 26 episodes, 1996's first season of Beast Wars began with an unintentional parallel to the original animated series, introducing the viewers to Maximal Optimus Primal, Predacon Megatron and their crews as their ships crashed onto an alien planet, where they warred over the energon they found there. While mostly a scattershot affair of episodic stories, the first season of Beast Wars focused heavily on characterisation, endowing its cast with consistent, developing personalities and naturalistic voice acting that brought the show to life. Additionally, amidst the one-shot adventures, a plot thread began to grow involving a race of mysterious aliens who were conducting experiments on the planet that occasionally intersected with the Beast Warriors' stories. This eventually culminated in a two-part conclusion to the season, ending on a cliffhanger that led into 1997's 13-episode season. Many of the characters were upgraded into new "Transmetal" forms, and the conflict reached a new level with and exceptionally tightly-plotted story arc that included the revelation that the planet was Earth, the death of Dinobot and more alien conflicts. Story elements laid through the season once again came to a head with a three-part conclusion that firmly tied Beast Wars to the Generation 1 timeline, featuring guest appearances from Transformers of that era and displaying that the Beast Warriors came from their future, and were currently in the prehistoric past. This link proved key to the third and final season in 1998, running to another 13 episodes, in which the Maximals had to defend their past and future against Megatron's attempts to alter history. Longtime Transformers comic scribe Simon Furman was brought on board to script the final episode, which concluded with the end of the Beast Wars, and the Maximal's departure for Cybertron.

Although controversial among fans in its early days due to its complete re-imagining of the Transformers concept, Beast Wars quickly proved its worth through intelligent stories and characters. Today, it is entirely commonplace to find long-time Transformers fans - even those who have grown up with the franchise since 1984 - who consider Beast Wars to be the best Transformers series.

Beast Wars II
Convoy and Lio Convoy
Convoy and Lio Convoy

Just as with the Generation 1 timeline, Japan was quick to get in on the act when Beast Wars took off. The first season of the North American animated series was imported and dubbed with an increase in humour, under the title of Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers, but due to the short length of the second season, it proved necessary to wait until both it and the third season were completed before any more could be broadcast. In order to fill the ensuing gap, 1997 debuted the Japanese-original cel-animated series, the 43-episode Beast Wars II (also known as Beast Wars Second or Beast Wars The Second). The series featured an entirely new cast of Maximals and Predacons - lead by Lio Convoy and Galvatron, respectively - fighting on the planet Gaia - a future Earth, devastated by the power of the energy source the two factions seek, Angolmois Energy.

Although largely looked down upon for its very light-hearted approach when compared to the darker North American series, Beast Wars II proved successful enough to spawn a theatrical movie, comprised of three "acts". The first act was a recap of the original Beast Wars television show up to that point, while the second was the undubbed, English-language episode, "Bad Spark", from the show's second season, to serve as a showcase for the upcoming release of the season in Japan. The third act was Lio Convoy in Imminent Danger, a new, original story that saw Optimus Primal pulled forward in time to team up with Lio Convoy to stop the monstrous Majin Zarak.

BEAST WARS NEO

Even after the conclusion of Beast Wars II, there was still some time to go before the North American series had generated enough episodes to be aired in Japan, and the 35-episode Beast Wars Neo was produced to fill the 1998 gap. Still cel-animated and ostensibly even more light-hearted than Beast Wars II, this series introduced Big Convoy and Magmatron, new Maximal and Predacon leaders, the former in search of the missing Lio Convoy, the latter questing for the capsule that Lio Convoy had sealed the Angolmois Energy into at the conclusion of the previous series. Beast Wars Neo is particularly notable for one reason - it features the first return of Unicron to animated continuity for a decade. In the course of the series, Angolmois Energy is revealed to be Unicron's life-force, and the series leads to his attempt to transfer it into Cybertron, that it may become his new body.

With the end of Beast Wars Neo, the third season of the North American series had been completed, and it was subsequently combined with the second season and dubbed for Japanese release as Beast Wars Metals.

Beast Machines: Transformers
As controversial as Beast Wars started out, it was nothing compared to the controversy that would result from the infamous Beast Machines: Transformers. The series was the only Transformers animated series to be fully plotted from start to finish by Marty Isenberg and Robert N. Skir, writers unfamiliar with Transformers lore who sought to produce the series as, in Skir's words, a "religious epic novel for television." The series tackled the heavy philosophical concept of what it meant to live in an increasingly technological society, running to 26 episodes over two seasons, though in its native Canada, the show was aired simply in one long 26-episode run.

As Beast Machines begins, viewers rejoin Optimus Primal and his Maximals as they return to Cybertron, amnesiac and unable to recall how they got there, only to discover that the planet is now under Megatron's rule, its cities deserted, its occupants stripped of their sparks. An encounter with the ancient Cybertronian computer, the Oracle, sees them reformatted into new technorganic bodies that blend their mechanical natures with the organic material they acquired on Earth, and as the story of the show develops, an organic past to Cybertron is steadily revealed, as is the story of the Maximal's missing memories and friends. Influences from the original Transformers began to creep into the show as they had with Beast Wars before it, until more obscure concepts such as the key to Vector Sigma and the Plasma Energy Chamber played major roles in the series, each one exemplifying one of the mantras espoused - Primal's dedication to seeing the organic flourish, and Megatron's desire for unfeeling, unthinking technological perfection. The clash between these two powers marked the end of the first season, and served to provide Primal with the revelation that drove the second - that he had been wrong, and that the Oracle desired not the domination of one power over the other, but a balance between the organic and the technological. The second season of the show dove headlong into the storyline, with Megatron body-swapping repeatedly, and the concept of the show allowing for such left-field creations as an entirely organic Transformer that changed from beast to beast, and a Maximal who transformed into a plant. The series concluded with a drawn-out battle between Primal and Megatron, which ultimately concluded with their deaths, allowing the planet-wide reformatting of Cybertron into a technoganic paradise.

The concept of technorganic Transformers who needed to concentrate to move between modes and an organic beginning to Cybertron rankled with many fans at the time, viewed as flying in the face of much of the established history of Transformers. Opinions were violently expressed and many bad feelings over the series exist to this day, ranging from the way the characters changed since their Beast Wars days (namely Rhinox, Rattrap and Silverbolt) to the ending, ambitiously and permanently altering the nature of Cybertron as it had been understood for nearly twenty years. Beast Machines has certainly earned notoriety, if nothing else, particularly for Robert Skir's cancelled convention appearance following death threats issued by irate fans.

Beast Machines was not exported to Japan for several years, finally reaching the country in 2004 under the title of Beast Wars Returns.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise
After the conclusion of Beast Wars Metals, it was necessary for Takara to once again produce an original Transformers animated series and toyline, as Beast Machines had not yet amassed enough episodes to make importing it viable. To that end, the new cel-animated series Transformers: Car Robots (occasionally referred to by the misnomer, Transformers 2000) was produced for broadcast in Japan for 2000. The series, however, ultimately proved duly unsuccessful (to the extent that there was no Transformers animated series broadcast in Japan in 2001) and following both the conclusion of it and the second season of Beast Machines, Takara and Hasbro opted to co-produce the next series for the first time. With this decision made, Hasbro scrapped their plans for the Transtech series, and - rather than go a year without Transformers, as Takara had chosen to do - opted to import Car Robots for the 2001 year.

Renamed Transformers: Robots in Disguise (regularly referred to with the acronym of RiD by fans) the series stands alone, unconnected to any of the previous continuities as a complete, self-contained universe. Conceptually, the show united ideas from across the G1 and Beast eras by pitting the vehicular Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, against the bestial Predacons, led by Megatron, and through the inclusion of classic concepts such as Headmaster and combining technology; dubbed into English by Saban Entertainment, many fan-friendly references to the previous continiuities were also added. The first story arc of the series is a series of episodic adventures introducing the majority of the cast - like the original animated series, it was very Autobot-heavy, with most characters being newly designed (bar the Spy Changers, repainted versions of Generation 2 figures, and Tow-Line and Skid-Z, repainted Machine Wars toys), while on the Predacon side, only Megatron was a new mould, with his troops being repaints of Beast Wars Transmetal 2 toys. The trend continued into the second story arc, which introduced RiD's version of the Decepticons - redecos of the G1 Combaticons and G2 "Laser Optimus Prime" toy - and Optimus Prime's bitter brother, Ultra Magnus. This led smoothly into the third and final arc of the show, which saw Magnus and Prime merge into Omega Prime, and Decepticon leader Scourge began his plot to wrest the power of the ancient battle station, Fortress Maximus, away from both Megatron and the Autobots.

Its airing schedule heavily disrupted by the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Robots in Disguise had to be re-edited in several ways for content, and several of its episodes aired out of order, or not at all in America. Although initially derided by some fans for its especially light-hearted, joke-filled nature, demand is high for the series to be released on DVD in North America; although available in the United Kingdom, it has yet to see a release in America due to the Walt Disney Company's acquisition of Saban and its products.

UNICRON TRILOGY

The "Unicron Trilogy" is so-named for the major role that the dark god Unicron plays in each of the three series that comprise it. Spanning twenty years from 2010 to 2030, the trilogy is significant for being a co-production between Hasbro and Takara; the Japanese production team actually wanted to set the series in the Generation 1 continuity, post-"The Rebirth," but this was vetoed by Hasbro's head Transformers design director, Aaron Archer, in favour of completely rebooting the Transformers universe and introducing a brand new continuity for the second time (the first being Robots in Disguise). Archer crafted the basic story outline of each of the three lines, with the cartoon themselves then being written and animated in Japan, but in practise, the Japanese studios did not always follow Archer's design. While each series ran for eighteen months in Hasbro markets, the three were annual affairs in Japan, running from January to December in 2003 to 2005.

Transformers: Armada
Launched in the summer of 2002, Transformers: Armada was the first series co-produced between Hasbro and Takara, with the intention of creating a toyline for simultaneous release in both North America and Japan. It was released in Japan six months later in January of 2003, where it was known as Transformers: Micron Legend. The heavily promoted series was an attempt to re-introduce Transformers to the children of the time, and featured a particularly large number of additional merchandise such as puzzles, games, cards, candy and a tie-in Playstation 2 video game.

In addition to drawing on and re-imagining familiar elements from Generation 1, such as the Matrix of Leadership, Armada's defining trait was the introduction of a third faction of Transformers - the diminutive robots known as Mini-Cons (the eponymous "Microns" in Japan). Mini-Cons can "powerlink" to larger Transformers, increasing their powers, and consequently became a sought-after commodity in the war between the Autobots and Decepticons. Eventually, however, the Mini-Cons fled Cybertron in a starship, which warped into the Solar system and crashed on Earth. The series then begins in the year 2010, when three teenagers - Rad, Carlos and Alexis - find and reactivate the buried hulk of the Mini-Con ship, sending out a signal that brings Optimus Prime, Megatron and their troops to Earth.

The Autobots and Decepticons begin scouring the planet to find the stasis panels containing the dormant Mini-Cons, but soon, the existence of three powerful weapons - each formed from the fusion of three separate Mini-Cons - comes to light. Thanks to the schemes of the mysterious, allegiance-shifting Sideways, the weapons are formed and constantly shift hands, until, through manipulation of the self-doubting Starscream, all three are finally within Decepticon hands. Through the power of these weapons, the ancient evil, Unicron is reawakened, as the mysteries of the show, the origins of the Mini-Cons and the nature of the Transformers' war are explored in a final story arc entitled "The Unicron Battles."

The English-language version of Armada is infamous for having been produced in haste for several reasons, most prominently the fact that Cartoon Network would not sign off on the series without a certain number of episodes already completed. To meet this demand, the dubbing studio was forced to work with only partially complete episodes, with animation of a wildly varying quality, containing many errors that were later corrected for the Japanese broadcast. Additionally, there was rarely even enough time to produce more than a first draft of the translated script, leading to many errors in translation making it into the finished product, including incorrect character names, flat, transliterated speech, and at times, utterly nonsensical dialogue that did not match the action onscreen.

A companion comic book was included with the Japanese DVD releases of the series titled Linkage, which focused on the side story of a group of Mini-Cons whose adventures happened concurrently with the animated series. The comic takes the time to flesh out some unexplained plot points from the series, as well as providing an in-depth explanation on the nature of Mini-Cons.

Transformers: Energon
Whatever the technical failings of the Armada animated series, the line succeeded in its goal of reinvigorating the Transformers brand and reacquring the recognisability the series had enjoyed in the Generation 1 heyday. Consequently, the process was repeated, and Hasbro and Takara debuted Transformers: Energon at the beginning of 2004.

Picking up ten years after the end of Armada, Energon focuses on the quest for the titular energy-rich mineral, the Transformers' power source. The Autobots and Decepticons, allied since the conclusion of Energon, have entered into an alliance with humankind in order to mine for energon on Earth, and now operate out of massive "Cybertron Cities" in strategic locations around the world. But, out in the void of space, the damaged, deactivated body of Unicron now serves the staging base of the deranged alien being Alpha Q, who sends armies of robotic Terrorcons to steal Energon for his own purposes. But those purposes are not as sinister as they seem, and soon pale in comparison to the evil of the resurrected Megatron!

The Autobots of Energon are empowered with the "Spark of Combination," which allows them to link their bodies together in various configurations - a power that gives the series its Japanese title, Transformers: Superlink - while the Decepticons possess "hyper modes" with excesses of weaponry. The series also introduces the aforementioned Terrocons, and their Autobot counterparts the Omnicons, robots with the ability to handle and shape energon into power-enhancing stars and weapons such as spears and axes.

Transformers: Cybertron
Transformers: Cybertron is the anomaly of the Unicron Trilogy universe. Debuting in Japan in January of 2005, under the title Transformers: Galaxy Force, the series was intended by its Japanese producers to be yet another complete reboot to the timeline, beginning yet another continuity from the beginning with no connections to Armada or Energon. It would not be until mid-2005, when Energon completed its run, that Hasbro would release Cybertron into their markets, modifying the show and using other media to establish its place in continuity (see the show's own article for more details). Concluding in Japan at the end of 2005, the series ran throughout 2006 in Hasbro markets, and once again, Takara had no animated product on Japanese screens for that year.

The story of Cybertron centres on a gigantic black hole, created by the destruction of Unicron at the conclusion of Energon, which threatens to consume Cybertron and the rest of the universe. This danger brings the ancient Transformer, Vector Prime, back to Cybertron, where he sets the Autobots on a quest for the four Cyber Planet Keys, legendary artifacts of power that can seal the black hole. The keys, however, are scattered on planets throughout the galaxy, and the Autobots must now race from world to world to acquire their power before the Decepticons. Aided with new "Cyber Key Powers" of their own, the Transformers makes allies and enemies on each wildly different world they visit, from the racing-obsessed Velocitron to the bestial the Jungle Planet and beyond, on an adventure that has its roots in the ancient past, and sculpts a new future for Cybertron.

Cybertron's English language adaptation flouts Unicron Trilogy convention by being competently produced. More than simply a translation of the Japanese version, Cybertron features large amounts of new dialogue, be it to form connections with Armada and Energon, to pay homage to many classic Generation 1 quote (several lines from Transformers: The Movie are re-used, in particular), or simply to fill the many prolonged sequences of silence in the Japanese version, an artefact of the show's excessive use of stock footage transformation, combination and transportation sequences.

Transformers: Animated
Little is known about the new Transformers animated series that will begin airing in Fall 2007 - formerly known by the working title, Transformers: Heroes, its simplistic new title, Transformers: Animated - first revealed in Broadcast magazine - seems designed to clearly distinguish it from the live-action film released a few months prior to its debut. The show, which will premiere on Cartoon Network, takes place on a futuristic Earth, cohabitated by humans and robots.

Confirmed Transformers featuring the show include Optimus Prime (who will be a fire truck), Megatron, Bumblebee, Ultra Magnus, Prowl, and Starscream, who are currently being auditioned. It is believed that the Optimus Prime of this series will be younger than the other Autobots, the first time since Rodimus Prime that a younger Autobot has served as leader. David Kaye (best known for voicing the Megatrons of the Beast Era and the Unicron Trilogy) has announced that he will provide the voice of Optimus Prime, while statements from Frank Welker suggest that voice actor Corey Burton (Shockwave and Sunstreaker in G1) will provide the voice of Megatron in the show. Tom Kenny confirmed during an interview on IESB.net that he will be voicing Starscream, and Tara Strong will be voicing a girl named Sari, one of the supporting human characters. Her website also quotes that the show will start shortly after the release of the live-action film.

The show will be directed by Alex Soto, known for working on Cartoon Network series Teen Titans and Ben 10. The character designer, currently unknown, has worked on Teen Titans, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, and Legion of Super Heroes. Cartoon Network will also help with the production of the show, and the series will supposedly depart from the anime style of the previous five years, displaying a brand new look like nothing seen before in Transformers.

ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS

Alvin and the Chipmunks was the second American animated television series to feature the singing characters The Chipmunks, produced by Bagdasarian Productions, Ruby-Spears Productions, and Lorimar-Telepictures (which became Lorimar Television in 1988). It aired from 1983 to 1991 on NBC and closely paralleled 1961–62's The Alvin Show. The show introduced The Chipettes, three female versions of the Chipmunks with their own human counterpart, Miss Beatrice Miller (who joined the cast in 1986). In 1988 the show switched production companies to DiC Entertainment and was renamed just The Chipmunks.

In 1987, during the show's fifth season, the Chipmunks' only animated feature film, The Chipmunk Adventure, was released to theaters by The Samuel Goldwyn Company. The film was directed by Janice Karman and featured the Chipmunks and Chipettes in a contest traveling around the world.

In its eighth and final season, the show again switched titles to The Chipmunks Go to the Movies. Each episode was a spoof of a Hollywood film like Back to the Future or King Kong. Several television specials featuring the characters were also released.

In 1990, the documentary Alvin and the Chipmunks: Five Decades with the Chipmunks was produced. That year, the Chipmunks also teamed up with other contemporary cartoon characters (such as Bugs Bunny and Garfield) for the drug abuse-prevention special Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue.

Characters introduced on this show

* The Chipmunks: The usual main characters in the show.

• Alvin Seville
• Simon Seville
• Theodore Seville

* The Chipettes: The Chipmunks' female counterparts, sometimes secondary characters.

• Brittany Miller
• Jeanette Miller
• Eleanor Miller

Minor Characters

David "Dave" Seville
David "Dave" Seville: The Chipmunks' adoptive father and manager.

Miss Beatrice Miller
Miss Beatrice Miller: The kindly, absent-minded adoptive mother of the Chipettes. She occasionally babysits the Chipmunks and has a crush on Dave, even though she's old enough to be his mother. In her youth, she was part of an all-girl singing group.

Lilly
Lilly: The Chipmunks' puppy who appears in season's 6 & 7.

Vinny
Vinny: The Chipmunks' birth mother. The Chipmunks find their long-lost mother after days of searching. Alvin gets upset because he doesn't understand why she abandoned them. Their mother explains that the year she abandoned them there was a horrible winter and all of the animals in the forest were forced to leave their homes. She realized that they wouldn't survive the journey if she brought them with her, so she decided to leave them with a nice man who was always kind to the forest animals (Dave). She told them that when spring came and she could finally return to get them, she saw how happy they were with Dave, and thought they would be better off with him. Eventually, Alvin forgives his mother, and they all part ways on a good note: promising to keep in touch. The song "Vinny's Lullaby" is performed by June Foray and Machiko Soga in the Japanese version.

Voice actors and their characters

• Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. - Alvin, Brittany, David "Dave" Seville, Uncle Harry
• Janice Karman - Theodore, Simon, Eleanor, Jeanette
• Dody Goodman - Miss Beatrice Miller
• Nancy Cartwright - Additional voices
• Thomas H. Watkins - Uncle "Adventure" Willy, Lilly the dog, numerous incidentals
• Alan Young - Grandpa Seville
• Rainy Hayes - Chipette Song vocal artist
• Sherwood Ball - Chipmunk Song vocal artist
• Tress MacNeille - Additional voices
• Frank Welker - Additional voices
• Vanessa Bagdasarian - Additional voices
• Michael Bagdasarian - Additional voices

FANTASTIC MAX

Fantastic Max is an animated cartoon series produced by Hanna-Barbera in the late 1980s. It centers on a diaper-wearing toddler named Max, who has adventures in outer space with two of his toys FX, a pull string alien doll from a planet called Twinkle-Twinkle and AB Sitter, a C3PO-like android made of blocks.

Fantastic Max ran on television from 1988-1990. It first appeared on television on September 11, 1988 on NBC. The last episode to appear on television was shown on February 1, 1990. In Season 2, 1989 Bronx and Goldie were removed, leaving only Dumping Jack Trash as Max's main opponent in space. It replaced the original 1982 season Superted which had phased out in 1988, though there was a new season of Superted in that year called The Further Adventures of Superted

Characters

• Max - Ben Ryan Ganger
• FX - Nancy Cartwright
• AB - Gregg Berger
• Zoe - Elisabeth Harnois
• Dad - Paul Eiding
• Mom - Gail Matthius
• Ben - Benji Gregory

As well as some opponents, including:

• Bronx - a Ringmaster. Only appearance was 'Monkey See, Monkey Zoo'.
• Goldie - a Space Gypsy voiced by Hank Azaria. Only appearance was 'All in a Babe's Work'. He had his catchphrase 'Goldie the (laughs) space gypsy' and gypsy style music would play in the background.
• Dumping Jack Trash - a Garbage Man who always spoke in rhyme. Only two appearances in Season 1 were 'Attack of the Cubic Rubes' and 'Beach Blanket Baby'. He was actually used to replace Texas Pete from Superted when that cartoon phased out.
• XS - FX's mischievous little cousin who first appeared in 'Carrot Encounters of the Third Kind'.

Episodes

1988

1. The Loon in the Moon
2. Toys will be Toys
3. All in a Babe's Work
4. Attack of the Cubic Rubes
5. Monkey See, Monkey Zoo
6. The Big Sleep
7. Cooking Mother's Goose
8. Journey to the Center of my Sister
9. Carrot Encounters of the Third Kind
10. The Baby Who Fell to Earth
11. Beach Blanket Baby
12. Stitches in Time
13. From Her to Twinkle Twinkle

1989

1. Boo Who?
2. Ben, the Blackmailer
3. Cowboy Max
4. Straight Flush
5. Rats Like Us
6. Grab Bag Rag
7. Movie Star Max
8. To Tell the Tooth
9. Dr Max and Baby Hyde
10. Guess Who's Coming to Dinar
11. A. B. Phone Home
12. Puzzle Puzzle Toil and Trouble
13. Blarney Fife

CANDY CANDY

Candy Candy (キャンディ・キャンディ, Candy Candy?) is a Japanese novel, manga, and anime series. The main character, Candice "Candy" White Ardlay is a blonde American girl with freckles, large emerald green eyes and long, curly hair, worn in pigtails with bows. Candy Candy first appeared in a prose novel by famed Japanese writer Kyoko Mizuki in April 1975. When Mizuki joined forces with manga artist Yumiko Igarashi, the Japanese magazine Nakayoshi became interested in Candy Candy. The series was serialized as a manga series in the magazine for four years. The story was adapted into an anime series by Toei animation. There are also several Candy Candy movies which were never released outside of Japan.

The early years
Candy is a six year old orphan who lives in an orphanage near Lake Michigan with Ms. Pony and Sister Lynne (in some countries, her name is Sister Maria or Sister Mary). Candy was found by them when she was a baby, the same day that Annie--Candy's best friend--was also found during a cold winter day. She frequently causes mischief with her young friends, especially with Annie. She has a raccoon named Clynn that will accompany her in most of her future adventures. One day, Annie consents to be adopted by rich parents, the Brightons (Britter in some countries). This takes place after Candy refuses to be adopted by this same family when she realizes she will be separated from Annie after the proposed adoption. After Annie's adoption, she writes letters to Candy but soon she tells her that her parents prefer that she forget about her past. Heartbroken, Candy goes to her favorite place, Pony's Hill, to cry. Here, she hears the voice of a boy, telling her: "Little girl, you are prettier when you smile than when you cry". The boy is dressed in a full Scottish outfit and carries a bagpipe. Candy is awed by his outfit but soon they become friends and he plays the bagpipe for her. When she turns around to pick up Annie's letter, the boy mysteriously disappears. The only suggestion that it was not a dream is a brooch in the shape of an eagle with the letter "A" on it. Candy nicknames him "The Prince of the Hill" and she will daydream about this encounter all her life.

The Ardlay Family
At age 12, Candy is "adopted" by the Leagan family to be a companion to Eliza and later ends up as a maid. The children, Eliza and Neal, often play cruel pranks on her and delight in tormenting her. Mrs. Leagan, whose name is Ruth, does not like her, but Mr. Leagan is kinder to Candy, though he frequently is away on business and therefore cannot be a reliable ally. One day, she meets three cousins: the brothers Archibald (Archie) and Alistair (Stear) Cornwell, and their cousin, Anthony Brown. They are also Eliza and Neal's cousins, and they all belong to the Ardlay family (Andrew family in some countries). It is soon apparent that the boys all have a crush on Candy, but she clearly prefers Anthony because of his striking resemblance to the Prince of the Hill. While Candy is a maid at the Leagan house, Annie and her parents pay a visit to the Leagans. When Annie is introduced to Candy, she acts as if she had never seen her before in order to conceal the "embarrassing" fact that she was an orphan from Pony's Home--following Annie's adoption, the Brightons had told friends and family that Annie was the orphaned daughter of a relative of theirs, rather than a child from an orphanage. Candy is sad that she cannot talk to her best friend, but has a chance to interact with her when she Annie and the Leagans are preparing to go out for a horse ride and Annie's horse takes off with Annie screaming for help (she calls Candy's name, rather than her parents'). Candy gives chase with another horse, and manages to rescue Annie from her hellish horse ride. Before Annie and her parents leave the Leagan's residence, she leaves a ribbon tied to a post so Candy can find it. Candy does find it and is later accused by Eliza and Neal of stealing it from their guests. These two manage to persuade their parents that Candy cannot be trusted to stay living inside the house, and she is sent to live in the horse stable. When Archie, Stear and Anthony discover Candy's mistreatments (and after many adventures), they have the head of the Ardlay house adopt Candy. This mysterious and very wealthy gentleman (referred to as Great Uncle William or Grandfather William in some translations) is never seen. Candy also befriends Albert, a bearded vagabond that lives in a hunter's lodge with lots of animals.

Now Candy has a new social situation and while some of the Ardlay relatives still dislike her (namely Eliza, Neal, their mother and the "apparent" head of the family, Great Aunt Elroy), the three boys make her feel welcome and help her become "a real lady". Her romance with Anthony develops tenderly, and he grows a new breed of white roses that he names "Sweet Candy" in her honor. This romance, however, is brutally cut short when, on the day Candy is officially introduced as an Ardlay, he falls from his horse during a fox hunt and dies--interestingly, seconds before his death, he was going to tell Candy about a boy who looked very much like him and who was always around his mother when he was a baby. Aunt Elroy and Eliza blame Candy for Anthony's death. Candy is heartbroken and returns to Pony's Home to overcome her grief. She does not stay long, for Great Uncle William has other plans for her: he is sending her to the Saint Paul Academy, a boarding school in London. While on the ship to London, Candy wanders out into the deck and she sees a young man who resembles Anthony in the shadows. She tries to approach him because he is crying, but he mockingly brushes her off while denying he was upset. She has met Terry Grantchester.

Saint Paul Academy
This boarding school is co-ed, but contact between girls and boys is very limited and severely punished. The Ardley cousins--Candy, Stear, Archie, Eliza and Neal--are all students there. Because Archie and Stear are her adoptive cousins, Candy is allowed to see them, but not as much as she would like. She quickly starts to sneak into the boys residence at night to chat with them. She does this by crossing the park that separates the boys and girls quarters while swinging from tree to tree until she lands on the balcony to their room. Soon after the school year begins, Annie is enrolled in this same school and Candy hopes to finally be able to resume her friendship with her former best friend. Annie, however, pretends not to know her at first. One day, when Annie--who is in love with Archie--witness Archie trying to confess his love to Candy, she runs crying and Candy goes after her to try to calm her down. When Candy finally catches up with Annie, the later speaks of the subconscious resentment and jealousy she had felt since they were children at Pony's Home. Annie compares the perceived favoritism that Ms. Pony and Sister Maria showed Candy, to Archie's love for Candy (which at the time was stronger than the feelings he also had for Annie). While Annie is bitterly crying in this way, Eliza and her friend overhear this exchange. Annie's secret comes to light, and this allows Annie to become Candy's friend again. Candy also makes a friend of her neighbor, Patricia (Patty) O'Brian who ends up being Stear's love interest. The school days are full of mischief as Candy tries to avoid Eliza's evil schemes, and the harsh discipline of the Academy nuns. Also in London, she finds her old friend Albert working at a local zoo. He has shaved his beard and looks like a young adult in his twenties.

Terry, the boy she met on the ship, is also attending the same boarding school. He is a rebel and always causes trouble with the nuns who can't really punish him since his father, the Duke of Grantchester, supports the school financially. Terry teases Candy every time they meet, seemingly because he's in love with her but is afraid to admit it. Most of their meetings end up in a fight. He mostly teases her about her freckles, a fact that makes Candy furious, and her tree-swinging habits. This leads Terry to give candy the nickname "Freckled Tarzan." Candy in the beginning is still grieving the memory of Anthony, and cannot understand Terry's role in her life. She's troubled by this rebellious boy, particularly because she has seen him cry before, and she suspects there is tragedy in his life. One night, instead of entering Archie's room, she accidentally enters Terry's room and finds out he is the son of Eleanor Baker, a famous American actress. Terry is an illegitimate son, and feels torn between a father who has married for duty to his name and social status, and a mother who loves him dearly but thinks it is best not to see each other.

One day Candy talks to Terry about him & Anthony, jealous of the feelings she has about another boy, tells her in a cruel manner that she cannot have romantic feelings for somebody that is dead. The school's May Festival dance arrives but Candy cannot attend because she's punished with detention by sister Grey. Great Uncle William sends her two costumes for the ball: one of Romeo and one of Juliet. Candy initially disguises herself as Romeo, and manages to escape the detention tower to go to the ball where she dances with Annie. Then she runs to the woods where she has hidden the Juliet outfit and changes into Juliet. Terry finds her and dances with her. Then Terry throws a jealous fit when Candy foolishly brings up Anthony while they are dancing. He knows that since the accident, Candy has been frightened of horses and he decides to cure her once and for all. He takes her to the stables and shoves her brutally on his horse. Candy cries but slowly overcomes her fear of horses, and begins to understand that life after Anthony must go on.

Candy and her friends go to Scotland during the summer. Terry is also there and eventually reconciles with his mother thanks to Candy's intervention. He admits to candy that he likes acting too and would like to pursue a career in theatre. Over the summer Terry and Candy really bond; she is more comfortable around him, and he is no longer rude to her. One day, while they are sitting alone under a tree, Terry asks Candy to dance with him so she will have nice memories of her summer in Scotland. Candy accepts the invitation and they begin dancing. But soon after they begin their dance, Terry abruptly stops and kisses Candy. Candy, feeling embarrassed, slaps him and tells him that nobody has ever disrespected her in that way. She still cannot admit her feelings for Terry.

When they go back to school in September, Eliza is jealous of Candy's relationship with Terry, which came to her attention during the summer. Eliza had developed a crush on Terry during the summer in Scotland, and vows to separate them. She sets up a rendezvous in the stable for them, fooling them into thinking one needed to talk to the other. She brings the nuns to the stable and they are caught "in scandal." Sister Grey, the head nun at Saint Paul Academy, decides that Candy is to be expelled from the school, but that nothing will happen to Terry because his father financially supports the school. Terry is opposed to the discrepancy in punishments, and decides to solve the problem: he will leave the school instead of Candy, and will go to the United States to pursue his dream of acting on Broadway. Before he leaves the school, Terry plays the harmonica all night for Candy while she is locked in a punishment cell. This was Terry's farewell to his beloved Candy. However, Candy is unaware of his decision and when she finds out, she finally understands how much she loves him and she runs to the port to tell him she's in love with him. However, she arrives too late, and can only watch as Terry's ship leaves across the Atlantic. As Candy cries and calls his name, she decides to return to America too.

Nurse years
After a dreadful journey as a stowaway in a cargo ship from England to America, Candy goes back to Pony's Home and finds that Terry was there only minutes before she arrived. Encouraged by Ms. Pony, she decides to study to be a nurse and takes classes in a school in Chicago, where she excels because of her interpersonal skills. She is reunited with her friends from school when they come back from Europe because of rumors of war. Terry's theatre company comes on tour to Chicago, and they meet very briefly after chasing each other in the city (their meeting being sabotaged by Terry's partner, Susanna Marlowe, who has an unrequited crush on Terry). They start writing letters to each other and maintain a long distance relationship. World War I begins and there are some thoughts of sending young nurses to the war, but Candy is not selected.

One day, a mysterious patient arrives at the hospital: he was injured in a train explosion in Italy and has amnesia; he was brought to Chicago because it is the only name he says in his delirium. Candy is shocked to recognize her good old friend Mr. Albert, and personally monitors his needs. Because he has no family or relatives, Albert must leave the hospital and Candy suggests that they get an apartment together so she can continue to take care of him. The thought of her Mr. Albert who has shown her so much kindness in the past going out alone without his memory greatly distresses her. Albert agrees reluctantly at first, but soon they become excellent friends and are very happy living together.

In the meantime, Terry has landed the lead role of Romeo Montague in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Terry invites Candy to New York to the premiere. His intentions seem matrimonial: he's been saving money and has sent Candy a one way ticket. Candy daydreams about being his wife and having breakfast with him. However, a terrible accident happens during one of the rehearsals: a lamp detaches from the ceiling right above Terry, but Susanna (who still has an unrequited crush on him, despite him telling her that he loves Candy and should leave her alone) lunges and pushes him away. Her injuries are so severe that her leg must be amputated. Feeling horribly guilty for what happened, and even more so because he knows of her unrequited feelings for him, Terry does not know what to do, as there is increasing pressure that he should marry Susanna from both Susanna and Susanna's mother. It is in this tense atmosphere that Candy comes to New York. Terry tries to keep the incident from her until a better time, but unfortunately Candy finds out during the premiere. She is stunned, and knows that Terry is probably suffering a great deal because of this moral dilemma, yet she is angered that Susanna is blackmailing him into marriage. When she goes to confront Susanna about this, she arrives just in time to save Susanna from committing suicide. The situation is untenable as to what to do, and Candy hastily decides to end her relationship with Terry at once. She believes that by removing herself from the situation, the problem will be solved. In what is probably the most remembered scene of both the manga and the anime for the full emotional impact it carried for both characters, they break up on the hospital stairs. They both promise to be happy, as if hoping that the sacrifice of the relationship for someone else's wish would not be in vain. Heartbroken, Candy returns to Chicago under the haze of a high fever and tormented with knowing that her dream of marrying Terry has been shattered. She returns to the loving care and support of her Mr. Albert who is very concerned about her well being, and he provides a shoulder for her to cry on.

The months pass and Candy tries heals from her grief, by devoting herself to her work and to Albert's recovery of his memory. Unfortunately, people begin to whisper about her living with a man she is not married to. Also around this time, Stear, who had joined the army, dies in combat. Soon after Stear's death Patty leaves Chicago. Albert recovers his memory abruptly and remembers who Candy really is and more importantly, who he really is. He hides this from her at the beginning, but once the rumours become unbearable and Candy is fired from the hospital, he decides to leave to avoid causing her more problems. Candy misses him a lot and is worried about his health, as she is unaware he's recuperated his memory in full. One day he sends a package to her and hoping to see him to ensure he's fine, she goes to Rockston, Illinois only to find that Terry is now acting in a low class theatre, drunk. Candy realizes he has arrived to that state because of the pain he feels over their breakup. Since Susanna is still dependent on Terry, Candy knows that the only way she can help him come out of this is to remind him of his dream. By sheer willpower, she manages to reach the actor, who snaps back into action. He sees Candy from the stage in his drunken stupor and delivers a performance worthy of his talents. Afterwards, despite acknowledging that he cannot forget Candy, he finds the strength to go back to his life in New York, and in some way perhaps honoring their mutual wish when they broke up: to be happy despite the circumstances of their separation. This is the last time they see each other, each seeming to go in their separate ways. Before leaving Rockston, however, Candy runs into Terry's mother, who tells her that only one person was capable of saving her son.

Back in Chicago, the days go by peacefully until Neal starts wooing Candy. He is unsuccessful because she remembers how cruel he was to her as a child. He arranges a forced marriage telling her it's Great Uncle William's will and that she has to obey. By Neal's side there are Mrs Leagan, Eliza and the Great Aunt Elroy all trying to talk Candy into this commitment. Astonished, Candy decides to seek the mysterious Great Uncle William to forbid the union. George, his faithful lawyer and consigliere, drives her to the mansion where he is staying. There Candy discovers shockingly that the Great Uncle William is none other than her old friend Mr. Albert. He was the brother of Anthony's mother Rosemary, to whom he had been greatly attached to. This also explains the resemblance between the two men (uncle/nephew). His identity was hidden from all partly because of his young age and because he did not wish to be the head of the family and run the business. He makes a dramatic appearance in front of the Chicago society to prevent Candy's arranged marriage to Neal.

The end
Still shocked by her discovery that Albert is the Great Uncle William, Candy goes back to Pony's Home to reflect on the events in her life. On Pony's Hill, she remembers her friends Anthony and Stear who have died. A tear falls from her eyes and a familiar voice says; "Little girl, you are much prettier when you smile..." As she looks up, she has a new surprise: Albert is standing there. Candy realizes he has been the Prince of the Hill all these years. "Albert, Great Uncle William... and then my Prince!" she exclaims as she runs to him. The anime ends with a gathering at Pony's Home front yard, except Albert there are Annie, Archie, Ms. Pony, Sister Maria, the children of Pony's Home, Clynn (Candy's racoon) and Mina a dog that was given to Candy by one of her patients. Candy makes a toast to her friends that helped her overcome troubles in life. There is hope that her life is going to be better!

FULL HOUSE

Full House
One of the most popular TV miniseries released this summer in Korea was Full House, based on a popular comic book series. This fun miniseries shows us the difficulties that occur while living together, as well as the funny side of life. The lead actress in Full House, Song Hye-kyo, is coming off great success with her credits including Gaeul Donghwa (Autumn in My Heart) and All In. The lead actor, Rain (비 ) is one of Korea's hottest singers. From the onset, Full House has been praised for its fresh and saucy take on the love lives of four young people. Within the first three weeks of airing, audiences responded with a 30% increase in viewer ship. Most of the miniseries is set in a beachfront house in Incheon. This area has become a popular tourist spot for fans of the show.

Synopsis
Han Ji-eun lives alone in the house that she inherits from her parents. Her parents named the property 'Full House.' She has two close friends who end up selling the house behind her back to Lee Young-jae. Through a series of incidents, the two make a contract to marry, so that Ji-eun can stay in the house that her parents built. Although not in love with each other when they marry, a love between them develops slowly over time. The feelings of love are constantly interrupted by Gang Hye- won, Young-jae's love interest for quite some time and by Yu Min-hyeok, a man that Han ji -eun likes.

OSHIN

The 31st NHK Asadora Drama is Oshin. Oshin tells the story of a girl born in a very poor rural family in Japan, who through hard work and perseverance eventually triumphs over pain and adversity to achieve fame and success. Broadcast in the early 1980s when Japan had finally cast off the legacy of the post-war years and the Japanese were beginning to reap the benefits of economic development, the aim of the story was to recall the hardships the older generation had endured in order to pave the way for their children to enjoy their more affluent lifestyle. Viewers were drawn to the suffering of the main character Oshin - and then drew similarities between her story and their own home lives.

Some Japanese worried that showing Oshin abroad would give the country a bad profile - and would even be shameful because it showed the seldom glimpsed, poor, unequal side of Japan. In the event, the reverse proved true. Oshin gave viewers outside Japan - whose only image of Japan was formed by Japanese cars or electric goods, or through bitter memories of Japanese treatment during World War II - a far better understanding of the modern Japan and its people.

• Kobayashi Ayako as Oshin (6 to 10 years old)
• Tanaka Yuko as Oshin (16 to 46 years old)
• Otowa Nobuko as Oshin (50 to 84 years old)
• Izumi Pinko as Fuji, Oshin's mother
• Ito Shiro as Sakuzo, Oshin's father
• Nakamura Masatoshi as Shunsaku, Oshin's son
• Watase Tsunehiko as Namiki Kota
• Oji Michio
• Nagaoka Teruko
• Kobayashi Chitose
• Ishida Taro
• Azuma Terumi
• Watanabe Misako
• Imafuku Masao
• Guts Ishimatsu
• Kitamura Kazuo
• Kitamura Soichirou
• Takamori Kazuko
• Akaki Harue
• Fuke Norimasa
• Nagamisa Hiroko
• Saito Yousuke
• Yamashita Shinji
• Tanaka Yoshiko
• Tanaka Misako
• Nagato Hiroyuki
• Shioya Toshi
• Takahashi Etsushi
• Sasaki Ai
• Asadi Yoko
• Nomura Manzou
• Namiki Shiro (並木史朗) as Takura Ryuzo

Oshin in the Middle East
An Iranian woman was once asked by a radio reporter, "Who is your symbol of Islamic womanhood?" "Oshin", she answered. It was a reply that so shocked Iranian religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini that he ordered the arrest of four people from the TV station that broadcast the program.

The Japan Foundation, with the cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of Japan and the state-run television station of Egypt, will provided the NHK TV program "Oshin" with subtitles in Arabic to the Iraqi Media Network (IMN) free of charge as a part of the reconstruction assistance to Iraq. Oshin being televised with Arabic subtitles. Only the first 96 episodes were televised in Iraq

This assistance is a contribution in hopes that the people of Iraq will be able to carry out an enjoyable life, mentally as well, by providing a TV program to the IMN which still lacks adequate program broadcasting system.

"Oshin" is a nationally popular TV program in Japan and has been highly evaluated in 59 countries and regions in the world. Broadcasting of such a program would deepen the understanding of Japanese culture by the people of Iraq. It is also expected that the people of Iraq, who are working for the post-war reconstruction of their country, will be encouraged by watching the life of a Japanese woman living through a turbulent period and overcoming various challenges.

Broadcasting was scheduled to start from the Holy month of Ramadan, the fasting month for the Muslim (started around 26 October), when high television rating can be expected

Notes

• Oshin holds the record for the highest average rating in Japanese television history (52.6-percent). Also holds the record for the highest rating of a single episode (62.9-percent). Only the annual Kohaku Uta-Gassen, and specific special events have scored higher ratings.
• Filming locations include Yamagata Prefecture Nishi-Murayama - Sakata, Tokyo, Saga Prefecture, Mie Prefecture Shima Isobe, and Aichi Prefecture Nagoya.
• During production, a week's filming was delayed, caused by Tanaka Yuko becoming ill. NHK worked around the problem by taking the show off-air for a week, and replaced it with a short documentary series Another Oshin, introducing the filming locations, and tips such as recipes from the series for such delicacies as radish rice (the recipe can be found in the official NHK Oshin book.)
• In 1984, a Japanese anime of Oshin was released by Sanrio, with Kobayashi Ayako as the voice of Oshin. The anime focused only on the childhood phase of the drama.
• Oshin aired with English subtitles via the Nippon Golden Network (NGN) in 1998, airing all 297 episodes in 3-episode blocks.
• NHK released Oshin on DVD in 2003. There are seven DVD box sets, each set containing four or five Region-2 DVDs. No English subtitles on the DVDs.

SAMURAI X (Rurouni Kenshin)

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story (るろうに剣心 明治剣客浪漫譚, Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan?)[1] is a manga and anime series created by mangaka Nobuhiro Watsuki. The story is set during the early Meiji period in Japan. The English versions of the OVAs as well as the movie are released as Samurai X, although the original title was included in the DVD releases. The series tells the story of an assassin named Himura Kenshin, who was known as the Hitokiri Battōsai ("Man killer - Master of Battōjutsu"). Kenshin later grieves for all the lives he has taken, and vows that he will never kill again.

The manga originally appeared in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump from September 2, 1994 to November 4, 1999, and the completed work consists of 28 tankōbon volumes. The United States release of the manga has been completed by VIZ Media. Rurouni Kenshin is subtitled "Wandering Samurai" in some English releases, as a rough translation of "Rurouni."

Writer Kaoru Shizuka has written an official Rurouni Kenshin novel titled Voyage to the Moon World. The novel has been translated by VIZ Media and distributed in the United States and Canada.

Characters
See also: Rurouni Kenshin minor characters
Usage note: Character names are given in Japanese order with the given name after the family name. The English anime dub uses the Western order (family name after the given name) while the English manga uses the Japanese order. See: Wikipedia Manual of style, Japan for more info on usage.

Nobuhiro Watsuki, in each tankōbon, details the creation of the characters, as well as the influences he had for the characters' personality and design. Influences include historical figures (prominently seen with members of the Shinsengumi) and fictional sources including X-Men and Marvel characters, and SNK video games characters, mainly Samurai Shodown and Last Blade ones.

Rurouni Kenshin main characters:

• Himura Kenshin (Kenshin Himura)
• Kamiya Kaoru (Kaoru Kamiya)
• Sagara Sanosuke (Sanosuke Sagara)
• Myōjin Yahiko (Yahiko Myojin)
• Takani Megumi (Megumi Takani)
• Saito Hajime (Hajime Saito)

Rurouni: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story
A prototype series titled Rurouni: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story[2] first appeared as a pair of separate short stories published in 1992 and 1993 in the manga magazine Weekly Shonen Jump Special.

The story released in the first manga features an earlier version of Himura Kenshin helping a wealthy girl named Raikōji Chizuru. Chizuru would later be the prototype for Rurouni Kenshin's heroine, Kamiya Kaoru. Chizuru also makes a cameo in the Seishouhen OVA with Kenji in the final scene.

The second story, which though released second in the manga format was indeed the first 'Rurouni' one-shot, has Kenshin saving the Kamiya family's dojo from a corrupt crime lord who seeks to marry the family's oldest daughter, Megumi (later to become Takani Megumi), with the aid of her younger siblings, Kaoru and Yahiko (the heir to the Kamiya dojo, later to become Myojin Yahiko). While Kaoru and Yahiko's characters are similar to their incarnations in Rurouni Kenshin, Megumi's personality is distinctly different as she is more timid and submissive than her eventual incarnation in the series, and Watsuki has noted her personality from that part has been transferred to the character of Sekihara Tae.

Rurouni Kenshin
In 1994, Watsuki created an ongoing version that was published in Shonen Jump until its conclusion in 1999. The manga consists of 28 tankōbon volumes. The storyline of Kenshin is divided into three storyline arcs: Tokyo, Kyoto, and the Jinchū (人誅編, Jinchū-ban?). The Jinchū arc (also known as the "Ending Arc", "Revenge Arc", and sometimes spelled "Jinchuu Arc") was not animated, except for the parts about Kenshin's background which formed one of the OVAs released.

The Jinchū arc contains a large amount of Himura Kenshin's backstory including the meeting of his first wife, (Yukishiro Tomoe), and the events that resulted in his infamous cross-shaped scar. The story arc is primarily focused on characters from Kenshin's years spent as the Hitokiri Battōsai, who seek revenge against him for his past actions. The Jinchū arc also has a stronger romantic theme to it.

Yahiko no Sakabatō
In 2000, it was followed up by Yahiko no Sakabatō (弥彦の逆刃刀, ("Yahiko's Reversed-Edge Sword")?), which VIZ Media released in the September 2006 edition of Shonen Jump. The story follows the character of Myojin Yahiko, who reluctantly accepts an assignment to teach at the Kikuhara Kasshin Shintō style dojo. At the dojo, Yahiko finds that Midori, the daughter of the dojo's master, and three students are being held hostage by a criminal, Mutō Kaname, and his followers. Yahiko quickly defeats Mutō and a police officer, Lieutenant Kitaki, who attacks Mutō with the blind belief that all criminals must be executed for the sake of the Meiji era. Yahiko returns to the students and subjects them to harsh training for the rest of his duration at the dojo.

He returns to Tokyo at the end of the month and then takes off to Akabeko to visit Sanjō Tsubame, not knowing the whole trip was planned by Kenshin for Yahiko to become stronger.

Kenshin Kaden
An encyclopedia (164 pages), including Haru ni Sakura, detailing the fates of all of the Rurouni Kenshin characters.

Haru ni Sakura is six pages long and in full color. The story takes place years after the manga's conclusion, when Kenshin and Kaoru have married and have a young son, Kenji. Many of the series' major characters who have befriended Kenshin reunite (or otherwise reveal their current whereabouts) with him in a spring picnic.

Rurouni Kenshin Kanzenban
Starting in July of 2006, the Japanese publishers of Rurouni Kenshin released the long-awaited kanzenban edition. Each Rurouni Kenshin kanzenban volume features a new cover, and there's also a color panel inside the book that is new art as well. The Rurouni Kenshin kanzenban is slated to run 22 volumes (as opposed to the original 28 Tankōbon each book will contain more chapters than the basic editions), with two coming out monthly. As a bonus, the Rurouni Kenshin kanzenban will include "Yahiko no Sakabato", an extra story that ran in Shonen Jump and was never collected into a book.

TOKUSO ROBO JANPERSON

Tokusou Robo Janperson (Tokusou Robo Janpāāson , translated as Special Investigator Robo Janperson) was the 1993 installment in Toei Co. Ltd.'s Metal Hero genre. The series revolved around Janperson , a robotic detective as he solved crimes and fought against 3 underworld organizations.
Janperson : The title character, a purple, android robot who works as a detective. He was once a killing machine known as the MX-A1, that was deactived but was later rebuilt with human emotions. Like Robo Cop, he upholds the law but he is purely mechanical. He is seen to be the kind who never gives up that easily.

Weapons:

• Flash Card
• Flash Gun
• Rocket Punch
• Baton
• Flame Thrower
• Flash Blade
• Flash Laser
• Flash Cannon

Gun Gibson : Janperson's gruff-rougish android partner who appears later in the series, grey, heavily-armed. He had a girlfriend named Kai who was brutally killed by the Gang Guards. Originally a renegade, he switched sides to become Janperson's sidekick. Armed with two guns- one with aiming bullet, the other the dumb bullet. He later had a powerful bazooka he used in battle. Although thought to be killed by Billgoldy in the near finale, he was still alive and well and joined for the final battle.
Bill Goldy - Evil cyborg duplicate of Janperson, orginally human who later became a cyborg via an operation. He usually executes silly plans at first but later on got serious with his schemes. He tried to frame Janperson by impersonating his identity through his alter ego as Billy Goldy and using his name in vain but ingeniously failed. In the end, Janperson and Gun Gibson killed him once and for all as the only means to save the world as he was already far too dangerous. Bill Goldy was later revived during the Juukou B-Fighter finale by Jagul, who used him before absorbing him into her body. Enraged for this act, Bill Goldy personally dragged her to hell with him.
Jimpak - Head of the renegade robot organization the New Gang Guards. He is actually a human who has some cyborg parts but Janperson thought he was a robot. He is a cyborg who vowed to mechanize the world after he and his older brother Ben lost their first android assistant. When his older brother died, he reformed the Gang Guards into a stronger organization vowing to destroy Janperson and rule the planet. Near the end of the series, he was revealed to be a human with cyborg implants. Rather than submit to death, he chose to commit suicide.
Madame Reiko - Diabolical head of Supertech, a biological underworld organization. She turns out to actually have plans to restore the Earth to beauty, more of an anti-hero than a real villain. She became a monster near the end of the series and tried to turn all of humanity into fertilizers, hoping to restart the Earth as she saw fit. She eventually died after receiving heavy injury from Janperson's Flash Cannon.