Transformers: The Headmasters (トランスフォーマー ザ★ヘッドマスターズ Toransufōmā: Za Heddomasutāzu) is a Japanese anime television series that is a part of the Transformers franchise.
The series was created for Japan as a continuation of the American animated series Transformers (much of which was animated in Japan) as the series proved to still be very popular there, airing from July 1987 to March 1988 on Nippon TV.
Dubbing History[]
The Headmasters was dubbed into English in Hong Kong by the dubbing company; Omni Productions, for broadcast on the Malaysian TV channel, RTM1, and later the Singapore satellite station, StarTV, where it attained greater fame. Known variously as the "RTM1 dub", the "Star TV dub" and the "Singaporean dub", Omni's dub has gone down in infamy for its extremely poor voice acting, mistranslations and incorrect names.
Clearly produced by a small number of people with little knowledge of the source material, the English translation is rudimentary at best. Although it is often touted as being wholly inaccurate, it actually manages to render the intent of the dialog correctly more times than not. It is, however, the way in which it proceeds to mistranslate so much with clumsy English, run-on sentences, non sequitur lines and just generally inappropriate language that creates its distinctively surreal qualities.
Generally, the dub employs American names and terminology, but in some instances, the scriptwriters (assuming there were more than one) were apparently unable to find the correct equivalent, leading to the dub's single most famous attribute: its collection of new names for various characters and concepts. Some of these names are based on a misinterpretation of the Japanese pronunciation of the names, and some are pulled straight out of thin air. The process proved especially difficult for the writers when the characters had no American equivalents.
Cast[]
| Image | Character | Seiyū | Dub Actor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headmasters (Autobots) | |||
|
Fortress Maximus | Ikuya Sawaki | Simon Broad |
| |||
| |||
| Chromedome | Hideyuki Hori | Jack Murphy | |
| Brainstorm | Ryōichi Tanaka | John Culkin | |
| Hardhead | Masato Hirano | Simon Broad | |
| John Culkin (ep. 18) | |||
| Jack Murphy (ep. 21) | |||
| Highbrow | Michitaka Kobayashi | Simon Broad (eps. 1-21, 26) | |
| John Culkin (eps. 24-25, 27-35) | |||
| Headmasters (Decepticons) | |||
| Scorponok | Banjō Ginga | Jack Murphy | |
|
Mindwipe | Naoki Tatsuta | Pierre Tremblay |
|
Skullcruncher | Kōji Totani | Jack Murphy |
| Pierre Tremblay (ep. 18) | |||
|
Weirdwolf | Katsuji Mori | Simon Broad |
| Autobots | |||
|
Optimus Prime | Tesshō Genda | Pierre Tremblay |
| Rodimus Prime / Hot Rod | Hiroya Ishimaru | John Culkin | |
|
Wheelie | Kazue Komiya | Marc Mulloy |
| Ultra Magnus | Hōchū Ōtsuka | Jack Murphy | |
| Blurr | Ken Yamaguchi | Simon Broad | |
| Arcee | Yōko Kawanami | Elizabeth Oram | |
| Kup | Osamu Saka | Rik Thomas | |
| Jazz | Masato Hirano | Pierre Tremblay | |
| Grimlock | Masaharu Satō | John Culkin | |
| Decepticons | |||
|
Galvatron | Seizō Katō | Rik Thomas |
|
Sixshot | Michihiro Ikemizu | Simon Broad |
|
Soundblaster | Issei Masamune | John Culkin |
| Monsterbots (Autobots) | |||
| Grotusque | Masaharu Satō | Pierre Tremblay | |
| Humans & Other Species | |||
| Daniel Witwicky | Tomiko Suzuki | ¿? | |
|
Spike Witwicky | Masashi Ebara | Jack Murphy |
|
Carly | Kazue Komiya | ¿? |
| Narration | Issei Masamune | Rik Thomas | |
Additional Voices
- Simon Broad
- John Culkin
- Marc Mulloy
- Jack Murphy
- Rik Thomas
- Pierre Tremblay
Transmission[]
| Date(s) | Channel | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990's | RTM1 | Malaysia | 
|
| 1990's | StarTV | Singapore | 
|
| 2007 | AnimeCentral | United Kingdom | 
|
Video Releases[]
| Distributor | Year | Format | Contents | Region | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maverick Entertainment | 2002 | 
|
Episodes 1-6 | 2 PAL |
United Kingdom |
|
| 1 Disc | ||||||
| Metrodome | 2005 | The Complete Series | ||||
| 4 Discs | ||||||
| Madman Entertainment | 2007 | The Complete Series | 4 PAL |
Australia | 
| |
| 4 Discs | ||||||
Despite demand from U.S. fans, the Shout! Factory releases of Headmasters and the other Japan-only Transformers series do not include the Omni Productions audio tracks, with staff claiming it was due to concerns from Hasbro about their quality (though it is more likely that the Omni dubs weren't included when Sony sold some portions of the Sunbow Productions library to Hasbro).
See Also[]
- Transformers: Super-God Masterforce
- Transformers: Victory
External Links[]
- Transformers: The Headmasters at the Internet Movie Database
- Transformers: The Headmasters (anime) at the Anime News Network