The Brave Hero of the Universe - Star Saber
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 Yes, that's him, officer. | ||||||
| "The Brave Hero of the Universe - Star Saber" (Uchū no Yūsha - Star Saber) | ||||||
| Production company | Takara, Toei | |||||
| Airdate | 14 March 1989 | |||||
| Writer | Hiroyuki Hoshiyama | |||||
| Director | Yoshikata Nitta | |||||
| Animation studio | Toei | |||||
| Continuity | Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity | |||||
As the Brainmasters defend Earth's moon against the Dinoforce, Star Saber once again clashes with his nemesis, Deathsaurus!
Contents |
Synopsis
In the small frontier community of Iron Town on an unidentified planet, the ominous arrival of two Decepticon desperadoes sends the town's timid residents fleeing for cover. The two thugs open fire, blasting buildings to rubble, but as the dust cloud settles, a powerful figure wearing the Autobot insignia strides forward to face the villains. The new arrival draws a mighty blade and deflects the Decepticons' laser blasts, forcing them to switch to bladed weapons themselves, with similarly ineffective results. The Autobot leaps into the air, and his sword glows with incandescent energy—energy that he then fires in a beam that blasts the Decepticons over the horizon. With the battle over, the residents of Iron Town re-emerge, and they can see that they have been saved by none other than Star Saber, the new Supreme Commander of the Autobots!
It is the year 2025. After the Decepticons were forced off Earth by the Autobots under the command of God Ginrai, the evil robots set their sights on finding a new planet they could make their own, and began invading worlds all over the universe. To counteract this cosmic series of attacks, the Autobots entered into a formal alliance with lifeforms from many other planets, including Earth, and formed the Universal Peace Alliance, led by Star Saber and headquartered on Planet V. It is to these headquarters that Star Saber returns after his battle in Iron Town, but upon his arrival, he is greeted with a report of a Decepticon attack on Earth's Lunar Base. Star Saber instructs Wingwaver to contact the Sector One Defense Force.
At the Sector One base, Brainmaster warrior Blacker talks with God Ginrai about how Decepticon Emperor of Destruction Deathsaurus has been focusing his attacks on their sector of space. Consequently, the plan is for Star Saber himself to come and take command of the Sector One force, to strike back hard at the Decepticons. Their discussions is interrupted by Star Saber's adopted human son Jan Minakaze and Holi, who race up the hallway to inform them of the communiqué from Star Saber regarding the Decepticon attack. Blacker and his fellow Brainmaster Braver and Laster mobilize immediately, and Ginrai heads back to Sector Two, to rejoin his Defense Force there. The worried Holi comments on how powerful Deathsaurus is, but Jan remarks that everyone is more powerful than Holi, prompting the Micromaster to snatch Jan's hover-disc out from underneath him.
Meanwhile, on the Earth's moon, the Decepticon Dinoforce besieges the Lunar Base in their shells and manage to breach its walls. The Brainmasters arrive to confront them, and the Decepticons exit their shells for robot-mode combat and manage to keep their Autobot opponents on the defensive thanks to their great numbers. Just as Dinoforce commander Goryu sends Braver toppling into a chasm, however, reinforcements arrive in the form of Dashtacker and Machtackle of the Multiforce, who help to evacuate the Lunar Base while the Brainmasters struggle on.
At the same time, Star Saber continues his approach toward the moon, only to be attacked in space by Deathsaurus, who makes a particularly dramatic entrance. This is, of course, a diversionary tactic to allow his troops to finish their work on the moon, but Jan radios Star Saber to let him know of the dire situation there. The Autobot commander sheathes his sword and breaks off from his duel with Deathsaurus in order to aid his subordinates, arriving just as things look the worst for the Brainmasters. The Dinoforce are all extremely hesitant to take on the mighty Star Saber, but when he turns his back on them they all charge at him at once, only to be summarily flattened by his Saber Blade. Deathsaurus arrives to renew his battle with Star Saber, attacking him with his Breast Animals in both animal and weapon forms. After Star Saber thwarts both of the creatures, he and Deathsaurus cross swords and the Autobot Commander's strength wins out. A blast from the Saber Blade takes Deathsaurus down, and he quickly summons up his spacecraft, the Thunder Arrow, to escape, with the Dinoforce hot on his heels.
After the battle, all the Autobots meet up, and Jan and Holi arrive via space shuttle. Jan is particularly happy to see Star Saber, who has been away for a while, and the boy confirms that Star Saber is now here to stay. Standing on the surface of the moon, the Autobots all look up at the Earth and marvel at its beauty as Star Saber swears to protect it.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Other |
|---|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"Idiot! Do you think you can beat them with that gun!?"
- —Goryu, on noticing that Kakuryu is using an old-fashioned revolver.
Goryu: You're on your own, but there are so many of us, I'm sure you must be trembling in your boots.
Kakuryu: That's right, he's all alone!
Goryu: Then go and get him!
Kakuryu: Why don't you go first?
Goryu: But I'm the captain! I give the orders here!
Doryu: Well, captain, I think that you're scared.
Goryu: Hey, how dare you say that!
- —Signs that Goryu's leadership is not as absolute as he might wish.
"Oh no, you're a bunch of useless morons!"
- —Goryu reacts to his men being defeated by Star Saber.
"You just wait! One day I'm gonna destroy you!"
- —Deathsaurus, retreating.
Notes
Transformers references
- Iron Town's inhabitants include the Junkions Scrapheap and Junkyard and a Lithone.
- Hey, it's Ginrai! Remember, this Ginrai is the entirely-robotic, now-living Transtector which came to life in the final episode of Super-God Masterforce.
- The existence of a human base on the moon has previously been noted in "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2" and "God Ginrai - Into the Sky!!". Elements such as the look of the base personnel and even a satellite design are reused from the latter story.
- Deathsaurus's Tiger Breast undergoes a rather fudged transformation to become a bow-and-arrow. The toy version of the figure (like every other Breast Animal) just becomes a gun, though a version with a more accurate bow mode was eventually released in the Legacy toyline.
- Star Saber threatens to seal Deathsaurus "back in the Dark Nebula," foreshadowing their shared backstory, which will be explained later in the series.
- The Thunder Arrow is a Japanese reinterpretation of the personal space shuttle of the Decepticon Micromaster, Skystalker (in that it's much bigger). The toy was only available as a mail-away exclusive.
Real-world references
- The incidental music that plays as the episode opens on Iron Town starts with the first few notes of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
Trivia
- It's never actually stated in dialogue in the series that Victory occurs in 2025, but it was apparently always the intention for the series, only to be removed to refrain from dating the show to a specific point in time. It's been going around the Internet for as long as the online Transformers fandom has existed, however, so it must have been included in some piece of Japanese media way back when. Most recently, though, the Kiss Players timeline confirmed the 2025 date.
- One of the more unusual things Victory is known for is its use of cutsie super-deformed versions of its characters in its commercial bumpers. The bumpers feature Star Saber, Deathsaurus, the Dinoforce, and Jan and Holi, all of them destroying in some way a large insignia of the opposing faction, to reveal their own faction's insignia beneath it.
Foreign localization
English
- Title: "The Warrior of the Universe, Star Saber" (Omni Productions dub)
- Original airdate: April 21, 1991
- All of the dialogue states that the Dinoforce is attacking Earth rather than the Lunar base, which doesn't match with the footage of the Dinoforce wreaking havoc on the moon.
- As the Brainmasters approach the moon, Laster inquires whether Blacker wants to pull out of engaging the Dinoforce, whereas in the original, he insinuates that Blacker is somehow like the Decepticons in his temperament.
- Doryu suggests that Goryu is scared to face Star Saber, rather than accusing him of being rude for thinking of himself.
- Star Saber's oath at the end of the episode that he'll protect the Earth becomes a more inclusive "we will protect the Earth" speech.
Home video releases
- DVD
2003 — Transformers: Victory — DVD Box 01 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
2006 — The Takara Collection Vol 3 — Transformers: Victory (Metrodome) — Optional commentary by Chris McFeely.
2006 — Cult Sci-Fi Legends (Metrodome) - unknown soundtrack
2007 — Transformers — The Complete Takara Collection (Metrodome) — Optional commentary by Chris McFeely.
2008 — The Transformers: Victory (Madman Entertainment) — Optional Omni dub.
2009 — The Transformers: Japan Generation 1 — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) — Optional Omni dub.
2012 — Transformers: The Japanese Collection (Shout! Factory)
2012 — Transformers Japanese Collection: Victory (Shout! Factory)
