From kendrick@io.com Sun Nov 19 10:30:02 CST 1995
Article: 26470 of alt.toys.transformers
Path: news.io.com!io.com!not-for-mail
From: kendrick@io.com (Kendrick Kerwin Chua)
Newsgroups: alt.toys.transformers
Subject: TF Weekday 11/17 - The Face of the Nijika
Date: 19 Nov 1995 10:29:48 -0600
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TF Weekday Nov 17 1995 - The Face of the Nijika

The EI/AD: Evil Invention points go for the quadrant lock, a Quintesson
invention which keeps Samojin locked away from the rest of space. Alien
Device points go for Nijika the sky dancer, the space-faring robot of
Samojian legend.

The plot: Flying around in the outer reaches of space, the Autobots happen
upon a huge disk in space. Galvatron is insanely beating on the disk and
being fired on by the Quintessons, and Rodimus decides it's worth checking
out. In a fit of ingenuity, the Quintessons open the disk and fly through,
their gravitational pull yanking Rodimus, Ultra Magnus, Blurr, Perceptor,
and Cyclonus through. It turns out to be a quadrant lock, which is
isolating the world of Samojin. Magnus, Rodimus, and Blurr land painfully,
and the two leave Blurr behind to go looking for Perceptor. Percy is
captured by a Samojian blacksmith named Katsudan who removes Perceptor's
Autobot symbol and installs it as the face of Nijika, a robot doll. The
Quints are trapped inside the lock along with the Transformers because
their key is short circuited, so they figure Perceptor's universal
emulator will substitute nicely. They send Sharkticons down, which are
all soundly whomped by Katsudan due to his superior martial arts skills
and the fact that Samojin is a molecularly dense world. Then Nijika
speaks; it's Perceptor's universal emulator controlling the long-dead
robot. In awe, Katsudan relates the story of how the Quintessons seemed
to steal the stars. Blurr is captured by Samojians and made part of a
anti-Quintesson ceremony. Rodimus and Magnus scare off a few natives in a
short fight and find Perceptor's empty body. Cyclonus makes a deal with
the Quintessons after they run out of options; he will help them retrieve
Perceptor's parts in exchange for the Quadrant lock technology. Under
cover among the costumes of the ceremony, Cyclonus and a Quintesson
accidentally spur the crowd on to a riot. They successfully grab Nijika
and are able to install the emulator, but after dropping Blurr into the
boiling oil pit (accidentally repairing his bent strut) things fall
apart. The Autobots are able to get aboard, grab the emulator and help
Katsudan escape, and they get lost just as the Quints run away... As they
exit the quadrant lock, it dissipates thanks to Perceptor's sabotage, and
the Samojians get their star light back, which allows their telepathic
technology to continue.

The characters: The Samojians are a bit of a rip from Japanese and Viking
sources, but make for an interesting if unoriginal alien race. For once,
Blurr isn't too annoying and actually thinks to do a few useful things (he
allows himself to be left behind so they can find Perceptor quicker, and
thinks to retrieve Perceptor's emulator after Rodimus has ordered an
evacuation of the Quintesson ship.) Perceptor is his usual calm,
ingenious self, assimilating the Nijika body as if it happened to him
every day. Check out the voices on the Quintessons... One of them is Rege
Cordin, the same guy who did the Quint judge voice in the movie and
through most of the series. However, the whiny Quint is being done by
John Moschita, and the gruff one by Roger C. Carmel, unless I'm mistaken.
Anybody care to have a listen and corroborate?

The plot holes: I would complain about a ton of plot holes, except that
they make sense in the context of the story. Cyclonus and the Quint go
unnoticed because everybody else happens to be in a mask or a costume of
some kind. The fact that Katsudan can beat up a Sharkticon with his bare
hands is explained by the fact that the planet has a dense molecular
structure. The telepathic technology is just fun technobabble, as is the
universal emulator, which is slightly at odds with the personality
components seen in 'Starscream's Brigade' and the power chip rectifiers
in 'Heavy Metal War.'
   One plot hole which is more a function of the fiction than anything
else... If the Samojian telepathy gets its energy from starlight, does
that mean that they don't get it from their own sun? The world is
obviously lit by SOMETHING... Maybe it's a lot like the way Superman
doesn't get any powers from the red sun of Krypton, but does from the
yellow sun of Earth. I shan't presume to be a reader of writers' minds.
   I am required by law to define a 'quadrant' too. A quadrant is a large
area of space which is one fourth of a larger area of space. :)

Moving pictures: Eh, nothing to write home about. Cool scene when Rodimus
is fighting the Samojian warriors in the snowy mountains... he transforms
into vehicle mode, but into his old Hot Rod car mode, and then his
trailer pops up out of nowhere and attaches, forming the Flaming
Winnebago(tm). This is slightly inconsistent... No, this is VERY
inconsistent with the way Rodimus is usually drawn, but I think it's no
less cool.

The cuts: Can't tell, first time I've seen the episode. I originally
thought that there was a ton of dialogue between Perceptor and Katsudan
cut at the end, but after a few listens their short conversation makes
sense now (Katsudan plans on reviving Nijika to fly in the stars sometime
in the future, to meet Perceptor)

Toys they should reissue: Anybody ready for a new Blurr toy? Since he's
not the annoying straight man next to Wheelie in this episode, I'm
actually motivated to want a toy of him for once (Yes, among 374
Transformers and some 500-odd GIJoes I don't have Blurr, so nyeah). You'd
think that more white and less blue would be appropriate for G2 colors,
and maybe even a sleek Earth mode with a similar robot mode... One of the
newer GM concept cars that haven't been made into UK-G2 Stormtroopers,
perhaps? Blurr as a Lotus wouldn't be a bad idea either.

Quotables:
"Hey Speedball, wait for us!"

"It appears we have a statistical anomaly. The Autobots survived!"

"You've obviously never understood mob mentality."

"I got another missile, guys! Who wants to play catch?"

"You will not live to see the dawn!"
"Yeah yeah, sure sure. Let's blow this popsicle stand."

KKC, I have 5/6 of Monstructor! Who wants to trade a Bristleback for a
Wildfly? For that matter, who wants to trade a Slog or an Icepick for a
Wildfly? Give me your Wildflies! Else I'll repaint my extras into
Dinoforce members!
--
Kendrick Kerwin Chua - "London? You put the Eiffel Tower back... in London?!"
kendrick@io.com - WTB: 1980s Transformers, US and Japanese, and GIJoe figures
Necronomcon FAQ home page at http://www.io.com/~kendrick/necronomicon or anon
FTP at io.com:/pub/usr/kendrick -Personal home at http://www.io.com/~kendrick