Science fiction franchises need to evolve if they want to survive for the long haul. Doctor Who changes up the main star every few years, while Star Trek swaps out its main ship and crew with each new entry. Even Star Wars has attempted to keep things fresh by hopping between eras — even if the show’s loudest fans aren’t interested in evolving with it. But perhaps no franchise knows this more than Transformers. Now, ahead of the 40th anniversary of everyone’s favorite robots in disguise, a new trailer seems to tease one more evolution, but there’s still one big mystery surrounding it.
Studio Trigger, the anime team behind Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and an episode of Star Wars Visions, recently teased a new take on the Transformers. The video features a quick look at concept art showing anime-style takes on the G1 designs of classic Transformers like Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Hot Rod. While this on its own is exciting, it’s still unclear what Studio Trigger teasing. Will this be a series? A short film? A one-off video? We’ll have to wait for more information to find out.
But whatever this project is, it seems clear that a Transformers anime is imminent. Notably, this won’t be the first time. Both 2005’s Transformers: Cybertron and 2015’s Transformers Go offered a Japanese animated take on the Hasbro franchise. (The latter was released exclusively in Japan.)
The difference now is that American audiences are primed for this kind of thing. In the streaming age, anime spinoffs are everywhere, from Suicide Squad Isekai to Rick and Morty: The Anime. And just last week, Netflix released a new anime take on the Terminator franchise with Terminator Zero.
These projects all leaned heavily into anime aesthetics and style to create something that looks dramatically different from their source material. But it goes beyond the way something looks: anime is an entirely new way to tell a story, even a classic one we’re all familiar with.
