Beast Wars II: Super Life-Form Transformers (ビーストウォーズII 超生命体トランスフォーマー, Bīsuto Wōzu Sekando Chō Seimeitai Toransufōmā) is a 1998 JapaneseTransformers anime series, spawning a movie and a toyline. It was broadcast on TV Tokyo from April 1998 to January 1999, and was the first Transformers anime to be produced by Nihon Ad Systems and animated by the studio Ashi Productions. The series was preceded by Beast Wars: Transformers, and was followed by Super Life-Form Transformers: Beast Wars Neo. The series has a much lighter tone and is aimed more toward children, whereas the more accessible Beast Wars was intended for a wider age-range. The anime uses conventional animation rather than the CGI of its predecessor. With the exception of the faction leaders, all of the characters within the toy-line are either remolds, reissues, or recolors of earlier Beast Wars or Generation 2/Machine Wars toys.[2]
In addition to the 43 episodes, there is also a 50-minute movie, Beast Wars II: Lio Convoy's Close Call!, which takes place sometime between episodes 32 and 38, and a manga adaptation by Shōji Imaki that was serialized in Comic BomBom from July 1998 to February 1999, also localized in Korea by Daewon Media. The anime was also released in Korea, and it was broadcast on SBS.
Plot
Beast Wars II tells the story of a battle waging between Lio Convoy's team of Cybertrons (Maximals) and Galvatron's army of Destrons (Predacons) on the planet Gaia. As Lio Convoy and Galvatron fight over the mysterious energy source known as Angolmois Energy, many strange occurrences and mysterious properties of Angolmois Energy begin to arise.
Maximals — Descendants of the Autobots who defend post-apocalyptic Earth, or Gaia, and its Angolmois Energy from the Predacons.
Lio Convoy — The battle-hardened yet kind, honest, and gentle commander of a Maximal crew based in the starship Star Voyager, with a strong sense of right and wrong. His seriousness almost crosses into being humorous. After being lured into a trap by Galvatron and crash-landing on Gaia, Lio Convoy was rescued by a white lion and brought to a cave laced with Angolmois Energy, which healed his injuries. Afterward, he adopted the lion's form as an alternate mode.
Apache — Lio Convoy's cool-headed yet mildly eccentric second-in-command and a triple-changer who can transform into a mandrill and a weapon-laden fortress mode.
Bighorn — A gentle and nature-loving yet battle-hungry warrior who can transform into a bison and gets angry at the sight of the color red. In combat, he wields the "Buffalo Missile" gun.
Scuba — A cool, shy, solitary, and pessimistic Maximal who can transform into a squid and specializes in underwater combat
Tasmania Kid — An adventurous prankster and the youngest member of Lio Convoy's group who can transform into a Tasmanian devil, wields the "Tasmania Fangs", specializes in close-quarters combat, and desires to be recognized as a full-fledged warrior.
Diver — A prudent yet timid and careless Niagara base guard who can transform into a frog and usually tries to avoid dangerous work by claiming it is his grandfather's dying wish, though he will charge into battle for his friends.
Predacons — Descendants of the Decepticons who seek to conquer Cybertron and the universe via the power of Angolmois Energy.
Galvatron — An idealistic and fastidious Predacon emperor and triple-changer who can transform into a dragon and a drill tank and seeks to conquer the universe, though he displays unexpected affection for his subordinates. Despite often being knocked out by the Maximals and his second-in-command Megastorm, Galvatron possesses incredible power. After being defeated and killed by Lio Convoy and Lio Junior at the end of the series, Unicron possesses Galvatron's lifeless body in Beast Wars Neo.
Megastorm — Galvatron's grounded second-in-command and younger brother who can transform into a tank. Due to Galvatron's caution around Angolmois Energy, Megastorm gradually becomes mistrustful of and disloyal to his brother. After the Maximals add Magnaboss to their ranks, Megastorm dives into a pool of liquid Angolmois Energy and is reformatted into Gigastorm, becoming a monolithic triple-changer with a robotic theropod-like default form and the ability to transform into a base and fortress in the process.
Starscream — A prideful, narcissistic, and ambitious Predacon partnered with BB who can transform into a fighter jet and dreams of overthrowing Galvatron as the Predacons' leader. After being blasted into a pool of liquid Angolmois Energy by Gigastorm, it reacts to Starscream's hatred and reformats him into the savage and cruel Hellscream, granting him the ability to transform into a cyborgshark.
BB — A large, dutiful, and reliable Predacon triple-changer partnered with Starscream who possesses limited speech capacity and can transform into a stealth bomber and a tank. After being blasted into a pool of liquid Angolmois Energy by Gigastorm, it reacts to BB's hatred and reformats him into the ferocious Max B, granting him the ability to transform into a cyborg wolf.
Dirge — A "sonic soldier" partnered with Thrust who can transform into a Dassault Rafale fighter jet and often serves as the "straight man" to Thrust's antics. Seeking increased power, Dirge agrees to let Gigastorm give him an Angolmois Energy transfusion, which reformats the former into Dirgegun and grants the ability to transform into a cyborg wasp.
Thrust — A Predacon partnered with Dirge who can transform into a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor fighter jet and behaves similarly to a stand-up comedian, to Dirge's chagrin. Seeking increased power, Thrust agrees to let Gigastorm give him an Angolmois Energy transfusion, which reformats the former into Thrustor and grants the ability to transform into a cyborg dromeasaur.
Recurring characters
Lio Junior — An innocent, free-spirited, and wild Maximal and young clone of Lio Convoy created from Angolmois Energy and the latter's Energon Matrix who can transform into a lion as well as combine with Skywarp and Santon to become Magnaboss as well as with Lio Convoy to strengthen him.
Skywarp — A strict yet considerate Maximal aerial combat instructor sent with Santon to reinforce Lio Convoy's group who can transform into an eagle, combine with Lio Junior and Santon to become Magnaboss, produce sonic booms, and wields the twin Wing Calibur swords and Sky Missiles.
Santon — A philanthropic Maximal medic sent with Skywarp to reinforce Lio Convoy's group who can transform into an elephant, combine with Lio Junior and Skywarp to become Magnaboss, wields the non-lethal Ki-Shot cannons, perform the "Santon Quake" attack, and produce the Santon Shield barrier.
Insectrons — Former mercenaries and rivals of the Autorollers who can all transform into insects and settled down in Gaia's antarctic region to live in peace. After Starscream tricks them into fighting the Maximals, the Insectrons realize the truth and join forces with the latter.
Bigmos — The Insectrons' leader and a triple-changer who can transform into a mosquito and an antlion-like "Hell Scissor" mode.
Powerhug — A straightforward judo practitioner who can transform into a pill bug and seeks vengeance against the Autorollers.
Tonbot — A flashy spy who can transform into a dragonfly and possesses the fastest flight speed of the Insectrons.
Mantis — An independent and territorial samurai who can transform into his namesake.
Drillnuts — The Insectrons' sarcastic yet tenacious bomb expert and self-proclaimed "greatest inventor" who builds useless gadgets and can transform into a boll weevil.
Scissorboy — A talkative and quick-witted Insectron and friend of Tasmania Kid who can transform into an earwig.
Jointrons — A trio of brothers who can combine to form Tripledacus and display an affinity for Mexican culture.
DJ — The eldest of the Jointron brothers who can transform into a cicada.
Motorarm — The over-excited middle brother and a sumo wrestler who can transform into a Japanese rhinoceros beetle and possesses the most strength of the three.
Gimlet — The cheerful youngest of the Jointron brothers who can transform into a lobster.
Autorollers — A group of Predacon bodyguards and rivals of the Insectrons who serve directly under and are loyal to Galvatron.
Autostinger — The Autorollers' captain and a warrior once reputed to be an accomplished mercenary who can transform into a dump truck. After he was nearly killed by the Predacons and saved from execution by Galvatron, Autostinger pledged his loyalty to him ever since.
Autocrusher — A tough sergeant and the oldest member of the Autorollers who browbeats the other Predacons and can transform into a payloader.
Autojetter — A problematic Autoroller who enjoys war for his own pleasure, specializes in preserving Galvatron's air supremacy, and can transform into an F/A-18 fighter jet.
Autolauncher — A glory hog who often neglects Galvatron's safety to focus on being the first to attack his enemies and can transform into an armoured personnel carrier.
Seacon Space Pirates — A group of rogue Predacons who can all transform into monstrous sea creatures, combine to form God Neptune, and seek to collect Angolmois Energy for their own purposes.
Halfshell — The Seacons' noble, calculating, and greedy captain who can transform into a sea turtle and is merciless with enemies and gentle towards his crew.
Scylla — A vain and vindictive Seacon who can transform into a squid and displays an unrequited crush on Scuba.
Coelagon — An elderly Seacon who can transform into a coelacanth and frequently claims to be knowledgeable in treasure-related matters despite being frequently wrong.
Seaphantom — A warlike Seacon who specializes in surprise attacks and can transform into a shark.
Terrormander — The Seacons' lazy, carefree junior member who can transform into a manta ray.
Guest characters
Artemis — A flighty mysterious robotic woman who watches the Maximals and Predacons' battles from Gaia's moon. She primarily supports the former due in part to her crush on Scuba, but is torn due to also being smitten with Starscream.
Moon — A calm Cybertronian rabbit who watches over Gaia with Artemis and often sides with the Maximals due to the Predacons' destructive tendencies.
Ikard — Scuba's cool, gentle, and erudite cousin who can also transform into a squid.
Copy Convoy — A sinister clone of Lio Convoy created by mysterious technology that Tasmania Kid found.
Spin-off exclusive characters
Star Upper — A proud Maximal who can transform into a kangaroo, fears not being good enough to be a real warrior, and appears exclusively in the series' tie-in manga and video game.
Majin Zarak — A mysterious super-weapon with a demonic robot mode and a heavily-armed base mode that only exists to destroy, is capable of destroying armies, and appears exclusively in the film Beast Wars II: Lio Convoy's Close Call!
Optimus Primal — A Maximal commander from another time period who can transform into a gorilla and appears exclusively in the film Beast Wars II: Lio Convoy's Close Call!. Magnaboss brings him to the present to help Lio Convoy defeat Majin Zarak before Primal is returned to his time.
The series was primarily repaints of non-show Beast Wars figures and repaints of Generation 2 figures, including two unreleased Autoroller figures and the black Dreadwing/Smokecreen repaint, planned for the cancelled 1996 assortment of figures. In both cases the items were recolored and slightly remolded; repainted versions of five of the Seacons also served as new Predacon characters.
The series did feature new molds for Lio Convoy and Galvatron, as well as the Tako Tank. Generation 1Trypticon, and Beast WarsDinobot, Cybershark, Wolfang, and Waspinator were remolded as "upgraded" versions of Megastorm, Starscream, BB, Dirge and Thrust.
The remolded Cybershark saw release as Overbite in the U.S. as Universe exclusive.
