1997 - Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers

With the success of the Beast Wars toys and cartoon in America, it was no surprise that the franchise would be imported to Japan. So it was that Takara began airing Japanese-dubbed episodes of the Beast Wars computer-animated program in Fall 1997.

The stories are mostly identical to the original western episodes, aside from a more comical/jovial slant to the dialog. To briefly summarize, Megatron and a team of Destron criminals have stolen a Golden Disc, with plans to use its information to conquer Seibertron. They are intercepted by Convoy (Optimus Primal) and a team of Cybertron explorers, pursued through a space/time vortex, and become stranded on a mysterious planet. While the two sides battle, they assume beast forms to protect themselves from the planet's dangerously overabundant energon fields.

A buffed-up macho Airazor from TV Magazine.

One of the more significant differences between the original Beast Wars series and the Japanese version is Airazor's (Airrazor) change from female to effeminate male. This was a decision driven by the toy market; action figures for female characters don't tend to sell well in Japan, so Airrazor's gender was changed in the series, and his/her relationship with Tigatron was depicted as a brotherly/fraternal one with dialog changes. Curiously, Airazor remained female in the Beast Wars manga.