This score is a hundred percent due to nostalgia; if i were to rewatch this chances are I'll probably not even watch 10 episodes of it. However, I grew up with this show, and it's an absolute banger. First half's plot was quite dry to be honest. Very repetitive and predictable plot, with not much to make itself special from the dozens of Transformers media out there. Second half however, or rather the final 10 episodes or so (Unicron Battles), is legendary. Yes, the editing is still really horrible; dialogue is still cheesy and clunky, making it infamous within the transformers fandom, but the plot isvery gripping and fast paced for the final section, culminating in a fantastic finale.

Characters are fine. this version of optimus is not one of my favourites, however he's not bad by any means, he's just not one of the better primes out there. Megatron was almost in the same league as optimus at first, being a rather cheesy melodramatic villain, but the final section made him a much more compelling character and the way his character ends up is one of the best endings for a megatron.

Best character is easily Starscream however. Armada Starscream, despite being worlds apart from most iterations of Starscream, is superbly done. He is easily the most tragic character in not just the show, but in all of the many Transformers continuities i've seen. His arc is very well executed, and probably the strongest aspect of the show imo.

Human characters in TF media are 90% of the time annoying, and while Rad and Carlos are rather stupid at times they're still ok compared to a certain boy named kicker jones. Alexis however is actually competent and the way her character is tied with Starscream's arc is beautiful.

Unicron was as intimidating and had more screentime than in the 1986 movie, which is nice.

Animation is... not the best, but compared to Energon it's a godsend.

Not much to say about soundtrack, but that main theme that's always played is quite the banger.

Overall, it's just nostalgia, but while the first half was an easy 5/10 being extremely mid, the final section was amazing. and since it has dismal ratings on mal, imma give it an 8.