Although this is HIGHLY opinionated... Not to mention some glaring grammar mistakes, (You seemed to have rushed it. :P) I'll have to agree with you on some points. Some, not all. For instance I was quite overjoyed when Prime kicked the bucket; me being a major decepticon fan. Thus his death did not effect me at all. The other VERY popular characters, such as PROWL, STARSCREAM, not to mention Ratchet and Ironhide should not have been killed off. It made the series less enjoyable. Then again, all they did was follow the rules of anime... All cool characters must die. They should have; however, ended the series at the movie, with THAT much canon character death. It was harder to get into the other seasons due to the lack of familiar characters. Not to mention too many of the colour schemes were far too similar, making those characters less appealing to the eye, and the animation tended to be worse overall...
If you're looking for a clean-cut, well-supported analysis of Transformers failure as related to the idea that season 3 was responsible, this isn't it. This is hardly even a good essay by any standards. With poor organization of ideas, a lack of acknowledgement to fans who may hold different opinions, all together trimmed with a number of possibly offensive insults directed at both fans and the writers/Hasbro.
In general, I concur that season three was probably the downfall of the show. The loss of several familiar, beloved characters, most prominently that of Optimus Prime, concurrent with the introduction with a rather large number of entirely new characters, both in physical appearance and personality, surely jarred a few fans. There's also the fact that - in my opinion - that the writers had attempted to move from the black and white, child-like nature of the first two seasons and go for a more indepth, conflicted, and generally unstable setting for season three, which may have also turned off a few viewers who perhaps weren't comfortable with the vulnerability of the show's hero or the darker nature of the episodes.
The author fails to fully explore this reasons is any sort of organized, intelligent method. Instead, he attacks characters from narrow-minded positions without mentioning any of the positive qualities they gave to show. For example, his position on Arcee is not only poorly researched, it's also clearly and rather offensively chauvanistic. Wheelie and Daniel are mentioned briefly and only as objects of the author's dislike. Other characters are mention negatively without any sort of reasoning as to why he dislikes them so and how they dealt with the show's downfall.
His view on the leader of the series is also unstable and unsupported. I admit that I may be partially biased in this review in that I like Rodimus Prime. However, I bear no grudge against those whose opinions differ from mine. I can understand that and embrace variation in the Transformer fandom. But I would implore the individual who would make such a statement to back their opinion with truthful evidence, not this garbage that Rodimus Prime was a "poor leader, wuss, and no good role model," facts that are hardly supported by anything seen in canon. There's a big difference between someone who's a coward and someone who's not afraid to show vulnerability. Poor leadership is something of a debatable item, as is poor role modeling. (As an author myself, I feel that Optimus Prime's presentation as the epitome of leadership perfection and invulnerability without a history of development shown is far less healthy for children to follow, but I digress.) Obviously, the author has failed to make such a distinction in this article or even bother to study and dismiss opinions of the opposition.
In general, this author fails to really provide any real persuasion for the audience to agree with his opinions, whether it be because of the poor establishment of his views or the offensive manner in which they are addressed. For future writings, I would beseech the author to realize that a good author gives a clean, professional look at a subject while incorporating several views and studying each thoroughly instead of producing a poorly supported fanboy rant that's hardly more than a few obtuse opinions thrown together.
-Pitten
You have to balance your opinions more. I've seen many differing views of the characters, Movie and Season 3, but you only take your own line. It also might be an idea to check up on your facts. Arcee appeared in exactly seven episodes of Season 3 (eight if you count a non-speaking background appearance in one), and four of those were from the multi-parter Five Faces of Darkness. That's less than a third, even if you count Rebirth. Your view that the Movie and Season 3 were worse than what preceded is a majority one, but that doesn't make it true, and it can't have been the only factor in G1's 'downfall'. After all, getting the battle off Earth and into space brought other viewers on board, myself included. For a few of us, killing off Prime helped too. ;)
Perhaps it's all true.To which I say: Who cares? Children recover. It annoys me that Hasbro killed off so many characters *needlessly*, but Prime at least got a death scene. His was not a needless death, it had some sort of meaning. I applaud Hasbro for killing him off, and all I tsk them for is caving in and bringing him back.
We don't all like Optimus Prime. I myself despise his aloof, unemotional demeanor. rodimus was ahrdly a wuss -- he was more a *character*. Optimus Prime was not such, but an archetype. We'd seen this persona a hundred tiems before, and we've seen it thousands of times since. Rodimus was more realistic; if *you* succeeded a living legend, you'd have self-doubt, too. considering how much everyone hated what a brash dolt Hot Rod was, it's ironic how they also hate the humbled individual he became.
The way in which this opinion is shamelessly flaunted without any sort of evidence or barest attempt to show an unbiased attitude forces me to write this off, not as an essay, but a rant. And rants are cumbersome and attempt to force one's opinion, rather than sway them via evidence.
Heroes die. Yet people have the capacity to move on.