Attack! Leozack

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Come on baby, let's do the twist.
"Attack! Leozack" 襲撃! レオザック () (Shūgeki! Leozack)
Production company	Takara, Toei
Airdate	4 April 1989
Writer	Yoshihisa Araki
Director	Hiromichi Matano
Animation studio	Toei
Continuity	Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity

Jan's first day at school doesn't go smoothly, thanks to an attack by the Decepticon second-in-command, Leozack!

Synopsis

As the sun sets over the ocean, the Decepticon Leozack swoops down through the orange sky and plunges into the surf below, where he boards the waiting Thunder Arrow. Meeting with Deathsaurus, he swears to end Star Saber's life as a gift to his emperor, and recruits the Dinoforce to aid him in his endeavour.

Elsewhere on Earth, the Autobots have set the Galaxy Shuttle down beside a lake and are in the midst of scanning the globe for Decepticon activity as part of their preparations for establishing a defense program for the planet. While the Brainmasters work at this, the Multiforce are busy goofing off playing volleyball with Jan and Holi. With the day growing long, the games are brought to an end as everyone recalls that Jan will be starting school the following day. Although Jan is a little concerned about interacting with humans—something that he has never really had to do before—Star Saber assures him that all will be fine.

"Hello, ma'am. Have you welcomed Primus into your life?"

The next day, at Jan's school-to-be, Schwimmbad School, a young girl named Illumina talks with her friends Joyce, Clump and that other guy about the new student arriving that day. The conversation is immediately replaced with stunned silence, however, as Star Saber comes soaring in overhead, and Holi, sirens blazing, rolls up and Jan hops out. The student body is thrilled at the sight of the two Autobots transforming to robot mode, though Jan is a bit embarrassed when Holi's leg gets stuck halfway and needs a good shake to pop it into shape. At this point, the school headmistress Mayville appears, and is sufficiently taken aback when Star Saber lifts her in his palms to speak to her more personably. As classes begin, Star Saber and Mayville complete the necessary paperwork, and Star Saber recounts the story of how the Dinoforce destroyed the spaceship containing Jan's scientist parents. Although his parents met their end, Jan was jettisoned in a capsule and recovered by Star Saber, and was then raised by the Autobots as the commander's surrogate son.

Leozack shows off his new manicure.

At the same time, Jan is proving to be a hot topic of discussion amongst the students. Unfortunately, this discussion is going on right in the middle of class, and despite warnings from the teacher, the whole class winds up hanging on Jan's every word as he explains the powers of the Brainmasters. Holi and Star Saber snoop in the window and are pleased to see that Jan is getting along well, but their attention is suddenly diverted by the blazing arrival of Leozack, who opens fire on Star Saber, and inadvertently, the school as well. Star Saber attempts to lead the Decepticon away from the school, but Leozack does not fall for the tactic and engages Star Saber with his Electromagnetic Nunchaku while Holi tangles with his Breast Animal. The situation worsens when the Dinoforce come crashing through the school gates, and Jan and his new friends are left unable to escape, trapped on the top of the school building. Clump immediately blames Jan for their misfortune, pointing out that the Decepticons would not have attacked if he had not brought the Autobots there, and the rest of the students start agreeing with him. Thankfully, Illumina and Headmistress Mayville make the children understand that Earth would be in danger from the Decepticons regardless of the Autobots' presence. Just then, the V-Star sets down on top of the school, and Star Saber instructs the children to pilot it to aid him in the battle.

Meanwhile, Holi has radioed the Galaxy Shuttle to summon backup, and the Brainmaster respond to the call with haste. They come roaring up the road to the school just as Star Saber fights off a Decepticon dog-pile, and in response to their presence, the Dinoforce form Dinoking. But the Brainmasters have their own secret power... by strength, intelligence and skill combined, they merge into the mighty Road Caesar! As the two combiners tussle, Jan dispatches the Dinoforce's shells with the V-Star, then pilots the craft back to Star Saber, ejecting at the last minute so that the commander can combine with the V-Star into his super robot mode. Thusly powered up, Star Saber delivers critical damage to Leozack with his Saber Blade, just as Road Caesar topples Dinoking. Knowing they are beaten for now, the Decepticons retreat.

In the early evening, the Brainmasters work to repair the damage done to the school while Star Saber apologizes to Mayville for involving her and the students in the crisis. Mayville insists that no apology is necessary, and hopes that the Autobots will continue to fight for Earth's sake. Jan, meanwhile, is the subject of adulation again after his display of skill piloting the V-Star, and Clump apologizes for misjudging him. Holi rolls up and asks any of the students if they'd like to go for a drive, but he isn't expecting them all to pile on top of him at once!

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"If it's someone arrogant, I'm gonna give him a beating."

—Clump welcomes newcomers.

"The oil is bubbling within your humble second-in-command, Leozack."

—Leozack

"Don't be stupid!! Just use floaties and goggles!"

—Goryu after Kakuryu tries to talk his way out of the mission.

"I am the brave warrior whose name thunders throughout the galaxy... The one they call — Leozack the Deadly!"

—Leozack, introducing himself to Star Saber.

"According to my data, school is very boring."

—Holi is too cool for school.

Notes

Animation and technical errors

• After Jan ejects from the V-Star, he discovers there's no parachute. That's OK, because Holi catches him and somehow this is better than hitting the concrete road...

Continuity errors

• The blackboard in Jan's classroom shows a date of 'MAR 15 THU', which doesn't fit in with the 2025 dating of the series in other works, because that would make March 15 a Saturday. (In fact, March 15th wouldn't be a Thursday until 2029.) On the other hand, background signage in the series is often a law unto itself.

Real-world references

• The shot of Jan's rescue pod launching from the ship is a reference to the launch of R2-D2 and C-3PO's escape pod in the beginning of A New Hope.

Trivia

...Victory babies, they'll do the same for yoo-ooou!

• This episode does not feature either of the two stock Victory title cards (one featuring Star Saber, the other Deathsaurus), opting for just white text on a black screen.
• Not counting the preview in the last episode, this is the first appearance of the Brainmasters' Road Caesar combined form.
• This episode features the first appearances of most of the scarcely-seen individual robot modes of the Multiforce, although aside from Wing, they only appear in still flashback images. Waver and Mach are the only two who don't appear in robot mode here, but they will be seen in later episodes; conversely, these scenes are the only appearances of robot-mode Dash and Tacker in the series.
• The final commercial bumper in this episode, featuring Road Caesar, does not appear at any other time during the series.
• Jan's new school is named "Schwimmbam School" according to the sign over the gate. The later episode "Jan - Defend the Campus!!" amends this to Schwimmbad School which is likely to be more accurate as Schwimmbad is an actual German word, meaning "swimming pool". The fact that Kakuryu attempts to talk his way out of the Dinoforce's mission by claiming he can't swim may well be an injoke.
• During the classroom scene with Jan, the (presumably) current date is written on the blackboard as Thursday, March 15. In the series' stated year of 2025, March 15 is a Saturday. The closest year in which the date would fall on a Thursday is 2029.

Foreign localization

English

• Title: "Leozack Attacks" (Omni Productions dub)
• Original airdate: May 19, 1991

• During the attack on Jan's parent's spacecraft, Kakuryu says he can smell energy.
• Leozack telling Deathsaurus to look forward to Leozack eliminating Star Saber is missing altogether.
• Jan's list of attributes which the Brainmasters possess becomes "Courage! Wisdom! Skill!"—since the second attribute was originally "Strength!", it's accompanied by an image of Blacker holding a spacecraft over his head. Not really a demonstration of wisdom!
• Rather than directly addressing Headmistress Mayville, Star Saber tells Holi to go tell her to get everyone to safety. Of course, the animation still has Holi running away from the school with Star Saber.
• Laster refers to the Dinoforce as "clowns" rather than "small fish".

Home video releases

DVD

2003 — Transformers: Victory — DVD Box 01 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
2006 — The Takara Collection Vol 3 — Transformers: Victory (Metrodome)
2007 — Transformers — The Complete Takara Collection (Metrodome)
2008 — The Transformers: Victory (Madman Entertainment) — Optional Omni dub.
2009 — The Transformers: Japan Generation 1 — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) — Optional Omni dub.
2012 — Transformers: The Japanese Collection (Shout! Factory)
2012 — Transformers Japanese Collection: Victory (Shout! Factory)