Transformers Victory is the final Japanese exclusive fully animated series from the 1980s, featuring a cast of almost entirely new characters who were mostly new toys available only in Japan. This means that a lot of characters, like Star Saber and the Brestforce, will not be recognised by the majority of older fans although some of the toys were released overseas albeit with different names.The story for Victory involves the new Decepticon leader, Deszaras, coming to Earth with a new squad of Decepticons to plunder it's energy reserves in order to release his fortress which was sealed away in a dark nebula. Star Saber, the new Autobot leader who was the one that sealed off the fortress also heads to Earth with a team of his own to combat them. As the series progresses the Decepticons get more and more and more devious to steal energy, whilst new characters appear, including the re-appearance of some old favourites and Victory ends with two great action-packed episodes.
However, the series was released in 1989, at a time where the Transformers' popularity was dying out even in Japan. It's pretty clear that Victory's budget was not as high as either Headmasters or Masterforce, and whilst the animation is still of a high standard, any footage the animators could re-use in more than one episode, they would, and this probably explains why the lengthy transformation sequences for the likes of Star Saber are seen often. That said, it's safe to say that the animation on offer here still easily beats any episode from the US seasons.
The storyline for the series is also handled a bit differently, with the story being a bit less serious in the early episodes. It really does improve later on though, particularly when God Ginrai is hurt and the Autobots are put into the danger of being wiped out completely, and of course, when the Decepticons finally release the fortress, Victory finishes with a brilliant final pair of episodes which have plenty of great final fights between certain characters. 