Felt the need to share this

[The Baron of chaos]

http://io9.com/everything-you-need-to-k ... 1222929763

Just that.

[DhAkael]

It’s a legal nightmare!!!!!!!!

There is one undeniable problem Robotech has caused, and that’s that it has turned the Macross portion of the series into a legal cluster F-Bomb. Harmony Gold originally licensed the Macross anime from Studio Tatsunoko, which had helped produce it. However, Studio Nue actually created the show, and won the rights to Macross years later. This has left Harmony Gold with the Robotech license, which includes its story and the characters, but not the character designs, the Veritechs, or the look of anything that appeared in the original show. This is why when creating the sequel movie Shadow Chronicles, the names of the characters stayed the same, but the characters no longer looked like their original versions, and all the mecha were different. This also means Nue and Harmony Gold often sue each other whenever one tries to bring out Robotech or Macross merchandise for various rights infringements.

So I wouldn’t hold your breath for a live-action movie.

Since Hollywood turns things like G.I. Joe and Transformers into big-budget movies based a great deal on nostalgia, the idea of making a Robotech movie that looks absolutely nothing like what people remember and liked isn’t that appealing. While you’d think Tobey Maquire and his production company — who have licensed Robotech for a potential live-action movie — could solve this with a massive check to Studio Nue, the Japanese remain so bitter about the whole mess that they probably wouldn’t grant these rights unless Harmony Gold was completely cut out of the deal — but Harmony Gold has the rights to the name Robotech. Could it be solved? Sure, but not easily and not quickly, and there are plenty of other old cartoons and TV shows to turn into movies that would be far less aggravating, no matter what Tobey Maguire says.

There you have it folks... the cold hard truth of the matter is because of the legal F.U.B.A.R. HG did decades ago, our beloved Robotech is gonna become "Bayformers Style" mecha with Miley Cyrus as Lisa Hayes "IF" it ever gets made at all...
and anything Macross, has to be brought over via cruddy quality DVDR's grey-marketed from Malaysia to North Am, cuz you are NEVER going to get any legal copies... EVER (until HG dies on the vine).

It sucks but *shrug*

[taalismn]

NEVER mention 'Miley Cyrus' and 'Lisa Hayes' in the same sentence ever again.
Just don't.
Spontaneous projectile vomiting is frowned upon in a reference librarian's performance reviews. Even if it's accompanied by 180-degree head-spinning and pea soup ejecti.

[Seto Kaiba]

http://io9.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-robotech-1222929763

Just that.

What a terrible shame that it's so enthusiastic and yet so horribly inaccurate.

The anime distribution industry in America existed long before Robotech came along, and didn't really take off here in America until years after Robotech was gone and forgotten. There's no real factual basis for claiming Robotech was responsible for the 90's anime boom, especially considering opinions of the franchise back in the early 90's seem to be fairly negative in the hobby press. Things didn't really get moving outside of direct-to-video until long-running shows that could meet the syndication requirements without editing, like Dragonball and Sailor Moon, were test-aired in the US. What really made anime take off as a profit center was the adoption of anime on cable television in the mid-1990s by Cartoon Network. Robotech was a part of that boom on Toonami, but unlike the more contemporary shows that had been (mostly) accurately dubbed, the show didn't bring in the viewers and was dropped at Ep60.

There you have it folks... the cold hard truth of the matter is because of the legal F.U.B.A.R. HG did decades ago, our beloved Robotech is gonna become "Bayformers Style" mecha with Miley Cyrus as Lisa Hayes "IF" it ever gets made at all...
and anything Macross, has to be brought over via cruddy quality DVDR's grey-marketed from Malaysia to North Am, cuz you are NEVER going to get any legal copies... EVER (until HG dies on the vine).

It sucks but *shrug*

Eh... the author of that particular piece didn't exactly do his research there either. His conclusion is basically correct, but his understanding of the reasons for it is pretty wide of the mark.

Yes, Harmony Gold DID obtain their license for the distribution and merchandising rights to the original Macross series from Tatsunoko Productions, who animated but did not create the show. Studio Nue created the show, but they ALWAYS owned the intellectual property, concepts, name, and so on... it wasn't something they won in court later. That big damn legal tiff in 1999-2003 was a series of copyright confirmation cases, where the three parties involved (Big West and Studio Nue jointly, and Tatsunoko Pro. on the other side) asked the court to impartially review the contracts and verify who was owner of what, after some unfortunate misinformed claims Harmony Gold made. The courts confirmed that the companies involved owned exactly what they thought they owned, meaning nothing changed. This effectively left Harmony Gold (via Tatsunoko) with the script and the physical animation, but no ability to use the contents in new works of their own. Thus far, there have been no lawsuits exchanged between Harmony Gold and Studio Nue/Big West, though Harmony Gold seems like they're afraid one might be in the offing, and are doing everything they can to avoid doing anything contentious. The alleged bitterness on the Japanese side isn't really present though... they just don't want to do any business with Harmony Gold, since when Harmony Gold approached them after the legal mess was straightened out in the early 2000s, the terms Harmony Gold asked for were extremely unreasonable.

The conclusion is essentially correct, though... unable to use the original designs or make derivatives thereof, which is why Harmony Gold is stuck reinventing everything and avoiding anything too obviously Macross-derived in new works. For Robotech, this has been a problem they've been aware of from day one, and something that's greatly influenced their creative direction according to Carl Macek's interview at Robocon 10 in 1995.

As a result, Macross sequels are basically confined to direct import and grey market fansubs under the Robotech franchise finally implodes, while Robotech is basically hosed, unable to further exploit its most popular chapter.

For its influence on the LAM, it means that if the movie is ever made, they're going to have to redesign EVERYTHING so it bears no resemblance to what's in the animation... an even more jarring disconnect than "Bayformers" style. The movie's probably already dead though... every news piece connected with it has been indicative of a doom spiral that'll end either in cancellation or a low-budget direct-to-video release.

[Alrik Vas]

I think if the license holders and creators are willing to sell, the movie producers are willing to pay the price and if they can all agree on who does what for how many cookies, it'll get made.

Of course, the chances of all that happening are slim to none, considering IMDB originally listed a live action Robotech movie as dropping by 2010.

[Sgt Anjay]

Always multiple sides to any story, always agendas and intentions, always opinions and interpretations to filter through.

[Arnie100]

I think Big West and Studio Nue have Harmony Gold by the balls on this one.

[ArmySGT.]

Miley Cyrus as Lisa Hayes

LOL

[Colonel Wolfe]

nice article, slightly Slanted and very biased, but not badly written, good grammar, ect.
I'd love to see Miley Cyrus as Lisa, finally that old sour-puss might be worth looking at, she was ugly beyond belief in Macross... I know Rick had a thing for cougars... but Minmay was the girl for him, and she was amazingly cute, even if she did break a few incest laws w/ Kyle..

[Kagashi]

NEVER mention 'Miley Cyrus' and 'Lisa Hayes' in the same sentence ever again.
Just don't.
Spontaneous projectile vomiting is frowned upon in a reference librarian's performance reviews. Even if it's accompanied by 180-degree head-spinning and pea soup ejecti.

IDK, I now have the image of Lisa twerking with Gloval. It could happen.

[Sgt Anjay]

I'm more fond of the green-haired alien space-babes anyway

[Snake Eyes]

NEVER mention 'Miley Cyrus' and 'Lisa Hayes' in the same sentence ever again.
Just don't.
Spontaneous projectile vomiting is frowned upon in a reference librarian's performance reviews. Even if it's accompanied by 180-degree head-spinning and pea soup ejecti.

I agree.......not cool at all

[Seto Kaiba]

I think Big West and Studio Nue have Harmony Gold by the balls on this one.

That's putting it mildly...

[taalismn]

I'd love to see Miley Cyrus as Lisa, finally that old sour-puss might be worth looking at, she was ugly beyond belief in Macross... I know Rick had a thing for cougars... but Minmay was the girl for him, and she was amazingly cute, even if she did break a few incest laws w/ Kyle..

Colonel, what are you currently smoking and why have you not offered to share?

[Arnie100]

I bet it's protoculture-laced...

[Colonel Wolfe]

Truthfully, Lisa is the ugliest girl in Robotech, hands down. even Azonia at 50+ ft tall is way better looking.
now here we have Rook and... Mint? looking cute modeling some Mars Division issued Bikinis? well.. Rook is cute... Mint is disturbing...
Dana, Marie and Nova are 3 more girls I'd love to see doing some Bikini modeling...
Lisa is just too old... she waited until she was nearly 60 to try start having kids...

[Alrik Vas]

I don't know if you noticed this or not...but they make Lisa much better looking as the series progresses. It's a relatively normal thing to do. As soon as the main character starts to show some kind of interest, suddenly they look a lot better. One of those things were emotion changes reality for you and it's demonstrated through the animation. It's especially true for the last third of the Macross series. Really. Look at stills of Lisa from Booby Trap and from To the Stars side by side.

[Colonel Wolfe]

I don't know if you noticed this or not...but they make Lisa much better looking as the series progresses. It's a relatively normal thing to do. As soon as the main character starts to show some kind of interest, suddenly they look a lot better. One of those things were emotion changes reality for you and it's demonstrated through the animation. It's especially true for the last third of the Macross series. Really. Look at stills of Lisa from Booby Trap and from To the Stars side by side.

at the same time, there were some poorly animated episodes in the last 1/3rd of the series too, and Lisa had extra arms in one of them... clearly a side effect of the grand-cannon's radiation mutating her... both her and Rick were exposed to comparable Rads at ground zero of Chernobyl.
Ever wonder why she waited 30+ years to get Prego? all the Genetic treatments her and Rick needed to have a viable child... look how much it changed their appearances...
now Minmay, she would been a baby factory from day 1.... making as many kids as the Fact-sat makes battlepods...

[taalismn]

Truthfully, Lisa is the ugliest girl in Robotech, hands down. even Azonia at 50+ ft tall is way better looking.
now here we have Rook and... Mint? looking cute modeling some Mars Division issued Bikinis? well.. Rook is cute... Mint is disturbing...
Dana, Marie and Nova are 3 more girls I'd love to see doing some Bikini modeling...
Lisa is just too old... she waited until she was nearly 60 to try start having kids...

It's disturbing that Mars Division had bikinis in Mint's size....and even that's small on what appears to be more mature Mint body.
That, and bobble-head scale Mint is TERRIFYING.

[jaymz]

All I can say is that article had to have been written by someone blind to the realities of Robotech and a pure fanboy of Robotech in the extreme. At least in my opinion.

I was into anime well prior to Robotech (though as a child not realizing it was anime) thanks to Starblazers (Space battleship Yamato), Force Five (Starvengers/Getter Robo G, Dangaurd Ace, Gaiking, Grandizer and Spaceketeers) and Captain Harlock. At the time of Robotech I was much more into Voltron (both versions), Thundercats, GI Joe and Transformers and then once the early 90's hit I got into more serious anime like Akira, Ghost in the Shell and Bubblegum Crisis. All Robotech did was get me to want to track down more Macross to watch (DYRL, II and Plus) and even that wasn't until I was reintroduced to Robotech in the early 90's since I never did really watch it when it first aired.

[Colonel Wolfe]

Tjats the normal opinion of most older Anime fans who were in their teens in the 80's thou. That Robotech really got Anime in peoples Faces. in a way that other more limited series didn't.
Compare the nature of Robotech to Anime that came before..
Speed Racer was garbage...

[jaymz]

Yet Yamato and Harlock are still revered as classics. Oh and I forgot Battle of Planets (Science Ninja Team Gatchaman) while not very good in it's initial incarnation (and even worse in it's second just plainly called G-Force), it was still a monster of the week show that had some excitement to it for the time.

I am yet to meet anyone that is anime fan in my age group (and I have met quite a few at both Anime North now and my local gaming con where I live) and honestly none have referred to Robotech as being an influence. They tend to mention the same shows I do.

Edit - Gatchaman was actually a really good show in Japan itself but the translation and changes made are what made it less than it had been....just like GoLion to Voltron in some ways.

[SRoss]

Truthfully, Lisa is the ugliest girl in Robotech, hands down. even Azonia at 50+ ft tall is way better looking.
now here we have Rook and... Mint? looking cute modeling some Mars Division issued Bikinis? well.. Rook is cute... Mint is disturbing...
Dana, Marie and Nova are 3 more girls I'd love to see doing some Bikini modeling...
Lisa is just too old... she waited until she was nearly 60 to try start having kids...

It's disturbing that Mars Division had bikinis in Mint's size....and even that's small on what appears to be more mature Mint body.
That, and bobble-head scale Mint is TERRIFYING.

THIS might explain it.

[Seto Kaiba]

Truthfully, Lisa is the ugliest girl in Robotech, hands down. even Azonia at 50+ ft tall is way better looking.
now here we have Rook and... Mint? looking cute modeling some Mars Division issued Bikinis? well.. Rook is cute... Mint is disturbing...
Dana, Marie and Nova are 3 more girls I'd love to see doing some Bikini modeling...
Lisa is just too old... she waited until she was nearly 60 to try start having kids...

It's disturbing that Mars Division had bikinis in Mint's size....and even that's small on what appears to be more mature Mint body.
That, and bobble-head scale Mint is TERRIFYING.

Eh... let's remember that art isn't official art for the characters. It was new art commissioned for MOSPEADA: Complete Art Works, a commemorative art book for the show's anniversary, as the title page for the sections about the main characters. You'd almost suspect Flesh and Steel was sharing notes with Tommy.

Now, there IS some official fan-service-y art of Southern Cross's leading ladies Jeanne Francaix (Dana), Lana Istvana (Nova), and Marie Angel... but that toes the line between just plain strange and downright creepy. It's in This is Animation 10: Southern Cross. They kind of went the other way from what Flesh and Steel did with Mint... the girls are, as often as not, creepily drawn in chibi/loli fashion and partly nude, though there is some non-creepy and reasonably well-drawn stuff like the trio drawn as Indy car drivers or American superheroines (I'm not well versed in comic books, but Jeanne makes a reasonable Supergirl, and Lana makes a decent Wonder Woman, IMO). I'll see about posting a scan tomorrow.

[mech798]

I think robotechs impact is rather overstated. it did get some of us into anime, its true, but it also coincided with 1. the widespread adoption of VHS machines, and 2. the growing animation rennisance in the 1980s. The 1970's were a period where you had people arguing that only a fool would go into anything but advertising animation and there was serious consideration given to shutting down the Disney Animation studios.

Now, did robotech have an effect? Certainly, but it wasn't the only thing working and it coincided with a lot of other events tha tmde the US more anime freindly-- not the least of which was the fact that robotech proved how cheaply you could make someting if you weren't doing the animation for it.

But the problem is, look at robotech-- and now try and find any other tinghtly plotted series like it in the rest of the 1980s. You get a more towards more story arc stuff, but you can't actually pin that on robotech.

If you look at 1980s cartoon shows, in fact:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:1 ... ion_series

you find very few that adopt that model. You do find better story telling, but again, that's an artifact in Changes in America, not primarily due to robotech.

But the real explosion of anime comes out for two factors, IMHO, 1. again, the increasing availability of tapes, and later laserdisc and dvd, and 2. The growth of cable TV and an ability to show stuff you couldn't show on broadcast.

The big thing is that HG wants people to believe that robotech is STar Wars-- it isn't. Star Wars defined a genre and that's something that robotech didn't do. It was a moderately successful property that has a lot of people from the 1980s with semi nice memories of it-- but most peole from the 1990s and beyond really don't know, or care about it. Even HG knows it, becuase if they really thought they had a high level property they'd hopefully be doing a lot more with it.

[Sgt Anjay]

Robotech was out at the right time and place to be part of a shift. It didn't do anything single handed, clearly. But it was part of an era that created a market that was not even negligible before. Astro Boy didn't create a new niche market, nor did Kimba nor Gigantor nor Speed Racer. Star Blazers was a precursor or vanguard, what might be called the start of a paradigm shift ("Only X days until the destruction of Earth!" Heady stuff!). But Robotech did show up at a time where people could/would sit up and take notice, and showed the anime-style storytelling and themes that were so different from American animation of the time right in people's living rooms; it did it at a time when Japan had quite different connotations to the American public than it did to previous generations, as it had become in the American mind the land of new technology; and via the rise of video-tape it was a time companies could suddenly deliver on that newly created demand for that product.

And though the American toy-geared shows backed by major corporations swiftly took market dominance, a couple years after Voltron, Robotech, ect. companies for the sole purpose of releasing japanese animation began to crop up...that's no coincidence. And of course, its also no coincidence one of those companies was Carl Macek's, who I believe was the first guy to bring Akira over to boot, among others.

Its very easy to oversell what Robotech did...and just as easy to undersell.

[Sgt Anjay]

Oh, hey, did someone say TIA#10? Being fond of the subject matter, allow me.

Here's the pic of the trio as race car drivers and super-heroines. For the record, that's Jeanne as Supergirl, Lana as Wonder Woman, and Marie as Ms. Marvel; interesting in that they're drawn american-style, and both Super-Jeanne and Ms. Marie there are in fairly iconic poses for the characters they're cosplaying as.

As for the full-on fanservice, there's Jeanne and Lana perhaps in an adventure to a strange, mystical world, perhaps long ago, perhaps far in the future...either way, I wouldn't mind checking it out.

And of course there's sillier stuff in there like the trio as schoolgirls.

Plus the aforementioned chibi-fied stuff of Jeanne, Lana, and Marie.

[taalismn]

Truthfully, Lisa is the ugliest girl in Robotech, hands down. even Azonia at 50+ ft tall is way better looking.
now here we have Rook and... Mint? looking cute modeling some Mars Division issued Bikinis? well.. Rook is cute... Mint is disturbing...
Dana, Marie and Nova are 3 more girls I'd love to see doing some Bikini modeling...
Lisa is just too old... she waited until she was nearly 60 to try start having kids...

It's disturbing that Mars Division had bikinis in Mint's size....and even that's small on what appears to be more mature Mint body.
That, and bobble-head scale Mint is TERRIFYING.

Eh... let's remember that art isn't official art for the characters. It was new art commissioned for MOSPEADA: Complete Art Works, a commemorative art book for the show's anniversary, as the title page for the sections about the main characters. You'd almost suspect Flesh and Steel was sharing notes with Tommy. .

It's still disturbing, Seto....the idea had to be conceived and processed through somebody's brain before inflicting it on others.
"We put her in a really tiny bikini and on top of it we put GIANORMOUS HEAD! Yah, the fans will dig that!"

[Alpha 11]

Oh, hey, did someone say TIA#10? Being fond of the subject matter, allow me.

Here's the pic of the trio as race car drivers and super-heroines. For the record, that's Jeanne as Supergirl, Lana as Wonder Woman, and Marie as Ms. Marvel; interesting in that they're drawn american-style, and both Super-Jeanne and Ms. Marie there are in fairly iconic poses for the characters they're cosplaying as.

As for the full-on fanservice, there's Jeanne and Lana perhaps in an adventure to a strange, mystical world, perhaps long ago, perhaps far in the future...either way, I wouldn't mind checking it out.

And of course there's sillier stuff in there like the trio as schoolgirls.

Plus the aforementioned chibi-fied stuff of Jeanne, Lana, and Marie.

Interesting.

[Seto Kaiba]

Now, did robotech have an effect? Certainly, but it wasn't the only thing working and it coincided with a lot of other events tha tmde the US more anime freindly-- not the least of which was the fact that robotech proved how cheaply you could make someting if you weren't doing the animation for it.

Eh... I suppose Robotech did prove one or two things to the industry at the time. Ultimately, the important thing that Robotech proved to the American anime distribution industry was that rewriting anime wasn't the way to go anymore. It's a fair bit more expensive and time-consuming than a straight dub, and the audience for anime at the time was finally starting to demand the same viewing experience that the original Japanese viewers were getting instead of a watered down version.

The big thing is that HG wants people to believe that robotech is STar Wars-- it isn't. Star Wars defined a genre and that's something that robotech didn't do. [...]

It's really upsetting the way they're doing that, since they were much more honest about Robotech back in the 80's and 90's, before they tried to salvage the series by reinventing it. I don't know what it says about their attitude towards their customers when their response to people noting the disparity between "We totally made it up on the fly" and "We had a grand creative vision" with the same strategy Oz used when Dorothy and company noticed the curtain...

It's still disturbing, Seto....the idea had to be conceived and processed through somebody's brain before inflicting it on others.
"We put her in a really tiny bikini and on top of it we put GIANORMOUS HEAD! Yah, the fans will dig that!"

Believe me, that's pretty tame on the sliding scale of disturbing. It could be worse, like the completely unrelated-to-the-show comic in This is Animation 10: Southern Cross, which features lolis, drunken salarymen, a girl wetting herself, baseball, tadpoles, pro wrestling, samurai, super robots, and Robocop. That that isn't even the weirdest or most nonsensically out-of-place thing in the book says something about the authors... but I have no idea what. Even then, I could easily point you to far weirder and more unsettling things in official art books. I'd have to say Shinkon Gattai Godannar probably takes top prize there.

I'll admit it bothers me slightly, but mostly because the art style is jarringly different... they tried to keep Mint's and Houquet's facial features the same as their 80's appearances, but give them bodies more in keeping with an anime pin-up from the 2000s. The end result is Houquet looking like an unused design from RTSC and Mint looking a LOT out-of-proportion.

[mech798]

Also note that at the time, there was a fairly popular series called "Cream lemon" in Japan. Don't google, it's VERY NSFW* because it was porn and that drawing style of very underaged people was popular. There's a lot of cross pollination between the general and adult ends of Japanese Animation (a number of well known artists have worked on some very ah, explicit dojinshi, for example), and that sometimes showed through in the semi-official drawins.

* I'm not kidding. I'd go so far to say that some of it probably tripped the legal definition of obscenity, at least in the US.

[slade the sniper]

NEVER mention 'Miley Cyrus' and 'Lisa Hayes' in the same sentence ever again.
Just don't.

Agreed!

-STS

[jaymz]

I still say for Robotech to get any REAL acceptance and possible resurgence in REAL success, they need to start from scratch.

Keep the story more or less as is but reanimate it from beginning to end.

I know it won't happen though since HG couldn't care less about putting decent money into Robotech to make an honest go of it

[devillin]

Also note that at the time, there was a fairly popular series called "Cream lemon" in Japan. Don't google, it's VERY NSFW* because it was porn and that drawing style of very underaged people was popular. There's a lot of cross pollination between the general and adult ends of Japanese Animation (a number of well known artists have worked on some very ah, explicit dojinshi, for example), and that sometimes showed through in the semi-official drawins.

* I'm not kidding. I'd go so far to say that some of it probably tripped the legal definition of obscenity, at least in the US.

Ah, Cream Lemon, the only series that almost got my animation club in college shut down when we showed it during one of our 24 hour marathons at 3:00am on a Saturday night, and our on-campus State Trooper stopped by because he was bored.

[devillin]

Yet Yamato and Harlock are still revered as classics. Oh and I forgot Battle of Planets (Science Ninja Team Gatchaman) while not very good in it's initial incarnation (and even worse in it's second just plainly called G-Force), it was still a monster of the week show that had some excitement to it for the time.

I am yet to meet anyone that is anime fan in my age group (and I have met quite a few at both Anime North now and my local gaming con where I live) and honestly none have referred to Robotech as being an influence. They tend to mention the same shows I do.

That's probably the major issue then. That and location. For your age group, Yamato and Harlock were the top shows. I have friends who are only 3 to 5 years older than me who remember those shows fondly, yet I have no idea what they are talking about. From my own experiences, if you were 10-13 when Robotech came out, it was a major influence as to how you remember it. For us, when we went to video stores or the yearly sci-fi convention, new shows and tapes were advertised as "From the Makers of Robotech." I ended up seeing Revenge of the Ninja [Dagger of Kamui], Bubblegum Crisis, Megazone 23, and Evil Dragon War Chronicles behind that type of recommendation. Many of my friends from high school and early college were much the same way. The disdain for Robotech as a major anime influence only seems to come from those who were older than 13 when it first came out, or were much younger when it finally went off the air sometime around 1990.

[Kryptt]

I didn't even know robotech was on in the 90's. I was in third or fourth grade when I first saw it on tv in the mid 80's. Years later in the early 90's I remember wishing robotech (at least the macross portion) was still around. That was until I learned about its origin. Once I saw that the macross story lines were continuing I pretty much gave up on RT long ago till the RRT ks. When SC came out it didn't help the franchise. Of coarse since RT is here to stay till we die or grow to old we might as well take robot models from other game lines and Carl Macek them into games of RRT. That's what I'm going to do. I wish bandai eventually comes out with vajra figures that can be used for RRT or phase world type of scenarios.

[Seto Kaiba]

I didn't even know robotech was on in the 90's. I was in third or fourth grade when I first saw it on tv in the mid 80's. Years later in the early 90's I remember wishing robotech (at least the macross portion) was still around.

Eh... by 1990, Robotech was largely gone and forgotten in the United States. It kept itself going for a few years with home video releases, and in 1993 it was briefly picked up by the Sci-Fi Channel. From publications of the previous year, it's apparent that public opinion had already started to turn against rewritten anime in a big way. A couple years later, in 1998, Toonami briefly licensed Robotech as part of its initial flirtation with anime, only to cancel the series at episode 60 due (reportedly) to poor ratings performance vs. other Toonami licensed anime at the time (Dragonball Z being chief among them).

Of coarse since RT is here to stay till we die or grow to old we might as well take robot models from other game lines and Carl Macek them into games of RRT. That's what I'm going to do. I wish bandai eventually comes out with vajra figures that can be used for RRT or phase world type of scenarios.

's one the things that tends to give the Robotech fanbase a bad reputation among anime fans... the habit of trying to extend Robotech by "Maceking" whatever mecha show is popular at the time into the universe doesn't go over well for most in an age where rewriting an anime series is considered base treachery.

[ZINO]

NEVER mention 'Miley Cyrus' and 'Lisa Hayes' in the same sentence ever again.
Just don't.
Spontaneous projectile vomiting is frowned upon in a reference librarian's performance reviews. Even if it's accompanied by 180-degree head-spinning and pea soup ejecti.

[Kryptt]

I didn't even know robotech was on in the 90's. I was in third or fourth grade when I first saw it on tv in the mid 80's. Years later in the early 90's I remember wishing robotech (at least the macross portion) was still around.

Eh... by 1990, Robotech was largely gone and forgotten in the United States. It kept itself going for a few years with home video releases, and in 1993 it was briefly picked up by the Sci-Fi Channel. From publications of the previous year, it's apparent that public opinion had already started to turn against rewritten anime in a big way. A couple years later, in 1998, Toonami briefly licensed Robotech as part of its initial flirtation with anime, only to cancel the series at episode 60 due (reportedly) to poor ratings performance vs. other Toonami licensed anime at the time (Dragonball Z being chief among them).

Of coarse since RT is here to stay till we die or grow to old we might as well take robot models from other game lines and Carl Macek them into games of RRT. That's what I'm going to do. I wish bandai eventually comes out with vajra figures that can be used for RRT or phase world type of scenarios.

's one the things that tends to give the Robotech fanbase a bad reputation among anime fans... the habit of trying to extend Robotech by "Maceking" whatever mecha show is popular at the time into the universe doesn't go over well for most in an age where rewriting an anime series is considered base treachery.

I meant Maceking for game purposes only not for the show. When I learned the truth about robo and the rewrite shenanigans it turned me off from the ip. As a kid I remember thinking that's silly. Glad the west doesn't do that any more. I still remember the disaster fox kids had with escaflowne. I love the soundtrack but fox kids left me not wanting to explore the series. Someday I'll have to rectify that.

When it was running in the 90's I didn't have cable till around 0"3 or 04".lol If I did I would have checked it out for the macross and invid portion. It still sucks that M fans have to deal with ok subs to see the rest of the original M storyline. Thanks a lot HG you guys are great.

[Seto Kaiba]

I meant Maceking for game purposes only not for the show. [...]

So did I, actually... that's what like 90% or more of all Robotech fansites (mostly Geocities and AngelFire ones at that) were all about back in the day. Sometimes it fit, but most of the time it just left the reader scratching his or her head with faintly amused bewilderment or a sense of vague irritation. Caused a LOT of confusion, especially WRT Macross being entirely separate from, and unrelated to, Robotech when the fanbase went online in earnest in the 90's and early 00's. I saved a couple of 'em before Geocities went offline, just for the lulz.

When I learned the truth about robo and the rewrite shenanigans it turned me off from the ip. As a kid I remember thinking that's silly. Glad the west doesn't do that any more.

Oh, it's still done to a certain extent... e.g. Naruto, One Piece, and so on... but the perpetrators (4Kids) are not well-regarded. It's an unfortunate thing for Robotech that Carl Macek's name has long been synonymous with rewrite practices in their most unpleasant form. Because of that, Robotech tends to get more flak than it deserves.

I still remember the disaster fox kids had with escaflowne. I love the soundtrack but fox kids left me not wanting to explore the series. Someday I'll have to rectify that.

As someone who actually owns a copy on DVD... the best I can say is it's not for everyone. That show and Macross 7 are twins separated at birth, oddly enough... they used to be one project called Air Cavalry Chronicles. The dub which my local Fox affiliate ran (Fox 38, which IIRC was actually in Canada) wasn't actually that unfaithful. The dialogue of that show is just REALLY awkward for a guy to watch, since it is essentially a mecha series for girls.

When it was running in the 90's I didn't have cable till around 0"3 or 04".lol If I did I would have checked it out for the macross and invid portion. It still sucks that M fans have to deal with ok subs to see the rest of the original M storyline. Thanks a lot HG you guys are great.

I didn't have cable 'till around then either, though I'm a spring chicken compared to most Robotech fans. It was long gone from broadcast when I was introduced to it, courtesy of home videos loaned to me by a friend.

Eh... Macross fans in the west blessed with a very active fanbase that excels in producing grey market translations, so it ain't a huge obstacle. It has some peripheral benefits for Robotech as well, since most of the official RT material is liberally copy-pasted from fan-translated Macross, Southern Cross, and MOSPEADA materials.

[Kryptt]

I'm halfway thru M7 and loving it. Wait! Escaflowne is from kawamorri? If so then I really need to check it out. I know Yokko Kano did the soundtrack and that was why I bought it back in 98" I think. I liked what she did for M+ so I had a feeling I would like it. Having been raised with classical music most of my life I loved it. Aquarion was interesting. My son said it reminds him of MF.

I just want an excuse for getting robot figures from japan and have them duke it out on my table with my RRT figs. The Japanese do it with a game series that has macross valks fight robots from other anime shows. It's called "another centuries episode" or something like that. Don't quote me on that tho.

[Seto Kaiba]

I'm halfway thru M7 and loving it. [...]

Now there's an opinion most folks on here won't share...

Wait! Escaflowne is from kawamorri? If so then I really need to check it out. [...]

Aye, it's something Kawamori dreamed up after a trip to Nepal... the project was originally called Air Cavalry Chronicles and was more SF than fantasy. Arguably, it could be called a further development of Kawamori's "Advanced Valkyrie" design series from '85. The project split in two in mid-development, with the story going its own way and transitioning over into a fantasy setting to become The Vision of Escaflowne, and the mechanical designs being developed further into various Macross designs including the VF-9, VA-3, and the Varauta Army's various fighters from Macross 7.

I just want an excuse for getting robot figures from japan and have them duke it out on my table with my RRT figs. The Japanese do it with a game series that has macross valks fight robots from other anime shows. It's called "another centuries episode" or something like that. Don't quote me on that tho.

Ah, you mean the Super Robot Wars games and their sorta-spinoff Another Century's Episode. Those games are... interesting. I've played a few. It's very, VERY strange. If you want to get a feel for it, Namco Bandai put out a similar game called Project X Zone (read "Project Cross Zone") with the same sort of gameplay, though using only characters, not mecha.

[Kryptt]

Is the gameplay like the one for Macross30?

Fire Bomba!

[camk4evr]

the Another Century's Episode games are similar but the Super Robot Wars games are turn based strategy games.

[Seto Kaiba]

Is the gameplay like the one for Macross30?

Fire Bomba!

Nah, as cam4kevr said, the Another Century's Episode games are kinda like Macross 30 and the Macross Ace games, but the Super Robot Wars games are TRPGs like Macross: Eternal Love Song or Fire Emblem.

The stories of those games usually don't make a ton of sense though, and usually involve some kind of interdimensional rifts and/or pandimensional evil, and is mostly there to justify a lot of self-referential humor between characters from the various properties included. In my experience, any kind of crossover event like that tends to be rather heavy on fanservice-y stuff, and tends not to mix well.

[Kryptt]

Thanks guys I'll have to check them out when I get a chance.

[Kryptt]

Here's a more detailed explanation to OP link.
http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.p ... opic=36541

[Jerell]

I'm halfway thru M7 and loving it. [...]

Now there's an opinion most folks on here won't share...

For the record, I loved Macross 7.

I was born in '81, my friends and I growing up were into Robotech (and Macross). I think that did help us all get into anime at young age. After watching DYRL in the 80s, I was pretty much an anime fan after that. After that, I started getting into A-ko, Urusei Yatsura, BGC and the like. I didn't discover the awesomeness of Harlock until the 90s. Robotech and DYRL did effectively get me interested in 'Japanese Animation,' back in the day. Itano Circus, woot!

[Kryptt]

I'm halfway thru M7 and loving it. [...]

Now there's an opinion most folks on here won't share...

For the record, I loved Macross 7.

I was born in '81, my friends and I growing up were into Robotech (and Macross). I think that did help us all get into anime at young age. After watching DYRL in the 80s, I was pretty much an anime fan after that. After that, I started getting into A-ko, Urusei Yatsura, BGC and the like. I didn't discover the awesomeness of Harlock until the 90s. Robotech and DYRL did effectively get me interested in 'Japanese Animation,' back in the day. Itano Circus, woot!

Born in '78, and I remember masinger, g-force, and robotech. That was the series that really made me take notice of anime. I realized it was like my moms soaps but for kids. Years later I discovered ranma 1/2, fist of the North Star, gun buster, bubble gum crises, new dominian tank police, M2, M+, and record of the lodus war.

I still remember going to the swap meet and begging my mom to buy me the knock of mini valks and a mini voltron they sold for $2 each. By the end of the day the valk was broken mostly due to me transforming it over and over pretending to save Minmay from evil voltron.lol

[Seto Kaiba]

For the record, I loved Macross 7.

I was born in '81, my friends and I growing up were into Robotech (and Macross). I think that did help us all get into anime at young age. After watching DYRL in the 80s, I was pretty much an anime fan after that. After that, I started getting into A-ko, Urusei Yatsura, BGC and the like. I didn't discover the awesomeness of Harlock until the 90s. Robotech and DYRL did effectively get me interested in 'Japanese Animation,' back in the day. Itano Circus, woot!

Born in '78, and I remember masinger, g-force, and robotech. That was the series that really made me take notice of anime. I realized it was like my moms soaps but for kids. Years later I discovered ranma 1/2, fist of the North Star, gun buster, bubble gum crises, new dominian tank police, M2, M+, and record of the lodus war.

Heh, yep... I'm definitely the spring chicken of the lot. Robotech's older than I am by a few months, and was long gone from the airwaves by the time I was old enough to notice. My introduction to it came from a friend's VHS tapes, he'd taken an interest in it after he saw it during its abortive return to American TV on cable in the mid-90's, and thought the Macross Saga was the awesomest thing ever. If anyone's to blame for me getting interested in the Japanese original shows and the Macross sequels, it's probably Palladium and the Macross II RPG. That launched me on course to learn Japanese and start importing and translating art books and so on for my own enjoyment (and for correcting/homebrewing stats for my games).