Robotech Academy - You want a new Robotech series...?

[renegadeleader1]

This seems appropriate...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfE98T10hu0

Edited July 28, 2014 by renegadeleader1

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

In the US Manga and the OVA he is just ICED.

yeah it's so sad... i posted a while back hoping the changing of the names w/ jojo. would not happen in the new series to Marzan when he first pointed me to it on Crunchy Roll. (i had a fansub vhs with the real names and original ova on dvd)

Macross can be re-titled: Macro Super Ship City... MACRO S.S.C.

damn you hg for all this holding on...

[Mr March]

So many have said this kickstarter suffers from a lack of good production materials to tease, entice and inspire potential donators. Lack of transformable mecha is often rising to the top of the complaints. I don't necessarily disagree, but I'm curious; what type of transforming mecha would Robotech fans actually like? I mean, is there ANY design that would please the Robotech fans and appeal to modern audiences? I'm not being an ass here, I'm genuinely curious what fans believe that mecha would be. Are we talking a valkyrie? Are we talking Mospeada? Are we talking original? And what style would it be? The original stuff is all Japanese and all 25+ years old, so how exactly would that work?

As a mecha fan beyond just Macross, I've been into a vast array of Japanese mechanical design for decades. Beyond my own tastes, Japanese mecha as a whole has gone through several generations of trends and styles since Macross (which was itself a very innovative style shift for the time). Gundam, Five Star Stories, Patlabor, Evangelion, Escaflowne, Full Metal Panic, Ghost in the Shell, Gurren Lagann, Zone of The Enders, Super Robot Wars, Another Century's Episode, etc. But Robotech has no design lineage for the past 25 years. No progression. There's retro or there's start from scratch. Nothing in between.

So, where does one go?

Attempt to recapture the magic of Macross without the Macross?

If the design is too retro then it would be dated. How then would Robotech Academy attract modern viewers with such dated material? I suppose the answer is it wouldn't. What most modern viewers want is not dated 1985-era mecha designs.

Attempt to design all new mecha with a modern aesthetic?

Who does Harmony Gold have attached to Robotech Academy with qualifications even remotely approaching such a requirement? You can't design current fictional mecha if you don't even know anything about current fictional mecha design. Which I guess explains the mechanical designs Robotech Academy has released thus far.

If the post-SDF Macross mecha of the Macross franchise don't appeal to Robotech fans, then what can they realistically hope for in any Robotech sequel? I mean, how do you design a mecha for a consumer base with 30-year-old tastes and still attract young audiences? I'm genuinely curious to know what Robotech fans think a good, fitting transforming mecha design would look like for something like this Robotech Academy kickstarter project. What would that be?

Edited July 28, 2014 by Mr March

[skullmilitia]

I think we'd all be better off if all of this just stopped.

If Robotech just got left alone, it might rise up in the future

As a "it was good for its time".

Like MASK, and shows that never got reboots.

Honestly I've lost respect and love for the whole thing just from the politicing.

Macross people : just stay the way you are baby.

Robotech people: go watch Southern Cross and Mospeada and get an idea

Of what it was before, expand your horizons. Dig into what you love, find the real

Stories before being muddled with.

And the last thing? I'd watch M7 a million times before watching anything Robotech after

The Macross Saga ends. At least M7's front man doesn't dress like a chick! hA!

[Twoducks]

So many have said this kickstarter suffers from a lack of good production materials to tease, entice and inspire potential donators. Lack of transformable mecha is often rising to the top of the complaints. I don't necessarily disagree, but I'm curious; what type of transforming mecha would Robotech fans actually like? I mean, is there ANY design that would please the Robotech fans and appeal to modern audiences? I'm not being an ass here, I'm genuinely curious what fans believe that mecha would be. Are we talking a valkyrie? Are we talking Mospeada? Are we talking original? And what style would it be? The original stuff is all Japanese and all 25+ years old, so how exactly would that work?

As a mecha fan beyond just Macross, I've been into a vast array of Japanese mechanical design for decades. Beyond my own tastes, Japanese mecha as a whole has gone through several generations of trends and styles since Macross (which was itself a very innovative style shift for the time). Gundam, Five Star Stories, Patlabor, Evangelion, Escaflowne, Full Metal Panic, Ghost in the Shell, Gurren Lagann, Zone of The Enders, Super Robot Wars, Another Century's Episode, etc. But Robotech has no design lineage for the past 25 years. No progression. There's retro or there's start from scratch. Nothing in between.

So, where does one go?

Attempt to recapture the magic of Macross without the Macross?

If the design is too retro then it would be dated. How then would Robotech Academy attract modern viewers with such dated material? I suppose the answer is it wouldn't. What most modern viewers want is not dated 1985-era mecha designs.

Attempt to design all new mecha with a modern aesthetic?

Who does Harmony Gold have attached to Robotech Academy with qualifications even remotely approaching such a requirement? You can't design current fictional mecha if you don't even know anything about current fictional mecha design. Which I guess explains the mechanical designs Robotech Academy has released thus far.

If the post-SDF Macross mecha of the Macross franchise don't appeal to Robotech fans, then what can they realistically hope for in any Robotech sequel? I mean, how do you design a mecha for a consumer base with 30-year-old tastes and still attract young audiences? I'm genuinely curious to know what Robotech fans think a good, fitting transforming mecha design would look like for something like this Robotech Academy kickstarter project. What would that be?

I find the lack of mecha designs as the biggest symptom this was hugely halfassed. Only ten days left and they only show a single plane mode???

Like you say, it would not be easy to please fans but the mecha designs were an important foundation stone for this project. This was their opportunity to chuck out a whole bunch of hybrids of planes and mospeada traits or completely new ideas. That would have gotten fans involved. The Kickstarter system would have allowed them to experiment with different design aesthetics to see what people felt made sense by voting on a bunch of them. HG could have turned a weakness into a strength.

Instead they are too freaking scared to even show one single robot. Pretty much they set themselves up for fail by dilating showing the mecha designs. No way can that stand up to the expectations created.

[akt_m]

28000/day

Only getting worse and worse everyday.

[Negotiator]

Bw could just call it Makuross for international to watch a stream. It would sound exactly how they pronounce it.

[Duke Togo]

Bw could just call it Makuross for international to watch a stream. It would sound exactly how they pronounce it.

Makurosu is what you're looking for.

[EXO]

They probably trademark all those names by now after reading this thread.

[coronadlux]

At this point, I'm sure that HG will not put in much more effort. I will be surprised if they show more mecha the last few days of the campaign,

How about "macro" as in macro photography...

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

look at this b.s.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1381502542/robotech-academy/posts/930961

they post it today 7/28,

this has been on MW forever and they post the drone now as an update. can these guys get news and updates any faster? very hard to take them serious for asking for 500,000 yet they can't get their act together

[505thAirborne]

look at this b.s.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1381502542/robotech-academy/posts/930961

they post it today 7/28,

this has been on MW forever and they post the drone now as an update. can these guys get news and updates any faster? very hard to take them serious for asking for 500,000 yet they can't get their act together

Holy crap that looks horrible. "Drone Veritech".... that was painful to type.

[Einherjar]

True, but if anything I'm shocked to see how HG is universally hated. I looked at the different forums someone linked on this thread, the places where most of their news releases went, and people that have nothing to do with Macross are really turned off by them as a company. I mean, TFW probably has some crossover fans but I was looking at the comments on Kotaku, ANN forums and other general entertainment sites. The kindest things written were by people that haven't talked about Robotech since the 80's or 90's and those people weren't excited enough to go to the KS page, they were just willing to see if it eventually get funded and check it out if it gets released.

That tends to happen when the only significant things the company did before this Kickstarter in the eyes of the general public, besides re-releases, is threaten legal action against more prominent franchises within the last five years.

Edited July 29, 2014 by Einherjar

[Gerli]

Jajajajaja, they stole it from Transformers!!!!

Edited July 29, 2014 by Gerli

[coronadlux]

Someone (madsaguirre) at the robotech forum just got hit with the "BAN Hammer" (from Kevin) for "trolling" Hahaha.

[CrazyDude]

That Drone Veritech very strongly reminds me of Shinseki Evangelion.

[Duke Togo]

That Drone Veritech very strongly reminds me of Shinseki Evangelion.

Yeah, that was my feeling as well.

[skullmilitia]

I got banned from their FB page for saying it was "Original ....... ly Hasbro"

Haha

[Duke Togo]

I can't say I've ever seen what's going on internally within that fandom happen anyplace else. They're turning on one another, they see bogeymen everywhere, and the liaisons through which they can interact with their object of affection have an infamous reputation that is well earned.

I take back what I said last week: if people aren't fired over this I'll be flabbergasted. How the hell do you run a business like this?

Edit: someone post up a popcorn pic please.

Edited July 29, 2014 by Duke Togo

[505thAirborne]

I got banned from their FB page for saying it was "Original ....... ly Hasbro"

Haha

Just saw your post..... HG policy, if you disagree with us you get banned or sued!

Have some popcorn Duke!

Edited July 29, 2014 by 505thAirborne

[Duke Togo]

Thanks, 505

[azrael]

Jajajajaja, they stole it from Transformers!!!!

We're about 2 days ahead of you:

Um, yeah... Hasbro win be just fine with this.

Someone (madsaguirre) at the robotech forum just got hit with the "BAN Hammer" (from Kevin) for "trolling" Hahaha.

So what.

I got banned from their FB page for saying it was "Original ....... ly Hasbro"

Meh.

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

I think we'd all be better off if all of this just stopped.

If Robotech just got left alone, it might rise up in the future

As a "it was good for its time".

Like MASK, and shows that never got reboots.

Honestly I've lost respect and love for the whole thing just from the politicing.

Macross people : just stay the way you are baby.

Robotech people: go watch Southern Cross and Mospeada and get an idea

Of what it was before, expand your horizons. Dig into what you love, find the real

Stories before being muddled with.

And the last thing? I'd watch M7 a million times before watching anything Robotech after

The Macross Saga ends. At least M7's front man doesn't dress like a chick! hA!

I got banned from their FB page for saying it was "Original ....... ly Hasbro"

Haha

huh? i thought you said it's better to leave it alone?

[Einherjar]

Robotech people: go watch Southern Cross and Mospeada and get an idea

Of what it was before, expand your horizons. Dig into what you love, find the real

Stories before being muddled with.

Also, look at people who were able to accept it and move on since the franchise's future is very, very uncertain at this point.

http://ghostlightning.wordpress.com/2010/01/15/old-news-robotech-sucks-news-not-robotech-is-awesome-even-if-its-still-called-robotech/

And yes, that was an impulsive me in the comment section from a very long time ago.

[Duke Togo]

Yeah, this isn't our gig. Be a viewer, not a participant. It encourages others to do the same.

Edited July 29, 2014 by Duke Togo

[skullmilitia]

huh? i thought you said it's better to leave it alone?

My FB name has nothing to with MW or macross or anything.

I'm saying crap on FB as a annoyed Robotech fan. Not a Macross elitest

Douche like I an on here

[taksraven]

If the Academy will be done without reaching the goal, could it be that HG was gauging the serious interests of the fans? Like a test to see where they really stand?

I am sure that could be the case if it came up $5000-$10,000 short. But that is clearly not going to be the case.

[taksraven]

And as much as they would think it would hurt them, I think they really need to show a huge step of good will to get some people's trust back. Yup... I'm talking about handing back or relaxing the blockiade of Macross products. They really have to look like the heroes in this to stop people from badmouthing them in every site they are mentioned.

If they had done this at the start of the KS project it would have looked like an attempt to generate some good will and reconciliation. If they did it now, of course, it would look like pure desperation.

[Marzan]

Plus I don't think we can expect any kind of "handing back" of any Macross rights nor do I expect Big West/Studio Nue to deal with them at this point. The only way forward I can envsion is a sale of those copyrights to another actor who can then have a fresh start with Big West.

[EXO]

I don't expect them to. I believe they're going to keep trying to milk the license themselves... I was just thinking they need to turn their negative public image around because it's gone beyond Macross fans and dissatisfied Robotech fans. But again, it's all moot if they can't handle putting out a decent show or merchandise to take advantage of any good will that can be gained back.

[Mommar]

So many have said this kickstarter suffers from a lack of good production materials to tease, entice and inspire potential donators. Lack of transformable mecha is often rising to the top of the complaints. I don't necessarily disagree, but I'm curious; what type of transforming mecha would Robotech fans actually like? I mean, is there ANY design that would please the Robotech fans and appeal to modern audiences? I'm not being an ass here, I'm genuinely curious what fans believe that mecha would be. Are we talking a valkyrie? Are we talking Mospeada? Are we talking original? And what style would it be? The original stuff is all Japanese and all 25+ years old, so how exactly would that work?

As a mecha fan beyond just Macross, I've been into a vast array of Japanese mechanical design for decades. Beyond my own tastes, Japanese mecha as a whole has gone through several generations of trends and styles since Macross (which was itself a very innovative style shift for the time). Gundam, Five Star Stories, Patlabor, Evangelion, Escaflowne, Full Metal Panic, Ghost in the Shell, Gurren Lagann, Zone of The Enders, Super Robot Wars, Another Century's Episode, etc. But Robotech has no design lineage for the past 25 years. No progression. There's retro or there's start from scratch. Nothing in between.

So, where does one go?

Attempt to recapture the magic of Macross without the Macross?

If the design is too retro then it would be dated. How then would Robotech Academy attract modern viewers with such dated material? I suppose the answer is it wouldn't. What most modern viewers want is not dated 1985-era mecha designs.

Attempt to design all new mecha with a modern aesthetic?

Who does Harmony Gold have attached to Robotech Academy with qualifications even remotely approaching such a requirement? You can't design current fictional mecha if you don't even know anything about current fictional mecha design. Which I guess explains the mechanical designs Robotech Academy has released thus far.

If the post-SDF Macross mecha of the Macross franchise don't appeal to Robotech fans, then what can they realistically hope for in any Robotech sequel? I mean, how do you design a mecha for a consumer base with 30-year-old tastes and still attract young audiences? I'm genuinely curious to know what Robotech fans think a good, fitting transforming mecha design would look like for something like this Robotech Academy kickstarter project. What would that be?

I can tell you that, while I enjoyed the story for what it was when I was a kid, my primary motivating factor in liking the series was the aesthetic. I did enjoy all of it, but I let's face, I'm hanging out at MacrossWorld because I like Kawamori's designs. Loved the VF-1, love the YF-30 now. And I think, given how much favoritism is shown to the Macross Saga in the Robotech fandom you'll find they cannot separate that aesthetic from the story either. I know it's hard for me to. Hell, how many Robotech fans have tried to argue they should fold in Plus, Zero and Frontier into Robotech? That really tells you something, they're into Kawamori design as well. Something that Robotech cannot hope to achieve. Nobody else is like him, certainly nobody HG could ever hope to hire would be.

[Marzan]

I don't expect them to. I believe they're going to keep trying to milk the license themselves... I was just thinking they need to turn their negative public image around because it's gone beyond Macross fans and dissatisfied Robotech fans. But again, it's all moot if they can't handle putting out a decent show or merchandise to take advantage of any good will that can be gained back.

I agree with you EXO. I just believe that there's nothing left for them to 'milk' from the Macross trademark with the exception of SDFM which they can continue to re-release ad-nauseam. At some point I hope, that someone in that building is going to realize that there's no value for them in having the international copyrights to Macross, if there's nothing Macross being released outside Japan. How much money did HG make out of Zero or a big success like Frontier? Not a penny I gather? And that's the way it's going to continue to be. There's much more value for them as a company IMO to sell those rights (minus SDFM) to someone who can actually do something with them. They can even use that money to fund their new Robotech project which can then be fully Mospeada based (designs, appearances and so on).

[Einherjar]

There's always comic books.

[CoreyD]

Last trademark registration of "Macross" and "Robotech" by HG was 2004. I believe trademark registration lasts 10 years. Since we're nearing the end of 2014, could this Kickstarter be the last gasp before HG drops the trademarks/brands as not financially viable?

http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4805:ae3npq.2.3

http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4808:dgep25.2.9

[Desty_Nova]

As I understand it trademarks cost almost nothing to renew so don't get your hopes up.