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HG and Robotech Debates, ep. 8


azrael

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In Shadow Chronicles were there many original characters and ships or were most of them existing somewhere else? Like the ships where they mostly Mospeda designs?

And that treatment said that Shadow Chronicles is supposed to be like four parts and they haven't put out part two yet, so does anyone think the sequels will see the light of day?

Not any future time you could wait for and they could still change the story or put it out in some other form than a movie. Hoping that sequels will come out from Harmony Gold is a waste of time. They missed the bus. You just can't do what they're doing even blaming it on the economy.

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In Shadow Chronicles were there many original characters and ships or were most of them existing somewhere else? Like the ships where they mostly Mospeda designs?

And that treatment said that Shadow Chronicles is supposed to be like four parts and they haven't put out part two yet, so does anyone think the sequels will see the light of day?

To answer your question, the movie has some new characters, most big boobed chicks in painted on outfits, and the guys are comic book bodied characters with painted on outfits. As for the mecha of the REF, it's all Mospeada and Mospeada based, and there's nothing original there. So are the Inbit. The only original designs, and as suspected, the worst of the designs, is the Haydonite characters and mecha. If you're a Robotech fan, and you see it for the first time, your first reaction is, "Wow, I can't believe I'm finally seeing this!" After it sets in what you saw, it's more like, "Wow, I can't believe they actually put that garbage out!" For those that still seem to like it, some like it just because i has mecha. The ones that actually like the story, and everything in it, well, not everyone has good taste, and some will simply like anything with a Robotech label on it.
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For those that still seem to like it, some like it just because i has mecha. The ones that actually like the story, and everything in it, well, not everyone has good taste, and some will simply like anything with a Robotech label on it.

Note that positive reviews about Shadow Chronicles out there were written while believing that a continuation of the story would be coming soon afterwards. I don't think anyone expected to wait 5+ years for the next chapter in the franchise, which turns out to have very little to do with the Shadow Saga.

Edited by Einherjar
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Note that positive reviews about Shadow Chronicles out there were written while believing that a continuation of the story would be coming soon afterwards. I don't think anyone expected to wait 5+ years for the next chapter in the franchise, which turns out to have very little to do with the Shadow Saga.

Tommy says that he never planned or intended to release a sequel to Shadow Chronicles in roughly 2 years after the release, but I know for a fact that he did. He denies that, and it's something that Kevin will defend, but Tommy had a two year plan for the release of the sequel. Yeah, how's that working out?

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Tommy says that he never planned or intended to release a sequel to Shadow Chronicles in roughly 2 years after the release, but I know for a fact that he did. He denies that, and it's something that Kevin will defend, but Tommy had a two year plan for the release of the sequel. Yeah, how's that working out?

He also insinuated this at San Diego ComicCon after the "success" of SC even though he might not of said it specifically (though I still think he did since it's not on tape). I don't even remember when McKeevie became such a vocal, "integral" part of Robotech as I never used to notice him on the panel despite his "larger than life" presence.

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I wonder how many years this can possibly go on for. More directly, do you think this will continue after Frank Agrama dies, or will the necessity for a tax shelter quickly fold afterward.

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I wonder how many years this can possibly go on for. More directly, do you think this will continue after Frank Agrama dies, or will the necessity for a tax shelter quickly fold afterward.

As long as there are accountants at the company that think it must be worth something. That or they might try to sell it eventually. Imagine that. HG with no control of Robotech.

Actually, is a sale of Robotech rights even possible, if so, what impact could that have on previous RT agreements and court rulings?

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Actually, is a sale of Robotech rights even possible, if so, what impact could that have on previous RT agreements and court rulings?

Of course it is. There won't be much impact. If someone were to buy the entire franchise outright, they would inherit all the problems that come with it. They could market the stuff out of SDFM, release videos of and using SDFM just like HG. But when it comes to using those images in brand new animation...BAMM! Lawsuit material. The exact same spot that HG is in. If you decide to by a car from me that has faulty brakes which I never repaired, buying it from me doesn't automatically fix the faulty brakes. If we contractually agreed that I would fix those brakes before I completely sold it to you, then yes, I would have to fix it before you bought the entire car.

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Of course it is. There won't be much impact. If someone were to buy the entire franchise outright, they would inherit all the problems that come with it. They could market the stuff out of SDFM, release videos of and using SDFM just like HG. But when it comes to using those images in brand new animation...BAMM! Lawsuit material. The exact same spot that HG is in. If you decide to by a car from me that has faulty brakes which I never repaired, buying it from me doesn't automatically fix the faulty brakes. If we contractually agreed that I would fix those brakes before I completely sold it to you, then yes, I would have to fix it before you bought the entire car.

I think it really depends on what the contracts between Tatsunoko and HG are. Correct wording is bond in business contracts, so if there's some clause relinquishes some of the standing rights HG has of now. I still think that HG's goal is to sell off the franchise for top dollar. IF that were to happen, I'm sure all that would have to be disclosed to the purchaser. Failure to disclose material that could devalue or hinder a property such as that would be cause for a lawsuit as well.
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Richard Epcar: "I can join you for a moment or two, I heard you were here, so I thought I'd come up and say hi."

READ = "I'm busy with real work, but I can spare a few minutes to humour you. So, we're still talking about this thing?? Wow." :p

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Richard Epcar: "I can join you for a moment or two, I heard you were here, so I thought I'd come up and say hi."

READ = "I'm busy with real work, but I can spare a few minutes to humour you. So, we're still talking about this thing?? Wow." :p

And Tommy thought he did the voice of General Reinhardt, not the actual voices he did do, like Ben/Kakizaki and Lunk/Jim. For shame. I wonder what Richard thinks/would think of that blunder. Oh wait, Tommy probably already blamed the director of the documentary for that.

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I think it really depends on what the contracts between Tatsunoko and HG are. Correct wording is bond in business contracts, so if there's some clause relinquishes some of the standing rights HG has of now. I still think that HG's goal is to sell off the franchise for top dollar. IF that were to happen, I'm sure all that would have to be disclosed to the purchaser. Failure to disclose material that could devalue or hinder a property such as that would be cause for a lawsuit as well.

Yeah, then there's that part about Tatsunoko and then other property sale laws that would apply. But you would probably need a lawyer to explain that stuff.

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The only justification HG would have to ask top dollar at this point would be the Warner contract. As soon as that expires, there's no real justification for them to claim that it's a profitable franchise.

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The only justification HG would have to ask top dollar at this point would be the Warner contract. As soon as that expires, there's no real justification for them to claim that it's a profitable franchise.

When would it expire?

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When would it expire?

Don't know. In recent years, most live-action film contracts have only lasted 10-20 years with the option to renew and/or continue after a certain number of years or if they are continuing film production. For example, 20th Century Fox got the license for the X-Men franchise. The film rights would have reverted back to Marvel Entertainment after X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but they continued making films, i.e.,X-Men: The First Class, and will probably continue making films so the film rights will stay with Fox. It's the same with the Spiderman franchise. If Sony wasn't making The Amazing Spider-man, they would have lost the film rights. The only weird one I can think of is Watchmen where 20th Century Fox actually maintained the distribution rights they got back in the early 1990s yet sold back the film rights to Larry Gordon who took the production to WB. At the end of that WB paid Fox a settlement. So really, we don't know how long this will last. I won't bother thinking about it until sometime after 2015 or 2020...which is a ways out there right now.

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When would it expire?

Pretty much what Azrael said, there's no way of knowing the exact details of the contracts unless you actually work at one of the respective companies. Some contracts go for a number of years and/or have clauses like "make the movie in x amount of years or the rights revert back." That's why the horrible Fantastic Four movie was made in the mid-90's. In the case of Marvel, I think at this point they're trying to get as many rights as they can back to Disney, their now parent company.

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in thinking about the timelines and preventions, distribution rights and stuff, when MF came out, was it only sold to japanesse networks or did it get airtime outside japan. If so, where?

Edited by pensives_wetness
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in thinking about the timelines and preventions, distribution rights and stuff, when MF came out, was it only sold to japanesse networks or did it get airtime outside japan. If so, where?

Probably was not a consideration back then due to, well, you know. If people wanted it, import it.

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in thinking about the timelines and preventions, distribution rights and stuff, when MF came out, was it only sold to japanesse networks or did it get airtime outside japan. If so, where?

I've heard of some nearby Asian countries having some access to Japanese stations, so that maybe the only loophole, but aside from that possibility, I don't recall hearing that it was aired anywhere else.

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As far as 70s and 80s anime goes, I gather a lot of the licenses were rather broad.

Because who cares about the long-term legal ramifications of a distribution license for a stupid cartoon that won't be worth the film it's stored on in 5 years?

Spoilers: In about twenty years, EVERYONE will.

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It'll be interesting to see what happens when Frank Agrama goes to trial for his accused Tax fraud in Italy. Last I read, Berlusconi was cleared of those charges (and is now stepping down), but Agrama's not off the hook and is set for trial in December. I also read that the fraud he's accused of taking part in is worth 34 million Euros. ITS THE END OF HARMONY GOLD!!! Not really, I have no idea.

This is the last article I read about Agrama's trial date (3rd item down):

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/international/169667-japan-pm-seeks-to-smooth-ties-with-south-korea.html

Anime News Network's original story on the subject:

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2006-12-02/fbi-searches-home-offices-of-robotech-producer-writer-harmony-gold-founder

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It'll be interesting to see what happens when Frank Agrama goes to trial for his accused Tax fraud in Italy. Last I read, Berlusconi was cleared of those charges (and is now stepping down), but Agrama's not off the hook and is set for trial in December. I also read that the fraud he's accused of taking part in is worth 34 million Euros. ITS THE END OF HARMONY GOLD!!! Not really, I have no idea.

Berlusconi is going to step down for other reason but not due to his numerous legal problems. But that's a story to another site.

And no, this will not be the end of Harmony Gold. Unless money was funneled through HG, then yeah, HG will still be alive and kicking.

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And no, this will not be the end of Harmony Gold. Unless money was funneled through HG, then yeah, HG will still be alive and kicking.

Unless he's got to use all of his HG money on legal fees. I think the alleged, un-taxed money Berlusconi was kicking back to Agrama was sitting in a Swiss bank account which was frozen.

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If Agrama gets hammered with all that money, that's more than $45 million U.S. dollars (going by 1.33 Euro to 1 Dollar). Seems like it wouldn't bankrupt him, but I'm sure as Azrael said, if HG money was involved (which seems likely), then the Feds could possibly shut it down. I think that might have all the licenses for Macross, Southern Cross, and Mospeada go back to Tatsunoko.

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Berlusconi is going to step down for other reason but not due to his numerous legal problems. But that's a story to another site.

And no, this will not be the end of Harmony Gold. Unless money was funneled through HG, then yeah, HG will still be alive and kicking.

We can always hope his assets are liquidated, then HG would be gone :)

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If Agrama gets hammered with all that money, that's more than $45 million U.S. dollars (going by 1.33 Euro to 1 Dollar). Seems like it wouldn't bankrupt him, but I'm sure as Azrael said, if HG money was involved (which seems likely), then the Feds could possibly shut it down. I think that might have all the licenses for Macross, Southern Cross, and Mospeada go back to Tatsunoko.

You'd think by the very nature of the deals, HG money was involved somehow. HG was the one who bought the international rights for the Paramount properties and sold them to Berlusconi's company. From what I can surmise, everything after that was allegedly done on Berlusconi's side, but it seems they're accusing Agrama of knowing what was going and getting compensated. So from that standpoint, HG definitely had some involvement. I have no clue has to exact legalities or repercussions that could come out about.

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And no, this will not be the end of Harmony Gold. Unless money was funneled through HG, then yeah, HG will still be alive and kicking.

I'm fine with the slow, painful, and humiliating death spiral Robotech is going through. HG will go on, but probably not their franchise.

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