Einherjar

That global number is impressive as its double the highest gross of a previous Trek film (1996's "Star Trek: First Contact") but shows the franchise has yet to really breakthrough outside the US.

I take it this guy does not own a cellphone or anything else inspired by Star Trek. It's not always about money pal.

Guess the LAMR was mostly an elaborate scheme to get WB to pay for HG's outstanding bills. No one intended work to begin immediately or perhaps at all, just to get some of that Hollywood cred and money until someone remembers to pay attention to the license.

Exactly. And WB & Maguire Entertainment can just sit on the license if they don't want to proceed. Eventually, the license will expire and revert back to HG, at which time, HG can go shopping again. Why go through the courts when you can just sit on a project. If they don't want to spend the time and money to produce, they can sit on it. Happens all the time.

While HG probably got money from giving them the license, can they survive another couple of years being unproductive if WB does nothing? Maybe they should try to do something for themselves if it doesn't work out in a few months/years.

I doubt the real issue is lack of money for the registration fee for exhibition booths, its the fact that they barely have anything original to show and license out to interested parties at the expo. If the Robotech LAM is made though this will likely be the place Warner Bros would exhibit their reimagined Robotech designs for those interested in merchandising toys.

It would've been a good, practical approach to work on Robotech's future, but I'm guessing they want something that gets more exposure to announce anything (that is, if they actually have somethingto talk about).

For those savvy in the entertainment industry, what is the biggest promotional event anywhere in the world that's best to premiere or hype about something like the LAMR? Is Comic-Con or Anime Expo the best you can get?

If each fleet is considered to be an independent entity, everyone probably stays to colonize the planet because the escorts are their military. They have to stick around help build it up and defend the civilians from hostile forces. Maybe some of the them move on to other assignments when the colony becomes self sufficient or something, but that could take months to years.

I looked for more stuff about the Licensing International Expo and it sounds like it would have been a good opportunity for HG to do something for Robotech. Since they haven't posted any news about it yet, I'm guessing it was another missed opportunity they couldn't pay to send a rep to.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Licensing_Show

The previous news post may also be a spoiler for what HG will reveal at this year's convention tour; they're still working on the script, have some more toys.

This might be a sign of WB's priorities for the near future.

Expect To See More Of The Same In 2010

The venues Cartoon Network used to show anime have took a hit as well. Toonami closed shop last year and Adult Swim has never been the same since the anime boom stopped. Alternatives for showing new anime on U.S. TV are now the Sci-Fi Channel at a late hour, premium movie channels, On Demand services, and The Anime Network, which isn't available everywhere and is a premium channel. In fact, I'm legitimately surprised Shadow Chronicles hasn't been shown on the Sci-Fi channel to monopolize on BSG's run. Though with the similarities between the two, people might think it ripped BSG off.

And isn't Carl Macek with Viz Media working on the Bleach anime? I heard he got fired years ago by someone, but how can he still be involved with ADV?

hell. americans just need to accept anime as an acceptable form of entertainment for adults, not turn them into live action movies in an attempt to legitimize them.

I might not go that far. Maybe just show some respect for the material you're adapting in your work, or at least show you give a crap about what you are making.

I hate the mentatility that a lot of people have that anime or animated work in general does not get real "legitimacy" until it becomes live action.

More like they gain legitimacy when people Americanize anime or animated works as seen previously.

Ah, this must be the rudeness I heard people talk about of this site.

There's a thread or two dedicated to Robotech legal stuff only.

Guess the people involved weren't that serious about making a mind screw film for profit.

I hope this is a sign that the anime/80's remake trend is ending.

The ADR director was Matt Greenfield, the same guy who did the subpar Megazone 23 dubs with all the fake 80's slang. He seems to be all about the gimmicks for these dubs. The gimmick for MZ 23 was 80's slang and keeping the same voice actors through all three parts whereas in Macross the gimmick was Mari Ijima. Of course both came out having that awful staccato acting and weird dialog changes.

When you think about it, the only thing they had to do was do the job Carl Macek was supposed to do, for both, years ago and they still screwed up. Someone from HG had to have been involved to have it turn out like that. I couldn't care less since dubs aren't my thing anymore, so fixing original audio and visual problems are a bigger priority for me (fixing as in improving quality, not adding unnecessary flair).

I think it's a good sign that he won't go crazy like Kill Em all Tomino for his series. He may be smoking something, but at least he's not getting emo about what he's doing. He can go back to work on the series whenever he damn well pleases.

Layman's terms translation: People are taking this crap too seriously.

b) Only dubbed animation is shown on TV here in America, because no network wants to broadcast subbed anime and there would be no future for the VA industry if all anime were simplying shown subbed as is

I don't think they intended to show the Macross TV series anywhere on the U.S. except maybe The Anime Network owned by ADV Films. HG's always holding out to show Robotech anywhere to prevent that from happening. It was another reissue of the series so they had to offer something new to get people to buy it again. Too bad they didn't have Animeigo standards when they worked on the thing from scratch. Just like what happened with Shadow Chronicles, maybe they should have spent more money on quality control and stuff that really mattered rather than getting big name icons on board for VA work and marketing purposes.

Also, I believe majority of Robotech fans aren't into anime, have a thing for "realism".

I'm not even going to ask how they made that work. Knowing that there's another original version of each Robotech era out there is as far away from realism as you can get.

I mean its one thing to complain about HG using sex appeal to help market the Shadow Chronicles, but I haven't seen them make any shred of erotic material to sell on the side since the Robotech Sentienls Winter Wonderland Special way back in 1995. There isn't even a miniature figure of the sexy Maia Sterling to go along with her pink shadow fighter. Compare that to all the erotic PVC figures and pillows marketed by Big West. Yet when erotic Macross stuff is sold we laugh, when its Robotech that is being erotic we complain that the guys at HG are horribly perverted. Where is the fairness in that?

I always thought HG wanted to turn Robotech into a giant space opera, no nonsense epic or something of that nature over the years; more Star Trek, Star Wars and etc. references/derivatives added in addition to whatever was there originally whenever they could. But to put more focus on boobs and the like on an official animated film which is meant to be seen by the entire fandom, not just people willing to pay money for supplemental in comics or sci-fi novels to continue the story, it's kind of a step back. The comic book stuff I can understand because, despite what people say, it's mostly additional merchandise overseen by the creator(s) but mostly done by other people. They shouldn't be taken as seriously since all of this began with animation, which is now the story ironically with that and the novels non-canon.

Also, HG doesn't have the money or guts to give it the Japanese merchandise treatment. Guess that's why the most you'll see from HG themselves are mugs, t-shirts, and key chains. Why do you think they bring over toys and stuff made by other companies months later rather than make original things?

EDIT: I don't know if the Macross crew made any promises like that. It might be why sequels are all over the place in terms of mood.

Remember... prior to Robotech, Tommy Yune's chief credentials were drawing for Superman and Danger Girl... that's just what he does...

I know, just wanted to be equal opportunity and stuff for a change.

Also, I too prefer real women.

My issue with the female designs was the fact that Maia has a thick @$$, thick thighs and waist, but from there up, she's slim. She looks a little bottom heavy, like a girl that you can tell if she goes on an eating binge, she's gonna be the chunky one in a few years.

The funny thing about the description is that IIRC those features were how the audience was introduced to Maia in the first place. She had no lines and the film just had a shot of her bent over showing off her assets while working on a plane. Of course it was from Marcus's POV, but still an awkward introduction for the character she turned out to be unless it was a shout-out to her sister's, Dana, antics.

So, for the past year or so have any publications outside Asia talked about MacF? Not online stuff, just some of the few video game/anime/comic book magazines that might have been interested in it.

I know VFTF1 will disagree, but I think a lack of hot girls is one of the least of its worries.

Just to balance things out, there are also a lot of ugly men in Shadow Chronicles. I can't tell if they wanted to make almost every man in the RDF chunky or buff in those spandex uniforms.

Yes -she has a great ass - but her hair is too short and breasts too small to fit that ass. It's a classic case of miss-match. Taken alone - that ass is golden. But put together with rather demure breasts and short care - no. And then look at her face - she so totally DOESN'T have the face to support short hair. Her eyes DEMAND long flowing hair - reaching down to that nice ass.

Okay, so Maia is a more useful version of Kim Kardashian in Robotech. You know the girl famous for having a big ass and a sex tape.

But seriously, like all the other characters introduced in Shadow Chronicles it would help if we knew more about who she is. Sheryl got an entire series and Maia got an incomplete film, tie-in comic, and a paragraph in an art book. All we know so far is that she's supposedly a Sterling daughter, an alien hybrid, a competent pilot, and has a noteworthy ass (but not a sex tape).

Unless THAT ass is one of the only things the crew wanted us to pay attention to while we waste time and money watching the thing.

The book was written in large measure by fans (Vincent McHenry, Jon Switzer, and Pieter Thomassen), though the cover bears only Tommy Yune's name, and the announcement that the foreword was written by Carl Macek.

I heard rumors that fans worked on it, which was strange because I thought professionals are usually called in to work on official material like that.

Anyway, how much of the material mentioned in the art book was entirely new and not rehashes from Mospeada and etc.? Was there anything regarding cut material or stuff that the crew wanted to do with the film that could give hints about future works? Just wondering what they were trying to accomplish with Shadow Chronicles and where they wanted to go from here before the backlash(es).

Robotech, without Macross designs, isn't what it used to be too... *sniff*

Oh yeah, I forgot they released an art book for Shadow Chronicles. How did that turn out?