Einherjar

Actually a bit more star wars than I realized at first...

trek basically just lost its version of Alderaan. Not quite the same, but close enough on the "peace loving hippie planet" scale to cause a facepalm or two when I realized it.

Except that in here

All we knew about Alderaan is that the people there are supposedly peaceful and then BOOM. More reasons why we should care came around in the following years.

A question for anyone into physics and stuff,

Macek and HG never made it any big secret that the show came from Japan. Robotech Art 1 had a pretty good essay about the history of Macross, Mosepada, and Southern Cross (and yes, mentioned a lot of the creators. Well, the Macross ones, at least). Since that was presumably "Macek-approved," I don't think he was ever trying to hide anything.

Did it try to defend Macek's version of the story through; talking about the syndication factor or how the original versions of each wouldn't work for U.S. audiences (ex. devaluing Minmay's singing, etc.)? Actually, were his quotes posted a couple of pages ago from that artbook?

Let's be fair...Carl Macek has never said he created Macross. He just said he improved it. And made Minmay annoying.

Besides claiming his version was better, did he ever talk about the people who animated it by name or something? They did refer to everyone that worked on the animation as Tatsunoko, but what did he say if someone asked who exactly worked on it?

Some of the cast was on Saturday Night Live this week. A classic:

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/vid...r-trek/1099561/

C'mon, get it right and think like a true capitalist. All that Carl Macek and Tommy Yune want Robotech to really be is:

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Taksraven

(Edited because the entire quote was too long. You can put that many "$'s" on one line?)

I'll admit with Carl Macek the strategy worked. Him and his vision worked because of his audience's ignorance about anime or Macross back in the day, which he used to his advantage. Like I said, when the whole thing became popular, he could say whatever he wanted about Robotech/Macross because HG dealt with Tatsunoko and they were fine with it. Also, since anyone who would have a problem were in another country, no one who could get him into trouble. Although, there must have been awkward times whenever people asked about specific stuff about the series. For example, did he take credit for making the Veritech, conceptualizing it, and getting someone to animate it?

However, it doesn't seem like a strategy that could last a long period of time. Probably the best thing to do after a stunt like this is to walk away with the money. If not, then they would have to invest money to get new stuff done. Instead, he or HG thought it would be a good idea to milk it as much as they could. In the end though, these people had no business in making animation, only buying and repackaging them, and look where it led them. That's greed for you.

Despite walking in his footsteps, Tommy Yune can't follow the same strategy and expect similar results. The Internet makes it harder to keep secrets like Macek did and the anime world has changed significantly. You can't adapt another series into it because people here will immediately know. In fact, the revelation from the original series continues to be a huge blow to the integrity of the franchise since then. The only way Robotech and HG are going to get out of this if, *gasp* they spend money to actually do some honest work.

Oh the humanity! [/faint]

Seto's remarks just show that tastes differ. Personally I find Macross Plus the least enjoyable of all Macross sequels as it's characters are distinctly un-Macross in behaviour and personality (and I'm not a fan of the character design style used either). Ironically it was Macross7 that drew me into the Kawamori/Nue continuity. The focus on characters over mecha, the music, the Mikimoto designs it just fullfills what I enjoy in Macross. To quote a clown: "Why so serious?" I guess Mr Barnum worries are unfounded, as the average intelligence of the American public can't in such a bad shape after all, if it's anywhere near mine

Agreed, remember that Macross was supposed to be a lighter parody to Gundam but then matured while Robotech became a patriotic parody to Macross. Macek lied because he could back in the 80s, and kids ran with it.

Oddly, looking at Robotech sequels... I think Harmony Gold's decision to toss Carl Macek out on his ear and bring in Tommy Yune was actually the best judgement call they ever made. I get the feeling Macek hero-worshipped Gene Roddenberry, because he was trying his hardest to turn Robotech into Star Trek with Robotech II: the Sentinels and Robotech III: the Odyssey.

Yeah, but who knows where the hell Tommy Yune has brought Robotech now. It's like the franchise is right back at square one with only series pilots moving towards something(?) being released. And then with the LAMR, a blatent retcon, so it's hard to tell if Robotech even has a past, present or future now.

They should have blamed the era changes to all kinds of corruption. It's the only way people like T. R. Edwards and Rolf Emerson could ever gain the power and influence they had. Plus, it would also mean Kyle Linn was right all along about the military.

A good rule to go by when making a series like this; first start it strong, then do Aseop in space with the same quality. The sequel should have the Trekkie elements fans are pissed about (but please tone down the techno babble).

Do they explain why the technology is completely different...?

Apparently, the best way in dealing with increasing Zentradi rebellions caused a switch from more militaristic mecha to space helicopters and hovertanks. Because that's a logical evolution when most of your defense force is sent off world to negotiate with aliens in another part of the galaxy while taking all the best mecha they had.

Johnathan Wolff did have a relationship with Minmai in the Sentinels. Maybe they wanted to make more drama by screwing up the love triangle and chain of command with him on the Macross.

Yeah, I would love to see the franchise back in Carl Macek's hands, anyway. The Three "Musketeers" that run HG really have ruined it, in my opinion.

Would you really want to see all the content from the novels animated?

Anyway, I have an Animerica issue talking about Macross and Robotech separately from 2000-2001. It was more in favor of Macross but treated Robotech well due to nostalgia (They mentioned Macross Zero for the first time in the U.S. I think). Before then I had only heard rumors online and from high school friends.

A good movie. Also,

Was Johnathan Wolff just a one-time character they decided to expand in the Robotech universe like Dr. Emil Lang and Lazlo Zand?

Buried Treasure: Macross DYRL (Anime News Network)

I thought this part about it's availability was kind of sad:

Unless you know Japanese, fansubs are your only option and likely will be for the rest of our lives.

I've learned not to worry about the fate of Hikaru, Misa and Minmay after the TV series. Hikaru and Misa had a kid and Minmay kept singing, they're all probably someone out there doing okay. The creator just didn't want to talk about them anymore.

Rick, Lisa, and Minmei on the other hand, the more Robotech talked about them the grimmer it got. Rick and Lisa lost a kid and got legally altered while Minmei was never seen on screen again. Admittedly, without the singing aspect surrounding the show Minmei lost all relevance. It can only go downhill from here.

The bigger question is who cares what Robotech fans want?

I'm not really defending Shadow Chronicles, I just want fans to be more realistic in regards to what they are capable of.

Hehe, can't argue with that.

Harmony Gold: Robotech can be anything you want it to be... as long as you give us money to keep it going for you.

As such, it couldn't live up to the hype, or to what Robotech fans wanted it to be.

Hell, even Cpatain JLS came out and said it wasn't very good.

But currently what do fans want Robotech to be, a Macross clone visually but focusing on some random wars that pop up involving Protoculture (flowers) every few years?

They're in dire need of a respectful end to material that's passed its prime in their hands.

The Covenant Hunters/Lekgolo from Halo

Almost like a Zentradi battle suit from Macross Plus (at least the design of the heads)?

If you're going to put out something Robotech, a product that's always going to be associated with Macross, you'd at least have to surpass or match animation like that of Macross Plus...something that was done over a decade ago. You just can't show up in 2007 or 8, whatever year it came out and decide you're going to come out with sublevel crud.

I'd like to add, in 2008-2009 you also can't decide to abandon your plans for future sublevel crud and rely on Hollywood to solve the problems you as a company got yourselves into.

How about The Simpsons? Complete animated in S.Korea

That's the situation now, but not back in the 80s. Some work on The Simpsons was still done in the U.S. back then, but eventually it led to the shift to South Korean animation companies.

Work on Robotech on the other hand had production done in different countries with a lack of coordination. HG didn't have the foresight to hire other companies to work on the Sentinels besides Tatsunoko to increase production. In fact, they didn't even have the money to make the series by themselves to begin with, unlike Fox.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... This almost sounds like when Marvel Animated studios were farming out Spider Friends, Transformers, and G.I. Joe to Toei Daga Studios back in the 80's. Just like a bunch of other American studios that was farming out to Japan back in the 80's.

But how did those shows get a lot of work done while Robotech II the Sentinels got only 3 episodes?

Well, they'd been at it for at least a year when the project got the axe... it was supposed to come out in late 1987 or early 1988. When it got canceled, they'd already finished 3 episodes of its proposed 65 episode story.

That doesn't sound like enough time to complete a series that long. I talked about logistics a while back and after seriously thinking about it, it's still a nightmare to complete. Think about the conditions back in the 80s:

-Animation done in Japan and other Asian countries for a series intended for a foreign market

-A creative director based in the U.S. who oversees the project by getting material mailed to him or visiting the studios personally

-Language and other barriers making it difficult to translate Macek's vision into animation, with him having final say on how it's supposed to go

-Variable waiting time for each episode

-Finished material sent to the U.S. for voice and FX work

-Waiting for enough shows to be completed to last weeks or months for syndication reasons (shows once a week or 5 for weekday showings) to start putting them on U.S. TV

-Eventual release to other countries after more dubbing and editing are done

-Merchandising and material to promote the show sometime in the future or while it's being done (toys, comic book tie-in, etc.)

I can see why Matchbox pulled out from this, it would take too long to get anywhere.

I actually believe that if it had come out complete, all the episodes, fully funded and animated, it would have been pretty decent and very good for a series from 1985.

About the Sentinels, if all the plans for the series went through how long was it supposed to take to finish and then release on TV? In fact, when HG decided to scrap the series how long had people been working on it?