chrisk

It's never Carl Macek's fault, ever. Don't you know?

Robotech: Love, Live, Alive

It's animated and it involves Tatsunoko.

Oh s**t. Crap. I just had a realization. I know you guys were kidding when you suggested that, but maybe there is some merit to it after all.

This is Carl Macek we're talking about. The orginal Mospeada Love Live alive is unheard of with today's "modern" Robotech audience (did I just say that?) so why not "integrate" it into Robotech? As Jason has pointed out, how could HG pull out an OVA in such short notice, especially after the much ballohooed hiatus of Shadow Rising?

Damn... I hope it comes with subtitles, then we can all go Karaoke!!!! WE WILL WIN MUTHAF***ER!

I'm still wondering how the hell this is going to be a full length animated movie, and have it done by next year?

There's a sticky thread on RT.com's board with big bold letters proclaiming it is indeed an animated movie. So that means Harmony Gold Legal sanctioned McKeever, who sanctioned MEMO to officialize it. It's not going to be flash, because honestly speaking, flash anime sucks! Maybe DR Movie must've signed one of those NDA agreements?!?!

Then there will be some that simply don't care, but will gobble it right up since it's Robotech.

Well, I guess it's safe to say we will NOT be seeing Shadow Chronicles awful character designs. Just Sera with big tits.

I find it so funny that the crazy fringe of Robotech are willing to make so many assumptions off of what little they've been given.

And if it sucks, you can blame Carl Macek.

IT'S HIS FAULT!! AND THE WALTRIPS BROTHERS FOR PRELUDE AND THE KOREAN ANIMATORS FOR SHADOW CHRONICLES!!!!!!

Remember this post? It really shouldn't be any big news.

After all, Harmony Gold always put a higher priority on appearances than on substance.

*Sigh*

In other news, a self-important Robotech uber-nerd recently had these words to share about HG's upcoming masterpiece:

TOMMY YUNE TALKS ABOUT A NEW ROBOTECH MOVIE TO BE OUT SOMETIME NEXT YEAR 2011 AROUND THIS TIME...JUNE.

TAKES PLACE AFTER NEW GENERATION AND IS NOT PART OF SHADOW CHRONICLES. A SIDE STORY THAT CARL MACEK WAS WORKING ON THAT IS STILL PART OF THE ROBOTECH UNIVERSE.

IMAGE SHOWN AT AX THAT HAD SERA WILL BE PART OF THE STORY AND WILL BE FOCUSED ON HER.

INFORMATION IN ROBOTECH SPANISH PODCAST

http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=29738&cmd=tc

THIS IS A PROJECT THAT WILL COME OUT WHILE FANS WAIT ON SHADOW RISING.

THE VISITS FOR THE VOICE ACTORS AT HG IN PAST ANNOUNCED IN PAST PODCAST HAS TO DO WITH THIS AND YOU ALSO MIGHT NOTICE A COMING SOON ABOVE NEXT TO SHADOW CHRONICLES ON THE ROBOTECH PAGE.

HEHEHE

I WAS SHOWNED A CELL PHONE CAPTURE FROM A FEW ROBOTECH FANS DURING THE TRIGUN MOVIE SHOWING AT AX ON SATURDAY. I GUESS A FEW RECOGNIZED ME AND WE STARTED TALKING. THEY PASSED IT AROUND BUT NOT SURE WHEN IT WILL GET IN THE NET.

SO UP TO THOSE GUYS.

SINCE HG LET ME RECORD A LOT OF THEIR ROBOTECH STUFF I DONT WANT TO BREAK THAT TRUST. SO NOPE.. I DON'T HAVE IT.

Also a quote from your favorite chump regarding filmfests and empty promises:

The film festivals had nothing to do with the delay in release of Shadow Chronicles. The festivals actually opened the film up to a larger run (not to mention more revenue) in theaters in 2007 See here - for an example.

What happened was when a distribution deal fell apart in mid 2005 Harmony Gold began weighing various offers from other distributors for Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles. As part of these negotiations, Harmony Gold mandated very stringent marketing and distribution goals (based on fan and market research) to be met for any such agreement. We simply were not going to sign the first deal that came through our door...

As for this new Robotech project expect to hear more news at the conventions throughout the summer...

Gosh and it just so happens that MechaCon (our Signature Event of the summer) in New Orleans and San Diego Comic-Con are just right around the corner.

It's going to be one interesting summer at the conventions...

Kevin McKeever

ROBOTECH.com

Exciting, isn't it?

My question is why Harmony Gold feels they are special?

When Hollywood makes an adaptation, property owners are paid upfront and the studio alone retains rights ownership for a specified number of years to make the film adaptation.

Then why does Harmony Gold feel they need to hammer down the point that Warner Brothers somehow magically "acquired" merchandising and videogames rights as major revelations in giant media conventions?

When you surrender your rights to a Hollywood studio, can you make derivative property even before the announcement of the Live Action Movie's production as we can derive from the recent AX announcement?

Does anyone know how much studios paid for various 80's properties like Transformers or Smurfs?

Maybe it was on the robotechespanol talkshoe.

Should I be amused that their July 6 Talkcast is entitled "Nueva Pelicula 2011 Tommy in the House!111!!!"?

It's called "marketing". They basically want it to ride on someone else's coattails (gee, doesn't that sound familiar). If they didn't, then their profit margins would be considerably lower. Now, if it did have enough push to do well on its own, it won't need to wait for WB to do something.

It's a shame we don't have a "Darkwater"/insider now besides Robotech's #1 Fan MEMO. I remember when DW practically outscoop HG's so-called "marketing department" by simply making phone calls and searching voice actor's IMDB page for the yet-to-be-announced Shadow Chronicles! DW's self-initiated fan promotion for Shadow Chronicles was so good online-fanwise that HG eventually tolerated his efforts. Of course, per HG's patented sleazeball strategy, they started dictating how DW should run his promotional site because Yune and company probably realized they could avoid a lot of legal red tape and financial obligations. Eventually there was a backlash, and now McKeever continues to deny DW made any impact whatsoever in Shadow Chronicles sordid production history.

Maybe a lurker (the closet fanboy in us all) or rabid fanboy can make a call to the voice actress of Sera or Cam Clarke and confirm all this crap?!

Tatsunoko, as the only company in the animation industry, would have to shoulder a lot of the responsibility while HG leads the project from afar.

Tatsunoko must have been dumbfounded when they got the phonecall from HG.

"Those crazy Korean Americans want another Mospeada midquel? Okay... I've heard of crazier s**t I suppose"

Update, I listened to Tommy's additional verbage about this. Here's what Tommy has said about it.

-It's a small production

-Supposedly Tatsunoko is working with them on it

-It is gonna be a "movie length movie", which I don't know what that means

-It will be animated

-They haven't put anything out yet because they want to cross-promote the LAM with Shadow Rising

Now I have a couple of questions to speculate about... but does HG really have that much pull on WB that they can essentially predict that Shadow Rising is not only a sure thing in the distant future, but that it's going to somehow tie-in with a Robotech film?

I mean, why continue this farce that Shadow Rising is still in production? What harm is there is saying it was outright say it was canceled? Is it all part of the *gasp!* illusion?

Has the Robotech franchise really come to this? That a teeny tiny "Coming Soon" JPEG is enough to make the hardcore Robotech fans prematurely orgasm?

Hey, can anybody encircle who is MEMO or any other similarly crazy fanperson who left their spouse, children or job to ogle at how old all the Robotech people are?

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4596456&id=234880208284

-Room was decently packed. There was arm room for sure. And pockets of empty seats.

I want this addressed this once and for all, but why does HG have this great insecurity about the size of their con audience? Why? For the benefit of Robotech.com exiles on Macrossworld.com?

News flash, Robotech is a sold out in Divisoria.

Regardless, I don't see much of those new-fangled "Beta-max" fighters moving.

-Expanding RT with some kinda series/idea/gimmick...kinda, sorta, maybe. It was Carl's idea. Blame him if it fails.

So the Shadow Rising treatment was written by Carl Macek all along, eh?

-RT MMORPG...WB's zone. Wait for them to do something with it.

Alright. Say it with me now... "Robotech will be a subscription-based MMO aimed at today's ADD youth and somehow successfully stand up against the Clone Wars MMO, and thousands like it."

I believe they should include in the design document, playable classes like "Whiny, young pilot", "Sexy, sexually-repressed officer", "Token black friend". Personally, I can't wait to play the "Big Brother" and "Jailbait" class.

I second that motion.

I couldn't make it past Steve Yun's "who skipped work to attend this panel" thing before I tuned out. Also, the fact that big ol' uber-duper-fanboy MEMODOMINION is lugging that camera around in the first row kinda creeps me out.

JASONC: What it looks like is either a comic, or online comic possibly. And the pic they showed is "Sera" the Invid Princess in her suit holding a gun. It's Tommy Yune art, so I'm thinking maybe an online web comic, or Flash webisode. Nothing really earth shattering, but that's all that it really was. I'm sure the pics will be popping up soon.

I-I'm sorry, but what exactly was said in the panel, Jason? This was one of the tweets:

News from robotech anime expo panel. New robotech series being made. Production to finish this time next.

Isn't it kinda awful to lie to your paying, casual fanboys to believe that a new television series is in the works when its probably something much more insignificant? Did people ask Tommy to clarify or was the entire audience hysterical with excitement?

But then... it doesn't add up. Maybe it is a new WB animated series! Y'know why?

It's 2010, for chrissakes... A new comic book project (be it print, online, or animated in flash) is not a big deal.

I know it's become a fun game for us to scrutinize everything that comes out of the 'Robotech pipeline', but this latest "announcement" of a new Robotech production by 2011 sounds... desperate.

Didn't HG explicitly state that everything would be put on hold until WB gets the live action movie is in production? Why did these murmurs of a new "Robotech production" come out from McKeever's mouth and not Warner Brothers?? Who cares about some stupid mystery box filled with Macross merchandise? Why does the Robotech twitter keep trying to show the public how "amazing" the line is to these Robotech panels and how hip they are to be in these sold-out anime conventions filled with girls in unrelated anime costumes???

Oh well... Robotech is just a "small" part of their business and they're making a killing at the burgeoning real estate market and all that jazz so we must stop overanalyzingggggggg.............

My question is is Toynami profitable? At least with their Robotech toyline? Why couldn't Toynami get those Alpha/Legioss Fighter moulds right even when they switched to an (allegedly) more efficient manufacturer?

The Top 5 candidates for the LAM director have been announced. And Sylvain White isn't one of them!

You had me at Pitof.

Oh yeah, in my boredom I checked out Robotech.com (I feel dirty every time I check that creaky old place, like I'm going back in time). The usual sycophants and aging "hipsters" continue to roam around hoping the admins or Tommy will give them the time of day. And then I saw this post:

"I have a sneaking suspicion the PTTSC has been animated as a 40 Minute OAV to be released as a surprise this year, in lou of the Shadow Rising and movie making things take longer to do. The "Do you remember Jack Baker" image has computer generated sceneary in it. All the previous "Re-Drawn" New Screens for the Comics or Books didn't. Just a thought."

And then you get replies like this:

"Its hard because you cant attribute tone of voice to the words on screen but in my head your tone was that of a person who knows something. My wishful thinking obviously."

http://www.robotech.com/community/forum/read.php?id=2072524&forumid=31

Wow. It's 2007 all over again!!!!!

And now for the part they didn't tell you... probably 75% of those are spambots.

Its sad that the world has seen Devastator's balls, been "smurf'd", had the turtles rebooted for the third time, Gordon Gekko gets a sequel, and the Voltron and Thundercats movie isn't dead.

Oh well! I can watch Shadow Chronicles for the twentieth time, read all my old Wildstorm and Comico comics, and admire the build quality of my Toynami chibi figures... nostalgia is a cruel mistress.

Indeed it is... though I'd say there's rather more to the complete absence of Shadow Chronicles cosplayers than the simple fact that the movie isn't even close to being the runaway hit Harmony Gold would have the fans believe it is.

BREAKING NEWS BREAKING NEWS BREAKING NEWS FROM 'TWIT' FEED

"The Robotech Facebook page has just passed 7,000 people are you one of them?"

Look at all those zeroes!!!!!!!

They were the VA's for those characters, I think. So yes.

Was anyone dressed as Maia Sterling?

I thought the potential last straw would have been the public knowing the whole story surrounding Robotech and HG deciding it was still a good idea to keep running with it, even with all the behind the scenes controversy it's been known for creeping back on regular basis.

I believe I felt that storywise, Robotech was hopeless. I just felt that any future storylines written by that guy were just going to be more of the same fan fiction.

By the way, does anyone else think the Ranka/Sheryl performance and the Robotech panel for this year's Anime Expo seem extremely awkward? With all the crap that's happened recently, I wouldn't be surprised if HG sent both singers and the production behind it a C&D for the usual reasons.

Were they hot?

One of my fondest Robotech memories was during my "blissfully ignorant Robotech fanboy phase". At the time, I hadn't heard of the wider "canon" of Robotech beyond all the uninspired crap Yune wrote for the first half of the 'noughties... It was quite funny really, but I really can't forget that thread I read on the Robotech boards. Some "Robotech Guru" said that some dude named "Lazlo Zand" turned into a giant "Flower of Life" during the final arc of the Southern Cross novels.

It was quite a revelation really... And then in 2005, Yune (who really deserves all the writing credit for Prelude and not the Waltrips) brought back this "Zand" character for no apparent reason. No explanation, nothing. Man, that was the straw on the camel's back. That's when I finally figured out that all that the Robotech franchise sucked.

So in conclusion, Lazlo effing Zand was the straw that broke the camel's back.

The same could be said in dubbing Stick Bernard's voice to sound like a 40-year old in a 18-year old body.

yeah that was weird when i watched shadow chronicles

I apologize, but coffee almost came out of my nose when I read this and I don't know why.

Could someone pitch a rerelease of this to Tommy?

http://i28.tinypic.com/2d1o97a.jpg

In case you're not basking in the awesomeness that is Robotech's 25th anniversary, why not pick up the latest and greatest version of Prelude of the Shadow Chronicles?

Bill Sherman, veteran review of blogcritics had this to say about Yune's latest and possibly last masterpiece:

To aid newbies and more casual readers, the collection opens with a two-page Timeline spanning 1999-2038 plus an Introduction to the Robotech Universe, though it wasn't all that helpful to this reader.

Even with a heartbreaking tragedy in his past, stalwart Rick Hunter pretty much comes across as a stiff.

I’m betting most of the hard-core Robotechies will be satisfied — even if the rest of us aren't.

So in conclusion folks, Prelude is an un-salvageable mess and it only appeals to people who already owned the original issues. The rest of you STAY AWAY.

http://blogcritics.org/books/article/graphic-novel-review-robotech-prelude-to/

And that's your Robotech 25th anniversary news bit for the day!

I will...unless he's too busy banning Zinjo or something.

I'm surprised RT.com still has... unsavory elements...

If the movie doesn't even get a green light, or never makes it to any sort of production, don't expect the game to come out anytime soon. The game is in the same thin thread as the actual movie.

Now that I think about it, the Robotech movie imdb page is a little optimistic...

Oh yeah...back when he was called the guys from Destroy All Podcasts about twenty different epithets for "homosexual" and ranting about Tommy Yune's "flat face" and "small penis." Good times, good times.

Precisely why I left, Gub.

Give my regards to MEMO

Hmmm...did I miss something? I thought you were a fan of Bendo's...

He was interesting three years ago until he went off the deep end. (or maybe I never noticed?) How're those Robotech parties you attended?