chrisk

fart that noise. I'm enjoying my peace and quiet.

So you'd rather deal with Rhade?!

In the past twenty-five years, Robotech has had just one weekly TV series that consistently gets poor ratings, one moderately successful direct-to-DVD movie, one movie that bombed in test screenings, two weekly TV sequels that failed in production, two mediocre video games, some low quality comics that didn't sell, and a handful of mediocre toys.

Let me do the math here... So if Tommy is a mediocre storyteller, and Carl is a mediocre storyteller... Combine the two... and what do you get..?

Like BRL, when I present my ideas of where Tommy made errors, I back them with facts from the original TV show. However, neither of us have become so blatantly hostile that we have earned a ban.

It's nice to know that you can call Tommy an idiot at the Palladium forums and you won't get a ban.

http://www.hulu.com/super-dimension-fortress-macross

Go down to "Activities" and click on "dicussions."

But since Hulu is only available in the States, you may not be able to view it.

I just realize Hulu is the best place to... "educate" a whole new generation of misguided fans (who have obviously never step foot on a Macross website).

Seto, you have your work cut out for you!!!

BTW, I heard clips of the recent con with Tommy and Carl Macek, and it almost sounds like Tommy Yune is taking cues from Doug Bendo's whining and proclaiming how amazing Robotech's legacy is... while curiously brushing off the achievements of the original Macross franchise for the last twenty years. Why Tommy, why???????

Protoculture Times (otherwise known as the other Robotech podcast) has a post up. Good rant.

http://www.protoculturetimes.com/2010/02/r...hts-021110.html

I can't WAIT - if the Robotech LAM comes out - to see the directors' commentary on this one.... "we wanted to be true to the original Robotech vision" .... ble ble ble... all of the distortions and BS that Macek spouted in that interview will be passed off as common sense...

VFTF1, we share the same fear. I heard once that Macek really worked hard in the last decade trying to spread his (mis)information campaign. My fear is it's working?!

I'll be sure to look for this the next time I drop by HMV in Hong Kong.

OMG, AP will produce Season 2!!!!

These pics from AP's art director Lee囧(美术总监：李鸿鹏).

http://hi.baidu.com/xpenlee/album/%B1%D8%C...9%CD%BC/index/2

http://hiphotos.baidu.com/xpenlee/pic/item...caaab018e76.jpg

http://hiphotos.baidu.com/xpenlee/pic/item...4dc74c63865.jpg

Pretty colors?

"The Japanese anime distributor Bandai Visual has announced that it shipped 45,000 Blu-ray Discs and 55,000 DVDs for the first volume of the Macross Frontier science-fiction anime series on Friday."

And that's just "the first volume"

Score another one for Macross!!

But how does it compare to, as Tommy puts it, Shadow Chronicles alone selling "hundreds of thousands"??

Waitaminute... Wait just a minute. The Korean guy who churned out forgettable funny books is bringing back the guy who thought bringing space amazons, space teddies, Captain was a good idea for the Robotech franchise? Could be the best double-team since Van Damne and Rodman.

Gubaba, I'm curious but did you post that awesome write-up of MEMO's con report a few pages back on RTX.com?

Anybody as hooked on these two animes as I am? I particularly like Mai-Hime because of the drama and tragedy although the ending sucks.

Mai Otome was "okay", and interestingly enough they age a bit in the OVA.

Not sure if anyone can really translate Memo's writing chrisk but I'm sure some "true" fan will interpret it as a positive for the "franchise." ... Now that you guys bring up Macek, I have to point out my impression of the guy. He actually came across as a bit cocky trying to justify his past and future products as being faithful to the originals... He said his cuts were only made so they would conform with tv standards though "Dana's Story" was different.

Same ol' reactions, same ol' Macek. Tony Oliver's cool though.

It's basically the same thing they've always been saying with Robotech; that they're entitled to use all of Macross despite never actually doing anything involving it for years. Also, defending Robotech's right to exist. Add some fluff about it's origins and its connection to the history of anime, and the whole thing sounds like a trip down memory lane that may or may not be true.

I think the general thrill people have with these con "reports", year in year out is to see how Tommy and co. will change their answers to "tough" questions (like when Shadow Rising will be released, etc.).

Got some questions and shoutouts:

A shoutout to ps99042 - Thanks for taking several hours of his life to endure the first Robotech panel of the year. I can't really blame you for not wanting to endure it again.

Why did I read that?

Now I need an asprin

I have a favor to ask to members of the board... but can summarize MEMO's convention report in proper English? Not sure what a "famouse" is.

Is sarcasm allowed in RobotechX.com?

The editors responsible for Robotech seem to have a love of revisionist history that borders on the fetishistic.

If they come out with these false statements in say... a behind-the-scenes documentary in some Robotech DVD / Blu-ray featurette, can they get sued??

HEHEHE

Robotech: the Shadow Chronicles has nothing that even remotely resembles an Itano circus.

Okay, maybe Mav said it to provoke a response from Macross fans. Fine, I'll humor the guy. Wonder what he'd say if I said SC tries to rip off DYRL, albeit with a quarter of the quality and intensity.

Speaking of Style, I noticed that the glowing neon Itano circus that was first used in Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles back in 2006 was borrowed for 2008's Macross Frontier.

Call it coincidence??? I think not.

Maybe Kawamori is a closet fan of Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles??? I wouldnt' blame him for borrowing some elements of Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles for use in Macross Frontier as the old addage goes...

'Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery'

Please tell me Tommy Yune isn't going to let this slide, especially from one of his trusted "commanders". He's a Macross fan for chrissakes.

The ONLY reason that anime gets "pirated" so much is NOT because anime fans and otaku are pirates and evil. It's because between the time that an anime comes out in Japan and the time when some corporate suits sign a licensing agreement and issue it in Europe or the USA, you usually have a lapse of at least a year - sometimes two or three years.

And somtimes - like in Poland - it just NEVER gets licensed.

Where I live in the Philippines, an entire generation is being brought up on the fact that entire anime series on DVD should cost lest than five dollars. Oh well.

Shadow Chronicles had a unique storyline??? Really? Plotwise???

Shadow Chronicles takes timeless story elements from various source. Kinda like Avatar!!

Chase Masterson's other music number about midway through the film, equally awful, had little purpose other than allowing them to show off Janice's massive rack in a low-cut slurmty dress (rather, a holographic projection of such, since Janice is a robot) and provide fodder for a halfhearted attempt to inject some romantic tension Marcus and Maia's relationship.

I like scenes like that, and then the characters comment "She's an amazing singer!", and then I go... "NO."

Maverick_LSC has been waiting for Shadow Rising and Robotech's revival for four years.

I've been waiting for Harmony Gold to go bankrupt for about the same...

That Bandai stuff is great! Hope their gimmick works...

Now, whether or not Harmony Gold will find that one magic product (like Apple's iPod) that'll become wildly popular and make them mainstream... your guess is as good as mine.

Easy. When all the Japanese Macross products finally gets officially distributed by Harmony Gold on the States! That would be an odd day...

I wonder why Maverick_LSC keeps checking my MacrossWorld profile... 's that boy back to spying on me to see what I'm saying about Robotech again? Dude needs to get a life... or maybe his wife just needs to take away his internet privileges

It's called guilt, Seto.

Not entirely... if such a thing could even be said to have existed in the first place given the general shortage of Shadow Chronicles merchandise. Apart from the DVD, the only merchandise the movie had was the artbook, the soundtrack, the recalled Shadow Fighter MPC, and some miscellaneous odds and ends. In the last year or so, the only "new" RTSC merch is the reissue of the recalled Maia Sterling MPC.

Right, right. Harmony Gold makes their money with the convention gravy train. Kinda weird though that even on regular non-anniversary year, the Macross franchise puts a frightening amount of content compared to Robotech's current 25th anniversary. To be honest, I always get giddy when I see Tommy new Mikimoto-lite manhwa artwork. And then I realize its some form of repackaged junk from three years ago.

Being an IT guy by trade, I have no respect for any division of Apple except their marketing team, who have gone above and beyond the call of duty by using fraud and deception to sell low-grade consumer trash to the general public and got them to like it.

I speak as an ignorant consumer. Doh!

Harmony Gold doesn't have the talent to do more than flail around and look foolish whenever someone asks a question for which they don't have an answer that makes them look good.

Well, there's always that Talkshoe thing in case public relations goes down the toilet again.

With the housing market in the shitter, whether Harmony Gold is still actually turning enough of a profit on their real estate interests to make any potential loss on Robotech insignificant is somewhat dubious...

Question: Has the so-called Shadow Chronicles gravy train completely dried up?

It's like Apple's core demographic, the militant macfags who don't care WHAT the new Apple product is or how much it costs, so long as they can get their hands on it as soon as possible. In this case, the difference is that Harmony Gold keeps its fans waiting indefinitely and has never produced anything trendy or popular. There is a small and growing trend of fans starting to finally realize they're being strung along though...

The thing is, I respect Apple. But Harmony Gold? I think this is one of the few entertainment companies that is practically begging to be hated by the fandom. And the funny thing is that despite all that bad will, HG management knows you'll buy their crap whether you like it or not.

It's the sort of pants-on-head retarded plan we'd expect from a rank amateur or someone suffering from drill-induced brain trauma, and only the most inept creative staff could take even remotely seriously.

Seto, honestly now. Why waste precious time and effort when you have a captured audience that doesn't really care about quality or content and you're making millions in the housing market?

It's not implied, it's given as fact... he murders Kyle and kidnaps her, and she spends a year as his hostage before being rescued... they find her floating in a tube and they seem pretty farting shocked by whatever happened to her...

I remember that. Of course, they don't reveal what happens. You sort of find out what happens after reading some fan's annotations of the thing, and Tommy's comments that he doesn't want to disrespect the intentions of the original Japanese creators for the Minmei character. How's that for closure!

Artistically speaking, why do I feel like Tommy got through his entire comic career drawing the same Korean looking Robotech characters in stiff/awkward poses?

Mikimoto was a master, great expressive, gesture lines and expressions... this is not right.

I always had a soft spot for Colonol Edwards. Imagine living in a universe where Minmey puts out for EVERYBODY except...YOU.

I think it's implied in the Prelude comics that he kidnapped Minmei and did things to her...

Harmony Gold launches its big 25th anniversary convention tour with nothing to show for 25 years... a punishing lack of originality... a single direct-to-DVD movie that most of the anime industry ignored and the vague promise that there might be a live-action movie and another direct-to-DVD animated movie at some undefined point in the future. Their big plan for the 25th anniversary tour seems to be to trot out the same old guests they've been using since time immemorial, accompanied by a clip show everybody's seen before.

That is just so... sad. I checked the link (http://www.aodsf.org/aod/robotech/) and it's amazing Carl Macek has nothing better to do.

Basically, there were 2 main people working on the fan book. One of them had a critical eye for HG, or moreso it's way of running things and it's content. The other guy wanted to get HG's permission to do it as a licensed product, and basically the conversation was that they'd do it on the condition that the "troubled" person bow out. Nevertheless, he did, and after he was off the project, the other guy still got screwed.

Pretty accurate summary. What surprises me is Harmony Gold tried to pull the same stunt on the PA guys.

Also, what's this I hear about MEMO and Mav fidgeting around with trash cans?

Sorry if this was covered before, but what benefits, if any, are there in delaying Shadow Rising? Why not just outright say it got cancelled? Why must Harmony Gold constantly hammer it into people's heads that Shadow Chronicles was such a mind-blowing success (if not sequel is being developed as late as 2009)? Can anyone deduce HG's gameplan?

Harmony Gold can twiddle their collective thumbs and wait for Warner Brothers and the live-action movie to improve the franchise's prospects in the eyes of its potential investors.

Shadow Chronicles has been released multiple times in video and on Hulu. They're dumping Prelude on a trade. That 'Beta' Fighter is finally out in blue, red and lemon-lime.

The well is drying up...

Gasp! Might Harmony Gold be forced to do something... new and original this year for their precious investors?!!

Drama is awesome.

No, I haven't seen Prelude. I can easily believe it's awful, however.

See for yourself. Get the trade this year.

...it's so unfair that Tommy gets to be honest with the fans while Kevin has to be constantly lying.

I LOL'ed.

This just makes me regret buying all those Masterpieces and Super-Poseables cause that money could have been spent buying even more Yamatos than I already have.

Why does everyone learn this AFTER they get banned? A crying shame if you ask me.

I just got into another "discussion" with Kevin McKeever about how I think he's a liar regarding anything Robotech related. I always have to come here after posting at the Robotech site to remind myself why they annoy me so much over there.

I think I know how this is going to end...

Just how complex or messed up is the robotech universe? I've never seen it before but it seems really messy to me. I wouldn't mind getting into it but it just seems like a big jumble of crap. Gundam is kind of messy with all the alternate universe stuff, but at least you can pick a universe and understand it. When i look at robotech, it's macross but at the same time its not.

I suppose it would have been easier if i'd watched robotech first as a kid, but then would i look at macross the same way as i do with robo?

Watch the show on Youtube, then read the past ten or so threads dedicated to this stuff. You'll probably be done by 2011.