HG and Robotech Debates

[Einherjar]

Salary? Dude, they do not usually pay writers and artists on salary. Almost all of them are freelancers.

I didn't know, I thought you hire them and keep them on the project for the entire process.

Edited September 14, 2009 by Einherjar

[RedWolf]

I've said it before, and I'll say it agian. You want Robotech with original writing, characters, mecha? It was galled Exosquad, and it was good. Unfortunately, it wasn't an HG product

I bet there are people who think Exosquad is a future version of Macross, due to the Destroid copycat toys.

LOL

Anyway I have fond memories of Exosquad. As it is the only American made mecha show that took itself seriously. Even Battletech didn't do that. Characters do die. Even if some are cloned.

It had a epilogue and all. Even if the creators were hoping for a third season with an ambigous alien race which had a structure on Mars.

The cancellation did save it from Sorting Algorithm of Evil which plagues Robotech.

Not to say this doesn't happen to Macross but you can't beat 4 million ships almost wiping the entirety of humanity leaving only over a million survivors. Macross 7 and Macross Frontier got off lucky comparably.

In Robotech humans are still living in a post apocalyptic world with ever looming threats whereas Macross sequels humans are in a golden age of exploration encountering a few bumps every couple of decades.

[Jasonc]

It would appear they are taking this stance due to active legal issues, and if they were to work with HG it would almost be the same as saying they are letting their case cease. Now if HG did go to them years ago, either BW kindly refused a meeting or actually heard them out and never gave a yes or no. In Japan business nobody publicly says NO, they just never give an answer which is basically a NO.

This is more along the lines of how it probably went. Going to Japan with a pocket full of money, or a blank check, and simply expecting people to bow before the almighty dollar is stupid to some cultures that don't only run their business based on making a buck. Maybe it would've been different if HG approached differently, but in any case, things worked out good for BW. They have a movie coming, Frontier was a huge success, and the product line it simply huge. I just wish for us, we could get some of this stuff officially released here. I understand why HG wouldn't want it over here. Their own product would get downgraded to squat.

[Seto Kaiba]

Salary? Dude, they do not usually pay writers and artists on salary. Almost all of them are freelancers.

Yes, NORMALLY that is the case... but Robotech is atypical in that the vast majority of the "creative" staff are full-time Harmony Gold employees. Robotech: the Shadow Chronicles's story was conceived by Tommy Yune, Tom Bateman, and Steve Yun, with a screenplay by Frank Agrama and Ford Riley, with the character and mechanical designs done in large measure by Tommy Yune... the only person on that list who isn't a full-time HG employee is Ford Riley.

[Funkenstein]

I feel like an idiot.

[Freiflug88]

Shadow Chronicles should conclude Robotech as we know it. At the end of Shadow Chronicles the Robotech universe should be brought entirely back together, Earth should be at calm, and everyone should be happy and rebuilding. Then, if Robotech continues from there, it should have a fresh start free of everything that ever existed in the original show. Since Tommy is sitting on Shadow Rising until there's more developments with the LAM I suspect this won't be the case. I think they should have used the Shadow series to keep fans interested in Robotech during the development of the LAM. A new RT animated film every year and then boosh, the LAM and the Robotech universe is cleaned up of the shadow arch and ready for a new tie-in animated series to go with the film.

Judging from the fact that an entire Shadow Rising's script was leaked less than a year after Shadow Chronicles, all the completed Shadow Rising designs on Tommy Yune's desk, and the fact that Voice Actors like Richard Epcar were apparently signed on for 3 movies from the start it seems to me like HG has everything in place for their Shadow Trilogy and just haven't gotten around to actual production work. I don't think its because Tommy Yune decided to go lazy and sit on Shadow Rising until the LAM, I think it is more likely that Tobey Maquire and Warner Brothers requested Harmony Gold to put Shadow Chronicles on hiatus while they produced the LAM. While it may sound appealing to many to have two Robotech Shadow movies during the long wait to the LAM, its not very appealing to the creative team that is putting together the re-imagined Robotech LAM. For one the LAM is obviously trying to sell itself as a re-imaging of the classic Robotech: Macross Saga, but showing people Robotech Shadow Movies shortly before the LAM will lead fans to identify Robotech more with Shadow Chronicles and lead to expections that the LAM will be some kind of Live Action prequel to the Shadow Trilogy.

[RedWolf]

I feel like an idiot.

Sorry I thought you knew. FYI Destroids did appear under the Exosquad brand.

http://exosquad.virtue.nu/exorobotech.htm

For some odd reason, numerous toys from the Robotech series of the mid 1980's were rereleased under the Exo Squad toy line. I have no idea why they did this, as I'm not too interested in this series. Here are the photos!

Gladiator Destroid

Spartan Destroid

Raidar X Destroid

Excaliber Mk VI Destroid

Botoru Battalion Zentraedi Power Armor

Quadrono Battalion Zentraedi Power Armor

Bioroid Invid Fighter

Invid Scout Ship

VF-1S Veritech Fighter

Veritech Hover Tank

Zentraedi Officer's Battlepod

Zentraedi Tactical Battlepod

Invid Shock Trooper

Battloids

Spartan - Tactical Corps Civil Defense

Gladiator - Tactical Corps Civil Defense

Excaliber Mk VI - Tactical Corps Civil Defense

RaidarX - Tactical Corps Civil Defense

[VFTF1]

Yes, NORMALLY that is the case... but Robotech is atypical in that the vast majority of the "creative" staff are full-time Harmony Gold employees. Robotech: the Shadow Chronicles's story was conceived by Tommy Yune, Tom Bateman, and Steve Yun, with a screenplay by Frank Agrama and Ford Riley, with the character and mechanical designs done in large measure by Tommy Yune... the only person on that list who isn't a full-time HG employee is Ford Riley.

So poor Mark Hamil was the only freelancer involved with the project?

This is worse than when he did that time travel movie...

Pete

[Ghost Train]

Prediction: After a successful trilogy of movies, Robotech will end in a Dallas/Newhart style plot twist, with Tommy Yune waking up in the mid 80's after accidentaly getting into his parents pot stash. "Woah, that was a bad trip."

Or the SDF-3 has traveled back in time circa-1980's, where in Dark Tower fashion they meet up with the actual Tommy Yune and Frank Agrama and convinced them to pen the story known as Robotech to prevent the destruction of their parallel universe by the Asian Warlord Shoji "Da Troll" Kawamori (who turns out to be the leader of the Haydonites). HG and the forces of good prevail during an epic battle in a remote pacific island fought by transforming combat lawyers. The Big West Macross timeline is thus erased from history forever.

15 years later Al Gore becomes President of the United States.

Edited September 14, 2009 by Ghost Train

[jenius]

Judging from the fact that an entire Shadow Rising's script was leaked less than a year after Shadow Chronicles, all the completed Shadow Rising designs on Tommy Yune's desk, and the fact that Voice Actors like Richard Epcar were apparently signed on for 3 movies from the start it seems to me like HG has everything in place for their Shadow Trilogy and just haven't gotten around to actual production work. I don't think its because Tommy Yune decided to go lazy and sit on Shadow Rising until the LAM, I think it is more likely that Tobey Maquire and Warner Brothers requested Harmony Gold to put Shadow Chronicles on hiatus while they produced the LAM. While it may sound appealing to many to have two Robotech Shadow movies during the long wait to the LAM, its not very appealing to the creative team that is putting together the re-imagined Robotech LAM. For one the LAM is obviously trying to sell itself as a re-imaging of the classic Robotech: Macross Saga, but showing people Robotech Shadow Movies shortly before the LAM will lead fans to identify Robotech more with Shadow Chronicles and lead to expections that the LAM will be some kind of Live Action prequel to the Shadow Trilogy.

Tommy said at Comic-con that Shadow Rising was sitting in pre-production because he's hoping that WB will make the Robotech brand more widely known so he could get better sponsorship deals. He didn't mention anything about WB not wanting to make the movie. It seems to me that it's in WB's best interest if Robotech isn't just the answer to some 80s trivia when the LAM goes into production.

Exosquad is good and is on HULU for those who haven't seen it. The animation is bad. The first three episodes are ruined by the show's intro (it's really stupid). After that though things kinda pick up and it's fairly mature as far as cartoons go. Lots of people die, there's some enslaving going on, entire shuttle crafts full of prisoners are flung into the sun... pretty entertaining.

[VFTF1]

Between Exosquad, Transformers, and Robotech... the VF-1 has sure gotten a lot of traction... poor little guy... the Valkyrie is like the town (Cobr-) lu-lu-lu-lu-lut (my way of getting around Slurm...): everyone seems to have screwed with her

Pete

[Gubaba]

Believe or not, the reason why it "sucked" has nothing to Macross characters or the lack thereof. It had to do with not puting the right effort in the script and character development, it had to do with poor planning and the assumption that H.G. presented that the new products mere prescense was enough. Showing up isnt good enough anymore. Does this make sence to you? Can we agree on this?

Did you not say that if they got away from Macross characters, then it would be better? Well, they DID get away from Macross characters (all except one) and it still sucked. So it seems to me that by saying SC's failure had nothing to do with Macross characters is arguing for my beliefs...so of course, I agree with you here.

My first question is this. When did I bring in Macross Frontier (good or bad) or anything else in that post? I was talking about Robotech walking as far away as it can from "Macross" and instead going along with the 2040 timeline (New Gen./Mospeada influence), which of all people I would believe you would want . Do you personally want more "Macross" in Robotech? I'm talking about future Robotech products NOT future or recent Macross (post 1985) venutres. I have no interest in Robotech moving forward the "Macross" the timeline/storyline. Robotech needs to go in its own direction and succeed or fail on its future releases.

I don't believe I suggested that you brought up Frontier. I brought it up, because I think it's in HG's interest to keep the confusion level between Macross and Robotech high, so they can leech off of the success of any new Macross series.

As I said, though, I may be wrong about that. I'm not sure.

Second, Shadow Chronicles problem was due to poor planning and script/ character development, they didnt work hard enough to make a script that made the characters more likeable and compelling. They havent worked hard enough to plan to have a follow up to move the storyline forward since Shadow Chronicles. If the story is good and characters compelling people tend to approove of the product no matter how far away Macross would be from it.

I agree.

Third , I have YET to attest to Robotech being such a superior "household" name, it isnt. I wouldnt even say Macross is a household name. I know many people who dont recognize Robotech NOR Macross with the name or footage. Star Wars, Star Trek, Transformers, G.I. Joe and Harry Potter are household names, just about everyone has been exposed to these products. Anime products are becoming more mainstream but are far from becoming "household names" . I would be foolish to even assert that, thus my assertion that Robotech's (or any other products) fan base is key in promoting its product (and that H.G. owes it to them to make a better product than they have done recently).

Did I say that Macross is a household name? If I did, I was wrong.

Finally, the assertion that future H.G. Robotech projects should not have the Robotech name with it is ridiculous, just as much as it would be to suggest the Macross franchise do the same or you in future job interviews to go under an assumed name.

So...you yourself state that most people don't recognize Robotech by name or by footage. So why is the name valuable? If they come up with something entirely new and unconnected to the original series, why saddle it with a dated, lame-sounding name that most people will not remember? Why not just forget about Robotech, "the little series that couldn't," and move on to something entirely new?

[Seto Kaiba]

So poor Mark Hamil was the only freelancer involved with the project?

I was only counting the "creative" staff, not the voice actors (who ARE freelancers).

[Ginrai]

Yes, NORMALLY that is the case... but Robotech is atypical in that the vast majority of the "creative" staff are full-time Harmony Gold employees. Robotech: the Shadow Chronicles's story was conceived by Tommy Yune, Tom Bateman, and Steve Yun, with a screenplay by Frank Agrama and Ford Riley, with the character and mechanical designs done in large measure by Tommy Yune... the only person on that list who isn't a full-time HG employee is Ford Riley.

Annnnnd Ford Riley, the screenwriter, was a freelancer, proving my point.

[Seto Kaiba]

Did you not say that if they got away from Macross characters, then it would be better? Well, they DID get away from Macross characters (all except one) and it still sucked. So it seems to me that by saying SC's failure had nothing to do with Macross characters is arguing for my beliefs...so of course, I agree with you here.

While I agree with the overall sentiment that Robotech: the Shadow Chronicles's faults largely had nothing to do with the absence of Macross characters, I do think it bears mentioning that the presence of one Macross Saga character (Rick Hunter) was one of the movie's main selling points, and figured prominently in the pre-release hype.

So...you yourself state that most people don't recognize Robotech by name or by footage. So why is the name valuable? If they come up with something entirely new and unconnected to the original series, why saddle it with a dated, lame-sounding name that most people will not remember? Why not just forget about Robotech, "the little series that couldn't," and move on to something entirely new?

Why is the Robotech name valuable? It isn't... at least not in any artistic sense. Its primary value these days is as a way to milk the original Macross series for more money, and ensure they'll profit from any stateside Macross releases. Most people don't even remember what Robotech is, and the few that do tend to regard it with scorn and derision. The networks which still carry Robotech almost exclusively have it in nosebleed timeslots like 7am Saturday, when nobody in their right mind is going to be awake to watch it, and Shadow Chronicles certainly didn't set the world on fire.

As so many of us have pointed out in the past, Harmony Gold's creative staff just doesn't have what it takes to make their own, original content, and they know it. They've only lasted this long by continually recycling content from Macross, Southern Cross, and Mospeada, and occasionally the failed Robotech II: the Sentinels series. Every attempt at trying something new has been met with scorn and often outright disgust (Robotech 3000) because their entire creative process is imitative rather than innovative. The only thing that ever changes about it is what show they're trying to imitate. For Robotech II: the Sentinels it was Star Trek, for Robotech 3000 it was ReBoot and Roughnecks: the Starship Troopers Chronicles, and for Robotech: the Shadow Chronicles it was Battlestar Galactica. (I won't get into what the comics are imitating, since that changes almost from issue to issue, and covers too many titles). Introducing new characters seems to be about the limit of their creative ability... and even then those characters are often utterly generic, shallow stocks whose appeal depends mainly on their arbitrary relation to some character from the "original 85". The best they've done for original mechanical designs are some robotic equivalents of well-known animals (saber-toothed tigers) and minor variations on established designs (like the "Super Shadow Fighter" and "Synchro Beta").

Annnnnd Ford Riley, the screenwriter, was a freelancer, proving my point.

Ford Riley was the ONLY freelancer in that list... Frank Agrama is Harmony Gold's CEO, and Steve Yun, Tommy Yune, and Tom Bateman (are/were) regular Harmony Gold salaried staff.

Edited September 14, 2009 by Seto Kaiba

[EXO]

Just because they only put one name from Robotech in SC doesn't mean they're trying to get away from Macross. The bulk of their merchandising push is still the Macross designs and it's no secret they are out to control everything Macross outside of Japan. I mean why wouldn't you? You have a treasure chest in your hands and all you need is the key so you can plunder whats inside, you'd be desperate for that key also...

[Einherjar]

(I won't get into what the comics are imitating, since that changes almost from issue to issue, and covers too many titles)

Hoping at least some of this accurate, here's an example of new stuff they created for the Sentinels comics:

The Karbarrans

The Praxians (this is an alien?)

The Garudans

The Spheresians

The Perytonians

And probably the rest

Edited September 14, 2009 by Einherjar

[azrael]

I think you guys are confusing freelancing with Work-for-hire.

Work for Hire (or work made for hire) vs. Freelancer

The people who worked on it don't own the copyright to RT:SC so it's not freelancing.

[Freiflug88]

Tommy said at Comic-con that Shadow Rising was sitting in pre-production because he's hoping that WB will make the Robotech brand more widely known so he could get better sponsorship deals. He didn't mention anything about WB not wanting to make the movie. It seems to me that it's in WB's best interest if Robotech isn't just the answer to some 80s trivia when the LAM goes into production.

So they have changed their answer on the matter, again. First Kevin Mckeaver said that Shadow Rising was on hiatus, then he says he didn't mean hiatus as its defined in the dictionary and that Shadow Rising production will continue at HG in parrareel to WB's production of the LAM, now apparently Shadow Rising is supposedly on hiatus until the Robotech brand is more widely known for better sponsorship deals. Personally I don't think that is the case. The Shadow trilogy was nothing more then a scheme to profit from zealous Robotech fans and with the profits generated from Shadow Chronicles and from licensing Robotech to WB HG could easily produce Shadow Rising now and then shelve it until the Robotech brand becomes more popular if they really wanted to. Besides if it was WB's best interest to have Robotech become more popular through Shadow Rising between now and when the LAM hits theaters wouldn't they help sponsor it? I mean if they are really serious about spending millions on making a blockbuster Robotech movie then sponsoring HG for an animated movie with a budget of only one million would be a piece of cake.

I believe the issue is that WB wants the Robotech brand to remain associated with the nostalgic 80s cartoon and not become too associated with the anime knockoff Shadow Chronicles. WB is trying to market this movie to mainstream audiences and of course mainstream audiences will naturally show more interests in a LAM associated with a classic 80s cartoon few remember then they would with a modern American made BS anime that is fresh in people's mind. Think of it this way if your making a LAM Evangelion movie would rather advertise to movie viewers that "Evangelion is the Watchmen of mecha anime" and associate the movie with the theatrical flop in the minds of movie goers or would you rather just state that "Evangelion is an anime classic that redefined the Mecha genere?"

Between Exosquad, Transformers, and Robotech... the VF-1 has sure gotten a lot of traction... poor little guy... the Valkyrie is like the town (Cobr-) lu-lu-lu-lu-lut (my way of getting around Slurm...): everyone seems to have screwed with her

Pete

So what if she's a popular girl... I'd still tap that tail fin.

Edited September 14, 2009 by Freiflug88

[jenius]

Seeing as Tommy essentially told the crowd "I'm just trying to make as much money as possible with Shadow Rising" I'm going to have a hard time accepting any theories that involve WB having an opinion on that Shadow story arch. Indeed, I find it entirely more plausible they simply don't care about it. Transformers is the the ball that got this rolling and it's been reinvented a billion times and still qualifies as an 80s cartoon. Beast Wars and all that jive didn't stop anyone from advertising that LAM via nostalgia.

[Ginrai]

Hoping at least some of this accurate, here's an example of new stuff they created for the Sentinels comics:

Yeah all of that stuff was created for the aborted Sentinels TV show, not the comics.

[akt_m]

This is more along the lines of how it probably went. Going to Japan with a pocket full of money, or a blank check, and simply expecting people to bow before the almighty dollar is stupid to some cultures that don't only run their business based on making a buck. Maybe it would've been different if HG approached differently, but in any case, things worked out good for BW. They have a movie coming, Frontier was a huge success, and the product line it simply huge. I just wish for us, we could get some of this stuff officially released here. I understand why HG wouldn't want it over here. Their own product would get downgraded to squat.

The problem is if there is enough people outside Japan that like anime that much.

[Whamhammer]

@Whamhammer

Do you know what it really takes to get everything you described? Money. This is a business.

You have to spend some money to make more money. Most of the time you even get what you paid for.

[HappyPenguins]

You have to spend some money to make more money. Most of the time you even get what you paid for.

Not just money, you need to have good ideas to begin with

Seeing as Tommy essentially told the crowd "I'm just trying to make as much money as possible with Shadow Rising" I'm going to have a hard time accepting any theories that involve WB having an opinion on that Shadow story arch. Indeed, I find it entirely more plausible they simply don't care about it. Transformers is the the ball that got this rolling and it's been reinvented a billion times and still qualifies as an 80s cartoon. Beast Wars and all that jive didn't stop anyone from advertising that LAM via nostalgia.

Why am I not surprised he said that? well.... he'd make a lot more damn money, if it was good in the first place.

Edited September 15, 2009 by HappyPenguins

[Whamhammer]

Did you not say that if they got away from Macross characters, then it would be better? Well, they DID get away from Macross characters (all except one) and it still sucked. So it seems to me that by saying SC's failure had nothing to do with Macross characters is arguing for my beliefs...so of course, I agree with you here.

No, I said that they should move away from Macross characters AND put a great deal of effort on making characters that are compelling and a story that is thought through and shows attention to detail as well looking like they had a plan for a continuation. Now, does that make sence to you?

I don't believe I suggested that you brought up Frontier. I brought it up, because I think it's in HG's interest to keep the confusion level between Macross and Robotech high, so they can leech off of the success of any new Macross series.

As I said, though, I may be wrong about that. I'm not sure.

So why not just say that in the first place? That you dont belive that they would do it the way I suggest because you think they just want to block Macross stuff? I know the direction youre moving with , I've already said my peice on future products moving away from Macross and into the 2040's (new gen) realm. So would you agree that your comment had little do with what I was talking about?

When it comes down to it, I'm the kind of Robotech fan that you could even consider to be "on your side" when it comes down to it. Sucess or failure, I want them to NOT use your Macross product and to stand on thier own in thier new endeavors. I've said that H.G. hasnt done the best job with the product and needs to do better, they need to treat their customer base better. Heck thats pretty similar to what some of you guys have been saying for a while too.

Did I say that Macross is a household name? If I did, I was wrong.

You didnt come out and say it, but it sure sounded like you were leaning that direction.

So...you yourself state that most people don't recognize Robotech by name or by footage. So why is the name valuable? If they come up with something entirely new and unconnected to the original series, why saddle it with a dated, lame-sounding name that most people will not remember? Why not just forget about Robotech, "the little series that couldn't," and move on to something entirely new?

There really seems to be alot going on between the lines on this one here, but I have a simple answer for you. Youre not going to sell me on your point. A future Robotech product should have the Robotech name. A future Macross product should have the Macross name. Next...

[VF5SS]

Yeah all of that stuff was created for the aborted Sentinels TV show, not the comics.

So they ripped it off from crappy American 80's sci-fi. Big deal.

[Whamhammer]

So poor Mark Hamil was the only freelancer involved with the project?

This is worse than when he did that time travel movie...

Pete

Poor guy, it seems that he only had a face only Lucas could love. Never figured why didnt manage to break out of that. Only movie I remember seeing him in (post Star Wars trilogy) was "Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back".

[Einherjar]

Mark Hamil will always have Joker.

You have to spend some money to make more money. Most of the time you even get what you paid for.

You also need to start out with a lot of money to get that whole cycle going. And not just HG levels of money, real money to actually do something with it. For instance, to hire people with the good ideas and strategies and to keep them. Otherwise, you're left with Sentinels and Shadow Chronicles.

[Gubaba]

No, I said that they should move away from Macross characters AND put a great deal of effort on making characters that are compelling and a story that is thought through and shows attention to detail as well looking like they had a plan for a continuation. Now, does that make sence to you?

So why not just say that in the first place? That you dont belive that they would do it the way I suggest because you think they just want to block Macross stuff? I know the direction youre moving with , I've already said my peice on future products moving away from Macross and into the 2040's (new gen) realm. So would you agree that your comment had little do with what I was talking about?

When it comes down to it, I'm the kind of Robotech fan that you could even consider to be "on your side" when it comes down to it. Sucess or failure, I want them to NOT use your Macross product and to stand on thier own in thier new endeavors. I've said that H.G. hasnt done the best job with the product and needs to do better, they need to treat their customer base better. Heck thats pretty similar to what some of you guys have been saying for a while too.

You didnt come out and say it, but it sure sounded like you were leaning that direction.

There really seems to be alot going on between the lines on this one here, but I have a simple answer for you. Youre not going to sell me on your point. A future Robotech product should have the Robotech name. A future Macross product should have the Macross name. Next...

I don't really want to get all itemized, because, to be honest, I was confused by your first response, and I was confused by this one.

I *think* my original post was clear (and I read it again to make sure), so all of this "Why didn't you say so in the first place"...well, I did say so in the first place.

And I'm curious as to why you thought I would be leaning towards saying Macross is a household name. Because i can't find any place that hints at that.

So, either my communication skills are worse than I thought, or your reading comprehension is. I'm honestly not sure which it is.

[BeyondTheGrave]

When it comes down to it, I'm the kind of Robotech fan that you could even consider to be "on your side" when it comes down to it. Sucess or failure, I want them to NOT use your Macross product and to stand on thier own in thier new endeavors. I've said that H.G. hasnt done the best job with the product and needs to do better, they need to treat their customer base better. Heck thats pretty similar to what some of you guys have been saying for a while too.

There are a few individuals who feel the same way. But from how it sounds HG and it legion platoon of fans doesn't feel the same way.

They want to re-live the Macross saga of Rick, Minmay and Lisa or at least have a decent ending.

So they put out the time paradox novels.

but anyway A smart move would be to do a complete reboot of the series.

With new or even updated designs.

[Gubaba]

There are a few individuals who feel the same way. But from how it sounds HG and it legion platoon of fans doesn't feel the same way.

They want to re-live the Macross saga of Rick, Minmay and Lisa or at least have a decent ending.

So they put out the time paradox novels.

but anyway A smart move would be to do a complete reboot of the series.

With new or even updated designs.

I still don't get it. If someone makes a Robotech show that has no connection to the original series, none of the same characters, none of the same concepts (except, of course, giant robots)...is it really still Robotech? Or is it just another giant robot show?

[BeyondTheGrave]

I still don't get it. If someone makes a Robotech show that has no connection to the original series, none of the same characters, none of the same concepts (except, of course, giant robots)...is it really still Robotech? Or is it just another giant robot show?

If most or some of the key elements are still present then possibly it could work out. Or they just may need to make it make it completely different in name only. There is a movie or show that was doen in that manner that I can't recall at the moment. I want to say Miami vice but I don't think that's it.

[Gubaba]

Or they just may need to make it make it completely different in name only.

And again, since the "Robotech" brand name is not well-remembered (or well-liked), why bother to use it at all?

It's like saying, "Well, we're thinking about making 'Yor: The Hunter of the Future Part 2.' But we don't have access to any of the characters, designs, or story concepts of the original 'Yor.' So we'll do something completely different and hope that the ten or eleven people who remember the original 'Yor' fondly will go see it, and the rest of the populace won't be turned off to seeing a sequel to something they never heard of (or didn't like) in the first place."

If it's going to be completely unconnected, why connect it at all?

[Einherjar]

Barring the similarity to spice melange, Protoculture could be the only thing that is original and connects the entire thing in the entire series. Thanks to all of its applications in the universe it could be a core element of future series. Maybe that's enough to keep the name of the show intact too. But it's more of a plot device than an element in the story.

Still, it's always been treated as the cause and solution to all of life's problems, why stop now?

[jenius]

Why not stop now? Protoculture needs to go... and it essentially already has gone by the end of the first Shadow Chronicles movie. Eliminating protoculture from Robotech also serves as a fantastic reason why all new mechs would have to be made and new mechs are really the name of the game when it comes to sequels.