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HG and Robotech Debates


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Some of the haters feel Epcar is starting to feel embarrassed to be associated with RT because he didn't talk about it. That's not the case he and his wife (who also worked on RT) has done con appearances (even in 2010) and was they were at RT25 dinner. People are taking a tiny bit of information and running with it. I could see if he was asked about RT and purposely dissed it but I don't see it here.

I understand that, I was just asking who you were referring to by "Robotech haters"? In your post mentioned before, you said Robotech lovers and haters. I can see the people who love Robotech beyond their own lives to get bent outta shape, but are the "haters" Macross fans? If so, I haven't seen anyone come even remotely undone about that.

I think the one thing fans need to wake up to, is the fact that these voice actors aren't fanboys and girls over the stuff they do. They may like one more than another, but they aren't posting on rt.com boards asking what the LAM is going to be about, or when. They're not petitioning for Southern Cross toys, and they aren't giving praise and worship to HG. If RT fans would realize that they're just normal people hustling for work, then maybe they wouldn't be so trumped over why a good VA like Richard didn't mention Robotech.

As for the RT25 dinner, I was there, and I've been to several other functions where Richard, Tony Oliver, and several other well known VAs have been. They're great people, but sometimes when they're around other Robotech fans, I've seen those fans only talk Robotech to them. I'm sure somewhere deep down, although they'd probably never admit it, they get a little annoyed at only having a one dimensional conversation. It's why when I talk with them, I make it a point to not bring up Robotech. In doing that, you open up a whole new world of things you may have in common with someone, and get to know them on a personal level. Just my opinion there, but if I was in their shoes, I'd find it refreshing to see a fan talk about regular topics of conversation, and ask about how the family is doing, and when the next poker game is, and what type of drink do I like, shaken or stirred, ya know?

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I'm sure somewhere deep down, although they'd probably never admit it, they get a little annoyed at only having a one dimensional conversation. It's why when I talk with them, I make it a point to not bring up Robotech. In doing that, you open up a whole new world of things you may have in common with someone, and get to know them on a personal level. Just my opinion there, but if I was in their shoes, I'd find it refreshing to see a fan talk about regular topics of conversation, and ask about how the family is doing, and when the next poker game is, and what type of drink do I like, shaken or stirred, ya know?

Which brings up a point. Do they even know or care about these VAs' work outside of RT?

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Which brings up a point. Do they even know or care about these VAs' work outside of RT?

Some do from those I know, but the robotech fanatics that are on their own crusade, I doubt. Those are the people I see only pestering them about Robotech. Even at Richard Epcar's band gig at the House of Blues, there was the one fanboy who was only talking about Robotech to Richard. I was thinking "Geez, this guy is playing a show in 30 minutes, and the only thing you can think or want to talk to him about is a damn cartoon? I felt bad for richard, and luckily, the group of us showed up with Steve Kramer, who did the VA for Angelo Dante in southern Cross and also did a lot of writing for robotech, and he was able to pull Richard from that, as well as have a round of drinks with us.

But going back to your question, I don't think they give a rat's @ss about what other work they do. It seems that for all they care, that VA could be homeless and starving, and all they'd be concerned with was asking them about Robotech. It's strange, but that's how it comes off sometimes from them.

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Oh thats right, they made it to where only members could see pictures, well in that case.....

here's what I linked to

outer_darkness_cover_page_by_spark300c-d32ofo5.jpg

robotech_outerdarkness_pg1_ep1_by_spark300c-d37osum.jpg

robotech_outerdarkness_pg2_ep1_by_spark300c-d385f9n.jpg

again joke is up, which one of you is trolling the fandom =P

My eyes!!! My eyes are bleeding!!!

Or to quote Londo Molari from Babylon 5: "It's not the smelll, it's the buring of the eyes!!!"

Oh, you mean this one....

reminder-emoticon-string-around-finger.gif

:p :P

Nah, the red one with the cheap grin giving the Chicago Wave with both hands. ;)B))

Richard's resume is pretty long in the anime biz. There's alot he most likely did not mention.

He also did a few video games, one that comes to mind is Ziggy in the Xenosaga games. I don't know if he was involved with the masterpiece Xenogears, though (I just checked Wikipedia, he wasn't). He was also in Mana Khemia: Alchemist of Al-Revis as Flay Gunnar and Zeppel Kriever. He was also King Aryglyph VIII in Star Ocean III, amazing. Edited by Wanzerfan
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He was also King Aryglyph VIII in Star Ocean III, amazing.

i THOUGHT King Aryglyph's VA sounded rather familiar the last time i went through SOIII six months or so ago...

Edited by Shaorin
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"Death Robotech Anime"...I'm not sure what that means, but it sounds like something I can get behind:

[link removed] :lol:

EDIT: Hmmm...looks like the site itself is unsafe...so here's a screengrab:

deathrobotechanime.jpg

HUH??? That was quite odd, as the verbage is a short about the commonality of anxiety students share with tests. But OK.

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Ah, the darkside of search engines, it got tons of these misleading websites. I wonder how many RT fans were fooled into clicking the site thinking it has actual content about Robotech.

Edited by Moly_Sigang
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Ah, the darkside of search engines, it got tons of these misleading websites. I wonder how many RT fans were fooled into clicking the site thinking it has actual content about Robotech.

Well considering the fact that some of them were naive enough to believe that ASTRO PLAN was the next Robotech sequel.....I wouldn't put it past them.

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Anxiety is what RT fans feel when there isn't a new poll up at the website.

And don't forget the lack of new trivia quizzes too. Or the lack of new things for Robotech for that matter.

Edited by Moly_Sigang
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Calling Robotech "death" is a bit over dramatic, don't you think? I don't have any issues with Robotech (at least it's original inception, that's not counting Shadow Chronicles or anything after). What is the cancer of Robotech though, are the so-called fans, that seem to be brought up over and over in these threads and other websites. But, that's neither here nor there. It's been nice and quiet, and not having to recap on stupidity has been a good thing as of late.

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Calling Robotech "death" is a bit over dramatic, don't you think? I don't have any issues with Robotech (at least it's original inception, that's not counting Shadow Chronicles or anything after). What is the cancer of Robotech though, are the so-called fans, that seem to be brought up over and over in these threads and other websites. But, that's neither here nor there. It's been nice and quiet, and not having to recap on stupidity has been a good thing as of late.

Robotech makes people create podcasts.

Edited by chrisk
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As I was surfing the net today, I found tons and tons of Robotech related podcasts. There have been a few in the past that were well received. Why is it now, over recent time, has there been a need for fans, but more importantly, the nutjobs, to start up all these ridiculous podcasts that only rehash the same crap that is talked about on their forums? A few of us were speculating on this, and there maybe a couple of possibilities. However, I'm interested in hearing what you guys have to think about the reasoning.

One of the things I thought of, was the fact that most of them believe that the loudest voice is the right one. Another idea was that they do it for the attention and accolades of being "cool" as a Robotech fan. On the contrary, I didn't see any Macross specific podcasts, and it dawned on me that it maybe due to the fact that Macross fans don't have anything to prove or legitimize. that's not to say that a good Macross podcast can't be started, but you get my point.

I hear part of one RT podcast, and it's whining about Macross and nothing but idol speculation. I hear part of another, and its idol speculation, and yet another is the same thing. What happened to bringing something new to the table, or actually talking about the show the podcast is about? I'm not saying that speculation should be thrown out, but in going to JT's podcast, it had so much substance other than ranting and speculation. It talked about the show itself, it had interviews, talked about fan works, etc. It was everything, and had something for every fan. I seem to feel that RT fans are losing their minds and having to create their own news to fill the gap of none from the source. Anyways, your thoughts?

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As I was surfing the net today, I found tons and tons of Robotech related podcasts. There have been a few in the past that were well received. Why is it now, over recent time, has there been a need for fans, but more importantly, the nutjobs, to start up all these ridiculous podcasts that only rehash the same crap that is talked about on their forums? A few of us were speculating on this, and there maybe a couple of possibilities. However, I'm interested in hearing what you guys have to think about the reasoning.

I can think of a few reasons.

The relative ease of producing modern podcasts means that more people are capable of doing it. Which means you're going to get more idiots producing podcasts than before.

Since the Robotech franchise has been stagnant for several years, there's little motivation for ordinary fans to start up their own podcasts, as opposed to obnoxious fans who are simply seeking attention. Any kind of attention.

On the contrary, I didn't see any Macross specific podcasts, and it dawned on me that it maybe due to the fact that Macross fans don't have anything to prove or legitimize. that's not to say that a good Macross podcast can't be started, but you get my point.

Most likely, there are simply less Macross fans than Robotech fans in the USA. In a wholly unscientific survey, the last time I checked Facebook groups 2 or 3 years ago, there were more Robotech groups than Macross groups. And the actual membership size of the Robotech groups dwarfed the Macross groups.

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As I was surfing the net today, I found tons and tons of Robotech related podcasts. There have been a few in the past that were well received. Why is it now, over recent time, has there been a need for fans, but more importantly, the nutjobs, to start up all these ridiculous podcasts that only rehash the same crap that is talked about on their forums? A few of us were speculating on this, and there maybe a couple of possibilities. However, I'm interested in hearing what you guys have to think about the reasoning.

I blame youtube.

One of the things I thought of, was the fact that most of them believe that the loudest voice is the right one. Another idea was that they do it for the attention and accolades of being "cool" as a Robotech fan. On the contrary, I didn't see any Macross specific podcasts, and it dawned on me that it maybe due to the fact that Macross fans don't have anything to prove or legitimize. that's not to say that a good Macross podcast can't be started, but you get my point.

I hear part of one RT podcast, and it's whining about Macross and nothing but idol speculation. I hear part of another, and its idol speculation, and yet another is the same thing. What happened to bringing something new to the table, or actually talking about the show the podcast is about? I'm not saying that speculation should be thrown out, but in going to JT's podcast, it had so much substance other than ranting and speculation. It talked about the show itself, it had interviews, talked about fan works, etc. It was everything, and had something for every fan. I seem to feel that RT fans are losing their minds and having to create their own news to fill the gap of none from the source. Anyways, your thoughts?

Macross forums are more active and there's more content.

Edited by BeyondTheGrave
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On the contrary, I didn't see any Macross specific podcasts, and it dawned on me that it maybe due to the fact that Macross fans don't have anything to prove or legitimize. that's not to say that a good Macross podcast can't be started, but you get my point.

The thing is Macross fans tend to have diverse interests and hobbies outside of Macross. several people on this board run good podcasts, but they're all general toy/movie/anime podcasts. Robotech fans on the other hand live in delusional worlds where Robotech is the be-all end-all of media franchises and all other forms of entertainment are either non-existent or irrelevant owing to there massive inferiority to the multi-generational epic that is ROBOTECH.

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Robotech fans are finally starting to notice the smell off of that rotting decaying corpse they call a franchise. Look what happened in the past couple years:

-Tommy Yune has cockteased them 50 too many times. He does nothing, he turns out nothing, he will in the end give them absolutely nothing.

-Their true savoir of the franchise, the man they always knew would come back and bring them the epic reobotech follow through they deserved died. Now they have nothing but Tommy Yune, and he does absolutely freakin' nothing!

-Robotech.com has become an insane asylum full of the most self loathing remnants of the fandom. They hate everyone including themselves, and refuse to expand their interests outwards.

-WB has silently killed their last hope ace in the hole for a revival. With no live action movie, there is no hope for re-invigorated interest in the franchise. With Tommy Yune in charge, there's no hope of someone else running with any potential remake/sequal. Transformers has been remade time and again, Thundercats & Voltron are on the verge of a rebirth. But Robotech? Nada, because Tommy Yune does nothing but tease of things he might do, but probably won't. Hell, at this point, I doubt even the Shadow Chronicles really exists, I think that was just a bit of Inception that Yune played on everyone.

So yeah, any smart fan has moved on to other things. Take a look here, the most sensable & sane of the Robotech fanbase who want to remain fans have embraced Macross on these forums. The ones who refuse to acknowledge the existence of anything but Robotech hang back and abuse each other.

As for why there aren't a ton of Macross podcsts, why would there be. We have active new content, and "in general" we tend to openly delve into other fandoms.

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[...] Robotech fans on the other hand live in delusional worlds where Robotech is the be-all end-all of media franchises and all other forms of entertainment are either non-existent or irrelevant owing to there massive inferiority to the multi-generational epic that is ROBOTECH.

Eh... it wasn't always thus. It's just that so many of the remaining Robotech fans have spent their whole lives trying to justify their continued faith in the Robotech franchise, and latched onto Harmony Gold's claims that the Robotech TV series was a genre-defying masterpiece that created the anime industry in North America because it's easier than admitting they've wasted twenty-five years obsessing over a franchise that flopped back in the 80's. Harmony Gold encourages that behavior, because it's good for business in the short term. Those fanatic fans are blind to Robotech's problems and are eager to prove to themselves that the franchise is still alive and viable, so they'll buy ANYTHING with the Robotech name on it.

Admittedly, since I was a Johnny-come-lately to the Robotech franchise when I first joined Robotech.com in '03, that's the only Robotech fandom I've ever known. I think I was probably one of the last rationally-minded fans purged from the fandom in the name of protecting Tommy's fragile feelings. Nowadays, if you visit a RT fansite and you aren't one of the nutjobs who thinks Robotech is the best thing EVER, you're the enemy.

Robotech fans are finally starting to notice the smell off of that rotting decaying corpse they call a franchise. Look what happened in the past couple years:

Oh, of course... and since '06, the fanatics have been doing their best to purge anyone who spots Robotech for the long-dead mess it is from the fandom so they won't bother "the real fans". The minute anyone starts to ask uncomfortable questions like "Can we see some proof you're working on Shadow Rising?" or "Is there any actual news about the live action movie?" then they're marked for a ban on robotech.com and robotechx.com and then told they're a "Macross purist troll" and kicked out.

-Tommy Yune has cockteased them 50 too many times. He does nothing, he turns out nothing, he will in the end give them absolutely nothing.

But so long as certain individuals think they have something to gain from supporting Tommy, any criticism of him will get a Robotech fan labeled persona non grata...

-Their true savoir of the franchise, the man they always knew would come back and bring them the epic reobotech follow through they deserved died. Now they have nothing but Tommy Yune, and he does absolutely freakin' nothing!

Hehe... I find this almost painfully ironic. The "true savior" of Robotech was the one man who'd had even less success than Tommy at inflicting new material on the fandom. Talk about the blind leading the blind...:D

-Robotech.com has become an insane asylum full of the most self loathing remnants of the fandom. They hate everyone including themselves, and refuse to expand their interests outwards.

Because expanding their interests outwards would entail admitting that Robotech isn't the be-all end-all of the anime industry, and the uncomfortable realization that nobody outside the fandom gives a damn about it.

-WB has silently killed their last hope ace in the hole for a revival. With no live action movie, there is no hope for re-invigorated interest in the franchise.

Just think of it as Warner Bros proactively protecting audiences nationwide from Robotech... though the lack of any potential for rebooting Robotech can't be blamed entirely on Tommy. In order to get a series out there, the idiots at Harmony Gold would need to get a network to give them an episode commitment first, and the morons that've been tasked with running Robotech (Carl and Tommy) have so thoroughly destroyed its reputation that no self-respecting network will touch it, and even Canada's SPACE channel stuffed it into a timeslot that would have been dismal even for an infomercial. Since no network will touch Robotech, and even Tommy admits they have trouble getting investors in Robotech projects, the chances of a reboot are zero. You can probably credit Carl for this more than Tommy...

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Interesting to read that HG has real estate interests. It makes some sense why they are acting that way about the Macross license and the "product" called robotech.

They don't really know about anime and the fandom that much. Just trying to milk as much as they can without much work, which is real estate in the broad manner. (sorry to all real estate people in the forum)

I remember joining the Robotech home page about 2001 when it first started. and liked going to it. But it is like a page that never changes now. there is no new news as they haven't been creating anything new. And until there is, Robotech is going to die it's own death. And all the robotech fans are waiting on the chronicles of Rick Hunter which will never happen because they don't own the rights to the Macross characters. Just the distribution rights.

And now reading of the Robotech haters. That is such a mornic concept. I still like it for what it is, but do not hate it.

All people want them to do is just let the newer Macross series through. And as some one pointed out that all series need a distributor. But they have the Bandai arm to do that. HG should have to purchase the right to distribute the newer series if they want them as in all companies that distribute anime. Not black mail a company for them.

As for more Robotech Fans then Macross fans is interesting. I think that is wrong. I haven't even bothered to look for the podcasts but I would guess that it would most likely be the same people doing them all. And watching them. Sort of a self perpetual motion machine.

And I think Macross is getting new fans everyday, with the new Movie coming out and merchandise, should get peoples attension.

What has HG/Robotech done to attact new fans? Other then promise more or new "product" which is never coming, or is delayed, for how many issues. And from what I am reading they can't really distribute much these days, and they have pissed off most distributers. (Funanimation & WB). So there options are few. Just be interesting to see where they go now. Wonder what Tommy and the others there have planned and will actually do to try an reboot Robotech.

I will probably get flammed from die hard Robotech fans for this post. But there is much more anime out there then Robotech. And it still is only based on others works. Which will never match up to the orginal creators ideas. It was great for it's time. But that time is over. Time to move on and see what else is out there.

enough of my wafling on, and that's my 2 cents worth.

Edited by Smegalot
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But it is like a page that never changes now. there is no new news as they haven't been creating anything new. And until there is, Robotech is going to die it's own death. And all the robotech fans are waiting on the chronicles of Rick Hunter which will never happen because they don't own the rights to the Macross characters. Just the distribution rights.

Harmony Gold's staff is full of excuses for why the franchise's official website is never updated... and they shed some light on how the Robotech franchise is run. On a couple of occasions, the staff has been surprisingly (and unintentionally, no doubt) straightforward about why they never do anything with the franchise's website. The reason given by Kevin McKeever when he was asked why they've never bothered to update the actual content of the franchise's official website was that the "powers that be" only care about the store. Since robotech.com doesn't bring in any money via its community section or the Infopedia, they don't see those parts of the site as having any importance. On robotech.com, the store isn't there for the sake of the community section, it's that the community section is there solely for the sake of the store.

As to why there's no news, they claim that the front page of the site can only be updated after news pieces go through a time-consuming and unnecessarily laborious approvals process. The lack of news is a mixture of the company's own bureaucratic intransigence and having nothing that's actually newsworthy. WB has apparently forbidden them from saying what little they know about the live action movie, and because Shadow Rising is on hold and they have no other prospects, there's just no news to talk about. McKeever even claims they got the Twitter feed so they could sidestep the approvals process to get things on the front page of robotech.com. XD

As for the absence of "Rick Hunter"... they're not letting an inability to use the original character and mechanical designs stop them from trying to continue the ongoing story of Rick Hunter... it's just that they gave him a new face so the fans just have to take their word for it that it's the same guy:

Edited by Seto Kaiba
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On robotech.com, the store isn't there for the sake of the community section, it's that the community section is there solely for the sake of the store.

That is true for practically every fan community section hosted by a company. The only problem for RT is the miniscule amount of new animation over the years.

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That is true for practically every fan community section hosted by a company. The only problem for RT is the miniscule amount of new animation over the years.

Oh, granted... but on most official fan community sites, the management has at least enough common sense to realize that telling the fans to their faces that you only care about their money and that you'll never do anything for them unless it directly results in you making a profit is probably a really bad idea. Now, I've never worked in a marketing department, but I'm pretty sure telling your customer base you think of them as entranced magpies with wallets isn't going to go over well no matter how you spin it. If you maintain a good relationship with your customer base and throw them the occasional bone at your own expense, they'll be a lot less likely to desert you for someone else when you finally do screw up royally... and this is something most franchise owners get, but Harmony Gold has never really understood.

Even though the stuff that isn't directly related to "Buy our sh*t!" on a franchise's official website isn't going to generate revenue in and of itself, it keeps the fans active and happy. It gives them something to talk about in the forums, and it makes the fans feel like the company actually cares and isn't just trying to shake them down for a quick buck. That happy-go-lucky feeling makes the fans that much more likely to pony up when the store rolls out a new product. Keeping the fans happy is a long-term investment in your entertainment franchise... though I suppose since Harmony Gold has more or less eliminated everyone who wasn't a fanatic, they probably don't think it's necessary anymore.

Edited by Seto Kaiba
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