Macross: Mecha You Must Experience
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.ย. 2020
- There's a reason this series has endured as long as it has, and it doesn't involve idols. To skip out on one of the best entries in the mecha genre is to do so at your peril.
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Harmony gold: copyright strike inbound
Harmony Gold Lost their copyright license agreement by court order. For not doing nothing for 30 years with the Robotech franchise. Thus the reason why we couldn't have all the other Macross animes. In japan when Macross was being made. Three companies were involved in the making of it. Handling three different aspects of the franchise. Then there was a fall between all 3 of them for who owns what of the franchise. Needless to say, it was messy, and the company that got the rights to the OG Macross were scumbags. So the original company started over with different Macross Anime shows. With their own stories without implying back to OG series because of that scumbag company ownership of the of OG Macross.
@@gregkun1 :
From what I understand it was a Japanese court that said that HG no longer has the rights, however, in during a California court hearing it was made public that the HG has the rights outside of Japan until March 2021. Supposedly that license was extended according to HG spokespersons, but know how shady their practices have been, it's really questionable whether they really do.
Battletech squad here: let them come. We've fought them for decades and we'll fight them again.
@@gregkun1 can you provide a cited source for that? Last what I heard is what Larque said; they have to give it up in March 2021, but applied to extend it again.
In regards to the Battletech issue in 2018 Harmony Gold's case against Battletech was dismissed on grounds of predijuice. They attempted to sue Hairbrained Schemes over the use of Marauders and Warhammers in their game, but unlike owners of the Battletech Ip who have taken a 'concede till they go away approach' Hairbrained Schemes fought them in the courts and won, leading to the whole case being dropped.
Apparently in the use of images as demonstration of ownership Harmony Gold tried to use mechs such as Atlas's as evidence. Needless to say that was quickly called out.
For those who do not know, Atlas's are very much a Battletech mech with no prior connection to any Anime.
This series singlehandedly defined my love for the F-14. I didn't even watch topgun till years later
actually the F-14 is Larger than the VF-1 Valkrie fighter , is more like the size of a F/A-18 but with Swept wings.
you can actually see this play out on Mazross Zero as F-14 vs the Anti UN SV-51 Stormvogel.
@@markplott4820 I know, it's not double seated either. Also the engines are apart like the F-14. But the F-18 wasn't a concept when Macross was made.
@@markplott4820 in the behind the scenes Shoji Kowamori stated he based the VF-1 Valkyrie on the F-14. Fun fact its also canon as the VF-0 of Macross 0 is designed by a design team from Northrop Grumman.
Talk to me Goose
fr
I was ten years old when this aired on TV. You are absolutely right that kids at the time were completely blown away by what we saw. There was nothing else like it.
Plus it was brave enough to have characters die. You didn't see that a lot (or at all) in American animation or the early dubbing of anime. Just look at Voltron.
Rick Hunter clicking the trigger on his (empty) gunpod; eyes full of shock and fear.
One of my earliest memories ,and it was so much more serious than anything else on TV.
Man, I adore the original SDF Macross, it’s a shame that Harmony Gold has screwed over the entire series.
That would take decades until HG went under and Bandai go grab the rights for save keeping.
Yeah
Remember the era Robotech was made.
People still called Anime, "Japanimation." and there was very little fandom in the US in 83 for Anime, Robotech is the show that is normally considered the start of Anime being taken serious in the US.
In 83 there was no home video market, VCR's existed but they were expensive and few people owned them so a video release only on a format not owned by many with a relevantly unknown animation style at the time would be akin to burning money.
During this time Harmony Gold had just licensed three Anime series, Macross, Southern Cross, and Mospaeda.
They originally started to do straight 1 for 1 dubs of the three as separate shows as they were made but then realized that none of them had enough episodes to air on broadcast Television at the time.
The ONLY way to sell a product like this at the time.
At that point Harmony Gold was looking at High Risk, Low Reward.
They had just bought several series they couldn't air, in an era before home video market, when people looked down on Anime (Speed Racer was the best known Anime of the time)
Carl Macek realized with just a few script edits he could combine the three series into one and get it on TV, and that's how Robotech came to be.
If I remember correctly he ended up with 90 days to translate and edit the script, edit the footage to match, and record the voice actors for the entire series and sell it to networks.
His ability to pull that off should get him something.
Harmony Gold after the fact have been dicks, so much so Carl Macek. The man who made the franchise for them (Including a sucessful Novel Series, Comics, and a Film) quit in disillusion in I think 93.
The issue is Harmony Gold is actually a real-estate company that some there in 82 bought a bunch of Anime and got them into the media business.
Because that's more of a fluke than a planned endeavor they just sit on the rights as they see themselves not as producers of a Space Opera but as Real-Estate Agency that make royalties on something they didn't really intend to be in to start with.
Finally Southern Cross was a complete FLOP in Japan and was cancelled before completion, and Mospaeda enjoyed Mediocre success.
The Robotech Dub is 85% accurate to Macross, it's the other two heavily edited into the Macross story line and some say that Robotech actually salvaged Southern Cross all together and that Mospaeda was handled better as well.
I regret that I have but one like to give this extremely well-reasoned and intelligent comment
I'm 53, and was lucky enough to grow up with an Air Force father, which meant we lived around the country and world, and I had friends whose mothers were from Japan. Even before I could read, I was watching Speed Racer, Battle of the Planets, Galaxy Express 999, Space Battleship Yamato, and Astro Boy, as well as having a dad who loved Godzilla, other kaiju like Gamera, and Bruce Lee along with other martial arts films.
It wasn't until Robotech came out that other kids started to notice anime, though. I was a big model builder back then, and my room had various mecha models hanging from the ceiling, along with real military planes. Robotech made anime cool--though Voltron helped. I was known at school as an artist who would draw caricatures of people, and when I started doing people as anime versions of themselves, even more people would ask for versions of themselves.
Robotech really put anime on the map outside of niche people like me. Being an early teen then, it also was influential to my personal development. I could identify with Rick, though being the oldest kid in my family, I always wanted to be Roy. It was matched only by Star Wars, and my identification with Luke Skywalker. I was also an early Lisa stan, and despised Minmei XD
Me and my brothers adapted Robotech to a roleplaying game at the time, Star Frontiers (made by TSR, the ones who created D&D), and we had a lot of fun with all three aspects of Robotech. I may have moved on eventually to Evangelion, Fullmetal Alchemist, Bleach, etc., but Robotech will always have a fond place in my heart.
Considering my complete disregard for the Southern Cross Saga, essentially only enjoying the Macross and Mospaeda Saga's...hell, I only consider the mecha and general events from the Southern Cross Saga as caonon out of appreciation for the completness of the story.
I would say that the Japanese series Southern Cross is based on must have been awfully unbearable.
Palladium did an awesome TTRPG system for Robotech, not to mention the plethora of all the original Japanese Macross series too.
Best part was that Palladium systems were able to be used with one another, they did the old school version of TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) too.
Nothing can describe the pure awesomeness of having a game of Ooze induced animal mutatant pilots, using matial arts as Giant Zentradi or using any of the mecha from both Macross and Robotech.
The Valkyries being the "Newer" designs of sleeker, more technologically advanced transformable mecha.
While the numerous Veritechs and Sentinel Tanks from the span of all of Robotech Saga's are less agile but more bulky, armoured and could do more unique things (Alpha/Beta Veritech fusions etc) with a more robust array of weaponry.
Valkyries with their more agile and pilot intigrated controls were better suited to eastern martial arts. While the more robust & powerful frames of the Veritech's worked well with the likes of Boxing, western kick boxing, wrestling and other grappling based martial arts.
Even without the TMNT Ooze mutations and just using the rules for martial arts in TMNT or another Palladium TTRPG called 'Ninjas & Superspies' made for an interesting mash up using Macross and Robotech together.
My brother made a Valkyrie Pilot that used Taekwondo, he was a CQB specialist that used a carbine style gunpod with nothing but short range missiles and some unguided rockets for his internal payload.
Used the rockets mounted in his Valkyries forearms and legs in conjunction with Taekwondo moves to deliver precision, point blank, rockets to his opponents as he entered or disengaged from melee range.
Could even use 'em with two quick sucessive roundhouse kicks to fire the rockets a little past (jusy from the rockets, the kicks were for flourish haha) the short range missle range but just short of the best effective range of the carbine gun pods range.
Was an absolute hoot.
That said, utterly pathetic how Harmony Gold has conducted themselves. As stated somewhere wlese in the comments; We are not mad at Robotech, we are mad at Harmony Gold.
that ALL changed with Macross DYRL in 1984 in Japan Theaters, breaking the Mould what can be done in 70mm Dolby format.
As a BattleTech fan, I sympathize with the Macross fandom's struggle with Harmony Gold.
*Remembers incident over how the Marauder and Warhammer looked* ....Yeah Harmony Gold are just. I dont know scummy?
Honestly 99% of my negatives with Robotech is due to its owner Harmony Gold being massive massive A-holes and desperately holding onto the IP by any and all means.
this is why little to no Macross was released here in the states and most have to be pirated. if your wonder what the 1% is its just simple "Make it a Kids show" shtick while its a bummer it didn't completely destroy/murder the series (Unlike Tekkaman Blade!)
Though Macross has been on a steep decline lately being more about the pop idols than about being a space opera :(
But I enjoy/love both series in their own way
.....Speaking of Decline....Im sad mecha anime series have been on the decline sense the 2010's and its been kinda getting worse over the years, though sadly understand why mecha is a hard genre to animate and its a very niche genre.
To Macross: I think it's the studios leaning in too hard on the Music part of the Music/Mecha mix, and it rubs long-term Macross and mecha fans wrong.
To Mecha in general: The whole mecha market is just in an ebbing state unless you're an established IP. It happens with every genre until something comes along and sparks the fandom and the band-wagoners again.
I dunno about Macross in Japan right now and Gundam is still kicking but its a bummer the rest of Mecha genre is a hit or miss. Its worse for Super Robot anime series since Gurren lagann and not alot of them as of late and it didn't help the Getter Robo anime went dead ever since New Getter Robo and its author has long since passed away.
Agreed... Macross Delta seems more like a wannabe K-ON / Magical Girl Hybrid then a sincere attempt at continuing on with the second most important Mecha anime IP of all time... Music has always been important to Macross, but the Delta series got Drowned by it...
One problem with making Mecha anime "for kids" is the type of genre of Mecha anime and sadly Real Robot anime "for kid" really requires a serious brainstorming ideas since Real Robot (which Macross and Gundam part of) is anything but "kid friendly" especially if you remember realism as far literature genres are concerned since every single Real Robot rarely had a Good ending where everyone survives which unfortunately most of the time its usually a bittersweet ending which sometimes the Main characters get killed off.
Super robot is the most likely ideal "for kids" but unfortunately theres not alot of them as of late and worse some of them are probably more towards Shounen rather for younger audiences.
Macross is available legally on HIDIVE. Does kinda suck that there isn't really any physical release but at least it doesn't have to be pirated now
If you think the animation is great in the show, then you’ll be amazed at how fantastic the animation is in the movie version “Do you Remember Love”.
Agree, and check out Macross ZERO the Prequel to the MACROSS series , showing FOLKKER piloting the VF-0 Phoenix prototype Valkerie fighter.
Macross Frontier and Macross Plus also deserve mention for great animation. Deculture!
"Do you remember love" is one of the best animated films of the 20th century. The animation is on another level.
@@DonVigaDeFierro LOL. Absolutely true. I actually watched it today. Absolute masterpiece. One of the best anime features ever.
Character redesigns were cool too, I especially liked seeing Exedore finally in all of his crazy grotesque pre (Macross-7) looking glory... lol
"Lisa is best girl"
My dude.
I'm more Shammy( called Sammy in Robotech) she's an adorable cinnamon bun.
Lisa is still my favorite anime female character. And Rick being my favorite anime male character.
The triangle between Rick Lisa and Minmei was to date was one of favourite parts of the series. Rick wasn't some playboy, he was just a guy stuck between his original crush, Minmei and his growing romance with Lisa. The you have Lisa who is Rick's superior and is while frustrated with his rebellious nature is at the same time attracted to it while still grieving over her dead boyfriend on Mars. Then you got Minmei who initially comes across as an airhead and is initially only flattered by Rick's crush begins to depend on him while at the same time clueless to her older cousin's feelings as well.
It is honestly one of the best written romantic triangles that I've yet to see topped by modern media. I'll admit I was on the fence initially, by the scene of Lisa in the bar during the second arc put me firmly on Team Lisa after you realise just how much Rick means to her.
misa*
@@ViewpointProd I said Lisa. Boofire said Lisa. Both names are fine.
If youre complaining about Harmony Gold tho? With you 100%
Otherwise I don't need your corrections. Thanks
For some reason, Jerid Messa piloting a Valkyrie is something I can't get out of my head right now.
"Dear diary today i killed jerid's mentor and love interests"
imagine Yazen Gable in a Valkyrie Jerid is trash Yazen is best baddie.
This along with Panzer World Galient, Armored Trooper VOTOMS, and Dragonar are awesome mecha choices. A shame that we don't get as many good ones like we used to.
The problem is that basically, the market got burnt out. If you are going to start a new mecha franchise now, you need to hit from the first season otherwise you're going to get lost in what is popular now. And then a lot of recent mecha didn't have good enough hooks or worlds to sustain themselves, beyond the initial impression. They would have been fine in the 80s when you could just say "Sure, that mecha series didn't work, but we have another 5 coming out this year or next...". When it's only 1 or 2, maybe, every couple of years... you don't have room for error in the genre anymore.
Mecha war animes got introduced to "culture" and got replaced with moe moe slice of life animes. As the Zentradi would say, "Yack, deculture!"
@@belldrop7365 You could argue its a meta commentary on "the culture" of anime itself; combat used to be the central anchor of the story conflicts, but over time, it's been replaced by interpersonal conflict and some sociological wish fulfillment.
Dun dun dun ↑←↑
Robotech is not only a Space Opera but more like a "Telenovela"
Weird memory. That reminds me of when we went to Plaza Las Americas near Cancun, MX, and found some Spanish language (duh) DVDs of Robotech. If I had the region's DVD player, I would have picked it up.
Uhmm, SpaceNovela?
*sees Macross in thumbnail*
My reaction: Oh look, the carnival is in town! Honey, get the missiles!
It's always a good day when the Circus of Itano comes to town.
Nobody does missiles like Itano. Kyuun!!
I was lucky enough to watch Robotech in the 80's when it aired. Yes, my mind was blown.
Something to keep in mind about "Canon" in Macross, the idea is that we the viewers are watching TV shows from the Macross universe based on the historical events that happened. This comes from interviews with Shoji Kawamori himself. Think of the "History" of Macross as WWII, Korean War & Vietnam War & the various shows as SDF Macross = RAT Patrol, DYRL Movie = Saving Private Ryan, Macross 7 = MASH, Macross Frontier = Tour of Duty & Macross Delta = Down Periscope. or something.
Mr Kawamori used the example of how there are many anime & live action versions of Nobunaga & the Warring States Period.
"Everything is canon and nothing is at the same time" It's another way we get inserted into the Macross world, by presenting the media as the exact same stuff the people from that universe would have. Love that.
I thought that was true for the movies and the TV series were the canonical versions.
@@vandalpir9 DRYL was originally supposed to be a movie made to commemerate Space War 1. The differences in the mecha were explained that the "film" used later block upgrades of the Valyrie fighters that were still left. In later shows, Kawamori would gleefully grab uniforms, mecha etc. from any previous version. In Macross 7 there was a celebration of the end of Space War 1 that had "cosplayers", some Zentradi dressed like the TV show whiles others like the DYRL movie. Millia was where her TV UN Spacy flight suit while piloting her personaly owned DYRL movie Valkyrie (actually an even later custom job) Kawamori has included all movies, TV shows & OVAs more recently in his "this is just the holywood version of events". The dates, names, mech spechs, fleet names/numbers & general situations are Canon, but "liberties" might have been taken with certain events & relationships.
On the one hand this can drive people nuts in trying to figure out Canon events, but on the other hand it means you can have your own head canon on how things went out side of the main story.
@@juancholo7502 that's really cool. I personally prefer the TV show over DYRL but there's lots of good stuff that comes from DYRL that I wished were there in the show (point is it's my head canon that the story have elements from both).
A moment of silence for viewers who don't like the mecha genre and so will never know these masterpieces *it's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday*
Fun fact: if you take the right freeze frames in Do You Remember Love the missiles are designed to look like various cans. Drink cans and even Budweiser cans. A good friend of mine who worked on the battle scenes of it loves that story.
Ire ember this through robotch. I remember being confused at why everyone hated jarmony gokd.
Then i found out and i too hate harmony gold. They were positioned to lead the way and i stead slammed the door on global distribution.
I view robotech as a cousin universe to macross. Setting harmony gold's douchfuckery aside? I have fun memories.
Andrew Singleton I came to Macross via BattleTech (on which the MechWarrior games are based) so I already hated Harmony Gold due to the whole “unseen” lawsuit debacle. Then I learned what they did with Robotech and I hated them even more.
I moved on with Robotech, kid me enjoyed it but did not understand any story to it and that same kid me jumped ship with Gundam and the rest is history.
I'm in my forties.
I honestly want a mechwarrior/Battletech series with this animation style and character design.
ExPRESSLY as a fuck you to harmony gold.
It'd be glorious @@jiriz0r
My dad introduced me to Robotech when I was a kid and I loved the hell out of it.
I haven't watched any actual Macross, and I haven't seen Robotech in a long time, but maybe I'll watch again after this.
Check Out
Macross DYRL &
Macross Plus
😎👍
I regret that I have but only one account to like this post
Want some ice cream?
Me: Puru. Domon and Milliardo are calling for you!
I have Two.
@@PS3PS2fan I see that you are a man of culture as well
I would say you should defiantly watch "Macross Plus", and "Do you remember love?". I also really liked "Macross Frontier" but it is a lot heavier on the idols.
None of them hold a candle to the idol worship than Macross Delta. Idol overload. Easily the worst entry in the franchise.
@@Gunsight-One you haven't seen Macross 7 have you?
@@jayglier ugh, yes. Well not all of it because I have better things to do with my time. I know its bad, but Delta takes the cake when it comes to dancing Valkyries. 😖
@@Gunsight-One let's be honest Delta was the worst because it was the most boring.
@@brightlight8852 especially the "fight scenes" just puts me to sleep.
Macross: Do You Remember Love >
Dude they made DYRL as a joke of the Gundam compilation films and as a means to get out of the Tatsunoko rights dispute for later series. So SDF Macross events canon but DYRL design canon. Also the movie is infact a movie in canon.
@@barrybend7189 well in 7 miria wears the tv pilot suit for some reason and also pilots a red valkyrie so in my head atleast the canon is a wierd combination of both the tv and the movie versions
@@ertuio20002 no its Literally the TV show is the event canon but DYRL is a movie in universe( as in Macross 7 episode 1 one of the Battle 7's bridge officers mentions it). Its just for most of the designs in the later shows are of the Movie.
Yo shoutout to the Mekkkah reference at the end!
Also as someone who didn't see Robotech until college, I loved it. I haven't watched the original yet, but I will once I've finished Star Blazers!
pitfall
Star Blazers is decent as an adaptation, but really, once you finish it, watch Space Battleship Yamato 2199. It's the rebooted version, does a lot differently, and is legitimately better than the original show even for die hard fans. You'll know the difference once you see what they do differently with the Battle off Pluto.
Yeah Star Blazers
I second that. Watch Space Battleship Yamato 2199 and its second season 2202. What a great remake. I wish Macross could get remade with those kinds of sensibilities.
@Samuel Wang 2199 is actually what I'm on, it's also titled Star Blazers on Funimation and that stuck more for some reason. I went into it completely blind, but I keep hearing about how it's a great adaptation of the original Battleship Yamato from back in the day. It's really good, I'm like 3 episodes away from the end!
I remember watching this on my grandparents old wood frame TV everyday. Still love it to this day.
Robotech was one of the first anime I watched as a kid. I remember watching it back in 87-88. Damn, I feel old.
Macross: birthplace of the anime troupe "FIRE ALL THE MISSILES IN EXSISTANCE THEN DO IT AGAIN!"
Robotech was my introduction to both anime and the mecha genre as a kid and loved every second of it.
even had two Robotech games: Battlecry and Invasion
I played the heck out of Battlecry. Such a fun a game!
WOAH I watched sdf macross for the first time last week and I just noticed this morning how superior Robotech’s sound quality is (score and voice acting aside of course). During the scene from virgin road episode in SDFM, when Max defeats Milia in the knife fight, he lifts her chin up with the tip of his finger and her feet lift off the effing ground, and all you can hear are Max’s shoes awkwardly tapping around lol. I remember rewinding it a couple times because I literally thought max had dragged her off by her head. I watched the robotech version (called wedding bells I believe) and the genius in the studio decided to add a twinkling chime effect to this scene which immediately evokes a dreamlike sequence and you really get that she and him are floating away in love or what ever. It totally fixed the scene imo I think I need to watch the whole macross season of robotech now just to appreciate this person’s work.
Man I remember this show as robotech. My dad showed me it through VHS recordings and DVD collections.
Ah nostalgia. I too have great memories associated with Robotech/Macross.
I watched the whole thing.
Your duologue was insightful and enjoyable.
Thanks
I literally discovered the subtitled OG Macross series last week and am having a blast.
Your DeCulture lvl has risen exponentially!
@@Castlevanius since this comment, I've watched all all of 'Macross 7', Frontier, and Delta. Also saw Plus, and am just getting started on Zero.
I really like the 90s Anime vibe of Macross 7 and don't mind Planet Dance like the channel op 'You can't unwatch it'. He hates it, but that's a other story.
@@DJRonnieGM7 is an acquired taste... some like it some dont which is fine. Being a J-rock fan that i am, one cant deny the musical prowess of Basaras (singing VA) Yoshiki Fukuyama. Remember 16 & Submarine Street (and of course) Angel Voice (duet with Mari Iijima/Minmay) is my absolute fave music from M7.
@@DJRonnieG th-cam.com/video/RZdP4mcqGFM/w-d-xo.html
both Basara & Mylnes (singing VA) tribute concert if you havent watched it.
@@Castlevanius Oh man, what a treat! Thanks for sharing the link to the concert. More or less made my weekend. Well,. aside from the fact that I got a great deal on an used i9 CPU. Actually nah, the Macross 7 set wins..
Watched this as a kid in 1984 tv. It was mind blowing for the time. In fact, we didn't get any better anime in the USA until the 2000s. The musical score was brilliant. It never felt like a kids show. When Roy Fokker died I couldn't believe what had happened and fell in anguish. For a kid, it was a lot to digest. This anime left a life long impression on me that I will never forget.
I'm so glad this series is getting more recognition! It's my all time favorite!
The Ulpio Minucci soundtrack and the voice actors in Robotech were legendary
Love the series. Robotech was the show that got me into anime, mecha and art. It was a blast watching the macross version 15 years after finishing the robotech version from the vhs tape days hahaha. Made me understand more about what I enjoyed about it growing up. Thanks Boofire
Macross is amazing and IMO the definitive edition, but you are right - I still remember Robotech because of the battle sounds. I first saw Robotech as a kid, rewatched it in entirety before puberty, and then only saw the original Macross in my late teens. I always felt that there was some 'oomph' missing from the Macross fights, and now you point out sound design, I think you hit the nail right on the head.
Now you touched on some 'controversies' about the latest series Delta, let me reiterate what I've been told. In SDF Macross, it was basically a mecha show TRYING to sell an idol. In Delta, it's basically an idol show TRYING to sell mecha. Both are a product of their times; back in the 80's and 90's, mecha anime were all the rage, while in the 2010's cute-girls-doing-cute-things (of which idol shows is a part of) is the dominant genre right next to isekai. So Kawamori leverages more on what is popular in order to make the money spent on the project and then some, because let's be honest here, the mecha genre as we knew it was already dead in 2016.
So yeah, I honestly don't blame Kawamori on focusing on the idols with Delta - that's where the current market is. What I DO have a problem with Kawamori is that in his previous shows, the opposing faction wasn't inherently 'evil'. Zentradi were brought up for war, Devils just wanted to eat, and the Vajra thought they were rescuing one of their own. But man, the Windermere leaders were just straight up assholes.
I get it that they were an allegory to Imperial Japan (and the Windermere leadership should be depicted that way), but it honestly made the opposing side much less sympathetic. I loved SDF Macross because it taught me that there is humanity to us all so we should try to find a peaceful end to war with the help of songs, while Delta was really all about bringing down the 'evil' and 'greedy' nations through better firepower and better singing. I say one is more profound and better storytelling than the other, and is IMO the greatest failing of Delta even though I enjoyed it a great deal (Ikenai Borderline is aboslute dope!)
Everyone complains about how the time crunch for production killed the animation for a lot of episodes, but you could make the argument that the sound design got hurt just as much. If there's one thing Macross does badly that RT doesn't, it's that Macross has a lot of scenes with incomplete sound effects. You'll see something happen on screen but no accompanying sound. RT didn't have the same production woes so they could complete the SFX.
So while I don't try to tell people what BGM music they should like, I'll give RT the nod here because it's not incomplete. But give me Mari Iijima's vocals!
You should definitely watch the movie version, Do You Remember Love, which has an amazing soundtrack.
Thanks for making a video on one of my favorite childhood shows. Gundam is great and all... but I was a Robotech/Macross kid back in the 80's.
Macross > Robotech.
What are your thoughts on the following series'? I'm not really a fan of idol animé generally and so thought the greater focus on music would be repelling, but I actually fell in love with the characters of each successive series.
Oh he's probably gonna hate them. The thing about Macross is that music generally sits front and center for them and the idols are actually very important plot points. The idol stuff in Macross apparently sat wrong with him so the other shows placing even greater emphasis on the idols is gonna really grind.
Robotech was my introduction to anime. a few years later I watched macross subbed and was quite happy to have seen both.
Who would have thought that a video like this got recommended to a guy who wrote in a friend's yearbook "Watch the skies in '99". Still love me some Robotech.
I could not stop watching this during the 80s and half way thru the 90s, Hell even now when im 40 I still remember this gem anime.
Really enjoy your reviews of the series that meant a lot too me growing up. Especially because I first saw it on VHS, I worry that some of the wonder is lost when you aren't living in a sheltered small town.
Can't tell you how happy I am you've made your way around to this series.
Or just watch the dubbed version of Macross, It came out a number of years ago. They even got Mari Ijima to redub Minmei in english. It was done by ADV.
That was the first version of SDF-Macross I watched and I LOVED IT. I watched robotech on and off as a kid and loved the mecha designs but having the original OST and the English dub with Iijima was so cool!
ya alot of people dont think of that. though i wanna say the 1 run was all they made. also, havent looked but i not seen it streaming.
@@vandalpir9 the ADV dub?
@@agles9s it was. It isn't anymore, just checked. Sorry!
If only ADV hadn't gone under and rebirthed itself as Section 23, then those Macross DVD's would probably still be in circulation and much easier to find and afford.
BRROOOO.YOUR TASTES ARE TOO GOOD. STOP BEING SO AMAZING AT WHAT YOU DO GAWD.
Binged the series a week after this video dropped, and God you were right. This anime is beautiful, and it made me see mecha in a different way. So, thanks Boofire
Absolutely great review! I haven't seen Macross and you did an incredible job comparing the two! Excellent comparing and contrasting. You should be proud of this video it's great!
That music at the beginning brings back memories. Forgot how much I loved this show
i had to run home from JR high in 86' just to watch the opening of robotech, the music got me so pumped
As a kid in 1986, I used to run home from school to catch the latest episode of Robotech. My cousin recorded every episode in order off the TV on VHS, we memorized those tapes. lol
Ahh, one of many classics that must be remembered.
Macross or Robotech? If Macross then yes, Robotech? It had its run and HG can't rerun it now.
Watch “Do you remember love” its the movie retelling of macross and Id like to hear your thoughts on it as its very different from the tv series
It is an anime masterpiece.
It ROCKS!!!!
Do you remember love inst the true history, canonicaly, DYRL its a movie IN the macross universe too
DYRL and Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer both came out in 1984 and are two of the most iconic hand-drawn anime movies that aren't Studio Ghbili.
@@Nextliar source? Seems like they retconned it in later installments and treats DYRL (or sometimes a combination of both the TV show and DYRL) as the true continuity.
5:43 I never thought I'd see Accguy Unit 01
I was waiting for you to get to this series
Robotech is what I grew up with after watching it at 4 on DVD and is probably why I love anime today. I'll have to watch regular macross soon.
This was my first anime. My dad showed it to me in the mid to late 2000's, and my nostalgia for it lead to me getting into anime a couple years ago.
For some reason though I didn't watch any other mecha anime until Gundam, about a month ago.
Robotech formed allot of my core values as a child.
I went from "Super Friends" and "G.I. Joe"... to THIS.
"Everyone survives ,always" to "Holy shit! Those helicopter pilots are dead!"
And (SPOILER)
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Roy Fokker's death. He was my man, and I'd never seen a cartoon where one of the main characters died. I'd read Lord of the Rings at 13, and it hit me as hard as Gandalf falling off the Bridge of Khazad-Dum.
With the Macross franchise, there are some things that baffle me.
They seem to be very hit and miss... literally.
Macross good -> Macross 7 (the sequel) bad -> Macross Frontier good -> Macross Delta bad. It's like there's a rule that says Macross series have to alternate between good and bad.
Then there's the movies. When the series is good, the movies rewrite the canon story in a far worse way... and when the series is bad (i.e. Macross 7) the movie was great without screwing with canon.
If it hasn't become clear already, I really like the original Macross and Frontier and dislike Macross 7 and Delta. Not to the point of hate, but certainly to the point of not wanting to rewatch them in the next... decade or so I guess, if ever.
Though I wish they could make a series without a forced love triange. Every Macross series apparently MUST have a love triangle... and I hate those.
Oh and the two OVA series Zero and Plus are great too.
The funny thing about that is both of the series you think of as bad were music first and mecha second, while the good was mecha first and music second. Personally I like them all but i find myself re-watching macross seven and delta more then the original and frontier, because of how campy and ridiculous the idea of fighting with music in space can be.
@@robertalley8937 have you watch the new delta movie ? Jesus they have like 5 minutes of new animation, and even worse than the tv series
What's left are basically recap of the series
@@giathuanleviet4138 To be honest I actually prefer a pure recap movie over one that rewrites the canon of the preceding series, which then continues to be the new canon for the following series in a way that is worse than that of the series.
The recap movies are at least only bad in themselves and don't ruin the lore like Macross and Macross: Frontier movies did.
Only knew of the series due to Robotech: Battlecry on the original Xbox as a kid. Rediscovered it and watch Do You Remember Love and loved it ever since.
Robotech Battlecry is how i got into Macross. But i hate how terrible the game is.
This was actually the first anime I watched. My dad had a dvd of the first season of Robotech that I used to watch on repeat.
Robotech is by far my favorite anime to this day!!! Now I do look forward to watching Macross!!!
There is an English translation of Macross. It was released as a boxset in the early 2000's. And yes Macross is amazing. Cool vid bud.
Yea, Animeigo sp? Boxset.
The VF-1S is one of my favorite mechs.
Robotech (macross saga only) was my first anime. I absolutely loved it, and birthed my fascination with mecha.
I was introduced to Robotech when it first hit the airways in 1985! I absolutely loved the series, not just The Macross Saga, but The Masters and The New Generation! I still have many of my original toys from that time! It's what started my love of mechs and anime in general! When I had kids I made it a point to show them these works! I would love to see a live action rendition of this, if its done be the right people!
I've never actually watched the anime series, but I fell in love with Robotech through the McKinney books amd they were absilutely amazing.
I remember watching this as a kid and noticing the back and forward between Minmay and Rick like talk about 180s...
I legit bought all the harmony dvd’s unaware of their stanglehold on the franchise in the states, here’s hoping 7, frontier and delta get bought up by someone and re released in the states
we need MACROSS Zero in America.
2021 ppl supposedly HG will loose that damned license from what ive heard but what you should all fear is will japan take down robotech period or let it continue to exsist
@@gravefox4206 Tatsunoko have renewed Harmony Gold's license twice since the lawsuit that determined HG's license wasn't perpetual like they claimed. I would not hold out hope of them changing their mind next year.
Part of this is because it's easy money for Tatsunoko and there's no reason for them to change it - thanks to another lawsuit between them and Big West, they only have international distribution rights to the original Macross TV show and not the sequels or the design work behind the shows. Apparently this decision lead to some level of animosity between the two companies. (In case you don't know the history, Big West were the original producers of Macross, when they show as a hit they wanted to extend the runtime but didn't have the budget to do so. Tatsunoko came on as a co-producer and part of the deal what that they got the international distribution rights. In the 90s, after Big West had begun producing Macross sequels, Tatsunoko sued, claiming some level of ownership over the entire franchise.) Because Harmony Gold are incredibly litigious around their rights to Macross/Robotech, they can be relied upon to block any import of Macross-related goods to the US, the costs of which are defrayed against their license fees to Tatsunoko for Macross.
Basically HG continue to make whatever they make from licensing Robotech, Tatsunoko either make a little money or don't have to deal with the legal costs of blocking a rival from exploiting the Macross name in the US, and business continues for the pair of them.
Great video man! I don't often hear any praise for Robotech, outside of a friend of mine. I guess I should give it chance after all this time.
ADV did do a more faithful dub. Good luck getting it at a good price. Also they got the Japanese Voice Actress of Minmei to voice her for the ADV dub.
I own all three seasons of the English version and love fit all! Watched this series as a kid back on the Sci-Fi channel back in the day when it showed awesome anime and later on Toonami when it aired their. Love this series.
I love all the talk about ole school shows! And Robotech was the best love story ever told!!!!
Great stuff. Please do a commentary on Macross DYRL as well. That was my first Macross experience as a kid but I grew up watching Robotech.
Btw Misa and Minmay are both ♡
What I remember in particular from Macross (never watched Robotech) is the absolute _fever dream_ of an episode in which the new Ace of Rick’s team ends up in a hasty marriage with a female Zentradi ace (who can’t get over him beating her), where at the end they all go into battle against some attacking Zentradi and she starts targeting to disable rather than kill which gets Rick into doing it as well. This is all crammed into *one* episode, from the girl being beaten by the ace, shrinking herself in secret to sneak aboard the Macross, going to the arcade to practice on the Valkyrie sim/game, meeting the guy who defeated her, falling in love, getting married, and going into battle immediately afterwards. I genuinely thought it was a joke/non-canon episode because it just came out of nowhere with a very different tone and rapid pace when compared to every other episode.
Yeah... I first saw Macross (robotech) when I was in highschool and happened across the complete first part "Rick". I think I had come to the conclusion by episode 5 that I liked Lisa much more than Minmay. I even remember getting frustrated with Rick for treating Lisa the way he did.
I grew up watching this show, HARMONT GOLD, HEAR OUR VOICES, BRING THE SHOW BACK!!!!
Glad Robotech was my first anime experience when i was a child. It made me an anime and a mecha fan.
I never noticed the sound design differences… very interesting!
If you really dig the action in Macross you owe it to yourself to check out Do You Remember Love. Which at first glance looks like a clip-show style re-edit of the first season, but is actually a fully produced feature film depicting a very truncated version of the first series. It's totally jaw dropping visually for a mid budgeted anime film from 84.
I enjoyed your compare and contrast style of review for this, my favorite anime series. Trust me, watching Robotech when it first came out as a child in the 80's, was awe inspiring. I love Robotech for what it did for the entire genre of anime in America and giving me a path to a lifelong love of anime.
Macross on the other hand is the true masterpiece here. Once I watched the original there was no going back for me. Everything about this version is superior in every way. (Well I will give you the improvements in sound design) the changes to Hikaru and Minmay's characters in Robotech just throw the whole story off for me. Plus I prefer the music in Macross versus Robotech. That being said Robotech does have a very well done soundtrack and I could easily see someone disagreeing on that respect.
Now to the real problem with Robotech. Harmony Gold. Their actions towards the treatment of this property have been horrendous at best. At times they acted as they didn't care about Macross. Allowing Macross Plus and Macross II to be licensed in America. They also created in conjunction with ADV an English dub of Macross, giving the original it's just due in an English version. On the other hand, Harmony Gold has blocked any other attempts for American licensing of other Macross series and movies, which makes being a Macross fan very difficult.
As a last note I would recommend any fan of either Robotech or Macross to watch Macross: Do You Remember Love. It is a masterpiece of 80's animation and is a darker more mature take on the series. The animation is second to none and holds up today. It is a must see and sadly never received a proper release in America minus a really badly dubbed Clash of the Bionoids VHS.
I’ve been meaning to checking out Robotech for years, but haven’t gotten around to it yet. Might do it soon after watching this video. I have seen the Macross Plus OVA though (own it on DVD too) and it’s one of my favorite anime OVA’s I’ve ever seen.
Personally I would recommend you watch Macross first. There is an English dub out there you might be able to find if you dig online.
I just started Macross plus and I love it.
I found a super dimension Fortress macross Accurate English dub on TH-cam and I’m watching it right now
Great video! I grew up with Robotech, and i am a huge fan of both versions. I admit that i'm more partial towards Robotech as that was my first exposure to anime, and i grew attached to those characters more. I have an old VHS copy of 'Do you Remenber Love', and I have Macross Plus on DVD ( awesome series BTW. Bryan Cranston from Breaking Bad voices the main character! ). I would love to see the other Macross series at some point. If only Harmony Gold would lighten up. LOL.
I watch this and the movie summer of last year. Very enjoyable.
Couple years ago my mom asked me to find this "cartoon" about an idol on a spaceship with fighters that have legs, said it was something she used to watch in middle school but couldn' remember the name, and that's how I came to discover Macross.
I didn't think I would like it at first, as a die hard gundam fan I thought the mecha designed looked a bit silly, I didn't understand why would anyone put a pair of legs on a fighter untill I saw them being used mid-flight for a sharp turn and suddenly it felt like the sickest thing ever lol. Eventually the design grew on me and so did the show.
Very good video and underrated channel. In before 500k
I watched robotech when I was 5, I didn't understand the love part but what I did pick up is "freedom of information and choice." the Zentradi questioned their loyalty and purpose when exposed to fun things humans did. It was to the point of existential crisis. Aside from dogfights and spaceships this was the main thing I took in.
Ah, that trumpet! Nice opening Boo.
I started out with Robotech and was blown away that the show took a risk at kill of on of the main characters, Roy. Nothing hit me as hard as that until the following summer with the leader of the Autobots but that’s a different story. See, Robotech and Macross shaped the way I looked at story telling and what I wanted to see as a young boy in the 80’s. It even influenced our favorite Star Wars story teller, Dave Faloni. Both show have their place and I am glad to see that you made that point.
Really Excellent Synopsis...
as someone who saw all 3 seasons of Robotech when they originally aired i can confirm the show blew my mind and started my love of mecha anime
I love Robotech and would like to see Macross and have seen many of the Gundam iterations....
also seen Evangelion, Kuro makuro & Knights Of Sidonia on netflix, full metal panic, Patlabor, Voltron 80's and the new netflix version and so many more shows, yeah not into the Shoenen Jump stuff but big robots, transforming robots, slice of life, fantasy, ninja, VR genre and more I just love, anything with a good story that isn't just pointless fight fight fight get stronger and fight more type stuff I'm good
😈
oh and my absolute fave anime is the 1995 original Ghost in the Shell, another mind blowing movie that never gets old and the score is awesome [for robotech too, gods ity was one time anime pop music was pretty good actually]
"Wow I have no soul"- some guy
Great video, wish it wasn't in such rights hell in the states. You should do a video on Patlabor next! It has a great blu-ray collection.
This is the series that got me into mecha anime
I have been a Gundam fan since I was fairly young. It was one of my first anime. My wife got me into Macross after only being aware of it at a surface level. It absolutely blew me away, total counterpoint to Gundam and to great effect. I regret to admit I find Valkyries a lot more attractive than mobile suits now, DX Chogokin is harder on my wallet than the shooting sports.
I remember watching robotech as a kid honestly blew my mind with soap opera grand arc's keep me edge of my seat what is coming next.
This was a really good video, felt like five minutes.
Now I know what Gundam series I'm watching next. Macross