In France, mangas with mecha are absolutely not popular. Gundam manga (The Origin and Ecole du Ciel) for example are a flop.
The market in France is also too saturated. Publishers release mainly what is marketable. As TheLoneWolf said, Macross is a niche license.
In Italy, there is more chance I think.
It depends. If you really want to learn a language you can succeed.