VF5SS

The aircraft tech talk is kind of pointless. A product needs to change with the times. Having callbacks is fine, but literally making CGI models of 20 plus year old designs doesn't help to settle new viewers into your franchise.

I think part of the problem with the show's perception is a lot of people looked to things like Gundam or Macross II and thought they were just going to continue the franchise with the same format and style. Most Gundam shows feel pretty similar with a few exceptions. At best you may feel comfortable with this and at worst you may hate it as endless rehashing. Arguably Plus is what changed the direction of the series. It isn't really the same kind of show as SDF Macross or DYRL, its a 90's OVA like Fatal Fury or Detonator Orgun. It was kind of a proven formula when Plus came out. And then you get Macross 7 which had to have been in development around the same time as Plus and it aired very soon after the OVA finished (IIRC from Super Robots View Broadly 98). I find it is difficult to really articulate what I like about the show so I'm going to use the all mighty anecdote. I started a friend on DYRL, then the series, and then he watched Macross 7. Recently I had asked one of the Central Anime fansubbers (the infamous Otaking, creator of the fansub documentary) as to why he called Macross 7 one of the most amazing things you'll ever see during his video. These two very different people said the same thing. Macross 7: truly unique. bomba

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

No it was an honest best seller. Like number 8 on Funinmation's charts. The issue is that the rift between the big three of anime in America and the rest is pretty large. If you're not Dragonball then you are smalltime. Don't forget the Wing Commander fans who tuned in to see Mark Hamil get his Colonel Blair on only to have him die without uttering his famous command from the games. They did it in the trailer though.

Their fanbase is plently excited. They all bought Shadow Chronicles and made it a best seller just so they could find out what happened to Rick Hunter. And then oh wait joked, he disappears to the magical land of Robotech offscreen.

Macross continuity isn't a mess because Kawamori was honest about what it means. Everything is just an adaptation of some "real" story. SDF Macross, DYRL, and now Macross the First are all just different interpretations on the same story tailored to fit each format. Instead of trying to cram everything into place making the whole thing look inbred we just get some little nods and homages to past works while every Macross production stands as its own series because hey, they never know when another one is going to be made so why leave it open ended like Shadow Chronicles? Even Macross Zero manages to avoid some of the worst pitfalls of prequels perpetuated by the likes of Gundam's MS Igloo. Granted it still had to invent new VFs just because no sponsor would look twice at the series without some new product to market. This is probably Shadow Chronicle's biggest failing is that in over 20 years it has barely anything new to add. The most you got was some poorly defined "Super Alphas" and Tread bombers with guns on them. That's some real progress.

So from reading this, the stuff that makes Robotech unique apart from the source materials is some convoluted story perpetuated by novels that is totally inaccessible to new readers? I thought they disavowed all that extra stuff to behind with. Is that what they're fighting for?

Shiva from Macross 7 Trash. This was back before Mikimoto knew how to write interesting characters in addition to drawing pretty girls. Hibiki is king of like a proto-Shiva. He mostly suffers from being divorced from the show's action. Even his link to the military, Silvie, doesn't get to do much fighting. Nexx does all the cool combat scenes but its hard to care because Nexx is a total douchebag.

Aren't they all Scientologists as well?

Yeah that black eyed scientist guy only appears in background character splash pages in most Macross books. Yotchan has more mention that he does. He's still nowhere near as bad as Major Jonathan, whom despite being in less than 10 minutes in his own episode during Mospeada has received a vast backstory. I understand that everyone having a story is the true Star Wars way, but trying to band aid that onto Japanese shows is just retarded.

Fun fact, the Victor Music Industries designs were originally used in the Japanese release of the Mechwarrior game for SNES. It was originally just called Battletech in Japan.

So as long as you can make BS offscreen retcons everything is ok. Gotcha.

That episode was just filler in Mospeada anyway. I think they intended to setup an Aisha/Rey/Stick love triangle but it never panned out. Also I can't shake the feeling some writer at Tatsunoko just want to do his own version of Macross's Phantasm episode.

But its just sand! So does that mean if someone in robotech cracks open an HBT canister and huff the magic gasoline they will get the most awesome high ever?

In the Macross PS2 game the VF-1s feet clearly move up and down for pitch and roll control. Its pretty neat actually.

Or because apparently Macek watched Southern Cross with the sound turned off he never anticipated that the Protozor flowers were meant to have a symbiotic relationship with the Zor and thus it totally messed up his whole idea about Protoculture being a fuel. All they ever did in Robotech was tie together all the Macguffins until they achieved some kind of super macguffin that does anything you want it to. And WTF is this about "Rands" exposure to protoculture? I've only watched Mospeada but when Rey has his hallucination it due to a lack of water.

You're just noticing the half-assed design work that went into the toy.

So did anyone define was makes Robotech unique without reverting to the original series yet?

Man that's an intelligent argument right there.

Only an idiot would think Macross doesn't have any Yamato in it.

Look at me quote myself like a goddamn pro. So in addition to this, don't forget that in Japan also had Orguss and Dorvack running around during this time. So Mospeada and Southern Cross look even less unique. Look Whamhammer, I don't give a flyingfart about your hobbies. You're supporting this Robotech shite and I'm not. So you're not a goddamn human being.

Mospeada is derivative of Macross and also Starship Troopers. Add in some other one-off TV show filler stories and you've got a fair chunk of Mospeada. And if you want to talk about the guerrilla war aspects well Dougram had already been out two years prior to Mospeada.

Well thanks to your overlords, that's all anyone wants out of Robotech is Macross since its the most identifiable and well remembered of the three. Gundam even with its myriad of universes is still recognizable as Gundam. Robotech has subsisted so long on being tied to the original show that it really doesn't have a recognizable identity outside of Macross and the two derivative shows. Except Star Trek is able to define itself because it has a unique way of doing things. Robotech has a story comprised other people's way of doing things and two of those things were derivative to begin with. So then you're left with a generic sci-fi premise which is exactly how Shadown Chronicles turned out. Good job, you've successfully determined the core of Robotech is generic sci-fi.

You aren't a human being. You people have literally bought the same show for twenty something years with no change at all and when they finally give you sequels they suck yet you still farting buy it. And thanks to you this poo is still profitable enough for it to keep farting up my ability get Macross stuff. So yeah you're not a human being, you're a robotech drone.