Seto Kaiba

Y'know, I have no idea... I don't recall it ever being mentioned. Most of the Macross's original alien hardware survived its crash landing intact and was restored to working condition by humans... so presumably that space was similarly empty in the ship's original operating context. We have no way to know for certain. Maybe it was a cargo bay, or a hangar space?

Oh, my friend, you are in for a TREAT. Alien: Isolation is the first Alien story since the original (or Aliens if you're being generous) to make the xenomorph truly TERRIFYING. It's not that jump scare BS either, it's genuine claustrophobic horror in the true spirit of the original Alien that lovingly recreates the "used future" aesthetic of the first movie as well. As far as I'm concerned, there are only three titles in the Alien franchise... Alien, Alien: Isolation, and Aliens. Everything else is just a sad imitation. Prometheus's high level concept was basically riffing on the book Chariots of the Gods, the wellspring of Ancient Aliens BS that also gave rise to Stargate and a few other pieces of middling science fiction. They dialed the philosophy and religious references way back in the final version, presumably to avoid driving away an audience who expected to get yet another space monster horror movie from the creator of Alien and not a treatise on man's inhumanity to man delivered by an eight foot tall albino in a cybernetic gimp suit. (Not that the incredibly anvilicious aesop of "faith makes you stupid" was much better in that regard, given that it was delivered with all the subtlety of a half-brick to the head.) They really could and should have gone with Prometheus as straight sci-fi with a horror twist. Making horror the dominant genre in the film pretty much mandated that the entire cast act like suicidal idiots who had no clue how to do the jobs they were allegedly experts in... like the geologist/cartographer who gets lost in a space he just mapped, that field biologist who fails to recognize an obvious threat display, or literally everyone taking off their helmets on an unexplored alien world with who-knows-what in the atmosphere and surface water, never mind the explicitly toxic atmosphere. Alien: Covenant was just a terrible error, since it tried to bring Prometheus properly into the Alien fold by doubling down on all of its worst plot decisions.

How about "the Wayward Zentradi"? My vote would otherwise be for "the Wandering Zentradi"... though IMO "Lost" can have connotations that better fit the fact that these Zentradi are not merely living nomadically, but are living a deprived life without culture. They are lost in more senses than merely geographical/astrographical. Eh... for me, it was more "so bad it's awful" most of the time. Voyager took a long time to find its stride, but it got better with time. Discovery seems to get worse with each half-season.

Would it? The Engineers in that material do seem a bit hypocritical what with their habit of destroying worlds they've engineered if the local flora and fauna don't meet their exacting standards... but couldn't it also be a result of life on Earth being derived from proto-Xenomorph mutagens? It's not like those critters are friendly, after all. It's possible that some reasoning like that lurks under the Last Engineer's (how he was referred to in the script) almost literally Holier Than Thou attitude. A lot of it is drawn from the dialog in released Prometheus scripts that didn't make it into the final film, inscriptions translated in the script that weren't fully translated in the film, and remarks by Ridley Scott regarding the motivations of the Engineers in a podcast he did for one of the major news outlets. IIRC, wasn't that kind of the problem? Wasn't Prometheus originally trying to distance itself from Alien and be its own thing?

It makes you wonder... did Windermere IV ever consider getting into the liquor industry to help boost their economy? With so many orchards, I bet they make a fierce hard cider or apple schnapps. Most VFs are not, strictly speaking, VTOL capable in Fighter mode. They can, as @sketchley noted, use their high-thrust verniers to "hop" high enough into the air to facilitate switching to GERWALK mode if the situation calls for it. Hikaru does this in his VT-1 Super Ostrich in Macross: Do You Remember Love? during the escape from Vrlitwhai's ship (~43:35). The SV-51 is noteworthy for its ability to employ true vertical takeoff in Fighter mode due to its ventral lift fans. It's worth noting that practically every VF is capable of Short TakeOff and Landing thanks to a combination of their high thrust-to-weight ratios and various powered lift technologies like boundary layer control systems and blown flaps that can improve lift characteristics and manipulate drag. Their preferred short runaway solution would probably be getting a low speed takeoff going and immediately going vertical at full power as the F-4, F-16, and F/A-18 have done with famously trollish pilots at the stick.

Last we heard (c.2045-7), Kaifun was living in the 41st large scale long distance emigration fleet "Macross-11" where he managed the unauthorized Fire Bomber cover band "Fire Bomber American".

I think it was mostly in service of the story concept that Scott and Lindelof were developing for Prometheus, which had some very strong pseudo-Christian messianic themes alongside its themes of unwanted pregnancy and so on. The whole concept probably wouldn't have worked if the engineers weren't a humanoid species. The concept being developed was that the Engineers were a long-lived, highly evolved species that had lost the ability to reproduce biologically. They were going to be worshippers of a sort of proto-xenomorph like the Deacon that was born from an Engineer that got a facefull of alien wing-wong, and were using the preserved blood of their proto-xenomorph messiah to seed worlds with life in the hopes of giving rise to an intelligent species like themselves to be their children/successors. They failed to recreate the proto-xenomorph's mutagenic properties scientifically, but turned their failed experiment into a weapon (the black goo) to destroy those worlds that did not meet their exacting requirements. Earth was the only "success", but humanity failed to meet expectations due to its inherent violent tendencies and after much consternation and several failed interventions the Engineers decided to just wipe the slate clean with a bombardment and start over until their mission was stalled by a containment breach. The Engineers were going to be the gods who made humanity in their own image in the biblical style. A lot of that messianic stuff got left on the cutting room floor, however... but that's probably the reason the Engineers are humanoid now. It's possible, but I doubt that was ever a major consideration given Ridley Scott's chosen direction for the story.

Perhaps, but when have you known me to NOT consider even the most trivial detail of Macross mecha worthy of interest? I just don't see how that interpretation fits the definition... particularly in connection with the third sentence about how c.2045 there has never been an example of them accepting peace with humankind. The Zentradi who made up terrorist groups like Quamzin's are Zentradi who did accept peace with humanity until they were unable to overcome their mental conditioning and fighting instincts. Chlore's fleet, who encountered humans exactly once, are cited as an example of Zentradi who are arguably no longer "lost" just from that one encounter that ended on good terms. Even Quamzin was not immune to the lure of culture. I don't recall any of the various Zentradi terrorist groups that sprang up after the First Space War being referred to as "lost Zentradi", that was a term for the ones who'd never really been exposed to culture and were still living a nomadic existence in space. (If you have additional context from other sheets/sources, please don't hesitate to share it. I know that I'm quite stubborn, but I'm always open to changing my view in the face of more data.) Let's not mention THAT steaming turd if we can at all avoid it... As I've indicated, I do not agree with your interpretation of the definition of "Lost Zentradi". We agree on the rest of the particulars, I just don't see how Zentradi who HAVE been living among humans (often for an extended period) fit the mold of the "Lost Zentradi" who haven't adopted any Earth's culture or lived peacefully among humans for any length of time. We know Zentradi anti-government groups are capable of producing their own goods, but those aren't "lost" Zentradi... those are Zentradi who've been living alongside humans for a long time, their entire lives in some cases, who are rebelling against the gov't for various personal reasons. They're not lost, they're just bastards. Macross Chronicle doesn't support the contention that this battle suit was made by post-contact Zentradi either. As I had noted previously, the Mechanic Sheet for it declines to give a specific origin for the design. It echoes remarks from older publications about the design being used by the remnants of the Boddole Zer main fleet which fled the loss of their command ships at Earth, and suggests the design was created by the ancient Protoculture during their civil war 500,000+ years ago (as equipment in the inventory of those Zentradi would have to be). They do throw in a remark about it being used by dissident Zentradi too, and the coverage does entertain the possibility that this specific example was modified from its base specs by dissident Zentradi too. Please do note carefully that I indicated that was fan speculation from the outset... what I consider a not-unreasonabe inferrence based on the fact that this battle suit is explicitly described as being structured like a Nosjadeul-Ger but armed like a Queadluun-Rau, and with overall combat performance that compares favorably to the VF-11. We know that the Queadluun-Rau was too expensive (too complex and resource-intensive) for widespread adoption and that the Protoculture built a better pilot to handle its over-the-top specs due to the standard Zentradi not being up to the job. If it's built for standard Zentradi comfort like a Nousjadeul-Ger, armed like a Queadluun-Rau, and with less extreme performance, one could conclude fairly that it is probably an economized Queadluun derivative meant for use by the rank-and-file male Zentradi the way that the Queadluun-Nona was for the females. It would not be the first time there were two different takes on the same idea between two different versions of a Macross story... like the Macross II Valkyries and VF-22 both being examples of VFs heavily modeled on Zentran/Meltran battle suit technology.

As far as we know, they are not guns. What they appear to be is the same model of high-maneuverability vernier mounted on the VF-25 Armored Pack's forearm unit.

I've seen nothing of interest WRT new teaser content for Absolute LIVE!!!!!!.

The Zentradi don't think like that, as far as we know... someone who started getting funny ideas after exposure to the miclones would probably be judged "contaminated" and killed like what was going to happen to Vrlitwhai, Quamzin, and Laplamiz's fleets. Looking at that definition you translated, I don't see any reference to the Zentradi who lived on Earth. The ones who lived on Earth were ones that made peace with Earthlings, even if it was only a temporary peace. This definition only references the remnants of the Boddole Zer main fleet that retreated from the combat area after their command ships were sunk - and therefore were only exposed to the Minmay Attack - and the various Zentradi forces scattered around the galaxy that have not encountered humans or human culture yet. It says there are no examples of them accepting peace with humanity yet (unless we count Chlore), which means this can't refer to the Zentradi who sided with humanity and then become terrorists because those groups didn't flee Earth with the scattering of the Boddole Zer fleet and DID briefly make peace with humanity. Well, sure... the ones who made piece (however short-lived) with humans and lived on Earth were being trained in things like manufacturing. The ancient Protoculture prohibited the Zentradi from having knowledge like that to keep them dependent on the Protoculture-controlled factory satellites, so the ones who didn't live on Earth and thus never received that human education would find the idea of making something new to be a completely alien concept. To quote your own translation of Worldguide 10A "The Zentradi":

Macross Chronicle declines to specify where the enemy battle suit was produced. It just echoes remarks that previously appeared in the Macross Plus liner notes and This is Animation Special: Macross Plus book about this model of battle suit being used by the remnants of the Zentradi Boddole Zer main fleet. Logically, the "Lost" Zentradi couldn't have developed and produced this mecha themselves. They're the Zentradi who retreated after their command ships were sunk, so they've never had the opportunity to live on Earth and learn about how their technology actually worked or how to repair and maintain it from humans. They have the Zentradi's "black box" view of technology, and therefore wouldn't be capable of developing or building a new model of battle suit themselves. The only Zentradi who've been depicted developing original weapons are the ones who've lived among humans for a time and learned about the principles of their technology like the Macross II timeline Quamzin in Macross 2036 and Eternal Love Song, Algus Selzaa in the Macross Plus and Macross 7 backstory, or the Zentradi rebels who created the Variable Glaug, Feios Valkyrie, Queadluun-Alma, etc.

A lot - and I mean A LOT - of fans assumed those were something knocked together by Zentradi terrorists inside New UN Gov't territory instead of being original Zentradi-issue gear.

There are two kinds of people in this world... people who understand that Ikenai Borderline is an amazing song, and people who are wrong.

It varies. Some groups are giants, some are miclones, some are a mixture. The New UN Government banned giant Zentradi from Earth's surface in late 2030 after a second major armed revolt by the Zentradi that culminated in the Second Defensive Battle of Macross City. The Zentradi anti-government organization that was responsible for creating the Variable Glaug also had giant Zentradi in it, incl. the Variable Glaug's test pilot Moarmia Jifon (later adopted by the Jenius family as Moaramia Jifon Jenius). They're not necessarily limited to one size or the other either. As we saw in Macross Frontier, with ready access to micloning systems it's perfectly possible to change size in a matter of minutes based on circumstantial need. A soldier could live as a miclone in miclone accommodations and change into a giant when needs dictated, or live as a giant and change into a miclone when needs dictated. The titular Macross Frontier fleet was somewhat unusual in that it had provisions for giant Zentradi settlements as well as miclone living quarters, and to support that had the infrastructure to allow people to live as miclones or giants based on preference. Some Zentradi troops like Pixie Platoon lived principally as miclones but became giants when combat was in the offing, while others like the NUNS 33rd Marines lived as giants most or all of the time. Nope. The "enemy battle suit" from Macross Plus is indicated to be original Zentradi forces issue... one of the many mecha designed for them by the ancient Protoculture over 500,000 years ago. Its pilot is a 9-10m Zentradi clone soldier. It's been speculated by fans that the unnamed enemy battle suit from Macross Plus is an economized version of the Quimeliquola Queadluun-Rau intended for use by the Zentradi rank and file as a substitute for the too-expensive Queadluun-Rau that was reserved for elite forces with purpose-built (female) pilots.

They've done relatively little with the Zentradi main fleets since the original series and first movie, but Zentradi terrorist groups have featured fairly prominently in a number of stories so far. Macross II: Lovers Again not being canon was, ironically, fanon intended to troll Macross II fans. Big West, the owners of Macross, never considered Macross II to be non-canon or "not official". Their stance only changed from it being THE Macross sequel to A Macross sequel and an officially-recognized alternate universe story. It was never disavowed the way its vocal critics claimed. You'll find acknowledgements of it and its tie-in games throughout various franchise publications in the 90's and into the 2000s even before Kawamori spoke up about it. Shoji Kawamori publicly dismissed the "Macross II is non-canon" argument about ten years back, indicating that he considered it just as valid a Macross story as any other. Mind you, Kawamori's view of canon and continuity is a "broad strokes" view. He considers all of the Macross stories equally valid, but doesn't want to get bogged down in minutiae, and also has indicated that he sees them all as being dramatizations of a "true" Macross history. Var syndrome isn't really a zombie virus in the traditional sense... though I suppose it is a bit similar to the one in 28 Days Later that produces berserk fury in its infectees without actually killing them.

Gundam kinda cornered that market anyway. No sense in trying to compete with the metaphorical 800lb gorilla of the genre, even if it is clinically depressed and frequently about as exciting as listening to Ben Stein narrate the phone book.

Put simply, there is no such thing as "post-Zentradi" in Macross. The Zentradi Boddole Zer Main Fleet was "defeated" in February 2010, but approximately 60% of the fleet's nearly 5 million warships remain active after retreating from the loss of its various command ships. Roughly 3 million Zentradi warships in formations of various sizes scattered around the general region of space the New UN Government was exploring and settling with its emigrant fleets would be ample justification on its own to consider the threat posed by the Zentradi to be an ongoing one. The reality is even harsher. Boddole Zer's main fleet was just one of five thousand Zentradi main fleets the ancient Protoculture created at the peak of their power, and somewhere between two thousand and three thousand of those main fleets are still active in the galaxy. Humanity's saving grace is that traveling by space fold is about the worst possible way to explore and survey the galaxy, so Zentradi only find emigrant fleets and colonized planets completely by chance. With tens of thousands of automated factory satellites across the galaxy churning out unceasing supplies of soldiers and war materiel for the Zentradi, there is unlikely to be a "post-Zentradi" era anytime soon. "Rogue" Zentradi forces stumble onto New UN Government planets and fleets on a fairly regular basis though, and Zentradi terrorist organizations inside the New UN Government's sphere of influence pose their own threats as well. For instance: Macross II: Lovers Again's timeline has Earth's UN Forces fighting no less than six main fleets and innumerable smaller "rogue" formations between 2009 and 2092. Two of its side stories, Macross 2036 and Macross: Eternal Love Song, involve conflicts with two (three) of those main fleets. Macross Plus Episode One essentially opens on Isamu's unnamed squadron fighting rogue Zentradi in deep space in 2040. Macross 7's unbroadcasted episode "Fleet of the Strongest Women" shows the 37th long-distance emigrant fleet encountering a rogue Zentradi fleet in 2046. Macross Frontier's titular fleet encountered rogue Zentradi forces at least twice in its backstory. Once in ~2055 (see Macross Frontier ep09 "Friendly Fire") and once in 2058 (in the light novel Macross the Ride, which also includes a 2058 terror attack on Macross Frontier and Macross Galaxy by a Zentradi-led anti-government group.) Macross Delta's gaiden manga The White Knight of the Black Wing depicts Windermere IV's Kingdom of the Wind balking a bit at its obligations as a New UN Gov't member to send part of its defense forces to reinforce one of its neighbors which is under attack by a rogue Zentradi fleet in 2060. This obligation, and the inevitable wartime losses, are a part of what motivated King Grammier Neirich Windermere VI to decide that the Kingdom of the Wind should secede from the New UN Government... leading to the 2060 war of secession that ended with NUNS Maj. Wright Immelmann dropping a dimensional warhead on the city of Carlyle, setting up the entire plot of the series. The "canon" videogames Macross M3, Macross Digital Mission VF-X, and Macross VF-X2 all feature Zentradi terrorist groups. Variable Fighter Master File makes several mentions of fleets or planets being attacked by rogue Zentradi, including the total loss of emigrant planet Spica III and an attack on the Macross Valiant fleet in 2061 in which an emigrant ship that was unable to escape with the rest of the fleet had to be self-destructed with dimensional warheads to avoid it falling into Zentradi hands after its passengers were evacuated. There are more examples, this is just what I can recall offhand. Macross II: Lovers Again had new models of Destroid. That OVA and the "parallel world" timeline it occupies are pretty much the only Macross setting where Destroids remain a viable strategic option. The UN Forces in Macross II had updated the First Space War-era Destroid concepts with new technologies and at least one all-new model, like the railgun-equipped Defender EX, a more robust and heavily armed Phalanx Kai, a Tomahawk II model that was also upgunned with railguns and multiple sets of beam cannons, an even gruntier Monster, and the all-new GERWALKroid that filled a role similar to an attack helicopter. The Macross official setting that Macross Plus and later works belong to, however, took the view that the Destroids were surplus to requirements since they were developed for a land war against the Zentradi that never came and wasn't really part of the Zentradi MO. They remained in service for a little while, but they were eventually retired and either found their way onto practice ranges for use as targets in live fire exercises (as seen in Macross Plus) or were disarmed and sold off to civilians to be used as various types of heavy machinery for construction, demolition, and mining (as seen in Macross 7). The only "new" Destroids seen in limited military use have been local governments using modernizations of decades-old platforms like the ADR-03 (the "Cheyenne II" in Macross Frontier and Macross Delta) and the ADR-04 (the "Super Defender" in Macross the Ride). There hasn't really been new model development of Destroids since the end of the First Space War... unless you want to count the mobile weapons Gjagavan Va and Annabella Lasiodora from Macross VF-X2, which are mobile weapons used by anti-government forces. (A Macross Frontier short story hints at them being mobile weapons rejected for use by the New UN Forces.) There's also the VB-6 Konig Monster, but that's a variable bomber that just happens to look like the Monster Destroid in GERWALK mode. More or less. Some New UN Government members make limited use of modernizations of 50 year old Destroid designs in their armed forces. The Macross Frontier fleet, for instance, makes use of a modernized version of the UN Wars-era ADR-03 Cheyenne as a mobile anti-aircraft gun and ground defense unit to fight threats inside of its habitat ships... in part because the rollers in their feet don't rip up the pavement of the public roads. They're not depicted as being particularly effective, and those with static postings like the ones used as AA guns aboard the SMS Macross Quarter are unmanned and remotely operated. Destroids have found a niche as heavy industrial equipment, though. Unarmed versions of the modernized ADR-03 Cheyenne - known as the "Destroid Work" or "Workroid" - seem to be a fairly popular and widespread heavy duty vehicle. They're depicted being used for asteroid mining, construction, disaster recovery, and even spaceport cargo handling. The protagonist of Macross Delta, Hayate Immelmann, is introduced as a (bored) workroid driver handling interstellar freight at a spaceport on Al Shahal. Eh... the writing in the last series wasn't that great because they were hardcore pushing the idol group they'd formed for the series, but audiences still went nuts for it and it's making serious bank in Japan with another movie scheduled to come out soon. I don't think I'd say it's stale... it's just not focusing on the wants of western audiences, because we aren't the primary/intended audience. ... yeah, don't hold your breath for that one. Your expected wait time is approximately forever.

Just text.

It was the original YF-24 that had the hump that got it nicknamed "Camel". The Evolution version had a scaled-down, more mature version of ISC technology that fit into the aircraft's nose the same as the production ISCs.

But the VF-X-2, VF-X-3, VF-X-4, and YF-24 aren't... I was responding to the list.

Even if Kawamori were so inclined, it's highly likely that he would defer to aviation traditions and conventions and only assign names to the production aircraft. Experimental aircraft - the so-called "X-planes" - are almost never given actual names. This is partly because experimental aircraft tend to be built in very small numbers only and are prone to a high loss rate, so nobody really wants to get too attached. Of the few that do have names, most are just the government program name or an abbreviation thereof, as on the X-30 NASP, X-23 PRIME, and X-20 Dyna-Soar ("Dynamic Soarer"). Naming prototypes is a fairly recent trend, usually individual prototypes are unnamed or are given individual nicknames by their pilots like two YF-23s being Gray Ghost and Black Widow II respectively. Sukhoi, the designers of the SV-51, don't give their aircraft designs names either. Even the SV-52 орел is an affectation on the part of its pilot not an official name for the SV-52.

That has a fairly straightforward explanation. During testing, the USAF's YF-22 was informally known as the Lightning II between its rollout in August 1990 and the USAF's formal announcement that the production aircraft would be named "Raptor" in April 1997. Macross's VF-4 Lightning gained the III after the YF-22's informal nickname became public knowledge, but before the F-22 was officially named "Raptor". IIRC, the first time that the VF-4 appeared with the roman numeral III appeneded to its name was in Macross Digital Mission VF-X, which came out a little over one month before the F-22's name was officially designated "Raptor". Perceval may constitute a separate theme specifically between itself and Durandal, namely one of knights and holy weapons with Christian mythos basis. Durendal in The Song of Roland is a holy sword that derives its magical powers from four holy relics that were embedded into it (which the four pieces of fold quartz that power the YF-29's fold wave system are named for). One of the details that is frequently lost in later Arthurian mythos is that Perceval/Peredur possessed a holy weapon of his own... a magical eternally-bleeding spear strongly implied to be the Spear of Destiny (AKA the Lance of Longinus). In some versions of its myth, the lance itself also contains a holy relic (a nail from the true cross) and is otherwise follows the standard myth of an "invincible spear" that can pierce any shield or armor. The VF-3/VF-X3 actually belongs up with the mythological references... its other name, as indicated in the game's manual, was the Medusa.

He seems to be a big fan of giving everything a Meaningful Name... and I do mean EVERYTHING. Almost every placename, even the trivial ones, in Macross 30 have direct significance to their relevance to the plot. That's what happens when you let the fans name your latest design... previous contests resulted in VF designs with names like "Schneeblume" and "Schneegans". Kawamori has some esoteric tastes and is a noted student of aviation history. One has to wonder what he might've otherwise named the Su-27-inspired VF-25... as the second (third) coming of the VF-1 design maybe it would've been Tomcat II?

Sort of? Robotech's fans are paradoxical creatures at best. Their attachment to, or perhaps its would be more accurate to say "obsession with", the early 80's storytelling and art style of the three original anime series that were adapted into Robotech is completely and utterly at odds with their vocal disdain for anime and "anime-ness". They don't want Robotech to be anime, but they also don't want Robotech to ever do anything that would distance it from the 80's anime that makes it up. The "original" Robotech series has become the metaphorical sacred cow to its fans, something the franchise's owners can't mess with without infuriating the fans but also can't slavishly follow without being blasted for a lack of original thought. Robotech is not allowed to be anime, but it's not allowed to not be 80's anime either... so it stagnates by endlessly revisiting what can only generously be called its "glory days" with rehashes of its "original" series. The only Hell is the one you make for yourself... and Robotech is forever trapped in a Hell created by all of the lies Carl Macek told about its origins over the years. Carl Macek unwittingly set Robotech up to fail in the long term by spending so much time and effort telling anyone who would listen that Robotech was entirely HIS creation and nobody else's. He, and through him Harmony Gold, took credit for the writing of Sukehiro Tomita and Ken'ichi Matsuzaki, the character designs of Haruhiko Mikimoto and Yoshitaka Amano, the mechanical design works of Studio Nue and Studio Artmic, and all the rest. It gave fans completely the wrong idea about who was actually responsible for Robotech's quality... the many Japanese creators of the original shows. Even if Robotech's fans now understand that Robotech's quality is the borrowed gloss of the original shows, they've long since internalized Carl Macek's lies about having been the one responsible for everything they love about the series. Harmony Gold doesn't, and never had, the talent pool or the funding to create something anywhere close to the level of the SDF Macross series. All those years of hearing Carl Macek brag about Robotech being entirely his work have made the fans believe, at least on an emotional level, that they ARE capable of that level of quality. That makes every sh*t-awful effort to continue the Robotech story almost as disappointing for fans as it is embarrassing for us to watch from afar. Harmony Gold is cheap about Robotech because Robotech was never really commercially successful. It just BARELY justified the minimum effort necessary to make a movie and to try making a second season when it was new, and only then on a shoestring budget. But, of course, Harmony Gold's manic self-promotion is self-sabotaging. They tell their fans (and anyone who'll give them the time of day) that Robotech was a huge phenomenon that shook the industry to its foundation and created the modern anime industry in the US... and not the truth that it was an at-best middle-of-the-pack ratings performer with an unsuccessful toy line that was almost completely forgotten within five years of its debut. The fans rail against its perceived cheapness and the perceived incompetence of its "creators" now because they've spent decades living with a completely unrealistic idea of what Harmony Gold was capable of. It's unmistakably cheap and amateurish, but for the resources and talent pool Harmony Gold actually has they're not doing that bad a job. They're performing at a level you'd expect them to if you had a realistic view of their capabilities and the franchise's history. Fans don't, so they rail against the cheapness and incompetence they see in comparing Harmony Gold's actual work to the material borrowed from some of the anime industry's biggest names.