Interesting Commentary On The New Macross Dvds

[Lacerta]

Call me crazy, but I'm pretty sure once the 4th or 5th DVD is out, Macross will end up on a TV screen somewhere.

There are plenty of shows on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim that have comparable animation to Macross (Lupin the III? Trigun?) but they don't have the...'historical significance' Macross does. That and it has cool mecha and action, humor and romance. If they promote and hype it enough, people will watch anything (*coff*savedbythebell*coff*)

There's a friend of mine who enjoys the newer anime, and over a couple days she and I watched my two DVD's. Needless to say, she's waiting to see Vol. 3 when it comes out later this month! I doubt that she'd even show interest if the show was just subtitled, and like most dubbed shows, the music remains in Japanese. A couple days later we were hanging out and I could hear her humming 'ma-ku-ross'...so I think we have another fan

PS---another fan that calls it MUHcross

[JB0]

Call me crazy, but I'm pretty sure once the 4th or 5th DVD is out, Macross will end up on a TV screen somewhere.

There are plenty of shows on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim that have comparable animation to Macross (Lupin the III? Trigun?) but they don't have the...'historical significance' Macross does.  That and it has cool mecha and action, humor and romance.  If they promote and hype it enough, people will watch anything (*coff*savedbythebell*coff*)

They tried to run Mobile Suit Gundam right after they got sick of repeating Gundam Wing.

People had aneurisms and they canned it before they finished the run.

[KingNor]

Mr March:

If I made it seem like i meant "most" anime fans, please understand i made an effort to say "many".

You have to remember that a huge huge chunk animefans in the US are little kids, in part because the anime that gets brought over is kids stuff because the US TV stations are dead set in the opinion that "cartoons are for children"

You have to remember that you're an intellegent Anime fan, and as such you'll be friends with other intellegent anime fans. You and i'm sure you're friends watch good shows, and can spot drivel when you see it.

But because all you see on a daily basis is your base of friends and people with some taste doesn't mean that the general public anime fan use as much descretion.

IMHO the AVERAGE anime watcher is just as happy with "any" anime as they are with "good" anime.

That is just my opinion, and judging by what (and how) anime is brought to the states, i think my opinion has some justification behind it.

I find the members of this board to be among some of the smartest, and most well rounded anime fans i've encounterd.

[Mr March]

Mr March:

If I made it seem like i meant "most" anime fans, please understand i made an effort to say "many".

You have to remember that a huge huge chunk animefans in the US are little kids, in part because the anime that gets brought over is kids stuff because the US TV stations are dead set in the opinion that "cartoons are for children"

You have to remember that you're an intellegent Anime fan, and as such you'll be friends with other intellegent anime fans.  You and i'm sure you're friends watch good shows, and can spot drivel when you see it.

But because all you see on a daily basis is your base of friends and people with some taste doesn't mean that the general public anime fan use as much descretion. 

IMHO the AVERAGE anime watcher is just as happy with "any" anime as they are with "good" anime.

That is just my opinion, and judging by what (and how) anime is brought to the states, i think my opinion has some justification behind it.

I find the members of this board to be among some of the smartest, and most well rounded anime fans i've encounterd.

397048[/snapback]

I do understand where you're coming from and your evaluation of my own tastes has merit. My apologies if I concetrated too much on "most" at the expense of the point you were making.

However, I am cognizant of the anime world outside my own social circles and I do disagree with some of your analysis of anime fans (or pop culture product in general). I don't believe the most popular animes enjoy success because of whimsical fans looking for a fix. Such a person is unreliable as a repeat consumer and is easily distracted by popular culture products that extend beyond anime. They are just as likely to find the next big music video on MTV or blockbuster in the theatre as appealing as catching Sailor Moon on the Cartoon Network.

I will say this as a generalization about North American anime fans which I think agrees with your opinion: they gravitate towards certain styles and genres of anime, many of which are not popular among the hardcore anime fandom in Japan. Here in North America, the hardcore fandom loves the dark, action animes. Fans will often purchase new anime matching that criteria; and yes, some will do so without consideration for quality or value. I think this partially corresponds to your criticism of NA fans.

It's also important to keep in mind the distinction between anime fandom in NA and the anime that hits mainstream success here in NA. As sad as it is to say, anime fandom has very little impact on anime that has hit mainstream success in NA. Shows like Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh are all but derided by the vast majority of anime fandom here in NA, but both shows are mainstream successes more profitable than even fan favorites like NGE, Cowboy Bebeop, and Akira.

Personally, I like to think that most fan bases, like fantasy and sci-fi fandom, do gravitate toward more worthwhile products just as anime fans do. There are some popular shows that do represent poor quality and a portion of any fandom does exist that supports those weaker productions. IMO, these fans are not the movers and shakers of their particular fandom, though they may represent a large portion of purchasing power that most of us don't care to see.

Edited May 5, 2006 by Mr March

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

The three songs that I get stuck in my head after hearing them and start singing long after they are over are:

-mak-u-rosu

-gundamu (the 70s sounding opening song)

-Am-u-rooooooo (at the credits screen of msg)

I think it comes down to people just being used to things of their generation. So old stuff won't be watched by young people because the tastes and trends have changed from generation to generation. It may have nothing to do with quality.

The art in msg isn't as clean as modern shows. Really thick lines in some places, chunky looking robots designs with goofy looking bodies etc Overall it is a quality show, but so to are new ones. (with new ones that may try harder to appeal to newer generations of fans with different tastes to fans of previous generations)

Edited May 5, 2006 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[Branded]

I think the idea of a Macross reboot could work; Batman Returns is a reboot, the new Galactica is pretty sucessful, and the upcoming Bond flick is an attempt to reboot the franchise, although I'm not very confident about how it's going to play out. I think the time we're living in right now lends itself appropriately to the Macross universe, with the public receiving more imagery of the military and global conflicts in the media. Galactica is succesful because of this; and Galactica shares a lot of similarites with Macross. If Kawamori ever wanted to fully update and polish his original mecha designs and storyline, now is the time to do it.