New Robotech Shadow Chronicles Vid

[capt.actionjackson]

So was there any news on the Shadow Chronicles at AX?

Yes, they're still looking for a distibutor. Go figure.

[Sumdumgai]

Wow, it sounds like it's so crappy no one wants to distribute it.

[jenius]

If they're still looking then why are they so certain they'll make an announcement by Labor Day? I wonder if they haven't found someone but are looking for an even better set-up or if Labor Day is just the "If we haven't found something by then, we'll just sell it off our website" date.

[Legioss]

They're still on Namek?

415309[/snapback]

So you are informing us that the animators decide to draw a 5 second powerup, in a 5 minute battle scene, that started 5 days ago (in the storyline/animation), will take 5 weeks to draw, and another 5 years to print (if at all)?

415313[/snapback]

Pretty much, a movie about the end of Robotech and what happens the next day. It's slowed down to the point that I can sell most of my Robotech stuff at the convention this friday. Back in the day I used to be all excited about it. Now I look at Robotech as it is in this revival and it doesn't look all that different from DBZ dubs. One of the things I hope people walk away from the video room we're doing with is how interesting anime is when it's left in the context of Japanese culture. Also they'll get to see some tokusatsu and see it's not just anime.

[chrono]

I can't imagine that they were given a Dreamworks or Pixar sized budget to get this done.

415242[/snapback]

They'd get something that sucked even more, but looked 'good' bad doing it! It would be like seeing Toy Story 5.

[Roy Focker]

I can imagine why could be a hard sell. The main stream people would not in anime and would send them the the anime people. The anime people might tell them that are interested in proven hits from Japan or stuff that is like what is already out and hot.

HG is doing what? They made a western anime sequel off of a something that was hot 20 years ago and stills maintains a fair fan following. A distibutor just might not think the return would be high enough.

[Vermillion21]

So was there any news on the Shadow Chronicles at AX?

Yes, they're still looking for a distibutor. Go figure.

415637[/snapback]

Thanks for the info - a shame that HG just can't seem to get their act together (at least IMHO). Like many others, I too have lost interest/enthusiam about the Shadow Chronicles.

[Godzilla]

Frankly I dont understand the hype on this. HG always drag their feet. They announce something and then it is delayed and delayed and then the product we get isnt all that great as hyped. Maybe HG will go bankrupt again... I am not a hater of HG but their track record on products are way below stellar.

[jenius]

Hey, if they did go bankrupt does that mean that their licenses, and the RT brand in general, could be swooped up by better companies? Would that also mean that Yamato and others would have carte blanche in distributing outside of Japan?

[azrael]

Hey, if they did go bankrupt does that mean that their licenses, and the RT brand in general, could be swooped up by better companies?  Would that also mean that Yamato and others would have carte blanche in distributing outside of Japan?

415991[/snapback]

No. Licensing doesn't work that way with bankruptcy (I'll leave that for a larger, well known thread).

Roy has a point. RT is 20 years old. Very few people in the current crowd of anime freaks know about RT. If ADV has decided to not pick up this title yet...then there's something suspicious about it. A)Is HG charging too much for distribution (alternatively, do companies not want to pay for the costs of distributing it) or B) will this little show not make the money to re-coup everybody's losses when we look at the numbers? How long is this thing gonna appear at film festivals instead of on people's video collection shelves?

[TheLoneWolf]

I think Azrael's on to something with the expensive distribution theory. HG is probably charging a lot of money to distribute it, and none of the current distributors are willing to take the risk. On HG's side, when the Robotech DVD's were released in 2001 they sold insanely well. But Robotech is an old old show, so distributors are probably thinking that's it's not worth paying a lot for.

Does anyone know if distributors can view the actual film before agreeing to distribute? I know it sounds like a silly question, but there are some weird regulations out there. Perhaps they think it's shoddy and not worth the price HG is charging.

[Apollo Leader]

From what I've been told, there has been a lot of interest and numerous companies have lined up wanting to become the distributor for the Shadow Chronicles. I don't know who the distributor was, but a number of months back there was a deal almost signed. But as it turned out, the deal could have allowed the distributor to have put the Shadow Chronicles on the shelf and would have never had to release it. The deal obviously fell through. Obviously, Harmony Gold is trying to push for the best deal which should in turn give a better and wider opportunity for the public to see it.

[Keith]

Here's your first clue something is wrong, ADV isn't distributing it. They'd be the most obvious choice, since they handled all of the other Robotech DVD's. And if not even ADV will touch it....

[jenius]

LOL, this conversation has now officially become the same conversation as every previous Shadow Chronicles thread has right before they all tailed off.

[Keith]

That's not true, we haven't talked about Aisha's new big titties for several pages.

[azrael]

First off, yes, licensee can view the product before they sign a contract.

The only reason why this thread has diverged is because A) very few people have seen the product and/or they are not speaking up. There was a panel for it at AX2006, there must have been some news on it at the panel. Where is that news? B) we've seen all the vids and we've talked about it, but now where is the product? We need a product to comment on.

*snip*...But as it turned out, the deal could have allowed the distributor to have put the Shadow Chronicles on the shelf and would have never had to release it.  ...*snip, too long to quote*

416040[/snapback]

That is possible. But something like that would mean that the distributor would be compensated for the cost of obtaining the license.

Now, one thing that didn't occur to me is maybe HG is trying to distribute this themselves.

[Effect]

True they could be doing it themselves. I've been kicking around the idea though that what if after doing this film and putting the money on it they finally sat back and realize that the RT fan community or anime fan in general (still don't consider RT an anime in the sense that it's a japanese animation show, at least this new version and due to the changes the older version went through) won't accept it or care of it. I wonder how possible would it be for them to realize that what they've done is create something that the fans of RT will not like and won't care for it and they are stuck?

That might be a long shot though. Most likely case is that they have to high of an opinion of RT and it's standing in todays setup and are demanding to much when it comes to getting distrubed. Or perhaps, with the legal mess around RT, which I don't doubt anime distrubing companies heard about, perhaps no company wants to risk releasing it without making sure they won't get caugt up in the mess if something happens later on.

Or like my first thought, it just might not be any good. Now if HG wanted to release it on their own, they very well could I think. Take preoders I guess to see what the interest is, based on that burn the copies and get the cases and cover slips made, charge the people and slip them out. Or charged them first (preorder buyers fulling knowing that will happen) to cover expenses. I would tink RT.com would be able to do that and them being in Cali, sure there are places that can do the copying and case creation work for them. If they aren't willing to do that, then it might be a case of the show not being any good or them knowing what the reaction to it will most likely be and are stuck now that it's been made.

How long has it been since they announced it was finished? 5 months or more?

Edited July 14, 2006 by Effect

[Roy Focker]

Sure they could release it themselves but then it some sort of Robotech.Com Exclusive.

I bet they rather have it on Robotech.com, other online sites and in the anime sections of national chains.

[Keith]

Maybe they can give it away as a prize in Robotech cereal!

Features include:

-Squirming Invid regents

-Green Protoculture Flower buds

-Yellow Dancer Shoes!

Note From the makers of Robotech cereal: If Invid Regents tranform from their larvel state & fly out of the box when you open it, that means your box is ripe with Protoculture!

[Cyclone]

I doubt HG will release it themselves either generally or on RT.com, for much the same reason why they aren't going to ADV, they want a distributor who has wider reach beyond niche markets like anime to try and tap the "oh, I sort remember this cartoon from the 80's" market where the money is as there isn't enough existing RT fans to make it worth it...

Edited July 15, 2006 by Cyclone

[Vermillion21]

Well, let's hope we get some news about the Shadow Chronicles by the end of the year ...

[waters7]

Finally a distributor was announced at comicon

check the article here

[JsARCLIGHT]

Funimation... interesting.

Is it just me or is the cry of "The most hated producer in anime (HG) signs on with the most hated distributor of anime (Funimation) to bring people one of the most complained about and derided sequels of all time (R:SC)" already going off in everyone else's mind as well as mine?

[Razor x]

what other titles has Funimation distributed? anything good?

Edited July 22, 2006 by Razor x

[JsARCLIGHT]

Funimation is best known for their releases of Dragon Ball. They also have Yu Yu Hakusho, Fullmetal Alchemist, "Case Closed" (Detective Conan) as well as a few other shows.

What they are really known for in fanboy circles is their sometime practice of butchering anime into edited, dubbed "americanized" versions and not making the original unedited versions available. From what I have seen they have changed that policy to some degree but they are still known to hack stuff up and dub it moreso than simply translate and release.

So in a sense HG and Funimation are a match made in heaven.

[Radd]

Actually, Funinmation, as far as I know, has dropped their practices of released edited anime and then refusing to make the uncut works available. They've also released some interesting titles like 'Galaxy Railways' now. They're no longer even close to being the worst of the bunch, that title is reserved for 4Kidz/Fox.

[azrael]

So how much did Funmation offer them for it? How much is HG getting in return?

[Sumdumgai]

This is funny. I'm not sure if it would be as funny or funnier if they had gotten 4kids/fox, since that Escaflowne TV release sucked ass.

[Keith]

Funimation has actuallly shaped up quite a bit in recent years. I'd definately put them up far above Manga or Viz for instance. Hell, just for the fact that they include the original Japanese credits when you select the Japanese language track, that puts them up above Bandai & ADV.

Galaxy Railways was an awesome release, and if it's at all indicative of their current practices, I'm all for Funi doing new licenses. With that said, it doesn't really make much of a difference where Shadow Chronicles is concerned, but I do find it funny that HG fell out of bed with ADV.

[Cyclone]

Funimation seem to be a better chance getting it into mainstream, at least based on their relationship with Cartoon Network, than ADV at any rate.

[Effect]

Maybe but it seems that Cartoon Network has been trying to stray away from anime shows in favor of their own inhouse work or produced work. I think Saturdays is really (early in the morning to early Sunday morning) where that programming is at.

From what I recall reading, can't find the link but this was brought up on the DC boards I think in relation to the superhero shows, that Cartoon Network makes more money from their inhouse shows (toys, etc), in a somewhat larger percentage then from other shows where they have to pay out to show them and don't get all the money generated from them. That was one of the concerns when it came to doing shows like Justice League. While owned by Warner Bros, it still had to pay Warner Bros animation and DC comics I think to show it. I'd guess the same would have to be true of anime shows, which could be why they have cut back the way they've done in recent years.

So just saying it being shown on Cartoon Network isn't really a sure thing giving Funimation's connections with Cartoon Network. Especially since RT, didn't really rack in the numbers last time it was shown. They already seem pretty reluctant as I understand it to show any more Gundam. I guess because no show has been the hit Gundam Wing was for them.

Something else just came to me. A lot of shows try to put out toys or items for people to buy. I think that's true about almost all anime on Cartoon Network and Adult Swim at the moment. I don't think Robotech would be in the same position. The toys worth getting cost way to much and I doubt people at large will buy them, not to mention I don't think they are made anymore since they had limited runs. There are really no other tie in products out there for Robotech at the moment (comics are over and were by large crap save the first mini series and even that fell apart at the end I feel). The games have come and gone and weren't really hits. I still see Battlecry in stores but Invasion not so much.

Do you think HG is looking to make their money back based on dvd sales alone and the money they get from Funimation to release it? I wonder how viable that is considering the situation.

[Vermillion21]

Finally a distributor was announced at comicon

check the article here

418346[/snapback]

About fracking time ...... wonder when the actual DVD will be listed for sale ......

[jenius]

A theatrical release first eh? Well, being in San Francisco maybe that will be one of the six cities this thing would probably show in Very interesting, I will continue to approach RT:SC with one eyebrow raised.

[Ginrai]

Maybe but it seems that Cartoon Network has been trying to stray away from anime shows in favor of their own inhouse work or produced work. I think Saturdays is really (early in the morning to early Sunday morning) where that programming is at.

418558[/snapback]

Uh? I still see lots of anime on Cartoon Network. Ghost in the Shell, Eureka 7, Samurai Champloo, blah blah blah...

[baronv]

Good golly, just read this and now it's finally gonna be distributed? I thought this was a gonner after waiting a full year for the official announcement. Well the Robotech.com site said they'll have a press release today on the site but no sign of it yet. I'm hoping they get it out by this year.