Macross renaissance

[sharky]

For some reason I am feeling nostalgic today.

I just feel that it's such a cool time to be a Macross fan. What with Frontier and all the cool toys I feel like I'm in a Macross renaissance right now. Back in the day, I was so young with no money and no internet. Back then I was watching Robotech reruns after school. It was really hard to get any cool Macross items. The only way to get anything was through mail order from a catalog listing printed on newspaper stock, or I had to travel pretty far to get to a decent convention in the hopes that some dealer would have any Macross stuff. I was watching a bad VHS bootleg of Clash of the Bionoids. My only valk toy was a Jetfire transformer. Most of my friends didn't even know what anime was, let alone Macross. I tried to hip them to it.

Contrast that scene to now. Now I'm watching the latest series as it's being broadcast in Japan. I am at a point in my life and career where I can actually afford the items I really want. The internet has made it possible to get the latest news and updates on all things Macross. I can pretty much get anything I want without even leaving my house. Yamato is creating the absolute coolest Macross toys ever made. Hi-def TV and Blue-ray media comes along. I'm listening to Macross music streaming from my Ipod to my car stereo in the morning. The list goes on and on.

I feel old now,"in my day, sonny, we didn't have all these fancy computers and such..."

Edited August 29, 2008 by sharky

[Gubaba]

Definitely. Every few years, I'll have a big wave of Macross knock me off my feet, and this is one of those times. I'm reminded of 1994~95, when I was getting Plus as it came out in the U.S., and wishing there were some way to see Mac7. Finally, I ended up renting the videotapes from a Japanese video store (raw, of course).

Now, it really is amazing to see how quickly the episodes can be distributed and subbed. Sometimes...I like the 21st Century.

Still, although I'm buying the CDs and magazines and books and the models, I wish there were some way to give even more money to some enterprising American company (or Japanese...I'm not picky) that would put out good R1 DVD releases with really good subtitles.

Taking advantage of all the sophisticated technology that enables us to watch the show AS IT AIRS is fun, but I wouldn't mind paying a higher entry fee.

Still...I'm getting Macross Chronicles through Kinokuniya, via air mail...that's thirteen bucks an issue, which is perhaps steep enough for my taste...

[David Hingtgen]

I completely agree. I "missed out on" all the discussion about Zero due to having a very slow (even by then-standards) dial-up, which made it impossible to follow along as it was released as I couldn't download anything. I had to avoid all those threads for months and months, and never did get to see the whole thing until probably a year after everyone else had.

But now that I have broadband, and due to the "modern age" of fansubbers, I can "join in" on all the discussions about Frontier. And we not only have Frontier stuff coming, but a ton of VF-1 and Plus toys as well recently.

The recent "Macross wave" got me to re-watch M7, which I haven't seen since the first time years back---and back then I had to watch it in very poor-quality and tiny-resolution .rm files (all that I could get and download back then). Whereas now I can see it in nice Divx-encoded avi's etc.

[Gubaba]

I completely agree. I "missed out on" all the discussion about Zero due to having a very slow (even by then-standards) dial-up, which made it impossible to follow along as it was released as I couldn't download anything. I had to avoid all those threads for months and months, and never did get to see the whole thing until probably a year after everyone else had.

But now that I have broadband, and due to the "modern age" of fansubbers, I can "join in" on all the discussions about Frontier. And we not only have Frontier stuff coming, but a ton of VF-1 and Plus toys as well recently.

Don't you wish EVERY year could be the 25th Anniversary of Macross...?

(Well...my bank account doesn't, but I do!)

[Isamu Starkiller]

I'm practically in the same boat as you Dave, Grew up watching Robotech as a kid, when I got the interwebz at home I discovered that I had been bamboozled and began researching all thing Macross. I went out and bought Macross Plus and was shocked at how awesome it was! I had dial up and well we all know limited we were with that. I was told about Macross 0 buy a guy on another board and I think I stumbled upon MW back then but never registered.

My hard drive on ye ol comp ate pineaaple salad and I lost all my favs, I got a brand spanking new comp and FioS and found MW again, registered and shortly afterwards Frontier was announced...what amazing timing! It's great to be a part of this community and I'm loving the fact that I'm finally current with the series I've grown up with over 25 years! YAK DECULTCHA I feel old!

I wonder what the future holds for us? 30th anniversary

[Kronnang Dunn]

Actually I'm living a pretty ironic situation. Years ago a saw lots and lots of Macross related items, but never bought them because I didn't have enough money or wasn't interested at all in them... (I used to spent most of my money in videogames back then).

Right now I've become veeery interested in Macross mecha toys (and much less in games, hehe), the cheap smaller ones the most. Sadly, I haven't been able to find as many as I want despite having enough money to buy them...

The terrible irony of life...

Edited August 29, 2008 by Kronnang Dunn

[Morpheus]

I was saving for a Yamato valk but ended up buying 5 gunpla.

I also remember when I collect all the mechanical data on all Macross series and put it on a binder (just like Chronicles today). I wander if I still have the file somewhere.

[ruskiiVFaussie]

Macross is Life!

[whispo]

Well ... since I'm only a newbie who joined in on the ride when Frontier was released I can't say I've had a similar experience with Macross. But I do know that refreshing feeling that thanks to modern internet anything is possible. Heck I remember downloading my verry first anime and that took ages. Now it's just a matter of pressing a button waiting 5 minutes and we're done.

It's so much easier to get stuff directly from Japan and it defenitely is cool that we can even "live stream" broadcasts, we're lucky bastards.

[Final Vegeta]

I completely agree. I "missed out on" all the discussion about Zero due to having a very slow (even by then-standards) dial-up, which made it impossible to follow along as it was released as I couldn't download anything. I had to avoid all those threads for months and months, and never did get to see the whole thing until probably a year after everyone else had.

I too had dial-up, I got ADSL only this year. Most of my friends instead had it, so I had to ask them to download it for me.

It'w weird how I got to see Aquarion in bunches of two, three or more episodes and now I see Macross Frontier raw the day it comes out

The recent "Macross wave" got me to re-watch M7, which I haven't seen since the first time years back---and back then I had to watch it in very poor-quality and tiny-resolution .rm files (all that I could get and download back then). Whereas now I can see it in nice Divx-encoded avi's etc.

I too had the .rm files, but I didn't download them, I had a friend send them to me in 3 CDs. Now I just downloaded the remastered version of the first 20 episode, it's so different

FV

[Tochiro]

Totally agree with you Sharkey!

And since all the other old-timers here are waxing nostalgic, I'll take the liberty of doing the same.

Used to wake up early on Saturdays to catch Robotech on TV when I was in elementary school.

Junior-high brought with it the realisation that Robotech was 3 series tacked together. Many weekends were spent in comic shops looking for old issues of animerica and similar publications.

The beginning of senior high saw my first visit to Japan. Was blown away to find myself watching the recently released Macross 2 on VHS (a host family had recorded the broadcast). Tried to dig up any of the original music for either series I could find.

Senior high-school involved waiting for Manga Entertainments sporadic VHS releases of Macross Plus. Became a fan of anything done by Yoko Kanno. Rumours began to abound of this strange new internet thingy and the mass of information and fansites it contained (actually, tiny compared to todays standards, but for the time it was a treasure cave!).

In university I started watching Macross 7 via an eclectic mix of VHS imports/Japanese rentals from the local Japan center and dodgy VCDs from Hong Kong. Listened to Fire Bomber in the car with friends on the way to University each day. Heart and Soul eventually became our fave.

The release of Macross Zero coincided with me just settling into my first job in Japan. It was amazing to actually see real commercials on late-nite tv - to be a part of the media blitz as it happened as opposed to weeks or months later via magazine articles and internet boards.

But Macrross Zero pales in comparison to the all-out hype machine that Frontier has brought with it. Local magazines run features on it; a bar in Akihabara redecorates as a Macross Bar for a couple of weeks; the soundtrack breaks into the Oricon charts top 10! People are talking about Macross. Not just the fans, regular people. Despite having been in Japan for years now, Frontier feels like something new and fresh - and experiencing it as it happens feels like being a part of history.

I can only imagine that this is similar to the way fans of the original back in the early 80's - several years before a certain pajama-wearing Australian kid awoke, bleary-eyed, on a Saturday morning - and had his world changed forever.

Macross - changing lives for 25 years :-) Happy Anniversary! It is indeed a good time to be a fan!

[Cybergig1]

I'm practically in the same boat as you Dave, Grew up watching Robotech as a kid, when I got the interwebz at home I discovered that I had been bamboozled and began researching all thing Macross. I went out and bought Macross Plus and was shocked at how awesome it was! I had dial up and well we all know limited we were with that. I was told about Macross 0 buy a guy on another board and I think I stumbled upon MW back then but never registered.

My hard drive on ye ol comp ate pineaaple salad and I lost all my favs, I got a brand spanking new comp and FioS and found MW again, registered and shortly afterwards Frontier was announced...what amazing timing! It's great to be a part of this community and I'm loving the fact that I'm finally current with the series I've grown up with over 25 years! YAK DECULTCHA I feel old!

I wonder what the future holds for us? 30th anniversary

haha almost exactly the same here. When I was 18 I ran across "robotech" again and remembered how much I loved it as a kid. Bought all the tapes and after the -macross saga- ended realized I hated the last 2/3rd's of the show. Then going online and finding out it was 3 series spliced together. Just like you I then found Macross Plus at best buy, then the gank edited version of DYRL with the crazy english dub by koreans or whoever. But definitely glad Macross is a lot different from other shows in that yes we have bigger gaps but we're better for it with the quality we get.

I definitely agree that we're in a golden age and things are much better now then when I first started getting those copied fansub tapes o_O I still have some of those for Rurouni Kenshin and Initial D lol talk about junk

Long live Macross, not just the 30th I look forward to the 50th anniversary and beyond!

[MisaForever]

I'm glad to see others enjoying this series and Macross in general. I've loved it since I first watched Robotech (GASP) but loved it even more when I saw the original Macross in all its glory.

[Mr March]

Right now, it definitetly feels like an upward swing in Macross and the Macross fandom as well. But I'm not going to celebrate until Macross Frontier has been completed with a satisfatory ending. Everything hinges on that ending and all the fun I'm having watching Frontier can all be taken away from me with one really lousy finale to the series. A lot is riding on this series, IMO.

I hope the worst doesn't happen, but I'm not placing a vote until the job is done.

[MisaForever]

Right now, it definitetly feels like an upward swing in Macross and the Macross fandom as well. But I'm not going to celebrate until Macross Frontier has been completed with a satisfatory ending. Everything hinges on that ending and all the fun I'm having watching Frontier can all be taken away from me with one really lousy finale to the series. A lot is riding on this series, IMO.

I hope the worst doesn't happen, but I'm not placing a vote until the job is done.

Wow, negativity coming from you?? SHOCK!! Seriously, I thought you loved this series as much as I did. I mean you DO, but you seem to be frightened by what could happen. Honestly, after seeing this last episode, Kawamori continues to surprise me with awesome episodes. I am positive that this series will go out with a positive bang.

[Gubaba]

Wow, negativity coming from you?? SHOCK!! Seriously, I thought you loved this series as much as I did. I mean you DO, but you seem to be frightened by what could happen. Honestly, after seeing this last episode, Kawamori continues to surprise me with awesome episodes. I am positive that this series will go out with a positive bang.

Hmmm...I'm with Mr. March with this. In anime, very few bad endings have soured me on the whole series, but Escaflowne was one that did. If the ending of Frontier ends up being REALLY dumb, then I may be annoyed enough to write off the whole series.

It would have to be SPECTACULARLY dumb for that to happen, though...we're talking Leon and Sheryl being the only survivors, falling in love, and going back in time to become the progenitors of the Protoculture, or something like that.

[MisaForever]

Hmmm...I'm with Mr. March with this. In anime, very few bad endings have soured me on the whole series, but Escaflowne was one that did. If the ending of Frontier ends up being REALLY dumb, then I may be annoyed enough to write off the whole series.

It would have to be SPECTACULARLY dumb for that to happen, though...we're talking Leon and Sheryl being the only survivors, falling in love, and going back in time to become the progenitors of the Protoculture, or something like that.

Oh, I think you misunderstand me. Yes, a bad ending WOULD turn me off to the whole series PROBABLY, not definitely. But what I'm saying here is that I SERIOUSLY DOUBT that this series will end badly with what I've seen. I'm continuously impressed.

Oh and GUBABA!!!! We were getting along so well!! And here you go and dis me. :( :( The marriage of Klan and Nanase has ended ;_;

Edited August 29, 2008 by MisaForever

[mike_s_6]

Like a lot of others here, I started with Robotech on TV, then researched and found out about Macross ...I first got to watch Macross Plus in pirated VCD format The technology enabling me to purchase original disks right now is a blessing.

[Gubaba]

Oh, I think you misunderstand me. Yes, a bad ending WOULD turn me off to the whole series PROBABLY, not definitely. But what I'm saying here is that I SERIOUSLY DOUBT that this series will end badly with what I've seen. I'm continuously impressed.

Oh and GUBABA!!!! We were getting along so well!! And here you go and dis me. :( :( The marriage of Klan and Nanase has ended ;_;

I doubt it will end badly, too...but you never know...

We're still buds, right? Right...?

Back on topic...I'd LOVE to see a big surge of Macross Fever sweep Japan (and the west); it could happen, as long as Bandai is as canny in capitalizing on Macross as they have been on Gundam. I hope there's a way they can do it that doesn't involve cranking out a new Macross series every year...

(What am I saying? of course there is! Look at Evangelion, after all...)

[MisaForever]

I doubt it will end badly, too...but you never know...

We're still buds, right? Right...?

Back on topic...I'd LOVE to see a big surge of Macross Fever sweep Japan (and the west); it could happen, as long as Bandai is as canny in capitalizing on Macross as they have been on Gundam. I hope there's a way they can do it that doesn't involve cranking out a new Macross series every year...

(What am I saying? of course there is! Look at Evangelion, after all...)

*refuses to look or watch Evangelion EVER AND FOREVER*

And yes, we're still buds.

Edited August 29, 2008 by MisaForever

[Mr March]

Wow, negativity coming from you?? SHOCK!! Seriously, I thought you loved this series as much as I did. I mean you DO, but you seem to be frightened by what could happen. Honestly, after seeing this last episode, Kawamori continues to surprise me with awesome episodes. I am positive that this series will go out with a positive bang.

It's not negativity, it's being hopeful. I am very pleased with Macross Frontier thus far and I'm hopeful it'll have a satisfactory finish. I've been satisfied with 90% of the episodes, I like the characters, I like the mecha and the stories continue to surprise. I can't deny the show is a lot of fun and I'm enjoying myself.

But the worst is possible and it wouldn't be the first time. I hope for the best.

[RF-26AAC]

*refuses to look or watch Evangelion EVER AND FOREVER*

And yes, we're still buds.

I hated the idea initially based on the synopses that I had read on it, but it's *really* good

Good lord though, that show is a mindf**k.

[Britai 7018]

It is definitely a great time to be a Macross fan...

I remember buying a whole bunch of overpriced ARII PVC non-transformable Macross toys (the ones that only had one mode and came in a bubble pack) just because that was the only toy available besides the 1/55s.

[Cybergig1]

agreed, if they screw us with the ending it'll definitely leave a sour feeling for however many years until we have another ova/series/movie come out. So hopefully that wont happen

[Renato]

It is definitely a great time to be a Macross fan...

I remember buying a whole bunch of overpriced ARII PVC non-transformable Macross toys (the ones that only had one mode and came in a bubble pack) just because that was the only toy available besides the 1/55s.

Haha, yeah! Man, those sucked, but you had to love them 'cos there was nothing else out! At the time the 1/55 was the holy grail and had not been manufactured for 10 or 15 years or so. I managed to grab a rare European edition of the 1990 1/55 Super Valkyrie, and that made everything else look like a lump of crap.

At the time, Macross Plus was really, really impressive. And actually I only got to see DYRL in 1994 or 1995, first in crappy Clash of the Bionoids dub form (but not the chopped up version). Man, that was... amazing. Because I did not think animation could DO the things that were happening onscreen, it was so spectacular.

Nowadays, I think we're spoiled. I'm complaining about Alto and Sheryl in Frontier, and about the new Yamato VF-1D's cockpit... Seriously, the "me" of ten or twelve years ago is probably going, "What? What the hell is WRONG with you?? You're living in an AWESOME period and you still want more??!"

Then I realize that ain't me, it's actually MisaForever...

[Strumvogel]

Then I realize that ain't me, it's actually MisaForever...

MisaForever = curmudgeon

But he's OUR curmudgeon, gosh darn it.

[MisaForever]

MisaForever = curmudgeon

But he's OUR curmudgeon, gosh darn it.

I don't get the joke... IT'S NOT FAIR!!!

[Gubaba]

I don't get the joke... IT'S NOT FAIR!!!

As Guld would say, "Thank you for proving their point."

[dreamweaver13]

While i was watching the original macross, I could never have imagined a time when i would watch Macross almost as soon as it airs in Japan, get to talk with fellow macross fans about it on a per-episode basis and in real time, have enough spending money to buy whatever macross-stuff i want (hey as a kid on an allowance, who could imagine such a thing as beautiful as "spending power"), download episodes, soundtracks and pictures, and know enough japanese to get by a RAW episode with, at least, the gist of what happened.

It's all good baby!!

[RichterX]

let me see,

was Macross plus for the 10th anniversary, Macross 7 serie due to the renew interest, Zero for 20th and Frontier for the 25th anniversary?

[SkullLeaderVF-X]

As Guld would say, "Thank you for proving their point."

I lol'd

MisaForever it's definition is:

cur·mudg·eon [ker-muhj-uhn]

–noun a bad-tempered, difficult, cantankerous person.

I feel happy to be a fan of Macross. I came into Macross from old Robocrap reruns on cartoon network and public access channels. I thought it was awesome, until it ended and they brought in the 2nd generation. i was like "WHAT THE F@%K!!!".Than I slowly made my way to a awesome hobby store call Pegasus's hobbies (which has unfortunately folded) . There I found alot of macross models of valks I knew and some I'v never seen. Soon I found Macross 2 in my local video store and Macross Plus (which blew me away!). Then I found a copy of the old Macross DYRL movie(both the original and english dubbed one, not the bionoids cut thank god)after I found the Internet and found out the truth about Robotech. After that I was a Macross fan from there on, and never really looked back on Robotech. I still remember buying the old ban-dai transformable models and a Joons valk, because that's all I could find in toys for macross.Then soon I came across the M7 toys. What turned me into a macros purest, was HG's block of the toynami YF-19 and the whole cease and desist letters. Come to present day where I have a yamoto valks HK releases of M7,Zer0 and soon MF. I'm glad my fascination and love for this series has stayed with me, where all my others at the time of my age have wained and gone. I always joke when someone complains about there favorite series next seasons taking forever to be released in the US, by replying "Well at least yours gets a no hassle US release." I always say to myself "of all the anime series out there, it figures I fall in love with one that has a legal entanglement over it's copyright, making all hope of future releases nill." But still, I wouldn't change my passion about this series for another, and I'm glad we have come along way, from buying joons and crappy bootleg toys.I'm glad an proud to be a Macross fan!

Edited September 1, 2008 by SkullLeaderVF-X

[MisaForever]

I lol'd

MisaForever it's definition is:

cur·mudg·eon [ker-muhj-uhn]

–noun a bad-tempered, difficult, cantankerous person.

I'm confused as to why you think I'm a bad-tempered, difficult, cantankerous person. No one I know would call me that.

Edited September 1, 2008 by MisaForever

[Gubaba]

let me see,

was Macross plus for the 10th anniversary, Macross 7 serie due to the renew interest, Zero for 20th and Frontier for the 25th anniversary?

Tecnically, Macross II was for the tenth anniversary; Plus and 7 debuted at more or less the same time in 1994 (10 Anniversary of DRYL...?); Dynamite 7 was for the 15th; and, as you say, Zero and F for the 20th and 25th Anniversaries, respectively.

[RichterX]

Tecnically, Macross II was for the tenth anniversary; Plus and 7 debuted at more or less the same time in 1994 (10 Anniversary of DRYL...?); Dynamite 7 was for the 15th; and, as you say, Zero and F for the 20th and 25th Anniversaries, respectively.

so the next serie after Frontier will be for the 30th anniversary

[Gubaba]

so the next serie after Frontier will be for the 30th anniversary

Seeing as how February 7, 2009 is the date of the launch of the Macross and the beginning of Space War I, they'd BETTER do something around that time!

Apart from that, I think Frontier is doing rather better business than Zero did...so maybe we will get something sooner rather than later...

Well, I can hope, right?

That said, I think one of the strengths of Macross is that it (mostly) is under the supervision of ONE GUY, as opposed to, say, Gundam, which used to be Tomino's baby but now can keep going endlessly under any number of creators. The fact that Kawamori is involved in nearly every Macross project gives the whole saga, I believe, an appealling unity of vision which many other long-running franchises lack.

Probably one THE main reason I'm still a Macross fan, as opposed to (again) Gundam, where I checked out once they started going into alternate universes.