Macross Frontier Movie 1,YES it is subbed now edition

[Tochiro]

Yes, I doubt regional languages like Mandarin or Cantonese would be addeed because the series/movie gets officially licensed in these regions so doing so would lessen the value of licensing the product.

As for English subs though, not a chance. Not only would they be useless for 99.99% of the population, a 3rd party would have to be brought in to do them (no way they could be done in-house). And that would cost money.

I mean, many Japanese BD/DVD dont even have Japanese subs for the hearing impaired even.

[Bri]

Still there are some experiments going on with Japanese releases having English subs that have not been broadcasted outside of Japan like the upcoming Gundam Unicorn and Haruhi S2 so who knows. The international collectors market might be large enough to make the inclusion subs profitable. Subs only requires passive knowledge of english.

Edited December 1, 2009 by Bri

[sketchley]

Subs only requires passive knowledge of english.

Can you elaborate?

[Tochiro]

Still there are some experiments going on with Japanese releases having English subs that have not been broadcasted outside of Japan like the upcoming Gundam Unicorn and Haruhi S2 so who knows. The international collectors market might be large enough to make the inclusion subs profitable. Subs only requires passive knowledge of english.

Both of those are using existing deals and distribution networks. Unicorn is a worldwide release, not just a JPN release with English subs. Apart from things like this, the only Japanese blurays with subs are things like Patlabor and GitS which Bandai just rereleased with different covers in the US (and sold dismally because they expected fans to pay Japanese prices and didnt adopt their pricing structure for the US market).

Good subtitling requires far more than a passive knowledge of any language since it not only translated but also interprets meaning into more natural sounding language when necessary. Besides which, there are practically NO English speakers in the anime industry in Japan. The few that are in related industries tend to be employed at game companies but even then the translating and subtitling work (when needed) is often outsourced.

Not to mention the fact that they probably would have subtitled the Japanese Bluray release of the series as well if they intended to adopt the approach you are suggesting.

Sorry, I dont mean to shoot down your hopes here but there are ZERO chances of English subs on Mac F BRs occurring. In a perfect world we would use the extra capacity of BR discs to include subs in every language. But we dont and the anime industry in general is a very closed and domestic one. (And they are RAKING the money in with Mac F so theres no financial impetus to look to foreign sources of revenue anyway).

[ATLMYK]

Sorry, I dont mean to shoot down your hopes here but there are ZERO chances of English subs on Mac F BRs occurring.

http://www.yesasia.com/us/1004021971-0-0-0-en/list.html

There are more and more Japanese releases with English subs everyday. The chances are are not great but nor are they zero.

[Graham]

The chances of an official English release are almost zero, thanks to a little fly in the ointment that goes by the initials of HG.

Graham

[Sergorn]

http://www.yesasia.com/us/1004021971-0-0-0-en/list.html

There are more and more Japanese releases with English subs everyday. The chances are are not great but nor are they zero.

Except all these cases of animes DVD or BD with english subs are anime which have ALREADY got official release in the west with english subtitles. This is why it happens - because the english version already exists so it costs barely nothing to add them to the official R2 Release. In the case of Macross Frontier it will never happens because there is NO official english version of the series - to add subtitles that would require paying people to translate, adapta, time, and QC the whole thing in English and the Japanese won't do that because it'll cost them money for very little benenit (because let's face face it - very few people would buy original Japaneses DVD/BD animes even if they have english subs, if only because of how freaking expansive they are).

-Sergorn

[Bri]

Can you elaborate?

Sorry, I was unclear there. I was refering to fans not producers. What I meant to say was that for being able to read subtitles, you can get by with a limited knowledge of the english language. It's much harder for a non native speaker trying to understand spoken english then to read it. As such anime fans interested in english subbed Japanese material is not confined to English speaking countries, especially since the core fansbase are late teens and young adults who tend to have a better understanding of english then the general population.

Also there is an interest in the fanbase over here to buy directely from the source, either from a desire to support the industry and/or of a perceived (true or not) lack of quality in licensed material.

Both of those are using existing deals and distribution networks. Unicorn is a worldwide release, not just a JPN release with English subs. Apart from things like this, the only Japanese blurays with subs are things like Patlabor and GitS which Bandai just rereleased with different covers in the US (and sold dismally because they expected fans to pay Japanese prices and didnt adopt their pricing structure for the US market).

Good subtitling requires far more than a passive knowledge of any language since it not only translated but also interprets meaning into more natural sounding language when necessary. Besides which, there are practically NO English speakers in the anime industry in Japan. The few that are in related industries tend to be employed at game companies but even then the translating and subtitling work (when needed) is often outsourced.

Not to mention the fact that they probably would have subtitled the Japanese Bluray release of the series as well if they intended to adopt the approach you are suggesting.

Sorry, I dont mean to shoot down your hopes here but there are ZERO chances of English subs on Mac F BRs occurring. In a perfect world we would use the extra capacity of BR discs to include subs in every language. But we dont and the anime industry in general is a very closed and domestic one. (And they are RAKING the money in with Mac F so theres no financial impetus to look to foreign sources of revenue anyway).

On the other hand there are developments like Crunchy Roll that provide online distribution of subbed anime in co-operation with the industry. This eliminates the need for english speakers in the Japanese industry, and Japanese providers have easy acces to cheap subs through the distribution network as CR aquires the subs from US based former fansubbers that turned profesional. Let's face it, if you don't have a certain expertise in house, you buy it.

Haruhi S2 for example is not licensed and afaik the subs were based on the streamed version of the Kadokawa channel. I'm not saying that this development will last or that it will affect Macross anytime soon, but with the slow collapse of the US licensing industry, I wouldn't be surprised if we will see more and more anime titles (that are not licensed) have english subs in the future. Blu-ray is going to help here as it removes the last issues with region encoding.

[Save]

Actually Macross Plus standard rental DVD in Japan has English subs on it (not the recent box set release). My guess is that is it the same subs as the Manga release, but that was authored in a different time. I would have to agree that official subs for Frontier or anything else Macross related does not have a chance of ever being made.

Edited December 1, 2009 by Save

[sketchley]

Sorry, I was unclear there. I was refering to fans not producers. What I meant to say was that for being able to read subtitles, you can get by with a limited knowledge of the english language. It's much harder for a non native speaker trying to understand spoken english then to read it. As such anime fans interested in english subbed Japanese material is not confined to English speaking countries, especially since the core fansbase are late teens and young adults who tend to have a better understanding of english then the general population.

Also there is an interest in the fanbase over here to buy directely from the source, either from a desire to support the industry and/or of a perceived (true or not) lack of quality in licensed material.

Ok, I see where you're coming from. Nevertheless, despite overseas fans purchasing original material, for reasons Tochiro posted, English subs are not going to happen (fan contributions, though significant probably amount to less then a drop in the bucket).

Nevertheless, speaking strictly for the domestic market, Portuguese would make some sense.

(I would like to make some counterpoints for the non-native speaker understanding written better than spoken, but as it's entirely off topic...)

[Ivan]

I wonder if the Frontier movie will be released in theatres here in Hong Kong. The original Do You Remember Love movie was released back in the 80's, so it could be possible. However, the Frontier tv series has yet to be licensed in Hong Kong.

[Macross_Fanboy]

Well this discussion on English subs is interesting to me because a few blu-Ray discs I've seen over here in Tsutaya feature English subs and dubs. GitS SAC had both as well as 2nd Gig and Jin-Roh also. I wanna say Char's Counterattack had the same thing too. But these were released in english speaking countries as well. I would like to see Macross completely on blu-ray with subs but that will never happen unfortunately but maybe one day out of the blue it could happen.

[Tochiro]

I pop out after work to catch the Macros F movie again and look what happens to this thread while I am gone! lol.

I think I enjoyed it more the second time around :-) Altho I still think the fan service is a bit much at times (like Sherryl keeping her vibrating phone between her...well, you'll see^^

There was also a decent selection of merch available, but nothing much of interest (a towel, jigsaw puzzle, etc. They did have (for some reason) 2 spare Macross Chronicles binders though, which I snapped up since those things are getting damn rare. One more and my set will be covered. yay!

Anyways....

Sergorn - excellent point. It IS the case with most Japanese BR that have English subs.

Macross_Fanboy - the non-rental BR of Chars Counterattack doesnt have Eng subs, sorry. Nor does F91 or ANY Gundam BR for that matter. The GitS movies and SAC compilations DID have Eng subs - once again because they already existed. The SAC BR tv boxsets however do not. (heck, Eng subs are actually REMOVED from a lot of movies - like anything from HK/China for instance - ie, Red Cliff).

Bri - ah the optimism of the naive. I hope what you are suggesting happens, and it probably will...someday. But there is still very little impetus for change within the establish anime industry and all the structures it contains. Yes, there are a few experiments like Crunchyroll, but these are the exception rather than the rule. In fact, instead of looking for more ways to distribute internationally, most Japanese companies are falling back and looking for ways to maximise the local market. Digital distribution? Well at the moment the government is cracking down on illegal file sharing - 10 uploaders were arrested just last week and from Jan 1 2010 it will be illegal to download any copyrighted mateial. This is a last gasp attempt to guard the local physical medium based industry and while it will probably fail in the long run it makes anime companies and consumers alike more afraid about digital distribution in the short-medium turn. And things will have to get worse domestically before a serious look is taken at the international market - as is reflected by the price of anime BR/DVD here, the basic business model is structured so that all costs are recouped and a profit is made from domestic sales alone. International deals were always just icing on the cake if they could be negotiated (I dealt with this attitude a lot when I did some freelance translating for TMS long ago).

Also, and please dont take this the wrong way, you are assuming a familiarity with technology, awareness of foreign markets and willingness to adapt that just doesnt exist in large Japanese corporations, even media-related ones. Doing subtitles requires dealing, in many cases, with foreigners and this is something that many companies just want to avoid. I deal with this on a daily basis. If someone calls my office in English, panicked reactions ensue, as well as what I like to call musical phone - where the cal is transferred from freaked out person to person until it eventually gets to me. And while anime isnt one of our main products, it is something we do as well. We even have a small translation team (with ONE native speaker) who do an awesome job with what limited resources they have, but are unknown of by many. Things like Crunchyroll only happen through external influence (and economic pressure) and even in the current slump I cant see many similar experiments happening.

As for BR regions - its not like BR is region-free. Japan and the US share the same region, sure, but what about England and Australia? Putting Eng subs on a Japanese-made BR does not open it up to the wider international audience, only to the US and some parts of asia (which dont really count because most asian markets either get separate local licensing deals or else are boycotted altogether due to rampant piracy). this leaves just the US - and sales to a handful of hardcore US otaku would not, as Sergorn mentioned, even cover the costs that doing Eng subs would incur.

Then theres the whole HG issue when it comes to Macross - and while even HG themselves have said that they are no longer impeding the release of Macross in the West, 20+ years of legal conflict has made Bandai/Big West very wary. And dont even get me started on the lack of Japanese lawyers who understand US copyright law and vice versa.

Its good to dream, sure. But in this case Id say it would be quicker to learn Japanese. Seriously. After growing up with raw VHS imports, I taught myself the basics of the language before taking it as a major in university and, after graduation, have now lived here for 8 years. The few years needed to obtain the language are a fraction of the time HG has kept Macross tied up in legal limbo - and provides a fun, rewarding and enriching experience as well :-) It will also let you see just how flat out WRONG most fansubs are (often being done by a bunch of university students with 6 months of study under their belt and a kanji dictionary under one arm) . ;-)

[sketchley]

Its good to dream, sure. But in this case Id say it would be quicker to learn Japanese. Seriously. After growing up with raw VHS imports, I taught myself the basics of the language before taking it as a major in university and, after graduation, have now lived here for 8 years. The few years needed to obtain the language are a fraction of the time HG has kept Macross tied up in legal limbo - and provides a fun, rewarding and enriching experience as well :-) It will also let you see just how flat out WRONG most fansubs are (often being done by a bunch of university students with 6 months of study under their belt and a kanji dictionary under one arm) . ;-)

Agreed. I've gone this route, too.

Though, I'd like to add the caveat: if you come for learning the language, don't work at an English school. Though, as the odds are extremely minute that a non-speaker of Japanese will find employment elsewhere, then you should be super motivated to learn the language on a sustained basis outside of the workplace.

[nghia59]

The chances of an official English release are almost zero, thanks to a little fly in the ointment that goes by the initials of HG.

Graham

Actually, here's a interesting thought. Why would MF get zero chance of an international release, but we've had both OVA and movie releases here of M+ and not a peep of resistance from HG? So wouldn't that mean thet there might be a chance of it getting a release here?

Actually, now that I think of it what about the re-release of the original series from Animego? No HG BS there and it was the bread and butter series for them too.

- Nghia

Edited December 1, 2009 by nghia59

[MastaEgg]

Even if HG was out of the way, the music rights for subsequent macross sequels are supposed to be very expensive, and would be the next huge hurdle for bringing Macross over here.

[azrael]

Actually, here's a interesting thought. Why would MF get zero chance of an international release, but we've had both OVA and movie releases here of M+ and not a peep of resistance from HG? So wouldn't that mean thet there might be a chance of it getting a release here?

Actually, now that I think of it what about the re-release of the original series from Animego? No HG BS there and it was the bread and butter series for them too.

Well, it's said, no one was minding the store when M+ and MII came out. But as of now, HG owns the US and Europe trademark to "Macross". Anybody who attempts to bring any Macross over other than HG would be in violation of that trademark (and HG would win that outcome).

Animeigo had to work with HG so that's why there was no BS coming from them on that.

Read the License debate thread for more information.

[Marzan]

I pop out after work to catch the Macros F movie again and look what happens to this thread while I am gone! lol.

I think I enjoyed it more the second time around :-) Altho I still think the fan service is a bit much at times (like Sherryl keeping her vibrating phone between her...well, you'll see^^

There was also a decent selection of merch available, but nothing much of interest (a towel, jigsaw puzzle, etc. They did have (for some reason) 2 spare Macross Chronicles binders though, which I snapped up since those things are getting damn rare. One more and my set will be covered. yay!

Anyways....

Sergorn - excellent point. It IS the case with most Japanese BR that have English subs.

Macross_Fanboy - the non-rental BR of Chars Counterattack doesnt have Eng subs, sorry. Nor does F91 or ANY Gundam BR for that matter. The GitS movies and SAC compilations DID have Eng subs - once again because they already existed. The SAC BR tv boxsets however do not. (heck, Eng subs are actually REMOVED from a lot of movies - like anything from HK/China for instance - ie, Red Cliff).

Bri - ah the optimism of the naive. I hope what you are suggesting happens, and it probably will...someday. But there is still very little impetus for change within the establish anime industry and all the structures it contains. Yes, there are a few experiments like Crunchyroll, but these are the exception rather than the rule. In fact, instead of looking for more ways to distribute internationally, most Japanese companies are falling back and looking for ways to maximise the local market. Digital distribution? Well at the moment the government is cracking down on illegal file sharing - 10 uploaders were arrested just last week and from Jan 1 2010 it will be illegal to download any copyrighted mateial. This is a last gasp attempt to guard the local physical medium based industry and while it will probably fail in the long run it makes anime companies and consumers alike more afraid about digital distribution in the short-medium turn. And things will have to get worse domestically before a serious look is taken at the international market - as is reflected by the price of anime BR/DVD here, the basic business model is structured so that all costs are recouped and a profit is made from domestic sales alone. International deals were always just icing on the cake if they could be negotiated (I dealt with this attitude a lot when I did some freelance translating for TMS long ago).

Also, and please dont take this the wrong way, you are assuming a familiarity with technology, awareness of foreign markets and willingness to adapt that just doesnt exist in large Japanese corporations, even media-related ones. Doing subtitles requires dealing, in many cases, with foreigners and this is something that many companies just want to avoid. I deal with this on a daily basis. If someone calls my office in English, panicked reactions ensue, as well as what I like to call musical phone - where the cal is transferred from freaked out person to person until it eventually gets to me. And while anime isnt one of our main products, it is something we do as well. We even have a small translation team (with ONE native speaker) who do an awesome job with what limited resources they have, but are unknown of by many. Things like Crunchyroll only happen through external influence (and economic pressure) and even in the current slump I cant see many similar experiments happening.

As for BR regions - its not like BR is region-free. Japan and the US share the same region, sure, but what about England and Australia? Putting Eng subs on a Japanese-made BR does not open it up to the wider international audience, only to the US and some parts of asia (which dont really count because most asian markets either get separate local licensing deals or else are boycotted altogether due to rampant piracy). this leaves just the US - and sales to a handful of hardcore US otaku would not, as Sergorn mentioned, even cover the costs that doing Eng subs would incur.

Then theres the whole HG issue when it comes to Macross - and while even HG themselves have said that they are no longer impeding the release of Macross in the West, 20+ years of legal conflict has made Bandai/Big West very wary. And dont even get me started on the lack of Japanese lawyers who understand US copyright law and vice versa.

Its good to dream, sure. But in this case Id say it would be quicker to learn Japanese. Seriously. After growing up with raw VHS imports, I taught myself the basics of the language before taking it as a major in university and, after graduation, have now lived here for 8 years. The few years needed to obtain the language are a fraction of the time HG has kept Macross tied up in legal limbo - and provides a fun, rewarding and enriching experience as well :-) It will also let you see just how flat out WRONG most fansubs are (often being done by a bunch of university students with 6 months of study under their belt and a kanji dictionary under one arm) . ;-)

After reading your very informed and highly informative post, I am now inconsolable with grief at the prospect that I'll never get a MF with proper subs. And I think it would take me more than 8 years to master such a language.

At least tell me that central anime's sub are all right!

[Bri]

ah the optimism of the naive. I hope what you are suggesting happens, and it probably will...someday. But there is still very little impetus for change within the establish anime industry and all the structures it contains. Yes, there are a few experiments like Crunchyroll, but these are the exception rather than the rule. In fact, instead of looking for more ways to distribute internationally, most Japanese companies are falling back and looking for ways to maximise the local market. Digital distribution? Well at the moment the government is cracking down on illegal file sharing - 10 uploaders were arrested just last week and from Jan 1 2010 it will be illegal to download any copyrighted mateial. This is a last gasp attempt to guard the local physical medium based industry and while it will probably fail in the long run it makes anime companies and consumers alike more afraid about digital distribution in the short-medium turn. And things will have to get worse domestically before a serious look is taken at the international market - as is reflected by the price of anime BR/DVD here, the basic business model is structured so that all costs are recouped and a profit is made from domestic sales alone. International deals were always just icing on the cake if they could be negotiated (I dealt with this attitude a lot when I did some freelance translating for TMS long ago).

Only time will tell, neccesity is the father of invention. If the experiments are succesfull, you may see a change in attitude.

Also, and please dont take this the wrong way, you are assuming a familiarity with technology, awareness of foreign markets and willingness to adapt that just doesnt exist in large Japanese corporations, even media-related ones. Doing subtitles requires dealing, in many cases, with foreigners and this is something that many companies just want to avoid. I deal with this on a daily basis. If someone calls my office in English, panicked reactions ensue, as well as what I like to call musical phone - where the cal is transferred from freaked out person to person until it eventually gets to me. And while anime isnt one of our main products, it is something we do as well. We even have a small translation team (with ONE native speaker) who do an awesome job with what limited resources they have, but are unknown of by many. Things like Crunchyroll only happen through external influence (and economic pressure) and even in the current slump I cant see many similar experiments happening.

I can see we have completely different experiences with Japanese firms. I have worked in the past as a consultant with several Japanese companies like MOL, Yokogawa, Shin-Etsu and Fujitsu who established subsidiaries here. The Japanese expats I dealt with speak their languages, are communicative and had no trouble adapting to changing conditions and performed without issue in an international environment. Don't take this the wrong way but I'm sure that more educated and talented individuals tend to seek jobs in industries with more perspective for advancement then animation. Still it's hard to believe that even large producers have trouble thinking in an international perspective.

As for BR regions - its not like BR is region-free. Japan and the US share the same region, sure, but what about England and Australia? Putting Eng subs on a Japanese-made BR does not open it up to the wider international audience, only to the US and some parts of asia (which dont really count because most asian markets either get separate local licensing deals or else are boycotted altogether due to rampant piracy). this leaves just the US - and sales to a handful of hardcore US otaku would not, as Sergorn mentioned, even cover the costs that doing Eng subs would incur.

Actually your mistaken here, most BR content is released region free unlike DVDs.

As for the second point it really depends on cost. If subs cost a few thousand dollar per hour of footage, based of costs of local TV stations and webpages of subbing companies, you'd need to sell a few hundred sets abroad at most to recoup costs, that does not seem an unrealistic sales target for even if there is only a handfull of foreign fans.

[Skullsixx]

Can ANYONE tell me where in the hell I can find Frontier for sale on DVD? Preferably Blu Ray if possible? NO I do NOT want to download bit torrents, etc. I don't get that stuff. I'm not that well versed in DLing those. I just wanna buy em to have on disc.

[Renato]

Still trying not to read any of this thread. I am just posting to say that I will catch this movie this weekend.

I have to say I'm not looking forward to having to share the cinema with all the otaku from the entire Kyoto area since it is only showing in one screen in the whole prefecture. They better fumigate the damn place after every showing.

I still cannot understand why they don't dare to break out of this niche. Thirty screens nationwide is just ridiculous.

[Renato]

Can ANYONE tell me where in the hell I can find Frontier for sale on DVD? Preferably Blu Ray if possible? NO I do NOT want to download bit torrents, etc. I don't get that stuff. I'm not that well versed in DLing those. I just wanna buy em to have on disc.

http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/switch-language...;language=en_JP

[Britai 7018]

Can ANYONE tell me where in the hell I can find Frontier for sale on DVD? Preferably Blu Ray if possible? NO I do NOT want to download bit torrents, etc. I don't get that stuff. I'm not that well versed in DLing those. I just wanna buy em to have on disc.

Did you want bootlegs or official releases? Bootlegs are all over ebay with english subtitles as a box set for the whole series. The official releases you can pick up from CDJapan. They carry both the DVDs and Blu-Rays. The San Francisco Kinokuniya also carries some if you are or know someone nearby. Just a heads up the official releases don't have English subtitles.

[Skullsixx]

I'm cool with bootlegs. Just don't wanna pay some insane amount of cash. Just looking for good copies, etc.

[miriya]

I have not seen any bootlegs of the movie yet. I have been looking too.

[Funkenstein]

Probably best to wait for the Blu-Ray release, since BR discs from Japan can be played on US players (if you live in USA).

[Britai 7018]

I have not seen any bootlegs of the movie yet. I have been looking too.

Oh sorry, I thought he was looking for the TV series... I'm looking for bootlegs of the movie too!

[Sketch]

Well, it's said, no one was minding the store when M+ and MII came out. But as of now, HG owns the US and Europe trademark to "Macross". Anybody who attempts to bring any Macross over other than HG would be in violation of that trademark (and HG would win that outcome).

In Canada prior use always negates trademarks; I'm sure it is the same in the US.

[SchizophrenicMC]

In Canada prior use always negates trademarks; I'm sure it is the same in the US.

Not quite. Since the American National copyright is held by HG, while the Japanese owners can do what they want with it, in America, though International Copyright is held by them, HG has the national copyright by legal contract with the Japanese owners, and all of that has to go through them first.

I hate HG....

[shadow strikers]

I thought it would be a good idea to try to create a single thread to discuss the Macross Frontier movie topics. Let's try to create a single thread where people can go to discuss Frontier movie news and topics.

I debated whether to create a special Frontier movie music thread, but decided that it is too specialized and probably doesn't warrant a whole thread.

I came across this pre-order listing for what I believe to be the movie soundtrack.

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?K..._campaign=ANIME

I wonder if they will throw in any new songs along with our favorites from the series? I'm sure there will be some alternate versions of some of the current songs, and probably another medley song.

Could anyone post the link to the MF movie, not the new one the first one? Please I'm trying to look for it.

I don't know if asking for a link is against the rules. If it is, feel free to tell me and delete my post.

Edited December 3, 2009 by shadow strikers

[azrael]

Could anyone post the link to the MF movie, not the new one the first one? Please I'm trying to look for it.

I don't know if asking for a link is against the rules. If it is, feel free to tell me and delete my post.

There's only been 1 movie. The first one is the new one. And it's still playing in theaters.

[shadow strikers]

There's only been 1 movie. The first one is the new one. And it's still playing in theaters.

Sorry I thought there was another one.

[RedWolf]

Sorry I thought there was another one.

There will be a sequel in the future. Think of it instead of like SDF Macross reimagined for one movie (DYRL) here the Macross Frontier series is reimagined into two part movies.

[Zinjo]

Not quite. Since the American National copyright is held by HG, while the Japanese owners can do what they want with it, in America, though International Copyright is held by them, HG has the national copyright by legal contract with the Japanese owners, and all of that has to go through them first.

I hate HG....

Ah, but copyright is not the same as "trademark".

HG owns the copyright only on what Tatsunoko has copyright over, which is the animation of SDF Macross. To further their control over this foreign franchise on US shores, HG trademarked the name "Macross" in early 2003, a few months after BW won the Intellectual Property Rights to the Macross franchise in Japan. In this case "BW wasn't minding the store"...

The reality is, that if HG tried to pull the trademark trick in Korea, Taiwan, China, etc... BW would legally b*tch slap them into last year. Since Asia is where most of their merchandizing money is being made.

It would take a Western distributor to personally take on the cost to legally challenge the trademark in North America, either in the US or Canada, win and then pony up the cost of subbing or dubbing the unreleased shows here before BW would add it to their BD or DVD discs. Subbing the show into Mandarin , Cantonese or Korean gives them a better return on their investment compared to English.

Its the reality of the market. Money talks.

The fact that all mention of Macross has gone silent with respect to the live action RT movie is likely a testament to BigWest flexing their legal rights over the Macross property. An RT movie (if ever made) could reach Asian markets and thus confuse Macross customers if the Valkyrie and the Macross were featured in that movie. The last rhetoric on the matter was a "re-imagining" of the RT show for the movie.

Edited December 4, 2009 by Zinjo

[Graham]

OK, this thread is getting a lttle off topic.

Let's get back to discussion of the Frontier movie please.

We have a licensing discussion thread, so please take talk about the licensing dispute there please.

Graham