HG and Robotech Debates, ep. 8

[Jasonc]

So, does anyone think they'll turn the Robotech: Love Live Alive into a Moresopedia II sequel in Japan? If you didn't get the reference, someone should fill you in.

[Legioss]

No, you'll have to wait quite a bit longer for thick necked Zor and his 10-pack abs.

Jasonc, that's something they might say but as feasible as when they said they were going to sell Shadow Chronicles in Japan.

[Jasonc]

No, you'll have to wait quite a bit longer for thick necked Zor and his 10-pack abs.

Jasonc, that's something they might say but as feasible as when they said they were going to sell Shadow Chronicles in Japan.

Yeah, I know, just wanted to keep the crazy rants going. It's a process.

[macross_fan99]

Here's a crazy idea. What if Bandai wanted to release Macross Frontier outside of Japan under a name other than Macross?

Call the show "Frontier", remove the opening scene where they show the original characters and edit out the few second here and there where they say "macross".

Yeah they would lose the name recognition but couldn't this technically work? There are too many similarities to too many other shows for HG to do anything legally about it.

[DarkHawk]

Hey folks ..... I just finished listening to the self proclaimed "number 1 robotech fan" and my ears are bleeding. Could someone please tell me what this person is smoking? If it isnt a conspiracy, its a jab at the original scource material. There was even a statement that macross plus, macross 7 and macross frontier were not part of the actual macross time line. However, Bendo went so far as the say that macross 2 is the direct continuation of the of SDF macross.

Then the usual rants against macross purists and how much better robotech is. There were many statement made about why the sentinals series were not completed, one in particular, was that the japanese animators could not wrap their minds around the grand story about robotech and how it was a galaxy spanning tale, keep in mind that im paraphrasing. I have and occasionly do still watch robotech because i grew up watching that. I am also a fan of the origianl macross and wish that the other macross series could be brought over.

How much futher can one use the original show and pass it off as brand new. Where is all the new material that has been promised.

Going back to the pod cast. There were statements made about the appereance of the ladies of macross. However, when the issue of annie in new gen being in a toga and getting married and 13, bendo defended that scene saying that civilization has deteriated since the invid attacked. By this time all logic has left the building and the twilight zone music was playing. I have read many times that RT should be put to rest and after listening to these podcast I agree. At least until someone gets in there and has a CLEAR AND CONCISE direction of what robotech should be and where it should be taken.

Thanks for the time to rant .....

Edited November 13, 2011 by DarkHawk

[Penguin]

Here's a crazy idea. What if Bandai wanted to release Macross Frontier outside of Japan under a name other than Macross?

Call the show "Frontier", remove the opening scene where they show the original characters and edit out the few second here and there where they say "macross".

Yeah they would lose the name recognition but couldn't this technically work? There are too many similarities to too many other shows for HG to do anything legally about it.

Tehcnically, yeah, it would work. As long as they removed any of the words or images that Harmony Gold has trademarked, they could release Macross Frontier in that edited form.

Of course, would the returns be worth the effort, considering they'd also need to distribute it and so on? If they really wanted to inspire some North American sales, it would likely be easier (and possibly cheaper) to just English subtitle the Japanese blu-rays and let us import them from Amazon or HMV Japan or whatever, as opposed to carefully editing the animation and the dialogue to remove all the brand recognition and then take on the cost of distribution.

[mecha2241]

Didn't something similar happen with the last Captain Harlock series? They just changed the spelling to "Herlock" but still pronounced it "Harlock." I thought there was some kind of legal reason for that, maybe Bandai can change the spelling to "Mecross" and get away with it, I don't know...

[Legioss]

Robotech wasn't galaxy spanning. It takes place mostly on Earth and has a galaxy spanning backstory that was never fleshed out in a truly entertaining way. What Robotech could have been is not a real series.

He's getting the story wrong. The "problem" with the Japanese writers was that they were reluctant to work with the characters from the other shows. They wanted to make a new show concentrating on the new characters. Macek suspected they wanted to make a Japanese show with it but never verified if that was the case because communication was broken off when the production ended. Harmony Gold thought they knew more than Tatsunoko about how make an animated series despite their total lack of experience. Writing was moved to Los Angeles where they made scripts putting emphasis back onto the Macross characters.

Robotech Art 3, page 22 has the details.

mecha2241, Herlock is how the Japanese romanize it. For example, I have an artbook that says "Captain Herlock" on it.

Edited November 13, 2011 by Legioss

[mecha2241]

Oops, okay, thanks for clearing that up.

[azrael]

...If they really wanted to inspire some North American sales, it would likely be easier (and possibly cheaper) to just English subtitle the Japanese blu-rays and let us import them from Amazon or HMV Japan or whatever, as opposed to carefully editing the animation and the dialogue to remove all the brand recognition and then take on the cost of distribution.

From a marketing standpoint, no one is going to buy a single $50-90 DVD/Blu-ray in North America. And at 3-4 episodes/disc or even a 2-hour movie, that won't even make it out the door. Bandai Entertainment did that once and it flopped.

He's getting the story wrong....

Of course he's got it wrong. What do you expect?

[Jasonc]

Hey folks ..... I just finished listening to the self proclaimed "number 1 robotech fan" and my ears are bleeding. Could someone please tell me what this person is smoking? If it isnt a conspiracy, its a jab at the original scource material. There was even a statement that macross plus, macross 7 and macross frontier were not part of the actual macross time line. However, Bendo went so far as the say that macross 2 is the direct continuation of the of SDF macross.

Then the usual rants against macross purists and how much better robotech is. There were many statement made about why the sentinals series were not completed, one in particular, was that the japanese animators could not wrap their minds around the grand story about robotech and how it was a galaxy spanning tale, keep in mind that im paraphrasing. I have and occasionly do still watch robotech because i grew up watching that. I am also a fan of the origianl macross and wish that the other macross series could be brought over.

How much futher can one use the original show and pass it off as brand new. Where is all the new material that has been promised.

Going back to the pod cast. There were statements made about the appereance of the ladies of macross. However, when the issue of annie in new gen being in a toga and getting married and 13, bendo defended that scene saying that civilization has deteriated since the invid attacked. By this time all logic has left the building and the twilight zone music was playing. I have read many times that RT should be put to rest and after listening to these podcast I agree. At least until someone gets in there and has a CLEAR AND CONCISE direction of what robotech should be and where it should be taken.

Thanks for the time to rant .....

To touch on your first point, Kawamori didn't work on Macross II, so to him, it's probably secondary, alternate story. It doesn't invalidate it, cause it's still there, but as part of the main canon, I guess it's just a matter of preference.

In regards to the Japanese animators and "The Sentinels", most of what you are describing that he said is all conjecture, and that opinion has about as much weight as the nucleus of a Helium atom. He often inserts his opinion as fact, and in turn, shows just how stupid he is. Not the first time that's happened, and definitely not the last. As a matter of fact, you can track when that's going to happen simply by seeing when the next podcast will be. It's like an advertisement to stupidity...Coming Soon!

For the last point you summarized, that just seems like a classic issue of diggin himself in a hole, and then fumbling to get himself out with a diversion of pure make believe. There's many people who do this sort of thing...they're called nutjobs, conspiracy theorists, small minded, etc, etc. They're only good for one thing, and that's a laugh when you wanna hear stupidity in absolute, unadulterated seriousness.

I haven't listened to the podcast, and haven't listened in many months. I usually just wait for someone's run down when it goes up, or it's something really to laugh at. So, I salute you for holding up through that, but pace yourself.

[taksraven]

He's getting the story wrong. The "problem" with the Japanese writers was that they were reluctant to work with the characters from the other shows. They wanted to make a new show concentrating on the new characters. Macek suspected they wanted to make a Japanese show with it but never verified if that was the case because communication was broken off when the production ended. Harmony Gold thought they knew more than Tatsunoko about how make an animated series despite their total lack of experience. Writing was moved to Los Angeles where they made scripts putting emphasis back onto the Macross characters.

Robotech Art 3, page 22 has the details.

Yeah, that has always been an interesting claim of Macek's, but at the end of the day, with no proof to back himself up I consider it to be just a conspiracy theory to help explain why a project that was his responsibility went bad. Robotech Art 3 is full of excuses, some more credible than others. (I think that the problems with the exchange rate is a factor that can justify quite a few problems), but at the end of the day, it still sounds like Macek just trying to blame others for the failure.

[taksraven]

HG should "purchase" this and combine it with Mospeada for a Robotech Sequel....

My head hurts......

[Moly_Sigang]

A bit of Robotech news: New Robotech Calendar!?

http://www.robotechx...ndar.html#17688

What anniversary are they celebrating in 2012 again? Also i have a guess this new staffer could be one of the artist working for the Palladium Robotech RPG oops forgot about the wildstorm guys. It would make sense to hire someone who is already familiar with Robotech.

Edited November 13, 2011 by Moly_Sigang

[ps99042]

A bit of Robotech news: New Robotech Calendar!?

http://www.robotechx...ndar.html#17688

What anniversary are they celebrating in 2012 again? Also i have a guess this new staffer could be one of the artist working for the Palladium Robotech RPG oops forgot about the wildstorm guys. It would make sense to hire someone who is already familiar with Robotech.

That's the same question I ask myself? Not the 25th Anniversary anymore so why even put that in the logo? I'm just curious to see if there's new art since the promo pic has an old Tommy pic of Zor and we've seen the same few Tommy pics done on multiple products over the years.

[Moly_Sigang]

That's the same question I ask myself? Not the 25th Anniversary anymore so why even put that in the logo? I'm just curious to see if there's new art since the promo pic has an old Tommy pic of Zor and we've seen the same few Tommy pics done on multiple products over the years.

If the 'Anniversary' in the title does refers to the 25th Anniversary, then this will be another project that came out too late just like the 25th Anniversary soundtrack. And also, it does not bode well for this new calendar if they are reusing an old pic in the promo.

[EXO]

Uhhh. Isn't it too late to come out with a calendar for 2012? Usually you bring it out in June the prior year and have 6 months extra (July - Dec) to put out 18 months of art. And even then it's already the middle of November. This thing will be out by October 2014 knowing HG.

Or it's on a boat.

[Einherjar]

He's been doing that podcast for years, DarkHawk, and it really hasn't amount to anything. Not that you're going to listen or come back to this tread anyway.

What anniversary are they celebrating in 2012 again? Also i have a guess this new staffer could be one of the artist working for the Palladium Robotech RPG oops forgot about the wildstorm guys. It would make sense to hire someone who is already familiar with Robotech.

Isn't it obvious? They're preempting the Macross 30th anniversary because all their plans are mostly going to be ignored by real quality work if something happens.

Edited November 13, 2011 by Einherjar

[taksraven]

A bit of Robotech news: New Robotech Calendar!?

http://www.robotechx...ndar.html#17688

Looks like Zor has OD'ing on the steroids, that or he's about to do this.....

[Jasonc]

I wouldn't be surprised if Tommy is just going to ride the coat tails of the Macross 30th anniversary. Still, I find it quite funny that Macross has all these epic items and things coming out, and all Robotech has is a small side story that isn't out yet, and a calendar. Riding the coat tails of Macross though, maybe he's emulating Carl in this idea. I don't know.

As for the Zor picture, it's the same picture, same pose that every other character is done in. Why does that just seem so generic? Nevermind, I answered my own question, cause it is. OK, done laughing.

[azrael]

I wouldn't be surprised if Tommy is just going to ride the coat tails of the Macross 30th anniversary. Still, I find it quite funny that Macross has all these epic items and things coming out, and all Robotech has is a small side story that isn't out yet, and a calendar. Riding the coat tails of Macross though, maybe he's emulating Carl in this idea. I don't know.

Macross has had calenders for a while with the Frontier calenders just being another in the set. In fact many popular anime titles get calenders among their merchandise. But EXO's point being that it's freakin-November already and this just popped up now is valid. Unless they plan on putting it in the value rack or something. Still...a calender. That's it? That's no better than the freakin-velcro wallet.

[Dynaman]

But EXO's point being that it's freakin-November already and this just popped up now is valid. Unless they plan on putting it in the value rack or something. Still...a calender. That's it? That's no better than the freakin-velcro wallet.

Most people I know get Calendars as Christmas gifts, so if they come out now it is fine. It is funny how in RT world they make a big stink out of something that would be a throw-away in any other franchise.

[Legioss]

Harmony Gold are like old ladies trying to shop for a kid, clumsily throwing together their guess as to what cool might be like.

[azrael]

Most people I know get Calendars as Christmas gifts, so if they come out now it is fine. It is funny how in RT world they make a big stink out of something that would be a throw-away in any other franchise.

Well it is a throw-away item. By the end of the year, all that's left is the pictures.

[EXO]

Of course the McKeever spin will be "It's a full year supply of calendar! Yes! This set comes complete with months, days, weeks and weekends with nothing more to buy ever!"

[DarkHawk]

Jasonc ..... I damn near punched a hole in my computeer monitor from all the sh!t being shoveled.

What surprises me is why hasnt harmony gold sent a C & D letter to bendo since bendo is listing the pod cast as "official". Since HG sent those letters to retailers selling macross products.

As for the idiocy floating around, I always wondered, wouldnt it have been more beneficial for hg to go to Big West early on, as in when the yamato/toycom fiasco, and instead of crying wolf, make a deal to produce valkyries/veritechs?

Instead what the masterpieces that were released, they could have gotten the yamato 1/48 scale valkyries with "modified" decals. With all the customizers on this site as well as the robotech site, the macross repro decals would have ben inevitible. I just dont understand harmony golds reasoning.

[Einherjar]

Jasonc ..... I damn near punched a hole in my computeer monitor from all the sh!t being shoveled.

What surprises me is why hasnt harmony gold sent a C & D letter to bendo since bendo is listing the pod cast as "official". Since HG sent those letters to retailers selling macross products.

As for the idiocy floating around, I always wondered, wouldnt it have been more beneficial for hg to go to Big West early on, as in when the yamato/toycom fiasco, and instead of crying wolf, make a deal to produce valkyries/veritechs?

Instead what the masterpieces that were released, they could have gotten the yamato 1/48 scale valkyries with "modified" decals. With all the customizers on this site as well as the robotech site, the macross repro decals would have ben inevitible. I just dont understand harmony golds reasoning.

"No sharing!"

[Jasonc]

Jasonc ..... I damn near punched a hole in my computeer monitor from all the sh!t being shoveled.

What surprises me is why hasnt harmony gold sent a C & D letter to bendo since bendo is listing the pod cast as "official". Since HG sent those letters to retailers selling macross products.

As for the idiocy floating around, I always wondered, wouldnt it have been more beneficial for hg to go to Big West early on, as in when the yamato/toycom fiasco, and instead of crying wolf, make a deal to produce valkyries/veritechs?

Instead what the masterpieces that were released, they could have gotten the yamato 1/48 scale valkyries with "modified" decals. With all the customizers on this site as well as the robotech site, the macross repro decals would have ben inevitible. I just dont understand harmony golds reasoning.

They can't, from what I'm aware of, reinforce a c & d for the word "official". Besides, his claims of thousands of listeners is just a sham, no matter what he tries to do to pad the numbers. So, if all he has is just a couple listeners, I don't think anyone really cares.

As for HG going to Big West to get the toys brought over here, I honestly don't think that would make Yamato, or Big west any more money than what they make now with the same items. If HG had to pay for rights to use those toys, there'd still be a large price tag factoring in the shipping, repackaging (if needed), taxes, and adding on extra to cover for the rights. It'd probably end up with the same price tag as they are now, and that money would be going to a crap franchise.

"No sharing!"

HG's problem is that they think the RT franchise is much bigger than it really is. Sure, they have lots of fans, but A LOT of those fans don't buy a lot of stuff, like Macross fans do. Sure, Macross has hundreds more product to choose from, but when HG/Toynami put out a "Masterpiece" anything, and they only sell 3-5K, there's something wrong with the franchise. They just don't see it, but that's good for people who are tired of seeing garbage, I guess.

[Keith]

You guys are missing the bigger picture about that picture. The design change on "zor" (cough/laugh/cough) pretty much solidifies that Big West ain't letting them using Southern Cross designs. I suspected this when "Louis" was different in TSC, but this is as close to confirmation as we're going to get from HG.

[Legioss]

They can't, from what I'm aware of, reinforce a c & d for the word "official". Besides, his claims of thousands of listeners is just a sham, no matter what he tries to do to pad the numbers. So, if all he has is just a couple listeners, I don't think anyone really cares.

I read that in Microsoft Sam's voice. See, I don't even have to listen to the next podcast. I can just imagine it. Then he'll say something about going by the wrong numbers or getting them wrong and then he'll call you a maternal copulator.

[ps99042]

HG's problem is that they think the RT franchise is much bigger than it really is. Sure, they have lots of fans, but A LOT of those fans don't buy a lot of stuff, like Macross fans do. Sure, Macross has hundreds more product to choose from, but when HG/Toynami put out a "Masterpiece" anything, and they only sell 3-5K, there's something wrong with the franchise. They just don't see it, but that's good for people who are tired of seeing garbage, I guess.

This is actually a great point Jason. HG and McKeevie, specifically, are always bragging about how the Masterpiece toys always sold out but it's important to point out that those toys never completed their production runs - point they always ignore when it's brought up. One of my toy dealer friends told me that this is compounded by George Sohn (spelling ?) of Toynami. He often states that toys are only available in limited quantities which causes the price to go up, only to miraculously pull out more pieces than he stated were available. Thus, you have a franchise which is being screwed over by it's employees as well as a licensee, both of which keep it from attaining greatness.

[Jasonc]

I read that in Microsoft Sam's voice. See, I don't even have to listen to the next podcast. I can just imagine it. Then he'll say something about going by the wrong numbers or getting them wrong and then he'll call you a maternal copulator.

If he's that easy to figure out (which he is and has been), who's been playing who? It's an easy process.

[Dynaman]

The design change on "zor" (cough/laugh/cough) pretty much solidifies that Big West ain't letting them using Southern Cross designs.

I have to give HG the benefit of the doubt, even if they COULD use the Masters designs, even HG would know better.

[Zor Primus]

Of course the McKeever spin will be "It's a full year supply of calendar! Yes! This set comes complete with months, days, weeks and weekends with nothing more to buy ever!"

It's a safe bet these calenders haven't been printed yet...saw a POST BY YOU KNOW WHO HEHEHE telling the spanish speakers to send in their country's national holiday so it can be added onto the calender...yeah...must be the whole Mayan calender thing...

[EXO]

I'm gonna email in Dia De Los Sanchos. and Natalicio De Vanessa Del Rio.