Discovery of Macross?

[David Hingtgen]

Wow, that wins as the weirdest story I've heard on this thread.

Yup, my first 2 exposures to Macross were G1 Jetfire, and Macross Plus, in that order.

[MadCatChiken]

My first bit of Macross was an old Homeworld 1 mod and that was when I was around 11/12 but then I got the Robotech game on the Xbox it wasn't until about a year or so ago I watched Robotech but just the Macross bit the other 2 series seemed rubbish because they weren't anything like the first series. Then found it was a Americanised version of Macross and watched Macross Plus off iTunes then 7 then Frontier, Zero. Now I have every series and movie on my computer.

Edited December 24, 2011 by MadCatChiken

[waters7]

I was first exposed to Macross thru a bootleg copy of a small SDF-1 and Roy's valkyrie that my mom bought for me at a local farmers market (AKA Swapmeet) in Ensenada, Mexico circa 1985 (I was 4 at the time). I then catched Robotech first thru a US channel in late 85 and then in spanish in 1987. My second and real exposure to Macross came in 1993 when I bought DYRL in LD on this anime store that used to be located in Torrence. I first thought that the LD was related to Robotech. I felt in love with the music from DYRL. A couple of years later I saw the VHS of Macross II and Macross Plus at a sam goody in NYC. It wasnt until 1995 that I learned the really difference of Macross and Robotech.

[AcroRay]

In around late '83 during the run-up to the holiday season, I found a Macross coloring book at an import store ("Heaven" at the Century III mall near Pittsburgh, PA!) -which I purchased - and saw Macross Takatoku vinyl toys surprisingly at a Spencer's Gifts store - which I was unable to buy. I also remembered seeing Macross kits in a Cosmic Connection import anime kit catalog (from which I had bought Yamato and Gundam kits the year previously), and I requested a Destroid Defender 1/72 kit from a relative that year's holiday season. After that, it was piecing together the show from kits and books bought by snail-mail order or on rare visits to city hobby shops, or occasional bootleg toys found at flea markets or discount stores. Comico's adaptation of Harmony Gold's earliest Macross dub came next, then the first run of Robotech on TV. I remember how surprised and excited I was to see early promos for the series in the weeks before it aired, and that Macross would actually be aired on American television!

Good memories. Taught me how to research and work hard to pursue my interests. Kids these days, have it so easy with their E-tailers and their bittorrents and their Bablefishes...

Edited December 24, 2011 by AcroRay

[Captain of the SDF-1 Macross]

hmm....base of my vague memory... I remember seeing Macross as robotech in the Philippines in 84-85 it think. I only saw a few episodes. If I remember correctly I liked it but it never stuck with me.

Actually, the Philippine broadcast is Super Dimension Fortress Macross uncut and dubbed in English by Filipino voice actors on 1985. The TV station that broadcasted was RPN-9.

Robotech did got broadcasted there, but only shown the Masters Saga and New Generations episodes only.

[Kicker773]

like I said.. i vaguely remember.. it might have been in filipino/tagalog...

[Captain of the SDF-1 Macross]

On my story, I was already an anime fan by the time I saw Macross. I already saw Star Blazers (season 1 only) and Voltron (both the Lion and Vehicle episodes) at 1984 and I loved them. I saw them when I was growing up in the Philippines, both of them on TV station IBC-13. I couldn't find a toy of the Argo (the English dub name of the Yamato) but I begged my father to buy me a Lion Voltron toy (the international "Lionbot" version) and I loved it. Although there were the imported American-designed toys sold at the time (the action figures of the characters and the playset), I wasn't that interested.

Already knowing what anime is, I finished watching the 1980s version of Astroboy (the uncut internation English dub) on Sunday afternoon. I then see the next show, Super Dimension Fortress Macross, which was broadcasted on Filipino TV station RPM-9 at 5 PM (or 5:30 PM).

I watched the opening theme, which was an edited hodpodge of footage of the Valkyrie (captioning the three transformable modes: Valkyrie, Gerwalk and Battroid) and the characters (captioning their names). What was funny was a mix of the original Japanese names, the Robotech names and original ones for the characters (Misa is "Misa Hayase", Hikaru is "Ricky Hunter" and Minmay is "Maria Lynn-Minmay").

Dubbed in English by Filipino voice acters, I continued to watch the episode. Since the show wasn't advertised yet, I saw the fourth episode "Lynn Minmay". Although there were no battles at all in the episode (apart from the opening), I watched it to the end, getting to see the characters' dire straits, the exploration of the ship and Minmay getting sad that no one will find them until a dud missile broke through to free them. I did like the episode, unaware why "Ricky" and "Maria" got trapped inside the Macross.

Overall, I watched the show to the end and got to see the rerun cycle to see the first three episodes for the first time. The English dub was good, above the Toho dub I get to see later on. I never know why the Supervision Army never shown up and I find the Filipino English dub names got into my head long enough. Such names as "Teddy Typhoon" for Kaifun, "Harry" for Hayou Kakazaki and "Samantha" for Millia.

The only toys I bought at the time were the knock-off 1/100 Valkyries and the Macross (which was Takatoko's budget toys being duplicated). At the time, I got a knock-off 1/100 of the Orguss and I wonder if that was an unknown Macross toy (as the box intructions mention Gerwalk). I also came across an 1/100 Imai Legioss model kit in Armo-Diver mode, thinking that it was "Gobot" attempt to create a rival toyline. I wasn't aware of Mospeada until I knew its existance on the web and later saw the series on DVD for the first time. I couldn't get my father to buy me the 1/55 Valkyries but I did got to buy a Bandai Joke Machine toy (the VF-1A Max version).

After watching Macross in reruns, watching American English anime dubs (edited) and Filipino English anime dubs (unedited), my family and I moved to Canada in 1987. There, I saw Robotech in its edited glory. I only got to start watching the New Generation episodes and didn't get to watch the Macross Saga episodes in 1988. I wonder why the openings show TV shows that are unrelated to Macross. When I saw the Macross Saga episodes, I was upset of the edits (not showing Roy Focker's wounds, the Zentradi soldier gunned down in the back by Roy and so on). I also didn't like the dub's quality in every way: the performers, the replacement music and Reba West's singing.

I also didn't get to see the anime I saw in the Philippines found here in Canada (such as the various Super Robot series like Voltes V and Meckander Robo) but I also didn't like that the ones I found here were edited. When I saw the Canadian English dub of Astroboy, the dubbers edited out the deaths of guest characters and scenes that were important to the episodes' story.

I never got to find any Macross merchandise in Canada and finding Robotech instead. When I bought the large Matchbox Veritech, I was angry it can't transform and was duped into thinking it's a 1/55 Valkyrie toy. Worse, all of the Robotech action figures that can fit (and match) inside were gone long before and I bought the only Robotech action figure on the hook: the Robotech Master. I broke them all once the play value is gone.

Between 1989 and 1995, I ended up find Robotech for my Macross fix and moved away from it when I saw other anime. Such examples when I dailed to Canadian cable station YTV were Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, Samurai Pizza Cats and the occasional anime adaptation of children's stories. I also buy a lot of video game magazines, due to some games being anime adaptations and having anime art.

I didn't get into Macross until the VHS release of Macross II and Orguss (thinking that Orguss was a Macross spin-off). I then used the internet in 1995, coinsiding with the edited dubs of Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball. I also rented the Clash of the Bionoids edited dub of DYRL and find the movie excellent despite the flaws.

By the time I got around to see Macross Plus in 1997 (along with Macross 7 in fansubs), HG rears its legal menace and embargo the Macross Plus toys about to come up in North America. I boycotted by not buying the Robotech toys and hearing the QC issues of the RT toys also made me to look for Yamato and Bandai instead.

Since then, I get to like Macross more than Robotech did. All of the Macross anime never disappointed me (even when I got around to rewatch Macross 7 despite the music) and anything Robotech has given are frustations.

[Knightdramon]

Robotech first part for me, around 1993 or so in Greece, dubbed. And sometimes subtitled. Only thing I remember is the macross transforming and distinctively remember Max's VF-1A and how it had a blue head and was different from the other planes, heh.

Much later in 2005 or so I searched around, watched Zero and Plus [OVA] that year. Never lost touch, watched SDFM later, then DYRL, then Frontier and slowly watching 7.

[GU-11]

Macross pretty much flew right over my head. I was about twelve when Robotech aired. Watched it, enjoyed it, and moved on. There was a locally dubbed version of Macross, which I also watched and enjoyed, but ultimately moved on to other things.

It was Macross Plus that made a Macross fan of me. I was in college then, and the anime boom was in full swing. MacPlus turned out to be one of my all-time favorites. While there still is a bit of nostalgia for me as far as Macross/Robotech is concerned, MacPlus is what started it all for me.

[505thAirborne]

1985, 3rd grade and Robotech was just airing on TV, every other guy in my class going bonkers for it. 2 years later my brothers friend came back from Japan with a ton of VHS Anime tapes and one of them was DYRL, over night I went from Robotech to the idea of "Macross is the way forward". Sometime later I was in Little Tokyo at the old "Pony Toy Go Round Toy Store" where it was just about everything Macross and many others! All awesome but Valkyries were my mission there, one of the employees explained what Macross was and how RT messed with it.

Since it was my Birthday I walked out with about $250.00 worth of Models, a true copy of DYRL and a poster, very happy day!! So basically since 1985-86 I've been a Macross fan!

[Keith]

Watched robotech first run, then pretty much forgot about it for a few years. 90's RPG's got me back into anime until one night that I had a dream about robotech, but in this dream, the SDF-1 was called "Macross," which led me on an internet search to find out more. Coincidentally manga had just released the 4th episode of Macross Plus. Dropped down to a local "Wherehouse" and picked up the first episode. Went back the next day to snag the other 3 (back then VHS tapes were 1 ep per). Also grabbed Macross II, but wasn't so hot on that. I got myself into the anime scene proper & started catching shoes/movies, but decided to rent Robotech from a local rental shop. Didn't hold up well at all... Came across a copy of "Superdimension Fortress Macross" in a bargin bin at EB (before they were gamestop), or maybe it was Software Etc (before they were Gamestop). Hell, it could have even been Babbages (you get the idea). That clicked "much" better than the robotech rentals did, bad HK dub and all.

I dabbled in the fansub scene while still supporting stupidly expensive legit VHS (soo expensive for sub tapes), and found a distro that had Macross 7.

And since all was BOMBA!!! (saw DYRL proper & subtitled this way too btw).

Naturally, AnimEigo's Macross set was my sole reason for picking up a DVD player, even if it did come out a couple years later than expected. So instead my first anime DVD wound up being "Iria: Zeiram The Animaiton."

No sh!t about the dream part btw, maybe it was just my subconcious leaping to the logical conclusion that the ship "should" have been named Macross, being from "Macross Island" and housing "Macross City" in robotech. Or maybe it was an Otaku-Newtype awakening

Edited January 10, 2012 by Keith

[Marzan]

Saw Robotech probably around 86 or so and was a big fan, although even at that early age I was confused by the jarring changes from storyline to storyline.

Sometime in 96 I guess, I caught a screening of Macross Plus at tiny sci fi movie festival at a mexican university. I was curious about what relation it could have with Robotech. I was utterly blown away by the story, visuals and great music and just had to find out more. Had a word with the screenings organizer who then slipped a couple of bootleg Macross II VHS to me and told me all about how the original SDFM had ended up as part of Robotech. A couple of years later I by chance found a copy of Kiseki films release of DYRL at the Virgin Megastore in London. Been a fan ever since.

[Solidus Snake]

I was 9 or so when Robotech was first shown on Cartoon network. My brothers watched it when they were children. In any case they were like, "Oh awesome! They're showing Robotech and Voltron on tele, again." I still remembered watching Voltron, but not robotech. In any case, I fell in love with Robotech, especially the macross saga. For some reason, CN never showed the Next generation on tele, so we went to Hastings one day and saw that they had VHSes of Robotech, we rented the entire next generation and watched it in 2 days. When we returned the VHSes, we saw two conspicuous titles: Macross II and Macross Plus (do keep in mind that this is during the early days of the net when geocities was still around and everyone used dial up). We rented them both and were completely shocked. Nothing made sense with robotech and we scratched our heads at how it fit with the Robotech timeline (at the time we didn't know that Robotech was based off 3 different shows). We scoured the internet on a slow 56k and on one of the webrings, we found the answer.

This started me on my path to of Macross. After rewatching the show subbed in horrible quality and watching M7 in horrible quality subbed (I mean .rm quality).

[connor99]

Actually, the Philippine broadcast is Super Dimension Fortress Macross uncut and dubbed in English by Filipino voice actors on 1985. The TV station that broadcasted was RPN-9.

This was my first exposure to Macross as well and upon seeing the the 1/55's right after, it just became a total obsession .

[taksraven]

I think that I discovered that Macross was a series in it's own right (not part of Robotech) when I read the article in the April 1986 issue 105 of Starlog, Japan+Animation= JAPANIMATION!!

This article also mentioned that Harmony Gold was going to commission a further 175 episodes of animation to "bridge the gap between the three series" and that the first 65 new episodes were expected to be ready by the end of the year!!

[EXO]

I remember I guess it'd be around 1983, the L.A. Times had a free Magazine that came with it called Home. There was an article on Japanese giant robot toys. There was a picture of the Golion toy next to a VF-1J. I thought "hey that's the toys I have" and it described Macross as the best animated series the reporter had seen. That was before we even had a VCR so the concept of renting or somehow getting it imported to watch was foreign to me. So the idea that they were going to air it as Robotech made my head explode. I wish I still had that article clipping.

[Marzan]

I think that I discovered that Macross was a series in it's own right (not part of Robotech) when I read the article in the April 1986 issue 105 of Starlog, Japan+Animation= JAPANIMATION!!

This article also mentioned that Harmony Gold was going to commission a further 175 episodes of animation to "bridge the gap between the three series" and that the first 65 new episodes were expected to be ready by the end of the year!!

LOL...175 episodes..Those were the days for Harmony Gold, huh?

[Reïvaj]

LOL...175 episodes..Those were the days for Harmony Gold, huh?

The golden days, I'd say!

[ly000001]

I sort-of learned about Macross first during the summer of '84, when my family's boarder came back from Hong Kong and mentioned he gave his old landlord's kid a cool-looking toy jet plane that could transform into a robot. Then, in December of that year, I was looking around in the toy section of a department store and saw a bunch of imported Japanese model kits, including ARII Macross kits. Over time, I bought a few of those Macross kits, but didn't know anything about the story until 1986 when I read the same issue of Starlog that taksraven mentioned.

[taksraven]

LOL...175 episodes..Those were the days for Harmony Gold, huh?

Yeah, I think that they were chasing another syndication number. 175 new episodes + the 85 original episodes = enough episodes to show one every weekday of the year. (or something like that)

Anyway, enough HG chatter here.

[leading edge]

I was 14 when I discovered macross I was in the library on a website and looked at some stuff in Japanese used altavista to translate it and got macross liked it ever since and that was about wow. 1996 it has been a while man.

[Gubaba]

I was 14 when I discovered macross I was in the library on a website and looked at some stuff in Japanese used altavista to translate it and got macross liked it ever since and that was about wow. 1996 it has been a while man.

Heh...not as long as some of us...

[Pterobat]

I've been into anime for over a decade, cutting my teeth on Digimon and Gundam Wing, and still trying to get caught up with everything I haven't seen yet. I never saw Macross, because any time I saw it brought up, which was never often, I never heard anything that interested me. I liked mecha in general, but the story had to have some other element which would draw me in. I think it was just a period (mid-90s to mid-00s) where I never saw anyone discussing Macross.

At two different points, I tried watching the Robotech dub but never got into it, and a second time bought a tape of "Clash of the Bionoids" from a thrift store and couldn't finish it.

The actual catalyst was giving Robotech another shot when it aired on Space: The Imagination Station in 2008, and I thought to do what I sometimes still did, was use heavily-edited TV anime to gauge my interest in the unedited versions. In this case it still worked, and I fell hard for Super Dimensional Fortress Macross, as it was a show that appealed to me in terms of its themes, characters, and overall just great quality. Some of this was muted by the Robotech dub, but obviously not enough. SDFM has, in the course of a few years, become one of my top three anime, along with Neon Genesis Evangelion and Whisper of the Heart. I've watched the rest of Macross everything, but nothing can really capture that same spark. Probably what I enjoyed the most are the Frontier movies. It's not that they're bad, just that they're not my cup of tea for various reasons, and even when I enjoy them, nothing blows me away quite like SDFM did.

[optimuspint]

I discovered Macross through the old Arai and Imai Macross model kits which were selling in UK toy and model shops in 1982 or maybe it was 1983. So I was 12 or 13 then. I bought a whole bunch of the kits then, well at least as much as my meagre pocket money would allow. I fell in love with the kit designs and the Yoshiyuki Takani box art and promised myself I would one day track down and watched the anime they were from.

I didn't actually get to see any Macross anime until catching a few episodes of the TV series on Hong Kong TV in 1986 and then I was lucky enough to get to see a summer rerun of DYRL at the Cinema in Hong Kong in IIRC 1988, which I watched several times. That's really what really got me hooked for life on Macross. Nothing beats DYRL on the big screen!

As far as TV series go, I actually identity and prefer Macross 7 more, as unlike the original SDF Macross TV series, I was able to watch Macross 7 from start to finish as it was airing in 1994-5 with only minimum delay, via bootleg VHS tapes, which arrived in HK only a few days after the episodes aired in Japan.

However, I love all Macross and there's not a Macross TV series, OVA or movie that I dislike.

I've never actually watched much Robotech, as I don't think it ever aired in either UK or HK (at least not while I was there/here). But from what I have seen, the dubbing and songs really make me cringe.

Graham

I also discovered macross through models, I couldnt afford the larger revel models that came out when I was a kid (most of the 1st run that was available here in town were the dougram based models) so I ended up getting the small R.O.B.O.T models by testors, they were all macross based and used the original japanese painted box art.. about the same time I was getting into the old battletech and even as a kid was drawn more to the macross based mecha, as a teen in highschool we had a bootleg of dyrl that was so dark we could barely make out what was going on and it had no subtitles but we loved it.

[Benson13]

I got to see a few episodes of Robotech in the mid 1980's. I was hooked. Then I moved to England and the first day I was there I was handed the green Alpha. I'd never seen it before and had no idea what it was supposed to look like so I failed at transforming it (this still haunts me to this day). I never saw anything Robotech again until I saw a Roy Fokker super posable in a comic book store in the mid 2000's.

Never saw anything else for sale until I looked at Evil Bay one day in mid 2011 and holy hell, there's tons of it. So I bought a Ben Dixon MPC. I ripped that cardboard box open and saw the most amazing toy I'd ever seen. It was like crack. I had to have another. Then I noticed that Macross wasn't just the name of an island but and entirely different story.

It was then I discovered this site and Any Moon and realized how much my MPC's sucked. After that I watched DYRL and all the original Macross cartoons and just finished Macross Frontier.

I'm really disappointed that it only took 25 years to find this stuff again. I try showing this to my friends (a bunch of door kicking military alpha males) and they just look at me like I'm retarded. It doesn't matter though, I like the community here and love the toys and cartoons.

[Athenian]

Well, this looks like as good a place for a first post as any.

I first encountered Macross in 1985, during the first US run of "Robotech". It played on KBHK 44 at 4pm, just after "Star Blazers" on KICU 36, and there was a small but loyal group of us who took over the projection TV in the student commons every afternoon after classes. Nobody knew much about the original shows, but we knew enough to see that this was a relatively new style of anime (a word just coming into usage at the time): cleaner and less fanciful, while displaying a healthy love and respect for the previous generation. In short, cartoons you could take home to meet the folks.

We started hitting the conventions, amassing a shared library of related books and toys. Eventually the true origins of the show started to filter through Harmony Gold's PR: in later years I caught up with Southern Cross and Mospeada but it wasn't until just last week that I finally watched all of Super Dimension Fortress Macross in its original form, via the AnimeEigo DVD set. Many of my questions have been answered but more have arisen.

It may be my nostalgia but I can't entirely dismiss Robotech from the appreciation equation-- if possible, I'd like to claim dual fanship, at least for the music.

Edited February 8, 2012 by Athenian

[Cobra__]

I learned of Macross in the early eighties through a Takatoku electronic game that I was given as a gift.

It was all in japanese expect for the instruction booklet that had english and japanese text. Of course I was amazed by the introduction in english. In started by "in the year 1999 an alien starship crashed landed in the south pacific island of south ataria and blah blah blah....". It went on to describe basically the whole Macross plot. I was mesmerized to say the least. The game was nice, but I liked even more the art design on the box. At the time I though I'd never see the series this game was based on on tv ever. Then some years later by chance I got to see the first episode of Robotech and the characters reminded me of something lol. Then I made the connection and took out the electronic game from its resting place and yes it was the same characters. And I decided there that I was to see the whole macross part even as part of robotech. At first I didn't realise that Macross and Robotech were 2 different things but it didn't matter. What mattered was that I could see the characters in "real life" as opposed to only the videogame.

[Fly4victory]

Model section in a Santa Rosa comic book store in 1984/85. They had an Imai 1/144 VF-1A that had four models in one box.

[Valkyrie Driver]

I actually started off with the original Transformers as a kid, of which I had several of the toys. Then I moved on to MechWarrior 2,3&4, which got me into BattleTech. I followed that for a while, and found out that my favorite 'Mechs were from Robotech, which led me to Macross. I really got into it when Robotech: Battlecry came out, and I took to trying to make transformers out of my old Gundam figures. My first Macross toy was a Banpresto VF-1A/J/S strike Valkyrie, which I painted like Max's from DYRL. My first exposure to Macross proper was Macross Plus. Then I found SDF Macross at Best buy, and bought it, and I haven't looked back. Macross remains one of my all time favorite anime franchises.

"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."- 1 Corinthians 13:11, is what my dad always quotes when he sees my toy collection. He wonders why a 25 yr old man, still has toys. I'm in the military now, and it only supports my habit. Being slightly ADD having something to fidget with is appealing.

Edited March 22, 2012 by Valkyrie Driver

[F-ZeroOne]

I think how I discovered "Macross" was through the "Robotech" RPG; pen-and-paper RPGs being one of the things I was into at the time. "Battletech" was also a bit of an influence. I also remember arguing with a friend of mine that there must be some reason why the "Jetfire" toy didn't look anything like its animated counterpart, even if I wasn't to discover the reasons for that for a very long time... This would all have been in the very late 80s/early 90s. I had a little inkling that some of the animation I watched as a kid was "different" due to shows like "Battle of the Planets" and "The Mysterious Cities of Gold".

The first "Macross" I actually saw was either the "Clash of the Bionoids" version of "Do You Remember Love", or "Macross II", ironically enough. There were a couple of near misses, various cheap-and-cheerful VHS releases of various "Robotech" items were available in the UK but being a nipper I didn't have the pocket money... ("Robotech" was also shown on early UK satellite TV but I had no way of accessing it at the time). At some point, probably on a rare visit to "Forbidden Planet" in London, I picked up the first three "Robotech" novels. It was probably the high-quality (for the time) "Anime UK" magazine that started revealing some of the "truth" for me, and "Macross Plus" was probably what cemented things (the wait between volumes was agonising). It wasn't until the AnimEigo DVD releases that I actually saw the original TV series for the first time!

Edited March 22, 2012 by F-ZeroOne

[343sqn]

I was introduced to Macross in 2007 by a conscript in our unit who was assigned for duty at the headquarters; he was quite knowledgeable about Macross and gave me his Animeigo box set and let me copy whatever Macross-related material he had on his hard disks.

[Zor Primus]

In the year 1985 war was beginning...

No, seriously...saw Robotech when it aired on WPIX Channel 11 in NY. Was into Voltron, GI Joe and Transformers around that time and was blown away by the more mature tone the Macross saga had when compared to the other shows. Saw the entire series and was left with many questions...the first one being, where the hell was the SDF-2? And...why don't any of the uniforms match between generations. Fast forward to 1990, I was living in Chile and caught completely by surprise an airing of the Sentinels. WOW! Cool! Oh...aaah...and then disappointment...nothing further to add there, we've all heard the stories.

Fast forward to 1991-92...I make friends with a fellow otaku in high school and learned the TRUTH...still liked the series and actually read the novels and played the RPG's. Also around this time was able to rent a copy of Clash of the Bionoids...this confused me again as I was like, "A man and a woman? A man and a woman? It must be protoculture!"

Macross Plus and Macross II were released in the US around 94-95 ish? Saw and loved them both. Around 97 saw Macross 7 and was like WTF!?!?

It wasn't until 2009 that I saw Macross Frontier that I had seen anything related to the original...and between then and now have finally seen the original SDF:M and also the original Mospeada and Southern Cross.

[Kaldar5]

As a young child (maybe 6-8 or so) I caught a few episodes of Robotech on TV original airings. Saw maybe 2 episodes. Hated it.

Minmei's voice annoyed the hell out of me. Went back to watching Battle of the Planets. (Science Bird Ninja team Gachaman)

Played Battletech table top, sorta recognized some of the mech designs, and loved them, hated the poorly designed ones (that weren't Macross designs). Pretty damn obvious something was up with that. Did a bit of asking around when all my fave mechs disappeared, and found out about Macross while looking into the Harmony Gold harassment of Battletech. But no real internet or anime clubs I knew of back then. Got the whole story on HG. Made a mental note wishing I could see it in the original form, had no interest in seeing a version with two other shows tacked on and characters changed, especially from the "creative" mind of the guy that ruined my game.

Got into anime, got in a few clubs back in the days of blank VHS tape swapping. Got to see subbed DYRL. Still my favorite movie. Minmay.
That scene ending Ai Obuete, where Minmay stares out from the hologram with Mikimoto liquid eyes in Boddol Zer's control room, you could almost misintreptet her look of singing passion as a deadly glare locking eyes with BZ... then Hikaru charges in, thrust deccel burst right in BZ's face, aims, pauses just for a moment briefly considering this killing - decides silently in that second... no mercy, and proceeds to make total hamburger out of Boddol Zer's face as Minmay looks on in the background, but not seeing the bloodbath head spatter as it's a one way projection. THAT. Best thing ever.

Tried to get SDFM TV. Found out the equivalent scene had Minmay in a POLKA DOT GREEN DRESS. Outrage. Wondered if I could go back to the original character designs. Stopped trying find the episodes.

Saw Macross 2 dubbed in a old classic historical theater, was pretty impressed at the time.... but that was mainly the cool factor of seeing actual Anime in a swank classy balcony theater. But didn't like that it was dubbed. Gossip news reporter? Really? Could barely sit though Wendy Rider. But still it was Mikimoto, so it was gorgeous. (and Ishtar!)

Saw most of Mac 7 at anime club meetings, was decent, still loved the Mikimoto char designs; but didn't quite have that old charm of DYRL. It didn't really get me going for Macross again. Couldn't take it seriously, so I didn't go out of my way to see it all.

Saw Plus, didn't have that epic feel, decent show though. I couldn't bring myself to care about any of the characters (Angry dude, other angry dude, OL that gave up). Yoko Kanno's music is great though. (no offense Plus fans! It's cool that you like it, don't hate mail me)

Got to meet Mari Iijima, Mikimoto, and Kawamori over the course of some rabid Anime con attendance years. (DYRL was still my #1 of damn near any movie, so believe me, I appreciated the privilege; Mikimoto and Kawamori were some of my ultimate faves even if I wasn't a super Macross fan at the time)

Tried to watch old SDFM. At the time it was difficult to get anime, so I had a hard time justifying the trouble of obtaining episodes with animation like the M/M knife fight when I just didn't have that old love of all Macross. Ashamed now, but I again put off seeing it.

Watched Macross Zero soon after it came out. Impressive CG, pretty, had some love and emotion to the story, but kinda weird. Really liked it, but not super pumped about it.

Watched Macross Frontier. THIS is what I have been waiting for. This had the love, the combat, the emotion, the message of peace without being stupid or preachy, seriousness, epicness, and the music. All the spirit of the original IMHO. Episodes 24+25 = DYRL end. I do not state that lightly. Wife had to tell me to take it easy watching Frontier scenes and songs over and over again, even though she loved Frontier too. (And cosplays Ranka now :wub: )

Went back and watched everything twice over the last few years (well, not all of 7 twice yet). Honestly, I owe it to Frontier for making me love all the old stuff to an actual Macross fan extent instead of just a "I kinda like this old important influential anime as an anime fan".

Edited April 10, 2013 by Kaldar5

[Vepariga]

Sitting down on the carpet as a little kid watching Robotech,then my thirst was unqenchable and I needed to find more,My search ended at one of my older cousins house who had a Tomahawk Destroid I used to play with for years before I even realised it was a Tomahawk Destroid lol He revealed to me,Macross in its entireity and I have never looked back.

[MechTech]

I'm having flashbacks like a bad episode of "Kung Fu!" Flash back to the mid-80's. Being the hardcore modeller that I am, when I was shopping for models, I saw the Robotech kits and that the valks would transform. After building like two of every "conventional" model, this was awesome. A transforming model kit. Then a week or two later my track/cross country team had a day off. I went home and there it was, the first episode of Robotech. The models all made sense now (except for the Dougram and Orguss ones). I was hooked (I think addicted is a better word). I learned how to program the "new" VCR we had so I could get each epsiode while away at track/cross country work-outs.

From then on out, my friend and I were always out looking for Macross. Like 505th above, we ventured out on our own into Little Tokyo (LA) to Pony Toy Go Round. They had an AWESOME looking 1/200 Monster kit painted up with a parrot face (I whish I had a photo). Between R/C cars/boats and Macross models, you can figure where my money went!

Some of you might remember "the Galactic Trade Commision" (Kentucky?) mail order service. He had ALL the Macross kits you could think off!

My friend and I already were going to the little Japanese video rental shop near our house to rent and explore other anime like Naussica and Megazone 23. For some reason we could only get the last episodes first. It was a joke so we always got the last episode and watched it backwards further adding to our confusion

Between other Japanese stores and a few comic places carrying Macross kits, the 80's rocked for me! I still have a lot of those kits too! Out of all the series in the Macross continuim, I'm for the old school Macross! - MT

Edited March 29, 2013 by MechTech