The RoboTech Adaptation movie animation

[Red254x]

I think the "powers" should entrust this beloved series to the Team and Company that gave us ARCANE: League of Legends. I am sure they would be respectful of the downright awesome at this task. My opinion of course, but since it seems to be a chore or just impossible to make it a Live Action movie, keep it animated, but modernized techniques of animated. CGI is not always the answer either.  The French animation studio Fortiche, under the supervision of Riot Games.

[Big s]

  On 3/25/2025 at 10:10 PM, Red254x said:

I think the "powers" should entrust this beloved series to the Team and Company that gave us ARCANE: League of Legends. I am sure they would be respectful of the downright awesome at this task. My opinion of course, but since it seems to be a chore or just impossible to make it a Live Action movie, keep it animated, but modernized techniques of animated. CGI is not always the answer either.  The French animation studio Fortiche, under the supervision of Riot Games.

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I think it still comes down to funding. Animation these days seems almost more difficult to get a green light than live action. And to get the recognition for a new animation there has to be some kind of major interest or a larger company backing the project. He Man and Transformers still get stuff made because of larger toy companies. Robotech really only has a couple of small Indy companies making the toys and they’re not really something you see in a store.

Macross on the other hand has most of their stuff made by Japanese companies like Bandai that kind of expect a new series to bring in more toy and model interest. It also helps that a good portion of the Macross franchise is now available for streaming in multiple countries. I can easily find a model kit of Mirya’s VF-22 from Macross 7 in American hobby shops, while a toy of a Rick hunter VF-1j for Robotech is pretty much non existent outside of collectors shows. It’s really surprising since Macross 7 was the oddball for a while that most American viewers hadn’t seen compared to the original Macross or its Robotech adaptation. But that is all probably due to the backing of not only Bandai, but Disney as well.

[Bolt]

Making another robot tech animation would be impossible. For so many reasons. But one can always dream. And the live action is vaporware , lost in the Matrix .

  On 3/25/2025 at 11:49 PM, Big s said:

Macross on the other hand has most of their stuff made by Japanese companies like Bandai that kind of expect a new series to bring in more toy and model interest.

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Let's not forget the massive amount of dosh being made on the music, as well. 

[Seto Kaiba]

  On 3/25/2025 at 10:10 PM, Red254x said:

I think the "powers" should entrust this beloved series to the Team and Company that gave us ARCANE: League of Legends.

[...]

My opinion of course, but since it seems to be a chore or just impossible to make it a Live Action movie, keep it animated, but modernized techniques of animated. [...]

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To be clear, this is exactly as impossible as the proposed live action movie and for essentially the same reasons.

Because Robotech was edited together out of three separate shows that Harmony Gold licensed the distribution rights for from another company, Harmony Gold doesn't actually own the content of the Robotech TV series.  Their copyright only extends to the few parts of it that they came up with which were not in the original works.  That's basically just a title, some names and proper nouns, and some parts of the score.  The vast majority of the show's content - like the characters, designs, and most of the story - is property of the Japanese studios that created the original shows (Big West/Studio Nue for Macross, Tatsunoko Pro for Southern Cross and MOSPEADA).  

HG can't just go and do a remake or a live action adaptation or a sequel using or based on that material without first getting the express permission of the copyright holders via a license agreement.  It's a very safe bet that's not going to happen where Big West and Macross are concerned so a remake is off the table, and sequels have historically proven to not be commercially viable.

It's also kind of a financial non-starter.  As "beloved" as it supposedly is, Robotech was nothing special ratings-wise and all five attempts to develop any kind of continuation for its animated series have failed miserably.  The last three attempts were all excruciating and humiliating public failures that were mocked and derided even by Robotech fans.  There's no sane business case for sixth attempt at a sequel, spinoff, or side story.  A reboot would, for legal reasons, essentially be an all-new IP developed from the ground up with zero connection to the Robotech you know.  The studio would have no incentive to pay Harmony Gold royalties to use the title of an unrelated and mostly-forgotten 80's cartoon with a bad rep when they could give it an original title, entirely avoid the reputational baggage, and keep all the money for themselves in the bargain.

[pengbuzz]

  On 3/26/2025 at 1:06 AM, Seto Kaiba said:

To be clear, this is exactly as impossible as the proposed live action movie and for essentially the same reasons.

Because Robotech was edited together out of three separate shows that Harmony Gold licensed the distribution rights for from another company, Harmony Gold doesn't actually own the content of the Robotech TV series.  Their copyright only extends to the few parts of it that they came up with which were not in the original works.  That's basically just a title, some names and proper nouns, and some parts of the score.  The vast majority of the show's content - like the characters, designs, and most of the story - is property of the Japanese studios that created the original shows (Big West/Studio Nue for Macross, Tatsunoko Pro for Southern Cross and MOSPEADA).  

HG can't just go and do a remake or a live action adaptation or a sequel using or based on that material without first getting the express permission of the copyright holders via a license agreement.  It's a very safe bet that's not going to happen where Big West and Macross are concerned so a remake is off the table, and sequels have historically proven to not be commercially viable.

It's also kind of a financial non-starter.  As "beloved" as it supposedly is, Robotech was nothing special ratings-wise and all five attempts to develop any kind of continuation for its animated series have failed miserably.  The last three attempts were all excruciating and humiliating public failures that were mocked and derided even by Robotech fans.  There's no sane business case for sixth attempt at a sequel, spinoff, or side story.  A reboot would, for legal reasons, essentially be an all-new IP developed from the ground up with zero connection to the Robotech you know.  The studio would have no incentive to pay Harmony Gold royalties to use the title of an unrelated and mostly-forgotten 80's cartoon with a bad rep when they could give it an original title, entirely avoid the reputational baggage, and keep all the money for themselves in the bargain.

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If this had been done smartly back in the 80's, RT may have gotten a much better fan base and release. Unfortunately, when Harmony Gold  is involved in anything, they seem to have the Reverse Midas Touch©™.

 

[M'Kyuun]

Let Robotech die. It served its purpose in the 80s introducing audiences outside of Japan to Macross, Mospeada, and Southern Cross, albeit in a hamhanded way, and in doing so, opened the gate to a slowly growing number of anime being introduced to the West. Its relevancy has long since expired, and with the bulk of the Macross series now available on Hulu through Disney plus, fans can watch legitimate Macross shows and movies as they're properly intended by the original creators, primarily Shoji Kawamori. I didn't watch RT growing up- I guess it just didn't air where I lived- so I harbor no nostalgia for it. That said, having watched the RT version of Macross and the actual SDF:M, I'll take the original any day over HG's heavily edited version.

 

[pengbuzz]

  On 3/26/2025 at 2:54 AM, M'Kyuun said:

Let Robotech die. It served its purpose in the 80s introducing audiences outside of Japan to Macross, Mospeada, and Southern Cross, albeit in a hamhanded way, and in doing so, opened the gate to a slowly growing number of anime being introduced to the West. Its relevancy has long since expired, and with the bulk of the Macross series now available on Hulu through Disney plus, fans can watch legitimate Macross shows and movies as they're properly intended by the original creators, primarily Shoji Kawamori. I didn't watch RT growing up- I guess it just didn't air where I lived- so I harbor no nostalgia for it. That said, having watched the RT version of Macross and the actual SDF:M, I'll take the original any day over HG's heavily edited version.

 

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I have to agree; while RT opened the door for many fans, it's done now. Macross is pretty much the only part of RT most liked anyways; it always felt instead of advancing that man got worse and worse in all ways in the RT overall story arc anyhow. The tech got worse and civilization pretty well crumbled until people were living in hovels under the Invid.

In Macross, man actually improved (colony fleets, slowly repairing Earth, Colonies, exploration, etc), and civilization spread. We also got better at building mecha and other stuff.

*pops in M+ and sits back with some popcorn*

[Big s]

  On 3/26/2025 at 2:54 AM, M'Kyuun said:

Let Robotech die. It served its purpose in the 80s introducing audiences outside of Japan to Macross, Mospeada, and Southern Cross, albeit in a hamhanded way, and in doing so, opened the gate to a slowly growing number of anime being introduced to the West. Its relevancy has long since expired, and with the bulk of the Macross series now available on Hulu through Disney plus, fans can watch legitimate Macross shows and movies as they're properly intended by the original creators, primarily Shoji Kawamori. I didn't watch RT growing up- I guess it just didn't air where I lived- so I harbor no nostalgia for it. That said, having watched the RT version of Macross and the actual SDF:M, I'll take the original any day over HG's heavily edited version.

 

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I agree for the most part here. I do think there could be room for some type of reboot that doesn’t use the original anime and actually becomes its own thing. But they don’t have the money or power to do that. 

[Big s]

  On 3/26/2025 at 3:03 AM, pengbuzz said:

In Macross, man actually improved (colony fleets, slowly repairing Earth, Colonies, exploration, etc), and civilization spread. We also got better at building mecha and other stuff.

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Yeah, Robotech only kept going until things just would’ve ended up in the Stone Age. Rick Hunter would’ve actually been a hunter wearing a fur outfit riding a woolly Mammoth 

[JB0]

  On 3/26/2025 at 1:30 AM, pengbuzz said:

If this had been done smartly back in the 80's, RT may have gotten a much better fan base and release. Unfortunately, when Harmony Gold  is involved in anything, they seem to have the Reverse Midas Touch©™.

 

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There were attempts made "back in the day". By most accounts, Robotech II:  The Sentinels failed not or quality reasons, but economic ones. The japanese economy was on an upswing the US was in a slump, and it suddenly wasn't cheap to hire Japan to draw cartoons for America, so the show was cancelled after three episodes had been drawn.

 

Their biggest mis-step was when the 90s anime boom hit and they suddenly decided they owned Macross, sued everyone, and declared war on their own fanbase.

No one told them that a small real estate company with a side hustle in tax fraud TV production can't act like the friggin' Walt Disney Company, and  they scored a bunch of own-goals while pissing off the anime fans they were supposed to be courting.

[TangledThorns]

Interesting first post...

[Dynaman]

• To quote Kirk in STII "Aren't you Dead (Robotech)"

[M'Kyuun]

  On 3/25/2025 at 10:10 PM, Red254x said:

I think the "powers" should entrust this beloved series to the Team and Company that gave us ARCANE: League of Legends. I am sure they would be respectful of the downright awesome at this task. My opinion of course, but since it seems to be a chore or just impossible to make it a Live Action movie, keep it animated, but modernized techniques of animated. CGI is not always the answer either.  The French animation studio Fortiche, under the supervision of Riot Games.

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I love Arcane; it's one of the best animated shows to come along in a long time. Fortiche did a brilliant job animating the show, and I think their talents and efforts would be wasted on anything Robotech related, as it's a nearly dead franchise. Moreover, Macross has continued through tv series and related movies over the decades (with yet another installment being produced, surprisingly, by Sunrise in the near future) utilizing new techniques in animation, progressing the saga with new narratives and characters, hiring both established VAs and singers while scouting out new talent, as well as great composers like Yoko Kanno. What does RT have to offer by comparison?  As I said earlier, just let it die, and let the fans find relief from their sorrow in the legitimate, continuing, and far superior Macross series.

[Mog]

Also, Mospeada flows better when 500 references to Admiral Rick Hunter don’t get shoehorned into the story.

And the idea that the Inbit are actually healing the planet is a more interesting take.

[mikeszekely]

If Harmony Gold were smart they'd sell the rights back to Big West, liquidate their other assets, close their doors, and Frank Agrama would retire before he gets in any more legal trouble instead of trying to wring any more blood from the stone that is Robotech.  Then again, if Harmony Gold were smart they'd probably have more to show for 42 years of business than Shaka Zulu, Robotech, and a Abe & Bruno.

Edited Thursday at 03:21 AM by mikeszekely

[pengbuzz]

  On 3/27/2025 at 3:18 AM, mikeszekely said:

If Harmony Gold were smart they'd sell the rights back to Big West, liquidate their other assets, close their doors, and Frank Agrama would retire before he gets in any more legal trouble instead of trying to wring any more blood from the stone that is Robotech.  Then again, if Harmony Gold were smart they'd probably have more to show for 42 years of business than Shaka Zulu, Robotech, and a Abe & Bruno.

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Frank Agrama passed away April 25th, 2023; his daughter Jehan now controls HG.

[mikeszekely]

  On 3/27/2025 at 10:22 AM, pengbuzz said:

Frank Agrama passed away April 25th, 2023; his daughter Jehan now controls HG.

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All the more reason to get off HG's sinking ship.

[Thom]

  On 3/26/2025 at 3:03 AM, pengbuzz said:

I have to agree; while RT opened the door for many fans, it's done now. Macross is pretty much the only part of RT most liked anyways; it always felt instead of advancing that man got worse and worse in all ways in the RT overall story arc anyhow. The tech got worse and civilization pretty well crumbled until people were living in hovels under the Invid.

In Macross, man actually improved (colony fleets, slowly repairing Earth, Colonies, exploration, etc), and civilization spread. We also got better at building mecha and other stuff.

*pops in M+ and sits back with some popcorn*

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On point! By using already made 'properties' HG was restricted in their 'story telling' to someone else's already completed work. They tried to move forward with the Sentinels, but Earth was still basically withering behind them while they poked around with the Masters. I much prefer the Macross time-line and its promise of recovery and growth.

[M'Kyuun]

Not only is there a positive future for humanity throughout the ongoing Macross series, attacks by Protodeviln, Vajra, Galaxy, Windermerians and other assorted baddies as well as untold deaths and injuries due to said attacks notwithstanding, but there's also been an inbuilt continuity from the very beginning, Macross II notwithstanding, under Kawamori's overarching vision and creative control. Moreover, with new characters and story arcs introduced with every new series, the overall lore from which the next story can draw is enriched even while the new series is advancing the whole. Robotech by its nature is frozen in time and all efforts by HG to try and expand on it have failed. It's a series on life support, and while Macross will likely find new visionaries to carry it forward after Kawamori, the same can't be said for RT which is only supported by an aging fandom while Macross continues to find new generations of fans every 6-8 years or so. 

 

[Big s]

  On 3/29/2025 at 5:52 AM, M'Kyuun said:

Not only is there a positive future for humanity throughout the ongoing Macross series, attacks by Protodeviln, Vajra, Galaxy, Windermerians and other assorted baddies as well as untold deaths and injuries due to said attacks notwithstanding, but there's also been an inbuilt continuity from the very beginning, Macross II notwithstanding, under Kawamori's overarching vision and creative control. Moreover, with new characters and story arcs introduced with every new series, the overall lore from which the next story can draw is enriched even while the new series is advancing the whole. Robotech by its nature is frozen in time and all efforts by HG to try and expand on it have failed. It's a series on life support, and while Macross will likely find new visionaries to carry it forward after Kawamori, the same can't be said for RT which is only supported by an aging fandom while Macross continues to find new generations of fans every 6-8 years or so. 

 

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I kinda feel like Robotech is definitely on life support, while Macross is in the retirement home but recently got a prescription of viagra now that it’s streaming everywhere. Hopefully Macross finds the fountain of youth with the new series 

[M'Kyuun]

  22 hours ago, Big s said:

I kinda feel like Robotech is definitely on life support, while Macross is in the retirement home but recently got a prescription of viagra now that it’s streaming everywhere. Hopefully Macross finds the fountain of youth with the new series 

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To his and his fellow producers' credits, every new Macross entry brings something new even while trying to maintain its three core features (love triangles, variable fighters, and the power of song), so to a degree, one can see the attempts to keep it fresh. I thought Delta, with its focus on a band of girl idols, would resonate with younger audiences. I recently watched it with my wife (my second viewing, her first) and I have to say my impression was far more positive this time as opposed to my first viewing back when the show first released. My wife liked it too. It had a lot of likeable characters, especially Hayate and Freyja. While I think some of the 'power of song' stuff is overdone, such tropes are part of the anime landscape, and there's at least a pseudo-scientific explanation (V-type microbes affecting fold energy and fold crystals for amplification) for the super powerful effects of song energy and the varying degrees to which some singers can affect and use it. I'm curious to see what they do in the next installment; I'd love something like Plus or Frontier, a little more serious and mature, but whatever they cook up, I'm sure I'll like it. 

RT's demise is a foregone conclusion; HG is sustaining it with a little bit of merchandising, much of it lackluster or worse; however, with no new shows or new ideas to reinvigorate it, and with its primary fanbase in its forties and older, it has no staying power or influence. While Macross doesn't seem to be as popular as other more notable anime series, it's still around after 40 years, with yet another installment coming, so that speaks to its longevity and enough popularity to keep it going, hopefully, into the future.

[Old_Nash_II]

Wondercon in Anaheim is happening this weekend, and HG hasn't announced anything new.
No game, no animation, or even what position LA is in Robotech.
The way it moves, I'm going to end up doing something like that using some AI to help develop it in Unity.

[danth]

  On 3/26/2025 at 2:54 AM, M'Kyuun said:

Let Robotech die. It served its purpose in the 80s introducing audiences outside of Japan to Macross, Mospeada, and Southern Cross, albeit in a hamhanded way, and in doing so, opened the gate to a slowly growing number of anime being introduced to the West. Its relevancy has long since expired, and with the bulk of the Macross series now available on Hulu through Disney plus, fans can watch legitimate Macross shows and movies as they're properly intended by the original creators, primarily Shoji Kawamori.

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Perfectly said!

I have absolutely no need for Robotech anymore. I can enjoy the original Macross, Mospeada, and (I guess) Southern Cross if I want to.

I did grow up with Robotech. It single-handedly got me into anime. I'm still fond of the Robotech theme song and BGM (the Minmay songs not so much). I'd even be down to buy the whole series on Blu Ray, had they not Yuned the release by replacing all the original sound effects, which is so jarring to hear that it removes any of the joy of watching what I grew up with.

[tekering]

  16 hours ago, danth said:

I'd even be down to buy the whole series on Blu Ray, had they not Yuned the release by replacing all the original sound effects, which is so jarring to hear that it removes any of the joy of watching what I grew up with.

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The vast majority of us here grew up with Robotech, undoubtedly, but after decades of watching HD Macross and Mospeada fansubs, hearing any of it in English again is jarring... 

If the original broadcasts of Robotech had been properly remastered for Blu-ray (and released back when physical media was still dominant), it might've mattered, but certainly not now... and especially not in the poor state it finally arrived. 😒

Southern Cross, for all its faults, is still superior to The Robotech Masters, although its abysmal home video releases make the Robotech Blu-rays, by default, the best way of appreciating that series. 😐