Macross<>Robotech

RaNger

Spaceman
I hear over and over that Robotech is totaly different from Macross, and all that, but I have only seen Robotech, and becouse of this, I cant understand exactly what the difference is! How would I see the original Macross without learning Japanese?
 
By getting the boxed sets (black boxes with shiny writing). They are in Japanese with English subs. Basically, one of the biggest differences would be that Macross HEAVILY inspired the first generation of Robotech (no masters, no Invid, nothing other than the Zentraedi War).
 
There are many differenced betwix the two.

Macross was created in 1982 by Shoji Kawamori and Studio Nue. The show lasted 36 episodes and spawned a Motion Picture in 1984 called "Do You Remember Love?" (DYRL). While DYRL played in Movie Teatres in Japan, the American company Harmony Gold (HG) aquired the US release rights. However, 36 episodes was not enough for Syndicated TV. So Carl Macek (HG's CEO and Anti-Christ) decided to splice together two compleatly different TV series together with Macross. Thus Robotech was born.

Some of the major changes were as follow.

In Macross, Thr Protoculture was an Ancient Civilization that spawned the Zentradi. In Robotech, Protoculture was turned into a natural resorce.

There were no "Robotech Masters" in Macross.

Several other changes were made to make Macross fit in with the other two Robotech series. Here are some minor changes.

The Valkyrie Variable Fighters were renamed Veritechs.

Lynn Minmay, Idol Singer and moral booster, was made into a tone deaf brat.

Several of the character's names were changed. For Example, Hikaru Ichijo (the main character in Macross) was renamed Rick Hunter.

There are many more differences, but I shall not waste more space on them. For more information, please visit these sites.

http://protoculture.lebhead.com

http://macross.anime.net
 
What about the heavily edited american version of macross the movie, Clash of the Bionoids.

Aside from adding the elements that made ROBOTECH a multi generation epic, the ROBOTECH Macross saga does follow pretty closely to the original japanese release (they are the same show)
The other generations; southern cross and invid invasion were also Japanese anime series', called southern cross and M.O.S.P.E.A.D.A. (don't qoute me on the latter, I know it was an abbreviation), Sentinals was really the only original series by robotech, which Jack Mckinney (two guys, one is dead the other has been writing alot of New Jedi Order) those books were Zentradei Rebellion (after the novel doomsday if you are familair), Masters Gambit (which takes place a few years before Southern Cross I believe), and before the invid storm, which takes place right before invid invasion.
The first book he wrote like that outside of those three and sentinels was End of the Circle, which was supposed to be the last novel, and it spanned about ten years.
If ytou want to find out a whole crapload of information on ROBOTECH, try to pick up some of the old roleplaying stuff, it even had material from there "parent" series' from japan. They are hard to find now, since the company that made them doesn't print the game anymore, but there are usually a few floating around. It is still in the top ten games of all time I believe.
 
Wow, so there IS a reson why I love the Macross Saga, and hate the rest, :p

What I would like to do, or would like someone to do, is to re-animate MACROSS, as it is suposed to be, but with the ROBOTECH names, and all voice acting done in English. That would be the best of both worlds. You get the real storyline, along with new animation, and the english voices, (and names).

I can see now why alot of people are offended when some one asumes that Macross and Robotech are the same. The next time I get a chance I'm going to buy the Macross DVDs.

I would get some of my voice acter frends together and re-voice it in english (just for fun) but the idea of re-doing every sound effect, and some how geting music back where it needs to be sounds like too much work. Is there soem way to seperate the voice tracks from the music/sound effects?
 
I think there's an option on Animeigo's Macross DVDs where you can play the show with music and sound effects without dialogue. So you could do a Fan Dub of Macross (you'd better keep Minmay's songs intack or I shall hunt you down).

PS: Clash of The Bionoids sucks worse than Lap'Lamiz (just ask Kamjin).
 
You could always go out and buy the perfect collection of ROBOTECH. I don't know if they were done on DVD, but they have two episodes per tape, one done in english, and the other done in its unedited Japanese.
 
I will Macross this, they have some fantastic follow up stories. I havn't watched any of the new ones like Macross 7, or whatever they are called, I just saw Macross II, and Macross Plus. They were fantastic, and definatly eye candy, although I kinda got a ROBOTECH: Southern Cross feel for Macross II.

It is to bad that ROBOTECH is an american production, it takes alot of money to make motion pictures of really good animated quality here. I read something a few years about IIRC, about two heavyweight animated movies that came out at the same time, Ghost in the SHell, and Pocahantes (I think it was that one). While anime looks better it is inferior in frame rate, it uses like a quarter of a disney production, it looks better and costs like a tenth of what american movies cost. Ghost was like 7 milion, while Poca was like 70 million. Go figure americans like to spend money.

I though it was kinda weird when Palladium books owned the RPG rights for both ROBOTECH and Macross II, and was publishing them at the same time, but Macross II way undersold.

If they made a new ROBOTECH I bet it would be computer animated, even more so than they use computers for virtually all animation now in america, even south park lol.
 
Well if you want to see CG animated variable fighters, go pick up Macross Zero. It is very new (actually still being done). Episodes 1 through 3 are out already with 4 and 5 still coming. It takes place before the original series. I have to say the animation is top notch and the CG battle scenes of the VF's, Destroids, and standard fighters are jaw dropping.
 
The original names of the other two Japanese series were "Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross" and "Genesis Climber Mospeada".

If you want the Japanese version of Macross as released in the US, you need to get the version released by Animeigo.

Everything else (both as Robotech and as the original Japanese series with the original dialogue) is being released by ADV in the US.

Super Dimensional Fortress Macross is the name of the TV series that started the Macross franchise. Do You Remember Love is a retelling of the TV story, although it only loosely follows the original plot, and there's not a chance that the two could ever co-exist in the same universe. Its an excellent movie, and has high-quality animation even by today's overly computerized standards. In Macross 7 (a TV series set years in the future with a few of the characters from Macross), the movie is discussed at one point, and we learn that in the Macross setting, Do You Remember Love is a feature film that was released to dramatize the events of the war.

I should add that even Hollywood is much closer to the truth than DYRL gets to be.
^_^

Macross Plus takes place some time after Macross. Macross 7 takes place shortly after Macross Plus (iirc, I've heard that one of the fighters from the fly-off in Plus ends up as the new fighter of the Macross 7 fleet partway through the series).

Macross Zero is a prequel to Macross. Roy Fokker is in it, as well as someone who appears to be related to Claudia Grant.

Macross II is a movie that is set in an alternate universe in which Do You Remember Love is the actual story of the war (as opposed to a dramatized account).
 
Well you're partially right there.

"Do You Remember Love?" is a dramatization of Space War I within the Macross universe. Several characters make references to it throughout Macross 7. It is a movie within a movie, so to speak, as was mentioned.

SDF: Macross mainly takes place between 2009 and 2010. Flash foward to 2040 for Macross Plus, where two test pilots (Isamu Dyson and Guld Boa Bowman) are competing in Project: Supernova to see which company's variable fighter (Shinsei Industry's YF-19 or General Galaxy's YF-21) would replace the YF-11 as main variable fighter aircraft of the terran military forces (which was instated into service in 2030). Many events occur that one really should watch the anime to be clued in all, but ultimately the YF-19 is declared the winner of Project: Supernova and over the next 6 years it is redesigned for mass-production until we see the VF-19 as seen in Macross 7 and Macross Dynamite 7. General Galaxy went back and made some revisions to the YF-21 design and it was ultimately accepted as the VF-22, which we see in Macross 7 and Macross Dynamite 7 as a special forces fighter.

Interestingly enough, there are two versions of Macross Plus... Studio Nue initially planned a movie release, but instead rearranged the animation and created a little bit of new animation and formed a 4 part OAV which showed in a sort of serial status in Japan. Then they went back and created the movie version, in which scenes are portrayed in a somewhat different order but all in all it is the same story.

Macross 7, 2045-2046, centers around one Nekki Basara and his band, Fire Bomber, as they try to use music to inspire pacifism but ultimately end up saving the galaxy through music. Partways through the series the VF-19 makes its appearance as a special forces fighter but not as the main fighter of the fleet. Emerald Force is comprised of VF-19s and there are just 4 in the squadron, with perhaps a couple of spare fighters just in case.

A 30 minute movie based on Macross 7, "Macross 7: The Galaxy is Calling Me!" was released and takes place somewhere in the middle of the TV series. There is also a two-part unreleased TV series episode entitled "Fleet of Strongest Women" dealing with survivors of the female contengent of the Zentraedi fleet who still bear hostilitities towards humans.

After Macross 7, a 4 part OAV based on Macross 7 was released, entitled "Macross Dynamite 7" which takes place after the events of the final episode of the TV series. We get to see some new valkyries in this one, including a special version of the VT-1 as well as the VF-5000.

Macross Zero is hailed as the preview to the original series, but that is not entirely true. In the true Macross timeline, there was no VF-0.... the variable aircraft line started with the VF-X1 which was not transformable but served only as a testbed for the aerodynamics of fighter mode. The VF-1 was the first transformable fighter in the terran military forces. Mkay. Macross Zero takes place circa one year before the beginning of Space War I so thusly 2008. It mentions some things such as the crash landing of ASS-1 9 years prior but it is really far too militaristic, since the world was supposed to be at peace during this time. There is a lot of great action, however, and it is a good treat for those who have felt like the Macross series has gotten too silly lately with Macross 7's overly ambitious focus on music.

Macross 2 was initially released as a 6 episode OAV by Bandai as they were concerned that Studio Nue was not going to release a sequel to Macross, so they decided to take matters into their own hands. It was initially shunned by Studio Nue but later accepted as an alternate universe story. The 6 episodes were later combined into one movie with no change to the animation. It is believed that Macross 2 follows a timeline in which DYRL really occured, but this is a fallacy. DYRL is a movie within Macross and nothing more. Macross 2 accepts SDF: Macross as its origin story and not DYRL.
 
The best way to find out the difference between Macross and Robotech is to order the Macross Complete Song Collection, and then order Robotech's single-disc soundtrack. You will HEAR the difference. A lot. I'm a "purist," so I'm biased towards Macross, but you will quickly HEAR how Robotech left out the MOST IMPORTANT part of Macross, which is the singing and orchestral jazz background music. The whole deal with being a military drama, the war between humans and giants, and other stuff like that are simply pleasant additions to the music. In fact, the series itself was originally planned as a parody of the original Mobile Suit Gundam.

If you want to dub your own voices over the songs, there are a few songs ("Jingle Bells are Gone" comes to mind) that rely heavily on the way that reptition or rhyming works in Japanese.

If you are interested in the original creators of Macross:
- Shoji Kawamori's mecha and world design is further realized in Cowboy Bebop, which is helluva famous
- Mari Iijima, the voice and singer behind Minmei, immigrated to Los Angeles where she still does some small concerts and is married to some white guy. I had this one friend who was into anime who, ahem, liked her.
- Yoko Kano, who is behind all the music of Macross Plus and Macross 7, is helluva famous. She did awesome music for a lot of other anime too.
- Haruhiko Mikimoto, the guy who did all those nice watercolor and detailed character portraits of the original Macross series, also drew things of similar quality for some other anime that were in existence around that time. Nowadays, I think he's an ordinary artist.

Do You Remember Love is basically a movie that revolves around one of Minmei's single hits (named, unsurprisingly, "Do You Remember Love"). Even in the Macross universe itself it is a movie that the characters have watched. So it's like a movie in a TV show for Macross 7, or in the case of Macross Plus, a movie in a movie. I guess that would make the DYRL mod also something in the Macross universe itself that other characters look forward to downloading and playing!
 
macross: dyrl

ok, this is somewhat related....

the voices in the english version of the movie primarily rick hunter. now listen to Tensawa in Godzilla vs King Ghidorah.

is this the same guy? i am more than 90% sure that it is.

doe anyone know where to get a cast listing for the english crew for dyrl?

thanks
ksa01
 
My favorite line in "Clash of the Bionoids":

"Watch Jet Jockey in action" -- Roy Focker as he forces his tongue into Claudia's mouth
 
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