Quote:
Originally Posted by Kenu
Would it be better to deny western audiences the delights and sorrows of Macross or to have it modified slightly so that others outside Japan can also watch it?
|
Another point to note is that pretty much all anime brought over to R1 was modified in some way. It's arguable that the Macross portion of Robotech actually fared better than other contemporary shows like Gatchaman or Star Blazers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tak
I generally have no problem with the base decision itself to combine the three shows. Although there were major exceptions to the 'syndication' rule, and it needed not be some 80+ episodes to air.
|
Back in the early '80s? Nope, you'd never see a syndicated show with just 36 episodes - there just isn't enough material to justify broadcasting it in "strip" runs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tak
The way he and HG handled the license ruined the franchise for everyone in North America. Due to their baseless claim on something not of their creation, Macross merchandise (those without a Robotech brand) will never be exposed to a larger audience in the near future, all because HG had chosen to exploit loopholes through the absolute worst methods found in Capitalism.
|
A lot of this is due to the way licenses were negotiated back then. The Japanese companies never expected foreign sales to amount to much, so they gave a lot more leeway to North American companies than they would now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Beltane70
I may be wrong, but I think Macek left HG quite a way before HG started all this trouble in the late 90s. It wasn't until recently that HG started paying attention to Robotech again.
|
That's pretty much correct. However, it's not really Harmony Gold's fault either: the whole mess started with FASA suing Playmates over the design of a bunch of their toys. Playmates then brought Harmony Gold in as a countersuit, and the whole thing eventually involved Studio Nue, Big West, and Tatsunoko as well.
The real blame (if any can be attributed at all) lies with the way Tatsunoko was far too loose with their license agreement.
You can read up on more of the sordid details in the
Macross Legalities thread.