Macross / Robotech connection

[4Tran]

Originally Posted by Yot-chan

That may be true. I've never been able to think of the books purely as books, divorced from the series. Since I was a lit major, I doubt I'd approve of the novels these days (my tastes run more towards post WWI European Modernists, although I still read SF and fantasy on occasion...and I'm currently deeply in love with Thomas Pynchon's latest novel), but as storytelling goes, there's a lot worse out there.

In terms of fiction, I used to be firmly into the Fantasy and Science Fiction genres (to the point of reading '40s pulp short fiction, no less!), but I haven't read fiction in a long time. I imagine that I'd still get a bit out of the novels today though, since they hold a fair bit of nostalgia for me if nothing else. Admittedly, I tend to be rather forgiving of the substance in the novel since they don't strike along any of my peeves.

Originally Posted by Yot-chan

I remember finding the Mospeada books to be quite dull (I was also annoyed that the books killed Yellow...offscreen, no less). The Masters Saga was a mess in the cartoon, and IIRC, the books cleaned that mess up a bit, but it still didn't make a whole lot of sense.

The only novels I recall very clearly would be the Macross ones. And what I recall of the Mospeada ones have probably been overwritten by my viewing of Mospeada itself.

Originally Posted by Yot-chan

(Tangentially, I think Mospeada probably benefitted the most from its inclusion in Robotech, as it has a small but devoted following outside Japan. Southern Cross, however, seems to have fallen by the wayside in both its Japanese and American incarnations. I think I've come across only two people who are big fans of the original show, and maybe two who like the Masters Saga better than Macross...and one of those is Doug Bendo, who's just crazy.)

That's a good point, I'd imagine both of these shows to barely show up as a blip on the radar (outside of Japanese otaku of course) if it weren't for Robotech. It's also noteworthy that Harmony Gold is focusing all of its current energies on building new material on Mospeada at the expense of both Macross and Southern Cross. I'd imagine that this is more than just a matter of story continuity; instead, it's partly to do with popularity, and partly to avoid questions as to why Macross designs are being left out...

[magnuskn]

Originally Posted by Yot-chan

Enh. I still say the novels muddy the waters more than they clarify them. All the stuff with the Thinking Caps and the expanded role of Dr. Lang, to say nothing of the "shapings" of the Protoculture, really kind of put me off.

To be honest, "thinking caps" were one of the things that immediately made sense to a BattleTecher like me, where we have our neurohelmets. ^^ And the high degree of articulation Valkyries possess is something which can't really be explained easily by manual controls... I´d like to see a pilot make casual gestures like Michael did to Klan in episode 9 with just stick controls.


BTW, this is probably my last post for a month, I´m away on vacation to Paraguay until September 11th. Be seeing you all then!

[Yot-chan]

Originally Posted by magnuskn

To be honest, "thinking caps" were one of the things that immediately made sense to a BattleTecher like me, where we have our neurohelmets. ^^ And the high degree of articulation Valkyries possess is something which can't really be explained easily by manual controls... I´d like to see a pilot make casual gestures like Michael did to Klan in episode 9 with just stick controls.


BTW, this is probably my last post for a month, I´m away on vacation to Paraguay until September 11th. Be seeing you all then!

Have a good trip!

And although I've never played Battletech, I understand how something like the "Thinking Cap" makes sense...it just conflicts with the animation, which something had characters flying without helmets.

But of course, if I take 4tran's suggestion to look at the books as separate from the animation, there isn't much to complain about there.

Really, I can come up with good, rational reasons all day as to why the books were inadequate (well...almost all day, since I remember next-to-nothing about either the Sentinels novels or The End of the Circle), but mostly my problem with them was that they weren't giving ME what I wanted at the time, which was a better glimpse at the original series that made up Robotech.

But they never promised to do that, so I can't really dislike them for it, can I?

I'll still maintain, though, that any attempt to make the Robotech "universe" more cohesive (which IS what the novels promised) is doomed to failure, just because the three series don't fit together very well.

[Kylegoblue]

Originally Posted by CaptGloval

Unfortunately Robotech isn't exactly an English-dubbed Americanization (American localization) of Macross. I'd really be appreciative if it was that. Instead, Robotech is an attempt to create a whole new story from its different source material. Macross was the least affected, but it's still badly affected if we take into consideration the legal problems it encountered.

I worded my post poorly. I do realize that it's a mashup of different series. I was really referring to the name changes and the english voice acting and other cultural reference changes that made it easier to digest (for me). I did watch an english dubbed version of Macross and I could barely stand it.

[Yot-chan]

Originally Posted by Kylegoblue

I worded my post poorly. I do realize that it's a mashup of different series. I was really referring to the name changes and the english voice acting and other cultural reference changes that made it easier to digest (for me). I did watch an english dubbed version of Macross and I could barely stand it.

Yeah, the Macross dub wasn't very good, overall. Your best bet is really to watch it in Japanese with subtitles. The Japanese cast is TONS better than the Robotech cast.

[BetoJR]

Oh, c'mon, the ADV dub wasn't all that bad, was it?

[Yot-chan]

Originally Posted by BetoJR

Oh, c'mon, the ADV dub wasn't all that bad, was it?

Admittedly, I never watched more than the first DVD (six episodes, I believe), but I couldn't stand it...although a lot of that may be due to the fact that everyone (except Mari) said "muh-CROSS" instead of "MA-cross."

Or perhaps I'm just too used to the Japanese voices...I saw a clip of the DYRL PS2 game, and Hikaru sounded completely wrong to me.

[Kylegoblue]

Originally Posted by Yot-chan

Yeah, the Macross dub wasn't very good, overall. Your best bet is really to watch it in Japanese with subtitles. The Japanese cast is TONS better than the Robotech cast.

I absolutely agree with one exception. I think the woman that voiced Claudia was perfect. She had the perfect black woman sass

[Yot-chan]

Originally Posted by Kylegoblue

I absolutely agree with one exception. I think the woman that voiced Claudia was perfect. She had the perfect black woman sass

In Robotech or in Macross?

I don't remember what she sounded like in the English Macross dub, in Robotech I thought she was better than a lot of the voices...but the same is true of the original Japanese voice actress; she was one of the best actors in the entire production.

[Kylegoblue]

Originally Posted by Yot-chan

In Robotech or in Macross?

I don't remember what she sounded like in the English Macross dub, in Robotech I thought she was better than a lot of the voices...but the same is true of the original Japanese voice actress; she was one of the best actors in the entire production.

You know what? Now that I think about it you're right. That was a good performance as well. At any rate, Robotech has taken its rightful place in my memory as a childhood favorite. I'm not really super excited about the upcoming Frontier movies but I'm very hopeful about future Macross endeavors.

[magnuskn]

Carl Macek passed away Saturday from a heart attack. He was the person primarily responsible for bringing Macross to the United States ( and many other places ) in the form of Robotech.

Link to the news.

[Shiroth]

It's thanks to him that i ended up watching the original Macross and became a fan of the mecha genre, so at the end of the day it's a shame to hear said news. Especially when he's still quite young.

R.I.P.

[magnuskn]

It is due to Carl Macek that I first got to know the Macross universe and also the BattleTech universe.

As a kid, by happenstance I passed by a television set in a commercial center which showed Robotech ( and the original Macross saga part, to boot ) on the english television channel Sky Channel. Since Sky Channel wasn't available in the German cable TV set-up my family had, I spent the next months going daily to that commercial center to see Robotech ( and G.I. Joe ^^ ) on that television set which was permanently tuned to Sky Channel, often getting chased away by some irate salesman.

It's one of those memories which never quite fade away and which make me nostalgic for the "good old times".

Goodbye, Carl. Thank you, RIP and bon voyage on the journey you are now embarking upon.

[Der Langrisser]

It's thanks to him I became a fan of Real Robot with Robotech 21 years ago.

R.I.P. , Carl.

[BetoJR]

I join the chorus of thankful individuals. Without Robotech, I wouldn't have had such pleasurous afternoons, back in the day. So, Rest in Peace, Carl...

[Yot-chan]

I've hated on Carl Macek plenty over the years...I think he was an egomaniac who dramatically overstated his role in "creating" Robotech, and never really did anything else of note.

But none of that's really important right now.

RIP Carl.

[Heibi]

Originally Posted by magnuskn

Carl Macek passed away Saturday from a heart attack. He was the person primarily responsible for bringing Macross to the United States ( and many other places ) in the form of Robotech.

Link to the news.

As much as I didn't like what he did to Macross, it was thanks to him that I was able to find more anime and then go beyond what he produced. God rest his soul.

[Kudryavka]

So Robotech is a Frankenstein of three existing anime? Why the heck would they do something like that? I know that Americans were terrified of letting Japanese anime and manga show absolutely any trace of its cultural roots until the close of the 20th century, but were they so scared to just localize the three anime that they had to make Robotech? Or is this just jacking material from the three anime because they can, like Power Rangers did?

[magnuskn]

Originally Posted by Komari

So Robotech is a Frankenstein of three existing anime? Why the heck would they do something like that? I know that Americans were terrified of letting Japanese anime and manga show absolutely any trace of its cultural roots until the close of the 20th century, but were they so scared to just localize the three anime that they had to make Robotech? Or is this just jacking material from the three anime because they can, like Power Rangers did?

Nah, you needed a certain number of episodes to screen a cartoon in the US at that time. Since Macross only had so much, Macek got the idea to splice together the three series and therefore rose the need to create their unique storyline.

[Kudryavka]

Originally Posted by magnuskn

Nah, you needed a certain number of episodes to screen a cartoon in the US at that time. Since Macross only had so much, Macek got the idea to splice together the three series and therefore rose the need to create their unique storyline.

Makes more sense, but still sounds disgusting.