Robotech: Part 2 - Déjà Vu with Southern Cross
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 18 окт 2024
- Support us on Patreon: / retroblasting
Music from filmmusic.io
"Take a Chance" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (creativecommons...)
Michael continues the epic journey through the Robotech Saga with his review of The Masters, adapted from Super Cavalry Southern Cross!
#RetroBlasting #Robotech #TheMasters
THIS IS UNREAL!!!!.....I watched these shows everyday after school...I always felt something was "OFF"...BUT...I had NO IDEA they were stitched together from other shows!! Once again RETROBLASTING has informed me!!!!!!!
Your dissection of this series is hilarious, and brilliantly done! It voices a lot of the vague misgivings I had watching it as a kid, though I still enjoyed it. The novelizations of all 3 series are fantastic, take things to another level, and explain some of the glaring plot holes. As usual, "The book is better than blah blah..." holds true here.
Fun Macross Fact: Max and Milia and up having 7 daughters, all of which are either left behind or become completely independent of them very early on in their lives. Komilia (Dana) is no exception, as she does stay behind on Earth despite Max and Milia leaving with the Macross 7 colony fleet.
They may be amazing pilots, but they are terrible parents lol.
well shit.
Guess Robotech was on something
You see, this character Luke Skywalker is the son of Captain Kirk. He’s on a quest to free the Federation from the evil Empire.
You joke but I'd love to see someone try to make that work 😂 it's an interesting exercise
from the Dalek empire
The novels clear up and connect, more or less, all the dots. The down side being having to read a book series to make the tv show make more sense
The fact that it took TWO professional authors along with 'unka Karl's' basic notes to make sense of The second act, is also another problem, likewise, sentinels was only a basic idea he had and nothing of the plot really worked out yet. In the macross notes, its stated thst the sdf-2 megaroad disappeared after getting close to a massive black hole near the center of the galaxy. So im pretty sure Macek didnt have an answer for what happened to the macross cast yet.
Don’t forget the Waltrip brothers on their work on Robotech 2 The Sentinels comic series.
@@juanc1328 its too bad they never had a chance to complete the series, i felt the Waltrips comics were the closest thing to an actual cartoon, and their work ended on a cliffhanger till prelude to shadow chronicles and even then, even they didnt like it. I've joked with them about some of their other works needing more Kaziana Hesh in the backgrounds (for those who don't know, Kaziana became the defacto leader of the quadrono batallion after myrias defection and the slow attrition of the leadership, turns out shes also in LOVE with Breetai and will be one of the first to shake off the conditioning placed on them by the masters. She is also known for wearing zent-sized cosmetics, and a shapely non-reg gait while wearing POWER ARMOR
My Nickname, (and CB handle, dating myself) come from Louie's tank in the novels.
Yeah, but the Second Generation is STILL the weak spot even then.
Why is she still in the military?
I'm gonna go with nepotism because of her parents. 😋
This was worth waiting for.
its also too, they didnt have enough soldiers to fight. it was propaganda that war with the robotech masters would be inevitable, so (again in the novels) it is explained that pretty much the only young and infirm are exempt from military duty. so while Max and Myria didnt WANT Dana to end up in the military, it was inevitable, same with Bowie, especially when you include the Lazlo Zand stuff....(dammit, now i want another shower....yeah, it gets THAT fucking bad...)
And now the latest Robotech comic hints that Max might not be Dana's biological Father.
@@IrishKyokushin that comic doesnt really affect the original cartoon
@@JeffreyPiatt I'm going with she bleached her hair for some reason. We don't have any shower scenes, so we doin't know if the carpet matches the curtains.
@@JeffreyPiatt Did they not also have at least one son?
The SDF-3 can't send help because they are fighting the Innvid at the time. It's a retcon, but that is the story.
I liked the masters generation. The writers did what they could with what they had and they did a pretty good job.
Robotech Masters might have produced the king of pegwarmers - the action figures of The Masters themselves. Those drab little old guy dust gatherers were in KB toy stores for DECADES.
I remember buying that figure, Rand, and Corg at KB for .50 each back in the late 80's.
Dean Strickson I remember that also 😄. 2 for $1, and I still didn’t want to buy them. I did get the Bioroid Terminator. It at least looked like a cyborg or mecha.
armoredHobbybase1 True story. I was collecting action figures in the early 1990s and saw them at KB’s but I didn’t get them due to their messed up cards. In the mid 1990s, my daughter was born so over the next decade or so we’d visit KB’s occasionally and I’d see them, but eventually they disappeared. I figured someone finally bought them.
A few years ago, KB’s was closing down and were having a final sale. They brought out all of their old inventory and amongst the Robocop: The Series and Congo figures guess who were back? Yep, the Masters of pegwarming! And I still didn’t buy them!
I remember they were 2 for a dollar and nobody wanted them. They sat next to Starting Lineup soccer figures that couldn’t get sold either at KB.
Truer words were never spoken. Do an eBay search for Matchbox Robotech and the Masters figures easily outnumber every other figure 10-1. On the plus side (if there was a plus) you can buy three of them, paint each of their collars a different color, stand them in a triumvirate of sorts, and have a fairly cheap addition to your Robotech diorama.
I know, I know. But Dana taking aim at the 'camera' and firing during the Robotech opening will always own a little piece of my heart. ; ) Great job, RetroBlasting !!!
Well said, and I have the broadcast versions on the old ADV DVDs so she's blasting away in all 85 eps. It is an iconic shot.
"Shoot First, Ask Questions Never!" Put it on a T-Shirt, would buy 20$ ... 25$ even ... LETS GO!
This was such a detailed breakdown. I’m left in awe at the research and presentation you did
Awe & respect...do i agree with all the critiques, no. BUT, I thoroughly enjoyed these retrospectives and patiently await the next parts to come.
I'm still a huge fan of Robotech Masters/Southern Cross.
You're one of the few but it's nice to see a fellow man of culture 🤣
Southern Cross is dope AF. I've always liked that story arc.
@Juni Post anime militaries are laughably dumb even by fictional military standards. The later JPN Macross shows get really really dumb about it.
The Masters saga (Southern Cross) is the best saga compared to Macross and the Next Generation. Why? Because it delves deeply into the lore of Protoculture, the Flower of Life, Zor and the Robotech Masters. These are the core of the lore of Robotech.
I love both Southern Cross and Season 2: The Masters. 😉
11:30 To my understanding the SDF-3 passed the Masters to their home world which the Masters abandoned to the Invid having run out of Protoculter (In Robotech Sentinels)
The SDF-3 reaches the home world of the Masters and get hung up fighting the Invid King (The Queen later will pursue the Masters to Earth)
The SDF-3 is fighting the Invid King to keep them there, afraid returning to Earth will bring the Invid with them.
Later the SDF-3 after developing the Stealth Shadow Fighters and defeating the Invid King will Return to Earth in the 3rd war to mop up the Queen.
There is no Dana only Zuul! That probably explains why she was acting that way in the series.
Dana is the Private Benjamin of anime
Zen Brown , actually Dana was a officer- 2LT
YES! That intro was perfect!
I could never get through the Robotech Masters series. I'd lost interest in Macross/Robotech at that point and wouldn't pick up my fandom again until I saw the OVA series of Macross Plus.
P.S. 17:43 I LOVE that you were able to sneak a bit of Kylie into the video! Well Done!
WE AIN'T FOUND S**T!!!!!
God bless you and your team for doing all this research. I consider myself a longtime Robotech fan and appreciate the detailed look at both the original Japanese anime source material and the redone/adapted Robotech version--I too share the snarky/realistic criticism for both. One reason I don't hate the 'Masters Saga' is when I first watch Robotech on television, I actually missed it... i vividly remember watching the 'Rick Hunter' beginning episodes and "Transforming Motorcycles" stories, but i must have gone out of town that one summer vacation when Southern Cross aired. Once i got the dvd collection a few years back, i realised i didnt miss as much in terms of metaplot. Anyway...love all the work Retroblasting is doing, hope you do more group discussions as well with other reviewers again soon too.
IIRC the SDF-3 fleet was tied up with Invid after they arrived at The Robotech Master's home world which is why they couldn't spare ships up support Earth.
That Kylie Minogue song at 17:43 was perfect.
I love how this is a roast but also a very fun and informative look at Southern Cross. Even if this was considered the 'weakest' of the parts, your rundown of it actually got me interested in watching it just for the sake of...well, watching it.
The reason why the SDF-3 doesn't help Earth is explained in Robotech II: The Sentinels
The intro is scathing, ...Duplo??, lol, hilarious!!! As a poor child in 80s i just learned to glean from ROBOTECH what i could,.. I only watched for the HoverTanks. So it was a great show to watch in between getting ready for school and eating a breakfast and having to wait for the bus to take you to school.
I started watching Robotech back in December ahead of your reviews so I could better understand whatever your thoughts would be. The Southern Cross chapter of the series was a chore to get through. I complete agree with your assessments!
You made a lot of valid points. I can't argue against a single one. Still, I have a soft spot for the show.
I do too. It's got some great characters and character interplay.
Great review! You make me realize that the universe protected me by my missing the Masters. I only ever saw Macross Saga and New Generation in it's first run. I completely missed out on Masters until I saw it on Cartoon Network. God it bored me so the Masters did.
On point review Michael. I never could figure out how or why Dana Sterling wasn't fragged by friendly fire by Sean Phillips or Angelo Dante. Her annoyance level spiked way past Minmei's IMHO because she was military, and not a civilian. Minmei could be excused as being vapid... Dana, as a commissioned officer, had no excuse. She's a shining example of why nepotism generally isn't a good thing. That goes for Bowie Grant as well.
Both Dana & Bowie graduated from the Robotech Academy and then became officers in the Army of the Southern Cross--the novels attempted to fill in plot holes of the television series that they were competent as soldiers (at least at a basic level) in the beginning of the Masters Saga and there is growth/development of the characters. Dana did try to live up to her parents reputation but on the show it wasn't mentioned as much as one would think expect in the redone episode for Robotech bridging Macross to Masters Saga called "Dana's Story". Her character really was hard to like but she did lead her squad to victory more often on the field [hence why Sean and Angelo would reluctantly follow her command]--then again I might be confusing plot points with the novel.
In Sentinels. The Sdf3 was was fighting the Invid so they couldn't send back help.
Why was she still in the military? Because of who her mom and dad are and who her dad is best friends with, they even brought that up a few times in the episode. Btw you saying that over and over was hilarious
@Shinobi Raccoon So in robotech she a entitled brat while in the original it bad writing.
@@INFERNO95 You can at least see some EFFORT to write here that the original didn't.
@@INFERNO95 - She was a graduate of the United Earth Forces Military Academy you douchenozzel. Had nothing to do with being entitled. And I guaran-goddamn-tee you there are tons of butterbars in the real world militaries that do similar goofy shit.
“I guess they took different routes through space and missed each other…“
Given how vast space is, that’s really not a stretch. 🤔
Michael, you had me laughing over and over again in this one. Thanks for slogging through the Part 2 to the Robotech series, though, I would say, its like bad pizza. Hey, its still pizza. It really is too bad, because the "Robotech Masters" sounds like a really cool idea. Hope you guys are doing great, and thanks for giving us fun things to look forward to.
The bar fight was hilarious, there was even a wrestling Boston crab move executed.
The SDF3 encounter the invid that's why they couldn't return, and in the book Zor hid the protoculture factory on the SDF1
The Masters Saga was the one I enjoyed the most character wise. Followed by New Generation.
That intro was hot fire... HOT FIRE 🔥 🔥🔥🔥🔥
To be fair the pharmaceutical brand "Allegra" came after the name given to the Robotech character. Plus, it means happy or joy in Italian and sometimes Allegra is associated with music, which I think was ideal for this character since her sister was named " Musica". I guess the producers did their homework better than you did here. ^^
The one interesting factoid of this show is that Glory has multiple suns and Harmony Gold had to come up with complicated video editing techniques to hide that in order for viewers to believe "this is Earth." If you aren't told that "Robotech" was made out of three separate shows, the weaknesses of the second chapter create guesses as to what is really going on.
Uh, no. Glorie has 2 moons: Alpha & Arles. Not 2 suns. They airbrushed out the second (smaller) moon or cut scenes that showed them.
I remember reading the Jack McKinney novels of Southern Cross. He portrayed the ATAC hover tanks as this heavily armed & armored, formidable ground assault vehicle that had the speed & transformability of the first veritech fighter and the armor & hand-to-hand fighting capabilities of a Spartan Gladiator destroid. Meanwhile Marie Crystal's TASC helicopter veritechs were dainty and neutered veritech descendents of the OG veritechs from the first generation. Apparently the veritech complexity was no longer needed (since the 1st Robotech war ended) which is why the mechs in Southern Cross seemed dumbed down and/or incapable. Needless to say I was supremely disappointed when watching SC after reading said novels.
Ohh man! Can't wait to watch this video!! Thanks for the effort on Robotech guys! You always have such well written material. 👍👍👍
Finally, someone explained it clearly! Kudos!
An amazing level of research and detail. Thanks.
The Robotech music takes me back to the mid-80s instantly. The show (yeah it was a mashup of 3 other shows) resonated with me at a time I needed an escape to dive into.
I just rewatched this episode to prepare for the Mospeada video and it is just hilarious!!! Michael's "why is she still in the military!?!" is right up there with his "It doesn't matter to THEM!!!!"
Great video. I'm loving the work you've done because I was a huge fan of robotech growing up.
Brilliant! I loved the entire review, it was so spot on with the whacky sloppy mess that was the second season of Macross. I tried rewatching it and made it all the way through the first season and part way through the second before Dana had me considering sepuku with a plastic dixie fork. Thanks RetroBlasting for another stellar review! :)
As for that thing in her hair... here is how the novel describes it: “Fixed in the yellow mane over [Dana’s] left ear was a fashion accessory appropriate to her time-a hair stay shaped to look like a curve of instrumentation suggesting a half-headset, like a crescent of Robotechnology sculpted from polished onyx.” So more fashion drama as I’m sure Nova thought Dana was trying to copy her look
Definitely brought your A game! Love all the hair jokes! Beavis? Really? I can never unsee that! 😂👍
Your continued classic film references never disappoint. Excellent as ever.
So excited for the next part! New Generation was my favorite when I was growing up
Love this video! I sooo want to hear you yell “that KID is back on THE ESCALATOR AGAIN!!!!”
"I gave him clearance to go wherever he wants. I thought it might get him his memory back. What do you think he is? A spy?"
I laughed so hard at that line. Hilarious!
That intro was god damned brilliant! 😂
Hey Micheal, thanks for part 2 of Retroblasting's Robotech series.
I remember watching Robotech as a young kid (with many concepts just going over my head). As an adult I started getting back into it... but was surprised there were 3 "sagas". I remembered the transforming "aircraft carrier" in space (Macross saga), and the band of rebels fighing the aliens (the New Generation), but not the Southern Cross series.
I'd agree, this by far is the weakest and least likable.
As an adult, I did stream the series, but it was a chore to drag myself through Southern Cross. My favorite of the three would go on to be the New Generations (I like Scott Bernard and his adventures me than the Macross Saga, but can understand why so many like Macross better).
Ultimately, I chalk it up to something like this: each series seems to have an annoying, ditzy character that causes problems for the group. In the other two shows said characters are at least not the main characters (although Minmay does get a lot of attention in Macross unfortunately), but with Southern Cross we have to deal with the lead being said characters. I bought Macross Saga and New Generation on DVD, but just can't pull the trigger on Southern Cross. Too bad.
As a anime fan I'm familiar with Macross. It will always be one of the greatest Mecha anime but the music is really what made Macross memorable. You don't get that in RoboTech, it really only focused on the Mecha and ignored the music which was half of what made the original so good.
Back then they were too cheap or stubborn to pay for the original music soundtrack for amines so they would take the lazy way out come up whit there own soundtrack. The only anime pre 2000s I know that kept it original anime soundtrack for the dub is ronin warriors which in Japan is called samurai troopers.
Thing is minnmays songs in robotech make you want to stab your ears out, unlike macross. Also macross has the opposite problem now, it focused too much on idol girls and singing and it is nothing like the original series anymore. Both series just got worse after the first arc.
Love these reviews
What a thoughtful, well researched and analyzed piece of content. Thank you Michael and the RB team for putting this together; I never liked "part 2" of Robotech, and you clearly made the point of why....it's full of inconsistencies!!!! HG was handed a DoA product and they tried to make some sense of it.....it didn't work out at all!!!
Mike, I can't thank you enough for this. I watched the whole series when it originally aired and felt it immediately came to a grinding halt when Masters started. I could not for the life of me figure out why I hated this so much and couldn't understand how it was supposed to relate to Macross until just now at age 44 after you meticulously explained it to me: It didn't make sense to ANYONE. Not in Japan, not in America. I had zero idea that it was a failure in Japan as well, for similar reasons, and I have to give it to Harmony Gold for doing the best they could. The only thing I liked about the show was the uniform designs. I loved the body armor and shield, and for my money I actually liked the mecha too. The Hovertank was one of the coolest toys -- and basically the first transforming vehicle for 3 3/4 figures, which blew my 10-year-old mind. I remember your old Valkyrie restoration review where you proved it originally was supposed to transform as well, which would have sent me straight to Heaven back then. This video scratched a 35-year-old itch and I am very grateful for the work you did.
Thank you. I started re-watching this and remembered why I never finished it as a kid. And now that I know it was never a cohesive story I can just move on and treat this like Godfather 3.
Btw, really looking forward to part 3. Mospeada is my favorite of the 3, I do prefer the original Japanese but the Robotech one remains very watchable. I'll always love those Robotech voice actors and the soundtrack. Mospeada has the tightest story of them all, every character is flawed and compelling in their own way, the story has a clear arc, not really any nonsense. I'm very fond of that little group as they make their way through the occupied Americas. They even give each character multiple episodes to develop or tell back stories, it's actually some really good world building and story telling.
The Invid make a for an interesting alien antagonist too, they're really alien, insect like with a Queen who is trying to figure out life forms and evolution on Earth and human beings place in it, neat how they don't attack unless you resist or threaten them.
I really think it's a better cast than even Macross, because in Macross they spend so much time on the annoying soap opera of Rick, Minmei and Lisa, that poor Max , Millia and Roy etc. get short changed.
SHHH...we don't talk about the Masters series!
Can't wait to see Part 3....!
Aw yeah! I was looking forward to part two.
Yeah classic 80s anime
Robotech is one of those sacred shows from my childhood, and I LOVE listening to the Retroblasting take on it.
*sighs* Stravag freebirths.... That Dana needs a meeting in the circle of equals!
love the recap, Michael. now I understand many MANY things.
Whats funny is they did not use Orguss for the Robotech saga buuuuut Revel did in the Model series
Dana Sterling was a mess, but as a 10 rear old girl in 1985 who hated “girls cartoons” and loved action, I forgave her alot. I didn’t have today’s concepts of representation as a child, but characters like Lisa Hayes, Miriya Parino, Rook, and yes, even Dana Sterling were dear to me. Nova Satori and Marie Crystal might have helped Southern Cross if they’re roles had been better developed.
Love the sarcasm and review. Watching this as an adult now is truly laughable about what you point out about Robotech southern cross. However, when I watched this as an 11-12 year old in 85-86 I was addicted to Robotech and still love it. This was before I knew about Japanese anime and the behind the scenes about putting all of this together as Robotech.
I think what's worse is that the whole Robotech: Remastered project does the Masters no favors because it seems like the only additional content Harmony Gold added to that version was pervy fanservice bullshit like panty shots of Dana or Dana in the shower, which is the thing I hate the absolute most about Southern Cross (the music is the thing I like the most). It was literally what drove me from the entire Remastered line, opting instead to stick with the old Legacy Collection DVDs.
The ironic thing is that of all 3 generations the only one that had a 31/2 inch figure toy vehicle that transformed into a robot was The Masters....
Haha, all very true!
LMAO!!! OUTSTANDING INTRO!!!!!!!! Especially the part about people telling 'RETRO' how to run their channel...SUPERB!!!!
Love the intro! I personally always liked SC, though i know i'm in the minority. Awesome video! Cant wait for part 3!
15:22 This kind of has me interested
in seeing Scaramouche.😅
Oh, I've been waiting for this review for a while. Thank you Michael.
Thank God Season 3 of Robotech Save the hole thing and took us all back to cool fights and good storys and people we cared about.
Good job, Man. And I always liked Jeanne/Dana, she's cute with a likable personality.
For those that enjoy Robotech/Macross and the other Robotech components such as Southern Cross and Mospeada, it's worth hunting down another show that played with some very similar themes. Space Runaway Ideon. It was made by the Mobile Suit Gundam team immediately after Gundam was cancelled, and just before Gundam actually hit it big. It's that similar one lone ancient alien ship of supertech crewed by a rag tag crew of earth colonists on the run from a massive alien empire, while being denied aid from earth. It's a deliciously dark show as well. Although the finale movie gets a bit weird at the end.
Blonde haired “Dana Sterling” is actually less freaky and annoying than the Macross continuity of the daughter. Pink haired musician Mylene. /shudder!
If anyone remembers, Dana had green hair when she was a baby in The Macross Saga.
a bit late in responding but..... Shuddering aside, In Macross the baby used for "Dana" is their eldest Komilia. Mylene is their seventh Daughter. If somehow Macross7 was pushed within the Robotech universe, Mylene is more likely to be Aurora Stirling.
I enjoyed your analysis. I've relatively recently watched the "western" version of both the Macross Saga and Southern Cross. Macross Saga was generally such a great series that I was eagerly anticipating the "sequel" Southern Cross series. After watching the Southern Cross series, I have no desire to watch its "sequel".
Finally!!! Great work, as always.
Nice thing the Sentinels comics filled in the gaps the guy is bringing up in the video.
Need Part 3: MOSPEADA!!
this is awesome,cannot wait for what next,great job RB
I gave this series a chance and it took me approximately 3 months to watch all the episodes of Southern Cross. It was mind numbing BORING. I had to watch some episodes twice because I dozed off or got distracted with other things while trying to watch it. The only take away I got from it was that I did like the Veritech Hover Tanks, so I ended up buying a sealed vintage 1985 Matchbox Veritech Hover Tank toy plus a sealed Dana Sterling action figure to go with it from eBay. I hadn't seen Southern Cross since it originally aired in 1985 when I was 9. And now in my mid 40's, it took me this long to watch it again. I have no plans to ever watch it in my lifetime again. This was a very accurate breakdown from RetroBlasting.
I actually had to pause because your intro had me laughing so hard!
they did exsplain why they couldnt send more in a later film but its a cop out if we go off later films they are in a conflict of their own at the time.
The you do the beginning to catch us up one 1st is epic. Lol
Great retrospective on Robotech! Loved the prologue!
I feel so broken I missed this when I was younger. More broken that no one realizes my sarcasm is off the charts.
Drinking game when Micheal says "why is she still in the military?"take a drink, then again maybe not your liver will be screaming!!
I've been working my way through the Japanese versions of the the 3 series; I'm about halfway through Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross and it is a brutal slog. It's all I can do to pay attention to these characters I care nothing about.
Love this review!
Genesis Climber Mospeada saved the show!
Tried watching this anime back then boy it was bad. However the comic book series based off of it was really well thought out and the art was spot on.
In the Japanese version, the series' ending song sounds strangely like Maxine Nightingale's song "Lead me On".
Fair criticisms. But that George Michael "Faith" song was released in 1987...three years AFTER the Southern Cross had aired in Japan.
I noticed that too. The only logical conclusion is that George Michael was an avid Robotech fan and used the show to inspire his musical career!
I bought the Southern Cross series on region 4 DVD (as the region 1 version was out of print) in an attempt to see how much it differed from the Robotech adaption.
10 years later and I've never even finished watching it. But I breezed through the Genesis Climber Mospeada set I bought at the same time.
Well the pioneer mission was tied up with the Regent's Invid while the Invid led by Regess reached Earth due to Zor Prime's mistakes..
Where was that said in the show?
The Sentinels movie, novels, and comics. The Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles comic series which is also a sequel to the Sentinels comics also tells this..