A movie about the behind-the-scenes of making Robotech and the legal issues surrounding it would make a better movie. If nothing else, there's a really good documentary hidden underneath all the legal drama.
I'm a new-ish BT fan (started with MechWarrior 4 and MechCommander 2) and I haven't touched Macross or Robotech since finding out about the whole Harmony Gold thing.
Yeah, I was so happy when the best mechs in the setting were no longer "unseen" because someone decided their stolen IP was more original that the same IP from a non competing IP.
Macross, internationally, has GOT to be the single most cursed piece of Japanese media. It's simply incredible how Japanese animation is now a worldwide enterprise complete with productions shared between partners globally - but Macross, a foundational piece of animation history, remains lost in a space fold accident.
_Robotech_ was appointment viewing back in the day. An epic soap opera for kids. 10 years old, I tuned in for the Rick/Min-Mei/Lisa drama first & the space battles, second
@@mauirixxx And considering that it was Xor who turned out to be Lin Min Mei’s son who started the whole Robotech storyline to begin with by traveling back in time to meet his mother (Xor’s father is not Rick Hunter, but Bretai {the Xentrani alien} ) confused yet ?
@@cobrapanic Yeah, because he wanted to do an original story while the rest of the crew wanted to make a 1:1 of the manga. They’re still on track to deliver the pitch trailer in March 2024.
As a long time fan i second this. We lost the LAMs pretty early on, I could live with that, but the Marauder, Warhammer, and Archer were just too much! (You can keep the OST series, they sucked anyways)
@@RecklessFables I can understand that. Even as a full on American Otaku I'd have to say Robotech is any extremely important historical work, but just an ok anime. It was given to an American culture that was mostly ignorant of animation and not properly introduced to the correct age group to boot. It's aged about as well as one would expect from anime of the time (but watch a couple episodes next to the original G.I.joe, probably be surprising now). It was the storytelling that was so different, it just wasn't very American for the time. Transformers had a (sort of) similar beginning but was HEAVILY Americanized, made a huge difference right?
Only thing I know about Robotech past the initial three series episodes is the Jack McKinney novels. I've considered them canon for ages over the actual show because of how much heavy lifting it does to bridge the seperate series better. The last one I read was the End of a Circle, which the special kids (I forget why they were special) pulled from the past the missing fold generator from the SDF1 as they needed one in the future or something. Is that the loop you're talking about?
@@alekesamthat’s one time loop, another one is when at the beginning of Robotech:Macross when what becomes the SDF 1 crashed in the South Pacific, that was Zor putting the Protoculture in what he thought was a safe place, so he sends the SDF 1 back through the past, that protoculture was used to power the Veritech fighter jets (oops 🤦♂️)
Your robotech/Macross videos were how I was introduced to you. As a 5 year old in Iran robotech was one of my earliest exposures to anime. Loved the little details compared to cartoons. Censoreship turned a lovestory at the backdrop of a war into a warstory with a vague lovestory weaved inbetween. To this day hearing pineapple salad gives me PTSD of losing a big brother figure. I wasn't ready for Rick's end at that age.
Same here. I fell in love with the show when I first watched it back then, and I was glued to the set every morning before school, which was when our local station showed it. I have to confess, I thought the Southern Cross part was kind of "meh." It was alright, but just filler. The Mospeada part was quite enjoyable, but the Macross part was _great._ I was always thrilled when the series rolled around and they restarted the Macross part. I tried watching a release of an English language version of the original Macross series a few years ago. It had different voice actors, and it kept the original Japanese names of the characters -- Hikaru Ichijyo, Misa Hayase, Maximilian Jenius, etc. -- and I just couldn't enjoy it as much. Maybe it's nostalgia, but I still just prefer the version I grew up with. I watched the Star Blazers 2199 update to the old, 1970s Star Blazers/Space Battleship Yamato series, and it's a _fantastic_ update, genuinely better than the original, IMHO. This is how to remake an old anime series and do it right. But it made me reflect rather sadly that there's no way Robotech could get such an update, at least not the version I'd prefer. It would inevitably be a Macross only update if it happened, and that might be something most fans would rather see, but what can I say? I still prefer the Robotech adaptation I fell in love with as a kid.
THANK YOU FOR RECOGNIZING BATTLETECH! ! ! ! I was introduced to both Battletech and Macross-Robotech at the same time in 1984 when I was 13. I love the ROBOTECH series and Love the game BATTLETECH. I have ROBOTECH Macross Saga on DVD and I still play Battletech from time to time. I have built several of the REVELL kits and have some of the PLAYMATES-MATCHBOX and DUGRAM figures. I have played the game B-tech with the original line up of MECHS as well as with latter generations of origional ideas designed, post Robotech. In fact I love the game so much that I wrote and published my own sci-fi spin On BATTLETECH and 'War of the Worlds' called "RIFT- The Telk invasion , Now on AMAZON. I only wish BATTLETECH would have been made into a series similar to ROBOTECH.
Just to drive the point home, they should have stitched together a sequence of completely different episodes of Toy/Secret Galaxy and called it one continuous saga.
You can watch Dan Larson go from fresh-faced recruit to a grizzled, bearded veteran of the Protoculture wars. Seriously guys thanks for digging into the stratums of mud and time to uncover the strange ocean-skipping legal-wriggling history of this series.
@@trunkage Dude, 'protoculture' is a Robotech reference. He wasn't talking about the 'culture wars' at all. It was merely a comment about this whole fiasco that the video was about.
ENTROPY 100% Thanks for this from those of us who like to watch all of the parts of the thing! (Now if you could kindly make one big compilation of the Macross things into one big video, it would be GREATLY appreciated! 😆)
ENTROPY. Definitely entropy. And I was delighted to stay all the way, not just to the end of this video, but I've been here since long before that first episode of this series and look forward to still being here for future Robotech updates!!
Robotech was critically important for introducing me to anime in general and Macross specifically. But while I owe it a debt of gratitude for the past, I cannot help but resent it in the present. I STILL don't have blu-rays or an easily streamable SDF Macross, Macross Frontier, or Macross Delta. Get on it guys, or Harmony Gold will still be nothing more than squatters.
I grew up in the 80,s I missed the ending last 7 episodes vacation 30 years later I buy DVDs 1 2 4 5 6 and watch the ending for the first time from a pawn shop. Now I'm 50 years old and I've never got to see seasons 2 and 3 and realize I'm probably gonna die before I do. I'm strongly considering watching the Japanese versions that some made English dub if they exist.
I heard they are actually releasing all of Macross officially. I grew up with Robotech and loved it. Even when I got older I read the novels. Then Macross came to me via a 7th or 8th gen dubbed VHS. I watched that thing everyday for like a month. I remember being ecstatic to get my hands on Macross 2012 VHS and Mecha Graffiti. I met Carl Macek once. He was selling a VHS of the subbed Macross Saga. Seemed like a nice enough guy. It was at an anime convention called Anime East.
Thought there would be more updates on Harmony Gold lawsuits and how it lost them. Them trying to sue Big West to gain more control over the IP and how they sued Battletech again and ended up losing to them with prejudice giving Battletech their mechs back permanently.
They didn't lose to Piranha Games. They settled out of court. This is obvious if you paid attention. Basically Piranha paid HG (and Tats, BigWest, SN) enough money to make them go away with certain stipulations.
@@BrooklynRedLeg the judge also ruled that the lawsuits vs Catalyst and battletech (HG tried to claim the Atlas as part of the PGI suit) has no merit with the new settlement agreement and dismissed any litigation with prejudice over the unseen
@@stevemcnabb9461 - When you settle out of court, you ask a judge to vacate. That's WHY its settled out of court. There is a contract and money obviously changed hands. BigWest was about to enter the lawsuit. That was what the Letter of Rogotary was going to ask for and once BW/SN (who, btw, DEMANDED Harmony Gold defend their mutual IP rights), Piranha was going to get its ass shredded, since BW/SN retained the Authorial Rights (as in the rights to make Derivative Works) to SDF Macross. BigWest and Harmony Gold buried the hatchet after this, btw, which is why everything past Flashback 2012 is now coming to the West. The audit between Tatsunoko and Harmony Gold, btw found that Tatsunoko, not HG, was in debt to HG to the tune of over $1 million USD from HG helping with the Tats/BW lawsuit in the early 2000s. That's why the rights to SDF Macross, Genesis Climber MOSPEADA and SDC Southern Cross were renewed between them (1mil is a lot of clams for 3 shows that are now 40 years old). The lawsuit between HG & Catalyst was a separate matter altogether and the fact the Judge dismissed it with prejudice is irrelevant to the fact of the Unseen.
@@BrooklynRedLegsettled, but I doubt they paid them much if anything. Probably more of leave us alone and we'll won't take this to trial. You can see that since Catalyst Game Labs was in default and yet they are still using designs that look closer to the anime Mecha than PGI.
29:00 - Thank GOD!! One thing about the books that drove me insane (I know, short trip) was the concept of the Veritech pilots' helmets being key to controlling the mechs, despite nothing ever being said to support that in the show.
Yeah there were parts of the books that rubbed me the wrong way. I can't recall now, but I think one thing was they suggested that freaking colonel.. wolf was his name? Supposedly a super soldier war hero, everyones idol but he was a traitor and then he died pathetically to just a couple of invid that any of the main characters faced like every freaking episode... and they suggested or even said Dana Sterling hooked up with that trash? Ugh! I think that was some background info from one of the sentinels novels, but once again that was long ago so I'm not sure.
I love Robotech! I binge-watch all 85 episodes every few years, and it never gets old. My grandkids will have great-grandkids before a live-action movie ever comes out. Just sayin'.
Thanks for sharing and getting all of this together. I loved that you included the BattleTech/Fasa Corp. history as well! I didn’t think there was this much going on in the legal realms and glad it all got sorted out recently! I’ve been a fan of BT since 1995 (5yrs old) and Robotech AND Exo Force! As a kid growing up I’d always wonder why I’d see all three names randomly appearing and disappearing from store shelves. Battletech has had its own drama as of recent and you may want to update your coverage on those recent events as well for another video! This is where I chose to stay since RT and EF were seemingly dead and the complexity of the BT board game was my main attractor.
I will be happy when Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Macross 7, Macross Frontier and Macross Delta are released in its pure unaltered and original form on TV and DVD/ Bluray in Canada and the USA. I would love to see some of Harmony Gold's finished project like a complete version of Robotech II: The Sentinels and the sequel to Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles called Robotech: Shadow Rising. In addition to the rest of the original Macross franchise. But the thing is for them to just get it done!
"SDF Macross" was already remastered and released on DVD many years ago. Since the licensing is held by HG, there will likely be no upgrade or release in the near future. "Macross 7" and Macross Frontier" are floating in limbo since Sony absorbed Right Stuf/Nozomi who acquired the licensing rights and planned to release them this year but now... At least we're getting "Macross Plus" and "Macross II". Old before new, I guess... "The Sentinels" has been disregarded and is no longer considered canon. The "Shadow Rising" trademark was abandoned well over ten years ago.
@@fiveoctaves "Macross Plus" and "Macross II" have been availble in (at least Canadian) iTunes store for a decade something already. Not something new I believe. Source: I searched keywords like Gundam and Macross from time to time there.
I'll be honest, finding out if Secret Galaxy knew anything I didn't about what was going to happen to the later Macross series after Right Stuf got taken over by Crunchyroll is why I watched this video, and I'm still frustrated.
@@kelmcclanahan4885 Big West wants media releases but Crunchyroll is probably only interested in streaming which also means a dub. The parties do not want the same thing but Sony still holds the rights for now. We'll be frustrated for a while.
@@fiveoctaves remastered macross along with southern cross and mospeada were available on amazon a decade back, free with prime. They are still available at $2/ep and I wish I knew where to actually purchase media or downloadable copies, because it's something I keep circling back to and don't trust streaming services to maintain availability.
Mmmm Battletech. I miss mucking around with my friends as a kid and any time I could tackle one of them by jumping down from a higher object yelling "DEATH FROM ABOVE!" hoping that would give me a 2x damage multiplier if I yelled it loud enough.
Nice to have it all in one place! As a nearly lifelong fan of all the franchises involved, I appreciate the thorough coverage of this topic over the years! Thanks again Dan!
The Macross story is the Robotech story. You're an idiot if you think the one and done Macross story only failed to continue because of Harmony Gold. That third series, Southern Cross, was so bad it killed the Japanese company that made it. And to them, Harmony Gold succeeded in making it watchable, a near miracle. It took over a decade for anything new for Macross to appear in the later part of the 1990s.
That was... a lot. I've never been able to figure out where to start Robotech and actually follow the story because I didn't decide to get into it until I was an adult. It sounds like more work than pleasure.
ENTROPY - I have always been on the FASA side of the argument because it has a better overall story based on the books. We quickly jump to the clans story line but the inner sphere battle was just as interesting. I would love for someone to animate or do a series starting at the beginning of the story. Harmony Gold has broken my heart too many times to trust them.
I love Robotech! My cousins and I were introduced to it as kids by my father and our uncle who watched it themselves as kids and teens in the '80s. Though has its rough edges, theres a nostalgic charm to it. I'm proud to support this franchise in anyway, purchased the blu rays and a book from it.
@@mauirixxx then You’ve got a LOT of work to do. Board game and video game reviews are an hour and a half regularly now. I watched a review of every shooter on PC ENGINE that was 5+ hours long.
In truth, I'm not at all interested in a live action version of anything. For me, a new animated series will always be the best alternative. Thanks for the "extra-large" video Dan, and a happy new year for you and all your followers 🎉🎉Greetings from Chile ❤❤❤
Agreed. I guess maybe it might be better than nothing if it jump starts new interest, but it's still just rehashing old material that we already know if they just retell the basic story again.
I have been a Robotech fan since I first watched it on us TV in 1985. These videos have been a godsend for trying to keep track of what has happened and what will happen in the future.
Harmony Gold should revoke their license with Titan Comics due to how they have mishandled Robotech Remix and the current Rick Hunter comic. The constant delays and disrespect of the franchise and its fans has gone on long enough. Great video by the way Dan! 👍
I was generally aware of anime b4 I watched Robotech as a kid, but that was the one that really got me hooked and remains my absolute favorite, especially the Macross content. The SDF-1 and her crew were awesome and I loved the complexity of their relationships. The main characters showed real growth and development throughout the series.
Thanks for putting this all together. Been watching the ongoing fire for a while, because of your channel, and watching you slowly going insane following this makes me feel good.
You forgot to mention the Shadow/Phoenixhawk Land Air Mech, Warhammer, Marauder and Archer from Battletech, those bad boys caused a big curfuffle with Harmony Gold. *correction* you did mention it, I should have watched the full video before opening my keyboard.
Promo art for Macross Shooting Insight has Minmei in the Japanese version, but no Minmei in the US version. Harmony Gold also tweeted that the characters/story from the original show were still off limits, which suggests they forced the removal of the original Macross from the US version of the game. The saga continues...
I'll leave it to others to correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure SDF Macross and DYRL content is being made unavailable worldwide for that game with the exception of Japan itself. The developer's solution to the debacle has apparently been to make the SDF Macross and DYRL content free DLC, but again...only for those who live in Japan.
@@delta7890 You are correct sir, to help make it easier to get the game out, the SDFM/DYRL content was made into a separate DLC. Honestly a smart move. Now still waiting on the US steam release.
Yes, because there was a legal agreement a few years back where things were officially hashed out. HG officially has the licensing rights for SDFM and DYRL therefore anything from those shows must go through HG approval or else. Everything else Macross is fair game worldwide now. It's why the recent Hidetaka Tenjin art books only cover Flashback to Delta but there's a third book in Japan that was all SDFM/DYRL.
@@danielcraig9666 HG does not have the licensing right to DYRL but they now hold the rights to the character and mech designs for SDF Macross and nearly all the DYRL designs are identical. Macross media made 1987 and later is available for international distribution with going through HG so from Flashback 2012 and on but DYRL is the one title that stays in Japan.
Having all of these videos edited together is amazingly informative if not only for gleaming the merest glimpse into the twisted history of Robotech than also for baring witness to the evolution of Dan’s beard.
Love that Pt.1 aired on my birthday nearly 6 years ago. I remember watching it then and finding it so informative for the casual Robotech fan like me (back when I was a kid) & now. Kudos guys to a meaningful series that could definitely move from stitched together to fully scripted reboot documentary style available on physical media. Harmony Gold and various companies knocking in the door?
The best thing about the Battletech Animated series is it got turned into a in universe propaganda piece and all of the characters actually exist in the Battletech Universe. The events didn't happen but hey....that is usually how propaganda pieces work. In universe Nicholai Malthus the bad guy in the Animated series had to take his case in court because it tarnished his name, of course he lost because the court case was in the country his clan was invading. He then tried to challenge the judge to combat and was arrested. That is how you turn a crap cartoon to your advantage in universe.
Hey Brother, this is the first I have watched from you channel and I have to say “Job well done”. I really believe you have found your niche with researching material and make it easy to digest.
Big Robotech fan!!! My local PBS used to play it Sunday nights. One of my good friends and I became friends because of Robotech. I had made a quip about proto culture and he was like eh? What about Robotech?! And we've been friends simxe
I remember FASA's Battletech original. With the Zentraedi Officer's Battle Pod renamed to "Marauder", and the several "Land Air Mechs" designed after the Veritech transforming fighter/battloids....so yeah, not all Battlemechs were non-transformable.
Robotech was my gateway drug for anime. I had some of the toys and watched it a bit when it first came out. Largely forgot about it until I was a teenager when I discovered the novelizations and comics, and then dove in headfirst and never looked back. I resent Harmony Gold for a lot of things, and favour the original Japanese versions of shows... but I have to credit them with providing that entry point for everything else.
If nothing else, I think how the original writers connected the three animes together is fascinating as a behind-the-scenes factoid. In general, I like both Macross and Robotech, and I think there's room for both to exist. Both the stupidity on both sides, (Harmony Gold and the Japanese owners), have created a legal system where neither benefited from it.
@@transformer03 Well it's like everything else. The originals come out and we love them, then the creators get taken off the projects, or die, or corporate zombies infect it somehow, and then everything goes down hill. Im honestly suprised Gundam hasn't been even more screwed than it is, though their efforts at putting out a decent gundam game has been failing for ages.
I just love this compilation of the Robotech history. It’s saddening how Robotech ended up at a halt due to its licensing legal battles. This series could have had incredible continuous storyline. I really appreciate the research to the history of such a fantastic sci-fi show. Note: there is a Robotech: the Macross Saga game on the Nintendo store for Switch. You guys are the best! Had to come back to add the magic word! “Entropy!” 😂
idk if youve ever seen them but the sentinels novels etc continue the series past the cartoon quite a bit. As far as i know, the shadow chronicles movie was the final piece of story that we got and it ended on a cliffhanger of sorts.
@@henrymatos9551 sentinels happens before southern cross. They make an sdf3 with the factory satellite and go to tirol to meet the robotech masters unaware that a bunch of them had left for earth. Worse they didn't repair the fold systems properly so the trip was instant but they were gone from earth for a long time. They encounter the Invid invading tirol. You get cameos from chars like scot Bernard, you meet and ally with the haydonites and other races etc. Ends with humanity sending waves of armies back to earth to try to retake it from the Invid as seen in robotech next Gen. There's actually a bit of tirol being invaded by the Invid before the sdf3 appears, on RUclips as they were adapting it as a cartoon but plans got scrapped.
ENTROPY. Honestly, though, I think that if they scrubbed Robottech and just released Macross, Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross Cavalry and Genesis Climber MOSPEADA with solid voice overs for a US audience they would have more than enough content and audiences would be pretty happy. Heck, and disentangle Exosquad from it and give us our concluding movie so we can find out what was happening with the aliens.
I actually discovered Robotech in 1989 while happened to be on TV. I was very young and dont remember much except that Trumpet fair theme song and, of course, an awesome transforminf Jet Mech.
ENTROPY which is a shame, but Robotech was just mismanaged and mishandled from the very beginning - otherwise I think it could’ve been Transformers-big
Movie or entropy. I'm leaning towards entropy. Already 40 and my hope has gone through an immense stage of entropy that it's on its last legs. I hope something will come of this whole saga as Robotech made me fall in love with anime...but I ain't holdin' my breath.
I feel like I aged along with Dan Larson as I watched this video. It is painful to watch how one of my favorite childhood series sinks deeper and deeper into unfinished oblivion with every passing year. Robotech was not my first Japanese linear story since Japanese anime became established firmly quite earlier in Latin America than it did in the US. However, Robotech and Saint Seiya marked the eighties for me.
I'll never believe we're getting any macross us disc releases until i have a copy in my media player and it's playing real episodes and not just a screen displaying "GOTCHA!" D:
Robotech is literally the greatest cartoon story ever told by far. I was absolutely gobsmacked as an 11 year old when I first saw it on television. It was as exciting and genre defining as Star Wars before it. I never owned a toy from it, they just didn't show up in my town in Canada. I had heaps of GI. JOE, Star Wars, Marvel Toys, and Transformers. Robotech is the best cartoon television show ever aired in North America by far. The death of Roy will always be an epic moment that I will always remember. Roy dying was like Han Solo dying in Star Wars. Amazing.
I’ve been meaning to do a deep dive video for years on the whole mess that is Robotech (aka Tobytech) and what a shameless bunch Harmony Gold is. When fans were yelling their hosannas of joy that things were going to turn around for the better in 2021, I was doubtful anything was really going to happen- because we’ve been through all this before. First with Macross II, then Macross Plus; two products that barely got out of Japan before Harmony Gold reasserted their stranglehold and ground everything to a halt. So much great Macross content not officially seen outside Japan because of this nonsense. Ironically, I remember a time in the late 80’s when we thought the chances of Sunrise letting Gundam out of Japan were impossible because they saw the mess that Macross was embroiled in and wanted no part of something similar happening to them! There’s a joke about how Harmony Gold getting out of the way and just letting things happen will occur the same time an Elfquest movie gets made. We’ve been hearing these rumors and leaks for nearly forty years with some blips to make fans hopeful and then… nothing. So it goes…
Man I thought you were going to go through the story like a recap. I didn't realize that you were going to do a complete behind the scenes of the production.
As a Robotech fan since the 80's. I vote ENTROPY. Seriously, at this point I am happy to watch the old episodes and read my old Palladium source books.
From a strictly universe-building standpoint the Macross universe is more interesting. Macross Delta made it clear that humanity colonized a good chunk of the galaxy. Robotech is still fairly post-apocalyptic.
I was 11 when Robotech first aired and i enjoyed it thoroughly. I recently rewatched the entire Harmony Gold 3 choater saga with my 11 and 13yr olds, and i now have a deeper appreciation for this classic gem. This show was dark, edgy, hard hitting and gritty for 1985. They handled somw serious and complex subject matter. They dealt with the horrors of combat, loss of comrades, survivor's guilt, PTSD, cross dressing (Lancer/ Star Dancer) and even threw in inter-racial relationships. All the anti-woke crowd would go straight knucking futs if Robotech was being run today. There was alot that just went right by my 11yr old self. Im glad that my kids enjoyed it.
Harmony Gold btw had never officially established with the original IP owners of macross that it had proper authority to enforce, use or collect fees on the IP for macross/robotech properties outside of Japan. That alone was enough to make me permanently HATE that company when they decided to take aim at stuff like battletech.
Also, if you decide to do other translated works from the early 80s Techno-Voyager might be a good one, as it was repackaged as a Thunderbirds sequel in both the US and it’s original Japanese version.
A movie about the attempt to make a live action Robotech movie will probably be made before an actual Robotech movie.
A movie about the behind-the-scenes of making Robotech and the legal issues surrounding it would make a better movie.
If nothing else, there's a really good documentary hidden underneath all the legal drama.
Isn't that what this is?
It'll be the next Jodorowsky's Dune
Shiiiiii… the third coming of Jesus will have happened by the time we ever get a Robotech movie!
I just watched that movie here. kinda wandered in the middle. XD
As an old Battletech fan, i have a special hatred for anything Harmony Gold. Glad a Federal Judge finally put an end to their nonsense.
I'm a new-ish BT fan (started with MechWarrior 4 and MechCommander 2) and I haven't touched Macross or Robotech since finding out about the whole Harmony Gold thing.
Yeah, I was so happy when the best mechs in the setting were no longer "unseen" because someone decided their stolen IP was more original that the same IP from a non competing IP.
Macross, internationally, has GOT to be the single most cursed piece of Japanese media. It's simply incredible how Japanese animation is now a worldwide enterprise complete with productions shared between partners globally - but Macross, a foundational piece of animation history, remains lost in a space fold accident.
Just like the SDF-3 from Robotech
@Darkgod777 wait until he find out about what happened to the Megaroad from Flashback 2012...
Entropy
Two words, Harmony Gold
Well Harmony Gold can be blamed for some of that drama...lets just say that they do really honest practices in the business.
i'm going to listen to this while playing battletech
Don't forget to break out the unseen.
_Robotech_ was appointment viewing back in the day. An epic soap opera for kids. 10 years old, I tuned in for the Rick/Min-Mei/Lisa drama first & the space battles, second
I was 10 when this came out too, and man did my brother and I haaaaaaaate min-mei, and more so hated how Rick kept shafting Lisa over her.
Min mei was ahead of her time, she's a lot like the entitled females of the current generation. Lisa was wifey material and Rick was a prick.
@@mauirixxx And considering that it was Xor who turned out to be Lin Min Mei’s son who started the whole Robotech storyline to begin with by traveling back in time to meet his mother (Xor’s father is not Rick Hunter, but Bretai {the Xentrani alien} ) confused yet ?
I thought Min Mei was a babe
I was in HS and went home immediately after school every day to watch this.
Great work. Robotech/Battletech confusion always kept me away from trying to untangle it. Now I understand- it was confusing because it was confusing.
The fact that we will likely get a live-action Getter Robo movie before Robotech is proof about how badly this has all went down.
And we do have Voltes V: Legacy before Robotech. And it's fantastic!
Don't forget the wing commander movie before robotech.
Yay, a getter robo live action movie is coming!
Didn't one of the project leads step away from it?
@@cobrapanic Yeah, because he wanted to do an original story while the rest of the crew wanted to make a 1:1 of the manga. They’re still on track to deliver the pitch trailer in March 2024.
34:50 I love that you cover the "unseen" since I'm a big fan of BattleTech. That part of the "history/lore" is a sore spot.
As a long time fan i second this. We lost the LAMs pretty early on, I could live with that, but the Marauder, Warhammer, and Archer were just too much! (You can keep the OST series, they sucked anyways)
The only reason I heard of harmony gold is because of BattleTech. Even though I watched robotech as a kid, I never really cared for it
@@RecklessFables I can understand that. Even as a full on American Otaku I'd have to say Robotech is any extremely important historical work, but just an ok anime. It was given to an American culture that was mostly ignorant of animation and not properly introduced to the correct age group to boot. It's aged about as well as one would expect from anime of the time (but watch a couple episodes next to the original G.I.joe, probably be surprising now). It was the storytelling that was so different, it just wasn't very American for the time. Transformers had a (sort of) similar beginning but was HEAVILY Americanized, made a huge difference right?
Yeah, I liked Star Blazers though :) @@mikylak7983
@@mikylak7983 Ah, the Marauder my love...I do like the OG design more but the current one is good.
Robotech is the show that keeps on giving to Secret Galaxy.
And slowly erodes Dan's will to live.
The whole Robotech storyline is a timeloop (read up on the entire Robotech storyline, you might want to have something alcoholic on hand)
Only thing I know about Robotech past the initial three series episodes is the Jack McKinney novels. I've considered them canon for ages over the actual show because of how much heavy lifting it does to bridge the seperate series better. The last one I read was the End of a Circle, which the special kids (I forget why they were special) pulled from the past the missing fold generator from the SDF1 as they needed one in the future or something. Is that the loop you're talking about?
@@alekesamthat’s one time loop, another one is when at the beginning of Robotech:Macross when what becomes the SDF 1 crashed in the South Pacific, that was Zor putting the Protoculture in what he thought was a safe place, so he sends the SDF 1 back through the past, that protoculture was used to power the Veritech fighter jets (oops 🤦♂️)
Imagine if Transformers found themselves in the world of a Robotech !
They’d be like WTF?
Are those humans piloting….corpses!
Your robotech/Macross videos were how I was introduced to you. As a 5 year old in Iran robotech was one of my earliest exposures to anime. Loved the little details compared to cartoons. Censoreship turned a lovestory at the backdrop of a war into a warstory with a vague lovestory weaved inbetween. To this day hearing pineapple salad gives me PTSD of losing a big brother figure. I wasn't ready for Rick's end at that age.
been loving Robotech since I was a child in the 80s. Love Rick,Minmay,Lisa,Roy and EVERYONE else. The Macross series is the best!!!
yeah it was the most magical coolest thing I'd ever seen in my 5 year old life
I own the entire box set on dvd
@@Nonce746 💯
Same here. I fell in love with the show when I first watched it back then, and I was glued to the set every morning before school, which was when our local station showed it. I have to confess, I thought the Southern Cross part was kind of "meh." It was alright, but just filler. The Mospeada part was quite enjoyable, but the Macross part was _great._ I was always thrilled when the series rolled around and they restarted the Macross part.
I tried watching a release of an English language version of the original Macross series a few years ago. It had different voice actors, and it kept the original Japanese names of the characters -- Hikaru Ichijyo, Misa Hayase, Maximilian Jenius, etc. -- and I just couldn't enjoy it as much. Maybe it's nostalgia, but I still just prefer the version I grew up with.
I watched the Star Blazers 2199 update to the old, 1970s Star Blazers/Space Battleship Yamato series, and it's a _fantastic_ update, genuinely better than the original, IMHO. This is how to remake an old anime series and do it right. But it made me reflect rather sadly that there's no way Robotech could get such an update, at least not the version I'd prefer. It would inevitably be a Macross only update if it happened, and that might be something most fans would rather see, but what can I say? I still prefer the Robotech adaptation I fell in love with as a kid.
Robotech WAS cool. The story lines weren't just "for kids." That and the overarching story are what sucked me in.
THANK YOU FOR RECOGNIZING BATTLETECH! ! ! !
I was introduced to both Battletech and Macross-Robotech at the same time in 1984 when I was 13.
I love the ROBOTECH series and Love the game BATTLETECH. I have ROBOTECH Macross Saga on DVD and I still play Battletech from time to time.
I have built several of the REVELL kits and have some of the PLAYMATES-MATCHBOX and DUGRAM figures.
I have played the game B-tech with the original line up of MECHS as well as with latter generations of origional ideas designed, post Robotech.
In fact I love the game so much that I wrote and published my own sci-fi spin On BATTLETECH and 'War of the Worlds' called "RIFT- The Telk invasion , Now on AMAZON.
I only wish BATTLETECH would have been made into a series similar to ROBOTECH.
Just to drive the point home, they should have stitched together a sequence of completely different episodes of Toy/Secret Galaxy and called it one continuous saga.
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!
Keep crying! 🤡
That would have been so on-brand for this channel, I'm almost disappointed they didn't.
@@richlo8887 Um ... nobody is crying ... except maybe ...
@@UberNoodle Yes, you can keep crying. Robotech is the superior product!
Failed to mention that Harebrained Schemes **beat** Harmony Gold in court reopening the Unseen designs for BattleTech.
You can watch Dan Larson go from fresh-faced recruit to a grizzled, bearded veteran of the Protoculture wars.
Seriously guys thanks for digging into the stratums of mud and time to uncover the strange ocean-skipping legal-wriggling history of this series.
The culture war have been going on aince before the 1950s
What are you talking about?
@@trunkage Dude, 'protoculture' is a Robotech reference. He wasn't talking about the 'culture wars' at all. It was merely a comment about this whole fiasco that the video was about.
@@trunkagehe said Protoculture war, not culture war, Lol. Clueless!
Yack deculture!
ENTROPY 100%
Thanks for this from those of us who like to watch all of the parts of the thing! (Now if you could kindly make one big compilation of the Macross things into one big video, it would be GREATLY appreciated! 😆)
ENTROPY. Definitely entropy. And I was delighted to stay all the way, not just to the end of this video, but I've been here since long before that first episode of this series and look forward to still being here for future Robotech updates!!
It's a shame Exo Squad didn't become just a little more popular. Loved how serious it was as a kid.
The best American homage to real robot anime for sure.
It was great and kind of still holds up
that shit eas banging as a kid but i still have great memories from the Robitech books
I remember me and my brother watched it an also bought the toys from Toy's R Us.
It was a great show. Quite serious, yes. Great toys too.
"You see me now a veteran of a thousand copyright wars. My protoculture's spent at last and my Veritech's destroyed." (Thank you, BÖC)
I see what you did there.
Love veteran of psychic wars
"All I want to be is a lover! Not some red-eyed screaming ghoul. Why couldn't it have picked another, To be it's killing tool?... BLACK BLADE!"
Robotech was critically important for introducing me to anime in general and Macross specifically. But while I owe it a debt of gratitude for the past, I cannot help but resent it in the present. I STILL don't have blu-rays or an easily streamable SDF Macross, Macross Frontier, or Macross Delta. Get on it guys, or Harmony Gold will still be nothing more than squatters.
I grew up in the 80,s I missed the ending last 7 episodes vacation 30 years later I buy DVDs 1 2 4 5 6 and watch the ending for the first time from a pawn shop. Now I'm 50 years old and I've never got to see seasons 2 and 3 and realize I'm probably gonna die before I do. I'm strongly considering watching the Japanese versions that some made English dub if they exist.
I heard they are actually releasing all of Macross officially. I grew up with Robotech and loved it. Even when I got older I read the novels. Then Macross came to me via a 7th or 8th gen dubbed VHS. I watched that thing everyday for like a month. I remember being ecstatic to get my hands on Macross 2012 VHS and Mecha Graffiti. I met Carl Macek once. He was selling a VHS of the subbed Macross Saga. Seemed like a nice enough guy. It was at an anime convention called Anime East.
Thank you for the vid, the story of Robotech is so insane it takes reall guts to put it together.
My older brothers used to watch Robotech/Macross all the time.
And I grew to love the series too.
Thought there would be more updates on Harmony Gold lawsuits and how it lost them. Them trying to sue Big West to gain more control over the IP and how they sued Battletech again and ended up losing to them with prejudice giving Battletech their mechs back permanently.
They didn't lose to Piranha Games. They settled out of court. This is obvious if you paid attention. Basically Piranha paid HG (and Tats, BigWest, SN) enough money to make them go away with certain stipulations.
The Mech redesigns look more industrial and I love it.
@@BrooklynRedLeg the judge also ruled that the lawsuits vs Catalyst and battletech (HG tried to claim the Atlas as part of the PGI suit) has no merit with the new settlement agreement and dismissed any litigation with prejudice over the unseen
@@stevemcnabb9461 - When you settle out of court, you ask a judge to vacate. That's WHY its settled out of court. There is a contract and money obviously changed hands. BigWest was about to enter the lawsuit. That was what the Letter of Rogotary was going to ask for and once BW/SN (who, btw, DEMANDED Harmony Gold defend their mutual IP rights), Piranha was going to get its ass shredded, since BW/SN retained the Authorial Rights (as in the rights to make Derivative Works) to SDF Macross.
BigWest and Harmony Gold buried the hatchet after this, btw, which is why everything past Flashback 2012 is now coming to the West. The audit between Tatsunoko and Harmony Gold, btw found that Tatsunoko, not HG, was in debt to HG to the tune of over $1 million USD from HG helping with the Tats/BW lawsuit in the early 2000s. That's why the rights to SDF Macross, Genesis Climber MOSPEADA and SDC Southern Cross were renewed between them (1mil is a lot of clams for 3 shows that are now 40 years old).
The lawsuit between HG & Catalyst was a separate matter altogether and the fact the Judge dismissed it with prejudice is irrelevant to the fact of the Unseen.
@@BrooklynRedLegsettled, but I doubt they paid them much if anything. Probably more of leave us alone and we'll won't take this to trial. You can see that since Catalyst Game Labs was in default and yet they are still using designs that look closer to the anime Mecha than PGI.
29:00 - Thank GOD!! One thing about the books that drove me insane (I know, short trip) was the concept of the Veritech pilots' helmets being key to controlling the mechs, despite nothing ever being said to support that in the show.
Yeah there were parts of the books that rubbed me the wrong way. I can't recall now, but I think one thing was they suggested that freaking colonel.. wolf was his name? Supposedly a super soldier war hero, everyones idol but he was a traitor and then he died pathetically to just a couple of invid that any of the main characters faced like every freaking episode... and they suggested or even said Dana Sterling hooked up with that trash? Ugh! I think that was some background info from one of the sentinels novels, but once again that was long ago so I'm not sure.
I love Robotech! I binge-watch all 85 episodes every few years, and it never gets old. My grandkids will have great-grandkids before a live-action movie ever comes out. Just sayin'.
Thanks for sharing and getting all of this together. I loved that you included the BattleTech/Fasa Corp. history as well! I didn’t think there was this much going on in the legal realms and glad it all got sorted out recently! I’ve been a fan of BT since 1995 (5yrs old) and Robotech AND Exo Force!
As a kid growing up I’d always wonder why I’d see all three names randomly appearing and disappearing from store shelves.
Battletech has had its own drama as of recent and you may want to update your coverage on those recent events as well for another video! This is where I chose to stay since RT and EF were seemingly dead and the complexity of the BT board game was my main attractor.
I had 3 of the RPG books; Robotch, Zentroni, and Invid Invasion. My friends and I really enjoyed playing.
ENTROPY, but we all want MOVIE. Thanks Dan for putting all of this together.
I will be happy when Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Macross 7, Macross Frontier and Macross Delta are released in its pure unaltered and original form on TV and DVD/ Bluray in Canada and the USA. I would love to see some of Harmony Gold's finished project like a complete version of Robotech II: The Sentinels and the sequel to Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles called Robotech: Shadow Rising. In addition to the rest of the original Macross franchise. But the thing is for them to just get it done!
"SDF Macross" was already remastered and released on DVD many years ago. Since the licensing is held by HG, there will likely be no upgrade or release in the near future. "Macross 7" and Macross Frontier" are floating in limbo since Sony absorbed Right Stuf/Nozomi who acquired the licensing rights and planned to release them this year but now... At least we're getting "Macross Plus" and "Macross II". Old before new, I guess...
"The Sentinels" has been disregarded and is no longer considered canon. The "Shadow Rising" trademark was abandoned well over ten years ago.
@@fiveoctaves "Macross Plus" and "Macross II" have been availble in (at least Canadian) iTunes store for a decade something already. Not something new I believe. Source: I searched keywords like Gundam and Macross from time to time there.
I'll be honest, finding out if Secret Galaxy knew anything I didn't about what was going to happen to the later Macross series after Right Stuf got taken over by Crunchyroll is why I watched this video, and I'm still frustrated.
@@kelmcclanahan4885 Big West wants media releases but Crunchyroll is probably only interested in streaming which also means a dub. The parties do not want the same thing but Sony still holds the rights for now. We'll be frustrated for a while.
@@fiveoctaves remastered macross along with southern cross and mospeada were available on amazon a decade back, free with prime. They are still available at $2/ep and I wish I knew where to actually purchase media or downloadable copies, because it's something I keep circling back to and don't trust streaming services to maintain availability.
Entropy.
I started this video thinking it was an in-world history of the Robotech saga. It turned out to be better than that. Thanks.
I'll always have a place in my heart for Robotech.
Ditto!! The Spanish dub also has a very bad ova of a certainmarriedge u don't see on macross
@@aztecklover69 The marriage between Max Hunter, and Miriam who is a Xentrani (sp) ?
Thanks!
This shows the evolution of the beard, as well as Robotech. Two birds, one stone
What are you on about? Are you a kid or seomthing? I have a beard twice a week or something. It's called being a man.
The host didn't have a beard for years, and this compilation shows the beard growing throughout it. Thus - The evolution of the beard.
Mmmm Battletech. I miss mucking around with my friends as a kid and any time I could tackle one of them by jumping down from a higher object yelling "DEATH FROM ABOVE!" hoping that would give me a 2x damage multiplier if I yelled it loud enough.
Nice to have it all in one place! As a nearly lifelong fan of all the franchises involved, I appreciate the thorough coverage of this topic over the years! Thanks again Dan!
ENTROPY.
I have truly enjoyed your videos about the history of Robotech. Thank you for making them.
The only important part of the story is "Harmony Gold Sucks".
As a battletech tabletop player, I agree wholeheartedly.
harmony gold is a tumor
As a battletech fan yes
The Macross story is the Robotech story. You're an idiot if you think the one and done Macross story only failed to continue because of Harmony Gold. That third series, Southern Cross, was so bad it killed the Japanese company that made it. And to them, Harmony Gold succeeded in making it watchable, a near miracle.
It took over a decade for anything new for Macross to appear in the later part of the 1990s.
@@MilitaryStyx So Say We All!
That was... a lot. I've never been able to figure out where to start Robotech and actually follow the story because I didn't decide to get into it until I was an adult. It sounds like more work than pleasure.
Sweet Jesus, that Rick Hunter doll from the Women of Robotech commercial is cursed AF. Is he a repurposed Donnie Osmond doll?
Yep. Here yet again again. And angry again. Love it.
This was amazing. I am so happy your channel has continued all these years to produce such a fantastic catalog. Thank you.
ENTROPY
Great video team, well done.
ENTROPY - I have always been on the FASA side of the argument because it has a better overall story based on the books. We quickly jump to the clans story line but the inner sphere battle was just as interesting. I would love for someone to animate or do a series starting at the beginning of the story. Harmony Gold has broken my heart too many times to trust them.
I love Robotech! My cousins and I were introduced to it as kids by my father and our uncle who watched it themselves as kids and teens in the '80s. Though has its rough edges, theres a nostalgic charm to it. I'm proud to support this franchise in anyway, purchased the blu rays and a book from it.
HOLY CRAP! 1hr30? You guys are drifting into Documentary territory. Kudos.
This is a compilation video of all of those Robotech videos remastered and re-edited into 1 long saga, and even this is basically incomplete.
I just got done watching the entire thing … this is the longest video on RUclips I actually paid attention to …
@@mauirixxx then You’ve got a LOT of work to do. Board game and video game reviews are an hour and a half regularly now.
I watched a review of every shooter on PC ENGINE that was 5+ hours long.
@@darinherrick9224 pc engine … now there’s a name I haven’t heard in a few decades!
@@2lobo777 just like Robotech 😂
Its took me more than 9 months to watch this MOVIE to completion. Thank you for your service.
In truth, I'm not at all interested in a live action version of anything. For me, a new animated series will always be the best alternative. Thanks for the "extra-large" video Dan, and a happy new year for you and all your followers 🎉🎉Greetings from Chile ❤❤❤
Agreed. I guess maybe it might be better than nothing if it jump starts new interest, but it's still just rehashing old material that we already know if they just retell the basic story again.
@@LakeLee-r1g 👌👌👍👍👍
Live action would be terrible.
ENTROPY 🙂
Thank you for all of these videos.
I have been a Robotech fan since I first watched it on us TV in 1985. These videos have been a godsend for trying to keep track of what has happened and what will happen in the future.
A+ video!
Thank you so much for tackling what seems like an outrageously complicated and research-intense subject, I watched the entire video!
That was great editing. I never knew it was 3 totally different series.
Definitely ENTROPY. Great vid!
Harmony Gold should revoke their license with Titan Comics due to how they have mishandled Robotech Remix and the current Rick Hunter comic. The constant delays and disrespect of the franchise and its fans has gone on long enough. Great video by the way Dan! 👍
Atrophy
Aslo, WTF! Are you okay? Covering this saga has got to have taken a toll on you. 😂
❤ your coverage on the material!
I was generally aware of anime b4 I watched Robotech as a kid, but that was the one that really got me hooked and remains my absolute favorite, especially the Macross content. The SDF-1 and her crew were awesome and I loved the complexity of their relationships. The main characters showed real growth and development throughout the series.
Screw harmony gold
Thank you @Secret Galaxy for all your timeand research into this and the work laid down to put it all into video-format. Much appreciated!
AKA How Harmony Gold Continues to Exist
Thanks for putting this all together. Been watching the ongoing fire for a while, because of your channel, and watching you slowly going insane following this makes me feel good.
Loved everything I just saw! You guys are awesome!
I'm honestly surprised that Harmony Gold never went after the video game THEXDER!
You forgot to mention the Shadow/Phoenixhawk Land Air Mech, Warhammer, Marauder and Archer from Battletech, those bad boys caused a big curfuffle with Harmony Gold.
*correction* you did mention it, I should have watched the full video before opening my keyboard.
Promo art for Macross Shooting Insight has Minmei in the Japanese version, but no Minmei in the US version. Harmony Gold also tweeted that the characters/story from the original show were still off limits, which suggests they forced the removal of the original Macross from the US version of the game. The saga continues...
I'll never forgive them for this. (and all the other stuff as well)
I'll leave it to others to correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure SDF Macross and DYRL content is being made unavailable worldwide for that game with the exception of Japan itself. The developer's solution to the debacle has apparently been to make the SDF Macross and DYRL content free DLC, but again...only for those who live in Japan.
@@delta7890 You are correct sir, to help make it easier to get the game out, the SDFM/DYRL content was made into a separate DLC. Honestly a smart move. Now still waiting on the US steam release.
Yes, because there was a legal agreement a few years back where things were officially hashed out. HG officially has the licensing rights for SDFM and DYRL therefore anything from those shows must go through HG approval or else. Everything else Macross is fair game worldwide now. It's why the recent Hidetaka Tenjin art books only cover Flashback to Delta but there's a third book in Japan that was all SDFM/DYRL.
@@danielcraig9666 HG does not have the licensing right to DYRL but they now hold the rights to the character and mech designs for SDF Macross and nearly all the DYRL designs are identical. Macross media made 1987 and later is available for international distribution with going through HG so from Flashback 2012 and on but DYRL is the one title that stays in Japan.
Having all of these videos edited together is amazingly informative if not only for gleaming the merest glimpse into the twisted history of Robotech than also for baring witness to the evolution of Dan’s beard.
I forgot how much Dan looked like Bruce Campbell back in the day.
Love that Pt.1 aired on my birthday nearly 6 years ago. I remember watching it then and finding it so informative for the casual Robotech fan like me (back when I was a kid) & now. Kudos guys to a meaningful series that could definitely move from stitched together to fully scripted reboot documentary style available on physical media. Harmony Gold and various companies knocking in the door?
ENTROPY! Harmony Gold will throw a wrench in the works like they always do...
The best thing about the Battletech Animated series is it got turned into a in universe propaganda piece and all of the characters actually exist in the Battletech Universe. The events didn't happen but hey....that is usually how propaganda pieces work. In universe Nicholai Malthus the bad guy in the Animated series had to take his case in court because it tarnished his name, of course he lost because the court case was in the country his clan was invading. He then tried to challenge the judge to combat and was arrested. That is how you turn a crap cartoon to your advantage in universe.
I absolutely loathe Harmony Gold for what they have done with these properties
Really? I loathe them because they made goku zero and korin whiskers the wonder cat.
Hey Brother, this is the first I have watched from you channel and I have to say “Job well done”. I really believe you have found your niche with researching material and make it easy to digest.
Battletech and exosquad toys were exceptional!
Exosquad was what brought the founders of MAHQ together.
I had the green and blue mechs as a kid, some of the best toys I've ever owned.
I remember them fondly.
A practical real life VF fighter will be manufactured before a live movie adaptation is made.
Macross: when you want Top Gun in your Giant Robot story 😂
Gundam 0083 would be another option for that.
@@mightyrobot42 I'VE GOT A BURNIN' LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE
@@NebLleb🎵"I wanna get a chance!"🎵
This story can just be summed up by: "Greedy and arrogant men won't get out of their own way to make buckets full of money."
Big Robotech fan!!! My local PBS used to play it Sunday nights. One of my good friends and I became friends because of Robotech. I had made a quip about proto culture and he was like eh? What about Robotech?! And we've been friends simxe
I remember FASA's Battletech original. With the Zentraedi Officer's Battle Pod renamed to "Marauder", and the several "Land Air Mechs" designed after the Veritech transforming fighter/battloids....so yeah, not all Battlemechs were non-transformable.
The (Mostly) Complete History of Dan Larson's Beard
I love a good robot jocks reference
Robotech was my gateway drug for anime. I had some of the toys and watched it a bit when it first came out. Largely forgot about it until I was a teenager when I discovered the novelizations and comics, and then dove in headfirst and never looked back. I resent Harmony Gold for a lot of things, and favour the original Japanese versions of shows... but I have to credit them with providing that entry point for everything else.
If nothing else, I think how the original writers connected the three animes together is fascinating as a behind-the-scenes factoid.
In general, I like both Macross and Robotech, and I think there's room for both to exist.
Both the stupidity on both sides, (Harmony Gold and the Japanese owners), have created a legal system where neither benefited from it.
@@transformer03 Well it's like everything else. The originals come out and we love them, then the creators get taken off the projects, or die, or corporate zombies infect it somehow, and then everything goes down hill. Im honestly suprised Gundam hasn't been even more screwed than it is, though their efforts at putting out a decent gundam game has been failing for ages.
How about a video on Histeria, the edutainment animated series that aired on the same block as Freakazoid and Pinky and the Brain?
I just love this compilation of the Robotech history. It’s saddening how Robotech ended up at a halt due to its licensing legal battles. This series could have had incredible continuous storyline. I really appreciate the research to the history of such a fantastic sci-fi show. Note: there is a Robotech: the Macross Saga game on the Nintendo store for Switch. You guys are the best! Had to come back to add the magic word! “Entropy!” 😂
idk if youve ever seen them but the sentinels novels etc continue the series past the cartoon quite a bit. As far as i know, the shadow chronicles movie was the final piece of story that we got and it ended on a cliffhanger of sorts.
@@darnellfelix8114 I will have to look into the Sentinel series. I’m curious about it. I have seen Chronicles and enjoyed it. Thx! ✌🏼
@@henrymatos9551 sentinels happens before southern cross.
They make an sdf3 with the factory satellite and go to tirol to meet the robotech masters unaware that a bunch of them had left for earth.
Worse they didn't repair the fold systems properly so the trip was instant but they were gone from earth for a long time.
They encounter the Invid invading tirol.
You get cameos from chars like scot Bernard, you meet and ally with the haydonites and other races etc. Ends with humanity sending waves of armies back to earth to try to retake it from the Invid as seen in robotech next Gen.
There's actually a bit of tirol being invaded by the Invid before the sdf3 appears, on RUclips as they were adapting it as a cartoon but plans got scrapped.
ENTROPY.
Honestly, though, I think that if they scrubbed Robottech and just released Macross, Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross Cavalry and Genesis Climber MOSPEADA with solid voice overs for a US audience they would have more than enough content and audiences would be pretty happy. Heck, and disentangle Exosquad from it and give us our concluding movie so we can find out what was happening with the aliens.
I actually discovered Robotech in 1989 while happened to be on TV. I was very young and dont remember much except that Trumpet fair theme song and, of course, an awesome transforminf Jet Mech.
Also the same year i saw Thundercats and StrTrk:tng.
ENTROPY which is a shame, but Robotech was just mismanaged and mishandled from the very beginning - otherwise I think it could’ve been Transformers-big
Space Pirate Captain Harlock was another good one!
Very nice to collect all these together! The state of RT has sure changed a lot over the last 10 years
Movie or entropy. I'm leaning towards entropy. Already 40 and my hope has gone through an immense stage of entropy that it's on its last legs. I hope something will come of this whole saga as Robotech made me fall in love with anime...but I ain't holdin' my breath.
I feel like I aged along with Dan Larson as I watched this video. It is painful to watch how one of my favorite childhood series sinks deeper and deeper into unfinished oblivion with every passing year.
Robotech was not my first Japanese linear story since Japanese anime became established firmly quite earlier in Latin America than it did in the US. However, Robotech and Saint Seiya marked the eighties for me.
I'll never believe we're getting any macross us disc releases until i have a copy in my media player and it's playing real episodes and not just a screen displaying "GOTCHA!" D:
Robotech is literally the greatest cartoon story ever told by far. I was absolutely gobsmacked as an 11 year old when I first saw it on television. It was as exciting and genre defining as Star Wars before it. I never owned a toy from it, they just didn't show up in my town in Canada. I had heaps of GI. JOE, Star Wars, Marvel Toys, and Transformers. Robotech is the best cartoon television show ever aired in North America by far. The death of Roy will always be an epic moment that I will always remember. Roy dying was like Han Solo dying in Star Wars. Amazing.
Come on man, Starblazers. Love the Macros Saga but the Space Opera concept existed prior to Robotech.
I’ve been meaning to do a deep dive video for years on the whole mess that is Robotech (aka Tobytech) and what a shameless bunch Harmony Gold is. When fans were yelling their hosannas of joy that things were going to turn around for the better in 2021, I was doubtful anything was really going to happen- because we’ve been through all this before. First with Macross II, then Macross Plus; two products that barely got out of Japan before Harmony Gold reasserted their stranglehold and ground everything to a halt. So much great Macross content not officially seen outside Japan because of this nonsense.
Ironically, I remember a time in the late 80’s when we thought the chances of Sunrise letting Gundam out of Japan were impossible because they saw the mess that Macross was embroiled in and wanted no part of something similar happening to them!
There’s a joke about how Harmony Gold getting out of the way and just letting things happen will occur the same time an Elfquest movie gets made. We’ve been hearing these rumors and leaks for nearly forty years with some blips to make fans hopeful and then… nothing. So it goes…
Man I thought you were going to go through the story like a recap. I didn't realize that you were going to do a complete behind the scenes of the production.
As a Robotech fan since the 80's. I vote ENTROPY. Seriously, at this point I am happy to watch the old episodes and read my old Palladium source books.
From a strictly universe-building standpoint the Macross universe is more interesting. Macross Delta made it clear that humanity colonized a good chunk of the galaxy. Robotech is still fairly post-apocalyptic.
Wow ..... that was insane. Thank you for all the hard work on this one . ENTROPY!!
I was 11 when Robotech first aired and i enjoyed it thoroughly. I recently rewatched the entire Harmony Gold 3 choater saga with my 11 and 13yr olds, and i now have a deeper appreciation for this classic gem. This show was dark, edgy, hard hitting and gritty for 1985. They handled somw serious and complex subject matter. They dealt with the horrors of combat, loss of comrades, survivor's guilt, PTSD, cross dressing (Lancer/ Star Dancer) and even threw in inter-racial relationships. All the anti-woke crowd would go straight knucking futs if Robotech was being run today.
There was alot that just went right by my 11yr old self. Im glad that my kids enjoyed it.
Harmony Gold btw had never officially established with the original IP owners of macross that it had proper authority to enforce, use or collect fees on the IP for macross/robotech properties outside of Japan. That alone was enough to make me permanently HATE that company when they decided to take aim at stuff like battletech.
Also, if you decide to do other translated works from the early 80s Techno-Voyager might be a good one, as it was repackaged as a Thunderbirds sequel in both the US and it’s original Japanese version.
Are gonna ignore the fact that this man poured cereal into a bowl of milk... Madness.
Your research is impeccable. Good job
Thank you ENTROPY.