Anyway - we're upgrading to a new server early next week - you should see a big difference in speed when we are done.

Josh
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CollectionDX Admin

It was probably a server error. The site's been under heavy traffic. Moderators usually post a warning after deleting a post for content.

-Andrew

Do you think that Tatsunoko will actually do something with MOSPEADA or are pretty much content with HG's official bootlegs?

Also, in Shadow Chronicles, was there even a mention of protculture? Or was that just swept under the table?

-Andrew

My Star Wars analogy was pretty bad, but I just hate when someone is like, "nerd argument! not important!" well it's sorta important to someone if people are making money on it. It's like when Marvel comic fans complain about making Iron Man into a fascist prick. Or when Spider-Man makes a deal with the devil to keep Aunt May alive. I think people have a right to be angry about that when they've been paying for it for a while.

I honestly don't put a lot of stock in adult sci-fi if what you call adult is just people being gritty alcoholics and fighting with lots of shakey-cam like in Battlestar Galactica. Macross is like I said, like Yamato and Gundam which is old style space opera. I've certainly seen modern sci-fi fans who like space opera.

As far as the novels go, I've seen some noise about them not being a part of the story anymore. Some people were celebrating it. Sure back in the 90's when Robotech was almost dead, people would draw from them because hey, the printed word demands respect. You should see some people whine about how Tommy Yune is, "trying to make his own End of Circle!"

Probably the most damning thing to Robotech is that anime just isn't handle like it was back then. Part of the problem is that the shows that make it up are enjoyable, but Robotech didn't make them that way (you wouldn't believe the people who argue that). Probably the most bizarre thing is that Carl Macek is still getting work in the anime industry despite the fact that he has not changed his ways. As Todd has told me, "If what Carl Macek did with the Dunbine dub is out of love, I'd hate to be his wife."

In the end it's a big question of, "why is this still here?" Other than brand name recognition and nostalgia, Robotech has become a big joke. It has aged a lot worse than the shows it's based on due to the horrible dubbing in where people talk constantly to fill up silence and the narrator either spoils the plot or just flat out makes stuff up (Aisha is a spy? What?). Robotech is pretty much obsolete. If "young minds" like Todd and me can enjoy these shows without Robotech, I don't think it's too much of a stretch for other young people. Macross is even dubbed now, so who needs Robotech?

I am glad we can agree on Shadow Chronicles. Although Daryl Surat of Anime World Order said my review was too soft. He wanted me to complain more about the cookie cutter character designs and the ridiculous body suits (with visible navel) that make the characters look like a bunch of copy and paste jobs. He also expressed his ire at Shadow Chronicles for having Mark Hamill utter his famous (to Wing Commander fans) "BREAK AND ATTACK!" in the Shadow Chronicles trailer but not in the final cut of the movie. I also wanted to complain about how this movie tries to imprint a lot of Macross things into Mospeada. For example, they use a lot of Macross sound effects in Shadow Chronicles which is odd because Mospeada is one of the few robot animes that had a lot of unique sound effects. Also having the big Garfish ships open up like Zentradi vessels to fire their guns and the Legioss ejecting its nose section as an escape pod is totally not from Mospeada (or any of the design material). Also the "Super Alpha" design is just a bad attempt at dressing a Legioss like a Valkyrie. So in a weird twisted way they tried to make more Macross using Mospeada set pieces.

PS. I love me some Macross 7.

-Andrew

While is was good to see Stick back in action, the dialogue and inane "oh, I didnt see that coming!" saturday morning cartoon plot twist was an animated abortion. So much potential gone to waste. All I kept thinking this is just a massive, big budget fanfic that's somehow legal.

Sad to think that the only way I can get Macross Zero is through Chinatown bootleggers, but this POS gets an official release.

BTW- how was Harmony Gold able to pull off using a MOSPEADA character, while Macross and Souther Cross are so obviously off limits?

First off, I take issue when people, "lol nerds taking this too seriously" when this stuff is worth it for companies as franchises that make millions of dollars. If it's someone's job to care about this stuff. Look at Lucasfilm and Star Wars.It's their job to deliver a quality product (or at least try to) based on a franchise of glowie sticks and teddy bears.

Also, calling Macross some sub par sci-fi cartoon is an insult to the huge hit that it was back in the day. I mean, it's not everyday a sci-fi cartoon designed for selling toys gets a feature length movie (at least in Japan) otherwise we'd have Outerspace Mission SRUNGLE the movie.

I have never read the Robotech novels, but it is my understanding that despite being reprinted, they are largely irrelevant to the franchise. They may be good, but as you said they manage to do so well is because they are not like Robotech the show when it comes to presentation.

Regarding the Robotech version of Macross, I am aware that it is a much better adaptation than say the hack job done to Southern Cross or Megazone 23 (or both at the same time as it were), but what that means is that Robotech owes everything to Macross. Macross does have that Yamato/ Gundam pedigree that has endured it long enough for sequels to still be made today.

It's like, if you swap out Macross from Robotech with say, Dorvack, I don't think it would have been as popular. I haven't seen much of Dorvack, but I do know that it's about people in Transforming robots that fight blue dudes from space who pilot strange floating walker robots so it would at least fit the general theme of Robotech. So replace the established phenomenon of Macross with a show that was largely forgotten today and I don't think the whole thing would work as well. Granted, something like Golion is mostly forgotten in Japan while being a lot bigger in America so I might be mistaken.

I must admit that the reason I wanted to review Shadow Chronicles is because it didn't make it into the Robotech Trilogy of Pain in favor of Codename Robotech. This prompted me to actually see Shadow Chronicles after having read some of the reviews, very few of which are positive. As such, you guys got the review Todd and myself made to show our reactions to this disaster. If anything, I hope to discourage people from buying this crap which will hopefully discourage them from making more crap. Much like how G-Savior was a total flop and we thankfully don't have a G-Savior 2.

I suppose my biggest question to Robotech fans, is that what's is important to the franchise? What I hear from Roger is that the general fans and the general public see and want the Macross part or at least something like it. To me, Shadow Chronicles represents an attempt to continue Robotech "the story" as in that vaguely defined MULTI GENERATIONAL EPIC as per the tagline I've seen. And let's be honest, that's probably the weakest aspect of the story if only due to the nature of how it was put together. And especially now in light of all the problems Harmony Gold faces in trying to make a sequel that could tie everything together. So what should they be focusing on? EPIC or a good story? The two aren't necessarily mutually exclusive, but trying to make the EPIC work now is about as hard as getting Macross DYRL released in America.

-Andrew