I remember that Robotech started 20 minutes before I got home from school, so I taught my 47 year old mom to record the show for me. This included making a detailed manual and pasting number stickers all over the VCR. Those were the best days....
I was fortunate not to have your dilemma because the show aired on my local TV station an hour after I got home from school. However, I remember having to go to camp in April of 1985 and it was towards the end of the Macross(which I had no clue about at that time) so I had my then 8 yr old brother record the episodes for me on our Sony beta player while I was gone. I'll never forget coming home from camp and putting in the tape and watching what would be the final 2 episodes of the Macross saga and then right after that, the first episode of the Masters series and I had this huge WTF moment because I had grown so attached to those characters - Rick Hunter, Max Sterling, Lisa Hayes, etc.. and suddenly they were gone and yet the show was still called "Robotech" and I had no clue what had happened.
Ignoring all of the business drama, licensing rights, original vs. rewrite controversy, and everything an adult would care about, this show taught me that an epic story could be told through animation. My dad genuinely enjoyed watching this with me after school. It aired as my bus was driving me home. So, of his own accord, my dad would record this on VHS. We would sit and watch it together as soon as I got home. He would re-use the same tape day after day until that section of tape wore out, then just move further down until he went through an entire 2 hour VHS. We ended up using about 10 or 12 VHS tapes over the course of the 3 years of the entire series. Who cares about all of the controversy. This story shaped my understanding of what could be accomplished in a traditionally “kids” medium, and gave me some of the very little quality time I had with my dad.
Yeah it was a cartoon based on love songs during a battle and the story and characters...never seen a cartoon or anime like this ever until its creation...
@@PlasmaBurns it was like a soap opera as well, unlike say Transformers. And the story could keep expanding although it was just war after war after war...but like Gundam...
Bastardised or not, many of us owe our thanks to robotech for introducing us to Macross and allowing us to pursue the watching of the original and it’s sequels
I am happy that Robotech was archived and is available on Netflix, it certainly never deserves to be forgotten. I have it and other classics to thank for my love of the mecha genre
Cincinnatti, ohio has WXIX they had an afterschool show called Larry Smith and his Puppets, they would do little skits and jokes and introduce kids shows as far back as I can remember to 1968, several of these shows Speed Racer, Ultraman and Atom were anime brought to the USA for the first time. I was lucky to have this in my Childhood. Years later they did the Yamato series in the late 70's on the am show and afternoon. The glory of space battles and anime. Later as an adult I catch the Robotech/Macross series and it just got better. I move away to another city and discovered VHS imports and found an awesome video store called NEO Tokyo. I loved anime BEFORE it was cool and mainstream, still do
I remember being about 11 years (1985) and seeing the episode where Ben died. I was in shock for days. I sat on my stairs just stunned. I couldn't believe it. I feel like I grew up that day.
I have always felt the same way about this. I was stunned. I cried about Ben. My mother almost made me stop watching the series because she saw how it impacted me. I begged her not to and convinced her. But the sadness- from a pretend story. It changed me. Perhaps I grew as well. Silly to say all this, but it was amazing as a child. To be allowed to have more sophisticated feelings and emotions. Yes perhaps we all grew.
This show has stayed with me over the years. I had my ten year old daughter watch it. She too couldn’t believe that Roy was killed and she was conflicted as to which woman Rick would choose at the end. The story of love and war is really timeless.
And suddenly, all that 80's Robotech and Starblazers nostalgia comes rushing back to me. Man I loved this series. Still have the first two VHS tapes of Robotech.
Couple of minor corrections. The battle fortress in Robotech is always called the SDF-1, never the Macross; that word is used as the name of the island where the SDF-1 was rebuilt. Also, at the end of the Macross Saga in Robotech, Rick and Lisa do not vow to rebuild the SDF-1 but instead to build the SDF-3 (the narration having envisioned an entire second ship, the SDF-2, which was never shown on screen and whose destruction is inferred to have occurred at the same time as the SDF-1 in order to create justification for the three mounds shown in the Southern Cross footage).
From memory, I'm fairly sure there was one scene where the SDF-2 was back-to-back with the SDF-1 and it was these two ships, together with Khyron's which form the three mounds in The Robotech Masters.
Khyron is one of my favorite villains of all time. Even when war is over and he's crashed in the jungle where he's stranded for God-knows-how-long, the first thing he does when he gets power back is kamikaze the remains of his enemies like he's got nothing else to live for. Insane, obsessive, sad and pathetic, which makes him very scary.
Loved this show back in the day. Minmay was so freaking annoying, however. Was so happy when Rick broke up with her and hooked up with Lisa. Lisa was awesome.
When I went to Anime Expo this year I actually saw the Japanese VA for Minmey (Mariya Iijima) perform at a city pop celebration concert for the convention. She was absolutely amazing.
@@elistratton1071 Robotech is an adaptation, not a full uncut dub (though to be fair, it was pretty close from what I've seen). Mari also reprised her role in the uncut dub of SDF Macross and did a surprisingly good job (trivia for another of the three uncut Macross dubs, Isamu Dyson, the lead character in the actual sequel OVA Macross Plus, is voiced by Bryan Cranston. Yeah, his role as the protagonist's father in Godzilla 2014 is starting to make a bit more sense now, isn't it?)
I was 6 when this was released. I grew up in México and this series was huge and was talked about for years. It literally blew away anything else on the market. Now as an adult I can understand why the legacy stands. These guy were literally standing on a goldmine and were never able to figure out how to continue such an amazing universe.
I recorded every single episode on VHS and watched them all repeatedly.. I damn near cried when Roy Fokker died and Force of Arms?? Was not ready for that... Minmei singing during the battle, that was beatiful (but I hated Minmei).. This is one of the greatest anime series EVER..
Back then, "anime" wasn't in the popular vocabulary at the time. So pardon my choice of words when I say that Robotech was like the "Star Wars" of cartoons for me. It was so completely different from anything they were showing us kids back then that even my mom started watching it for the romantic subplot. We didn't own a VCR back then, so if I had to miss an episode I bugged all my friends for what happened. It killed me when my family moved to another area that didn't air the show. Had to wait until I was a teenager to buy the vhs tapes and then later on the DVDs just to finally find out what happened.
15:46 fun fact in some ancillary material in the original macross there were several grand cannons non completed and before the bombardment were used as shelters to protect humanity. one of them was in Australia (obviosly).
To this day Robotech is still my favorite anime. I loved the characters more than the mecha combat. And the music wasn't bad. I enjoyed the second season but there isn't much love fron he marketing department. They seem to focus on the first and third seasons.
Hm, now i'm finding Robotech, but i can't find. I really want to watch this movie, so do u have a link? If u have it, Gime plz :(. I miss this anime so much
The second "saga" was built out of "Super Dimensional Cavalry [Armored Division, to us Yanks] Southern Cross". In Japan, that series had problems from the start, poor ratings, and a cancelation notice some weeks in advance. That lead time led to a rushed-together, awkward conclusion.
One aspect of Macross that stands out from Gundam is that unlike Amuro, while Hikaru may have already been a pilot before the show begins, he had to enlist and go through boot camp to become a soldier. This made an impression on older audiences.
Carl Macek was a lover of Anime and very talented at cobbling together stories.Albeit not always the greatest ones. If not for Robotech, I would not have the deep appreciation and love of Super Dimensional Fortress Macross. But let's be real, Robotech is Fan fiction Compared to SDF Macross. For introducing me to Macross, I will always be grateful to Robotech, but I can never go back.
Respect. Though I just enjoy both. I was not a fan of Macross 7 or of the latest Macross Delta. Maccross 7 for a veritech rigged with speakers and flown whole playing a guitar. Delta for idols prancing about on veritechs during combat. Just not where I like to see their story go. Macross Plus, Frontier, Zero and the OG Super Dimensional Fortress are indeed awesome. Macross II got a lot of hate, but I did not mind the mecha in it or the story. So yeah can really enjoy the Japanese original arc of Macross. That being said. I can still love and appreciate Robotech for really introducing me to Anime more than any others. But I actually prefer the Robotech story line more. Even in their attempts to create a unique universe with Sentinels and Shadow Chronicles. Reading the books that give the story beyond the animated story also was quite enjoyable. Not counting Minmay's songs, I much prefer the Robotech Soundtrack over the Macross soundtrack. Macross had way better Minmay songs, except for "We Will Win" which was a great song for that battle. Macross also has the better mecha Anyway, I have and enjoy both story arcs.
While I felt betrayed when I learned of Robotech being three series cobbled together dude was behind Streamline entertainment which brought out the dopest anime movies. They and Manga Entertainment are why I'm still hooked on Anime today.
I remember sneaking out of bed when I was a kid to watch Robotech because it aired at some insane hour of the morning. i had to watch it at the lowest possible volume so I didn't wake anyone up and get caught. That only made those episodes that much sweeter!
Robotech changed the way we American kids viewed cartoons. It was like watching a futuristic soap opera the likes of which had NEVER been seen before! People died in Robotech and not just any people but actual main characters. Voltron was and will always be an amazing cartoon of my childhood but Robotech is in a league all its own! I'm forever thankfully to have lived in the 1980's.... Robotech led to my seeing AKIRA and with that my young mind had been permanently blown‼️
Growing up in the 80’s Robotech exposed me to Japanese anime as well as Japanese culture. It also still affects me anytime I see Roy’s death. I got to meet voice actor Dan Warren and told him that. He said he hear’s that all the time from fans. Robotech to me is part of my childhood. It’s even part of my life now as a toy collector. This series is filled with raw emotions, creativity and it lives on forever. I would have wanted to see more episodes of The Sentinels but that wasn’t in the mix. Long live Robotech!
Although I'm going through the uncut SDF Macross (ADV dub) rather than Robotech's adaptation of the First Space/Robotech War's events, Roy's death is so effective no matter what version you watch. He doesn't get brutally stomped on by Breetai or Khyron/Quamzin, he doesn't heroically sacrifice his life in a dazzling display as Rick/Hikaru watches, and he doesn't even get a violent gruesome death as his Veritech/Valkyrie blows up. He ends up anticlimactically getting hit by a Battle Suit's bullet spray during Miriya/Milia's attempt to kill Max, with his chest taking the brunt of punishment, and he slowly gives into them as his lover watches. That is honestly one of the best, most understated roster shake-ups I've ever seen.
They were not unrelated. All three were by the same studio, and all three featured the same types of story, war, specific methods of mecha transformation, love story, and music.
@@AozoraOrigami We are obviously using two different meanings of the word related. No sarcasm intended, I understand you mean the stories were not related to each other, or even within the same overall story arc; however, my argument is that they are not unrelated, and that Harmony Gold did not just pick three random anime out of a hat and spliced them together, they chose three from the same studio with the same art styles and the same overall story types.
@@koruoshouji9960 I understand what they are saying, and this is why I made the point that were are using the word "related" in two different ways. The stories are unrelated. They do not take place in the same story arc or even the same universe. But the art styles, the method of storytelling, and the basic themes are all very similar. The reason I originally posted was that I disagreed with the original post that said Harmony Gold and Carl Macek were simply greedy, and wanted to get in on the U.S. anime bandwagon.
@@koruoshouji9960 well yes; that's why a different storyline was created, with distinct narration and new music. Robotech comics easily bridged the gaps to show what would have been. Check out the Facebook-based Web comic "Fall of the Southern Cross." There's nothing magical about the animation being unrelated. The limitations in Robotech's storytelling arose from Harmony Gold being unable or unwilling to commission and insert scenes of new animation or alterations to existing animation that would have made the very slight tweaks needed.
Seriously Robotech/Macross would be an amazing live action tv series. In the current era of long form streaming tv series - A sci-fi space opera with transforming robots that is a war drama that has a romantic story line, while having a socio cultural and political commentary on the nature of war and humanity. It was so mature and ahead of its time and continues to be relevant. Sure there are some hokey bits, but overall its probably one of the most emotionally and mentally engaging cartoon/animes from the 80s period. If only Harmony Gold actually had some competent executives handling the Robotech IP. Its such a strong property and concept, but its been limping due to bad decisions.
9:57 - LOL!!!! OMG, so Hilarious! Awesome video!!! For those who were blessed to watch this series in the mid 80’s, we loved the series but never knew the background history. I learned something new today (with fond nostalgia). Thanks!
Robotech was a show I had to watch every day before school. I absolutely loved it! Friends and I would reenact the days episode on recess. It opened me up to anime and laid the foundation of the anime types I enjoy. I love the adult themed type. Ghost in The She'll is a debatable 2nd of my all time favorites.
It was way beyond what the west can offer with regard to storytelling and animation when giant transforming robots go toe to toe with giant aliens. I have high respect for the series.
Wow this retrospective is excellent. It’s giving me a whole new appreciation for both robotech and the Japanese series it’s based off. I first saw robotech on morning television in 89 but I was very young and did not have the patience to sit through a whole episode. A few years later when I was twelve I gave it another chance when it made a second appearance on morning television and I was able to better follow the story and appreciate what it had to offer. For me at the time robotech kinda picked up where transformers left off but more importantly it was a gateway into anime for me at a time when I was starting to become aware of where anime was from and what made it stand out compared to western animation from the time.
In Yugoslavia, our television aired only first 14 episodes of Macross saga in early nineties, and we thought thats it, imagine my happy surprise when almost 20 years later, in time of internet I accidentally discovered there's 22 more episodes :DDD
Robotech was the first show I remember watching as a kid where core cast members, "the good guys" could die. As in, properly permanently dead with no "comic book revivals." It was a real shocker, and I loved it for the seriousness it gave combat.
In the Robotech version yes. Watch the English dub for "Super Dimension Fortress Macross" to hear the original songs. Warning: Songs may not delight as much.
I didn't see this as a kid - it came on Netflix a few years ago and because of the title, I didn't even know it was connected to the Macross saga (which I had seen some of and enjoyed). Binge-watched the crap outta this show. Now it's one of my top 5. Definition of a classic!
40 years later; every single thing I am interested in, every hobby, my entire persona.. stems from (thankfully) waking up early one morning and luckily turning my TV on before my parents woke up and (thankfully) stumbling on this one show that was so different than anything else shown on a rural midwestern TV channel...
As a poor awkward kid from phoenix this show motivated me to leave my home city. I even went to Okinawa Japan and got a glimpse of the world I wished I could have been a part of on the SDF1. This show even mirrored me love life because I had tendencies' to get involved in love triangle. Yup this show was a big part of my life. It's sad it had to end
I still remember in the summer of 05 when ADV announced they would be dubbing Macross for the first time (as well as bringing Eva to Adult Swim; that was a huge dual announcement). I watched the first episode and it was incredible. Hearing Roy refer to his protege as "Hikaru" in English brought tears to my eyes. Then hearing Mari Iijima reprise Minmei but this time in my native language sold it for me. And ADV actually dubbed Megazone before doing Macross so no more ROBOTECH THE MOVIE horseshit. Someone needs to dub Southern Cross and Mospeada.
I love Robotech. It was the reason I became a military aviator. I rewatched the whole series a few years back when I was deployed and it was still amazing.
This was my first “anime”. My dad has the full box set, I only ever remembered the Macross bits though. He then got me into Gundam, now I’m obsessed with mecha anime.
Other good mecha anime is 1.Patlabor 2.Megazone 23 3.Voltron 4.Neon Genesis Evangelion 5.Teknoman & Tekkaman Blade II 6.Iczer One 7.Dangaioh 8.Big O 9.Giant Robo 10.Mazinkaiser Just to name a few
Robotech holds a special place in my heart, my dad introduced me to it and I ended up becoming a huge fan!! Still think its one of the best anime ever and I hope one day it gets rebooted and the story retold so it makes more sense theres so much more they could do and change to make it really epic.
I never realised I was watching a futuristic, high tech, mecha soap opera until well into my adulthood. I will always love it for what it did to my imagination though.
"Speed Racer" ("Mach Go-Go-Go") and "Battle of the Planets" ("Science Ninja Team Gatchaman") were my introduction to anime. As such, my ears perked up when I saw the mention of Tatsunoko Productions in the "Robotech" credits
As an Australian who grew up at the right time, I never got access to this show until more widespread availability as an adult so it's interesting getting this behind the scenes on it's overall confusion in terms of naming and episode layout. We did get Tekkaman Blade though alongside Astro Boy and Speed Racer. This seems like it would have taken a hell of a lot of effort to get a hold of and edit the differing episodes, cheers for the effort.
ROBOTECH! The first time I saw the episodes on tv back in the 80's I got hooked immediately. I happens that I saw the entire show dubbed in Spanish. Years later when I came to the US I had the chance to know the rest of the time line and the origins of the series from the Japanese version. Needles to say, I have toys, books, vas tapes, dvd's and the entire collection of comics (except two, Robotech Dreams and the very last comic book that was published with two different covers) I was and always be my favorite anime series
This had to be the best animated series of it's time. It took risks no other show took and they left a good portion of the material in it giving it that different feel other shows didn't have. Rewrites or not it was still one of the best. In fact it could be said the writing was what made it good; the characters weren't perfect, but they were likeable in their own way, they didn't copy other shows, they didn't try to put a smiley face on it, they were at war and they made sure you knew it, and even the bad guys could be relatable at times.
Thank you for making this documentry for us! Macross/Robotech holds a special place in my heart. From watching it on toonami as a little kid. To watching macross zero when I got older. I still have hopes and dreams for this anime. I hope to see it in the theaters one day.
The one thing I remembered about Robotech is that in this cartoon series, People died. All the other action cartoons, no matter how many explosions or bullets, nobody ever died or was killed. For me, that's what set this cartoon apart from the others.
This show was truly my opening to Japanese anime.. the real story is how amazing this three different life experience, love life and death. The best thing wasn’t fake. Didn’t need a life lesson at the end
Some of my finest post college memories are getting blazed with my old roommate and laughing our asses off at some of the utterly bizarre story choices in robotech. Anything with Max is irredeemably funny.
Had no idea it was 3 separate series. They did a pretty good job tying the stories together, although one of the great disappointments of my childhood was that Admiral Hunter never returned. Season 2 was definitely my least favorite.
15:03 - Uhhh, no, all life on Earth was NOT obliterated by Dolza's fleet. Huge swaths of humanity on Earth, yes, and much of the planet was rendered inhabitable. But quite a bit of human beings on Earth survived.
In SDF MACROSS, all human life was obliterated but I think you do see signs of animal life in the jungle where Khyron's ship crashed. In the movie MACROSS: Do You Remember Love?, it's pretty obvious that all human life was destroyed since Hikaru and Misa searched as much of the planet as they could and did not find survivors. At some point, Hikaru finds a fish that he cooks for him and Misa to eat so maybe some animals did survive. I don't know if they ever mention that not all human life was destroyed in ROBOTECH: THE MACROSS SAGA but I guess there had to have been survivors to make sense with the events in NEW GENERATION where it was revealed that at least parts of South America had survived to go with the fact that Scott and the rest of his team were encountering pockets of human civilization as they made their way north to Reflex Point. In the original series GENESIS CLIMBER MOSPEADA, the Invid invaded Earth but did not wipe out humans so that explains why there were still many survivors.
To say this is reliving my childhood is a serious disservice. Robotech was my childhood until the age of 15... before I finally had my 1st girlfriend. It's all I thought about for at least 5 years of my life. It's also helped understand a lot of today's youth. While 37 years old, I don't understand video games or Pokemon and so forth. But in retrospect, I understand it must have the same connection that Robotech did. What doesn't help, was when Top Gun was released, I some how thought it had a deep connection to Robotech where Rick Hunter was some how Maverick and Charley was some how Lisa Hayes.
hey man, not that you need to hear it, but out of all the retrospectives on these series that have proliferated on RU-vid, the original research and attention to detail you put into yours definitely put you head and shoulders above the rest.
This aired at 7:30 am when I went to school, but my best friend lived in the country so he had to tape it every morning and watch it that afternoon. The ep where Fokker died, my friend asked my I was so down and I said, "I wish I could tell you but I can't". He thought it was something personal that I wouldn't share and took some offense, but I was just trying to not spoil it for him.
Still loved robotech, I was that kid who ran home to watch it everyday. It helped introduce us to macross and the originals, also introduced us to some form of anime.
This is literally the New Star Wars for a whole New generation, This needs to be made into a real movie ASAP. The story is amazing and so many people have no idea it even exists, Use some of the original scores and you have a hit. The Director from IT was supposed to start on this but I think it is yet stalling again, one day we will get it.
Robotech took over for Starblazers, it was like it in tone but better writing, dialog, animation and sound. We were in heaven with an amazing alternative to the 1/2 hour toy commercials we were saddled with. While shows like GI Joe and Transformers did occasionally have a brilliant or thoughtful episode, that was nothing compared to the consistency of the themes imported from Macross.
