Robotech

Robotech is an 85-episode science-fiction television series about three successive extraterrestrial invasions of Earth. It was one of the first anime released in the United States to largely preserve the complexity and drama of its original Japanese source material. Produced by Harmony Gold USA, Inc. in association with Tatsunoko Prod. Co., Ltd., Robotech is a story adapted with edited content and revised dialogue from the animation of three different mecha anime series: The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber Mospeada. Harmony Gold's cited reasoning for combining these 3 unrelated series was that the American TV stations had a minimum number of episodes (65) for weekday syndication at the time, and none of the three series met that requirement alone.

Related Topics:
Science-fiction - Television series - Extraterrestrial - Anime - United States - Japanese - Harmony Gold - Mecha - The Super Dimension Fortress Macross - Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross - Genesis Climber Mospeada

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Harmony Gold hired American writers to adapt the scripts of the three Japanese series. This complicated process was supervised by producer Carl Macek, a pioneer of the anime industry in United States. The adaptation of Robotech was developed in nine months, although writer Gregory Snegoff said in ideal conditions, it should have taken 18 months. The Japanese scriptwriters of the three component series were not credited in the final release.

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This combination resulted in a storyline that spanned three generations: The characters in The Macross Saga, their children in The Robotech Masters saga, and their descendants in The New Generation saga as they must fight three destructive wars in succession over a powerful energy source called "Protoculture". Notably, the original Southern Cross was originally intended to be a massive, end-all-be-all space opera, but was cancelled by low ratings in Japan before it could be completed. Its inclusion as part of The Robotech Masters saga actually increased fan awareness of Southern Cross.

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Harmony Gold attempted to produce several sequels and spinoffs, most notably Robotech II: The Sentinels, but only enough footage for a single feature was completed. The project fell through due to problems with toy licensing and changes in the Japanese yen-US Dollar exchange rate, among other reasons. The Sentinels saga continued to be chronicled in the novelizations by Jack McKinney and a comic book adaptations by the Waltrip brothers.

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Announced at Anime Expo 2004, the latest incarnation currently in production is '. The first teaser trailer debuted one year later at Anime Expo 2005 for the 20th anniversary of Robotech, but no specific release date has been set and, at present, no distribution channel has even been announced. At present, it's unclear if the series will be released on TV or go straight to DVD.

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