Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.3 4.3bsd-beta 6/6/85; site ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!ucbvax!ucbcory!cc-30 From: cc-30@ucbcory.BERKELEY.EDU (Sean "Yoda" Rouse) Newsgroups: net.comics Subject: Re: The Jean Grey Shuffle Message-ID: <10898@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> Date: Tue, 5-Nov-85 16:07:09 EST Article-I.D.: ucbvax.10898 Posted: Tue Nov 5 16:07:09 1985 Date-Received: Thu, 7-Nov-85 05:34:19 EST References: <878@cvl.UUCP> <2021@reed.UUCP> <317@pedsgd.UUCP> <2037@reed.UUCP> <6078@utzoo.UUCP> Sender: usenet@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Reply-To: cc-30@ucbcory.UUCP (Kathy Li c/o Sean "Yoda" Rouse) Organization: University of California, Berkeley Lines: 125 Keywords: Zentraedi, Tatsunoko, Macek Summary: Some stuff on Robotech (no plot synopses) Just in case Eshpanade hasn't answered all the Robotech-questions: Robotech was started a few years ago by a man named Carl Macek. Macek, a comics and Japanese animation fan/dealer, decided that the way Japanese animation was being brought to the United States was a disgrace. (Kimba the White Lion, Battle of the Planets are excellant examples. They are a far cry from the originals.) Macek wanted to bring the animation to people, the way it was originally shown, only in English, which would help a lot in dramatic pacing. He decided he wanted to do Macross, a very popular series and movie. I think he was thinking about doing a translation of the movie, and selling it on video tape, but the original project was to sell the translated series in a set of video tapes--NOT for syndicated television. You can still find copies of this original project hanging around. (Rick Hunter is Rick Yamato). Then, the big stink arose. Harmony Gold , while it had the rights to the animation from Tatsunoko, did not have the toy rights to Macross. Another American company, Revell by name, had beat them to it. Apparently, Revell just went in and got the rights to whatever looked like it would sell, without trying to figure out what series the stuff came from. All these Japanese toys were coming out under the generic name of "Robotech". Great. Harmony Gold can either try and market toys for Macross that look nothing like the animated planes/robots/etc. --OR-- they partnered up with Revell. But video tape sales is not hot. Syndicated t.v. is. So, HG went back over the list of series they had rights to, and looked over Revell's list, and tried to come up with two other series that fit in both animation style, and story. They came up with Southern Cross and Mospeada. The reason they couldn't just put Macross out on its own is that US syndicatee t.v. will not put a show on, unless it has a certain number of episodes. Macross didn't meet that number, so they had to add episodes. (The same goes for the splicing of Captain Harlock and Queen Millennia). Harmony Gold tried to meld the three scripts together (rather unsuccessfully according to the Japanimation and CFO purists.)using the writing crutch of "protoculture". You'll notice it's never the same thing twice. But they got it out on t.v., where people could see and love it.(Like ME!!!) The three series, Macross, Southern Cross and Mospeada are rather easy to tell apart, simply by what name the bad guys are called. If they are the Zentraedi (correct spelling), you're watching Macross, the adventures of Rick Hunter (Hikaru Ishida) and the Super-Dimensional-Fortress 1 (SDF-1). If the bad guys are the Robotech Masters, you're watching Southern Cross, (for all you Minmei-haters, there's another twit, here.) the adventures of Dana Stirling and the Fifteenth Armored Tactical Squadron. (Listen for Minmei songs in the background. I think even Bowie sings a couple!). If the bad guys are the Invid, and we have that regular army clown, Scott Bernard as a hero (Actually, he was Stick Bernard, and the bad guys were the Inbit, but who's counting all the time HG "Americanized" the names for the little kiddies) you're watching Mospeada. As I mentioned in an earlier article, there ARE editing differences between the original Japanese and the American versions. If you thought the Harmony Gold version was good--you should see the Macross Movie! (I haven't. I only have the anime. It's so frustrating.) The order of the Macross episodes was rearranged some, and of course, there were name changes. (Misa Hayase=> Lisa Hayes.) Nude Minmei scenes get cut (only one!--the shower, remember?) peoples faces getting blasted off get cut. (Ever see a person machine-gunned in Japanese animation? --Fun!) But the storyline still remained. Southern Cross did not fair quite so well. The story had its first episode entirely removed, so you miss the earthlings getting kidnapped and brainwashed, then returned, with Zor among them, so they just kind of assume he's human. Not to mention the fact that the whole thing was supposed to take place on an earth *colony*, which had two moons. Not only did they remove plot, they removed a moon! Also, the writing on the last episode was changed so that they could bring the Invid in, so Zor ends up as an idiot condemning the world instead of a hero saving it. (Yes, when he crashed the Robotech Masters' ship, he DID destroy the flowers.) But, hey! Without this writing, we'd never have seen the animation. Mospeada comes over pretty much intact, except for the main purpose of the Invid. Originally, the Inbit were a gypsy-type of race, and when they come cruising over the Earth, paranoid little buggers that we are, we try and nuke them. Mistake. They decide we're way too primitive, and attempt to control the earth before we destroy it. They decide the best way to do that is to control the energy source that drives anything and everything (including weapons)...a hydrogen based fuel (yup! Macek turned it into protoculture!). Kinda sheds a different light on everything, don't it? I know all this stuff (probably incorrectly) from the Comics Interview article and the Amazing Heroes article, plus a friend in the CFO who loved Southern Cross, and hated Robotech. I would like to state, that though I know all the purists cant (obviously) I love Robotech! I love and appreciate all the work and time that Harmony Gold put in. Making a whole new soundtrack from scratch, and commissioning a musical score is not easy. Nor is it easy for a writer to create a script true to the original, yet able to lip-synch. (Ever notice how it doesn't seem dubbed?--each line was written to specifically match the opening and closing of the mouths that was animated. I think it took about a month per episode.) Not to mention the fact that Japanese animation actors often ad-lib off the script (the only source Harmony Gold has). And Macek obviously loves the original Japanese, and isn't arbitrarily making decisions from nowhere. The writing changes don't matter to an American audience, because most of that audience hasn't seen the original. (Me, case in point). He also changes the names for another reason other than audience-identification--it's the lip-synch thing again. Try saying Misa and then saying Lisa. Notice how there's one less labial? (lips together). It made a lot of difference to the script writers. Of course, I feel kind of sad that the scarf scene couldn't be used. Remember when Minmei gives Rick the scarf, and then when he's walking Lisa home, she looks at the scarf and "smells Minmei's perfume"? Good writing. Originally, Lisa had seen the initials L.M. (heart) H.I. . But since they changed Hikaru's name to Rick, they couldn't use it. It's a real shame. But them's the breaks. Macek has since mentioned that he's planned a Robotech movie to take up a space in the continuity of Macross. Remember when the SDF-1 makes it back (sorry to spoil so much story), and the earth government won't let any of the Macross citizens debark? Well, the movie is going to cover what happened on earth during that time. It will NOT be a translation of the Macross movie (BOOOOO!!!). Macek's hoping to get some big names for the voices. None the same as from Macross. He has also mentioned commissioning animation from Tatsunoko to fill in the continuity gaps/gaffs in the series as it stands now. He wants to get one episode for every day of the year. This is as accurate as I can recall everything. Please send mail if you find something wrong. I hope this has answered some quest.... Wait! forgot the comic! If you're on the East Coast, it might be difficult to find the first copy of the Macross Saga. It was done before the three-series spliced decision was made, and came out under the title of "Macross". (nice coloring) by the next issue, it was four-color, and under the title of "Robotech". Currently, Comico (Macek refused to relinquish creative control to a major company, and approached only independants with the idea.) is putting out three Robotech titles: The Macross Saga, Robotech Defenders, and the Third Generation . They correspond to Macross, Southern Cross, and Mospeada. Each issue is one episode. So, now, I'm done. Please, corrections are always welcome. --Kathy Li