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Subject: RoboTech
Message-ID: <361@caip.RUTGERS.EDU>
Date: Wed, 6-Nov-85 20:24:18 EST
Article-I.D.: caip.361
Posted: Wed Nov  6 20:24:18 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 8-Nov-85 21:07:16 EST
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Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.
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From: Joe Turner <@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA,@umass-boston.CSNET:cutter@hub>

_Robotech_ is not new. It is a conglomeration of three Japanese animated
SF shows.

"Macross" came out in 1982, and was an instant hit on Japanese television.
It spawned a sequel, "Orguss", around 1983/4; another hit for Tatsunoko
Productions, and another sequel, "Southern Cross". All three shows came to be
known collectively as the "Super Dimension" trilogy, because of the subtitles
for each of the shows ("Super Dimension Fortress Macross", "Super Dimension
Century Orguss", "Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross").

At LACon II, Harmony Gold USA premiered a tape for home-video called
"MACROSS", which consisted of an english-language dubbing of the first three
episodes of "Macross". It was well-received, and the tape hit the stores and
sold well. There were rumors of a TV series.

About a year ago, a story made its way along the east-coast Japanese animation
grapevine that Carl Macek (a high-mucky-muck at Harmony Gold and a Japan-
imation fan) had bought the rights to "Mospeada" and "Southern Cross", and was
dubbing them. We all held our breaths, coming straight from the dissapointment
of "Voltron" (now referred to as "Revolt-tron", "Voltrash", etc.). Around
spring of '85, "RoboTech" began to show in California and other locations.

I won't go into a plot synopsis because it's *much* too complicated. For the
moment, I'll say that it has a bit of everything in it, heavy on the hardware
and love-interests. Nasty aliens, lots of "protoculture", and F-14's that
have arms and legs. That's an unfair synopsis, but you probably get the idea.
At 84 episodes, with 40 more on the way and a feature-film coming for Xmas
this year ("RoboTech: The Untold Story", a.k.a. "MegaZone Two-Three"), it'd
take quite a few paragraphs... but for now:

An alien ship crashes on Earth in the year 1990 and is rebuilt by earth's
scientific community. The ship automatically fires at the enemy (known as
Zentradi) and warps itself to the vicinity of Pluto --- all during the
launching ceremonies! The ship has to make its way back to Earth, fighting
Zentradi assaults, and try to stop them from taking over earth. I won't
spoil it any more, but it has an interesting ending... and then there's the
other two shows, of course, with *their* own plots...

The shows are imaginative, and far above most American television (save
for "Twilight Zone" and one or two others). The fact that it's animated
may scare some adults off, which is a shame. The animation quality is
*excellant*, and the voices are incredible. Move over, StarBlazers! Stand
aside, Battle of the Planets! "RoboTech" is here, and it looks like to stay!

Harmony Gold, by the way, is also responsible for "Captain Harlock and the
Queen of 1,000 Years"... this has it's merits, in that it has the same level
of intelligence that "RoboTech" has. However, "Space Pirate Captain Harlock"
had only 45 episodes - not enough for a syndi show; same for "Queen of 1,000
Years" - it had 26 episodes. Together, however, they make 71 - enough to
release it into syndication. They are two different shows, but have been
interweaved plot-wise; sometimes it works, most times it doesn't. Both shows
were done by the same animation house (Toei Animation, who brought us "Star-
Blazers" a.k.a. "Space Cruiser Yamato") and the same character designer, so
it "looks" right... it's not on in some areas, however. It's enjoyable to
watch it for the characters and the plots of the individual shows. Give it a
shot.

If you are interested in more information about these or any other animated
or japanese-animated shows, send mail to:

	ringwld!cutter@cca-unix.arpa OR cutter@UMB.csnet

							Animatedly,
								Joe Turner

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