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Ok, time to sound like your grandfather and talk about 'the good old days.' Hey, at least I like mess with the GB advance, while your Grandpa who always thought anything besides a pogo stick was too complicated. One of the greatest memories for me growing up was watching 'Robotech'. So what's the big deal about this series? I snagged a copy of a few episodes from the library... and memories turn drek into genius! Choppy animation, corny dialog, and NO LETTERBOXING! So what's the big deal about this stuff that Gen-Xers babble about? Japan had 'MS Gundam' to transform the animation landscape. America had 'Robotech.'
For starters, before 'Babylon 5' made the sci-fi epic trendy, 'Robotech' made the sci-fi epic possible in the US.
'Robotech' entranced fans with over 80 half-hour episodes spanning generations of characters trying to deal with the trials and tribulations of new technology and invaders coming to Earth to get the stolen technology back. No, this wasn't your average kids cartoon... and it wasn't your average Japanese one, either. The three parts of 'Robotech '(Macross, Southern Cross, and Next Generation) were three autonomous anime' series that were combined by the US production company Harmony Gold. As a result, 'Robotech' is a unique combination of Japanese design and American story telling on a scale that would amaze even Peter Jackson.
Another reason for 'Robotech's appeal are the mech designs. Most of the stuff flooding US shores is based on Super Robots like 'Voltron' and 'Reideen'. Sure, it was fun, but this giant-robot-beating-up-giant-beetle stuff was kinda old. 'Robotech' was stuff the DOD could almost build; HUD displays, the ability to switch modes for more adaptability, that sort of thing. In the end, 'Robotech' wasn't just about giant robots, it was about giant robots we could actually build! (and if you've seen clips of the humanoid robots from Honda, you know this isn't far way...)
There was also the huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge cast. Even 'E.R' wasn't this big. From the cocky Rick Hunter to the bitter Scott Bernard, the list of characters went on forever. Sure the character were pretty simple, but to have ANY series with a cast larger then 'LOTR' and having each come to life that you bawled (Hey, if you didn't have a tear in your eye at the end of 'Goodbye, Big Brother' you're a cold-hearted snake), that is something special.
Finally what added to the mystic for me is the ANNOYING problem with Harmony Gold. The folks who brought this piece of genius to American audiences almost destroyed it. Due to a ton of legal wrangling, Harmony Gold desperately held on to the licensing rights to 'Robotech' for years, and allowed NO BODY to use anything from 'Robotech'. You would think they would want to cash in on the popularity of this epic series, but no such luck, for whatever reason. For almost 20 years nothing pertaining to 'Robotech' appeared on this end of the Pacific.
Fortunately, the silliness has FINALLY been rectified, and 'Robotech' stuff is all over the place. One company taking full advantage of the hunger of fans is Toynami, with their plethora of action-figures and the high-end, super-detailed, collector-based Veritech fighters. Oh, and there's also the Alpha Fighter coming out in the summer!
So is 'Robotech' the BEST animated series of all time? Oh, please, just drop it. It doesn't matter. What 'Robotech' is is a fine piece of work that's influenced American animation and sci-fi for almost 20 years. Good enough!