What's the dealio with Macross?

K

Kaede

Adventurer
I've just finished the original Gundam series and really enjoyed it. I'm in the mood for something similar (but not Gundam AGAIN) and fancy checking this out. From the clips I've seen on Youtube it's got some pretty great 80s animation going on and apparently has a great soundtrack.

However, it's not available in the UK on DVD? Is it available in the US? I'm aware there is a chopped up dubbed version called Robotech, but I can't be dealing with that as I hate dubs.

Is a bootleg version the only way to go for this series? :(
 
It does appear to be available in the USA. Right Stuf have the original series on sale but it looks like the shipping is through the roof.

I've seen Robotech. My view on it is straight down the middle. Most people either love it or hate it. In my view the bits which are bad are balanced out by the things which are go.
 
Macross was released about ten years ago by AnimEigo in single volumes and three boxed sets, then in 2008 by ADV in a thinpack collection - All of which are now OOP and seem to be getting rather expensive. To my knowledge it's never been available on DVD in the UK.

Bootlegs are never the way to go IMO - Even downloading something for nothing is less harmful than paying someone to steal it for you.
 
There was also an Australian release a few years ago. It looks as though it's also out of print but you might find a box or two sitting around if you look on that part of the internet too.

R
 
IIRC, the only Macross we ever saw in the UK in a completely untainted form was Macross Plus, which is a fantastic OVA - out of print but very cheap from Marketplace sellers. When Manga said recently that they were hoping to blu-ray some of their old favourites at least once a year... I hope that's one of them.

That said, you'll appreciate it more if you have the context of having seen the original series, which is plenty watchable, though imperfect (mind you, if you've soldiered through the original Gundam, you must have a fairly strong stomach for that kind of stuff).

If you get hooked at all... avoid Macross 7. Has to be the slowest and most tedious thing I've ever seen. 50 episodes long, 5 episodes of fresh animation in the entire thing. Horrible, horrible horrible. Rather loved Macross Frontier though.

Neither are available in the west, apparently because of the licensing complexities surrounding Robotech. As far as I understand it, these complexities boil down to Robotech's 'Creators' repeatedly attempting to revive the IP by putting sequels into development that are never likely to go anywhere. Basically, it's localised trademark trolling, and they don't want the 'real' Macross out in the wild lest it confuse their supposed audience.
 
kupocake said:
Neither are available in the west, apparently because of the licensing complexities surrounding Robotech. As far as I understand it, these complexities boil down to Robotech's 'Creators' repeatedly attempting to revive the IP by putting sequels into development that are never likely to go anywhere. Basically, it's localised trademark trolling, and they don't want the 'real' Macross out in the wild lest it confuse their supposed audience.
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Harmony Gold don't want any Macross released in the West unless they stand to profit from it without having to do any work. The only way the three shows Robotech was cut together from got released in the US was with their say so and logo on the box (and presumably a big fat cheque). It's a real shame as I'm sure Macross F would be a good licence for an English language distributor to pick up. But understandably, the creators don't want to line the pockets of litigious dicks who think they have a right to profit from other people's work.

@vash - So did you come to your senses after actually watching Black Lagoon?
 
IIRC, the only Macross we ever saw in the UK in a completely untainted form was Macross Plus, which is a fantastic OVA - out of print but very cheap from Marketplace sellers. When Manga said recently that they were hoping to blu-ray some of their old favourites at least once a year... I hope that's one of them.
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@Kupocake, yes looking on Amazon/eBay Macross Plus is cheap as chips! I'll pick this up on your recomendation.

That said, you'll appreciate it more if you have the context of having seen the original series, which is plenty watchable, though imperfect (mind you, if you've soldiered through the original Gundam, you must have a fairly strong stomach for that kind of stuff).
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Haha! I'm not gonna lie, Gundam is incredibly odd at times, features some bizzaro plots and crude animation. But you cannot beat the original RX-78 for mecha design or that damn theme tune......moeagere! moeagere! moeagere! GANDAMUUUUUU!

Thanks everyone for your replies, AUKN Forum always comes up trumps with my questions.
 
kupocake said:
IIRC, the only Macross we ever saw in the UK in a completely untainted form was Macross Plus, which is a fantastic OVA - out of print but very cheap from Marketplace sellers. When Manga said recently that they were hoping to blu-ray some of their old favourites at least once a year... I hope that's one of them.
Click to expand...

I think a Blu-ray dition of Plus will depend largely on whether Manga still have the license.

In the meantime, Kiseki brought Macross II to the UK. It's still kicking around some places on DVD. Manga Entertainment released it stateside with all the episdes cut together into one BIG ASS movie, and it's a rare case of an official DVD with region zero coding.

Macross II is hardly amazing, though, and suffers with some of the worst English voice acting I've ever heard. it's fine if you want a Macross fix, but... well... there's better.

That whole stupid deal with Harmony Gold / Big West needs to vanish immediately. It smacks of the big cheeses thinking their property is worth more than it actually is, sad to say.
 
HdE said:
kupocake said:
IIRC, the only Macross we ever saw in the UK in a completely untainted form was Macross Plus, which is a fantastic OVA - out of print but very cheap from Marketplace sellers. When Manga said recently that they were hoping to blu-ray some of their old favourites at least once a year... I hope that's one of them.
Click to expand...

I think a Blu-ray dition of Plus will depend largely on whether Manga still have the license.

In the meantime, Kiseki brought Macross II to the UK. It's still kicking around some places on DVD. Manga Entertainment released it stateside with all the episdes cut together into one BIG ASS movie, and it's a rare case of an official DVD with region zero coding.

Macross II is hardly amazing, though, and suffers with some of the worst English voice acting I've ever heard. it's fine if you want a Macross fix, but... well... there's better..
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I've never actually seen Macross II. Felt I could skip it on account of it being non-canonical...
 
HdE said:
That whole stupid deal with Harmony Gold / Big West needs to vanish immediately. It smacks of the big cheeses thinking their property is worth more than it actually is, sad to say.
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The Big West stuff is resolved, it's just Harmony Gold in the way.
As no-one has tried to pick up any Macross without Harmony Golds approval (triggering the needed multi year lawsuit) we can't tell.

The question is whether it getting resolved in Japan voids Harmony Gold's licence or not (as they licensed off the partner that was ruled to only has rights for season 1, but nothing over the rest of the franchise).
 
I would imagine it is common knowledge amongst anyone who cares, but DYRL finally came out on BD this past week. \o/

I am not sure why Bandai has to make things awkward by insisting on only releasing these Macross films packed in with PS3 "games", though.
 
teonzo said:
ilmaestro said:
I would imagine it is common knowledge amongst anyone who cares, but DYRL finally came out on BD this past week.
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Some details please?
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Since it's maestro posting, I think it's a safe assumption that you can add "...in Japan" to the end of that sentence. :p
 
In that case ilmaestro should be proven guilty of inducing false hopes.
The penalty would be this one: he has to buy it (that's easy, he already did 99.9999%), go at the home of each AUKN forum member, play the BD and dub it on the fly (including all the songs).
Ayase, since you are a member of the court, do you agree?



Teo
 
I would like to see ilmaestro perform his penance while dressed in idol attire* suitable for singing Minmay songs.

Sticking to my DVD version...for now.

R

(* Er, shower scene optional.)
 
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teonzo said:
In that case ilmaestro should be proven guilty of inducing false hopes.
The penalty would be this one: he has to buy it (that's easy, he already did 99.9999%), go at the home of each AUKN forum member, play the BD and dub it on the fly (including all the songs).
Ayase, since you are a member of the court, do you agree?
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With the proviso that instead we all come to your home in Italy to watch it Teo, aye.
 
teonzo said:
The penalty would be this one: he has to buy it (that's easy, he already did 99.9999%), go at the home of each AUKN forum member, play the BD and dub it on the fly (including all the songs).
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Such stakes should be raised: record the dub from within animefreak's house, requesting that he voices the role of Captain Global.
 
Hmm, perhaps I should be more careful in future, especially with Rui floating around. ^^;

However the same applies to Teo in the "careful what you wish for" category - I would be more than happy to spend all day singing Macross songs, I'm just not sure anyone else could take it. :lol:

I shall be picking my copy up next week in Japan, due to the increased price/difficulty of import since these "hybrid packs" get classed as games on Amazon and the like.
 
Rui said:
I would like to see ilmaestro perform his penance while dressed in idol attire* suitable for singing Minmay songs.
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This is a suitable motion, approved!
We should invite Sparrowsabre7 too, this could lead to an interesting turn of the events in Perfect Blue style.



ayase said:
With the proviso that instead we all come to your home in Italy to watch it Teo, aye.
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For me it's ok, no problem. Seriously, I have a couple of empty rooms here, if you want to come to visit these lands you can be my guests.



Zin5ki said:
Such stakes should be raised: record the dub from within animefreak's house, requesting that he voices the role of Captain Global.
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This is one of the aptest combination ever, approved!



ilmaestro said:
However the same applies to Teo in the "careful what you wish for" category - I would be more than happy to spend all day singing Macross songs, I'm just not sure anyone else could take it. :lol:
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You are forgetting something: we are in full summer. Besides rotten tomatoes, we can throw whole watermelons.



Speaking of watermelons and Japanese people:

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Teo
 
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