Robotech was startling for a mid-1980s viewer used to the animated sci-fi of the period. It told an ongoing story, with episodes more chapters than complete stories in themselves. It dealt with emotions and serious themes, and even featured multiple romances. Like most boys of my age, I usually rolled my eyes when shows took side-trips into "mushy stuff" - but I actually found myself interested in the relationship side of the plot.
I never went through an anime phase. I watched a few of the highly touted offerings of the 1990s and mostly wasn't impressed. "Let's stop chasing this terrorist for five minutes while I pontificate like a stoned philosophy undergrad." "OK, but as soon as you're done, I'm going to wake the audience up by flashing my panties five times as I turn cartwheels while double-wielding machine pistols." I had larger priorities at that time anyway, and so I dismissed anime as "not for me" and went merrily on with my life.
Years later, I outgrew having outgrown cartoons, and it wasn't long before I found anime titles that legitimately impressed me - notably the works of Mamoru Hosoda, Isao Takahata, and of course Hayao Miyazaki. Like everything else in film and television, I realized that there was plenty of both art and trash to go around.
Fast forward to now, and I decided there was a review series I really wanted to tackle... Which wasn't actually this one.
THE ROAD TO THE ROBOTECH REVIEWS:
An upcoming review series will be a look at the works of Studio Ghibli, starting with the pre-Ghibli works of Isaio Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki. That series is still very much "under construction," in terms of viewing the first several included titles, creating initial review drafts, and researching background. I will likely begin posting those reviews sometime next year.
It was research that led me here, however. Reading up on the history of anime, both in Japan and the US, quickly leads one to that old show from my early teen years: Robotech.
ROBOTECH VS EARLIER "JAPANIMATION"
Robotech was hardly the first anime series (or "Japanimation") to be adapted for US television. It wasn't even the first case of multiple series being combined into one. Just one year earlier, Voltron was slapped together for the US market out of two entirely different anime series: Beast King GoLion and Armored Fleet Dairugger XV.
The difference between Robotech and previous effort is in content. Earlier shows had been made specifically for child audiences and/or had been heavily altered so that elements such as violence, sexuality, and major character deaths were heavily toned down. Again citing Voltron: In Beast King GoLion, Takashi dies of his injuries in Episode Four; Sven, his English language counterpart, goes to "space hospital."
In Robotech, characters died, including series regulars. Action scenes would turn from exciting to grim on a dime. Relationships received as much, sometimes more, focus than the transforming robot battles. Complex themes involving the power of popular culture, the nature of war, and the difficulties of peace were left largely intact. Sure, some elements were censored and others were watered down, but in general the adult material remained recognizable.
"THE FRANKENSTEIN SHOW" - A QUICK BACKGROUND:
Robotech's short-term but significant success helped to raise interest in anime in the US. However, it's far from beloved among anime fans. Part of this is likely resentment against Harmony Gold, the American company behind Robotech, which made it as legally difficult as possible for the original versions of its series to receive international release. The rest stems from the nature of the 85-episode series.
It began life as a straight translation of the popular Japanese series, Super Dimension Fortress Macross - but Macross's 36 episodes weren't enough to qualify for US syndication. Writer/executive producer Carl Macek came up with the idea to combine Macross with two other series whose rights were held by Harmony Gold: Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross and Genesis Climber Mospeada. Changes were made to the stories of the three shows to transform them into a single, multi-generational saga, with each new series representing the next "generation" of a larger epic.
I'll judge the results as I go... but commercially at least, this worked. Robotech was a success, drawing in children, teens, and even some adults. That success didn't outlast its initial run: An attempted movie failed hard (which is what happens when you deal with Cannon Films), and the second season was scuttled with only three finished episodes because of issues with the overseas animation studios and exchange rate changes that made outsourcing the animation suddenly much more expensive.
Still, that 85-episode original run captured a lot of viewers' imaginations. I recognized it instantly (one of those, "Oh, that show!" moments) when I came across it while researching. And as I began rewatching, I was surprised by how much of it I remembered.
THIS REVIEW SERIES: ROBOTECH VS. THE ORIGINAL SERIES:
After watching the first few episodes and determining that I actually would enjoy revisiting the full series, I decided that I also wanted to look at the original versions. As a result, the format for these reviews will differ from my other series.
Each review will cover both versions of the individual episodes. The reviews will look at the major changes made to each episode, with me giving my opinion about which changes were for the better, which were for the worse, and why.
For the three original series, I will base my reviews on the Japanese language versions with English subtitles. ADV has released an official dub for Macross, but the separation of languages will help me to mentally separate the Japanese originals from their Robotech counterparts. For Robotech, I will use the remastered versions from the most recent blu-ray release.
RATING SCALE:
Please note that a 10-point scale for a 1980s anime may not be equivalent to a 10-point scale for, say, Best Picture Winners. If I give a "10" to a Robotech episode, I'm not claiming that it's as good as Casablanca, just that it's as good as a 25-minute animated television episode is likely to be. Also, due to the changes made, there will likely be instances in which the Japanese version will receive a different score than the Robotech version.
In general, my scores can be read as...
9 - 10: Outstanding. The episode is about as good as a 25 minute animated show reasonably could be.
7 - 8: Good. The episode is well-done, with multiple strong elements.
5 - 6: Okay. The episode does its job, but little more than that.
4: Below Average. Not good, but still passably diverting.
3: Bad. There may be decent elements, but it's poor overall.
1 - 2: Terrible. I want my 25 minutes back.
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