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SECTION III: ROBOTECH SPINOFFS AND "SEQUELS"

3.1: ROBOTECH THE SENTINELS

3.1.1: What is it?
3.1.2: How many episodes were produced?
3.1.3: Will there be any more?
3.1.4: Where can I get a copy?

3.2: THE McKINNEY BOOKS

3.2.1: What are they?
3.2.2: How do they differ from the TV series?
3.2.3: What is "End of the Circle" and "Zentraedi Rebellion"?
3.2.4: Are they still in print? Where can I get copies?
3.2.5: Who is (are) Jack McKinney?

3.3: THE COMIC BOOKS

3.3.1: The Comico Robotech Adaptations
3.3.2: The Comico Graphic Novel
3.3.3: Robotech II: The Sentinels
3.3.4: Robotech II: The Malcontent Uprisings
3.3.5: Robotech: The Legend of Zor
3.3.6: Robotech: Cyberpirates
3.3.7: Robotech: Return to Macross
3.3.8: Robotech: Invid War
3.3.9: Robotech: Invid War Aftermath
3.3.10: How many of these titles are still in print?

3.4: THE MOVIES

3.4.1: ROBOTECH: THE MOVIE

3.4.1.1: What is it?
3.4.1.2: What was it about?
3.4.1.3: Where does it fit in the TV series?
3.4.1.4: Why was it never released nationwide?
3.4.1.5: Where can I get a copy?

3.4.2: CLASH OF THE BIONOIDS

3.4.2.1: What is it?
3.4.2.2: What was it about?
3.4.2.3: Where does it fit in the TV series?
3.4.2.4: How is it different from "Macross: Do You Remember Love?"
3.4.2.5: Where can I get a copy?

3.4.3: ROBOTECH: NOT NECESSARILY THE SENTINELS

3.4.3.1: What is it?
3.4.3.2: Who is Seishun Shitemasu?
3.4.3.3: What other Robotech parodies have they made?
3.4.3.4: Where can I get copies?

3.4.4: MACROSS: HARMONY GOLD DUB PRE-ROBOTECH

3.4.4.1: What is it?
3.4.4.2: Original theme song
 

3.1: ROBOTECH: THE SENTINELS

3.1.1: WHAT IS IT?

The Sentinels was to be a 65-episode sequel to the Robotech TV series, detailing the adventures of the REF on Tirol and other worlds conquered by the Regent, king of the Invid. For financial considerations described more fully by Carl Macek in _Robotech: Art III_, the project was canceled, though the story was rewritten by Jack McKinney in a novel form, and published by Eclipse comics in a graphic form. Both new media dramatically modify the plot as described by Macek in _Art III_, especially toward the end of the series.

3.1.2: HOW MANY EPISODES WERE PRODUCED?

The footage for the first three episodes were completed before financial complications doomed the project. These episodes were rearranged, with new dialogue and some old footage added, and were released on videotape, originally through Palladium books, and later through Streamline. This footage is now widely available on video and laser disk, usually in the 'Animation' section.

3.1.3: WILL THERE BE ANY MORE?

Extremely unlikely. The animated TV version of the Sentinels is, in effect, on hold. There is some renewed interest at Harmony Gold because of the popularity of Robotech on the Sci-Fi network, but no firm plans have been made public.

3.1.4: WHERE CAN I GET A COPY?

Check your local video retail or rental store, or write:

STREAMLINE PICTURES P.O. Box 691418 West Hollywood, CA 90069

Phone: (310) 657-8559

 

3.2: THE McKINNEY BOOKS

3.2.1: WHAT ARE THEY?

The Robotech novels are published by Del Rey and are copyrighted by Harmony Gold U.S.A, Inc. and Tatsunoko Production Co., Ltd. - except for #19 which is just HG. Robotech is a trademark owned and licensed by Harmony Gold U.S.A.

        The order to read them:
                       /-13-14-15-16-17\
        1-2-3-4-5-6-19<                 >18
                       \-7-8-9-10-11-12/

        The following descriptions were taken from the back of #19.

        The Macross Saga aka First Generation:

        #1 Genesis  ISBN: 0-345-34133-3

As the Global Civil War was about to wipe out Humankind, a dying alien genius dispatched the abandoned Super Dimensional Fortress to Earth - and put Humanity's future in the hands of a corps of untried, resolute young men and women: the Robotech Defense Force. Then the most feared conquerors in the universe attacked, and the real war began...

        #2 Battle Cry  ISBN: 0-345-34134-1

Henry Gloval, Human captain of the alien spacecraft called the Super Dimensional Fortress, was a practical man - he only asked himself once or twice a day how in the world he had ended up in commend of the stupendously powerful SDF-1. After all, he had more important things on his mind - for now the Zentraedi had come to claim the alien space fortress as their own...

        #3 Homecoming  ISBN: 0-345-34136-8

For more than a year, the Humans aboard the SDF-1 had fought and eluded an endless armada of Zentraedi warships. Now the space fortress would have to battle her way back to Earth. But villains came in human form as well as alien - and the treachery of power-hungry men might be the most lethal threat of all...

*** These first three books have also been recently published as a '3-in-1' volume. ISBN: 0-345-38900-X ***

        #4 Battlehymn  ISBN: 0-345-34137-6

For two years, the SDF-1 had been chased through the Solar system by a race of giant alien warriors, only to be made to feel like unwanted relatives when they finally returned to planet Earth. But after three months of inactivity, the SDF-1's Captain Gloval took matters into his own hands. In direct violation of Council dictates, he ordered the SDF-1 airborne. After all, the fate of the Earth was at stake...

        #5 Force of Arms  ISBN: 0-345-34138-4

The giant Zentraedi had given up their efforts to capture the SDF-1 intact. Now they wished only to destroy it - along with its Human crew, the whole Human race and its homeworld, and those aliens who had defected to the Terran side. Supreme Commander Dolza mobilized the largest fleet of Zentraedi warships the universe had ever seen... and all their weapons were aimed at Earth.

        #6 Doomsday  ISBN: 0-345-34139-2

It was a war without victors - one that had brought two species to the brink of extinction. And it was a war without spoils, save for the devastated Earth itself. After the final battle, Humans began the painstaking process or reconstruction. The Zentraedi would help them - for the two former enemies new shared a common goal: survival. But all was not well in this bravest of new worlds... for one Zentraedi had vowed to lead his race back to their former glory - at any cost.

*** Del Rey has collected books 4-6 into one '3-in-1' volume as with 1-3. ISBN: 0-345-39145-4 ***

Southern Cross aka The Robotech Masters aka Second Generation:

        #7 Southern Cross  ISBN: 0-345-34140-6

Twenty years after the First Robotech War, the Robotech Masters came to Earth to finish the conquest their Zentraedi warrior-slaves had begun... and a battle-ravaged Earth had to defend itself once more. And young Dana Sterling, half-Human, half-Zentraedi commander of an elite Hovertank unit, stepped into the spotlight of interstellar history!

        #8 Metal Fire  ISBN: 0-345-34141-4

An alien fortress had crash landed on Earth - brought down deliberately in the struggle between the Robotech Masters and Earth's Human inhabitants. Now the fortress sat silently overlooking Monument City, daring someone to penetrate its dark mysteries. And who better to brave the ship than Dana Sterling's 15th Squadron ATACs - after all, they had brought the thing down to begin with!

        #9 The Final Nightmare  ISBN: 0-345-34142-2

The war for Earth had become even more desperate: the Robotech Masters' Protoculture Matrix was degenerating, transforming into the Flower of Life, which was sure to draw the savage, merciless Invid across the galaxy. But the Army of the Southern Cross vowed to wage war for Earth to the bitter end. And Dana Sterling, half-alien commander of an elite Hovertank unit, waged a desperate war of her own to uncover the meaning of her strange visions and the secret of the alien heritage...

The New Generation aka The Invid aka Third Generation:

        #10 Invid Invasion  ISBN: 0-345-34143-0

The Invid Regis had succeeded where the Robotech Masters had failed - her warrior horde had gained control of Protoculture and laid claim to Earth. It was up to the space-weary Human veterans of the Expeditionary Force to retake the planet - a world most of them had never seen. And the counter invasion would be more difficult than anyone could imagine...

        #11 Metamorphosis ISBN: 0-345-34144-9

There had never been a less conventional band of champions: a downed pilot who was a stranger on his own homeworld... a former biker hellion... a young forager obsessed with the vanishing heritage of Humanity's lore... a lethal Robotech warrior... an irrepressible adolescent convinced that the world owes her a Great Romance... and a cloned enemy Simulagent who couldn't recall who she was. And somewhere ahead of them lay Reflex Point, nerve center and stronghold of the Invid conquerors - and the destination of the group that was Earth's last hope.

        #12 Symphony of Light  ISBN: 0-345-34145-7

It had been a long, hard road for the ragtag band of Robotech irregulars, but Reflex Point was finally close at hand, and preparations were underway for a full-scale assault on the Invid stronghold. But the Invid Regis would not surrender so easily the world she had come halfway across the galaxy to claim. And no one had thought to ask whether Protoculture might have something to say in these matters. But indeed it did, and the final encounter of the Robotech Wars would be more mystifying than anyone had imagined...

The Sentinels:

        #1 aka #13 The Devil's Hand  ISBN: 0-345-35300-5

It was 2020, and the Super Dimensional Fortresses 1 and 2 had long been destroyed. But Earth was now on the mend, and the Robotech Defense Force had fashioned a new battle fortress: the SDF-3, tasked with a trip across the galaxy to make peace with Triol's Robotech Masters. But unknown to Admirals Rick and Lisa Hunter and the SDF-3's crew of thousands, the Robotech Masters were already on their way to Earth. And at Tirol, the SDF-3 would face the galaxy's fiercest warlord: the Invid Regent!

        #2 aka #14 Dark Powers  ISBN: 0-345-35301-3

Stranded on the far side of the galaxy after battling the Invid hordes, the Robotech Expeditionary Force's chances for survival are slim. But suddenly, a starship unlike any other appeared - manned by an incredible assortment of beings determined to challenge the Invid Regent himself! REF volunteers signed on, their mighty war mecha in tow, for a campaign that would mean their total destruction - or liberty for the planets of the Sentinels!

        #3 aka #15 Death Dance  ISBN: 0-345-35302-1

Four months had passed without a word from the Sentinels, and the members of the Expeditionary mission to Tirol feared the worst - even as they began truce negotiations with the Invid Regent himself. Far away, the surviving Sentinels were hopelessly stranded on Praxis, a planet in cataclysm, at the mercy of the Invid Regis. But deep within that world's core were answers to the Sentinels' prayers - if they could only reach them before Praxis tore itself apart.

        #4 aka #16 World Killers  ISBN: 0-345-35304-8

The bear like Kabarrans and the swashbuckling amazons from Praxis, the feral natives of Garuda and the Human Robotech heroes - these oddly match champions banded together with yet other species to form the valiant Sentinels. But no fighting force could hope to dislodge the Invid hordes from Haydon IV, ethereal world of superscience, or Spheris, crystalline globe of living minerals and murderous resonances. Nevertheless, the Sentinels launched their attack...

        #5 aka #17 Rubicon  ISBN: 0-345-35305-6

Optera - birthplace of the Flower of Life and its agents of retribution, the Invid - was to be the site of the final confrontation between the Sentinels and Edwards and his Invid allies. Edwards, with Lynn-Minmei prisoner and a handful of Invid Inorganics under his control, had fled Tirol for the distant planet. Breetai's Zentraedi were headed there as well - and so were the renegade forces of Tesla, mutated by the fruits of the Flower. The Sentinels themselves were not far behind... and it was a battle the Sentinels had to win!

The conclusion to the series:

        #18 The End of the Circle  ISBN: 0-345-36311-6

The SDF-3 manifested from spacefold, but no one aboard had the slightest idea where they were - the ship appeared to be grounded in some glowing fog, ensnared by the light itself. And the ship's Protoculture drives had disappeared. Meanwhile, in Earth space, the Ark Angel had been spared the destructive fate of the REF main fleet, and a mission set out to locate the SDF-3. Elsewhere, mysterious events were being set into motion, and the ultimate conflict was imminent...

An additional side-story:

        #19 The Zentraedi Rebellion  ISBN: 0-345-38774-0

Not every Human was eager to share the planet Earth with the Zentraedi survivors of the First Robotech War, and there was little prospect of a lasting peace. The tensions in the Southlands had given rise to two opposing groups: the Army of the Southern Cross, and a loosely organized brigade of Zentraedi insurgents, driven by the Imperative to continue the fight - until one race or the other was eradicated. Caught between those rivals was the Robotech Defense Force, which would play a crucial role in what would be called the Malcontent Uprisings...

3.2.2: HOW DO THEY DIFFER FROM THE TV SERIES?

Overall, the first twelve McKiney novels follow the Robotech series exactly, so that when reading the novels one can simply imagine the film in their head moving along with the words. The novels add another dimension to the Robotech universe and the characters, bringing out their thoughts, feelings, and inner conflicts as well as describing the scenes in a way not possible with television. There exist however, several important differences between the novels and the animated series that should be mentioned.

One of these major differences is the McKinney team's use of the "Thinking Cap", the sensor-packed helmet that Veritech and other mecha pilots need to interface with their vehicle to form the mysterious symbiotic link made possible by protoculture. In the series there is no mention of the thinking cap. Indeed there are several scenes where the pilot flies his vehicle without one, such as when Rick Hunter rescues Lisa Hayes from the destroyed Grand Cannon: he has her wear the helmet and skillfully pilots his VT in guardian mode out of the ruins with Lisa on his lap.

In addition to protoculture's use as a fuel source and power behind the mysterious symbiotic link, McKinney portrays it allowing metal objects to act like a living entity, repairing and readjusting themselves according to needs at hand. Examples include the SDF-1's solid floor allowing Captain Gloval's team to pass through to different levels during their initial encounter right after the fortress crash landed on Macross, their robotic probe's circuits rearranging themselves after entering the SDF-1, Breetai's ship's hull resealing itself after Ben Dickson fired missiles to try and escape with his buddies, and Khyron's ship rebuilding its command center

After the McKinney team finishes covering the saga as seen on film, they create their own material when continuing the series, most notably in the Sentinels series of novels. The most recent addition is Book #18: The End of the Circle, which has been received with mixed feelings by the Robotech fans, some of whom do not agree with its canonism. Their latest book, #19: The Zentraedi Rebellion also attempts to cover ground not supported by the TV series when it tries to explore the crisis caused by Zentraedi living on Earth who can not adapt to a peaceful existence. However one wishes to judge these books is entirely up to them, but the McKinney novels will remain a major part of the Robotech universe left to be explored and enjoyed by its fans.

3.2.3: WHAT IS "END OF THE CIRCLE" AND "ZENTRAEDI REBELLION"?

End of the Circle is a new story designed to tie up all the loose ends in the Robotech universe post-Sentinels. It is a creation of Jack McKinney's and is not related to the Robotech III: The Odyssey concept mentioned in Robotech Art 3.

The Zentraedi Rebellion is a story that takes place between the end of the Macross Saga and the beginnings of Southern Cross and The Sentinels. It is based strongly on the Eternity Comic's miniseries The Malcontent Uprisings.

3.2.4: ARE THEY STILL IN PRINT? WHERE CAN I GET COPIES?

Del Rey has collected the first three novels into one volume, and may continue this with the rest. #19 is new, however, at this time I do not believe the earlier books are still in print. However, they still seem to be available from earlier printings.

Still-in-print Robotech novels can usually be ordered through your local Waldenbooks or other favorite book store, or by mail order from:

        Del Rey Order Department
        Randome House Distribution Center
        Westminster, MD 21157

        Phone: 1-800-733-3000

3.2.5: WHO IS (ARE) JACK McKINNEY?

Jack McKinney is a pen name for the team of Brian Daley and James Luceno.

 

3.3: THE COMIC BOOKS

3.3.1: THE COMICO ROBOTECH ADAPTATIONS

Author: (?) Artist: (?) Publisher: Comico Number of Issues: Macross: 36

                  Masters: 25
                  New Generation: 25

Dates of Publication: 1985-1988 (?) Plot: Comic book adaptation of the Robotech TV episodes.

3.3.2: THE COMICO GRAPHIC NOVEL

Author: Mike Baron Artist: penciling by Neil Vokes, inking by Ken Steacy, coloring by Tom Vincent Publisher: Comico Date of Publication: 8/86 Plot: Gloval, Edwards, and Fokker explore the newly-crashed Battlefortress in 1999.

3.3.3: ROBOTECH II: THE SENTINELS

Author: Tom Mason and Chris Ulm (after Bk 2 Issue #14, Tom Mason) Artist: Jason and John Waltrip Publisher: Eternity/Malibu Number of Issues: 16 in Book One, 2 in the Wedding Special, 3 in the Illustrated Handbook, 21 in Book Two, 8 in Book 3. Dates of Publication: 11/88 to 4/94 Plot: The REF departs to Tirol to confront the Robotech Masters, but find Invid there instead. With the aid of the Sentinels, aliens formerly in the Masters' empire now under the Invid yoke, a group of REF soldiers set off to defeat the Invid. A retelling of McKinney's novelization of the never-completed TV series.

3.3.4: ROBOTECH II: THE MALCONTENT UPRISINGS

Author: Bill Spangler Artist: Michael Ling Publisher: Eternity/Malibu Number of Issues: 12 Dates of Publication: 8/89 to 12/90 Plot: In separate adventures, Max Sterling and Johnathan Wolff, and Miriya Sterling discover a plot by Zentraedi malcontents to avenge themselves on humanity for atrocities committed against them by mankind, and work to prevent it. This series is set a number of years after the destruction of the SDF-1.

3.3.5: ROBOTECH: THE LEGEND OF ZOR

Author: Jason and John Waltrip Artist: Jason and John Waltrip Publisher: Eternity/Malibu Number of Issues: 6 Dates of Publication: 3/92 to 10/92 Plot: Zor sets off from Tirol and discovers the Flower of Life. The Robotech Masters seize power on Tirol, and order the defoliation of Optera by the Zentraedi. The story ends with Zor sending his Battlefortress to Earth.

3.3.6: ROBOTECH: CYBERPIRATES

Author: Bill Spangler Artist: Thomas Tenny and Fred Perry Publisher: Eternity/Malibu Number of Issues: 4 Dates of Publication: 3/91 to 7/91 Plot: A couple of years after the departure of the SDF-3, the Southern Cross testing its new Alphas. But something goes wrong; an outside force is taking the planes over.

3.3.7: ROBOTECH: RETURN TO MACROSS

Author: Bill Spangler Artist: Mujib Rahiman and Tim Eldred Publisher: Eternity/Malibu Number of Issues: 12 Dates of Publication: 3/93 to 3/94 Plot: During the years before the arrival of the Zentraedi, an assassin stalks the SDF-1, and a rogue submarine from the Global Civil War tries to capture Fokker and Edwards and hold the RDF hostage. Meanwhile, Breetai and Khyron are sent on a mission to investigate an alien ship, as they look for Zor's missing battlefortress.

3.3.8: ROBOTECH: INVID WAR

Author: Bill Spangler and Tim Eldred Artist: Tim Eldred and Fred Perry Publisher: Eternity/Malibu Number of Issues: 18 Dates of Publication: 5/92 to 10/93 Plot: The first twelve issues detail the early days of the Invid occupation of Earth, centering around Nova Satori, Johnathan Wolff, Lancer, and John Carpenter, especially Satori's systematic attempt to expand her personal powerbase on Earth, and preparations on Moon Base to assist Earth. The later six chapters detail adventures of Scott Bernard and his band between episodes of the TV show, up to the departure of Scott in search for the SDF-3.

3.3.9: ROBOTECH: INVID WAR AFTERMATH

Author: Bruce Lewis Artist: Bruce Lewis, David Lanphear, and Tim Eldred Publisher: Eternity/Malibu Number of Issues: 6 Dates of Publication: ~11/93 to 4/94 Plot: In the years after the departure of the Invid, Lancer, Sera, Annie, Rand and Lunk build an oasis among the devastation, called Bellmont. Eventually, Nova Satori, with the assistance of Scott Bernard and Rook Bartley, takes over the city and establishes herself as tyrant. Meanwhile, a starving army of Zentraedi is closing on the city, with the firm intention that their demands will be met.

3.3.10: HOW MANY OF THESE TITLES ARE STILL IN PRINT?

In the summer of '94, Eternity Comics ended its affiliation with the Robotech line, with several titles to be picked up by Academy Comics. The notes in the last Eternity issues indicate that _Sentinels_ will definitely be picked up, with the possibility of _Return to Macross_ and _Invid War: Aftermath_ being picked up as well.

 

3.4: THE MOVIES

3.4.1: ROBOTECH: THE MOVIE

3.4.1.1: WHAT IS IT?

Robotech: The Untold Story was a cinematic release that combined footage from the Japanese OAV release MEGAZONE 23, footage from SOUTHERN CROSS, and 15 minutes of new footage at the end in the Megazone style. Originally released in Dallas and several other Texas cities, and occasionally appearing elsewhere, the Robotech Movie was a commercial failure in the USA. It remained on Cannon's catalog for a while, but was (apparently) eventually withdrawn.

3.4.1.2: WHAT WAS IT ABOUT?

In 2027, the Robotech Masters arrive at Earth to retrieve the memory core of the battlefortress of theirs that had crashed here in 1999; this memory, incorporated into the E.V.E. computer at Earth's Robotech Research Center, is vital to the survival of their civilization. To capture it, they abduct B.D. Andrews, a leader of the research team, and replace him with a simulagent. One of Andrews' men is suspicious, and passes on a mobile data terminal (a huge transformable motorcycle) to his friend, civilian Mark Landry, before he is killed by agents accountable to Andrews. Mark is told by his friend in the exchange to contact Eve.

Mark takes the MODAT 5 with him, and eventually discovers that the only Eve he knows of, a popular singer and talk-show hostess, is really a computer- generated hologram used for propaganda by the United Earth Government, produced by the E.V.E. computer and now partially under Andrews' control.

Meanwhile, the Armies of the Southern Cross are doing battle with the Robotech Masters in space, using a battle plan generated by the E.V.E. computer; but the Andrews simulagent sabotages the plan, and the Earth forces are defeated, and retreat.

Eventually Mark confronts Andrews, and threatens to go public with what he knows (the arrival of the Robotech Masters was kept secret from from the public) if Andrews tries to injure him or his friends.

Andrews busies himself with the process of downloading the E.V.E. memory to a satellite, where the transmissions are intercepted by the simulagent's alien masters.

Andrews' agents kill one of Mark's friends, and take the film she'd made of the MODAT, sending Mark into a rage. He confronts Andrews again, and is defeated.

Computer Minister Embry has meanwhile been alerted to the illicit transmissions, and prepares to make them known to the Supreme Command. To prevent this, Andrews declares Martial Law in the Far East sector, and while Minister Embry's plane is readied at the airport, Andrews' troops close in on him to stop him.

Left for dead, Mark is awakened by E.V.E., who offers to help him. She directs him to a Robotech fighter, and Mark speeds to the airport, defeating Andrews and his men. Back in space, General Emerson is attacking the Robotech Masters again. Without Andrews at the controls, E.V.E. formulates a new battle plan, which is implemented by a hovertank squad, resulting in the downing of one of the aliens' flagships. The Earth is safe, for now.

3.4.1.3: WHERE DOES IT FIT INTO THE TV SERIES?

The Movie is set just before the beginning of "Dana's Story"; in a sense, it is a preliminary episode to the Second Robotech War, though there are a number of continuity problems with the TV series. These problems are discussed in detail in "A Fly's View of the Tangled Web", an essay written by Peter Walker (pww@spacsun.rice.edu) and available from him or from the FAQ archive.

3.4.1.4: WHY WAS IT NEVER RELEASED NATIONWIDE?

There were a number of factors that may have contributed to it. Firstly, Cannon did a poor job of advertising it in the test markets; commercials for the movies were slated for 6:00 in the morning. Secondly, the movie was competing with Transformers: The Movie, which had a bigger advertising budget and a wider appeal. Thirdly, the movie was too cerebral for the general kid- vid audience, and many parents who took young children were not prepared for the adult themes (sex and violence). Most importantly, the fan reaction was luke-warm at first, and has become increasingly hostile with the passage of time.

3.4.1.5: WHERE CAN I GET A COPY?

I don't know, but if you do, please tell us! Seriously, the Robotech movie has never been released on video in the American market. Sightings of the film on video in England, the Netherlands, and elsewhere have been reported on the net, but nothing firm is known.

 

3.4.2: CLASH OF THE BIONOIDS

3.4.2.1: WHAT IS IT?

CotB is a dubbed and edited release of Macross Summer '84: Do You Remember Love?

3.4.2.2: WHAT WAS IT ABOUT?

DYRL was a theatrical version of the Macross TV series in Japan that condensed the plot and used revised character and mecha designs. The plot is pretty much the same as the Macross Saga since very little was changed from the original to make Robotech. Of course, the original definitions - non-Robotech - for protoculture, etc. The major difference was that the male aliens were Zentraedi and the females were Meltraedi and they were at war with each other, and BOTH were after the humans.

3.4.2.3: WHERE DOES IT FIT INTO THE TV SERIES?

It doesn't really. It isn't actually a part of Robotech, it is unrelated. Yes, the designs are the same, however, it is *not* part of the universe. It was not licensed by Harmony Gold and the release is unrelated to RT. It is basically a capsulized version of the Macross Saga as far as the footage goes.

3.4.2.4: HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM MACROSS: DO YOU REMEMBER LOVE?

Basically some scenes of graphic violence and nudity were edited out. And the voice actors weren't great. There is a bootleg of the dub of DYRL *before* the cuts were made circulating in fandom.

3.4.2.5: WHERE CAN I GET A COPY OF IT?

It should be available from any video retailer. [I am searching for the company and full information currently, this will be added as soon as I get it.]

 

3.4.3: ROBOTECH: NOT NECESSARILY THE SENTINELS

3.4.3.1: WHAT IS IT?

_Robotech III: Not Necessarily the Sentinels_ is a film that is two parts parody of and one part homage to Robotech. It was put together by the fine folks at Seishun-Shitemasu, through the magic of some very creative editing and dubbing.

_NNTS_ uses footage taken primarily from Gunbuster, Macross: Do You Remember Love, Macross Flashback 2012, and Mospeada: Love, Live, Alive, as well as music from the Macross, Robotech, and some other soundtracks. The character voices are done by Seitman Shitemasu people, in some cases surprisingly aptly.

The plot of the story centers around Annie LaBelle and Lynn Minmei, who are "portrayed by" Noriko and (insert name here, I don't know it) from Gunbuster. Annie and Minmei have to pilot a new combining mecha against the Invid, who are now determined to destroy the earth. Various revelations are also made about the fates of the characters since the end of Robotech.

Without giving too much away, _Not Necessarily the Sentinels_ has some very funny things to say about Robotech and anime fandom in general, but don't take it too seriously.

And a word of warning...were it to be rated, _NNTS_ would be rated at least "R," for what I believe they call "sexual situations." So, don't show it to anyone who might be offended by its content.

3.4.3.2: WHO IS SEISHUN SHITEMASU?

Seishun Shitemasu was formed in mid-1990 by several San Diego area anime fans, the "bunch of guys with a vcr." From the beginning we have tried to create fun anime redubs which take themselves just seriously enough, with humor and profundity and frivolity and core concept all blended in measure. Seishun Shitemasu (pronounced say-SHOON shteMAHS) originally grew out the stupid realization that Nadia with her Blue Water was not entirely unlike Sheeta with a tan, and, well, things just sort of took off from there. The name is Japanese for "[I'm] living in the springtime of [my] youth," taken from the first Kimagure Orange Road opening credits("Kasuga Kyosuke, ju-gosai... seishun shitemasu!").

There's no end in sight.

3.4.3.3: WHAT OTHER ROBOTECH PARODIES HAVE THEY MADE?

None, but they are producing a sequel to Robotech III...

Robotech IV: Khyron's Counterattack. Admiral Rick Hunter and the Invid are gone. The Earth is at peace once again. But from beyond the stars, the dark tides of shadow threaten to rise again, to do the bidding of an ancient enemy. And if the heroes of the fourth Robotech War repulse this new threat, can they survive the wrath of Lisa? Annie and Minmei are going where they've never gone before...

3.4.3.4: WHERE CAN I GET COPIES?

Try your local anime club, or post a request on rec.arts.anime.

 

3.4.4 MACROSS: HARMONY GOLD DUB PRE-ROBOTECH

3.4.4.1: WHAT IS IT?

Before they decided to do Robotech, Harmony Gold was planning to dub Super Dimensional Fortress Macross and release it directly to video cassette. The completed the first tape, called "Boobytrap" which is the first several episodes of Robotech. It apparently never hit wide-release, however it was pirated and copies are circulating in fandom. The voices seem the same as Robotech, except for the narrator. Some of the music is different, and there are a few brief scenes that were cut from Robotech. (Mostly Roy and Rick scoping Minmei's posterior.) Aside from that the biggest difference is the names, they retained the original last names.

There was a comic tie in via Comico, which is why the first issue of The Macross Saga is just called 'Macross' and has the original Macross logo. It was printed before the decision to do Robotech was made.

3.4.4.2: ORIGINAL THEME SONG

This is a transcription from one of the pirates of the theme song. It is as accurate as the nth generation copy could allow.

Soldier of warlords from deepspace Macross Hurled through the night to this new place Macross Crushed and forgotten to Earthlings Macross Magically healed and rebirthing

Just a pile of rust was all they found on that Isle That no one suspected to see 10 years later Super Fortress Macross would rise Guardian of you and of me

Macross the arm of the new wave Macross Champion and knight of the new day Macross Gauntlet of mankind you stand forth Super Space Fortress called Macross!

 

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