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robotech_masterSo, I used to be involved in Robotech fandom. The series did originally impress me so much, and stay with me so long, that I ended up modeling my whole Internet identity around it, that I still use to this day. A few years ago, I even parlayed this into a series of podcasts, in which I got to speak to and interview the voices and writers behind some of the favorite characters of my childhood—including, amazingly, the late, great Carl Macek himself. I still consider that among my greatest achievements, that I got to speak with the man who had such a profound influence on my childhood, voice to voice, before he passed away. I also got to hang out with the head honchos of Harmony Gold from time to time.
But a number of things led to my discontinuing the podcast series. Partly because it was so much work, and I'd just gotten a new full-time job. And partly because I'd just gotten fed up with the fandom. Oh, I had and have a number of friends who are part of it, but it seems like the less new Robotech stuff there is, the more bickering and infighting there is among the people picking over the bones of the dead horse. For a while, with the release of the Robotech movie The Shadow Chronicles, it seemed like there was some new hope for the fandom. Robotech was alive again, even if the new movie had a few plot holes you could fly a Veritech through.
But then Harmony Gold abruptly decided to put further new Robotech stuff on hold pending the possibility of the Tobey Maguire-helmed live-action movie getting out of Development Hell…totally squandering the momentum it had started to build with Shadow Chronicles. And as the fandom relapsed into infighting, I realized there were better things I could devote my attention to. And six years went by.
I guess the Maguire movie must have fizzled during that time, because over the last year or so, I heard here and there about a new HG Robotech production, a re-dub of a previously-unused OAV from the original Japanese Mospeada source material. I hadn't paid too much attention, partly because there was some sort of uproar that they weren't getting the singer who did the original Robotech songs to do new material for it and I just kind of shied away from the drama again. But now I find out it's being released to DVD in just a few days, and it includes substantial new material to create a new story around that footage.
So I'm at least curious to see it. The thing is, it's only being sold in a two-pack with a Shadow Chronicles DVD, and I already have two of those, the regular and special edition. There isn't a Blu-ray release, perhaps because the new show is animated in 4:3 to match the old Mospeada OAV. (I wonder how well the new footage matches the old stylistically?) The bundle is cheap enough—about $13 to pre-order on Amazon. But I rebel at buying yet another Shadow Chronicles DVD. (Now if it were a Blu-ray, that would be another story. Don't have one of those yet.) No word on if or when it will be streaming anywhere.
And honestly, I'm not terribly impressed by the other new Robotech news I heard about—a comic book crossover with Voltron, of all things. It puts me in mind of the bad old days of the '90s when Harmony Gold consisted of someone at a desk with an ink pad, rubber stamp, and deposit slips, and we got some decent, some awful, and some downright weird comic books that ostensibly had something to do with Robotech…maybe.
I'm not really sure what to say about all this. I try not to speak ill of Harmony Gold's leadership, because at least they're trying. But it feels like they've made a series of bad decisions. Was it really a good idea to wait six years on the promise that a movie might make it out of Development Hell (which few ever do)? Was it a good idea to make every Robotech fan who wants the new movie buy the previous one all over again? And seriously…Robotech and Voltron?
I suspect that the other part of the reason I drifted away from the fandom was not wanting to get upset when I heard whatever next thing that was going to happen to the beloved show of my childhood. Fortunately, by this point I'm a lot less invested in the show. (Perhaps less fortunately, so are a lot of other fans. It's hard to keep up enthusiasm over seven years of nothing.)
Anyway, I expect to watch and perhaps enjoy the new show, when I can. But I don't expect it's going to bring me back into the fandom. Unless HG follows this new show up with something even more impressive, that ship has more or less sailed.
But a number of things led to my discontinuing the podcast series. Partly because it was so much work, and I'd just gotten a new full-time job. And partly because I'd just gotten fed up with the fandom. Oh, I had and have a number of friends who are part of it, but it seems like the less new Robotech stuff there is, the more bickering and infighting there is among the people picking over the bones of the dead horse. For a while, with the release of the Robotech movie The Shadow Chronicles, it seemed like there was some new hope for the fandom. Robotech was alive again, even if the new movie had a few plot holes you could fly a Veritech through.
But then Harmony Gold abruptly decided to put further new Robotech stuff on hold pending the possibility of the Tobey Maguire-helmed live-action movie getting out of Development Hell…totally squandering the momentum it had started to build with Shadow Chronicles. And as the fandom relapsed into infighting, I realized there were better things I could devote my attention to. And six years went by.
I guess the Maguire movie must have fizzled during that time, because over the last year or so, I heard here and there about a new HG Robotech production, a re-dub of a previously-unused OAV from the original Japanese Mospeada source material. I hadn't paid too much attention, partly because there was some sort of uproar that they weren't getting the singer who did the original Robotech songs to do new material for it and I just kind of shied away from the drama again. But now I find out it's being released to DVD in just a few days, and it includes substantial new material to create a new story around that footage.
So I'm at least curious to see it. The thing is, it's only being sold in a two-pack with a Shadow Chronicles DVD, and I already have two of those, the regular and special edition. There isn't a Blu-ray release, perhaps because the new show is animated in 4:3 to match the old Mospeada OAV. (I wonder how well the new footage matches the old stylistically?) The bundle is cheap enough—about $13 to pre-order on Amazon. But I rebel at buying yet another Shadow Chronicles DVD. (Now if it were a Blu-ray, that would be another story. Don't have one of those yet.) No word on if or when it will be streaming anywhere.
And honestly, I'm not terribly impressed by the other new Robotech news I heard about—a comic book crossover with Voltron, of all things. It puts me in mind of the bad old days of the '90s when Harmony Gold consisted of someone at a desk with an ink pad, rubber stamp, and deposit slips, and we got some decent, some awful, and some downright weird comic books that ostensibly had something to do with Robotech…maybe.
I'm not really sure what to say about all this. I try not to speak ill of Harmony Gold's leadership, because at least they're trying. But it feels like they've made a series of bad decisions. Was it really a good idea to wait six years on the promise that a movie might make it out of Development Hell (which few ever do)? Was it a good idea to make every Robotech fan who wants the new movie buy the previous one all over again? And seriously…Robotech and Voltron?
I suspect that the other part of the reason I drifted away from the fandom was not wanting to get upset when I heard whatever next thing that was going to happen to the beloved show of my childhood. Fortunately, by this point I'm a lot less invested in the show. (Perhaps less fortunately, so are a lot of other fans. It's hard to keep up enthusiasm over seven years of nothing.)
Anyway, I expect to watch and perhaps enjoy the new show, when I can. But I don't expect it's going to bring me back into the fandom. Unless HG follows this new show up with something even more impressive, that ship has more or less sailed.
