I'm sure there's a few of you here who used Robotech as a gateway drug into anime, japanese culture etc. I remember how it fueled me into finding as many vhs bootlegs of japanese cartoons and struggling with early bbs's to find translations as subtitled versions were few and far between.

Last month Space, Canada's sci-fi channel started playing Robotech everyday. While I got the dvd's a few years back and worked my way through them, I've been suckered into watching them on tv again. I can't say they're amazing, but they have a soft spot in my heart. I really dig the style of older japanese animation; macross and robotech's constituent parts being at the sort of tail end of that.

Then I made the mistake. I grabbed a copy of the 20th anniversary soundtrack of Robotech. Oh my goodness; I cannot believe how incredibly out tune the Minmay stuff is sung. At first I thought it was a joke, maybe a fan doing karaoke or something, but no dice... it's the original singer in all her pitchy glory.

In the end, I still love Robotech in a theoretical, reflective sense. Despite all the flaws I seen now with it, it really meant something to me and it is quite possible that i may have not gotten into japanese toys without it.

Those Zentraedi weren't screaming for nothing.

Although I began with the Macross series, I think Robotech's New Generation ultimately captured me. I blame it for my fixation on motorcycle robots, anyway. I think it was also the first time that I saw animated nudity (I was maybe 12- this was a big deal at the time).

You articulated my feelings about the series perfectly. It's a guilty pleasure of mine, something I can enjoy at home alone, but wouldn't feel comfortable introducing anyone else to. ;p

I've never really watched Robotech but am very familiar with it's Japanese movie counterpart "Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?". One of my favorite animes of all time. Still have the original Bandai Macross VF-1S (Hikaru version) Valkyrie figure in great shape too.

totally... I guess maybe I crossed the line in this post then.

I just keep diving deeper into the story behind the series and it's pretty crazy... I find it really hard to believe that it's inception was largely in part due to Revell licensing model kits from Japan and needed some sort of commercial tie-in. It really brings home the idea that so many cartoons were strictly 30 minute ads to shlock whatever toys they could. Despite that, Robotech really seemed to have a substantive story throughout it. You can tell that there was a certain amount of attention given to this daily syndicated 'commercial.'

My download of Robotech:the Movie just finished last night. I'm really interested in seeing this, as I only had ever heard about it. I remember all the ads in the terribly shitty comic versions of the series and always wondered how it just 'disappeared.' I'm stoked to see how they manage to tie in footage from Megazone 23 into the movie.

Oof. Please post your review, very curious to see what you think...

With strong hearts that beat as one,
Watch us soar,
And with love that conquers all
We'll win this battle,
This last battle,
We will win
We must win
We will win
We can win
We can win

oh Shibby, how you give me faith in humanity...

The rumor is that the voice actress for Minmay was hired and THEN they told her that she'd need to sing... which kinda freaked her out. Rather than recast her, they decided to liquor her up in the studio to help loosen her up (karaoke bar style) and then recorded her in a single take.

that doesn't sound too far from the truth considering the songs...