Macross general Thread

Sony has money to burn and an army of Lawyers. I've always suspected that Harmony Gold was just a front for the mafia or some other group of criminals. Really, after they lost (dismissed with prejudice) the suit over the BattleTech IP, at this point it's more of a when not if HG fades away.

As much as HG can make a stink about anything, Sony is an 800 pound Gorilla to their angry Yorkie.

Harmony Gold cut their teeth in Anime during the cocaine-fueled 80's - back then studios sued at the drop of a hat. A TV sitcom made fun of the lawsuits over the Lone Ranger that happened back then.

HG was used to getting their way until judges started to look into what was going on and their chief punching bag^note  Battletech IP holders got smart:

• The legal tangle that was who owned the right to what has to be resolved in order for Sony to make a live action Robotech movie. HG had to cave in because the movie would make more money than the DVD's and streaming services.
• Streaming services can and have pulled series/movies/shows off their platform when the right get complicated or the lawyers get called.
• See Battletech and "Humiliation Conga / Real Life" for how THAT played out.
• When HG started it was VHS tapes and syndication for TV stations desperate for content as an alternative to dead air^note When I was a kid I thought "To Be Announced" was a show that was really popular because it appeared on the schedule so many times - really it was our local stations trying to buy programming at the last minute
• There was little competition for Anime back then - it was either a studio that could do a good dub/sub or fan subs done by that weird kid with the Amiga.

The market for Anime has changed - there are more and more series out. Harmony Gold's antics pissed off a lot of anime fans - old ones like me have looong memories, younger fans get pissed when they hear why many Macross series aren't in the states. Physical media for entertainment is not dying, but it's becoming a niche.

So Harmony Gold is trying to make good because if they loose the deal with Sony they are up the creek without a paddle.

Edited by TairaMai on Apr 25th 2021 at 10:45:30 AM

It begs the question why Sony decided to intervene now though with its lawyers and cash. Unless the Robotech movie became a major going concern all of sudden, I don’t know what lit the fire under their behinds. There was a rumor Universal restarted production on a Voltron movie last week (and is eyeing Michael Bay to direct) but that’s a rumor.

Still, Cue the Flying Pigs. And if that movie does come out, Sony will probably just give up the ghost and make it a Macross film in all but name (and likely call it such in Japan).

Edited by Beatman1 on Apr 9th 2021 at 6:41:28 AM

https://www.siliconera.com/the-macross-franchise-is-getting-a-worldwide-release/ Annnnnnnnnd Hell just froze over.

I'm still not going to fully believe it until I have official releases of the series sitting on my bookshelf with the rest of the anime collection.

But, yes, the pigs do appear to be flying.

Pigs are flying, the devil is ice skating to work!

Brazilian anime fans are all "a cobra vai fumar!"

Edited by TairaMai on Apr 9th 2021 at 11:31:50 AM

Beatman 1 - The rumors are that Sony wants to do a live action Robotech movie. Harmony Gold finally figured out that the rights to that would bring in more money than trying to be lawsuit happy morons.

Streaming services are NOT happy with the traditional lawsuit "who has the rights to this" antics. They just pull the series/movie off their platform. HG realized that they would lose mucho dinero with their courtroom antics.

Edited by TairaMai on Apr 9th 2021 at 12:32:16 PM

And some of us might be the uncles of monkeys.

So I take it that Robotech movie is now way less impossible? Might it be too much to expect straight uncut dubs for the Macross shows and OVAs? Will localized/imported Macross merchandise have Robotech slipcovers a la the Soul of Chogokin Voltrons?

With Sony collaborating with Netflix to have the former's movies appearing first on the latter, should we expect something similar to happen here?

Edited by TargetmasterJoe on Apr 9th 2021 at 10:49:05 AM

Sony has had those rights for a while now. In fact, Leonardo DiCaprio actually turned down a role in Episode VII so he could produce a Robotech film. So I'm wondering what happened here that made Sony intervene directly, and I am still convinced that they did intervene because there is no other way this film could have been made given everything that happened with the franchise up to this point. The only thing that makes sense is if their new distribution deal with Netflix made them put all hands on deck, or if the rather sketchy rumors last week of Universal making a Voltron movie and eying Michael Bay to direct have some truth to them.

Everything I understand from the wording of the settlement/peace treaty was that a key factor was for both sides to allow the movie to be made smoothly, use Macross elements, and that both HG and Big West would split the royalties on this and future projects, and neither side would block the other's international business. That's what has me convinced if the film does get made, it's going to be Macross in all but name, and likely called Macross in Japan.

Edited by Beatman1 on Apr 9th 2021 at 3:02:51 PM

Edge of Tomorrow was released as All You Need Is Kill since the film was based on the light novel All You Need Is Kill. This was Warner Bros. but I can see Sony releasing "Robotech" as "Macross" in Japan with a Dub Name Change papering over the difference.

here but I suspect that Sony sees another "MCU-like" property in Robotech. Comics, Streaming Series, Movies alone would rake in the cash if this takes off.

Still hard to believe it took HG three decades and an ongoing pandemic that brought the flow of money to a screeching halt to realize that "sharing is caring." Or in their case, "sharing is generating more money." Pretty sure more rational men would've come to that conclusion in three minutes.

...In the name of Princess Allura and the Paladins of Voltron, that rumor better not be true. That man should never touch giant robots again. (Phrasing!)

Not even just that, Voltron is just not well suited to Michael Bay's style. Transformers and TMNT was always about big action with crazy shit happening, whereas Voltron was more story focused.

It was a case of the new owners of Battletech did their homework and My Rule Fu Is Stronger than Yours - the mecha were redesigned to NOT infringe on HG's "right". HG thought they had an ace in the hole only to find out that they had an expired lotto ticket: they didn't have the legal rights they claimed they did.

HG hemorrhaged money losing those lawsuits; and as I said, in the 21st century, streaming services will yank a service off their platforms if they smell legal tangles. HG realized that if a company like Crunchyroll (pre-Sony), Funimation or a giant like Netflix could look at them and say "We will never do business with you".

Given what has happened I think Sony told HG '"behave" and HG realized that Sony would walk all over them.

Doing some research on this, it seems that Sony secured the rights to a Robotech film in May of 2015. So why they chose to intervene now is admittedly where the confusion came from. My only guess is that Sony wanted to see how the legal stuff between Harmony Gold and Big West came out, (with HG having a set expiration date on their rights with Tatsunoko, only to spend money out of pocket to renew those rights rather than lose them) at which point with a clear picture of the legal situation, felt they could intervene without issue.

Those rumors are dubious at best, which is why I found their reporting within a week of this happening either a bizarre coincidence or they may have a kernel of truth to them. At this point it's been well-established Legendary Defender was a massive merchandising flop, and initial news on a Voltron film went silent when those reports became public (namely, Playmates out and out said their Legendary Defender toy sales were terrible, so they discontinued the line while still producing classic Voltron toys). And if you want the opposite of Legendary Defender, well, that's a job for Michael Bay and his Baysplosions.

There is so much guestimating and conjecture up there that it's a bit annoying. I really want a clearer picture of all this.

Edited by Beatman1 on Apr 10th 2021 at 10:51:15 AM

I hope Macross and it's sequels get the DVD and BLU-ray treatment.

I don't want it to bounce from streaming service to streaming service. Sony has secured Netflix as their platform as well as outright buying Funimation.

So while seeing Macross on my phone is kinda neat - I'm old school, I want a DVD/Blu-ray in a box on my shelf.

I can see Macross on Crunchyroll so that Sony can put their Robotech movie on Netflix and the series on Funimaion - keep the two IP's kinda separate.

Edited by TairaMai on Apr 14th 2021 at 3:12:45 AM

An English Macross Twitter account is now open. Peace in our lifetimes.

Also, if the Robotech movie is going forward, I feel bad for whoever gets cast as Minmei. The Japanese are probably going to hate her by default for the crime of not being Mari Iijima.

Edited by Beatman1 on Apr 11th 2021 at 1:44:16 PM

This news makes me so happy... I gotta go rebinge macross 2 again

I would love a redub of the original Macross series.

Is that even possible? Because the PR said the OG Macross series is still with HG, if I'm reading it right.

Also, how come the page for Macross hasn't been updated to reflect what I'm calling "The Great Macross/Robotech Sharing of 2021"? Are we still waiting for more details on what this sharing entails on the Macross side of things?

HG did properly dub the series at one point (with ADV), but the dub is considered...OK.

So, what do you think we might get first? Zero? Plus? II?

Was it the one with Vic Mignogna? Well, in that case, I think a redub a la One Piece and Sailor Moon wouldn't be entirely unwelcome. Especially since no one likes Vic anymore anyway.

I guess which ever came after the original Macross series? I don't know. The whole thing is still taking a lot to process. Pretty much all of us thought this would never happen, right?

We already have an English release of Plus.

Going chronologically, 7 would be next. But maybe Zero would be a more popular choice.

They need to drag Bryan Cranston back to redub the Plus movie

Not sure if he's willing to go back since he made it big now.

Production order (just for the TV series and OA Vs) is Original, Plus, 7, Zero, Frontier and lastly Delta.

Chronological order is Zero, Original, Plus, 7, Frontier, Delta.

Personally I'm just waiting for Frontier. I've got the original, I've got Plus (though a BD release of Plus would be nice), Delta was "meh" and Basara is annoying.

Edited by KnightofLsama on Apr 14th 2021 at 7:29:40 PM