Robotech:The Shadow Chronicles-Opinions

[FalTorPan]

R:TSC mentions little about the crew of the SDF-3, since those details are not pivotal to the story. We know that Admiral Rick Hunter is aboard her, and Maia Sterling mentions that most of her family is aboard the ship. A deleted scene implies that Doctor Emil Lang is aboard either the SDF-3 or the Deukalion at one point in the story.

As middyseafort mentioned, the prequel comic mini-series adds more details to the story, but as many Robotech fans know, the story details in comics don't always jibe with the animated stories. Although I enjoyed the Prelude mini-series, I consider it more "what might be" than "what is."

If you are interested, the mini-series describes such events as the change in appearance of the SDF-3, Lisa's whereabouts, the fate of Breetai, Exedore, the Invid Regent and Lynn Kyle, as well as the whereabouts of Lynn Minmei and Dana Sterling.

 

[Robotech Master]

I liked it well enough.

The story was a little bland and the thing was way too short. It felt like a teaser for a new series (which we may never get).

But it did a fairly good job staying consistant with previous material and it even threw in some nods to Jack McKinney's 'End Of The Circle'... the black hole, the Haydonites, Scott and Louie working together...

I thought the animation was just okay. Everything felt a little stiff. I want more dynamic battles and more heart pounding music like the original show. The overall direction of the plot was fine. But we only got a brief glimpse at what the series could be.

As for the Sentinels, that story has been pretty much been told. I'm glad they are moving onto something new.

The way I understand it, the basic outline of the Sentinels storyline remains intact. This is pretty evident from the 'Prelude' comic which is itself a semi-conclusion to the Sentinels comic that was never finished.

Some of the finer details of the Sentinels arc are probably no longer canon but I don't think future material will really go out of its way to contradict anything from the Sentinels either. They are just gonna move on with the story.

The final act of the Sentinels (told by McKinney in 'Rubicon') has seemingly been replaced by the 'Prelude' comics but the story up to that point probably still holds. 'Rubicon' was my least favorite book anyway so no loss there.

What was kept in place as backstory for TSC?

Everything from the Sentinels video, probably...

*SDF-3 and other support vessels still launched from Earth sometime around 2022, along with most of the RDF heroes from the Macross Saga.

*The Invid Regent completes his conquest of the Robotech Master's Empire by sacking Tirol. The Robotech Masters themselves have already fled by this point.

*Dr. Emil Lang creates the android Janice Em.

And we can assume some of the broad strokes remain intact...

*The REF Fleet arrives at Tirol and begins combat with the Invid Regent's forces. They eventually meet and ally with the Sentinels races, an array of aliens from world conquered by the Invid.

*The REF/Sentinels push the Regent's forces back to Optera. At some point T.R. Edwards will betray the alliance and form his own alliance with the Regent.

*The Invid Regess begins her own search for the missing SDF-1 and Zor's protoculture matrix.

And from the 'Prelude' comic we know that...

*The Sentinels, REF, and Zentraedi converge on Optera for a final showdown with the Regent and Edwards. The original Janice Em dies and her memories are downloaded into a new body, partially constructed by the Haydonites.

*Max and Miriya Sterling, by this point, have another daughter named Maia who becomes the leader of Skull Squadron. At some point, Dana Sterling and her companions leave Earth and rejoin the REF, possibly just before the Regis arrives.

*Rem, another clone of Zor, has created a new protoculture matrix, located aboard the SDF-3.

*The rebuilt fleet (with much help from the Haydonites) prepares to return to Earth in waves. The SDF-3 delays returning in order to test new weapon systems.

 

[JediKnightButler]

Thanks for all of the information and opinions provided herein. It has been a long time since I read the Sentinels novels (I actually just checked out the first three to re-read them) but I can't find them anywhere to buy anymore.


The summary provided by ROBOTECH MASTER seems mostly in line with what I remember from my first read of the book series A LONG TIME AGO- although if I remember correctly, Rick and Lisa DID have a child- named Roy. Sad to hear that he got cut from the new revised storyline. Wasn't Max & Miriya's daughter named something else- Aurora? Also, it's sad to hear about Exedore although I can't actually remember his fate from the books now that I think about it. I do still have The End of The Circle paperback with a handy chronology for the entire series as well.

I think that I will definitely rent TSC but only after I've gone back and finished Masters and New Generation- I have the entire series remastered on DVD.

 

[Robotech Master]

Thanks for all of the information and opinions provided herein. It has been a long time since I read the Sentinels novels (I actually just checked out the first three to re-read them) but I can't find them anywhere to buy anymore.


The summary provided by ROBOTECH MASTER seems mostly in line with what I remember from my first read of the book series A LONG TIME AGO- although if I remember correctly, Rick and Lisa DID have a child- named Roy. Sad to hear that he got cut from the new revised storyline. Wasn't Max & Miriya's daughter named something else- Aurora? Also, it's sad to hear about Exedore although I can't actually remember his fate from the books now that I think about it. I do still have The End of The Circle paperback with a handy chronology for the entire series as well.

I think that I will definitely rent TSC but only after I've gone back and finished Masters and New Generation- I have the entire series remastered on DVD.

Yes, I believe in the revised continuity Rick and Lisa have no son. And it is not clear if there is still an Aurora Sterling.

In the McKinney books Aurora Sterling was the same girl who visited Dana in the premonition when she was aboard the Masters' flagship.

In the new continuity, that girl could have been Maia (most likely) or some other daughter of Max and Miriya. There was a brief exchange between Dana and Maia in the comic and it was somewhat strained. Not sure what the heck that was all about and I'm curious if we will ever get an explanation for it.

It'd be cool if they could bring Dana into some future installment. I always liked the character.

 

[sithlord]

I found TSC dreadful to endure. I loved Robotech when it first aired back in the 80's. Every day I raced home from school to watch the next episode. Heck, I've been known to hum a minmei tune from time to time. I bought the DVDs when they were released and still enjoy the series. I looked forward to TSC, and when I first heard the opening theme, I got a touch misty eyed.

But, the whole of TSC is so... empty. Its bad fan fiction at best. Its obvious all the thought went into the space battles, and that's not even saying much! It even partially rips off nuBSG in its setup (old tech is the only way to fight the new big bads.) The new characters are so bland and forgetful and the movie just forgets that characters was just as important as the mecha to Robotech.

Check out Macross Zero and Macross Frontier for more substantial and satisfying robotech/anime goodness.

 

[FalTorPan]

As I've already said, I loved the movie, but I can see how a new viewer of Robotech might find it to be confusing. I haven't watched much contemporary anime, so I had no "baseline" against which to compare R:TSC. I simply liked it -- a lot -- and I look forward to more. I wish they'd make a new series, but I'm more than fine with "just" another feature-length installment.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I'm really glad they went in the direction they did for TSC.

Every anime has its army of detractors, but TSC sold extremely well and the sequel was greenlit very quickly. The problem is that Harmony Gold is a very small company, so it does takes years for them to put stuff out. At the official Robotech website, a representative has stated that the sequel is definitely in the works, but lessons learned from the aborted Robotech 3000 project probably has taught HG not to count their chickens until they're hatched...

 

[clint g]

I just couldn't bring myself to watch TSC on principle, seeing as how they're essentially blocking the release of all the other Macross stuff out there.

 

[C.E. Evans]

That's definitely a sticky legal situation, but that was really a result of the deal made between Harmony Gold and Tatsunoko (Tatsunoko really had no right to give away the U.S. copyright to Macross to begin with, IMO).

Sure, it gives fans of the original Macross series and its spinoffs even more reason to hate Harmony Gold and anything associated with Robotech...

 

[Leroy]

That's the primary reason I hate Harmony Gold so much not only to they have a strangle hold on the Robotech franchise they also block anything Macross from being released here. I sincerely hope the recession kills them (figuratively). Go into the Robotech.com forums sometime some of the posts made by the reps are delusional they keep insisting the franchise is "alive and healthy" where their competitors are "failing" so they mean to tell me that Harmony Gold is doing great when you have studios like Gonzo laying of hundreds of people and other very creative people living in tent cities?

 

[C.E. Evans]

Well, to be fair, Harmony Gold is not a studio at all but just a production company that specializes in bringing overseas productions to the U.S. They have been doing quite well with DVD sales of Robotech, TSC, and various related merchandise.

The whole legal thing with Macross is a hopeless mess, but the gist of it is that Tatsunoko gave Harmony Gold the U.S. copyrights to Macross as Robotech. The problem, however, was that Tatsunoko really had no right to do that in the first place because Macross actually belonged to Bandai/Big West and Big West promptly sued Tatsunoko. In the legal quagmire that followed, Harmony Gold was able to keep Macross, but only under the original deal with Tatsunoko.

That enabled Harmony Gold to be the sole U.S. copyright holder of Macross, but it also gave them to the right to prevent or block anything not covered under the original deal from Tatsunoko (which was every Macross production after Macross Plus), to prevent another company from bringing any related merchandise to the U.S. (which primarily meant toys, but also unfortunately included video recordings--and that's why so many Macross fans hate Harmony Gold and Robotech).

The end result is that while Harmony Gold owns the U.S. copyright to Macross, they're also locked in that initial deal with Tatsunoko. It's almost a case of if they surrendered Macross, they'd also be forced to surrender the rights to Robotech as well.

No one is saying it's an ideal situation, but that kind of legal monstrosities does happen in entertainment law. It actually derailed World Events Production's attempts to bring Voltron to the big screen (which might have been a good thing in hindsight).

But the deal with Tatsunoko also prevents Harmony Gold from developing anything using the original character or mecha designs from either Macross or the Big West-owned Southern Cross. It was why [in TSC] characters like Rick Hunter and a few others underwent dramatic redesigns and why some Macross or Southern Cross characters didn't appear at all. It was also why pretty much all of the mecha came from Mospeda (which neither Bandai or Big West owned).

And to make matters with Macross even more complicated? Warner Brothers apparently has acquired the rights too, thanks to Tobey (Spider-man) McGuire's company developing a live-action Robotech movie...

 

[FalTorPan]

To survive on its Robotech property, Harmony Gold almost has to block sales of Macross products in the US. In a way Robotech is already a fringe brand. Having it compete with Macross, especially when both share the same initial stories, would be tough going.