Robotech: Protoculture Collection

When Robotech burst onto the American TV scene in the early 1980s, everyone was stunned. This was a wonderfully serious dramatic story, an epic saga about a war spanning generations. People fought, people died--bad decisions had consequences. And the story actually continued from episode to episode, rather than each one being a different story--for children's TV, that was unheard-of!

Of course, we all know now that it was really assembled from three entirely unrelated anime series, but that still doesn't change what Carl Macek accomplished. He created a sweeping story greater than the sum of its parts, a story that we Robotech fans can still enjoy today.

I have not yet seen this series in its entirety, having as I do only the first set of remastered DVDs that are included within this one. However, from watching those episodes, I can say that the sound and video quality is nothing short of amazing. If you have a 5.1 speaker system, you are going to want to use this set as a demonstrator; during the battle sequences, the explosions occur all around you. When the SDF-1 zooms low overhead in the first part of the first episode, you feel like you should duck and cover.

Of course, the remastering isn't without its niggling little annoyances. The opening credits are changed from the credits we remember and love, focusing more on footage from the particular series that you're watching. Some of the new sound effects or the new sound mix are not as good as the ones we remember from our youth. But for all of that, this is still the best that Robotech has ever looked and sounded. Plus, for the first time ever, it now comes bundled with the seven extras DVDs from the Legacy Collection, which include things like The Sentinels, the Codename: Robotech feature movie, and more other stuff than you can shake a stick at.

I do feel the pain of those people who are upset at ADV's "double-dipping," especially given that ADV originally said that a remastered Robotech would be impossible to make, but there is a reason for it. At the time they made that claim, they honestly had no expectation of ever being able to find the original audio elements that they would need to put a new version together. As far as they knew, everything had been destroyed in a flood. However, a year or so later those old elements were discovered and restored after all, and Harmony Gold and ADV felt that fans would probably rather have a remastered version than not.

Despite what others have said, I feel this is likely to be THE penultimate Robotech collection; I just can't think of anything else they can do to the show that they have not already done. Remastered audio and video, check. Extras DVDs, check. Bundle them together, check. That's it, they're done.

There simply isn't any way they could include the original source material on the same discs as Robotech. This isn't a simple matter of a show being redubbed "straight," where they could slap the original voice track onto the same footage. Robotech was edited in large and small ways (especially the Southern Cross segment, which had episodes chopped up and reassembled (including one episode put together entirely from scratch) and the order switched around), so the footage simply does not correspond to the original audio any longer. And there's not room to put those on the same discs as Robotech. In order to put the original shows in, they'd have to include them separately, as was done on the abortive "Perfect Edition" VHS series a while back--and in order to do that they'd have to add still more discs to the set. And why bother? You could go ahead and buy the original sets separately and be just as well-off.

If you've been lucky or prudent enough to hold off on purchasing a Robotech set until now, this is the one you might as well get.

Reviewers who complain that this collection is not complete because it lacks a Japanese audio track or because it does not include all the "original" footage are not entirely correct. The three seasons of Robotech (subtitled Robotech: Macross Saga, Robotech: The Masters, and Robotech: New Generation) were edited from three entirely separate TV series to create a story that is in many ways totally unique. The script for Robotech as a stand-alone series was never written in Japanese--it was a product of American writers who were tasked to create one syndication length series from three unrelated single season Japanese series. If you want to see the series that were rewritten, reedited, and redubbed to create Robotech, then by all means, pursue original, uncut releases of Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber Mospeada--but don't expect them to tell the Robotech story.

C. S. Lewis said, "When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."

This fits me perfectly. I saw the anime back in the 80's, not only fell in love, but was also converted to the power of art. As usual, in the process of time I moved on and moved up in the world. On lark, I got these DVDs for Christmas.

What a surprise! I relived and more importantly re-experienced what I felt as a teenager. Of course there are flaws, sometimes having to do with the nature of anime, the nature of animation, and also the contorted history of the franchise. ("Big Brother" and "Little Brother" should be "Pops" and "Squirt"; the classic "Old Sourpuss" should be "Old Battleaxe") Yet, it is a good series. As the Bard said, "Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts."

So, to the product:

MACROSS: (TV-14)

This is the heart and soul of Robotech, and the best overall of the three. The theme of "relationships within the framework of war" leads me to call this "War and Peace 1999." There are mentoring relationships, inter-species relationships, and the weird love polygon of Minmei-Rick-Lisa-Karl-Lisa-Kyle-Minmei.

Favorite episodes are #11, the "I'd rather do it with you" kiss, #21, Max and Miriya playing the video game, and #35, The plastered Lisa Hayes singing "Miss Macross."ROBOTECH: 20th Anniversary Soundtrack

ROBOTECH II (Extras disc 3). This short focuses on Maj. Gen Hunter and Fleet Admiral Hayes. The animation was done by a different company, so the designs mirror "Battle of the Planets." This abortive project's full story is found in the out-of-print Sentinels (Robotech Omnibus)

SOUTHERN CROSS: (TV-MA)

This series is energetic, but a bit choppy--pay close attention to the narrative which compensates for compressing the information. However, I think this is the weakest of the three series. We see a lot of Dana (sometimes too much), but the other members of the 15 ATACs seldom rise above shadow-puppets. Louis is the brains, Angelo is the antagonist, Leonard is Dolza, jr. The only person with personality is Sean Philips. He was Dana's superior, but when he is busted to buck private, he holds no grudges.

Although this has the weakest characterizations, it paradoxically, has the central character in the saga, Zor. All of the events of every anime, film, novel, and aborted project revolve around what he did by discovering Protoculture and robbing the Invid of the flower of life are due to this atlas. Sadly, we see so little of the majestic side of this man. As McKinney wrote "Just what the Robotech Masters had planned for Zor Prime after he'd let them to the Protoculture matrix is, and forever shall be, open to speculation."Robotech: The Masters Saga: The Southern Cross (Robotech)

The AHEM scenes with Dana explain my TV-MA rating. I'm puzzled over their inclusion. Aside from titillation, they serve no purpose. These scenes are obviously forced, silly, and, from an editor's point of view, not only useless, but a drag on the action. By confusing D(i)ana, the chaste huntress, with the love-goddess Venus, they ignore the sharp-fanged lesson that Diana's hounds taught peeping-tom Acteon. Metamorphoses (Penguin Classics)

If this is being "puritan," remember that the root of puritan is "pure." We should demand that our art be pure in the same way that we demand our food be pure, since art is food for the soul.

ROBOTECH: THE MOVIE (Extras disc 5) Inasmuch as this product is supposed to be the be-all, end-all of Robotech, should have been included. We just get the trailer and character sheets. What a gyp.

NEXT GENERATION: (TV-14)

Overall, this is my favorite of the three. It has a killer (pun intended) beginning. Like Southern Cross, this has stronger individual episodes, and also handles the ensemble cast better than the other two series. They devote full episodes to the backgrounds of the various charters. In fact, many of the episodes remind me of Mission: Impossible - The Complete First TV Season with each person having a small part to play in the overall events.

The stand-alone episodes are like the old, old TV show Ark II: The Complete Series or The White Mountains, about a fellowship going around writing wrongs and riding off into the sunset.

The best episode is 65, "Curtain Call." In fact, if I wanted to convert anyone to Robotech, I'd show them this one.

You also need to buy Robotech - The Shadow Chronicles Movie. It is not a stand-alone movie, but Episode 86.

Personally, I enjoy the novels, and there is a crying need to republish all 21 in seven 3-in-1 omnibi.

PARENTAL ADVISORY: This is not the "edited for television" version. Episodes 4, 33, 38, 39, 43, 46, 48, 51, 72, 73, 80) all have about 5-second female AHEM scenes. The Southern Cross has so many, I rate it a TV-MA. Billed as "the special extended version," there is nothing special about the reintegrated AHEM scenes, and they are certainly over-extending our patience. Moreover, scenes that do not convey distinct information are not advancing the plot. Remember the slime massage from Star Trek Enterprise - The Complete First Season? Furthermore, they present a purchasing barrier. I will not be buying copies of this DVD collection for my nephews.

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