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NEWS: Harmony Gold to Release Robotech/Super Dimension Fortress Macross DVD Set

... the only thing that would get me to buy SDF Macross again would be a new English dub, since the ADV one is almost as terrible as Robotech. (Just because Mari Iijima can speak in English, doesn't mean she can act in it.)

penguintruth wrote:

... the only thing that would get me to buy SDF Macross again would be a new English dub, since the ADV one is almost as terrible as Robotech. (Just because Mari Iijima can speak in English, doesn't mean she can act in it.)

Agreed, plus hearing everyone except Mari Iijima saying "muh-CROSS" is galling.

I noticed that those DVDs are squeezing nine episodes on each disc. Yeah, THAT's not going to look terrible on your 50-inch flatscreen.

I noticed that those DVDs are squeezing nine episodes on each disc. Yeah, THAT's not going to look terrible on your 50-inch flatscreen.

Lest we forget, ADV's Macross release did not do that well In the U.S. It's super depressing to see people think that boycotting a $20 deal for 18 episodes will somehow send a message.

It certainly will: that there's no point trying to bother.

And this will not kill Harmony Gold, which will happily go on keeping Robotech alone in print for as long as possible. Hate and ignore em if you want, but don't kid yourself.

GWOtaku wrote:

Lest we forget, ADV's Macross release did not do that well In the U.S. It's super depressing to see people think that boycotting a $20 deal for 18 episodes will somehow send a message. It certainly will: that there's no point trying to bother. And this will not kill Harmony Gold, which will happily go on keeping Robotech alone in print for as long as possible. Hate and ignore em if you want, but don't kid yourself.

robotechfanboys.txt

And you KNOW you're not supporting Kawamori et al. if you were to buy this release, as I doubt HG pays any royalties back to Big West, Studio Nue, and of course not to Satelight. Your money only goes to Harmony Gold to support what Harmony Gold wants. You're not supporting Macross by buying this, so this may as well be worse than piracy. When you buy R1s from other companies, money trickles back in royalties and licensing fees, but other than HG being "legitimate", I fail to see how it's any different than buying bootlegs.

And you KNOW you're not supporting Kawamori et al. if you were to buy this release, as I doubt HG pays any royalties back to Big West, Studio Nue, and of course not to Satelight. Your money only goes to Harmony Gold to support what Harmony Gold wants. You're not supporting Macross by buying this, so this may as well be worse than piracy. When you buy R1s from other companies, money trickles back in royalties and licensing fees, but other than HG being "legitimate", I fail to see how it's any different than buying bootlegs.

Having a contract doesn't mean much - they very well could've paid a one-off fee without any royalties.

robotechfanboys.txt

That's actually a really good question! I have no idea, and have occasionally wondered that, myself. So, to answer your question, I had to dig deep. And by "dig deep," I mean send an email to two people I've known for years. Back breaking work, writing this column.

First, the idea that Harmony Gold is standing in the way of Stateside releases of Macross-related shows is one that has been floating around for years, and originated from a few cagey responses from industry professionals at anime conventions. I wanted some confirmation that Harmony Gold had Macross-related trademarks, and whether they were willing to work with anime companies that might want to release Macross-related shows that Harmony Gold had no financial stake in. I sent an e-mail to Kevin McKeever at Harmony Gold, who was good enough to forward my question onto their legal department. Here's their response:

Quote:

The original Macross television series was the result of a monumental collaborative effort involving several companies of creative individuals. We at Harmony Gold appreciate all the hard work these combined talents put forth to make Macross possible. As the legal rights/co-copyright/trademark holder for Macross outside of Japan, Harmony Gold's door is always open to any anime company who wishes to have their product reach a global audience through our world-class distribution partners.

In other words, yes they own the trademark. And the implication here is definitely that they'd be open to using those trademarks ONLY if they're the ones that get to distribute the show. So, how did LA Hero and their successor company Manga Entertainment manage to get both Macross II and Macross Plus out on store shelves without getting Harmony Gold all over their case?

I... don't know. I tried to find out. Ken Iyadomi used to run LA Hero (which licensed both properties before being purchased by Manga Entertainment), and then worked for Manga during their release. I reached out to him, but he declined to comment, stating only that the rights situation for the entire Macross world was "crazy." He's doubtlessly referring to not just Harmony Gold, but all the legal nuttiness involving Studio Nue and Tatsunoko in Japan, which culminated in a lawsuit some years back. In short, even without Harmony Gold in the way, Japan probably doesn't even have it together legally to license a Macross show overseas.

So what have we learned? Not much, I'm afraid: just that nobody touches Macross anything without involving the Robotech people, and that whatever wormhole in space and time that once allowed LA Hero to license those two OAVs back in the 90s has long since closed, leaving us forevermore Macross-less.

So this is going to include the ADV dub?

All I remember from that was that the guy that played Edward Elric played Hikaru.

Imagine if some company kept on re-re-releasing the original 1979 Gundam, and everything from the movies and Zeta onwards was never seen overseas. Many fans can debate if they liked Wing, Seed, 00 or various other Gundams because we can actually at least get to them.

Chrno2 wrote:

But many it's just amazing that they somehow held on. I mean what have they been doing all this time that has kept them afloat.

They're also into real estate, which is probably it.

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