Written By: Ken Hulsey
In 1984, Carl Macek sought to import a Japanese anime series, the famous Chôjikû yôsai Macross, to the United States for syndication. However, the series was only 36 episodes long, shorter than the standard 65-episode American syndicated show. To remedy this, Macek obtained two additional unrelated series, Chôjikû kidan Southern Cross and Kikô sôseiki Mospeada, and hired a team of writers to weave the three shows into a grand, epic narrative.
The resulting story followed three generations living through a mass alien invasion. The final arc would revolve around Robotech pilot Scott Bernard, who was sent back to Earth to organize resistance against the Invid. This time, the aliens were not after a missing warship, but rather intended to harvest Earth's bio-energy in the form of Protoculture (a "Prototype Culture" derived from the Macross series) and enslave the remaining human population
Bernard had a personal quest of his own - to search for his childhood sweetheart, Marlene, whom he had left behind when he joined Admiral Hunter's forces in their search of the Robotech Master's homeworld. Tragically, this quest would lead him to the news that Marlene had perished during the invasion.
Undeterred, Scott Bernard slowly assembled a group of rebels he would need for an assault on the Invid base of operations known as Reflex Point. This ragtag group consisted of a couple of renegade cyclone-armored soldiers, an ex-military mechanic, a young orphaned girl desperate for a husband, and an ex-soldier named Lancer who hid his true identity by posing as the female pop star "Yellow Dancer."
As the group forged their way across the remnants of the United States towards Reflex Point, located just outside the ruins of New York City, they faced a barrage of new problems in every episode - attacks from the Invid, angry humans, and even a spy who resembled Scott's old flame. Yet the strength of the human spirit prevailed, and the group ultimately overcame the Invid.
Robotech paved the way for Japanese anime to gain a significant foothold in the United States market. The series was far ahead of its competition, which included shows like Gobots, Inspector Gadget, and GI Joe, that struggled to match Robotech's complex, character-driven episodes on weekday afternoons. Fans of later anime hits like Cowboy Bebop, Gundam Wing, and Inuyasha owe a great deal to this pioneering series from the mid-1980s. Without Robotech's success, the broader acceptance of anime in the US may have taken much longer to achieve.
In the original Japanese version, the 21st century sees Earth's pollution problems leading to the development of a new hydrogen fuel called "HBT" as an alternative to fossil fuels, while humanity colonizes Mars. In 2050, a mysterious alien race called the Inbit invades Earth, overwhelming human defenses and leaving the planet desolate with only scattered pockets of survivors. Many refugees escape to seek shelter on the Moon, while the Inbit establish their main base, Reflex Point, in North America's Great Lakes region.
The Mars colony, known as Mars Base, does not abandon Earth. They send troops to fight the Inbit from the Moon, but these efforts fail. Surprisingly, the Inbit show no hostility towards humans unless provoked, and they can sense the presence of HBT, limiting its use under their supervision. In response, Mars Base becomes a military factory, producing advanced weaponry and troops for the Earth Recapture Force.
However, the first two waves of this force are virtually destroyed, with only Legioss pilot Stick Barnard surviving a crash-landing in South America. Driven by a holographic recording of his late fiancée Marlene, Stick forms a group of freedom fighters to reach Reflex Point and uncover the Inbit's true purpose - to find a suitable place to evolve into more complex beings, a quest that threatens the extinction of both humans and Inbit. With the help of humanoid Inbit, Stick and his allies must convince the Inbit's supreme ruler, the Refless, to flee Earth.
Comments
Post a Comment