MACROSS and ROBOTECH to join Disney+, with some caveats

The history of the Japanese anime series Macross and its American adaptation, Robotech, is a frightening cobweb of rights, lawsuits and legal shenanigans that have persisted for a large chunk of the forty-two years the franchise has existed. A few years ago, the Japanese consortium of companies that created Macross signed a new deal with American rights-holders Harmony Gold that would allow Harmony Gold to develop new Robotech projects (including the long-mooted live-action movie) whilst the numerous Macross sequel and prequel shows that Harmony Gold had been blocking from reaching the west would finally be released.

It's taken a while for that to be fully sorted out, but now we have the information on how the initial release will be handled.

Harmony Gold and Big West/Studio Nue have reached an agreement with Disney+, which will become the official home of both the Macross and Robotech franchises.

Globally, the following shows will be included on the service:

• Super Dimension Fortress: Flash Back 2012 (music video collection)
• Super Dimension Fortress Macross II: Lovers, Again (6-episode mini-series, non-canon)
• Macross Plus Movie Edition (115-minute movie cut of the original 4-episode TV show)
• Macross 7 (49-episode animated TV series)
• Macross 7 The Movie: The Galaxy's Calling Me! (animated film)
• Macross Dynamite 7 (animated film)
• Macross Zero (5-episode prequel series)
• Macross Frontier (25-episode animated TV series)
• Macross Frontier: The False Songstress (theatrical adaptation of the TV series)
• Macross Frontier: The Wings of Farewell (animated film)
• Gekijo Tanpen Macross Frontier Toki no Meikyu (short film)
• Macross FB7: Ore no Uta o Kike! (animated film)
• Macross Delta (26-episode animated TV series)
• Macross Delta the Movie: Passionate Valkyrie (theatrical animated adaptation of the TV series)
• Macross Delta the Movie: Absolute Live!!!!!! (animated film)

There will then be a divergence based on location.

In Japan, this list will be bolstered by:

• Super Dimension Fortress Macross (36-episode animated TV series, the OG entry in the franchise)
• Super Dimension Fortress: Do You Remember Love? (animated feature film)

In much of the rest of the world, it is believed (but so far not 100% confirmed) that these will be replaced by:

• Robotech (85-episode animated TV series, including the Americanised version of Macross plus the unrelated anime series Super Dimension Fortress: Southern Cross and Genesis Climber Mospeada, edited into one single story spanning three generations)
• Robotech II: The Sentinels (3-episode animated TV series)
• Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles (animated TV movie)

This news does seem at odds with the announcement of friendly relations between Harmony Gold and Studio Nue in 2021, which seemed to indicate that all Macross shows including the original would be available outside of Japan for the first time, and the possibility that Robotech might be available in Japan (for the minuscule number of people who'd be interested), and the more important idea that the mooted Robotech movie could be eventually released in Japan.

The live-action movie remains in development at Sony Pictures. A big 2016 push with director James Wan (the Fast and the Furious franchise) stalled when Wan decamped for other projects, although it gave us some excellent concept art. Andy Muschietti, hot off his two-part adaptation of Stephen King's IT, then took over and spent several years developing ideas before bailing himself. Hawkeye's Rhys Thomas took over and remains at the helm of development. 

Some other ideas have been rumoured, including Netflix doing a new animated version of the franchise similar to Voltron, but that's never been officially confirmed.

Both Robotech and Macross start with the same premise: the human race is on the verge of annihilating itself in nuclear war when a colossal alien spacecraft warps into our solar system and crash-lands on Earth, coming to rest on a remote island in the South Pacific. The human race, sobered by the realisation they are not alone, bands together and rebuilds the alien spacecraft, dubbing it the SDF-1 (Super Dimensional Fortress One) and building a huge city to support the effort. In the Japanese version, the ship also has a name, the Macross, whilst in the American version Macross the name of the island the ship crashes on, the civilian city in its cavernous hold and later a rebuilt version of that city near the US-Canada border. In both versions, the ship is being prepared for launch ten years after its arrival when the alien Zentraedi - towering giants with advanced spacecraft and war machines - attack in an attempt to reclaim the SDF-1. However, humanity has reverse-engineered technology from the alien ship to build their own formidable defences. The SDF-1 hyperjumps to try to outflank the alien fleet but accidentally warps itself and the civilians of the island to the orbit of Pluto, burning out the hyperdrive in the process. The SDF-1 returns to Earth under constant attack, but the Zentraedi are stymied by the need to recapture the ship intact rather than destroy it. During the battles, various infiltration efforts and even some limited communications, the Zentraedi are exposed to human culture and become fascinated by it, particularly by singing sensation Lynn Minmei, who becomes a major star both on the SDF-1 and later on Earth. The Zentraedi later split into factions and some join forces with humanity. Events climax in a major battle with the Zentraedi Grand Armada in Earth orbit, followed by a two-year mopping-up exercise on Earth.

The two franchises diverge significantly at this point. In Robotech, the action splits between deep space, where the newly-built SDF-3 goes in search of the Zentraedi homeworld and a showdown with the enigmatic Robotech Masters, and Earth, where a military dictatorship takes control of the planet but is ill-prepared to fight a war against the Robotech Masters when they unexpectedly attack. Further battles see the arrival of the Invid, the shapeshifting aliens who are the source of much of the technology and energy sources that are being fought over by the three other species, who then occupy Earth, leading to the development of a resistance effort. Robotech II: The Sentinels (the curtailed sequel series to the original) was supposed to tell the story of the SDF-3 crew as they united various alien races into a coalition to fight the Invid and then return to liberate Earth, although the show was never completed.

Macross takes a divergent view, with humanity and Zentraedi joining forces to build massive colony ships and sending them into deep space, where they encounter new alien threats. Another show, Macross Zero, acts as a prequel to the original show, set between the SDF-1's crash and the arrival of the Zentraedi. The Macross franchise is considerably longer and more prolific than Robotech, with the most recent new entry in the franchise being released in 2021.

There has been ill feeling over the differences for many years, with anime purists and the original Japanese creators being unhappy with the show being cut up and edited with unrelated shows to create something different. However, it is the Robotech version of the franchise that most Americans (north and south) and Europeans are familiar with, and is by far the better-known brand name. Several attempts to release the Macross version of the show on DVD met with financial failure, whilst Robotech was a perennial bestseller for the various companies that released and re-released it. These ill feelings have complicated work on the live-action movie, with fans divided on whether it should follow the Macross version of the story or the Robotech version, and the original Japanese creators (who still control some rights to mecha likenesses) seem unwilling to work or advise on something based on the Robotech version of the story.

Expect the confusion to run and run, but at least people outside of Japan can experience most of the Macross franchise for the first time when it launches on Disney+ later in 2024. Hopefully the original incarnation will follow suit.