Robotech Lives

I experienced an incredibly geeky moment this evening with neowolf when we finally watched Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles. We've been anticipating it for months, but I wasn't about to let myself get my hopes up too much. I have been disappointed too many times by crappy sequels to beloved shows.

To my great surprise, Robotech: SC exceeded my expectations. They actually listened to what fans wanted and hired people to work on it who were talented but were also fans themselves. They did everything right, including hiring the orginal voice actors to play roles from the original series. And all of this for something that started out as little more than a rip off version of a Japanese anime. Despite all the ways in which anime has been dumbed down and demeaned in this country by its new breed of fans who only enjoy mangled, cheesey dubs and watered down characters, I have pride in the fact that there are still fans who give a damn about the consistency of what they're watching. Robotech is cheesey and dorky, but it started out that way and that's part of what makes it awesome. At least it doesn't pretend to be something it's not. And yet, despite its faults, it has a certain undeniable charm, and always manages to tell an epic story that keeps me hooked to the end.

But when you come down to it, what makes Robotech truly great is the characters. That's why I was so relieved to find all the familiar voice actors popping up througout the movie. They're the ones who really brought those characters to life in the first place, and they were excited to be a part of them again. The only one missing was Cam Clarke (Max or Lancer/YellowDancer), but everyone else played at least one role. And to Mark Hamil--who even admitted that he was actually playing only a guest role in the already complete cast--I can only say that I have your OPF right here, jackass. It really ticks me off when arrogant actors belittle their fans. On the other hand, kudos to Dan Woren who said he wanted to be there when they make a sequel in another twenty years--and actually pleaded that the writers not kill his character this time around. (Poor Roy Fokker...)

Congratulations, Harmony Gold. You've sold your product to me all over again. Even with bad singing and an even worse song. We have won, I think.