Do you remember love? Because I do, but nobody else does, there are 3 Anime’s the west do not know about, they were kept to Japan’s domestic market at first by choice but then they were forced to. Sometime between 1982 and 1984 an American company called Harmony Gold USA purchased the international distribution rights to 3 anime, however they did the one thing ANY company / Artist hates including Robotech.
What could Harmony Gold USA do that would make any artist or company hate them?
They purchased rights to 3 anime, “Super Dimension Fortress: Macross” , “Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross” and “Genesis Climber MOSPEADA” they chopped all 3 up removed story elements that they didn’t like and they spliced it all together to create :
The Robotech series
Robotech: The Macross Saga Robotech: The Masters Robotech: The New Generation
Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross and Genesis Climber MOSPEADA were created by Tatsunoko Production Co., Ltd. however SDF: Macross is made by Studio NUE, but Tatsunoko production Co still licensed Macross to Harmony Gold. Why this might of been no one will ever know, my guess is that these are Japanese companies from 1980s, they didn’t really care about anything but the Domestic market, and that these are Anime’s that are probably not going to go anywhere. It is True, “Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross” and “Genesis Climber MOSPEADA” didn’t really go anywhere, However Macross Did, in fact it’s One of the big Franchises, but only in the Domestic Market. I could talk about Macross all day, but that’s for another post.
Harmony Gold USA released Robotech, and they’ve stopped Studio Nue from releasing anything into the international market, they’re doing nothing with the Macross franchise. They sat on it doing absolutely nothing for 13 years, between 1987 to 2000s. Let’s have a Quick look at the timeline for releases.
Timeline for releases.
10/1982 Super Dimension Fortress Macross (Tv Series )
07/1984 Macross : Do You Remember Love? (movie Alternative story / Updated Animation)
1985 Robotech Tv series ( Macross Saga + The Masters + The New Generation )
1986 Robotech: The Movie
1987 Robotech II: The Sentinels (Aborted / Scrapped)
06/1987 Macross Flashback 2012 (Recap OVA)
11/1992 Super Dimension Fortress Macross II : Lovers Again ( non canon OVA )
09/1944 Macross Plus (Tv series prequel to SDF Macross)
10/1994 – 09/1995 Macross 7 (Sequel to SDF Macross)
09/1955 Macross 7 Movie Edition
09/1995 Macross Plus Movie Edition
12/1995 Macross 7: Encore
12/1997 – 08/1998 Macross Dynamite 7
2000 Robotech 3000 ( Aborted / Scrapped )
2002 Robotech Announced new movie ( The Shadow Chronicles )
12/2002 – 10/2004 Macross Zero
2006 Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles
09/2008 Macross Frontier (TV Series )
11/2009 Macross Frontier The Movie: The False Songstress
02/2011 Macross Frontier Movie: The Wings of Goodbye
2011 Robotech announce Robotech: Love Live Alive
2013 Robotech: Love Live Alive released
2014 Robotech Academy Kickstarter (closed 7 days before end, 195k out of 500k raised.)
09/2016 Macross Delta
02/2018 Macross Delta the Movie: Passionate Walküre
08/2021 Macross Delta the Movie: Absolute Live!!!!!!
So they’ve stopped one Anime that’s become popular from spreading into the international world, they’ve taken 3 anime and spliced them into one, so what? Well they try to issue legal action for anything that looks even slightly like “their property” such as the U.N.Spacy Red Roundel with the White. Or any mech design for example.
The Board Game BattleTech contained mech designs and Harmony Gold USA sent Cease and Desists letter to them.
MechWarrior also received letters, Harmony Gold USA claiming the mechs looked similar to those in Robotech.
In 2013 Hasbro was taken to federal court, over their San Diego comic con’s G.I. Joe and the Transformers: The Epic Conclusion, an exclusive set . The Federal Court Sided with Hasbro and they were allowed to continue to sell their Exclusive Set ( see left photo)
Hare-brained Schemes and their “BattleTech” Video game that contained mechs.
There are also unrelated issues such as Tax Fraud, Embezzlement, false accounting, which was proven in court, money laundering but was dropped due to the statue of limitations.
Harmony Gold USA seems a bit problematic, Big west Co., Ltd. is the company that holds the licensing Rights for Macross, but for some reason Tatsunoko Production was sorting out the International Distribution and somehow that’s translated to Harmony Gold USA having the control of the IP of Macross.
However there is good news, apparently Macross will be available to be streamed internationally on Disney plus sometime in 2024 except Super Dimension Fortress Macross and Macross: Do You Remember Love, however with how Harmony Gold USA is , i will only believe it when i see it.
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