Robotech Legacy: Macross Saga - Collection 1

Well this is it, the big one. When it comes to Anime series', they don't come much more legendary than Robotech. Although it wasn't the first Japanese Anime export to hit the American tube, it is still generally considered to be the most influential.

For the uninitiated, Robotech is basically the story of the discovery and integration of alien technology by human beings. The Macross saga begins with the crash landing of a mammoth alien battleship into Macross Island. After the dust settles, the world's military and scientific powers ship in to try and figure out just what this thing is. The irony is that at the time of the crash, the world's nations were all at war with one another; but the decision for now is to drop the weapons and pick up the microscopes. Decades soon begin to pass and cities have built up around the alien craft. The investigation is finally brought to a halt after all of its secrets have been revealed and they decide to send the SDF-1 on its maiden voyage.

Throughout this period of study, the discovery of new technology has resulted in the development of what people are calling Robo-tech. Various top secret craft and weaponry are soon created from this technology, and it turns out that the people of Macross Island are going to need every last bit. On the eve of the SDF-1's maiden voyage, the alien race of Zentraedi appear above the planet and launch an attack to retrieve the mysterious alien battleship. The crew of the SDF-1 make haste in a defence response and take the SDF-1 into outer space. What follows are the adventures of the crew of the SDF-1 and their ongoing saga with the Zentraedi and other hostile forces throughout the galaxy.

The popularity of anime in Western countries can pretty much be traced right back to Robotech's premiere in 1985, and although it was preceded by shows like Astro Boy and Starblazers, it revolutionised the format to the extent that programs to this day are still following its lead. Its highest claim to fame was of course the technology, or Robo-tech if you will; the series' introduction of the transforming mech to the Western audience was an event that has had immeasurable impact on the industry. Providing genius inspiration for toy makers and budding animators alike, the aftermath resulted in an entirely new frontier in toy manufacturing and uncanny resemblances to Robotech within series' such as Neon Genesis Evangelion and Martian Successor Nadesico. And that barely scratches the surface.

Perhaps the most impressive feat that Harmony Gold achieved with Robotech, however, was preparing the show for American audiences. Spanning a mammoth 85 episodes over three sagas, it was one of the largest animation projects that the world had ever seen - not to mention of course that the episodes contained within each saga ran consecutively. Harmony Gold really had their work cut out for them from day one with Robotech, but the end result was a series that clearly had a lot of love injected into it. For many this will be a nostalgic journey into their youths, and newcomers may be surprised at how Robotech is just as thrilling and inspirational today as it was when it was first aired.

There's no mistaking, Robotech has aged dramatically. It has been almost 17 years since the show was first broadcast and storage methods have not been overly kind to the footage.

The most obvious outcome appears in the form of heavy grain. This is, unfortunately, a constant throughout the entire running time of this particular set of episodes - and one assumes the upcoming sets as well. While it is consistent, only certain scenes are distractingly affected by the problem - mainly sections that are heavy on darker colours, in particular the many space backdrops that were natural to the series.

Only marginally less constant than the heavy grain levels, the footage here also contains a large amount of film artefacts. These largely appear in the form of various scratches and dirt contaminants. Initially this is quite bothersome, however as viewing continues the artefacts will go largely unnoticed. Certainly, they could have been much, much worse than the tiny flecks present here.

While the colour levels also seem to have diminished over the years, it is less of an aging effect, more of a factor in the actual usage of colour for animation during the period. With all considerations, however, the saturation levels are still quite remarkable - with the exception of course that the show appears a little softer and more pastel than memory serves.

Considering all of the above problems however, fans, or anyone with nostalgic memories of Robotech should be absolutely chuffed with the transfer here. The image is still quite solid and since the show has hitherto only been viewable on crummy VHS tapes, we should be thankful that the image is as clean as it is here.

Unfortunately, the audio transfer here doesn't fair much better than the video. However, considering the standards for the period in which the show was broadcast, it doesn't seem quite so bad.

While on paper it is Dolby Digital stereo, the track provided here is actually mono spread across the left and right speakers. The big positive is that this provides a significantly wider representation of the show's audio. For one, there is certainly more bass on offer here than I remember.

The higher-range of the audio spectrum however, is a different story. There have been significant efforts to eliminate distortion from the mix, and to an extent the results are worth the trouble. It is primarily the dialogue that showcases the greatest level of success.

Overall, while the remainder of the audio is still fairly "tinny" throughout, again it's a case of being thankful that it's in as good a condition as it is. The efforts that have gone into cleaning up the audio certainly haven't gone unnoticed, but it's an unfortunate factor that the quality is too far gone by this stage to provide any better.

Well the fans are going to be damned happy with this. Provided as an entirely dedicated third disc (in a separate case as well), it's not only highly collectible, but this extras disc features a couple of real pearlers.

The big inclusion here is Codename: Robotech, a 75 minute movie that was assembled using footage from the first 13 episodes of Robotech in order to promote the series before airing. Due to the complicated structure of the series, Harmony Gold felt that TV stations may have needed a summary, thus Codename: Robotech was born. Since it was never commercially released, this is the first time many fans will have seen this particular piece of Robotech history.

Accompanying Codename: Robotech is a feature length Commentary track by the series' producer and script editor, Carl Macek. He's initially a little sluggish during the first few minutes, but soon picks up the pace. This certainly has to be one of the better commentaries I’ve heard recently, it's absolutely stuffed with fascinating information about the series and the subsequent anime explosion that followed. From covering topics such as animation techniques and voice recording down to toy licensing and censorship, this is pretty much an 'everything you ever wanted to know and more' type of affair. It's essential listening for any anime fan and just plain fascinating for anyone else with even the mildest interest in the series.

Unlisted on the packaging, there is also a third audio track included for Codename: Robotech in the form a music and effects only feature. It will prove interesting for anyone interested in past anime sound design techniques, but for hardcore fans it's a golden opportunity for providing their own dubs.

The international dubbing Featurette should provide some mild amusement. It consists of a two-minute scene dubbed in several different languages including French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian.

A Storyboard gallery has also been included that consists of 33 pages of original character designs. It's quite thorough and showcases some great artwork, and for fans is a great collection of rarely seen concept images of their favourite characters.

Last of all is the standard Madman Propaganda Trailer gallery included on all Madman releases, whetting your appetite for various current and future releases from the company.

Often imitated, never duplicated, Robotech is the original source of anime mech splendour. It is a remarkable feat that the show still holds together so well after all these years. Anyone who considers themselves a fan of anime needs to pick up a copy of this, quick smart. Despite the rather diminished quality of video and audio, this still remains an exceptional DVD package, guaranteed to please anyone making the investment.

Commendations must go to Madman and AV Channel too. Not only does this mark their first boxed collection release, but it is exactly the same product that the Region 1 market is enjoying.