Anime Discussion Thread - Page 541

Carl Macek wanted to bring Macross to the US in the 80s, however back then, a series needed like 50 episodes to be airred. He also had the rights to the other two shows I mentioned above. So, he basically fused all 3 shows together into one. The "Macross Saga" of Robotech is essentially Super Dimensional Fortress Macross, except in English, mostly Americanized names (Rick rather than Hikaru, for instance), and slight modifications to Macross's plot, to make it fit more in line with the following two shows.

Key differences between Macross and The Macross Saga: Protoculture in Robotech was an alien fuel source used to power their Mecha. Protoculture in Macross was an ancient civilization where both the Zentraedi and Humans are descended from. In Robotech, the SDF-1 was completely destroyed at the end, and the entire bridge crew other than Lisa died. In Macross, this didn't happen. Also the SDF-2 eventually goes off on a Space Mission, where it had gotten destroyed in Robotech. In Macross, obviously the Invid and Robotech Masters didn't exist. In Macross, there are other forces in the Galaxy you learn about in later shows (like Macross 7 and Macross Frontier... And technically Macross 2, although that isn't considered canon). There are probably other differences that I'm forgetting.

Then after the Macross Saga, Macek put Space Cavalry Southern Cross as the "Masters Saga". The plot of the original Southern Cross got massively altered compared to the treatment of the other two shows. It got altered into the sequel to Macross in Robotech.

After that, Mospeada was added as "The New Generation" saga. Other than being made into a sequel of Macross/Southern Cross, the plot of this was let relatively untouched. Just name changes, mostly.

The events of Macross Plus, Macross 7, and Macross Frontier never happen in Robotech. The events of the Masters saga, New Generation, and Shadow Chronicles never happen in Macross.