Sugoi-Con - Macross Chat

When fans of Macross, the fortress Beyond Space and Time, gathered at Sugoi-Con, they covered a whiteboard with a continuity timeline of the various Macross series (among other things). The gathering showed that the Macross brand name has a lot of impact on North American anime fans, attracting them with its blend of pop music and mecha. It also showed that it takes some effort to sort through the Macross convolutions of the last fifteen years, part of Shoji Kawamori's efforts to constantly reinvent the series.
Translator Neil Nadelman has spent much of his career turning much of Macross into English, from Macross 2 and Macross Plus to the original series now under restoration for AnimEigo. Yes, the series does serve to sell mecha toys and music soundtracks, and the Macross 7 series was goofy in Neil's opinion, but Nadelman still likes the shows - even if he wonders about characters like Basara, the Fire Bomber guitarist. "He is a guy who believes that any fight can be stopped as long as everyone listens to his music," Nadelman noted about the character who flies a space fighter by playing his guitar.
Dana Weaver, Macross fan who also happens to the the Sugoi-Con chairman, tried to guide fans through the complicated Macross saga, which always seems to come back to someone singing, space battles and a mysterious energy source called protoculture (or something pretty much like it). "Kawamori does a pretty good job of putting a story into it," Weaver said about the many versions of Macross.
One thing is certain: with the release of restored versions of Macross from AnimEigo and Robotech from ADV Films. Macross seems to be the North American equivalent of Gundam in Japan - a series that never will end.

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