ROBOBLOG III Archives

4.27.2006

My conversation with Tommy, Part 1


Yes, Harmony Gold Creative Director Tommy Yune and I had a nice long chat over the phone this past evening about Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles, the WildStorm comics that led up to it, changes to the modern canon, Southern Cross getting the short end of the stick, and a fistful of other matters relating to the ROBOTECH franchise. This is the first half hour of that conversation, with more to come over the next day or two. Be forewarned, like Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles itself, we hit the ground running, so at least passing familiarity with the modern ROBOTECH comic publishing history is strongly recommended before you start listening.

Enjoy!


MP3 File

posted by Captain JLS at 02:06

1 Comments:

  • Copied from the Google cache (don't ask):

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    Wow! Great job Jonathan! The quality is excellent, and you just keep getting better and better with this. Thanks for doing this. A lot of questions I've been thinking about were answered.
    By Arthedain, at 03:33

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    Completely agreed, Jonathan. You asked a lot of questions that are more in depth and relevant to harder-core fans.

    I'm hoping the two of you get into the whole issue of how the latest comic series sort of continues The Sentinels comic but at the same time is changing continuity as it goes. Will this be addressed in future comics or other mediums? But I'll just have to wait for the next part of the interview to see if we get that info.

    Wouldn't it be cool if J could get the opportunity to talk to Tommy on a regular basis (kinda like Cup O Joe)? It would be a great way to get Robotech info out there to the fans!

    Thanks again, Jonathan. Great job!
    By Anonymous, at 08:44

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    Is there by chance a transcript to this interview that you can post up? Tommy's voice is rather annoying, I am sorry to say.
    By Anonymous, at 13:38

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    LOL, I wouldn't say his voice is annoying, but my wife gets all pinched in the face when I listen to blogs so I wouldn't mind seeing a transcript as well if someone could provide one :)
    By Deevil, at 14:21

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    C'mon guys, don't make me listen to it again ... editing it was bad enough ... >_<
    By Jonathan, at 14:33

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    Make DW do it!
    By Deevil, at 14:57

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    or you could all use headphones.. it sounds better that way.
    By Arthedain, at 16:03

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    thx for the listen, jls. between you and darkwater, you guys make the wait for the shadow chronicles dvd easier to handle...
    By echobasealpha, at 17:13

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    Great Job again Jonathan. Arthedain is right with
    headphones sounds really good.
    By sdf1macross, at 17:22

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    Evangelion didn't throw a kitchen sink until the third episode. There is far more to Japanese anime story telling that just action.

    Good interview, bye the way.
    By SaveRobotech, at 22:32

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    I assume Tommy was speaking largely of the mecha genre; naturally a romantic comedy like Kare Kano or something ,wouldn't follow the same rules, but all the same, first episodes should really have a hook that draws the viewer in if the creators expect to have an audience next week. Cardinal rule of storytelling -- give the audience a reason to come back next time. In mecha anime, since a large part of those shows is big robots hitting one another, the easy hook is action.

    Specifically pointing to the case of Evangelion, bear in mind that the initial ratings for Eva in Japan were very soft; that show's audience built over time, picked up steam, and only erupted into the phenomenon we know it as today due to controversy and word of mouth. There may be more to anime storytelling than just action, but it can help. Eva was presented as a mecha show, and the scarcity of the mecha action would be kind of a turn-off to the usual audience for that genre. The lack of action throughout large passages of Eva (of even movement in some cases) probably didn't help the series much in the ratings during that first broadcast run. That said, the big Eva-01 Vs. Third Angel battle happens in the second half of the second episode, if that's the "kitchen sink" you're referring to. (I remember this because I originally bought the series on two-episode VHS tapes when it was first commercially released in the U.S., and I know for a fact that the fight was on the first tape.)

    The U.S. audience -- the one that heaped so much praise on Evangelion and treated it as the greatest thing ever -- largely watched Evangelion on home video, and thus didn't have to wait until the second week for the big 'splodey Eva Vs. Angel battle. For all intents and purposes, those first two to three episodes (bearing in mind all those who picked the show up on DVD instead of VHS) constitute the "first episode" that the U.S. audience saw, and hey, at least for me, the stuff blowing up from time to time was the hook that dragged me through those twenty-six episodes.

    All things to consider when bringing out that particular example.

    Thanks for the kudos, BTW. I'll try and get the next part up tomorrow night, barring any major disruption of my schedule.
    By Jonathan, at 00:32

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    great interview!!!

    I'm glad to see that there are some out there that are as concerned about where the Robotech story is going and why as I am.

    great job!!!
    Treiz
    By Treiz, at 14:15

    By Blogger Captain JLS, at 01 May, 2006 23:33  

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