The Palladium Press Release is Up

It's here at Anime News Network. Highlights:

• We're looking at a tentative November release date for the Shadow Chronicles sourcebook.
  
• No plans to reprint the original books as they were.
  
• Regarding future books, I quote, "Much more attention will be devoted to The Southern Cross segment of the Robotech® saga." Seriously?! This must be the first ROBOTECH licensee in all of the franchise's twenty-two year history to ever say this.
  
• The schedule looks like this: Shadow Chronicles, New Gen, Macross Saga, Southern Cross, and then new & rewritten sourcebooks for all. Maybe Southern Cross is last so they can give it all that attention? (No, I know why it's last, don't bother telling me ...)
  
• While the main books going forward will be 5" x 7" -- which they're apparently hoping will be racked near the manga section (hey, the RPG sections of bookstores have traditionally been near the graphic novels) -- they are considering deluxe editions of the books at 8" x 11" with additional artwork, mecha transformations, and more for those who aren't as taken with the pocket-sized books.

More at the link, of course.

Nobody tells me anything: The fruits of some Macross Frontier Googling.

I recall hearing the news from the Macross concert event back in August, but have the rest of you people seen this stuff yet? Apparently Macross Frontier, the new Macross TV series, is coming up either next month or in 2009 depending on which website or forum you decide to listen to -- I didn't see any source for either, so we'll just see when it airs. It'll be set in 2070-something, be set in a school (according to NewType, according to WikiPedia) and feature Valkyries fighting space monsters.

And there's pictures and such a few different places. There's some character and mecha sketches here, and a video containing pics snapped at the Macross event where the show was announced here. Found the same pics in a non-YouTube format elsewhere, but the video features the intro of Fire Bomber's "Planet Dance," so that makes it better.

Must say, the character designs are disappointing; the designer's only other major credit is for GONZO's loathsome Gravion Zwei, and when you partner that with the prospect of space monster fighting and how much I hated the first episode of Kawamori's last collaboration with director Yasuhito Kikuchi, Aquarion, I've got a bad feeling about this.

The Roboblog Chronicles: Episodes 18 & 19

A twofer: last week's episode, recorded on early Saturday morning but not edited and posted until now, and this week's, recorded Sunday night. My two-year blogiversary, an old comic book series proposal, a startling eBay auction, internet drama, something missing from my cell phone, and pages of ROBOTECH comic book art are all discussed in the roughly twenty minutes of footage below. Enjoy!





Also of note:

• The Masters has an enlightening interview with Robotech The Movie comic book writer Benny R. Powell here at the Robotech Companion website, not only concerning the creation of that strange little two-issue series, but his entire career in the comic book biz.
  
  
• Did you know that Roboblog pal Roger Harkavy must henceforth be addressed as the Duke of Kichijoji? Well, now you do. Don't forget!
  
  
• I am not linking to the drama.
  
  I am not linking to the drama.
  
  I AM NOT LINKING TO THE DRAMA.
  
  ...
  
  But The Masters did, so if you want to know more about what happened, follow the link trail. Discussing it in the comments thread, however, is strongly discouraged.

Hey, kids - an Anime Bento screening report!

Mike Chen writes in from the Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles screening yesterday in Saratoga, CA:

Thought you might like an Anime Bento report from the Northern California screening (Saratoga, which is a suburb of San Jose). There were about 40 people in the theater which wasn't bad considering the thing had no publicity. High-def looked great for the big screen, though I didn't notice too much of a difference until they ran some of the bonus features from the DVD.

The audience reception was a little weird. I get the feeling that some of the people hadn't seen it before or perhaps were really unfamiliar with Robotech because there some big unintentional laughs whenever Janice sang and really, from a fanboy perspective, that's not THAT out of place. I'd say about 90% of the "humor" fell flat, so I wasn't the only one who thought it was forced in a George Lucas type of way. Also, there was a lot of unintentional snickering at much of the exposition, but you know how nitpicky fanboys can be. However, there was applause at the end of the movie, so I'd say the opinion was mostly positive.

For the special features at the end, well, they weren't that special. There was about 10 minutes of cut-and-paste footage from the DVD documentary, some outtakes/deleted scenes (one really fun with Alex), and a 30-second Shadow Rising teaser. The teaser was the Regess talking straight out of SC with SC footage, then a logo, and a quick
shot of Ariel flying through the air.

All in all, it was nice to see SC on the big screen but the bonus stuff was really lame. I understand that Shadow Rising isn't anywhere near being done, but after McKeever's "You'll learn more at Anime Bento" speech on Space Station Liberty, that was pretty disappointing. I was hoping for at least a message from Tommy or Kevin saying a rough release date or some plot outline.

Also, if any of your readers want a 12" Barbie-style Minmei doll, I randomly came across one on my roadtrip through Southern California at Antiques On The Grapevine in Gorman (right off Highway 5). Here's a link.

It's a strange mix of typical antique store fodder and sci-fi/anime collectibles. The Minmei doll was tucked away apart from the anime stuff, just in the backroom. I did a double-take because it was so random. Anyways, I'm sure it's still there in case you have any collectors reading the blog from the SoCal region.

Thanks, Mike!

I wonder, is that the silly Matchbox ROBOTECH Minmei doll from the '80s or the really nice Japanese Macross doll in the Chinese dress. I'd totally take one of the latter ... that's a really nice item. Maybe he can clarify in the comments thread.

(Update: Mike tells me it's the cheesy Matchbox doll. Ah.)

Anyway, the Shadow Rising teaser sounds like it was awfully disappointing; I'd heard a rumor that it was at least going to include never-before-seen footage, left on the cutting room floor. Maybe they're saving that for a second teaser, later on ...

Do YOU have a report from the Anime Bento event in your area? Send it in, and I'll post it up for all to read. I'm curious how these things all went, especially the ones that Team HG dropped in on.

Two Days of Bruce, Part 1

Life's funny. I suppose I probably shouldn't have let my cat out of the bag last week, but I really wanted someone to just kick me in the butt and get me to edit this thing and put it up on the internet for all you fine folks out there. So, someone did. Five days ago, pal Evan shot me a quick text to tell me that Meadows was trying to steal my thunder, yo. Or something. Well, that worked about as well as anything else would have. So here you go: a little under a half hour with Robotech Invid War: Aftermath writer/artist Bruce Lewis. THEN, you can turn right around on Sunday and call in and pitch your OWN questions to Bruce Lewis on Space Station Liberty, hosted by the aforementioned Chris Meadows.


MP3 File

Many thanks to Bruce Lewis for taking the time not only to sketch up the above Lancer & Sera piece -- for all the series' faults, I love Lewis's take on Lancer and Sera, both visually and as characters -- but to talk to me for an evening. And apologies to both him and the rest of you out there for sitting on this for a little over a month. I hope you all enjoy!

The Roboblog Chronicles: Episode 17 - Casting Call

So there's this not-very-good ROBOTECH movie "dream cast" list up at IGN -- you can see it here. I decided I could improve on it. Honestly, I think any ROBOTECH fan could improve on it, but I"m the one with the blog and the camera, so here's what I think. I had a hard time with Gloval. I think you might be able to do better. But the rest of them? I stand behind 'em 100%. I think they'd make for an excellent ROBOTECH movie cast. Take a look.

The Roboblog Chronicles: Episode 16 - Break Out The Popcorn

Yes, the Roboblog Chronicles saga continues this week with discussion of the live action movie in the works at Warner Bros. In this episode I get really hot and bothered about the prospect of them screwing up the Rick and Minmei relationship, which may seem kind of odd until you really think about how that relationship works -- or rather, how it fails to work. It's actually a pretty interesting thing, fragile and precious, like a snowflake.

No, I'm not on any medication right now. Why do you ask?



In other news:

• Vincent McHenry, my fellow contributing writer to The Art of Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles, would like me to mention the Robotech Photo Contest running at Robotech.com. I guess it's his brainchild, and it looks like it could be a lot of fun, so pull out your toys and home-made props and costumes and stuff and go have yourself some fun. I'd enter, except that I think it'd look hinky if I won anything, and besides, I think I've got enough on my plate right now ...
  
  
• Roger Harkavy lets us know that the Aoshima reengineerings and repaintings of the Toynami Masterpiece Alphas under the Mospeada banner in Japan have been pushed back to October. Which is fine, because that probably means they'll be all the better, right?
  
  
• The Space Station Liberty talkcast has lined up its next two rounds of guests. On September 14, Chris will be talking to Tommy Yune and Kevin Siembieda, presumably about the recently completed reacquisition of the ROBOTECH RPG license by Palladium Books.
  
  Then, September 16, Chris will have on Aftermath writer/artist Bruce Lewis, which means I'd better get my damn act together and get my Bruce Lewis interview posted this week. I guess the saying is true: he who hesitates, loses.
  
  Of course, in the end, you all win, because you get to hear two Bruce Lewis interviews within mere days of one another. How about that, ladies and gentlemen?
  
  You can see the times for Chris's interviews, listen in, and join in on the fun and frivolity via the Space Station Liberty talkcast homepage here.

BREAKING NEWS: OMGWTF!!!

Thank you, Admiral DMC McKeever, for bringing this to my attention in the comments thread for the Roboblog Chronicles show below.

Tobey Maguire is producing a freakin' ROBOTECH movie at Warner Bros.

I love this quote from Maguire, because this bodes well:

"We are very excited to bring 'Robotech' to the big screen," Maguire said. "There is a rich mythology that will be a great foundation for a sophisticated, smart and entertaining film."

Can you see him as Rick Hunter? I can. I totally can.

(Wonder who's going to play Spider-Man now if Maguire's working on this.)

Anyhoo -- DISCUSS!

The Roboblog Chronicles: Episode 15 - Many Happy Returns

Thank you all for your patience. Today it has been richly rewarded! Enjoy an all-new Roboblog Chronicles, a full ten minutes of me prattling away about crap!



You'll note the glaringly obvious edit at the end. Here's what I said but didn't get to post due to the ten-minute free YouTube account limit:

Thanks to Treiz for e-mailing me about the Anime Bento thing that's getting The Shadow Chronicles into theaters again. Apologies for not posting it up at the time. Also thanks to Roger Harkavy for mailing me those tiny cannons to fix up my WAVE Macross toy, as well as the keen Aoshima Mospeada toy flyer. Much appreciated.