Also seen the first 4 episodes of Macross Frontier, and it's animation is amazing!! some of the best mech combat i've ever seen, it looks near life like in some scenes, i wish they opted for that animation style for the mech scenes in Robotech SC, as the cheap CG was all that let Robotech SC down a little.
I am so tempted to derail this thread talking about macross frontier but I've promised I won't ruin it.
Shoji Kawamori has said this is the macross that he believe will be his best so far from what I have heard from fans who keep up with all the interviews and stuff.
Dude wait till all the freakin bandai toys come out! Chogokin valkyries from bandai are going to rip Yamato's toys a new arsehole. (in terms of overall quality of build and joints. And for QC that is for once consistent on the first run instead of having early design defects
)
Sorry grey, I will try to keep all that for the mech/toy thread when I can get around to updating again. (we are all at the mercy of the japanese hobby mags which don't release much info)
But yeah... you are right shadow chronicles could have been sooo much better but to harmony gold's credit, the robotech franchise has been absent for ages whereas with macross it has some show every 5 years or so to keep fans interested. They didn't really expect people to still be interested in RT after the show finished. So it's like the fanbase is fractured, the toys are only going to be limited in run (and expensive) and news is very slow.
The thing about Macross F I like is that it isn't just a mecha show for the mecha nerd. It's that plus drama, music, a world which is well-thought-out and designed to make sense (apart from the idea that the battleships still transform even though they don't need to and the idea should have been scrapped after SW I
) and; in the case of MacF, good animation.
One thing I envied about eureka 7 is that wish to see smooth battle scenes for a new macross show. But to not make the dogfight too realistic like macross zero which makes the valks too "limited" if you know what I mean. The variable fighter should always act somewhere between a fictional machine that can't exist today, moving with a catlike agility, and something that feels limited (like the robots in gundam which can break, wear out, be destroyed.. and not the unstoppable things in the super robot shows where there is no sense of danger when used)
The good thing about the VF-25 is it was designed not to "look cool" specifically so SK could have a "hero" fighter later. This is what I have heard anyway. That's why it has a basic design versus something that looks sexed up like the yf-19 from macross plus to impress.
There is a sense of detail there that mech nerds will appreciate. Lately one of the things about military robot shows is how some of the designs seem like they were made just so toys could be made out of them easily. With macross, the variable fighter is designed to be functional, (the shape of the airframe is based on real world planes which can fly in the air) appear like it was manufactured by a specific company, (for example general galaxy planes appear more alien and zentradi-ish than shinsei ones) and don't have samurai motifs like other mecha shows. (you still get the feeling the robots look like they were made as just military machines, not robot knights with custom faces and humanoid eyes and *mouths, with angel wings or capes or shit that serves no purpose)
If robotech wants to succeed they need to take the focus away from the nerdy sci-fi stuff, and try to make the characters the central focus where their actions toward each other are the
microcosmic equivalent of the actions of the war at large against aliens. (which is a macrocosm) Every individual person has a fight with each other, the character's personality conflicts with other character's personality and this constant in-fighting affects a change in the central characters behaviour which parrallels a fight/struggle at large against the aliens; resulting similarly in the alien's growing in the understanding of human behaviour. The war takes an unexpected turn (aliens gain understanding) and the character drama (two people gaining a better and deeper understanding of each other) dovetails with the ending of the war. (humans and aliens deciding to change their ways)
Characters that hate each other and don't get along = individual's ideas conflicting with another individual's ideas.
microcosmic scale of war. (fighting amongst themselves/lack of understanding)
Humans killing aliens = Human culture conflicting with the alien culture. macrocosmic scale of war. (fighting the unknown)
That was the key with macross and what made it stand out from the other two shows which felt generic. (Armored Cavalry Southern Cross and Genesis Climber Mospeada) For SDF: macross, you didn't have to like the war story, just the interaction between the three main characters. But for those who want the bloody battles, action, fighting, and mecha porn (the 'filler' or 'cool shit') they get that too.
It makes the science fiction show a little more appealing to a wide audience; adding drama, romance, music. Not
just aim for the genre fan but attracting non-science fiction fans into the story too. See that's what kept fans asking and pestering about what happened to minmay, hikaru, misa after the megaroad 1 left earth for so many years after SDF:macross finished; wanting answers to the fates of their fave characters. Ie people actually
gave a shit about them, unlike the ones in southern cross and mospeada.
So if robotech wants to be popular: you've got to aim for a wider base than just fans of mecha shows where only military geeks and nerds will buy the dvd/watch the show.
*there was actually a plausible excuse for that in macross 7 however: the main character himself is a civilian trying to get attention and custom fit that part to personalise the mech.
megatron also looks awesome, apart from his vehicle mode, but i guess they did that so they toy would be released everywhere, ... oh and i hate blitzwings voices .. he sounds cheaply done, like a german porno from the 70s 
Save money like EA do with game sequels.