A few years ago, after decades of legal squabbling, the companies behind the legendary mecha anime Macross and its western adaptation as Robotech put aside long-standing differences in order to allow the two franchises to co-exist outside of Japan. Now, that deal is finally seeing some movement for fans… although still holds a few annoying reminders at just how obtuse this perceived “rivalry” have persisted.
Announced today on the official Macross website, Disney+ will become the streaming home of the franchise in Japan and across the world, marking the first time several of the 18 series in the Macross franchise will be able to officially stream outside of its home territory—a direct outcome of the 2021 deal between Big West and Studio Nue (the advertising conglomerate and animation studio, that alongside Tatsunoko, created the original Macross) and western production house Harmony Gold (who licensed the original Macross to be adapted as Robotech in the 1980s) to see the two collaborate more closely on distributing and creating new entries in both the Macross and Robotech saga.
However, there are still some restrictions, largely based around Harmony Gold’s tight grip on the original Macross series, Super Dimension Fortress Macross, which served as the adaptive material for classic Robotech. While in Japan all 18 Macross projects will be available to stream on Disney+, internationally both Super Dimension Fortress Macross and its movie adaptation, Do You Remember Love?—two foundational and highly-regarded pillars of the series, for understandable reasons—will not be available to stream. Here’s the list of everything that will be available globally:
- The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Flash Back 2012, a music video recreating elements from the original TV series and Do You Remember Love?
- The Super Dimension Fortress Macross II: Lovers, Again
- Macross Plus Movie Edition
- Macross 7
- Macross 7 the Movie: The Galaxy’s Calling Me!
- Macross Dynamite 7
- Macross Zero
- Macross Frontier
- Macross Frontier: The False Songstress
- Macross Frontier: The Wings of Farewell
- Gekijō Tanpen Macross Frontier Toki no Meikyū
- Macross FB7: Ore no Uta o Kike!
- Macross Delta
- Macross Delta the Movie: Passionate Valkyrie
- Macross Delta the Movie: Absolute Live!!!!!!
While for the most part this is welcome news, the international absence of the original series as well as Do You Remember Love? will no doubt be a source of frustration for Macross and Robotech fans—and is perhaps in part due to Harmony Gold’s continuing plans to adapt the original Robotech into a live-action movie. Whatever the cause, hopefully one day these issues will finally be resolved, and Macross can get the kind of mainstream streaming access a series as legendary as it is deserves.
Macross will begin streaming on Disney+ at some point in 2024.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
+ There are no comments
Add yours