Ask John: Why Isn’t Macross as Prolific as Gundam?
Question:
Having watched the first movie over again and remembering how much I enjoyed Macross Frontier, it struck me… why isn’t there more Macross? Between CD and toy sales, they must make excellent money off the franchise, but we only get a new entry every few years, unlike its far more common “competitor,” Mobile Suit Gundam, which is likewise driven by the merchandising juggernaut of Bandai’s hobby division. Is this another case of Americans seeing popularity where none exists in Japan?
Answer:
The Macross franchise is indeed quite popular among Japanese viewers, but two major differences behind the scenes explain why the Macross Franchise isn’t as prolific as the Gundam franchise. Although the copyright and ownership disputes that long confused the Macross property have now been resolved in Japan, the Macross franchise remains owned by an assortment of companies, unlike the Gundam franchise that’s solely owned by Bandai. The centralized ownership of the Gundam franchise reduces the red-tape and negotiations necessary to get production of new series off the ground. Furthermore, although Mobile Suit Gundam was created by Yoshiyuki Tomino, Tomino himself has been personally involved in only a small number of the total anime iterations of the Gundam franchise. The Gundam brand has been diversified sufficiently that it supports a multitude of creators and parallel continuities including multiple timelines and series set in fictional futures and today’s real world. The Macross anime, however, adheres to a single continuity, which does not presently allow for multiple universes and timelines nor for anime about real world, present-day children purchasing and playing with Macross model kits. And unlike the contemporary Gundam franchise that’s created and expanded by a revolving selection of creators and directors, Macross creator Shouji Kawamori has been personally involved in every anime iteration of Macross, including personally directing the 1984 movie, the Flashback 2012 OVA, and the Macross Plus, Zero, and Frontier series. But Kawamori is an eclectic director, dividing his time and concentration between Macross and other anime franchises & genres including the sci-fi sports anime Basquash, the shoujo anime Anyamaru Tantei Kiruminzuu, the sci-fi idol anime AKB0048, the ecological fantasy drama Chikyu Shoujo Arjuna, and providing mechanical design for the current shounen anime Chou Soku Henkei Gyrozetter. Historically, new Macross anime has been developed when artist Shoujo Kawamori has been available and inclined to contribute to new Macross anime whereas new Gundam anime has been developed whenever the Bandai corporation approved the development of new installments.
Related Posts
About The Author
john
Add a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
There was also the longtime reluctance of Mari Iijima to return to the role of Minmay, due to her successful music career in her own right. Arihiro Hase, the original voice of Hikaru Ichijo, died in a motorcycle accident after his work as a tertiary character in the MACROSS 7 TV series.
FWIW, official Macross continuity split the 1984 movie and the MACROSS II: LOVERS AGAIN into a sub-continuity since the appearances of MACROSS PLUS and MACROSS 7…although elements of the 1984 movie have also appeared in MACROSS 7 and MACROSS FRONTIER, thus confusing the issue.
And let’s not get into the South Korean and Chinese knockoffs…
“Having watched the first movie over again and remembering how much I enjoyed Macross Frontier, it struck me… why isn’t there more Macross? ”
Because no one outside of otaku and Firebomber fans has liked Macross since Flashback 2012? 🙂
The other thing about Gundam is that its fanbase is not as obsessed with continuity with the original series like the Macross fanbase. So the writers have more opportunity to tinker with and explore different aspects of the Gundam Universe. M2 is actually not a bad bunch of OAVs, but the original audience had it in for it so badly that they had to make a godawful direct sequel in the form of 7, just to appease them. So now the Macross crew is stuck trying to keep any future story in the same main narrative, rather than taking it in different directions.
My bad. John beat me to it. ^^;
Fpilot: Even if they were able to return, their characters would be really old by now.
I think John hit the nail on its head: Shoji Kawamori still has a lot of creative control over Macross, so we only get new installments whenever he’s available and interested. Actually, until the mid ’90s, he wasn’t even interested in continuing the story, which was why he didn’t work on Macross II, but it seems he’s tempted back to the franchise every time there’s an anniversary.