Saturday Night Showcase> Robotech: The Masters: The Trap

Continuing our tribute to the late Carl Macek by focusing on his most famous work, Robotech. This time it’s the Second Robotech War, referred to by it’s Comico adaptation name, Robotech Masters, or in Manga Entertainment’s remastering, Robotech: The Masters. The Zentraedi have been defeated, but in the ruins of the SDF-1 lies the secrets behind the mysterious power source known as Protoculture.

I had thought about using the episode that explains the coming of the third threat, and the episode “Dana’s Story”, which is how they bridged the gap between the first and second war, as well as telling Dana Sterling’s origins, but I figured both had too many spoilers, and the point of SNS is to get you to watch the full thing for yourselves. So instead we have “The Trap”, which is the point at which we finish introducing everyone, and prepare for the “meat” of the story. Previously, the Master’s ship had been forced down, and the United Earth forces decide to send the 15th Armored Tactical Assault Corp in to scout the ship, retrieve enemy mecha (or better yet, a pilot), and learn what they can about the so-called Robotech Masters. Which is just fine with the Masters.

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Taken from the last of the “Super Dimension” series, Super Dimension Calvary Southern Cross, this may have the most work done to it of the series. The Japanese version didn’t even take place on Earth, but an Earth colony called Glorie. Unlike Earth, Glorie has two moons, which meant having to take out one of the moons. If those of you who are SFX-minded thought that was a long process, imagine what it was like when you couldn’t run it through Photoshop or some other program.

One reason I had thought to use “Dana’s Story”, the 37 episode of Robotech, and the start of the Masters saga, was that it was an all but original episode. Macek and his crew used footage from the two Super Dimension shows to create an episode that has no counterpart. More proof that nothing was “half-assed” on this production.

But let’s compare this episode with the Japanese counterpart. Sadly, whoever has the rights to Southern Cross has not released it online as has been done with it’s more popular kinfolk. (Macross became a series in itself, bypassing both Super Dimension Century Orguss and Southern Cross to form its own continuity.)  Instead, a fan posted an ADV sub (dubs tend to be disliked by anime “purists”, something I plan to discuss this week) of the same episode, which I only post here for comparison’s sake.

One big difference is created by the dialog, and that’s minor personality changes. Note that Jeanne is less talky than Dana. This is true for other characters as well, but while I’ve never been on a field mission to tell which is more accurate, Jeanne comes off a bit more professional. There’s also Bowie Grant’s line about Musica “trying to warn” him about the guy behind them. The footage, which is more clear in the Japanese version, seems to indicate that she’s actually afraid of Bowie, which Bowie Emerson seems to realize.

There’s a thought among some dubbers who market for the wide audience (rather than the “anime community”, which also annoys the purists) that “we” wouldn’t like all these silent parts that in reality add to the suspense of the scene. It works in adult-targeted (not porn!) movies and shows. And Robotech wasn’t marketed to 7-year-olds (despite the Movie test showing doing so, which is why it failed–and probably scarred a few kids for life) but to older viewers–pre to early teens most likely. On the other hand, it made the Masters seem telepathic and even a bit creepier, so there is an upside.

Next week is the finale, the third Robotech war. Then we’ll get into why it’s my favorite of the three and pay our final respects to Mr. Macek.