I don't mind subbed either, provided that that is how I started the show from the beginning. I can't watch in Japanese if I've already seen it in English dub, because then the voices throw me off. I like having dubbed though because then I don't have to divert 100% of my attention to the screen to know what's going on, and can do stuff like cleaning and laundry without having to look up.

 

I normally don’t mind dubs or subs, but with Macross I feel like they’d have to redo all the songs too, otherwise an English dub would suffer from major identity crisis every time someone suddenly started singing.

Since the music is so integral to Macross (vs. just an opening or end credits tune) I’m not sure translating songs would work. At least not based on what I’ve heard of other attempts to translate and sing the songs without significantly changing melodies. Japanese and English have wildly different grammar, which makes it difficult to keep the tune the same without some really awkward sounding turns of phrase, unnatural pauses, etc.

(I’m thinking specifically of Ishtar’s song at the end of Macross II, and Media Blasters’ attempts to translate the Rurouni Kenshin theme songs).

I guess they could try to re-record English Fire, maybe... heh. But I can’t imagine any of the very strongly j-pop style stuff from Frontier or Delta in English.

 

I'm mostly a dub guy and while I value the attempt to dub songs, the results are... not always fantastic. I'm usually fine leaving songs undubbed, but what irks me is when the dub VA's voice is no where near the original VA's pitch or tone. That said, there are a LOT of fan-made english covers of anime themes and other songs that sound damn good without totally butchering the song itself. There's a cover of "What about my star" by LeeandLie featuring Christina Vee that sounds REALLY good. I dunno, if you're gonna cast a character who is going to be doing some singing, make sure your VA can sing or at least sounds remotely like the original VA is what it really boils down to >_>

 

Some dubs are as good as the sub, Akira original, macross plus and ninja scrol for example. Some dubs are way better and shit all over the sub, like fotns movie.

 

I would rather just have subtitles. This way I wouldn't have to wait so long for a blu-ray release. I also do not watch dubs.

 

Well, as the official Macross YouTube channel is gradually being un-geolocked for everyone around the globe to enjoy, I will remind everyone about the first trailer for the upcoming Macross Delta The Movie - Absolute Live!!!!!! The film, comprising original content as a sequel to the 2018 film Passionate Walkure, itself an altered compilation of the 2016 TV series, is scheduled for release in Japanese cinemas later in 2021.

 

All! The official Japanese offerings are too rich for my blood!

Same! Subs are fine for me.

 

tbch I'm not really excited for the new movie. Delta was kind of "meh" to me - it was fun to watch, I guess, but the second half of the show didn't really go anywhere. And the movie version suffered pretty badly from plot compression, though I appreciated the changes the made to try and make it flow.

That teaser trailer did nothing to make me think it's going to be awesome, just... more Delta.

 

Robotech’s Macross saga, Macross II and Macross Plus had good dubs IMO. I prefer the Robotech dub of the Macross saga over ADV’s dub of the Macross saga. Having Roy sound like a stern older brother switch to a surfer was weird and way off. Complete turn off once I saw it screened at AMA years back.

That’s my preference

 

The biggest problem with the Robotech dub is that it comes with the Robotech script and the baggage that comes with trying to make it part of unrelated multipart epic. That aside I agree that ADV dub was completely forgettable

 

That's only the case with the Robotech dub when it gets to Protoculture and some minor things dulled down a bit in Roy's speech, the shower scene cut, Miriya throwing her baby to Lisa (if memory services right), etc. But overall, they kept the script pretty faithful. Once you get to the other Robotech seasons, it's a slaughterhouse on the script with Robotech Masters, Robotechnology, references back to "Admiral Hunter" etc. etc.

 

I haven’t rewatched all of a Robotech in a bit, but just watching the end of episode 36, the whole tone on the interaction between Minmei and Lisa is completely different. That’s without factoring in the awkwardness of Robotech killing off Global and the bridge crew, and the extended smoke and mirrors that was the SDF-2. Just judging from that, I don’t think it’s quite as faithful as you’re remembering.

 

I just realized reading all these posts that I have never watched the entire Robotech saga (Macross Saga, Masters, New Generation) since I bought the ADV DVDs long ago. Maybe I should watch that one day and see how cringe worthy it really is. I do know I watched them long ago when I was little, but things are so much different when you can actually understand what is going on other than, "vehicles transforming and can shoot at other things with boring talking in between".

Heck, I even splurged back then and got the first set signed by Carl Macek when Robotech.com was offering it.

Yeah this was before I realized how much I didn't like Carl Macek's HG for ruining my chances of ever getting more Macross here. Although I did balance the universe by supporting AE in making the Macross DVD set which I did recently finish.

 

I recently watched it again and stand by my view. None of that is critical to the main plot or storyline. (Though I definitely concede that the insertion of Southern Cross to introduce Robotech Masters absolutely is a change.) The translation stays fairly accurate on most critical things. I actually watched episode by episode doubling one Robotech and rewatching the same one right after of Macross. It’s the other two Robotech series that get a bit messed up because they continue the story of Protoculture and the Macross gang as a central storyline.

But hey, I get that for some people those changes are enough to ruin or bastardize the original. I just don’t personally see it as problematic.

 

What Protoculture is, is fundamentally different between Macross and Robotech.

Some dubs are almost as good as the original voices, but none of your selections (other than maybe Macross Plus, which I have never seen dubbed). The original Akira dub can't even pronounce main characters' names correctly! Fuck that. And the idea you could put the Fist of the North Star English dub voices anywhere near being on the level of the true character voices is absolutely hilarious. All that is, is you probably watched the dub first, so that formed what your image of the characters. I feel bad for people like that.

 

Totally, I mentioned that there was a difference above. While fundamentally different, I don’t see it making a huge impact to the “Macross saga.” It stays rather vague in the first season of Robotech. It only becomes more clearly about energy in the later seasons.

Trust me though, i prefer the actual Macross definition

 

I can understand what @Meister61 is saying. In fact the examples he provided - Akira, Ninja Scroll, Fist of the North Star, Macross Plus - were all really popular early introductions to anime for a lot of western fans, and for the longest time English dubs were the only way to watch them.

(I'd add to that list many others - Macross II, Venus Wars, Project A-K, Street Figher II, the Fatal Fury movies, the first Ghost in the Shell movie... I'm sure there are more I'm forgetting).

I do think a lot of early fans prefer those audio tracks because it was the way they were introduced to them. But @SouthtownKid , to dismiss it as "well you watched the dub first so that's why" is missing a key piece of information here, and that's how long these films were only available in English.

Sci-fi channel and other networks that aired movies didn't do subtitled versions, and if you were lucky enough to have a video store with a "japanimation" section, you had to choose between dubbed or subbed VHS at time of purchase (subtitled releases were both less common and more expensive, as I recall). In some cases, Akira for instance, that might have been almost 10 years from its introduction to western audiences, with an English dub, before a US DVD release with the Japanese audio was available. That's a long time for an English dub to cement itself in your mind as the only way to watch it.

At any rate, I don't care for the changes in the Robotech dub and don't think they'd work at all as a stand-in for a straight Macross dub. Quoting myself here from a while back in the Robotech Thread:

Robotech is fine for what it is - a generic sci-fi war story about a war, followed by another war, which was followed by another war. It stands out because it introduced a whole generation to anime, but the changes made to the plot and characters to turn it into that generic sci-fi war story also skipped out on most of what makes Macross Macross.

At its core Macross is about bringing disparate cultures together, usually through song. Whereas Robotech is about... wars with everyone they meet.

Love and Music saves the day? No, we're busy with this endless cycle of war where everyone is fighting over space gasoline.

 

Couldn’t do it lol. I tried watching the Sentinels movie but lost interest after 10 minutes. Saw Shadow Chronicles at a con and it was laughable. You spend all these years waiting to see what happened to Rick Hunter only to walk out realizing maybe HG should’ve done what Kawamori did(with Hikaru) and just left his fate ambigous.

It at least made sense in Macross. In Robotech it seemed like the writers wanted to allude to some major reveal and development that never happened.

My watching order was in reverse. I watched Robotech 1st years before watching Japanese Macross. Left me appreciating the original Macross more. Most of the core cast is very similar between Japanese Macross and the SDF Macross saga in Robotech. The main differences being that Rick seemed more impatient and a bit uncaring compared to Hikaru and Minmei seemed more immature than Minmay. The ending for the Macross saga in Robotech was a big difference too with some of the bridge crew dying while they survive in Japanese Macross.

I also found Kamujin much more entertaining in the Japanese Macross series compared to Khyron in Robotech.

 

Shadow Chronicles is even more laughable for being pretty much beat-for-beat plagiarism of Rebirth Yamato/Space Battleship Yamato Resurrection, which was already far and away the worst entry into the Yamato franchise ever. If you're going to steal, at least steal from something that isn't absolutely abysmal.

 

Yeah I agree. I watched Robotech moons before my comparison watch. I really think the nuances of the original SDFM is superior for sure. I enjoy it more.