Although it helped to create an audience for Japanese animation in the United States, Robotech (1985) has always been an anomaly: an anime series that was never seen in Japan in its final form. Producers at Harmony Gold edited together footage from Super Dimension Fortress: Macross, Genesis Climber Mospeada, and Super-dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross, three similar-looking series from Tatsunoko Studios, to create an 85-episode sci-fi epic with a new story line. Toys, role-playing games, and novelizations have kept Robotech alive in the hearts of its fans, although it went off the air in the early '90s. As the adventure continues, the crew of the SDF-1 space fortress tries out a new defense system, overtaxes it, and devastates 25 square miles of the Earth. Not surprisingly, the government orders the ship back into space; the Zentraedi believe they are facing a terrible new weapon and launch a series of assaults. Enchanted with the freer way of life they've found aboard the SDF, three Zentraedi spies defect. When Lisa discovers their two races are almost identical biochemically, she takes the information to Earth to try to persuade the government to open peace negotiations. While human-Zentraedi relations improve, interpersonal relations among humans grow increasingly complicated: the bond between Lisa and Rick intensifies, Minmei becomes more involved with Kyle, and Max is smitten with Miriya, another Zentraedi spy. The prints of several of these episodes have faded badly--some lines appear and disappear and the characters' faces have a weird, splotchy look. Unrated; "contains mild animated violence" restricted to spaceship and robot battles; suitable for ages 8 and up. --Charles Solomon
