Two decades later and we have a sequel!!!

Believe it or not, I actually do have other interests besides cars and speed. And one of those happens to be Japanese anime. I won't get into the details of just what "anime" is, you can use Google for that. I was first introduced to this all the way back in 1985 when the series Robotech aired for the first time. Nothing quite like it had existed before in the U.S. and it had a large cult following. Many of you who grew up in that time period probably never even heard of it, but I'll bet you've heard of Transformers. The reason you never heard about (or heard little about) Robotech was that it wasn't a commercial success. They didn't sell lots of toys and video games. Why? It was targeted for an older audience that didn't play with toys and that made it hard for TV stations. They had no idea what to do with the show. For starters, it was a serial format. So you have to show the episodes in order, otherwise you won't know what's going on. The story follows a multi-generational war and the people that lived through it. Unlike G.I. Joe which saw every baddy survive (shoot down a plane, the parachute always saved the day), this series killed off main characters. The last episode didn't "end" the story either. If anything it generated more questions than it answered. The fans wanted to see what was going to happen next to all the great characters they had gotten to know over the 85 episode run. A sequel was planned that would answer some of those questions. But economics put an abrupt end to that project in 1986. Then that was it. Sure there were novelizations and other print media for a few years after that, but then nothing. Until 2001 that is, when robotech.com showed up and the original episodes were rereleased on DVD, video games were created, comic book series planned and there was talk of another sequel. Tons of fans of the original show popped up to show their support for the revival. Its been a bumpy road since then: an 88 minute feature was created, but talks with a distributor (New Line) fell through. One year later (this week) they finally announce that a new distributor has been signed. The intention is for a theatrical and DVD release. Two decades later my favorite show as a kid is back. And the kid in me is very excited.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=9232