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Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles
01/12/2007 . Source: Joules Taylor 
region 2 DVD. Revelation Films B000QEIQ5Q. 88 minutes 1 DVD. Price: £19.99 (UK). Buy Robotech The Shadow Chronicles in the USA - or Buy Robotech The Shadow Chronicles in the UK  check out website: www.revfilms.com
Back in the mid-90s when anime was just beginning to be known in the UK, the Sci Fi cable channel screened 'Robotech' as part of its anime programming...
I'll try to keep this as brief as I can. Please bear with me.
In the early 1980s three anime were produced in Japan: their English titles are 'Super Dimensional Fortress Macross', 'Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross' and 'Genesis Climber Mospeada'. The three original films are actually unrelated, although they do have similar themes and weaponry and proved surprisingly popular.
Towards the middle of the 80s, Harmony Gold USA Inc., seeing the potential in the stories, cobbled together, sorry, adapted, the three films into an 85 episode, three part TV series, 'Robotech'.
Part one, 'The Macross Saga', details how the alien Super Dimensional Fortress (SDF) Macross crash-lands on Earth carrying the last known 'protoculture' matrix. Protoculture being the derivative of the 'Flowers of Life', a hugely powerful source of energy, a catalyst for genetic engineering and a quasi-sacred food for the Invid and the Robotech Masters (more on them in a minute). It is therefore much in demand by a variety of alien species who will stop at very little to obtain it. In this part of the series, it's the giant Zentraedi who invade Earth in an attempt to retrieve it. They fail, but along the way humanity learns the technological secrets of the Fortress and devise a variety of weaponry to assist them in the fight. The most notable being 'mecha'. Think Transformers but with human pilots.
'The Robotech Masters', the second part of the series, sees the Earth now under attack from the creators of the Fortress, who understandably want their protoculture and their technology back. They also fail and for a while it looks like Earth might know some peace. But that would be boring, wouldn't it?
The final part, 'The New Generation', sees the insect-like Invid seeking out the Flowers of Life after their own source, their home planet, was destroyed by the Robotech Masters. The Invid see humans as vastly inferior, and have no compunction about attempting to wipe them out and make Earth their own home.
The series is designed to appeal to teen boys. All three parts are, essentially, long, hugely destructive mecha battles, both in space and on Earth, interspersed by slightly awkward love stories. The female characters all have big busts and cute backsides - yes, even the alien ones - and even the toughest female pilots and fighters turn suddenly submissive when confronted by the desire of a sturdy male or so I remember anyway. It's been a VERY long time since I watched it. On the plus side, it does make something of an attempt to portray co-operation under stress and acceptance of and tolerance for the different or alien. Unfortunately, the mecha battles tend to overshadow everything, however, and are what stick in the mind once the series is over.
'Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles' is no different and in fact reminded me of why I never liked mecha in the first place. Although that being said, I have to confess to a chuckle at the sight of the Invid fighter carriers, which are pink and reminded me of nothing so much as an old-fashioned, circular, woman's powder compact, even to the way they open from a 'hinge' at the back...
The animation may have been souped-up, with snazzy cgi elements added, but the characters still have all the emotional depth and intensity of a wet tissue. The humans are still fighting the Invid on Earth in long, drawn out battles that left me yawning, using technology given them by another alien race, the Children of the Shadows (the Invid's name for them: they call themselves the Haydonites. The Shadow part of the anime's name refers to them). The humans ultimately exchange one enemy, the Invid, for yet another...
If you liked 'Robotech', you'll probably enjoy 'Shadow Chronicles', but I wouldn't like to commit myself to any recommendation. The anime is very lightweight, lacking in any sort of memorable characterisation. Even those characters who appeared in the original series, like Scott Bernard, seemed to be flimsier here and generally forgettable. It's pretty, though. Nice effects.
Joules Taylor
http://heartsown.biz/
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