My Life In Fandom: The Dam Has Broken: Macross Franchise Cleared To Go West!

Late last night, my time, this came across my feeds:

April 9, 2021, Tokyo, Japan: Landmark agreement between the anime companies will allow immediate international distribution of most Macross television sequels and films, while affirming Harmony Gold’s rights to the Robotech franchise. Both companies will cooperate on the international distribution of future Macross and Robotech projects post 2021.

Tokyo based BIGWEST CO.,LTD. and Los Angeles based Harmony Gold U.S.A. announced an agreement regarding the worldwide rights for the legendary Macross and Robotech franchises. This expansive agreement signed by both companies on March 1, 2021, ends two decades of disagreements and will allow Bigwest and Harmony Gold to chart a new path that will unlock the great potential of both the Macross and Robotech franchises worldwide. The landmark agreement immediately permits worldwide distribution of most of the Macross films and television sequels worldwide, and also confirms that Bigwest will not oppose the Japanese release of an anticipated upcoming live-action Robotech film. The agreement also recognizes Harmony Gold’s longstanding exclusive license with Tatsunoko for the use of the 41 Macross characters and mecha in the Robotech television series and related merchandise throughout the world excluding Japan. Moving forward, both parties will cooperate on distribution regarding future Macross and Robotech projects for the benefit of both franchises.

Bigwest Representative Director, Kaya Onishi added,“Stories that feature Valkyries, a transformable realistic mecha, in action among the galaxies while diva's sing in the background, as well as love triangles involving the pilots and singers. That was and continues to be the concept behind the Macross series, and I am happy that I can now help bring Macross to people all over the world on the 40th anniversary of the series. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Harmony Gold Chairman, Frank Agrama for his courageous decision in this matter.”

Harmony Gold USA Chairman, Frank Agrama stated, “This is an incomparably historic moment for both Harmony Gold and Bigwest and the anime industry overall. This is also an exciting moment for fans of Robotech and Macross worldwide. I thank my friend, Bigwest Representative Director, Kaya Onishi for her hard work to help us reach this long desired resolution that protects both of our franchises while building a better tomorrow for both our companies.”

TLDR: Harmony Gold lost, and Macross--fans and IP holders alike--won.

Harmony Gold got no say in how Macross releases coming to the West are handled. In return, they got Robotech acknowledged as a legit IP unto itself.

Hold that second thought for a moment.

Don't believe the PR language; HG has no vetoes to exercise here. Collaboration here means nothing more than not getting in each other's way, and at worst we'll see exactly what I said happened with the "Star Blazers" brand. Most likely they will be completely separate, and only efforts to avoid Brand Confusion will be made going forward.

Following up, some folks noticed the influence of Sony on brokering this deal. They have a Robotech movie in the works, and they want that to get rolled out without issues. This deal allows for the rollout to be issue-free. There will likely be some sharing of assets in terms of merchandising, since the Macross portion of Robotech remains the most popular part, but otherwise no.

Macross is now free to come to the West. It may be the case that Sony will funnel that through Funimation as part of the deal, but we'll see if that happens soon enough, and we can definitely expect to see Macross fan channels on YouTube and Dailymotion (etc.) get purged as Macross begins ramping up to this years' new Delta movie and whatever comes next year for the 40th anniversary of the original series.

As a long-time fan, I am pleased as can be about this and I look forward to far cheaper Blu-Ray releases of the series, films, and concert films. Oh, and now maybe we can get the occassional live concert. Who doesn't want to see May'n & Megumi live, especially if they have their Queen present to direct them? (Settle down, Fire Bomber and Walkure fans, I hope you get to see your favorites live too.)