Ask John: Will Macross 7 Come to America?

Question:
Will Macross 7 ever make it over here for a domestic release? I’ve heard that it did well in Japan. If they did would they change the name & plotline like they did for SDF:Macross?

Answer:
Another example of the sometimes vastly different reaction to particular anime series from Japanese fans and Western fans, Macross 7 was very popular in Japan, but is almost universally hated by Western fans. Macross 7, a direct sequel to the original Superdimensional Fortress Macross TV series, had a 49 episode TV series, a 30 minute long theatrical motion picture, a 3 episode long OAV series titled Macross 7 Encore (which consisted of one un-aired TV episode and two TV episode quality OAVs), and a 4 episode long OAV series titled Macross Dynamite 7. I’m honestly not sure why Macross 7 was so popular among Japanese fans, but its de-emphasis of the dramatic space opera elements of the original Macross and its reliance on psuedo-magic “song energy” to pilot mecha and battle enemies did not go over well among American fans used to the relatively hard sci-fi realism of the original Macross animation.

For years it’s been rumored that Macross 7 has never made it to America because its extensive score of vocal soundtrack music carried with it a nightmare of royalties and separate licensing negotiations. The prolonged and continuing legal dispute over ownership of the Macross franchise copyrights in Japan may also have a smothering effect on possible negotiations for an American release. Simply because it’s a Macross title, there will always be a strong potential that Macross 7 will be licensed for American release, but at the present time I’m not aware of the show having an American distribution license. Whether Macross 7 would be edited and re-written the way the original Macross was turned into Robotech would, of course, depend on what company licensed the series for American release and what their plans for the series were.