Ask John: Why Isn’t Macross as Prolific as Gundam?

Macross franchise
Question:
Having watched the first movie over again and remembering how much I enjoyed Macross Frontier, it struck me… why isn’t there more Macross? Between CD and toy sales, they must make excellent money off the franchise, but we only get a new entry every few years, unlike its far more common “competitor,” Mobile Suit Gundam, which is likewise driven by the merchandising juggernaut of Bandai’s hobby division. Is this another case of Americans seeing popularity where none exists in Japan?


Answer:
The Macross franchise is indeed quite popular among Japanese viewers, but two major differences behind the scenes explain why the Macross Franchise isn’t as prolific as the Gundam franchise. Although the copyright and ownership disputes that long confused the Macross property have now been resolved in Japan, the Macross franchise remains owned by an assortment of companies, unlike the Gundam franchise that’s solely owned by Bandai. The centralized ownership of the Gundam franchise reduces the red-tape and negotiations necessary to get production of new series off the ground. Furthermore, although Mobile Suit Gundam was created by Yoshiyuki Tomino, Tomino himself has been personally involved in only a small number of the total anime iterations of the Gundam franchise. The Gundam brand has been diversified sufficiently that it supports a multitude of creators and parallel continuities including multiple timelines and series set in fictional futures and today’s real world. The Macross anime, however, adheres to a single continuity, which does not presently allow for multiple universes and timelines nor for anime about real world, present-day children purchasing and playing with Macross model kits. And unlike the contemporary Gundam franchise that’s created and expanded by a revolving selection of creators and directors, Macross creator Shouji Kawamori has been personally involved in every anime iteration of Macross, including personally directing the 1984 movie, the Flashback 2012 OVA, and the Macross Plus, Zero, and Frontier series. But Kawamori is an eclectic director, dividing his time and concentration between Macross and other anime franchises & genres including the sci-fi sports anime Basquash, the shoujo anime Anyamaru Tantei Kiruminzuu, the sci-fi idol anime AKB0048, the ecological fantasy drama Chikyu Shoujo Arjuna, and providing mechanical design for the current shounen anime Chou Soku Henkei Gyrozetter. Historically, new Macross anime has been developed when artist Shoujo Kawamori has been available and inclined to contribute to new Macross anime whereas new Gundam anime has been developed whenever the Bandai corporation approved the development of new installments.

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