Robotech: Love Live Alive! is the latest Robotech film. It is an adaptation of the Genesis Climber MOSPEADA OVA Love, Live, Alive. It was released officially 23 July 2013. Its creation was documented in the bonus-feature The Making of Robotech: Love Live Alive.
Plot[]
It is the year 2031, as the spores of the Flower of Life spread over the remains of the SDF-1 and SDF-2, the Invid land out of Hyperspace, on a head-on collision with the Earth. They crash on the spot, quickly turning it into their massive hive, later to be called Reflex Point. In a matter of moments, the Invid takes control of the devastated planet.
As Lancer recalls the start of the war, his interviewer, Kay, notes that this is all common knowledge. She says that she would rather hear the story from the point of view of the Robotech Expeditionary Force. She asks him, instead, if the government knows what made the Invid come to Earth.
Lancer explains that a scientist named Zor who discovered how to gain limitless energy from the Flower of Life. But his creation only resulted in war. A clone of Zor, named Zor Prime, wanted to destroy the remaining seeds, but accidentally spread them all over the remains of the SDF-1 and 2. This alerted the Invid to the Flower's presence, and they began their conquest of Earth.
Kay notes that, in a way, Zor's good intentions only made things worse. Lancer states that that's the best way to put it.
Dana watches the Invid invade.
As Lancer continues his story, Dana leaves Earth along with the many other Earth Defense ships, as they stand no chance against the Invid. The Earth is "turned into a giant slave colony."
Lancer explains that Admiral Rick Hunter sent a Robotech Expeditionary Force to try to reclaim the Earth, in what was the first attempt. Jonathan Wolfe can be heard on a radio checking orders. Lance Belmont leads Yellow Squadron into the attack, but the Invid soon attack, as one person exclaims that it's an ambush. As they reenter orbit, Lancer is hit and crash lands.
He is found by Carla, who dresses him up as a woman to hide him from the Invid. They run away and have many adventures together. But, one day, as the two are on a train, Lancer jumps off just as it leaves, sending Carla away as she yells after him.
Kay is angry that Lancer would just leave her behind like that, but Lancer explains that it was all just so she could be safe. He changes the subject to how he met his closest friends; The day a certain rebel team first found him and at least two others, some introspections give us a unique perception on all five others. The country goofy pal Rand, the group's little sister Annie, the tough never-say-die girl Rook, fellow soldier and best friend Scott Bernard, along with the older Lunk of course.
After Yellow Dancer's gender reveal to the team and Lunk's decision to join them, the team's journey takes them to the Andes Mountains were in the midst of meeting Colonel Wolfe and finding a new Marlene, Scott's hidden sorrow hits home upon finding the devastated Point K. The travels continue to the Rocky Mountains where the team finds the abandoned city of Denver. Through this, we can see how the intimate relationships of Lancer's team-mates developed, blatant like Scott's and unspoken like Rand's.
Kay notes that Lancer is going into great detail about his teammates' romances, while not stating anything about his own. Lancer notes that the world right after the Invid attack on the world was not exactly the ideal place for romance. As he talks, Kay draws an image of Lancer with her camera man filming her. Kay pushes the lens away. Kay asks if he has anyone in the present that he loves, and he replies "Not so far." She quirks back, turning off her tape recorder "Mind if I get in line?"
As the Regess creates two more humanoid heirs, the day he first met Sera is recalled as even into the Caribbean travels, she finds it difficult to attack. Lancer doesn't stay too strongly on this, shifting it back to fellow fallen soldiers he wants to be remembered just like the brave old vets.
The day the team met Sue Graham is when they finally learn of the full extent of Admiral Hunter's plan with the REF, though she also fell like Wolfe and the old vets, her bravery further inspired the team. As Marlene distances herself from the team upon their discovery of her heritage, the pivotal recounting finally gets underway as the REF prepares their final assault. Together with Attack Group 1 and letting the civilians go, Scott, Lancer, and Lunk head off to meet whatever fate has planned.
Upon the team's civilians joining the fight as true soldiers, Kay can't help but butt into the story as she prods Lancer on if there was anything more with Sera. This is flatly rejected as the Battle for Earth resumes, Scott's team being taken deep into Reflex Point's hive with Ariel. Meeting the Regess, the reunited family is at a loss for words at the inescapable bloodbath about to commence in space.
As the Neutron-S missiles are to be launched, the Regess, at last, comes to the decision of abandoning the Earth while her second daughter and her true love fall all the deeper during their escape. The Regess abandons the Earth with her kind, all but Ariel and Sera, upon consuming all of the remaining Protoculture on the planet. The Neutron-S Missiles and a few of the REF's ships are destroyed during their leave, but the Third Robotech War ends and the Earth is spared apocalypse.
Outside, Lancer's fans are excited about the concert, screaming his name repeatedly. Dimitri tells Lancer that they are ready when he is. Kay wants to know what happened after the final battle, mainly with Sera, but Lancer says that they went their separate ways and that he "Really is immune to love."
Lancer's concert ends.
Lancer gets up on stage and performs We Will Win. After the song, as Kay walks away, she sees Sera, older with longer hair, watching the concert. Lancer winks at her. Kay says to herself "Immune to love huh? What a load of..."
After the concert, Lancer sits along on the stage, his fans and his band gone. He looks up as multiple lights shine on his face. Walking towards him are Scott, Marlene, Rook, Rand, Annie and Lunk, who all have candles.
The team reunited once more.
Under a tree, Scott explains that the Robotech Expeditionary Force are planning on a new mission to find Rick Hunter and the SDF-3. Lancer says that although it is an amazing opportunity, that his place is on Earth as Yellow Dancer.
That morning, Lancer gets up before any of the others, nothing how Scott is with Marlene, Rook is with Rand, and Annie is with Lunk, even though he is alone.
Lancer returns home to Sera.
He drives off through the country and eventually arrives at a small cabin, where he and Sera have been living. Lancer notes that it's great to be alone, just the two of them, but Sera corrects him, stating "Three of us," bringing his hand close to her torso, indicating that she is pregnant.
After the credits, there is a brief sequence teasing Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles in the same way that "Next time" sequences were done in the original show.
Cast[]
From a robotech.com news report; Cam Clarke records his lines.
Cast credited in film[]
- Rand - Frank Catalano
- Lancer - Cameron Clarke
- Lunk - Richard Epcar
- Sera - Barbara Goodson
- The Regess - Alexandra Kenworthy
- Dimitry - Steve Kramer
- Kay - Wendee Lee
- Rook - Susie London
- Admiral Hunter - Tony Oliver
- Scott Bernard – Gregory Snegoff
- Narrator - J. Jay Smith
Represented Entirely Through Stock Audio[]
- Marlene - Melanie MacQueen
- Annie LaBelle - Emilie Colleen de Azevedo Brown
- Dana Sterling - Lisa Michelson
- Sparks - Michael Sorich
Crew[]
Writing[]
- Dialogue directed by - Gregory Snegoff
- Edited by - Tommy Yune
- Script editors - Steve Kramer and Steve Yun
- Creative consultant - Svea Stauch Macek
- Business affairs - Christy Duran and Maggie Soria
- Production accounting - Kristina Hummer
- Marketing - Kevin McKeever
- Production assistant - Douglas Wooten
- Archivist - Billy Davis
- Original series staff writers - Robert V. Barron, Ardwight Chamberlain, Greg Finley, Jason Klassi, Steve Kramer, Mike Reynolds, Gregory Snegoff, Tao Will
- Original series dialogue writers - Debbie Alba, Robert V. Barron, Greg Finley, Steve Kramer, Mike Reynolds, Gregory Snegoff
Original animation[]
- Original animation - Tatsunoko Productions
- Animation produced by - Akira Inoue, Hiroshi Iwata, Kenji Yoshida
- Business development - Akihiro Harada
- Animation director - Hitotsugo Hamazaki
- Assistant director - Yoshizo Tsuda
- Director of photography - Kazunori Hashimoto
- Art director - Kazuo Okada
- Character design - Yoshitaka Amano
- Mechanical design - Shinji Aramaki and Hideki Kakinuma
- Animators - Toyoko Hashimoto, Yoshiaki Hatone, Mike Maeda, Yoshio Mizumura, Sanae Ohkubo, Toshiharu Sato, Mitsuru Suzuki, Kazuyoshi Takeuchi, and Ritsuko Watanabe
- Color models - Michiru Yoshida
- Color effects - Seiryo Yoshida and Mashahiro Murakami
- Animation editors - Haruhiko Kuriyakawa, Yukio Tanigawa, and Chihiro Yoshida
- Ink and paint - Color center, Color Friend
- Photography - Anime Friend
- Film processing - Far East Laboratories, Ltd
Additional animation by Big Star Enterprises[]
- Additional animation - Big Star Enterprise
- Animation director - Taehoo Han
- Key animator - Johnyul Ji
- Inbetween animators - Joan Han and Heungho Seo
- Painters - Seungmi Hwak and Yunjeong Heo
- Background artist - Hyeonyeong Jeon
- Composing - Jaeyoung Choi, Ilmin Park, and Sangrae Lee
Additional animation by Ragex Animation[]
- Additional animation - Ragex Animation
- Animation director - Patricio Mosquera
- Modelers - Ricardo Gavilanes, Carlos Mendoza, Clausio Trucido
- Animators - Carlos Mendoza and Eddy Vivar
- Background artist - Adryan Peñaherrera
- Composing - Yomaira León
Additional animation by Vastalgic[]
- Additional animation - Vastalgic
- Art director - Long Vo
Memorable quotes[]
- In the year 2031, high above Reflex Point in North America, a phenomenal event occurs in the skies, an event that, once again, altered the course of human history.
A race of proto-plasmic creatures, known as the Invid, broke through the very fabric of hyperspace, on a collision course with the Earth. - Kay - "So... I suppose you could say that Zor's good intentions only made things worse?"
Lancer: "Yeah, I suppose that's the best way to put it." - Lancer: "This is Lieutenant Lance Belmont. Yellow Squadron cleared for takeoff."
Rick Hunter: (On radio) "Rodger Lieutenant Belmont. Yellow Squadron is go." - Kay: "So what about the present? Anyone within... Kissing distance at the moment?"
Lancer: "Not so far."
Kay: "Mind if I..." (Turning off tape recorder) "...Get in line?" - Kay: (Upon seeing Sera in the audience even after Lancer has claimed that they weren't together) "Immune to love huh? What a load of..." (Drops Cassette tape recorder)
- Lancer: "Finally, just the two of us..."
Sera: "No..." (Bringing his hand to her torso) "The three of us."
Background information[]
After the original run of Robotech in the United States of America, the MOSPEADA OVA music video titled Genesis Climber MOSPEADA: Love Live Alive was exclusively released in Japan in 21 September 1985. The music video consisted of both old and new footage. The story of Love Live Alive chronicled the events after the ending of MOSPEADA, featuring Yellow Belmont as the main character.
The video focused on Yellow's concert and also on his flashback of past events, some seen before, some not.
The idea of adapting it to the Robotech franchise was first introduced in 2011 at the end of the memorial documentary Carl Macek's Robotech Universe, as it was revealed that before his death, Carl Macek had been planning on adapting the film, adding new footage connecting the Masters saga to the New Generation saga.
The producers of the film were surprised to learn that the film had not been licensed in any form, and quickly bought the rights to it.
Tommy Yune announces info about the project at Comic-Con 2012.
Tommy Yune revealed most of the info on the project at Comic-Con 2012. According to him, Carl Macek had approached him with the idea of taking the concert and adding "a plot." Yune compared the film to "Dana's Story", stating that the film would "use new footage" to show a flashback to events previously unseen. He stated that it would connect the three sagas, and pave way for the Shadow Rising sequel.
At the convention, many things were shown and revealed, from both the concert footage cleaned up and the trailer for the project, indicating that most to all of the animation was completed.
The footage from the original film was cleaned up considerably, as they did not have the original Masters; and new animation was made to form a new plot. In an attempt to address fan backlash against the CGI of Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles and how it clashed with the animation, the film used animation cells added to the CGI animation, to give it a more natural look.
Harmony Gold began recording audio for the project in early 2013, but was surprised to find tracking down some voice actors to be rather hard, particularly Susie London, who played Rook. They were not only able to find her, but also J. Jay Smith, the original narrator for the Robotech series, who many had thought was dead after he had injured his hip and had "disappeared off the face of the Earth" to recuperate. [1] The voice actor of both Annie and Marlene were only heard through stock audio, likely because Emilie Colleen de Azevedo Brown was no longer 14 and Marlene's voice actor had been changed for Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles.
It was released to DVD officially on 23 July 2013 as part of Robotech 2 Movie Collection and was later included in Robotech: The Complete Set (20-Disc collection).
Exrernal Links[]
Footnotes[]
- ↑ Comic Con 2013
 For the Mospedia equivalent, visit Love Live Alive |