The Robotech Masters at Harmony Gold have released a new movie, Robotech Love Live Alive. Going back to when I was a child, the only thing that came close to my love for Transformers, was Robotech. There were probably times where I loved Robotech more. I didn’t know exactly what this was going to be before I picked it up, but I was hoping that I would magically fold space and time back to my childhood. I had been waiting for new Robotech ever since Shadow Chronicles back in 2006 so I was sold on whatever Robotech Live Love Alive turned out to be. Unfortunately this release malfunctioned and I folded space straight into an asteroid.
Robotech Love Live Alive takes the entire third Robotech War, New Generation, and cuts it down into one movie. Love Live Alive also adds newly found footage from an unreleased Japanese project called Mesopeda: Love Live Live. The footage was cleaned up and spliced in to help piece together the entire 24 episode series. I’m kind of impressed by how well some of the new footage blended together with the old. Unfortunately some of the new footage was animated on a cheap/lazy budget. Several of the scenes used very minimal movement, and they looped them together repeatedly with a voice over. I think 5 out of the 15 minutes of new animation is Lancer drying his hair with a towel.
Another disappointment is the lack of extra’s on the DVD. There were pre-production sketches for the new characters, and a few trailers, but that’s literally it. I feel like they should have added interviews or a making of featurette to help this title. The sad part is that some of the footage I would have liked to see on this DVD was shown at the San Diego Comic Con last month. Even the uncut original Japanese version of Mesopeda: Love Live Live would have been nice.
Instead of Robotech Love Live Alive, I would have rather have seen Robotech: Shadow Rising , the long promised follow-up to the Shadow Chronicles movie. Supposedly Robotech Love Live Alive is meant to bridge the gap between the end of the original series, and Shadow Chronicles, but I really didn’t get that feeling from it. Chronologically that makes sense, but the two movies have very different tones to them. There are rumblings of Shadow Rising happening in 2015, but I won’t hold my breath for it.
The one other positive thing about this release is that it comes with Robotech: Shadow Chronicles on a second DVD. Right now you can buy Love Live Alive on DVD for less than $13. That’s a pretty good bargain when you figure out that both of them are bundled together. If you don’t own Shadow Chronicles I’d say this is a good buy, but if you already own Shadow Chronicles, I think you should pass on Love Live Alive.
Nerd-Base 
LLA is crap. Don’t buy it.
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Uhh, guys? The Japanese Love Live Alive was not “unreleased.” I’ve had a copy for over 25 years. It was basically a collection of music videos of songs from the show set to scenes from the episodes, with the interview/concert stuff bracketing it, and it ran for about an hour. (Incidentally, the original show was Mospeada, not Mesopeda.) Please don’t tell me that these Harmony Gold clowns are claiming that this is “all new, never-before-seen footage” or some such nonsense. It’s even mentioned in the original Robotech Art 1 book from way back in the ’80s.
I’m told that the original version of the video is included on the most recent Robotech box set.
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Really? Was it released in America? I know it was released in Japan, and if it came off like I meant it was unreleased in Japan then I need to go back and correct it.
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No, not in America, but the descriptions “newly found footage” and “unreleased Japanese project” really strongly sound like you’re saying it was never released at all, as oppsed to “never released in America.”
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Good point. I’ll have to change that. Thank you!
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