So I just watched up to Fortress Breakthrough Boogie (The Fortress in Robotech).  My observations so far:

Stig isn’t quite as tortured as Scott.  He’s all about the mission, but not quite the obsessive straight arrow stick-in-the-mud type.

Mint is totally obsessed with men and her body.  She speaks way more often about how eager she is to meet men and about her body in general.  Every bit as annoying as Annie and intentionally so.

Yellow Belmont is more “manly” than Lancer, so to speak.  Much more a soldier.

Aisha isn’t really compared to Marlene Rush and of course never given the name “Marlene”.  She’s more about Scott moving on from his past than about his obsession with what he lost.

Houquet isn’t the total man-hating type.  She shows more vulnerability and is a much more sympathetic character than Rook.

Jim isn’t much different.  Maybe not so much of a moron like Lunk comes across at times.

The Inbit speak in some sort of grunting language so it’s more about the telepathy.  The Regis isn’t seen at all and rarely mentioned.

The entire tone and setting are a much more bleak picture.

I’ve always meant to watch Robotech’s source material, and I’ve tried with both Macross and Mospeada, but it weirds me out so much.

Those are some really interesting comparisons and contrast (contrasting?) of the characters we know in Robotech.
I like that there seems to be more of a focus on the telepathy of the Invid/Inbit. That sounds interesting.

I always took New Generation to be the more saga of the series, its hard to imagine it being more bleak than it already is but in a good way. I wish that New Gen focused on that a bit more at times.

Without the narrator (who I’ve been pretty vocal here about being annoyed by) there’s much more mystery surrounding the Inbit.  We don’t hear the disembodied voice of the Regis as we do in Robotech.  In “The Fortress” we hear the Regiss repeatedly whereas in “Fortress Breakthrough Boogie” the Inbit only make some kind of grunting noise and it’s said their communication is by telepathy.  Of course there’s no “Flower of Life” in MOSPEADA.

Neither is really “better” but just different.  It’s interesting to see the different dialogue from the scenes you’ve seen before.  Instead of Annie saying “You go get ‘em Scott” we hear Mint say “Men! Men! Men!”

Had to joy of watching Mospeada, Macross and Southercross before ROBOTECH was born. So I actually enjoy those moreso In some ways to the Epic Saga of Robotech.

Just wish the Japanese would bring forth some new life for the Mospeada franchise screen wise.

Now that I’m finally able to watch Genesis Climber Mospeada (still not finished) I’m noticing how much more is left to the viewer.  The absence of the narrator leaves it all up to individual interpretation.  Many of the scenes where you’d hear the disembodied voice of the Regiss in Robotech are left in silence in Robotech aside from the sounds of what is going on and the eerie music.

Robotech had a minor continuity mistake not in Mospeada.  Early in the series Scott jumps into a river to save Rand.  Later when they’re at a resort Scott is taken to the water by Rand and says he can’t swim.  In Mospeada, Stig just says he’s afraid because he’s never seen the ocean before.

I actually like that Marlene isn’t mentioned as often in Mospeada as she is in Robotech.  Yes, we know Scott is upset at the loss of his fiancee, but with Stig it’s more about him moving on and how he is becoming increasingly attracted to Aisha and how he’s initially subtly bothered that she’s becoming closer to Yellow (Ray even mentions that they make a good couple). 

A few shots are surprising.  That one minor scene where Mint’s top is falling off was a bit disturbing and I was pretty surprised by Aisha doing a full frontal shot as she dives into the water.

The ending sequence from Genesis Climber Mospeada that shows the group sitting by a tree that scrolls pictures of the characters two at a time is only used one time
in Robotech in the episode “Birthday Blues”.

I’m guessing the episode ran short since the bath scene is heavily edited in Robotech since it features all three female lead characters topless.

Of all of the first 20 episodes I’ve seen so far, this one was the most heavily edited and featured much different dialogue.

NY Bebop (The Big Apple) was another episode that was heavily altered.

The music is different, of course, which isn’t a big surprise.  Yellow Belmont and Yellow Dancer are very different in many ways as far as singing style.  Neither really “better” but much different musical styles.

A lot of the dialogue is changed.  The conversation between Sorji and Aisha leads us to believe that Aisha is fully aware of where she comes from.  Simone (Simon) and Yellow have never met before, unlike Simon and Lancer, but Yellow’s reputation proceeds him/her and he/she is immediately recognized.  There’s also a lot less chattering off camera.  No disembodied Invid/Regiss voice.  We’re left with the soft grunt of the Inbit and assume they’re communicating through some kind of telepathy.

Batra is somehow MUCH more evil and Corg.  He’s much more cold and speaks in a much more deep and stern voice.  He’s not as chatty as Corg either.  Then again, in general it was Robotech that added dialogue often.  If you ever get to watch Genesis Climber MOSPEADA you’ll see where there are long stretches of silence as the characters’ actions explain what is going on.  You often see the Inbit flying around in silence compared to hearing the Regess’ voice all over every quiet scene.

I recommend to any Robotech fan to watch MOSPEADA if you get the chance.  It’s like getting to see Robotech for the first time all over again.

I tried watching the first episode on Amazon Prime.  The music alone dissuaded me from watching it any further.

I was also surprised to discover that the dates shown at the beginning of “The Invid Invasion” were an alteration made by Harmony Gold since they were completely absent from the OSM.

RaisingCane - 24 May 2018 11:32 PM

I tried watching the first episode on Amazon Prime.  The music alone dissuaded me from watching it any further.

I was also surprised to discover that the dates shown at the beginning of “The Invid Invasion” were an alteration made by Harmony Gold since they were completely absent from the OSM.

I actually liked the closing music “Blue Blue Rain in My Soul”.  Yellow Belmont’s music is more versatile than Yellow Dancer’s.  He/she has a bluesy sound that can go to more of a rock sound whereas Yellow Dancer is either doing cover tunes (I get it, they can only write so many songs for the entire series) or total 80s pop.

The “Lonely Soldier Boy” intro music is very dated, of course, but it’s over 30 years old now.

So this year I managed to finally watch Mospeada and Southern Cross.  I have to say that the stories work better in the originals, but they did a very good job connecting Mospeada to Macross for Robotech… whereas not to so much with Robotech Masters/Southern Cross.  That one was notably different and there was a lot of added dialogue and completely changed plot elements.

I recommend watching them if you get the chance, but have to warn you that the animation and music are both very dated now.