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Interview with Steve Yun

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Robotech is one of the most instantly recognisable and renown franchises in the history of animation. The story of the Robotech universe centers around the conflicts of the Earth against alien threats as the Earth is a planet known to be rich in the power source called Protoculture.

The upcoming movie in the Robotech Universe: Robotech: Love, Live, Alive is the second movie to come from the franchise. Us here at Capsule Computers had the chance to talk to Steve Yun and discuss this latest film and its relevance to the Robotech universe.


CC: Hi there. Could you introduce yourself and your position/role on the Robotech film Love, Live, Alive?

Steve Yun: Hi I’m Steve Yun, I’m the VP of New Media at Harmony Gold, and I’m the script editor and associate producer on Love Live Alive.

CC: Robotech is obviously a massive franchise and has been around for quite a while. However, there may be new fans to the franchise that are not quite aware of the history of the show, would you be able to briefly summarise what Robotech is for them?

S: Robotech is the adaptation of three Japanese anime series which came out in the 80’s. In it, a space ship crashes to Earth and reveals that there are advanced alien races waging war across the galaxy. Humans research it and develop giant transforming robots to fight off several alien invasions. For many people working in the anime industry today it was their first exposure to Japanese animation.

CC: Could you explain to us what is Love, Live Alive?

S: Love Live Alive is a retrospective special that originally came out in the 80’s and was never brought over to western audiences. We’ve finally adapted it for the Robotech universe, adding new scenes and new animation to expand it from being mostly music videos to being a full-length feature. It follows Lancer, one of the main characters from the “New Generation” segment of Robotech, while he recounts his experiences with the people that become his friends over the course of the series, and explores a few new mysteries about his character.

CC: What’s interesting about Robotech is that it covers what seems to be three timelines, could you introduce where it is that Love, Live, Alive takes place within the story?’

S: Love Live Alive is somewhat concurrent with The Shadow Chronicles.

CC: How long has Love, Live, Alive been in production and what makes this movie unique?

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Steve Yun

S: Love Live Alive has been in production for the last year, and is unique in that it features both old and new animation. It was originally a project started by Carl Macek, the original producer of Robotech, a few years ago but unfortunately he passed away. We’ve continued it to completion, sort of as a way to let Carl give his final farewell to the fans.

CC: Will we be seeing the return of any familiar characters?

S: Yes, it features most of the major characters from the “New Generation” segment of Robotech.

CC: Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles came out a few years ago and never actually managed to finish off the storyline involving the Invid. Will Love, Live, Alive be doing this?

S: No, instead of being a sequel, Love Live Alive is a side story, something they call a “gai-den” in Japanese.

CC: If Love, Live, Alive does not complete the Invid storyline, will we be seeing a sequel to The Shadow Chronicles that does?

S: Yes, we do have a planned sequel for The Shadow Chronicles, which will be called Shadow Rising.

CC: I was reading your biography that our friends over at Beyond Home Entertainment sent over and this line particularly stood out to me: “While still a young college student and part-time hacker in 1998…”.. Could you, maybe, hint at any hacks that you have undertaken (I’m a security student myself, personal interest here)?

S: Haha, nothing too much I’d brag about now, I wrote that a long time ago and hackers have gotten so much better since then. Nothing fancy by today’s standards.

CC: One of the main draws of Robotech are the series transforming Mecha. Will we being seeing the return of any models used in each series?

S: It features several classic mecha and ships in new animated battle scenes.

CC: A thing that has always been popular in Robotech is that each series has had some kind of Idol character, will we being the return of any new idol characters or will we have a new idol character (or, like, none)?

S: We are treated to a new concert performance by Yellow Dancer.

CC: Where can I buy a Variatech mecha, not a model, like an actual transforming jet fighter?

S: So I’m told by Australian fans that unfortunately there isn’t official toy distribution in Australia and that you’re forced to buy most of your Robotech toys from American retailers? I can’t promise anything but I’ll speak to our toy licensee to see if there is anything that can be done about that.

CC: This Robotech movie, are you aiming it at a mature audience considering that the fans growing up with Robotech are now an older audience, or are you trying to make the film as accessible as possible?

S: I suppose that since it is a retrospective, it is aimed at our long-time fans, but at the same time since it summarizes most of the last season of Robotech it also works as an introduction to Robotech for new viewers.

CC: Can we, maybe, get an exclusive promotional image to showcase some of the film to the fans reading this at home?

S: Here we go:

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Click for full sized image.

CC: Thanks for your time.

Benjamin Webb
Benjamin Webbhttp://www.facebook.com/linkageax
Gaming for as long as my memory serves me, probably longer.