final take

After reading Ollie’s article here and seeing him push back on Twitter I decided to write this as a way for me to process my own thoughts on the article and the whole topic in general.

Because while I think Ollie argues his position reasonably well, it reads like one half of a bigger article. He did address some of the problems Macross faces to “threaten” Gundam’s place as a franchise, but there’s no getting around the significant practical hurdles that extend far beyond content distribution.

Figuratively speaking, Macross’ stakeholders are trying to scramble a VF-0S Phoenix to fight the 00 Qan[t], Unicorn, and Turn A at once. Macross is staring down a multibillion-dollar mountain that, as recently as 2022, has been printing money for its warchest since the release of The Witch from Mercury and has yet to stop raking in 2025 with consecutive theatrical releases. For all their faults, Bandai still has immense room for error. BigWest doesn’t enjoy that luxury, and the scars of Harmony Gold’s compromises continue to hurt the franchise’s chances.

Just the fact that the OG series and Do You Remember Love — the material that the core fans recommend the most — is still out of reach for normie streaming folks despite everything else being available on Disney+ and Hulu is emblematic of the legal rigmarole that keeps haunting Macross even today. And those connections to Robotech — a title that still has a cult following tied to Macross — don’t help in freeing up Macross to be what its rights-holders want or need it to be, even if it is already mostly liberated from that gilded grasp.

Further complicating matters is the fact that the upcoming new Macross show will be a Sunrise production, something unprecedented for a franchise that has always relied on Satelight to bring a new serial every decade or so.

This creates a vicious cycle: without strong merchandising support, Macross struggles to build the kind of brand recognition that Gundam enjoys, which in turn makes it harder to justify large investments in new projects.

Even if Macross were to overcome these challenges, it would still face the daunting task of scaling up to compete with Gundam’s global reach. Bandai’s marketing machinery is a well-oiled machine, capable of launching massive campaigns across multiple platforms. For Macross to achieve similar success, it would need the backing of a major player like Disney or Sony, either of which has the resources to handle everything from media distribution to marketing the IP to merchandise sales. But even then, there’s no guarantee that those companies would be willing to invest the necessary time and money to turn Macross into a global phenomenon.

Simply put, the stakeholders of Macross don't have enough of the tools and resources necessary to cash in on its full potential in the same pace Gundam does. The infrastructure and business approach required to challenge Gundam's market position asks for a myriad of changes to (or a fundamental transformation of) how the franchise operates. Could the "soul" of Macross survive all that? It's up for you to decide, but I don't think this is a move that any party can afford to rush out. Macross needs a long-term business plan to succeed.

I don’t think Ollie’s right to say Macross can threaten Gundam’s position anytime soon. Never say never, of course, but the road is far longer and more sordid than his speculation may lead you to believe. And yet all Macross needs is a more solid foothold. It doesn’t need to shoot for the stars at all.