ROBOTECH: THE SHADOW CHRONICLES (2006)

I am a HUGE Robotech fan. One of my co-workers impersonated me once talking on the phone by simply saying, “Yeah, I’m Chris Mich. Star Wars, Star Wars, Robotech.” My dissertation on Robotech has been featured in both the Museum of Science Fiction’s Journal of Science Fiction and Titan Comic’s ROBOTECH comic book series. As you can imagine, I’ve been waiting a long time to write an entry like this one…

Newbie to Robotech? Listen to the first few minutes of my Robotech lecture at the PASSHE symposium for a crash course on this classic anime series…

Right before Disney unleashed the latest animated TV series Star Wars: Resistance on DisneyXD in October 2018, many online writers raced to be the first to say that THIS was THE Star Wars TV series most influenced by the TV series Robotech. After all, starwars.com already had published an article on creator Dave Filoni and his love of Robotech…and how Robotech influenced both Filoni’s Clone Wars and Rebels series. And, they’re all correct. Out of all the Star Wars animated TV shows, Resistance LOOKS the most like Robotech – from the colorful fighter starships, overly-designed flight suits and mish-mash of beings living on one giant space-faring vessel.

But, on Digging Star Wars, we like to point people to films. And so, we will be concentrating more on the connections between the one good Robotech film – ROBOTECH: THE SHADOW CHRONICLES (2006) and its connections to (and possible influences on) Star Wars: Resistance.

This isn’t the first time I pushed people to see this movie. On the Film366.com, I did this video endorsement for Shadow Chronicles…

Yeah, you heard that right. MARK HAMILL is a Robotech voiceover actor! Can't get a better Star Wars connection than that, but we'll try! After all, we're talking about Star Wars: Resistance. Before we continue, here’s the trailer for Shadow Chronicles…

With Star Wars Resistance – Season One coming out on DVD this August 20th, Disney and LucasFilm are hoping DVD sales show that the Force is still with us. When it first aired last fall, the show quickly got panned as a “little kiddie” show – most likely due to the design, slower storytelling pace and reliance on Jar Jar-like physical humor. While the story did take it’s time to ramp up, by mid-season, things really started cooking and viewers were asked to see why someone might buy into the First Order, or for that matter, any cause.

Despite older fans grumblings about it being a “kiddie show,” Resistance proved itself worthy of both an Emmy and Saturn Award nomination this past year.

Here’s the mid-season trailer….

Ok. Now that you’ve seen all that, let’s see what the Robotech film and Resistance TV show have in common. Prepare for the jump to lightspeed into SPOILER TERRITORY…because…here…we…gooooooooo…

MISUNDERSTOOD TECHNOLOGY
A common theme in all Robotech stories is people (or aliens) using technology and not understanding its full potential or original purpose. In the case of Shadow Chronicles, it is quickly set up that the “shadow technologies” the Haydonites gave the humans to help defeat the Invid (who enslaved planet Earth) is a futuristic Trojan Horse. The technology is not only faulty but dangerous. Within minutes of the film, humans have a new enemy and cannot rely on their favorite new weaponry to defeat them.

Occurring somewhere between the original Star Wars trilogy and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Resistance relies on classic film technology more than the sequel tech. Cobbled-together pirate spaceships, 100+ year old astromech droids and other techno babble populate The Colossus – “a super tanker fuel depot left over from the old days.” The Colossus is the primary setting of the series where young Resistance pilot Kazuda Xiono is stationed to spy on the First Order. Little does Kazudo and most on the Colossus know, this “fuel depot” is really a giant spaceship that will need to leave planet and head out into space. This is VERY Robotech in nature. The Robotech franchise basically starts with the same premise.

MUSIC IS PRESENT, JUST NOT AS IMPORTANT
While many Star Wars films have a live band playing music in a cantina, palace or pub, none of the Star Wars films have characters enjoying recordings of music. While Clone Wars hinted at troopers enjoying music video-like holograms, it isn’t until Resistance that we see characters enjoying pre-recorded music (Glem the Rodian rocking out to music while he works on the loading docks in Episode 12 “Dangerous Business” was my favorite). The idea of  on-screen characters OWNING music and enjoying it is very Robotech in nature – since music is ever-present in the Robotech saga due to one of the TV series main characters pop singer Minmei.

In Shadow Chronicles, fembot Janice sings classic Minmei songs (from the TV series) – much to the pleasure of male characters within the movie. Janice’s performances serve as a direct nod to the TV series but are solely for entertainment value of her fellow characters – whereas Minmei’s songs/performances in the Robotech TV show were for entertainment but also used as weapons to disorient the enemy. The fact that Janice is simply singing to be heard/enjoyed is rare in Robotech AND along the same purpose of music within Resistance.

SWITCHING SIDES
Robotech has a long history of alien females who leave/betray their own people in order to join the humans on their side of the fight. These traitorous acts aren’t merely done in one scene or a line or two of dialogue. Robotech writers have always done a good job of building up the tension and drawing out the drama of the internal strife of the female character deciding on a course of action and the challenges they face through interactions with their peers, enemies, lovers and so forth.
Star Wars rarely plays with this idea – with the possible exception of Lando Calrissian (keep in mind, Lando’s choice to originally side with the Empire regarding Han’s capture was to save Bespin from Imperial occupation). For the most part, good guys are good guys and everyone else is evil or indifferent.

In Resistance, young female mechanic Tam likes the First Order and, seemingly, joins them in one of the later episodes. This causes quite a commotion with Kaz and the rest of the crew who see the blatant evil of the First Order. Tam's transition of loyalty to Yeager (and, unknowingly, the Resistance Fighters) to the First Order isn’t sudden, but hinted at and discussed over several episodes. And, I might add, is quite well done.

And while I have some other small notes regarding similar names choices between Robotech and Resistance, let me stop here. I realize watching Robotech or Resistance is probably the most difficult suggestion I could ever make through this blog. And, no: I don’t love Resistance as much as I love Robotech. But I do love the idea of it and I think it has tremendous potential as a Star Wars animated series. That said, I encourage you to watch both Resistance and, bare minimum, Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles.