ADV gives us more Robotech goodness in this second set of remastered DVDs with an improved image and Dolby 5.1 audio.

This set of DVDs takes up where the last one left off, advancing the several plots and subplots that make this such an enjoyable show.  In the main plot, Captain Gloval hatches a dangerous scheme to break through the enemy's forces and get the SDF-1 back to Earth.  When they finally arrive, the crew and civilians have a rude surprise in store.   The Earth government has created a cover story to explain the disappearance of the SDF-1 and claimed that all the missing civilians were all killed.  They don't want anyone disputing their story, so they refuse to let the 70,000 civilians leave the ship.  The government also refused to take Lisa Hayes' account of what she saw while captured by the Zentraedi seriously.  They view the SDF-1 as a potential embarrassment, and order it back into space.

Meanwhile there is still a lot of infighting among the Zentraedi.  One faction wants to attack and destroy the SDF-1; something that they have more than enough power to do. Another, more powerful, faction wants to capture the battleship intact to learn its secrets.  But when the Zentraedi high command intercepts a broadcast of a movie, they think it is a training video for young warriors.  The feats of the superhero in the film frighten them, and so the launch their main battle fleet of over a million ships to capture the SDF-1.

The three Zentraedi spies who were shrunk to human size and snuck on board are learning about human behavior.  They act as comic relief much of the time, as they try to figure out how humans act, and why they do what they do.  The spies are astounded by kissing, and discover the joys of music.  They eventually leave the SDF-1 and return to their own fleet were they report, and tell the other enlisted men about the wonders of life aboard their enemy's ship.

The various romantic plots are also advanced.  Rick and Minmei start to drift apart.  She is now a big star, and experiences life in the fast lane, while Rick is constantly in battle where death is a daily occurrence.  Minmei's cousin Kyle costars in a film with her, and he becomes attracted to the reigning Miss Macross.  Kyle reminds Lisa of her long dead fiancée, and she wants to get to know him better.  Poor Rick isn't sure what he wants.  He still cares for Minmei, and often recalls the time they were trapped in the ship together.  But he doesn't like her new life, and has much more in common with Commander Hayes, even if they are different in a lot of ways.

If this wasn't enough, the female Zentraedi fighter ace, Miriya is shrunk to human size and sneaks aboard the SDF-1.  She was beaten in a dogfight by Rick's subordinate, Max, and can't stand the thought of being bested by an inferior being.  She boards the ship to track this pilot down and kill him, but when Max sees her, he's quite attracted to this green haired beauty.

This was a good continuation of the show, although there are two filler episodes in this set of twelve.  In the first one, Captain Gloval recounts what has happened up to that point, and the second is an extended dream sequence while Rick is unconscious.   Even with these two shows made up from clips of earlier episodes, a lot happens in this set and things get quite interesting.

One of the reasons I have always liked this show is because it was one of the first animated children's programs shown in the US to give children credit for being able to follow a story.  The show not only has a strong continuity, but there are many plots intertwined throughout the program.  Children's cartoons at the time assumed (and still do to a large extent) that kids wouldn't watch or couldn't understand anything more than a very simple self-contained story.  Cartoons could only have one straightforward plot with no ambiguities, everything had to be explained, and there couldn't be any advancement of the story from one episode to the next.  (Otherwise kids who missed a show would be confused.)  Robotech does not fit into this mold.  It has characters that are complex and story lines that are intricate.   Things don't always work out the way you think they will.  For example, more than one major supporting character dies in this set.  And they stay dead.  This was quite a shock when it first aired years ago, and still is to new viewers today.   This is a show that doesn't talk down to you, no mater what your age.
 

You have the choice of English or Spanish audio, both in 5.1.  Since the show was edited heavily, there is no Japanese language track.    The sound during the frequent battle scenes is very cool.  They make full use of the sound stage, with planes swooshing from the rear to the front and all around.  There are laser blasts coming from all corners, this part of the mix is very dynamic and exciting.  The audio track really puts you in the middle of things.  Unfortunately, after the battles end, the sound collapses to what is basically a mono mix.  The dialog is centered over the screen, and rarely moves about.  There are some sound effects in the rears, and some background music, but it wasn't as pronounced as it was during the fight scenes.

The audio quality is good.  There is no hiss or hums, though some of the dialog does sound a little flat.  The music is not dynamic, though it does sound better than I remember it from television.  The dialog was clear, though it did sound a little tinny and thin.  This is to be expected with a show of this age.

Video:

The video quality is a vast improvement over the previous ADV release of this series.  The first DVDs looked like they were taken straight from videotape.   The image was very soft and blurry.  It looked horrible.  This set looks a lot better.  The lines are tight and clean, and the soft look is gone.  It is not a perfect image though.  There is a lot of aliasing, with many vertical lines having a stair step effect.  The colors are not as bright and vivid as I was hoping, but they look significantly better than the previous DVDs.  There were also some spots on the image that looked like they were on the cells themselves.    This still has a much better picture than the previous release.

The Extras:

I was very disappointed that ADV did not include the supplemental disc of extras that was previously available if you purchased the first two volumes together.  As it is, there are not any extras on these two discs, aside from six previews.

There is a very exciting extra included with this set that is not on the DVDs.  Bundled with the two DVDs is a mini version of Roy Fokker's Veritech fighter.  It is about three inches tall by two and a half inches wide.  The Veritech can transform from robot mode to jet mode and comes with a removable gun.  The plastic feels fairly brittle, so it probably won't last a long time if a young child is playing with it, but with a little care it transforms easily.  This is the sort of extra that geeky fan-boys like myself go ga-ga over.  I appreciated this much more than a T-Shirts or pencil boards that have been included with anime sets in the past.

Final Thoughts:

Robotech is a fun show.  It is credited with starting anime fandom here in the US, and with good reason.  It is an intelligent show with characters that act in a realistic fashion and multiple story lines.  These twelve episodes continue to unfold the story in a very satisfactory way.  If you enjoyed the first set, you should be sure to pick this one up too.  People who purchased the original release of this set should at least consider upgrading.  The picture is greatly improved and the show never sounded this good, especially the battle scenes.  The mini Veritech fighter packaged with the set makes this one an easy choice for an upgrade.  Highly recommended.