History Main / Macekre

Until ''Robotech'' did it, even the Japanimation fans who had advocated so hard for "as faithful as possible" translations were unsure that the concept could be financially successful. Even the concept of showing a syndicated animated series [[OutOfOrder in proper episode order]] was at that time unprecedented, as were things like [[NeverSayDie actually allowing the concept of death to be handled on screen]]. What Macek did was a huge risk, and thankfully it paid off. Unfortunately, Harmony Gold apparently didn't want to credit the original creators or animators who were the real reasons for the success of ''Robotech''.[[note]]Shoji Kawamori, Noboru Ishiguro, Sukehiro Tomita, Haruhiko Mikimoto and Ichiro Itano from the ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' side, and Creator/YoshitakaAmano and Shinji Aramaki from the ''Anime/GenesisClimberMospeada'' side.[[/note]] ''Robotech'' not only found its audience of older animation fans, it won awards and opened the eyes of the Western world to the possibilities of "grown up" animation. Sure, it's easy to look back now and criticize it for what it's not, in context of modern material that has been the beneficiary of the revolution it began, but [[FairForItsDay in the context of the time, it was nothing short of radical and groundbreaking]].

Fans, with some justification, feel that this practice is disrespectful to the original content's creators, as the series is being treated as a pure marketing product rather than really "getting" the draw. The practice has fortunately dwindled since the 1980s because of the utter hatred modern fans hold for it, as well as the greater accessibility to the original product (although [[DubInducedPlotHole consistency can flounder]] at times). The importing companies have realized that the [[QuirkyWork quirks]] were what attracted many viewers in the first place. The increasing number of import companies born from fan groups, like Creator/ADVFilms, may also have something to do with it. The practice has also largely faded, however, because ironically doing things like what Macek did -- replacing whole scripts and renaming whole casts, writing entirely new musical scores, having to spend days editing and re-cutting a show -- is actually ''significantly more expensive'' and time-consuming than a straight dub, especially now that the original source music and the like can be stored digitally and easily layered back into an English track. With the margins of the Western anime market being fairly tight, it simply makes more sense to give the fans what they want.

Over the years, the Macekre has become a DiscreditedTrope as syndicated television has lost its luster following [[TechnologyMarchesOn the rise of cable]] and on-demand streaming. Likewise, companies that were prominent for heavy anime edits in the 1970s-2000s have either closed their doors or left the industry, while anime distributors who produce faithful dubs, even for children's television, have taken their place.[[note]]''Franchise/PowerRangers'', while [[{{Toku}} not an anime]], seems to be the sole exception today, likely because to do so would be to produce a show that was very much not ''Power Rangers'' any more.[[/note]] The rise of the internet (and to a certain extent the easy accessibility of {{Scanlation}}s and pirated fansubs) may have played a role as well; many series now have an established fanbase even before their official release, limiting how much CulturalTranslation and other drastic changes can be applied if that base is going to be appealed to. If such changes are found, expect that to be quickly uncovered and become a source of controversy that, if particularly egregious, may even [[OvershadowedByControversy overshadow the actual work]].

Until ''Robotech'' did it, even the Japanimation fans who had advocated so hard for "as faithful as possible" translations were unsure that the concept could be financially successful. Even the concept of showing a syndicated animated series [[OutOfOrder in proper episode order]] was at that time unprecedented, as were things like [[NeverSayDie actually allowing the concept of death to be handled on screen]]. What Macek did was a huge risk, and thankfully it paid off. Unfortunately, Harmony Gold apparently didn't want to credit the original creators or animators who were the real reasons for the success of ''Robotech''.[[note]]Shoji Kawamori, Noboru Ishiguro, Sukehiro Tomita, Haruhiko Mikimoto and Ichiro Itano from the ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' side, and Creator/YoshitakaAmano and Shinji Aramaki from the ''Anime/GenesisClimberMospeada'' side.[[/note]] ''Robotech'' not only found its audience of older animation fans, it won awards and opened the eyes of the Western world to the possibilities of "grown up" animation. [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny Sure, it's easy to look back now and criticize it for what it's not]], in context of modern material that has been the beneficiary of the revolution it began, but [[FairForItsDay in the context of the time, it was nothing short of radical and groundbreaking]].

Over the years, the Macekre has become a DiscreditedTrope as syndicated television has lost its luster following [[TechnologyMarchesOn the rise of cable]] and on-demand streaming. Likewise, companies that were prominent for heavy anime edits in the 1970s-2000s have either closed their doors or left the industry, while anime distributors who produce faithful dubs, even for children's television, have taken their place.[[note]]''Franchise/PowerRangers'', while [[{{Toku}} not an anime]], seems to be the sole exception today, likely because to do so would be to produce a show that was very much not ''Power Rangers'' any more.[[/note]] The rise of the internet (and to a certain extent the easy accessibility of {{Scanlation}}s and pirated fansubs) may have played a role as well; many series now have an established fanbase even before their official release, limiting how much CulturalTranslation and other drastic changes can be applied if that base is going to be appealed to.

Fans, with some justification, feel that this practice is disrespectful to the original content's creators, as the series is being treated as a pure marketing product rather than really "getting" the draw. The practice has fortunately dwindled since the 1980s because of the utter hatred modern fans hold for it, as well as the greater accessibility to the original product (although [[DubInducedPlotHole consistency can flounder]] at times). The importing companies have realized that the [[WidgetSeries quirks]] were what attracted many viewers in the first place. The increasing number of import companies born from fan groups, like Creator/ADVFilms, may also have something to do with it. The practice has also largely faded, however, because ironically doing things like what Macek did -- replacing whole scripts and renaming whole casts, writing entirely new musical scores, having to spend days editing and re-cutting a show -- is actually ''significantly more expensive'' and time-consuming than a straight dub, especially now that the original source music and the like can be stored digitally and easily layered back into an English track. With the margins of the Western anime market being fairly tight, it simply makes more sense to give the fans what they want.

->'''Ichigo:''' Mew Mew Power, I think I'll pass. Your Mew Mew Power, can kiss my a...\\

->'''Ichigo:''' Mew Mew Power, I think I'll pass. Your Mew Mew Power, can kiss my a--...\\

''No examples, please. This page describes a common emotional reaction to DubInducedPlotlineChange and {{Frankenslation}}; examples of such practices can be found on these pages. In addition, keep in mind that Administrivia/TropesAreTools. Some people use such dubs as a GatewaySeries, and the virulent fan reaction against the dubs may puzzle those not familiar with the original version, or even perhaps those that watched the dubs first. Also, the sliding scale of Macekre varies from person to person; what one may consider [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks bad changes]], another may not mind quite as much.''

''No examples, please. This page describes a common emotional reaction to DubInducedPlotlineChange and {{Frankenslation}}; examples of such practices can be found on that page. In addition, keep in mind that Administrivia/TropesAreTools. Some people use such dubs as a GatewaySeries, and the virulent fan reaction against the dubs may puzzle those not familiar with the original version, or even perhaps those that watched the dubs first. Also, the sliding scale of Macekre varies from person to person; what one may consider [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks bad changes]], another may not mind quite as much.''

->'''Carl Macek:''' So you like ''Robotech''?\\
'''Greg Ayres:''' I like '''''Macross'''''.\\
'''Macek:''' Oh... So you must think I'm the Antichrist, huh? ''({{Beat}})'' Well, they always shoot the first guy past the finish line.
-->-- Creator/GregAyres recounting his first meeting with Carl Macek.

A strongly held opinion that a CutAndPasteTranslation of an {{anime}} is a mockery of the original work.

''No examples, please. This page describes a common emotional reaction to CutAndPasteTranslation and {{Frankenslation}}; examples of such practices can be found on that page. In addition, keep in mind that Administrivia/TropesAreTools. Some people use such dubs as a GatewaySeries, and the virulent fan reaction against the dubs may puzzle those not familiar with the original version, or even perhaps those that watched the dubs first. Also, the sliding scale of Macekre varies from person to person; what one may consider [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks bad changes]], another may not mind quite as much.''

See also DifficultyByRegion, DubNameChange, and BadExportForYou.

Pronounced similarly to "massacre", the term was coined by anime fans from the name of producer/writer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Macek Carl Macek]], whose early "free adaptations" of anime frequently bore little or no resemblance to the original Japanese stories. His usual procedure was to dispose of the original script entirely, and write his own from scratch. This was no ''Anime/SamuraiPizzaCats'', however.[[note]]That series had entirely new English scripts created ''with the blessing of the author''.[[/note]] He would often combine two or more unrelated series simply in order to have enough episodes to fulfill a syndication deal, the most famous (and successful) of these resulting in ''Anime/{{Robotech}}''. He is particularly reviled for the seemingly xenophobic ruthlessness with which he purged any hint of Japanese culture -- what he euphemistically called "ethnic gestures" -- from the series which he adapted.[[note]]Macek later claimed that many of these changes, including his having to splice together three different series to create ''Robotech'', were a case of ExecutiveMeddling; he was required to force the show to fit syndication-length guidelines, without having complete scripts for any of them, while still making it compelling enough to sell the accompanying toy lines. Trying to tie the three shows together by giving them a unified script was his attempt at meeting these conditions; obviously, this didn't work as well as he hoped. As to the charges of removing "ethnic gestures" from scripts: to be fair to Mr. Macek, there is some evidence that his original plan was to have Hikaru Ichijyo/Rick Hunter remain ethnically Japanese, naming him "Rick Yamada". It is also very evident that the simple, straightforward solution of presenting ''Robotech'' an anthology was, for whatever reason, not considered a viable option.[[/note]]

Pronounced similarly to "massacre", the term was coined by anime fans from the name of producer/writer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Macek Carl Macek]], whose early "free adaptations" of anime frequently bore little or no resemblance to the original Japanese stories. His usual procedure was to dispose of the original script entirely, and write his own from scratch. This was no ''Anime/SamuraiPizzaCats'', however. He would often combine two or more unrelated series simply in order to have enough episodes to fulfill a syndication deal, the most famous (and successful) of these resulting in ''Anime/{{Robotech}}''. He is particularly reviled for the seemingly xenophobic ruthlessness with which he purged any hint of Japanese culture -- what he euphemistically called "ethnic gestures" -- from the series which he adapted.[[note]]Macek later claimed that many of these changes, including his having to splice together three different series to create ''Robotech'', were a case of ExecutiveMeddling; he was required to force the show to fit syndication-length guidelines, without having complete scripts for any of them, while still making it compelling enough to sell the accompanying toy lines. Trying to tie the three shows together by giving them a unified script was his attempt at meeting these conditions; obviously, this didn't work as well as he hoped. As to the charges of removing "ethnic gestures" from scripts: to be fair to Mr. Macek, there is some evidence that his original plan was to have Hikaru Ichijyo/Rick Hunter remain ethnically Japanese, naming him "Rick Yamada". It is also very evident that the simple, straightforward solution of presenting ''Robotech'' an anthology was, for whatever reason, not considered a viable option.[[/note]]