History Main / Macekre

In recent years, this has become a DiscreditedTrope as syndicated television has [[DeaderThanDisco 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.

In recent years, this has become a DiscreditedTrope as syndicated television has [[DeaderThanDisco lost its luster]] following [[TechnologyMarchesOn the rise of cable]] and on-demand streaming. Likewise, companies that were prominent for heavy anime edits in the 70s-90s have closed their doors while anime distributors who produce faithful dubs--even for children's television--have taken their place.

In recent years, this has become a DiscreditedTrope as syndicated television has [[DeaderThanDisco lost its luster]] following [[TechnologyMarchesOn the rise of cable]] and on-demand streaming. Likewise, companies that were prominent for heavy anime edits in the 80s and 90s have closed their doors while anime distributors who produce faithful dubs--even for children's television--have taken their place.

In recent years, this has become a DiscreditedTrope as syndicated television has [[DeaderThanDisco lost its luster]] following the rise of cable and on-demand streaming. Likewise, companies that were prominent for heavy anime edits in the 80s and 90s have closed their doors while anime distributors who produce faithful dubs--even for children's television--have taken their place.

In recent years, this has become a DiscreditedTrope as syndicated television has [[DeaderThanDisco lost its luster]] following the rise of cable and on-demand streaming.

Pronounced similarly to "massacre", the term was coined by anime fans from the name of the late producer/writer [[http://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. 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 ''Anime/{{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 the late Mr. Macek, there is some evidence that his original plan was to have Hikaru Ichijyo/Rick Hunter remain ethnically Japanese, naming him "Rick Yamada".[[/note]]

It's important to understand this phenomenon in the context of its time. What modern anime fans might not realize is that at the time, there simply was no Western fanbase for Japanese animation in its pure form and in fact the term "anime" itself was not commonly known to Westerners at all. For many years, a variety of companies simply saw Japanese animation as a cheap way of producing disposable children's programs for syndication. For these companies, the process of buying the rights to Japanese shows, which at that time had no real foreign market, so international rights were cheap, editing, and redubbing them was far more inexpensive than actually producing original animation. This was typically done with no respect whatsoever for the original material, as it was intended for a children's audience typically on weekday mornings and afternoons where they competed with reruns of original series produced for the more profitable Saturday morning timeslot.

->'''Ichigo:''' Mew Mew Style, I think I'll pass, your Mew Mew Power [[CurseCutShort can kiss my--]] \\

-->-- Fanart that made the rounds of the ''Manga/TokyoMewMew'' fandom upon the release of ''[[Creator/FourKidsEntertainment Mew Mew Power]]''

Keep in mind that TropesAreNotBad. 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.

->'''Ichigo:''' Mew Mew Style, I think I'll pass, your Mew Mew Power can kiss my-- \\

->'''Ichigo:''' ''"Mew Mew Style, I think I'll pass, your Mew Mew Power can kiss my--"'' \\
'''Mint:''' ''"[[CurseCutShort Ichigo!]]"''

Contrast {{Woolseyism}} (where the changes are seen as more organic and workable), GagDub (where nearly the entire dialogue is rewritten from the ground up, and the changes are for intentionally comic purposes, often [[{{MST}} making fun of the original]]), [[Creator/StreamlinePictures Streamlined]] for when content in the story is ''completely'' altered, and GoodBadTranslation.

Pronounced similarly to "massacre", the term was coined by anime fans from the name of the late producer/writer [[http://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. 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 ''Anime/{{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 the late Mr. Macek, there is some evidence that his original plan was to have Hikaru Ichijyo/Rick Hunter remain ethnically Japanese, naming him "Rick Yamada".[[/note]]

Not to be confused with {{Bowdlerise}}, where the changes are in order to make the work in question more "acceptable" for the audience (non-controversial parts might be faithfully adapted). That said, such changes might contribute to a Macekre in the eyes of some audiences when done badly.

Not to be confused with {{Bowdlerise}}, where the changes are in order to make the work in question more "acceptable" for the audience (non-controversial parts might be faithfully adapted). (That said, where it's badly done, such changes may result in a Macekre in the eyes of some audiences).

Not to be confused with {{Bowdlerise}}, where the changes are in order to make the work in question more "acceptable" for the audience (non-controversial parts might be faithfully adapted).

Historically, ''[[Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato Star Blazers]]'' and ''Anime/{{Voltron}}'' led to ''Anime/{{Robotech}}'', which in turn led to ''Manga/{{Akira}}''. Without those groundbreaking early steps, the later ones would have been impossible.

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]].

Historically, ''[[Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato Star Blazers]]'' and ''Anime/{{Voltron}}'' led to ''Robotech'', which in turn led to ''Manga/{{Akira}}''. Without those groundbreaking early steps, the later ones would have been impossible.

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 Carl 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]].

Pronounced similarly to "massacre", the term was coined by anime fans from the name of the late producer/writer [[http://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. 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 the late Mr. Macek, there is some evidence that his original plan was to have Hikaru Ichijyo/Rick Hunter remain ethnically Japanese, naming him "Rick Yamada".[[/note]]

Historically, ''[[Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato Star Blazers]]'' and ''Anime/{{Voltron}}'' led to ''Anime/{{Robotech}}'', which in turn led to ''Manga/{{Akira}}''. Without those groundbreaking early steps, the later ones would have been impossible.

Contrast {{Woolseyism}} (where the changes are seen as more organic and workable), GagDub (where nearly the entire dialogue is rewritten from the ground up, and the changes are for intentionally comic purposes, often [[{{MST}} making fun of the original]]), [[Creator/StreamlinePictures Streamlined]] for when content in the story is '''completely''' altered, and GoodBadTranslation.

Pronounced similarly to "massacre", the term was coined by anime fans from the name of the late producer/writer [[http://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 -- but this was no ''Anime/SamuraiPizzaCats''. Often he would combine two or more unrelated series simply in order to have enough episodes to fulfill a syndication deal. 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. (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 the late Mr. Macek, there is some evidence that his original plan was to have Hikaru Ichijyo/Rick Hunter remain ethnically Japanese, naming him "Rick Yamada".)

Fans (with some justification) feel that this practice is disrespectful to the creators, as the series is being treated as a pure marketing product rather really "getting" the draw. The practice has fortunately dwindled since the eighties 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 hopefully 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}} ADV Films]]) 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.

It's worth noting that there is in fact also something of a "sliding scale of Macekre" here. On one end of the scale, you have shows that were, objectively, pretty severely changed -- but the changes were done by people who understood both the core appeal of the show in question, liked what they saw, and the changes were more to make the show even ''possible'' in another market -- a {{Woolseyism}}. A lot of people consider the anime brought over by Creator/WorldEventsProductions in the 1980s to be an example of this -- ''Anime/GoLion'' and ''Anime/SeiJuushiBismarck'' went through a heap of changes, but ''Anime/{{Voltron}}'' and ''Anime/SaberRiderAndTheStarSheriffs'' were both quite popular and a lot of fans would contend that the shows still "get" the fundamental draw while avoiding traps that would have made them unairable in 1980s America otherwise (such as ''Anime/GoLion'''s occasional massive violence). On the other end of the scale, of course, are things like ''Tranzor Z'' (the edited version of ''Anime/MazingerZ''), which was done without any care whatsoever and without understanding why people like the show at all. Invariably this results in a failed product that buries a franchise in a market for decades and leaves licensors furious. Therefore, it's possible to still change a show dramatically in adaptation and not "ruin" a franchise... but it takes a ''lot'' of skill and care, and too many times that just doesn't happen, leading to some of the more onerous examples found throughout TVT.

Keep in mind that TropesAreNotBad. 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.

It's important to understand this phenomenon in the context of its time. What modern anime fans might not realize is that at the time, there simply was no western fanbase for Japanese animation in its pure form and in fact the term "anime" itself was not commonly known to westerners at all. For many years, a variety of companies simply saw Japanese animation as a cheap way of producing disposable children's programs for syndication. For these companies, the process of buying the rights to Japanese shows (which at that time had no real foreign market, so international rights were cheap), editing, and redubbing them was far more inexpensive than actually producing original animation. This was typically done with no respect whatsoever for the original material, as it was intended for a children's audience typically on weekday mornings and afternoons where they competed with reruns of original series produced for the more profitable Saturday morning timeslot.

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 Carl 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]].

'''No examples, please.''' This page describes a common ''emotional reaction'' to CutAndPasteTranslation; examples of such practices can be found on that page.

->'''Ichigo:''' ''"Mew Mew Style, think I'll pass, English dub can kiss my--"'' \\

No examples, please. This just describes the concept. For the examples that were on this page, please go to CutAndPasteTranslation.

Historically, ''Star Blazers'' and ''Anime/{{Voltron}}'' led to ''Anime/{{Robotech}}'', which in turn led to ''Manga/{{Akira}}''. Without those groundbreaking early steps, the later ones would have been impossible.

Keep in mind that TropesAreNotBad. 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 bad changes another may not mind quite as much.

It's worth noting that there is in fact also something of a "sliding scale of Macekre" here. On one end of the scale, you have shows that were, objectively, pretty severely changed -- but the changes were done by people who understood both the core appeal of the show in question, liked what they saw, and the changes were more to make the show even ''possible'' in another market -- a {{Woolseyism}}. A lot of people consider the anime brought over by WorldEventsProductions in the 1980s to be an example of this -- ''Anime/GoLion'' and ''Anime/SeiJuushiBismarck'' went through a heap of changes, but ''{{Voltron}}'' and ''Anime/SaberRiderAndTheStarSheriffs'' were both quite popular and a lot of fans would contend that the shows still "get" the fundamental draw while avoiding traps that would have made them unairable in 1980s America otherwise (such as ''GoLion'''s occasional massive violence). On the other end of the scale, of course, are things like ''Tranzor Z'' (the edited version of ''[[Anime/{{MazingerZ}} Mazinger Z]]''), which was done without any care whatsoever and without understanding why people like the show at all. Invariably this results in a failed product that buries a franchise in a market for decades and leaves licensors furious. Therefore, it's possible to still change a show dramatically in adaptation and not "ruin" a franchise... but it takes a ''lot'' of skill and care, and too many times that just doesn't happen, leading to some of the more onerous examples found throughout TVT.

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 Carl 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''[[hottip:*: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.]]. ''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]].

Contrast {{Woolseyism}} (where the changes are seen as more organic and workable), GagDub (where nearly the entire dialogue is rewritten from the ground up, and the changes are for intentionally comic purposes, often [[{{MST}} making fun of the original]]), {{Streamlined}} for when content in the story is '''completely''' altered, and GoodBadTranslation.