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Anime Video Mood Boards Voltron

Vehicle Voltron / Dairugger XV – “I’m Comin’ Home” – A Video Mood Board

Mood Board: an arrangement of images, materials, pieces of text, etc. intended to evoke or project a particular style or concept.

After the wild success of the Lion Voltron in 1984, World Events Productions followed up with the much darker, more complex Vehicle Voltron in the Fall of 1985. With no warning. As a kid, I hated it. I was 8 years old at the time. By 1990 however (and by the time I was 12), I had matured somewhat, and upon hearing the dark horse/melancholy sound of New Edition’s ballad “I’m Comin Home” from their 1988 Heart Break album, visions of the stellarship Explorer (that housed the Vehicle Voltron Force) flooded my young brain, and that song has always reminded me of Vehicle Voltron. So now in 2020, thanks to the free time provided by our current pandemic, I’m finally manifesting my inner-visions into reality with this video mood board.

Thanks to the internet, I’ve also learned a lot more about the source anime for Vehicle Voltron, which is Dairugger XV. That anime (like Golion – the source for Lion Voltron) is MUCH darker than its U.S. counterpart – and from what I can tell, much better. The final scenes of this video mood board depict the martyrdom of Hazar (Teles) – he was someone who was working for peace between the Drules and the Galaxy Alliance, and was assassinated for his work. If that isn’t brutal reality, I don’t know what is. However, it’s beautiful in its honesty – and its the kind of lesson I think the world could use a lot more of. We shouldn’t hide away from this kind of brave storytelling. We should celebrate it, in the hopes it inspires the kind of bridge-building this anime so wonderfully depicted. Hope you enjoy!

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Anime Macross Robotech Video Mood Boards

Robotech / Macross – “Head First (In Love)” – A Video Mood Board

Mood Board: an arrangement of images, materials, pieces of text, etc. intended to evoke or project a particular style or concept.

In 2010, the British synth-pop duo Goldfrapp released their Head First album, and the title track is a poignant, ABBA-esque love ballad that shimmers in synth and lines up well with the dazzling futuristic utopia that the Macross world manages to attain during peacetime (strongly featured in the visuals of the 1987 Flashback 2012 Macross OVA). The thought behind this video board is, if Macross and/or Robotech were ever to be made into live action, this song could be a strong candidate for the song used in that film, if not the original “Ai Oboete Imasu ka” or “We Will Win.”

VERY cool coincidence: the final battle between Dolza’s fleet and the RDF takes place in 2010 according to the story – the same year that Goldfrapp’s song “Head First” was released. How cool?

The heart of the original Macross anime was about the power of love, and featured a memorable love triangle between the main protagonist, Hikaru Ichijo (Rick Hunter), Misa Hayase (Lisa Hayes), and the iconic Lynn Minmay (Lynn Minmei). Humanity is attacked by aliens called the Zentraedi and brought to the brink of extinction. In both the 1982 Macross anime and subsequent 1984 classic film Macross: Do You Remember Love?, victory is largely made possible when Minmay sings a love song during a pivotal battle, and it’s that very plot point that inspired this video mood board.

Without further adieu, here’s the concept. We hope you enjoy it!

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Anime Mospeada Robotech Video Mood Boards

Robotech/Mospeada – “Stranger Love” – A Video Mood Board

Mood Board: an arrangement of images, materials, pieces of text, etc. intended to evoke or project a particular style or concept.

Singer Ollie Wride is by far the best candidate to be the singing voice of Yellow Dancer should a live action Robotech film ever be made. His song “Stranger Love” with Sunglasses Kid (released in March 2020) inspired us to create this video mood board to help illustrate just how well his voice and music fits the vibe of both Robotech’s New Generation and Yellow Dancer/Lancer himself. No copyright infringement intended – if anything, we’re trying to promote both Ollie Wride/Sunglasses Kid and Robotech together. We think this will be a match made in heaven. Definitely support Ollie Wride, FM-84, and The Sunglasses Kid – their music is phenomenal, and retro-futuristic.

Last but not least, highly unlikely love is a core theme in Robotech, and the main couple you see here is the union between a human (the androgynous singer-soldier Lancer/Yellow Dancer) and an Invid named Sera (she’s a humanoid version of her species). Naturally, they were fighting on opposite sides of the Third Robotech War before falling in love. “Stranger Love.”

Enjoy!