Product description Robotech - First Contact (Vol. Amazon.com This early anime series that helped introduce the genre to the United States in the mid-1980s is a curious hybrid. Harmony Gold bought the rights to the 36-episode Super Dimension Fortress: Macross in which an alien invasion was held at bay by the voice of a girl pop star but executives felt that American viewers wouldn t accept that plot. Producer-story editor Carl Macek intercut sequences from Macross with two similar-looking sci-fi series from Tatsunoko Studios Genesis Climber Mospeada and Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross creating a sprawling 85-episode space opera with a completely new story line. The story begins in 1999 when a gigantic spaceship strikes the Earth at Macross Island in the Pacific. After a decade of analysis repair and study the Earth forces are ready to relaunch the gargantuan flying fortress now called the SDF-1--just as the alien Zentraedi attack hoping to capture it. The first six installments in the 85-episode series introduce the main characters during the initial battles ambushes feints and counterattacks: ace pilot Rick Hunter; his best friend dashing fighter commander Roy Fokker; SDF-1 captain Gloval; his straight-laced assistant Lisa Hayes; and aspiring singer Minmei. In retrospect the circa-1980s series has a rather camp appeal: the stilted romance between Rick and Minmei unfolds as coyly as a prolonged episode of The Brady Bunch. Technically the show looks very primitive and the crudely drawn space battles and explosions reveal just how much computer animation has contributed to the look of contemporary anime. Contains the first six episodes: 1. Booby Trap 2. Countdown 3. Space Fold 4. The Long Wait 5. Transformation 6. Blitzkrieg. Unrated; contains mild animated violence. Suitable for ages 8 and up: violence is restricted to spaceship and robot battles. --Charles Solomon From the Back Cover A thrill-packed introduction to the Robotech Universe. Meet Rick Hunter Lynn Minmei and the entire crew of the Super Dimensional Battle Fortress SDF-1 as they match wits with powerful aliens who have come to Earth in search of a mysterious force known only as Protoculture . Contains episodes 1-6 of the classic Macross section of the Robotech saga.