Before the rebooted Battlestar Galactica. Before Star Wars: The Clone Wars or Voltron: Legendary Defender, before The Expanse, there was one space opera show that was ambitious and groundbreaking in scope, both because of source material and out of necessity (more on that later). There were major character deaths, romance, a massive cast, deep world-building, a serialized plot that forced the viewer to pay attention, lead characters that played with gender dynamics, interracial romance, and unflinching violence that showed the horrors of war.
Somehow, that all wound up being sold into 1985 afterschool TV as a kid’s cartoon. That show, whose legacy stands today, was Robotech.
https://www.tor.com/2018/06/29/why-the-time-is-right-for-a-robotech-reboot
It was so far ahead of its time that merely watching it now makes you wonder how the heck it actually got on TV. Before the rebooted Battlestar Galactica. Before Star Wars: The Clone Wars or Voltro…