Genesis Climber MOSPEADA

Story

In the 21st century, Earth's pollution problems result in the development of a new hydrogen fuel called "HBT" as an alternative to fossil fuels, while mankind colonizes Mars. In 2050, a mysterious alien race called the Inbit invades Earth. Unable to fight off the Inbit, Earth becomes desolate with only a few pockets of human beings scattered throughout the planet. Many of the refugees escape aboard a few remaining shuttles to seek shelter on the Moon. The Inbit set up their main base of operations on Earth, called "Reflex Point", in the Great Lakes area of North America.

However, the Mars colony, dubbed the Mars Base, does not forget about the plight of Earth. Troops are sent in to fight the Inbit from the Moon, only to fail miserably. The Inbit do not attack Mars and show no interest towards the other planets. Surprisingly, the aliens show no hostility towards humans unless they are directly provoked. The Inbit can also sense the presence of HBT and use of the fuel is limited under their supervision, as HBT is a common component in weapons technology. Mars Base becomes a gigantic military factory, producing vast amounts of advanced weaponry and trained troops. In 2080, Mars Base sends in the next wave of troops called the Earth Recapture Force - but it is virtually destroyed despite a technological advantage including the deployment of transformable mecha.

Mars Base deploys the Second Earth Recapture Force three years later but suffers a similar fate as the first fleet. Legioss pilot Stick Bernard turns out to be the only survivor as he crashlands in South America, but his fiancée, Marlene, is killed in the chaos. A holographic recording of Marlene given to Stick just before the operation began gives him the strength to move on and avenge her death. In his quest to reach Reflex Point, he meets the other main characters of the show, forming a group of ragtag freedom fighters in a quest to rid the planet of the Inbit.

As the plot unravels, the purpose of the Inbit invasion is revealed: to find a suitable place to evolve into more complex beings. However, the Inbit do not know that their endeavor actually threatens to cause the extinction of both humans and Inbit and thus, it is up to Stick and his group, with the help of humanoid Inbit (Aisha and Solzie), to convince the supreme ruler of the Inbit, the Refless, to flee from Earth.

Characters

The Robotech-adapted names are in brackets: [ ].

The English-subtitled MOSPEADA DVD released by Harmony Gold and ADV Films uses the inaccurate names (such as "Stig" Bernard, Mint "Rubble", Houquet "Emrose", and Jim "Austin") derived from fans on Robotech.com and the Robotech Art I book.

Theme Songs

The incidental music was composed by Joe Hisaishi, who would later gain renown for incidental music for the movies of Hayao Miyazaki, though it is accidentally credited, because of a misreading of the name characters, to a "Yuzuru Hisaishi." MOSPEADA is the first anime series to have a jazz-based theme song (Blue Rain).

Malaysian indie rock band Hujan made their own cover of the opening song titled Lonely Soldier Boy (derived from one of the lyrics' English lines) where the lyrics are entirely translated from Japanese into Malay, except for the English lines which are left intact. The song was included in the band's album, also named after the song.

Adaptation for the Robotech series

Most of MOSPEADA's animation (with edited content and revised dialogue) was adapted for American audiences as Robotech: The New Generation, the third saga of the Robotech compilation series. In Robotech, the Inbit became the "Invid" of the "Third Generation" (also featured in Robotech II: The Sentinels) and the advanced space forces are the returning Robotech Expeditionary Force (REF) that left before the "Second Generation" of Robotech on Earth. Earth's Defense Forces were decimated in the previous saga. Unlike the Invid in the adapted Robotech, the Inbit in MOSPEADA had nothing to do with the Robotech Masters (their sworn enemies in Robotech) and they were just looking for a good planet on which to evolve and reach perfection. Likewise, the REF forces under Admiral Hunter's command that Bernard frequently referred to were troops from the Mars and Jupiter bases which harassed the Inbit, though they were playing a "leave alone" system with humans on Earth.

The show's transformable mecha were also renamed; the Armor Cycles as Veritech Cyclones motorcycles; the AFC-01 Legioss became the VF/A-6 Alpha Veritech; the AB-01 Tlead became the VFB-9 Beta Veritech. Like Macross and The Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, Genesis Climber MOSPEADA was cut and fitted to be part of the Robotech continuum by Harmony Gold and Carl Macek. Character names were generally altered without major changes in characterization, making MOSPEADA the least altered series of the three. Incidentally, it is also the series that has seen the most usage in the expanded universe of Robotech II: The Sentinels and Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles, especially in terms of character, mecha, and ship designs. Unlike Macross, which is owned by Big West, Harmony Gold is free to utilize elements from the Tatsunoko-owned MOSPEADA.

Love Live Alive

After the original run of the television series, an OVA music video titled Genesis Climber MOSPEADA: Love Live Alive was exclusively released in Japan in September 1985. The music video consisted of both old and new footage. The story of Love Live Alive chronicled the events after the ending of MOSPEADA, featuring Yellow Belmont as the main character. The music video focused on Yellow's concert and his flashbacks of past events. In 2013, it was adapted by Harmony Gold into Robotech: Love Live Alive.