Robotech is a cartoon that tells the story of a three successive alien invasions of Earth. The series, originally shown in 1985, spans 85 episodes and is split into three different stories: Macross, the Robotech Masters, and New Generation. Robotech distinguished itself amongst cartoons as it brought new realism to animated shows with the introduction of concepts like love, death, war, courage, and sacrifice.

Robotech is actually three different cartoons: Super Dimensional Fortress Macross, Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber Mospeada. These cartoons were made in Japan and aired seperately there in the early 1980's. The US company Harmony Gold bought the rights to these shows and Carl Macek wrote a new story to tie all three series together. The result was Robotech.

The first story tells of the invasion of Earth by the Zentraedi, a race of giant warriors, sent by the Robotech Masters to recover their lost protoculture factory which crashed on Earth. The second story relates the attack on Earth by the Robotech Masters themselves in the wake of the failure of their Zentraedi warriors to capture the SDF-1. The final story is the struggle to liberate the Earth from the dominion of the Invid, who came to Earth seeking the Flower of Life, and overwhelmed the devastated planet in the wake of the wars against the Zentraedi and the Robotech Masters.

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