Disappointed by the way Gatchaman, le combat des galaxies (1972) was turned into La bataille des planètes (1978), Carl Macek wanted to import an anime series and have it faithfully translated for the Western market. The best series he could obtain, Choujikuu Yousai Macross (1982), had only 36 episodes, far too few for the standard 65-episode syndication package the North American TV market demanded. Macek decided to acquire two similarly-themed series, Chôjikû kidan Sazan Kurosu (1984) and Kikô sôseiki Mospeada (1983), and connected them as a grand epic of successive generations forced to fight three wars over an alien energy source.
"Protoculture Addicts" is one of the earliest North American anime fanzines. Started in 1987, the Canada-published fanzine was originally dedicated to Robotech, but also included articles about anime in general. As its focus gradually shifted from Robotech to general anime/manga, it became a major North American anime fanzine. Print publication stopped in 2008, when anime distributor Geneon shut down. While not technically defunct, the zine has been absorbed as an inactive subsidiary of Anime News Network.