A meeting gift?
Yoshimasa Onishi picked up the document, his mind brimming with suspicion.
Beside him, Shoji Kawamori also set down his pen and leaned in curiously.
The top of the document was an English photocopy bearing an American notary seal. Below it, a Japanese translation—thoughtfully attached—carried the red official seal of the Sega Legal Department.
At first, Yoshimasa Onishi merely glanced over it carelessly. But after reading only the first two lines, his pupils constricted violently, and the blood rushed to his face.
He snapped upright, his hands gripping the edges of the paper so tightly that it crinkled and tore with a sharp, brittle sound.
When Shoji Kawamori saw the contents, his hand jerked. The expensive mechanical pencil he held clattered onto the desk, rolled off the edge, and landed on the thick carpet, yet he remained completely oblivious.
"This—this is a memorandum issued by Harmony Gold USA?!" Yoshimasa Onishi's voice trembled uncontrollably, his breathing turning heavy.
"That's right." Hattori Kiyoshi nodded slightly, savoring the two men's loss of composure. "Sega of America's top legal team just visited Harmony Gold's Los Angeles headquarters last week. This is an official legal document signed by their Head of Legal and stamped with the corporate seal. It's genuine."
Yoshimasa Onishi stared intently at the translated document, each word striking his heart like a heavy hammer.
The black-and-white text stated clearly and unequivocally: Harmony Gold officially confirmed that the license they had obtained from Tatsunoko Production back then was strictly limited to the broadcasting rights, video release rights, and related merchandising rights for the original Macross anime in North America and parts of Europe. Beyond that, it did not involve any underlying intellectual property rights concerning mecha designs, character settings, or the development of subsequent derivative works!
Shoji Kawamori shot to his feet, slamming his hands onto the table. His eyes were rimmed with red.
"Those fraudulent bastards at Tatsunoko!" he spat, his voice trembling with over a decade of pent-up grief and fury.
No one knew better than he did just how much Tatsunoko had disgusted Big West and Studio Nue over the years.
Relying on their majority investment from the early days, Tatsunoko had arrogantly claimed to hold the "complete copyright" to Macross. They had even gone behind Big West's back to bundle the overseas rights and sell them to Harmony Gold, creating the Frankenstein-like Robotech to cash in on the European and American markets.
That was one thing.
What truly drove Shoji Kawamori mad was that whenever Big West tried to heed the fans' calls and pour their hearts into developing something new, Tatsunoko would swoop in like flies to blood, brandishing that vaguely worded, mess of a contract from years ago to disrupt everything. They would threaten lawsuits over copyright infringement at the slightest provocation.
As a result, Big West now had to tread on thin ice and act with extreme caution whenever they started a new project, terrified that the fruit they had painstakingly cultivated would be snatched away by Tatsunoko in the end.
This creative stifling was more agonizing than death itself!
And now, this memorandum from Sega was like a precision-guided nuclear bomb, blowing Tatsunoko's bluff and stripping them bare!
Harmony Gold had admitted they only held distribution rights. Tatsunoko's claim of "owning the full copyright" was nothing but a colossal lie, waiting to be punctured!
Yoshimasa Onishi, after all, was an old fox who had navigated the treacherous waters of business for years. After the initial surge of euphoria, his reason quickly returned.
He took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and solemnly placed the document back on the desk. He then looked up at Kiyoshi Hattori.
Sega would never do charity.
They would never mobilize their North American resources to draft such a critical legal document for no reason, let alone package it as a "gift" and deliver it to their doorstep.
"Director Hattori," Yoshimasa Onishi said, swallowing hard and choosing his words carefully. "Sega's gift is truly too generous—so generous that we are somewhat overwhelmed. May I ask... what are Sega's terms?"
Kiyoshi Hattori leaned back comfortably in his chair, spreading his hands. His tone was calm, yet it carried the domineering air of someone in total control. "Executive Director Nakayama's intentions are very clear. Sega plans to fully intervene in the subsequent development of the Macross series. Games, new anime, model kits—we'll launch it all. Sega will provide the funding, our top-tier 3D technology, and our unique global distribution channels. In return, we demand that all future development rights for the Macross series be exclusively licensed to Sega Galaxy."
He paused, meeting Onishi's gaze, before adding, "Of course, Executive Director Nakayama said that Sega won't do anything as foolish as draining the pond to catch the fish. The underlying ownership and creative control will remain with Big West and Studio Nue. All we want is the development rights and an exclusive partnership."
Yoshimasa Onishi and Shoji Kawamori exchanged a glance, seeing the shock mirrored in each other's eyes.
Exclusive licensing.
This was no small request.
Signing this meant handing over the full right to harvest the Macross gold mine to Sega. They would be tethered to Sega's war machine from now on.
But on second thought, this wasn't just a fair deal—it was a godsend!
What kind of terrifying power did Sega wield now?
Rumors from Daiwa Securities had already spread: Sega was in the final stages of restructuring and liquidation with the toy giant, Bandai. With Bandai's world-dominating model production lines and sales network, combined with Sega's own invincible game development capabilities and a cash flow so abundant it was obscene, this was bound to become the most formidable pan-entertainment empire in Japan, if not the world!
Whether it was releasing games or selling model kits and merchandise, letting Sega manage Macross would absolutely generate ten or a hundred times the profit they could ever make on their own small-scale operations!
Moreover, without a towering giant like Sega backing them, even if they secured this memorandum, how could they possibly fight a protracted international legal battle against the relentlessly stubborn Tatsunoko?
"So, what about Tatsunoko—how exactly will we handle them?" Yoshimasa Onishi asked, getting straight to the core issue, the one that worried him most.
"Sega's Legal Department is already on full standby," Kiyoshi Hattori replied, his voice firm and decisive. "The moment Big West signs this exclusive partnership agreement, Sega will immediately assign its most elite legal team to join the negotiations. We will bring in Japan's top intellectual property lawyers—even if we have to throw money at them—to claw back the Macross copyright from Tatsunoko, piece by piece! We will completely clear all legal obstacles for the production of Macross Plus, Macross 7, and all future sequels!"
Yoshimasa Onishi's fingers tapped rapidly on the table, his heart pounding.
Sega was not only taking over all subsequent commercial development and guaranteeing their massive profits, but they were also personally stepping into the fray to clear the path.
The offer was so generous that the thought of refusing it was completely out of the question.
Moreover, Sega was only seeking development rights, not ownership of the underlying copyright. They weren't crossing any of their bottom lines at all.
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