Within the combined and edited story, Robotechnology refers to the scientific advances discovered in an alien starship that crashed on a South Pacific island.

[5] With this technology, Earth developed giant robotic machines or mecha (many of which were capable of transforming into vehicles) to fight three successive extraterrestrial invasions.

[6] Robotech was one of the first anime televised in the United States that attempted to include most of the complexity and drama of its original Japanese source material.

[7] Produced by Harmony Gold USA, Inc. in association with Tatsunoko Productions Co. Ltd., Robotech is a story adapted with edited content and revised dialogue from the animation of three different mecha anime series: The Super Dimension Fortress Macross from 1982, Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross from 1984, and Genesis Climber Mospeada from 1983.

Robotech originally aired in 1985 in first-run syndication,[13] meaning it was sold directly to local television stations without having been run on a network first—this was part of a trend in animation in the 1980s.

This changed after He-Man and the Masters of the Universe introduced a new economic model: shows sold directly for first-run to stations, driving and funded by sales of related toys.

In Spain, all Robotech episodes were aired using the Latin American Dubbing, from August 1990 to April 1991, with changes in time slots, in Telecinco channel.

Superstation KTEH, a PBS public television station in San Jose, California, as part of its Sunday Late-Prime (9pm-after 12) Sci-Fi programming line-up aired the "Macross" and "New Generation" storylines, as well as the Robotech II: The Sentinels feature.

Internet based Pluto TV, a Paramount Global subsidiary, began showing all three Robotech stories Summer of 2019 on the Anime All Day channel.

The series has attained a significant cult-following over the years along with critical appraisal; in 2009, IGN ranked Robotech as the 34th greatest animated show of all time in their Top 100 list.