English Title: Super Dimension Fortress Macross
Japanese Title: 超時空要塞マクロス
Director(s): Takayama Fumihiko, Yasumura Shoichi & others
Screenwriter(s): Matsuzaki Kenichi, Tomita Sukehiro & others
Studio: Studio Nue, Tatsunoko Productions
Released: 1982–1983
Series Runtime: 36 episodes, ~25m each.
Film Runtime: 1h 55m
Starring: Iijima Mari, Hase Arihiro, Doi Mika, Kamiya Akira, Hayami Shou
My Verdict: Classic mecha anime. Excellent visuals and sound. Focuses on characters and their relationships.
Macross is a mecha space opera anime created by Kawamori Shoji with Ishiguro Noboru as series director. It is considered a classic. If one hasn’t seen it already, then one is unlikely to ever watch it. Nevertheless, it is worth a review as multiple sequel series and one prequel series have since been released.
The premise is that in 1999, a large alien spacecraft crashed on Earth. No one was on board. Under a new UN government, humanity tried to reverse engineer and rebuild the ship. Given all the politics, it triggered 10 years of war before the world finally united under the UN. The rebuilt spacecraft was named SDF-1 Macross, which is basically a flying carrier with variable (transforming) fighters.
In the present, 2009, just as Macross is about to be officially launched, its automatic defense systems activate, consequently destroying an alien spacecraft near Earth. The aliens are the Zentradi, a warrior race, and this sparks a devastating war…
Before discussing the plot and characters, a few comments on the premise.
An event involving aliens in 1999 is amusing as the year 2000 has significance regarding the “new world order” (NWO) according to some literature and even prophecy. Although not an alien invasion, real or staged, the event was nonetheless significant and publicly known.
What is mildly interesting is that it did not immediately usher in the NWO but rather led to wars. Although a new UN was formed, there were 10 years of “Unification Wars” before peace was achieved. Whilst that was not necessarily a new idea even back then, one has to wonder whether this is some form of predictive programming.
The military arm of this new UN is called “UN Spacy”, an obvious anime concoction presumably derived from something like “space navy”. Whether intended to or not, it sounds innocuous. But at least it is unlike Star Trek in which the Federation is supposed to be peace-loving and officially has no military arm… except that its Starfleet serves as its military arm even though that is not its primary mission.
In other words, by having no official military, the organization that does everything is the military anyway so it is as if everything is under the military after all. Very communist. There is no such confusion in Macross—UN Spacy is clearly military, albeit in a sci-fi anime manner.
The series, thankfully, does not dwell on this but it is something to note. Its focus is not on politics or even the horrors of war but rather on the impact war has on the characters, particularly the main characters Ichijo Hikaru, Lynn Minmay and Hayase Misa.
Hikaru is a young man who is already a pilot. He is friends with Major Roy Föcker who is a fighter pilot with UN Spacy. Hikaru is in essence the “somehow ends up in the nearest mech cockpit” trope but he does officially join later. Föcker is not merely a commanding officer but also a friend and mentor.
Lynn Minmay is a half-Chinese, half-Japanese lady with aspirations to be a singer. Her Chinese heritage is presumably partly marketing and partly conciliatory. Hayase Misa is another young woman but older than Hikaru and Lynn. Misa is a career officer aboard the SDF-1 as a first lieutenant. Like all Macross series, the setup can be simplistically described as a love triangle.
In the opening episodes, Hikaru meets Minmay. At this point, Misa is merely a bridge officer to Hikaru. Amidst the combat and mayhem, the SDF-1 space folds to the edge of the solar system with civilians. The space-fold system then conveniently “disappears” so SDF-1 has to return to Earth using conventional propulsion, which is slow.
They do return to Earth. Thankfully, this is not rushed so that they make it back within merely a few episodes nor is the entire series about their journey home. It is somewhere in between. These episodes presumably take some inspiration from Battlestar Galactica (1978). There is a sense of crisis but also “life on a ship of exodus”. It is during this time that Hikaru develops as a fighter pilot and, more importantly, his friendship with Minmay also develops with romantic undertones.
The plot follows the three main characters and their relationships in the midst of the war with the Zentradi in space and on Earth.
Despite the destruction in the present, worldbuilding is not neglected, at least not its history. It is revealed that humans and Zentradi may have come from the same ancient civilization referred to as “protoculture”.
Interestingly, Zentradi are also giants, obviously taking some inspiration from Scripture and other literature. The idea of humans merely being a descendant of some alien culture is not new; sometimes, it is to promote the idea of insignificance and/or to vaguely detract from the monotheistic view of creation.
This is not something Macross emphasizes so I am not sure what the intent is, although some of the symbolism and imagery are intriguing but that is another discussion.
Also interesting is that one of the more prominent minor characters, Hikaru’s wingman Maximilian Jenius, is apparently some sort of Christian but nothing else is mentioned. He is a cool character but other than that, his religion is simply a fact.
Protoculture includes music which is central to this fictional universe. Macross does not hide the fact that music as war propaganda was an inspiration although it does not treat music in a negative way.
Does Macross glorify war? Although it is not about the horrors of war and cool mecha action is a big part of it, it does not outright glorify war. As mecha anime, it glorifies the military and certainly military hardware and engineering. This is probably one of the first animations to have realistic-looking vehicle transformers. Also, the VF-1 Valkyrie fighter was obviously inspired by the F-14 Tomcat.
If it glorifies anything, it is individual effort (though not necessarily dramatic acts of heroism) insofar as it romanticizes it; for example, Hikaru fights to protect not just humanity but Lynn in particular. It also romanticizes the idealistic role of music for it is this that brings peace between humans and the Zentradi. Thankfully, it is not quite a simple case of Lynn singing a song and everyone is happy and the war ends.
The music is generally well-composed. Although contemporary, it is not the kind of pop that is “out there”. The songs are typically easy listening and include pop-ballads; for example, what has become a classic is the main theme song “Do You Remember Love?” (愛・おぼえていますか) sung by Lynn Minmay (Iijima Mari) in the 1984 film adaptation.
In short, it is a romance with mecha action. The so-called love triangle is not as simple as A likes B but B likes C. Nor is it a case of the characters being indecisive for no reason or that Hikaru is a two-timing jerk. It is more mature than that. Hikaru and Minmay have a connection but the circumstances, amongst other reasons, make it difficult. Meanwhile, Hikaru and Misa’s friendship develops too.
As such, whether it is relationships or ancient history, nostalgia and longing for a better future are also themes. Or, to put the latter differently, one’s dreams is one of the main themes and this is the case for all the other series as well. And just like in real life, one can’t have it all, one has to give up some things to achieve that dream. So, whilst Macross may not be categorized as a tragedy, endings aren’t entirely happy either.
Visually, it is superb. The mechanical design by Miyatake Kazutaka and Kawamori Shoji is realistic (at least in the context of anime). The production is generally excellent, especially for a series of that era. As usual, there are some shots and scenes that can be better but the only glaring issue is that SDF-1 is meant to be city-sized but is merely 1200m long.
The animation and action are what mecha anime should be. The sound design and mix is crisp, particularly the jet engine effects. In terms of both sound and visuals, one can see the influence it has on Top Gun (1986) which in turn has influenced subsequent Macross series.
Apart from the two clip-show episodes, which were the norm back then, the pacing is generally well-managed. The story is long enough to truly feel immersed in that situation and journey with the characters. Ultimately, it has solid mecha action as well as characters and relationships that one can emotionally invest in.
As is common, the film is a highly condensed retelling of the series. It starts with the SDF-1 Macross already in space with Hikaru and Lynn Minmay already knowing each other. As such, it is too condensed as it doesn’t show the relationship between Hikaru and Lynn develop. Given the series structure, it is admittedly difficult to adapt into film but it arguably would be better as two films instead of one.
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