Macross

After a mysterious spaceship crashes into Earth, humanity realizes that they are not alone. Fearing a potential threat from space, the world pushes aside their nationalism, conflicting interests, and cultural differences, unifying under the banner of the United Nations. The newly formed UN forces decide to repurpose the alien spacecraft, naming it SDF-1 Macross. Unfortunately, on the day of its maiden voyage, a fleet of spaceships belonging to a race of aliens known as the Zentradi descend upon Earth, and the SDF-1 Macross, acting of its own accord, shoots down the incoming squadron, sparking an intergalactic war.

In an attempt to escape, the Macross tries to launch itself into the Moon's orbit, but the ship—as well as the city it was in—is teleported to the far reaches of space. Caught up in this mess are Hikaru Ichijou, a free-spirited acrobatic pilot, and Minmay Lynn, an aspiring singer. These two, alongside Macross' crew, experience an epic journey rife with grief and drama, coming face-to-face with the cruelties of war along the way.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Hayase, Misa Main

Doi, Mika Japanese

Lynn, Minmay Main

Iijima, Mari Japanese

Ichijou, Hikaru Main

Hase, Arihiro Japanese

Focker, Roy Supporting

Kamiya, Akira Japanese

Jenius, Maximilian Supporting

Hayami, Show Japanese

Fallyna, Milia Supporting

Takeda, Eri Japanese

Global, Bruno J. Supporting

Hazama, Michio Japanese

Milliome, Shammy Supporting

Miyuki, Sanae Japanese

Kravshera, Quamzin Supporting

Meguro, Kousuke Japanese

La Salle, Claudia Supporting

Ohara, Noriko Japanese

Ishiguro, Noboru Director, Episode Director, Script, Storyboard

Honda, Yasunori Sound Director

Yamaga, Hiroyuki Episode Director, Storyboard, Assistant Director

Akiyama, Katsuhito Episode Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Jan 25, 2024

MizuhoKamui

Recommended

The story of SDF Macross is about the war, love, adventure and other things. It is unique because it manages to weave all these aspects together in an effortless way that is not often seen in other shows trying the same thing.

Its strength lies in its fascinating story and well-developed characters. In the story, people find an abandoned alien space ship known as SDF-1 Macross and try to build it. However, alien invaders named the Zentradi show up and a war begins. Thus the Macross, its crew and 70.000 civilians escape to an unknown place in the outer solar system with Zentradi on their heels. ... They have to go through a lot of obstacles on their way back home.

It discusses the confrontation and later harmony between two groups, like aliens vs. humans, soldiers vs. civilians, and men vs. women. Culture is the connecting thread, which highlights the intricate relations between the groups. The Zentradi come first as a formidable force which human beings fear, but they later realize that the zentradi harbor the desire to explore something beyond warfare. Its depiction of the Zentradi trying to understand and adjust to human life is an interesting and appealing aspect. One of the reoccurring themes in Macross is that life does not consist only of warfare.

The cast has the strong and relatable characters, such as Hikaru Ichijo starting from a foolish youth to an adult, Minmay who transforms from a girl into idol, then heroine; also Misa Hayase, a stern commander who develops into a compassionate friend. Characters’ relationships, including those in minor roles, demonstrate progression and even sometimes tragedy.

Although Macross has some flaws, such as outdated visuals and occasional lapses in energy post-Zentradi conflict resolution, it remains entertaining. The well-crafted narrative ensures that we, whether drawn to romance, war drama, action, mecha, or other aspects, will find something to appreciate in this show.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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May 18, 2024

Marco_Yooo

Mixed Feelings

THIS IS A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW

If we are talking Mecha, there are a certain number of shows that still serve as the main inspiration for future shows of the genre. “Macross” is a show that has had a massive cultural impact both in the anime industry as well as japan itself. It´s refreshing mix of mecha and music cemented it as one of the most influential anime franchises ever, but how well does it hold up today in 2024?

Story – 8/10

The story is fairly straightforward. What sets this show apart from other shows of the genre is it´s pacifistic approach to conflict which was a new ... thing at the time, especially if you look at how war was treated in shows like “Mobile Suit Gundam”. The war itself functions merely as a vessel to contain the more personal, small-scale stories between our main characters. Most of the show is episodic in nature, but a lot of the episodes push the main plot forward from time to time.
The love triangle aspect was done pretty well but the main story was the thing that kept me coming back. The villains in this show, the Zentradi, have a very interesting twist to them, their way of thinking and their understanding of the purpose of life itself is completely different from us humans, making them a highly unique group of villains that are just a blast to watch.
The show itself is split into two main story arcs, one from episode 1-27 and one from episode 28-36 with the first one being the main story and the second one serving as a kind of aftermath or extended epilogue. I heard a lot of criticism online about this structure but I actually kind of dig it. A lot of the most engaging pieces of the lore was kept up until the final few episodes so the story never ran out of steam. I also think the story of the characters gets rounded out a bit more nicely at the end. A lot of shows just kind of end after the final battle and then speed-run trough the ending, but Macross does not commit the same mistake. Other than that, although it definitely shows it´s age with the slow pacing, it has everything you could want: exciting space battles, mechs and a great space opera story that lands it´s ending.

Art – 7/10

The art in this shows is a double-edged sword. I absolutely adore the art style itself. The backgrounds are amazing, the space battles, although reusing a lot of scenes multiple times, look fantastic, the outfits are stylish and the whole 80s anime aesthetic really shines trough.
However, I hate to say it, but this is probably one of the most inconsistent pieces of animation ever. There are some episodes later on in the series that genuinely look like someone just used paint.net to draw the characters. The eyes are off-center, the movement is incredibly wanky and the whole thing looks just...really bad. The worst part about that is that those underwhelming episodes are sprinkled in in an absolutely random order and really take you out of the experience from one episode to another. There had to have been some budgetary problems that explain this inconsistency and it´s a shame because this show really had the potential to outdo some of the mecha that come out today with it´s animation quality at it´s peak.

Sound – 10/10

This is review #78 and for the first time ever, a show reached the highest possible rating in this category. This is by far the best anime soundtrack that I have ever witnessed. The use of pop-music goes together so well with the space opera setting, it´s criminal: Every single vocal track sung by our female lead Lynn Minmay is an absolute banger. The tracks cover pretty much every emotion, they can be funny, loving and light-hearted but also slow and sombre. “My boyfriend is a pilot”, “Zero-G love” or my personal favourite “Silver Moon, Red Moon” have been on repeat on my headphones for a veeery long time now. But even outside of the performances, the BGM itself is also fantastic. The Zentradi theme is an absolute banger, and the different tunes that play during the fight-scenes get stuck in your head really fast. Of course, we also have to talk about the insanely catchy 80s style opening, which I never skipped. This show really outdid this category and has my personal favourite anime soundtrack of all time.

Characters – 8/10

The show mostly centres around our main love triangle. Hikaru, our male lead, is a very likeable and honest protagonist. He is a bit on the dumber side though, so if you can´t watch someone being an absolute idiot in front of women, then maybe Hikaru won´t win you over. Our two female leads are a bit more interesting. Lynn Minmay our ditzy, feminine idol is by far the most popular character of the show. Most of her development comes in the last few episodes, and those really push her character to be more than just a cute singer. Our second heroine, Misa Hayase, is the more compelling character in my opinion. She has a much more grounded character arc, which is a nice change of pace from the grand nature of the shows main story. The love triangle itself however gets resolved in a very...interesting way (no spoilers here).
Other than that, we have some great memorable side characters too. On the Zentradi side, Britai and Exsedol are the standouts. On the S.D.F Macross itself, both captain Global and Max were among my favourites.

Enjoyment – 8/10

This was a very consistently enjoyable show. The love triangle is great and the main story holds everything together and keeps you coming back again and again. The pacing is very slow though and the animation incredibly inconsistent. If you are not a fan of these kind of old-school shows, this won´t change your mind. But if you like stuff like “Gunbuster” or “Mobile Suit Gundam”, definitely give this show a watch!

- Marco_Yooo

FINAL SCORE - 8/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Aug 28, 2024

Prashantttt

Not Recommended

First Let's give it a correct -
Title ( Macross - A Total Disaster with a Cringe Story, Lame Romance, and Useless Characters)

Basically 90% of the 90s romance anime are xhit and macross is one of them ... If you’re looking for an anime that’s a complete waste of time, “Macross” is perfect for it . I thought I was going to watch a mecha show with some romance but what I got a boring, confusing story, a love triangle that makes you want to roll your eyes, and characters that are so irritating you’ll want to throw your TV out the ... window. Let’s break down all the ways this anime fails horribly.

About story ( a mess)

(Macross) tries to mix space battles, alien invasions, and love drama, but it just doesn’t work. It feels like the writers had no idea what they were doing and threw in every idea they could think of. One moment we’re in a space fight, the next, we’re dealing with a stupid love triangle. And none of it is interesting! The plot is repeating and boring, and just when you think something might happen, it drags you into another dull scene. You will start enjoying some serious fighting scenes but suddenly a romance nonsense scene will puked it up because bitxh called (minmay) main fMC of the show is ready to play with MC's feelings , and Mc has no idea what he wants .There’s no clear direction, no real excitement, and no reason to care about anything that’s going on.

The painful annoying romance

The romance in “Macross” is just awful. We have a ridiculous love triangle that makes absolutely no sense. **Lynn Minmay** is supposed to be this sweet girl, but honestly, she’s just a selfish brat who keeps playing with the main character’s feelings. At the start, she chooses Lynn Kaifun, a movie actor, because he could make her famous. She’s always looking out for herself, jumping from one guy to another based on who can help her the most. She’s only with Kaifun because he’s a big star and can boost her singing career. But when things don’t go her way and Kaifun’s fame starts to fade, she loses interest.

Animation ( Art style)

Ya , it’s an old show from the 1980s, so we can ignore that thing but the art style is still pretty bad. The character designs are inconsistent, with their faces constantly changing shape and turning ugly at times. One moment a character looks ok , but suddenly their faces changes and turned into ugly faces ,but it's ok it's a 1980s show



CHARACTERS

Hikaru, the Main Character ( a confused with no self respect guy)

Then there’s Hikaru, the main character. In the beginning of the show I thought he will show us his true potential and lead the story alone, which will make him a worthy guy but buy He’s constantly getting dragged around by Minmay’s stupid games, and he never stands up for himself. He’s always cry about how hard things are for him, but he never does anything to change his situation. He just lets Minmay play with his feelings, and then he wonders why he’s so unhappy.
Writer never gave him a chance to stand for himself, he went from an ordinary guy to the captain of the team. For what ? For crying over a bitc.h , who is making his life worse , for what so that you will repeat the same thing again and again and will never learn lesson from your past.


Misa Hayase (Boring and Lifeless)

And let’s not forget Misa Hayase. She’s supposed to be this strong, serious officer, but she’s just boring. She’s got no personality, no interesting traits, and she’s just there to make the love triangle even more unbearable. She acts tough, but really, she’s just as clueless as the rest of them. She is chasing our MC hikaru because her boi- friend died in war , but chasing a guy who has no interest in her , till the end ..

Minmay The Annoying Diva ( the worst thing about the show)

Minmay is the worst of all. She’s not just selfish, she’s annoying too. ( The gold digger of the show) In the beginning of the show she chose Lynn Kaifun when he can made her successful at the beginning of the story.
remember her boyfriend is a movie actor at the beginning story.
then she chose the MC when the MC was successfully had the rank of commander, at this time her boyfriend not famous male actor anymore and poor. and in the beginning mc was just an ordinary guy.

She doesn’t care about anyone but herself. Even when things are serious, all she cares about is her stupid singing career. Original singers got wasted over this type of characters .
She is ready to show her love side with Hikaru, making him think she likes him, but then she ignores him whenever it’s convenient for her. She’s not in love with Hikaru; she’s in love with what he can do for her. She plays with his emotions like it’s a game, not is not only the worst character but the worst thing about this show .

Final Thoughts

"Macross"is a waste of time. The story is confusing and boring, the romance is cringe-worthy and annoying, and the characters are so bad that you won’t care what happens to them. "Macross" is a disaster from start to finish.. and thanks to that D grade romance zhit. Recommending it to someone is same as a crime.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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