| Spoilers for all of sdf macross and mild spoilers for Mobile Suit Gundam 0079's end game as it relates to the content posted: "Culture connects"; the thematic saying at the masterpiece television anime SDF Macross from 1982. This show comes as a fairly face value response to Kidou Senshi Gundam (Sunrise 1979), which explored the way people would tend towards conflict even as communication evolves. It was not a coincidence that Newtypes Char and Amuro were pitted against each other on opposite sides of a muddy, messy conflict, which plays into Tomino's vision communicated through the show. Macross has a different answer, with the Zentraddi being a race of aliens which has totally oppressed any form of art and culture from its ranks. The Zentraddi know only war. Still a thematic core cannot stand on its own. Consider that the Zentraddi represent Ishiguro's vision of the central conflict of Gundam's grimdark climate of terrifying and unyielding war. They bear down on the unsuspecting humanities of earth with total force and total prejudice, and only for the single crime of activating a grand spaceship they have no real understanding of. The ship itself has been of great benefit to the technological standing of the humanity of Macross's setting, made clear in the dialogue of the first episode. Space travel is suddenly a reality, and yet there are whispers throughout the early parts of the show that conflict still exists on earth. Technology, then, is not the sole answer to transcending conflict and the Zentraddi serve as the prime example of this, with their fleet of battle cruisers and sophisticated weapons of war. The Zentraddi have gone so far as to weaponize biology too, willingly pushing the gianting of its people to make them more effective and more resilient combatants. Humanity stands no chance against the technological power of the Zentraddi and are pushed nearly to the brink, saved only by the sudden escape of the Macross itself, and the Zetraddi's fear of the craft that brought their attention in the first place. The crew of the Macross is in and of itself differentiated from the humanity of earth. We see throughout the show that Earth's unified response to the Zentradi is combat to meet combat. This strategy gains them no ground and no apparent victories, and the Macross initially follows suit, meeting their pursuers with the force of the Macross's armaments. They are only able to hold off the scout force on their tale to the barest of margins, and those margins are often only secured due to the zentraddi's hope to capture the macross largely unharmed. Yet, the macross is able to survive and return to earth, and the key lies in their promotion of the arts and culture. Lynn Minmay is an accident. She's promoted to idol status only through the desire to restore normalcy to the civilians trapped in the belly of the Macross warship. They cant bear to live under constant threat of war and destruction without some semblance of humanity, and thus they quickly rebuild their society within the Macross. A mock city to serve the emotional and physical needs of the civilians aboard the ship. The Miss Macross contest is a part of this quest for humanity, the familiar; the distraction which the inhabitants of the Macross crave. Culture on the Macross evolves naturally, and yet the beauty of Minmay's existence is that anyone could have been her. She's not special or some kind of chosen one. The Miss Macross contest makes the clear by highlighting the presence of a known star who was poised to win the contest. Thus in contrast, it is clear that Minmay being a normal person with no prior expectations is the point central to her place in the show. Minmay's performances serve as a source of inspiration for the pilots and military crew of the Macross, giving them the place of thematic high ground. A giant laser beam certainly helps, and yet, with only one shot per encounter afforded the Macross, the survival of this experiment in humanity survives through the existence of art. This is made even more clear as the Zentraddi pick up, unsuspectedly, the broadcast of one of Minmay's performances through a spy ship sent to gather military communication. A quest to find the secret ingredient to the Macross's battle prowess brings knowledge of the Arts to the Zentradi and they set out to investigate. This single decision is the single most important turning point of the show, and the beating heart of SDF's thematic brilliance. We learn towards the end of the show that the Zentraddi are of the same origin as humanity, and with culture being the main difference between the two factions, we slowly see the Zentradi spies become infatuated by what they dont have. Culture and the arts inspire strange feelings the spies can't bring themselves to ignore. They slowly realize the value and benefit of such forms of communication. They bring that experience back and share it with their fellow battle zealots, and this culminates in a mutiny. The soldiers find that, they don't want to eradicate this mysterious source of emotion, and even as the Macross stands at the precipice of defeat, the Zentradi surrender to protect the first thing they've ever found a love for beyond their own life. Culture saves the Zentradi and it saves the Macross. The single most powerful image of this landmark moment is simply a battered minmay doll. Cheap Merchandise. Mass manufactured childrens' toys. The Zentradi spies are not the only ones who find something special amidst the culture surrounding the Macross. Milia finds a love for Max in the local arcade, and their marriage stands as one of the most relatable and heartwarming moments in the show. Even so, The Macross, despite having successfully survived the onslaught of the Zentraddi with the power of culture on their side, is rejected by the Earth government, committed to its pursuit of military might. They effectively banish the Macross from the earth, and when the full might of the Zentradi bear down on Earth, all of their efforts to destruction are squashed in one of the most fearsome obliteration scenes put to animation. The earth's rejection of culture finds them only crushing defeat in the face of such overwhelming power. The Macross is able to stand against the darkness of war hand in hand with the converted Zentraddi scout force. They fight for freedom together and together they find a solemn victory over the destroyed earth. Perhaps things for the Earth could have been better if the Earth had accepted the solution offered by the Macross. Finally, a word on Hikaru and Hayase, and more broadly on the rest of the crew. Hikaru is a blank slate, torn between a life dedicated to combat and the idol Minmay. Its made clear that he has feelings for Minmay, and yet he chooses Hayase in the end. The brilliance of this moment lies in Hayase's character, an representation of the ideals of loss and love, of romanticism. She herself is the symbol of the show at large, working tirelessly to bridge the gap between the Earth and the Macross. She isn't an ideal to be thrust onto a stage, like Minmay; and she doesnt lust after combat like Focker does for much of the show (though he does have his own relevance to the theme with his relationship with Claudia, left outside the viewer's gaze until its too late.) No, Hayase is much more grounded to the reality of the conflict, similar to Captain Global, though without his subservience to the Earth Federation at large, not to suggest he doesn't forge his own path when banished. Hayase is the reality grounding SDF Macross to something relatable, and Hikaru's choice signifies the show's vision of its own theme. Culture isnt going to perfectly bridge all gaps, and it's not going to solve all conflict merely by existing. Art is, however, the right choice. It's a universal language for us to strive towards in coming together, and increase our understanding of each other. |
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| I think the review/analysis by @mathemagician is great as it points out how this story was a commentary on many very serious social/cultural issues. This was unusual for similar types of series in the US at that time. Topics like war, death, loss, and the like which were kept out of "cartoons" back in the 70s and 80s, or were only touched on lightly if at all. SDF Macross/Robotech was just very different from animated TV series aimed at the under 16 market which is one big reason why it stood out. Even with SDF Macross they had to edit out scenes which were "inappropriate" for daytime American TV. SDF Macross aired in the afternoon block along with much tamer series like Voltron and He-Man. From a social/cultural perspective, "Star Blazers (SBS Yamato)" in 1979 and then "Robotech" in 1982 were very unique and helped kids like me realize that anime was much more than a bunch of children's cartoons made in Japan. Before joining this site, I had only come across one other person who had seen SDF Macross when it aired on TV in 1982-83 like I did. It came on about 10min after school ended, so I'd rush home every day to make sure I didn't miss a second of it (programming VCR's wasnt't very reliable yet). It's not like we had social media, the WWW, or anything like that back in the day. I pretty much found anime on my own. Until the 2000s I had only met 2 people who had even heard of it. That all changed in the late 90s, especially after "Akira" came out and stirred up a lot of interest in the USA. So, the whole Robotech/Macross epic had a huge influence on my becoming an Anime fan. I don't care about the whole controversy and such with Harmony Gold, etc. I don't like the comparisons with Gundam or anything else. I've watched it all, including the original non-Americanized versions, and have enjoyed the heck out of most if it (Macross 7 not so much). I hope the media I've seen about a new series coming out produces even more great mecha anime. |
CinescentApr 3, 2023 6:37 PM
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