New 'Macross' TV Series Announced

by tsubasalover
Mar 26, 2014 7:52 AM | 122 Comments

According to the rebroadcast of Macross Frontier on Tokyo MX, a new Macross TV series has been announced. More information will be given at a later time. Macross Frontier was the third TV anime in the Macross franchise and originally aired in Spring 2008.

Teaser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq6O4cjlLP8

Source: Screenshot

Macross Delta on MAL

20 of 122 Comments Recent Comments

Can't wait, SDF Macross is one of my favorite anime. I'm looking forward to the music more than anything else. The final scene in 'Do You Remember Love' still sends shivers down my spine.

Apr 1, 2014 5:34 PM by Eri-chi

bzeisman said:
didnt macross 7 count as one of the 3 seasons?

Yes, the first was the original Macross and then Macross 7 with the third and latest being Frontier.

I am so excited. Robotech was my gateway anime drug. And then Macross made me an anime addict. I couldn't wait to watch Robotech when I was a kid. Hopefully we get at least a couple cameos from characters from the original. Maybe what the fate of the Megaroad 01 was. Might be dreaming, but if I am please don't wake me. Really though give me the basic ingredients to any good Macross show and I will be content.

Apr 1, 2014 11:21 AM by dobbs

didnt macross 7 count as one of the 3 seasons?

Apr 1, 2014 7:17 AM by bzeisman

Just started on the original series and am half-way through. Essential watching for anyone who wants to look at the historical development of anime, and it holds up pretty well... I'm totally up for a new series.

Mar 31, 2014 5:04 PM by rodac

ooo I remember watching the 2008 Macross Frontier TV series. Don't remember much but some of the songs really bring back some memories. Will definitely watch.

<3

Seikan Hikou by Ranka
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BZXrLrz_b8

jazz version lol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=351cD3wZuUc

Mar 31, 2014 2:26 PM by zzzeally

Sanjur0 said:
Not really, Gundam has always had the edge popularity wise.

scytheavatar said:

Has Macross ever been as big a franchise as Gundam? AFAIK the first Macross is highly influential and well received, but not to the degree of Gundam 0079. Macross 7 wasn't that well received whilel Macross Frontier was a huge hit but not on the level of Gundam Seed.

Gundam's original run had shit ratings and was actually cancelled / cut short. Macross' original run had unexpectedly high ratings and got extra episodes added. So, in their original run, yes Macross outperformed Gundam.

Gundam only became popular once they started merchandizing the toy lines, whereas Macross' popularity as a series was what create the demand for Valkyrie models. In Macross, the series drove toy sales, but in Gundam, toy sales drove the series.

The original Gundam 79's plot rambles all over the place from fighting one villain to the next with increasingly silly enemy mecha, without much noticeable direction, whereas in SDF Macross, the plot development was carefully thought out from the start to the final battle in episode 27 (the last 9 episodes being an additional arc not originally planned). I dread to think how many more drawn-out filler arcs they would have crammed into Gundam '79 like they planned to.

Also, what year did Gundam hit the USA? It was only after Gundam Wing that they started dubbing and releasing the earlier Gundams. Gundam 0079 finally hit the USA in 2001, 15 years after Macross was already well-known.

the English adaptation Robotech was redubbed and aired in dozens of countries across the world, Gundam did not. Gundam may have the edge in Japan, but that's entire due to quantity, not quality. If you keep pumping shit out every year, you stay in peoples consciousness.

but Macross is iconic everywhere else. It's Macross that the Battletech mecha and others are all based on, there were RPG games published for the Macross-based Robotech, but none for Gundam. Worldwide, mecha are more widely associated with Kawamori's designs than Gundam. It's Kawamori who designed most of the original Transformers as well.

Mar 31, 2014 2:08 PM by cipheron

Hahalollawl said:
Oh wow this is awesome news.

rederoin said:
Once again, the gods answered my prayers. My Favourite mecha series getting its 4th tv series.

Sateligth is on a roll. Symphogear(and its 3rd season announcement), Log Horizon, Nobunaga the fool, M3 and now a new macross series.

I wonder though, can Satelight handle this many shows at once? I hope they don't cut corners because they have too much to work on. It seems like the anime industry in general isn't so great at time management (or they just don't give themselves enough time perhaps).

They're not making all of these at once.

M3 starts in late April
- No dates for Symphogear yet
Log Horizon in October
Nobunaga finishing in June
- no dates for the new Macross. Probably 2015.

Kaioshin_Sama said:

JizzyHitler said:
hopefully its not offensively bad like nobunaga the fool was, hell i hope its not even like frontier where the side characters were amazing but the main 3 were unlikable as hell

I liked Ranka and Sheryl well enough by the end though it took a long time for them to grow on me and I found Alto about as dull as Hikaru in the original at times. What really irked me though was the two characters waifu fans going berserk across the internet (particularly Sheryl supporters) and at each others throats flaming and ranting and what not. It was pretty much insufferable and ruined any enjoyment that could have been had out of discussing Frontier. I don't know why people feel the need to do that, but hopefully it doesn't happen again.

Wow, I remember those arguments. Some Sheryl fans on animesuki's forum really pissed me off because they would basically rewrite the entire plot of the show and contradict what we see and hear to badmouth Ranka, and uplight Sheryl. one of them wrote a lengthy essay which completely distorted the canon to blame any and all problems on Ranka, using hypothetical thoughts and off-screen stuff, whilst also outright contradicting things actually said by the characters in the show, including the villain's "big reveal" scenes.

Sure, supporting one character or another in a romance aspect is fine, but don't completely throw out any reasonable explanation of the plot and science fiction elements to accommodate the shipping. It kinda made me feel like becoming a Ranka fan, because the Sheryl fans were so rabid and caustic. It was like talking to some sort of brainwashed cultists.

And you're right, that thing did really ruin the fun of discussing the show, when a large proportion of the fanbase feel the need to contradict virtually the entire plot of the show and any reasonable inference of the creator's intentions, to fit some personal shipping fantasy. I haven't seen that behaviour since then in any other show. What is it about that particular show that made so many people so goddamn unreasonable?

Mar 31, 2014 1:17 PM by cipheron

GuiltyKing said:
Macross experts out there, does one need to watch all the shows in order to fully enjoy this one or is watching the 2008 one sufficient?

They're all standalone in story. But you get "value adding" by having seen the other installments.

Nope said:

GuiltyKing said:
Macross experts out there, does one need to watch all the shows in order to fully enjoy this one or is watching the 2008 one sufficient?

I think to get the full enjoyment yes. it's in the same universe, and I heard Macross Frontier calls back to the original series.

Frontier has shout-outs to all the other Macross's equally, SDF, 7, Zero, and Plus. Pretty much watching all those other Macross's improves Frontiers value.

Though there will never be a "Macross II" shoutout. Ever. It's the "Star Wars: Holiday Special" of Macross, and did not involve any of the original creators. It's dubbed though, and actually fits better if you pretend it's a Robotech sequel than Macross. Still vastly better than the American Robotech sequels.

@Nope: Macross Frontier calls back to the original, but also Seven a lot and a little bit of Zero like with the movie they were filming being based off of the story from that OVA series. It didn't really make a lot of reference to Plus though that I can recall, but I'd still say for people to watch it anyway since it's really good if not the best entry in the franchise. Actually Plus I would say is the one that could probably most be watched as a standalone.

There are enough nods towards "Plus" in Frontier. The main ones I can think of are (very minor spoilers but not really):

Mar 31, 2014 1:12 PM by cipheron

skudoops said:

elkensteyin said:
Think about it from the other way around. Yes, Gundam is much bigger than Macross will ever get. However, without Macross, Gundam would most likely never have been as big as it is. I was around when Robotech was in syndication in the US, and it was like lightning striking, incredibly popular. However, when it was over, there was a major desire for more tech/mecha anime. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything in the Macross/Robotech pipeline outside of the DYRL movie. Enter Gundam - it filled the need that the mecha fans wanted, and has been skyrocketing ever since.

So yes, Gundam is much bigger and a bit more popular than Macross, but it owes a big thanks to Macross for paving the way.

While that is true I don't think Gundam would have had any problems becoming bigger than macross in the US. I mean even today many people were introduced to mecha and the franchise through the spins offs like wing and 00, it would have merely been a matter of time before it below up.

Never said it wouldn't have. Just saying that it was likely a lot easier for Gundam, since it hit a very ready market.

Mar 31, 2014 10:30 AM by elkensteyin

elkensteyin said:

scytheavatar said:
Has Macross ever been as big a franchise as Gundam? AFAIK the first Macross is highly influential and well received, but not to the degree of Gundam 0079. Macross 7 wasn't that well received whilel Macross Frontier was a huge hit but not on the level of Gundam Seed.

Think about it from the other way around. Yes, Gundam is much bigger than Macross will ever get. However, without Macross, Gundam would most likely never have been as big as it is. I was around when Robotech was in syndication in the US, and it was like lightning striking, incredibly popular. However, when it was over, there was a major desire for more tech/mecha anime. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything in the Macross/Robotech pipeline outside of the DYRL movie. Enter Gundam - it filled the need that the mecha fans wanted, and has been skyrocketing ever since.

So yes, Gundam is much bigger and a bit more popular than Macross, but it owes a big thanks to Macross for paving the way.

Mar 31, 2014 10:25 AM by GD1551

scytheavatar said:
Has Macross ever been as big a franchise as Gundam? AFAIK the first Macross is highly influential and well received, but not to the degree of Gundam 0079. Macross 7 wasn't that well received whilel Macross Frontier was a huge hit but not on the level of Gundam Seed.

Mar 31, 2014 10:08 AM by elkensteyin

My pipe-dream is that the new series can be as good at Plus, but I highly doubt it. There'll be lots of eye candy, but storyline could be anywhere. Unless it's a remake, which I'd be somewhat ambivalent about - would physically look nice, but the original would be diminished.

As for licensing, it's been a problem since Shadow Chronicles, and it doesn't look to improve anytime soon, especially with the passing of my old friend, Carl Macek.

Mar 31, 2014 9:37 AM by elkensteyin

scytheavatar said:

Ckan said:

Casval said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq6O4cjlLP8

Teaser

All dem idols.

Am I the only one a little amused at how few installments Macross has in comparison to Big-brother Gundam? We really don't have many super-mecha franchises.

Has Macross ever been as big a franchise as Gundam? AFAIK the first Macross is highly influential and well received, but not to the degree of Gundam 0079. Macross 7 wasn't that well received whilel Macross Frontier was a huge hit but not on the level of Gundam Seed.

It's the 2nd most successful Mech show in Japan, Gundam is obviously the first.

Mar 28, 2014 12:19 PM by RX-782

this macroos serie is like gundam they are immortal.

Mar 28, 2014 10:59 AM by Mr_Gutts

Not really, Gundam has always had the edge popularity wise.

Mar 28, 2014 8:58 AM by Sanjur0

Ckan said:

Casval said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq6O4cjlLP8

Teaser

All dem idols.

Am I the only one a little amused at how few installments Macross has in comparison to Big-brother Gundam? We really don't have many super-mecha franchises.

Mar 28, 2014 4:58 AM by scytheavatar

rederoin said:

Ckan said:

Nope said:
Did Kawamori create all the Macross installments though? If so then I think he's created more installments in Macross than what Tomino did in Gundam.

So far as I remember, he's had a hand in every Macross installment, but some of those credits may have been limited to mechanical design.

I believe he's only had a major hand in the writing or directing of 7 and Frontier as far as TV macross goes, so that's 2/3.

Actually, going by his wiki page, he was involved in all of the macross projects. Except for Macross II.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawamori

I think the reason so many of his projects are set in unrelated to macross, is because he wants them to be a different universe, with different rules, than the macross series? Something like Nobunaga the fool(which is an amazing series) or Basqaush isen't really something that would fit in the macross universe.

He's the executive director at Sateligth, so I think he does have a lot of freedom So I don't think he's being forced to keep some of his idea's outside of the macross series.

I remember Kawamori as being responsible for the iconic VF-design in SDF Macross, but I'm not too sure what "Original Series Concept Creator, Production Supervisor" entail. Goes to show how little I know about Macross.

On the unrelated projects, I think so much as he gets a lot of freedom, I suppose there just isn't the same level of demand when comparing Macross to Gundam.

@Nope, even if Kawamori's got more credits for Macross, he can't quite trump Tomino's Gundam episode count.

Mar 27, 2014 4:35 PM by Ckan

Ckan said:

Nope said:
Did Kawamori create all the Macross installments though? If so then I think he's created more installments in Macross than what Tomino did in Gundam.

Mar 27, 2014 4:18 PM by rederoin

Nope said:
Did Kawamori create all the Macross installments though? If so then I think he's created more installments in Macross than what Tomino did in Gundam.

He wrote Plus, 7 and Zero. Heavily involved in the creation of all of them except Macross II which isn't considered part of the franchise by most.

Mar 27, 2014 4:13 PM by Sanjur0

Nope said:
Did Kawamori create all the Macross installments though? If so then I think he's created more installments in Macross than what Tomino did in Gundam.

Mar 27, 2014 3:46 PM by Ckan

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