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12 reviews in total

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14 out of 16 people found the following review useful:
Super Dimension Fortress Macross: An all-time classic, 5 June 2002
Author: elp_gr from Greece

Macross... The original.

Originally intended to be just a parody of Gundam, it evolved into becoming an entity of its own, with a compelling storyline and a deeply anti-war message.

Genre-defining character designs by Haruhiko Mikimoto, excellent space craft and mecha designs by Shoji Kawamori and Kazutaka Miyatake and great directing work by Noboru Ishiguro were the first part of Macross' enormous success. Shoji Kawamori's VF-1 Valkyrie is one of the most easily identified anime mecha ever and for good reason: I've yet to see one that can match its sleek, yet strong and purposeful lines. It looks like it's ready to take off and go on a war, whereas other mecha often look like gimmicks.

The characters seemed to actually live and breathe, developing their personalities through the ordeal of their perversely unequal war against the Zentradi, the loss of friends, loved ones, the senseless suffering and carnage that war is, their change of heart over time...

And all this enhanced by the very fine voice acting of Arihiro Hase, Mari Iijima, Mika Doi, Akira Kamiya, Michio Hazama, Noriko Ohara and other distinguished Japanese voice actors and actresses, who conveyed the dialogue in a manner forceful, economical, emotionally wealthy and mature.

Add to this Mari Iijima's excellent voice and performance on each and every one of Lynn Minmay's songs - even the songs seem to evolve as Minmay grows: from the childish and girlie-love pop of "Zero-G Love" and "Watashi No Kare Wa Pairotto" ("My Boyfriend Is A Pilot") to the beautiful, softly-sung and emotionally overwhelming anti-war "Ai Wa Nagareru" ("Love Drifts Away"), which was performed during the Macross' battle against Gorg Bodolzaa's armada, the equally powerful elegy "My Beautiful Place" or the series' last song, "Yasashisa Sayonara" (Farewell Tenderness"). And the rest of Macross' soundtrack is a wonderful merger of a symphonic orchestra with rock, jazz and even blues influences.

Macross is a sad story; it is not quite an epic, although it features battle after battle. It's an anti-war story - it brings forth a message to everyone, a message stating that the works of peace and culture are immensely superior to the cruel barbarity of war.

Sadly, in the haste to produce the episodes fast enough, a number of episodes was farmed out to a Korean studio named Anime Friend, whose work was sub-par and introduced a fair number of animation errors. Despite this, Macross still is a shining gem and deservedly enjoys a strong following in Japan and internationally, even now, 20 years on.

Unfortunately for the Western world, in 1985, an American company named Harmony Gold and someone named Carl Macek combined Macross with two other anime series (Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross and Genesis Pit Climber M.O.S.P.E.A.D.A.), dumbing down the dialogues, to which they added even more (to the point where you wondered if the characters ever stop talking), replacing the meticulous use of silence with excessive narration with someone who sounds like a sportscaster on steroids, the cohesive storyline with a mangled patchwork, the artful voice acting with over-the-top "performances" by third-rate "actors", the lovely soundtrack with generic synth stuff, Mari Iijima's wonderful songs with outrageous "creations" "performed" by the Reba West (Rebecca Forstadt), who is more annoying than a car alarm. The worst display of Harmony Gold's inability to comprehend ANYTHING that Macross stands for is the replacement of "Ai Wa Nagareru" with the jingoistic attempt at anthem-writing titled "We Will Win".

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10 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
Perhaps the best of the space opera anime genre., 2 January 2008

Author: GrandpaBunche from United States

In the year 1999 a city-sized extraterrestrial battle cruiser crash lands on Earth, and over the next decade scientists and engineers repair its damage and refit it into a hybrid of human and alien technologies. What the Earth-folks don't realize is that the ship has been tailed by an entire armada of heavily armed space battle cruisers who seek to claim the ship and its secrets for themselves. The aliens, called Zentraedi, are a formidable race of giants who have been bred for warfare, but as they approach their presence triggers a booby trap on the downed space-fortress — called the Macross — that plows through them with a devastating energy weapon. Thinking the Earth fired upon them intentionally, the Zentraedi retaliate, thereby launching Space War I. Realizing that it would probably be a good idea to move the conflict off of the Earth (which has just gotten over a long on-planet war), the captain of the Macross orders the use of the ship's untested "fold" system to warp the ship to the dark side of the moon; the warp is initiated, but it brings the small city that had grown around the Macross with it, plus, to the horror of all involved, they find themselves just outside orbit near Pluto (that's what you get for messing around with technology that you don't know how to operate!). And as if that isn't bad enough, the fold system has completely vanished, leaving the ship's crew and the now-rescued inhabitants of the city no alternative but to make their way back home using only conventional engines. And as the Macross crawls back to the Earth, the enemy fleet is not far behind...

That's the basic setup, but what makes Macross stand out from the plethora of alien invasion space operas that came before it — most notably the classic Space Battleship Yamato (1974) — is its focus on the human element of its story, becoming in essence a soap opera in sci-fi drag. Nearly every character is in some way flawed, and despite the military experience held by many of them, that experience frequently proves moot in the face of deep space combat and technologies that they simply do not comprehend. The ostensible hero, sixteen-year-old stunt pilot Hikaru Ichijo, comes of age during the course of the narrative and we follow him through every awkward step, tracing his evolution from prodigy civilian airman to ace space-fighter, as well as seeing him swallow his reluctance to kill once he joins the United Nations Space Navy (annoyingly dubbed the "UN Spacy" for short). Hikaru's also at the center of a love triangle that sees his emotions split between a cute Chinese girl who ends up going from waitress to pop idol overnight, and his by-the-book career military commanding officer; this triangle is milked for all it's worth and is the primary reason that the series proved so popular with female viewers, along with the romantic trials and tribulations of the rest of the voluminous cast.

Another thing that sets the series apart from the cliché template is the pan-cultural scope of the cast. The hero may be Japanese, but the rest of the characters run the ethnic gamut, the bridge crew alone being comprised of a couple of Russians, an American or two, an Italian, and a black chick. This was very refreshing at the time, with the then-most-contemporary multi-cultural cast of characters being found in the various incarnations of Cyborg 009, but each member of that international team was drawn in the most broad of ethnic stereotypes. Not so with Macross, which didn't make a big deal ou t of the characters' ethnicities and saw only the Chinese character standing out because of her frequently-worn Hong Kong-style dresses and hairstyles.

And while the show certainly has a contingent of fans who revere it for its space battles and transforming mecha, I have to say that I love it most for starting things off on a footing that allows the viewer to think they know exactly where the story's going to go and then consistently pulling the rug out from under them. The love triangle plays out in a way that sees all three participants change and grow, the B-characters go through some serious drama involving the tragic casualties of war and the possibilities that can blossom between even the most bitter of enemy rivalries (let's hear it for Max and Millia!!!), and even the enemy aliens prove to be far more than just stock evil world-conquerers when their strange and ancient history proves that there really is something to the universal nature of basic "humanity."

Super Dimension Fortress Macross is easily the most well-crafted and intelligent of the space operas from the 1980's, both in terms of narrative and visual impact, and totally raised the bar on how such material can and should be handled. In fact, the only serialized alien invasion show to come along since that even comes close is Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995), a series that wears its Macross influence on its sleeve but somehow comes up a lot less satisfying. If you can get your hands on the Animeigo boxed sets of the original uncut and subtitled Macross series — avoid the sequels and the not bad Americanized version, Robotech — do yourself the favor and check them out, starting with episode number one because the whole thing's one long story told in thirty-six chapters. Even if you're not an anime fan I urge you to give this stuff a chance. Space operas seldom get any better than this, and Super Dimension Fortress Macross sure as hell beats the three recent Star Wars atrocities.

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4 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
kyun kyun! kyun kyun! My boyfriend's a pilot!, 5 April 1999
Author: Koishikawa Miki (ryouga@publicnet.net) from Alexandria, Virginia

I credit SuperDimensional Fortress Macross for emotionally scarring me as a small child. Say what you will about the horrible edit of the evil Carl Macek when he made Robotech, but he did one thing correctly: He left the greatest sequence of any show or movie ever almost entirely intact.

Yes, I am referring to the infamous scene where, having chased the Macross across the system and played a cat and mouse game with it for over a year, Zentraedi Supreme Commander BoDolza gets sick of it and simply destroys the planet Earth. The bombardment was one of the most traumatic things I ever experienced as a child (I was about seven when I saw it) and when I was roughly 17 or so, the only thing I remembered about Macross was that scene. I went to the mall in search of Robotech tapes, and suddenly became introduced to this thing called Anime.

Thank you, Macross. You and your sequels (the good ones at least..Mac II was horrible..Mac Plus is awesome) will always remain dear to my heart.

Miki

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Macross: a great war story with good music but some cheese, 16 January 2010

Author: MovTV

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I watched the English version of ADV Films translation of this. So parts of it may be different from the Japanese version.

Plot Summary: The story centers around Hikaru, a young air show pilot. He is invited to attend the launching of the Macross, a restored alien space battleship that crashed onto Earth by his friend Roy Focker. But all hell breaks loose when the ship's original systems become active and accidentally fire upon and destroy ships of an alien fleet. War breaks out and Hikaru becomes a military pilot.

The story explores the theme of war and what it means to the characters of the story. As events of the story occur, the characters begin to doubt their views/lifestyles that happened during the war and want to change society/themselves to be happier from it. Most prevalent of this is the love triangle that Hikaru haves with the two main female characters, the military officer Misa Hayase and Chinese-Japanese waitress turned music pop sensation Lynn Minmay. His conflict with his views towards war will ultimately decide which of the women he chooses.

The character designs and mechs are great and beautiful despite the age of the anime. Vocal music of Makoto Fujiwara (opening and ending songs) and Mari Iijima (singer/voice actress of Lynn Minmay) perfectly reflects the tone of story, and it is great to listen to.

However Macross does not come without its problems. The story lays the cheese factor heavily sometimes such as the characters going gaga over the "Power of Song" that either makes you laugh if how a society canonly united/saved through music of one girl (literally!), or drives you crazy with the (Minmay) songs playing over and over again. Producers try to tone down the "Power of Song" theme with the Rebuilding Earth arc of the story and making it less effective to enemies that are constanly exposed to it.

However the producers do nothing to fix the real effect the war causes on the human population. Sure the city inside the Macross, the Earth gets destroyed, and death of some character etc reflects that war isn't great and deadly but everything is made peachy again with everything (environment and characters) nice, clean, happy go lucky and perfect again in the next episode. I know the producers are trying to keep the story upbeat but it gets stupid and repeative how they have to enforce the "happy" factor with a physical environment that would sent most of us (and the characters) to the loony bin.

Overall Macross is a good story. It is worth watching

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Outstanding anime series, one of the best ever...., 28 January 2002
Author: Matt (int1) from San Antonio, TX

This anime series is one of the most outstanding anime series available. As many have said, it was one of the first I saw and it hooked me to anime for life. Now the original Macross series is available uncut on DVD from Animeigo. I recently purchased the limited edition box set and it was amazing! For all you searching for this series, it's now easily available in the U.S.! It's a must.

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Classic!, 17 December 2000
Author: ~Galvatron~

My first Anime. I remember watching the RoboTECH version of this series as a child. Even with the horrible dubbing and scenes cut, at the age of 5 the story-line was addicting. I fell in love with the Valkyrie and commend them for the brilliant design. I remember being angry at Rick for not going after Minmei and choosing Lisa. To this day, I curse the creators of the show for making that happen. But when an television series starts to make you have feelings like that, actually giving a damn about the storyline, that's when you know it's a wonderful series.

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3 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Great Great Show, 30 August 2003
Author: Nattylite from Santa Monica, Santa Monica

What can I say about this fantastic series.

Unlike "Robotech:the Macross Saga" which is good in spite of it's terrible dub, terrible music and overall cheesiness, Super Dimensional Fortress Macross is so perfect in every way (with the exception of the poorly done episodes by animefiend).

A fantastic and sad love story. An epic tale of growing up and moving on.

Buy the animeigo remasters which are brilliantly subtitled. Do NOT get a Hong Kong bootleg- the subtitles are unintelligible.

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3 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
The real thing. Nothing comes close., 3 June 2002
Author: elp_gr from Greece

Still has a strong following and for good reason: The plot, the character descriptions, the mecha, the music, everything was wonderfully done - except for some sub-par episodes done by a Korean studio.

The voice acting was just what you would expect from self-respecting professionals. The storyline is tight and cohesive, while the characters seem to actually grow and mature before the viewer's eyes, seeming like actual personalities rather than just being mediums for the action.

This is definitely an anime everyone must see.

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0 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
The animated TV series to remember (WARNING: mini-spoiler), 4 August 1999
Author: Sharkey360 from Philippines

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I was only 6 years old when I first saw this in 1982, thanks to my friend who brought home a video from Japan. Inside the video was the actual 1st episode of the Macross TV series, which aired October 1982. The first time I saw it, I was hooked to it forever! I remembered seeing the very first Valkyrie (fighter plane)that changed into a Gerwalk (plane with legs and arms) then a Battroid (robot, and the pilot was Hikaru.

Since the first episode, I went on to endure the great emotions, the great cast, and the deepest animated TV story ever! Western folks should know that Macross hit America as Robotech in 1985, and it served as the American's "introduction" to Japanese anime. It was the Macross TV series where Japanese Anime (I made a thesis about this!) evolved to a modernized form, and giant robots changed as well. I also remembered seeing scenes which were banned/edited when Macross hit the US.

You seen any video collection of Macross anywhere (preferably the English-subtitled version, NOT the Harmony Gold English-dubbed Robotech), then go for it! NEVER miss this series!

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1 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Macross; or how to avoid the "Minmay" problem, 13 December 2009

Author: Andy (film-critic) from Bookseller of the Blue Ridge

It has been a long time since an updated review. Here is why. The name of the series, "Super Dimensional Fortress Macross", the year 1982, the unwilling participant - me. Randomly drawn one evening, and eventually finding a copy of this difficult to find complete original series, I first ventured into the first episode nearly a month ago. With nothing under my belt, no knowledge, limited anime experience, I began. It was traumatic, it was intense, it was hated - but eventually, I can successfully say to strangers on the street, I have completed the entire 36-episode original run of "Super Dimensional Fortress Macross". As they run, fear in their eyes, at least I know that this sense of completion is over. Onto more cinema, perhaps more anime, but will my life ever be the same again?

For those unfamiliar with this series, you are not going to get a recap here. The length of this review, and my dedication to the cause will not allow it - but I will leave you with these not-so-random words. Songs. Love Triangle. Roy Focker. Protoculture. Cousin love. Robotech. Death. Rebuilding. Destruction. That get's most of the groundwork out of the way, now a more formal review. "Macross" (to keep it short) is a series well before its time. Despite the ups and downs of the series, the overall sentiment is defining and will continue to propel this series into further cult status. As a non-anime watcher, I was enthralled with the power of the story. The darkened themes, the obvious symbolism to modern culture, and our characters pushed me through each episode. It was emotional and intense as the battle for survival and culture of humanity came into each finely drawn frame. It was visually beautiful, the music was grandiose, and again, the characters did keep your attention - but - "Macross" is not for everyone. I would love to recommend this series to everyone, but the dry, tedious nature of some of the episodes just forbids me to be excited about repeat viewings. Again, "Macross" was, now that it is finally over, a powerful series that will always remain a staple in future anime viewings, but to view this again - one just couldn't enjoy Minmay's annoying attitude, Ichijo's inability to make a decision, and the lemming-ish way this series was filmed. "Macross" transformed 36-episodes into a defined "love-hate" relationship.

After defining what was enjoyed by this series, one needs to prepare themselves for what just doesn't work. We have all driven home after a tough day at work, blaring our favorite song, and allowing the rough edges to fade away - and in "Macross" that idea is developed through Minmay's voice. Alas, it is beaten over our heads, submerged in water endlessly, and flashed into our eyes again and again and again. Confused. Don't worry, just watch "Macross" and you will understand. I will be the first to say, that I hated Lynn Minmay. She was annoying, childish, and forced our favorite characters into situations that were just in place for drama. Don't hate me if I kept hoping for her to be finished off early in the series. The passion between Ichijo and another character was far superior, and more interesting to watch. Minmay's possible love interest with another family member only heightened this hatred. This was followed by the daily destruction of the cities within the Macross and further within the story. It seemed as if every day attacks would ravish the built city, and with an endless supply of resources suddenly they could easily rebuild? It was like watching "Fraggle Rock". Death of citizens and other soldiers that were outside of the story, again, seemed to be in no-short supply. These seemed like larger elements that should have been developed, or at least understood, despite the series released in 1982. For some scenes, it just felt like cheap animation. Finally, in the version that I watched, the ending credits which were done in Ichijo's photo album in live action - it just felt again, further cheapened and not well fit within the series. These are just three obvious issues with this series, while there were smaller problems (the length of 36-episodes felt extremely too long - and lack of character development), these stood out.

Overall, "Super Dimensional Fortress Macross" isn't perfect. I can see the value in the overall story, the power of the symbolism and idea of culture, but there were small issues within the episodes that I couldn't handle. Minmay was the downfall of this series to me. She was annoying and misleading - not the power character everyone has quoted her to be. Yet, despite the negative elements that rage through my mind, there were scenes, episodes, and moments that I just loved. The ending was as big as any summer-blockbuster and remains in my mind as I write my review. The progression of the story was fabulous as well. To see one small ship's discovery on Earth to the eventual decline of everything was impressive. I loved this series for that - and perhaps the slight religious undertones - but (now that I am thinking about it - maybe it is a good thing) there were just parts I hated. I would, against my will, suggest this to die-hard fans of anime. This shows the birth of something big, but just poorly executed. I think I am going to go as Global this year for Halloween - but "Macross" is a chapter in my life I do not want to repeat. Good, just not great.

Grade: *** 1/2 out of *****

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