Macross Zero (2002) (V)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Shôji Kawamori

Writers:

Shôji Kawamori (story)
Hiroshi Ônogi (script)

Release Date:

21 December 2002 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Short | Action | Drama | Sci-Fi | War

Plot Keywords:

Island | Airplane | Creation Story | Alien Technology | Anime

Cast

Kenichi Suzumura	...	Shin Kûdô
Sanae Kobayashi	...	Sara Nome
Yuka Nanri	...	Mao Nome
Akira Kamiya	...	Roy Focker
Naomi Shindô	...	Aries Turner
Sôsuke Komori	...	Edgar LaSalle
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nachi Nozawa	...	Professor Hasford
Tamio Ôki	...	Nutouk
Ryûzaburô Ôtomo	...	D.D. Ivanov
Romi Pak	...	Katie (voice)
Minami Takayama	...	Nora Polyansky

Runtime:

Japan:30 min (5 episodes)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Company:

Big West

Trivia:

On episode 3, when Aries is filming Sara on a lake, the companies Satelight and Tin House (animation companies behind the series) are labeled on her camera.

Movie Connections:

Follows Chôjikû yôsai makurosu furasshubakku 2012 (1987) (V)

Good stuff

After watching Macross Plus, I was very interested in having a look at other anime series bearing the Macross name. Macross Plus is one of my favourite anime series of all time, so I thought it would be hard to top. After discovering Kawamori had made another Macross mini-series, Macross Zero, I was really looking forward to seeing it, and I have to say I wasn't disappointed. At the very least, this mini-series is, for my part, well on par with the Macross Plus series. Both had a very memorable main song that will have you humming it for a good while after watching it.

Parts are funny, parts are heartwarming and parts are incredibly emotional and sad. Oh, and let's not forget the fantastic action sequences. The blend of CG and cel animation was interesting, and one didn't intrude too much on the other's turf. One thing though - I really hate the way that characters don't finish sentences, for example they might say "Is that..." or "That's...." etc. This is a typical anime trait that I'm not fond of, but given all the plus points of the series I am more than willing to overlook this annoyance.

Thoroughly recommended if you are a Macross fan, but if you haven't seen any Macross stuff before you might want to go over the history of the series by looking at the older ones first. That way you will get the most out of this gem of an anime.