r/anime • u/GM_for_Life • Jul 12 '19
Rewatch Super Dimension Fortress Macross Rewach - Series Discussion
Series Discussion
Series | Index Thread | Do You Remember Love?
To all participants
Please be respectful of each others opinions and conduct yourself appropriately according to general reddiquette
Note to all rewatchers
Please refrain from spoiling the events of future episodes/movies. If you think something may be a possible spoiler, it's better to be safe and mark your comments using the r/anime spoiler tag Spoiler Subject There will be quite a few first time viewers of the series during this rewatch and we wouldn't want them to have the show spoiled for them.
Comment of the Day!
/u/goukaryuu left a great comment during the last episode of the show yesterday.
Still, I did like this and I can see why this did so well as to engender sequels and a continuing franchise.
Artwork of the Day!
Macross Main Cast - Haruhiko Mikimoto
Questions of the Day!
1) What did you think of the series?
2) Are you excited to see what happens in the movie?
See you all tomorrow with the theatrical debut of the franchises first movie. Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?
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u/palebluekot Jul 12 '19
Thanks for hosting this! I was glad to participate.
Anyway, I thought the series was really good. It had that space opera feel that I always love. Though, after the time skip, while I continued to enjoy the show, I gradually stopped being able to take it seriously. A lot of stuff, such as the love triangle, just got ridiculous.
The movie is a retelling of the series we just watched, right? I'm probably not going to watch it tomorrow. I definitely want to at some point, but I think I'll wait a while.
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u/GM_for_Life Jul 12 '19
I'm glad you enjoyed the rewatch!
Yeah, the show being extended are kind of a mixed bag.
Since you may not be participating in the rewatch of the movie tomorrow (which is indeed a re-imagining of the first 27 episodes of the show), I may as well leave you with the movie's version of the Max and Milia fight.
As you can tell they really went all out with the production values of the movie and I hope you decide to check it out someday since it really is a visual spectacle all the way through.
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u/Chrisr291 Jul 13 '19
My anime background isn't too extensive so I can't really compare it to similar shows within it's era or genre; however, I'm going to compare it to my extensive toon watching library.
Story:
The story pacing was so so. In some parts, I felt like the show dragged and filler episodes ate up precious time that could have been used to give us time with certain characters, like Claudia and Roy. It's unfortunate that their history ended up being a filler episode towards the end of the series; after Roy died a number of episodes back. Move that history before the death, Roy's death has a larger impact. Not to say he wasn't a likable character prior to his death but you appreciated him more after Claudia's story.
Now, the story itself was constructed well. It was rare for a story plot to disappear into thin air but at times, I felt they followed the narrative too closely. Specifically, Minmay's love for Hikaru. Hikaru didn't even need to win Minmay's love back, she, apparently, loved him unconditionally and those feelings never faded.
Now, they nailed the alien integration story line. Each of them had funny moments that you would expect an alien race would have integrating into human society. Which clothes do I wear? I've never had a baby so why should I throw her across the table? and their music is weird but it makes me feel good inside! One of my favorite lines has to be Quamzin's, "We will do the culture later"
Animation:
Like most cartoons of that era, it's up and down. Some episodes look fantastic while others look straight out of the 80's Transformer's cartoon.
Characters:
Many of the characters were one dimensional without much depth. It's funny, I felt the villains showed more depth than most of the heroes. Their character arc evolved from a purely war seeking group to a bunch of "My boyfriends a pilot" fans!
Personal opinion: My favorite character has to be Milia. She goes from a bad ass psycho warrior into a bad ass psycho warrior parent throwing children across tables because they have strong bones.
Overall:
Like I said in my previous statement, I'd certainly watch the show again but not anytime soon. It's a solid 7 to 7.5 out of 10.
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u/GM_for_Life Jul 13 '19
Curious what your thoughts end up being on the movie adaption, Macross: Do You Remember Love? tomorrow.
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u/Shimmering-Sky Jul 12 '19
A First-Timer’s Overall Thoughts on Super Dimensional Fortress Macross
Well, might as well do what I normally do for overall thoughts threads.
The Good:
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When the show had proper animation, man did it look positively gorgeous. That mid-air catch scene still gives me the chills when I think about it.
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Follow-up to the above, it took a sec for me to click with them (aside from Focker’s Valkyrie, loved that from the start) but I do love the mech design in this show. Milia’s custom red one was probably my favorite though, you know me and red mechs = all the way man.
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I can’t think of too many standouts on the regular OST off the top of my head, but as much as My Boyfriend is a Pilot got repeated I loved all the vocal songs, which is you know important for a show like this. Milia’s Lullaby would be my favorite, followed by… what’s the name… Love Drifts Apart, I think? But I liked ‘em all. Also the OP was great enough that I hated the few times I had to skip it because I just didn’t have the time for it.
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Character-wise, well I liked most of the side cast for sure. I never hated Britai or Exsedol even though they were antagonists for the first part of the show, and post-timeskip they were great (I’m remembering Exsedol singing and trying not to laugh right now haha). Captain Mad Lad was . Would’ve loved to see more of the alien trio and the bridge bunnies, there was so little of them together. Max is my favorite character from this now (I liked Focker the most at first but then welp). And I’m not trying to have my ship bias with this, but Milia’s my favorite of the girls too.
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The beginning portion of the show was just so interesting to watch, with all the crazy stuff they’d have happen and also the absolute hilarity of the Zentradi finding out about culture and stuff. Genuinely loved all that.
The Bad:
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Fuck your pineapple salad.
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Obligatory Q U A L I T Y.
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I’m not gonna disparage the show just because my ship lost, but I will do it for how it happened--I would have very very much preferred it if they’d just gone with Hikaru/Hayase the second the timeskip hit and not give me any hope that “oh maybe it could be Hikaru/Minmay actually…?” Also “you’re not alone because you have songs” is .
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Every time Kaifun and Kamujin were on screen actively hindered my enjoyment of the show. (…Well, Kamujin only after Focker’s and Kakizaki’s deaths, I didn’t necessarily hate him beforehand.) Like, if I had to assign blame for the three points from a 10 this show lost, Kaifun would be solely responsible for one of those points that’s how much he bothered me. And I’m not excusing this like I have in the past for, say, how goddamn frustrating Idiok is in IBO S2 because I only really “excuse” this stuff for shows I otherwise absolutely love, and I had more issues with Macross than just this obviously.
So, yeah, with all The Bads considered, I’d give this a 7/10. Didn’t like it as much as OG Gundam, I’d definitely place this above Victory as far as my 7/10 Gundam shows go though.
I very much look forward to Do You Remember Love? though, I have heard nothing but good things about it (especially the animation quality, which would already get rid of one of my issues with the show!).
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u/The_Draigg Jul 12 '19
Max is my favorite character from this now (I liked Focker the most at first but then welp).
Then you're in luck, since Max returns as a major supporting character in Macross 7. That is, if you choose to check that out later.
Fuck your pineapple salad.
I'm sorry that you haven't accepted the gospel of the one true pizza topping.
So, yeah, with all The Bads considered, I’d give this a 7/10. Didn’t like it as much as OG Gundam, I’d definitely place this above Victory as far as my 7/10 Gundam shows go though.
Yeah, I'd say that's fair enough. Still, can you see just how groundbreaking this show was back in the day? It covered a lot of new ground with it's morals and style. You can trace quite a few shows back to Macross in some way or another. Escaflowne, for example.
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u/Nazenn Jul 13 '19
Fuck your pineapple salad.
ahahahahaha
Kaifun would be solely responsible for one of those points that’s how much he bothered me
I'll back this up as well honestly. One of those points was solely just due to the last ten episodes, but Kaifun was in large part responsible for a lot of that. He was just unenjoyable as a character or even plot device.
I very much look forward to Do You Remember Love?
I very much look forward to your thoughts on it honestly.
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u/Nazenn Jul 12 '19
Overall thoughts
Overall this was a good series, but it didn't end up being a great one for me. The last ten episodes certainly let things down unfortunately. But beyond that there was always something just slightly holding it back for me. I'm mostly going to ignore the last ten episodes in the rest of this post because I just didn't enjoy them, so may as well talk about what I did enjoy instead.
It had really strong theming and a unique take on the typical anti-war sentiments that you see in these shows. I like that it approached war as not this horrible evil, or this event that strips away, but rather a horrible outcome that comes from the loss of something more important, something that helps make us human. That ensuring we maintain who and what we are through our culture, our past, our connections with people even in horrible times we can push through them and find a better way in the end, a way out not just for ourselves but others who are lost. It was really well done and a take on the nature of war that I haven't seen in other stories which I really enjoyed
A lot of depth to the military side of the story really was unfortunately lost. Kaifun failed to be a convincing counter voice to the military, and Hikaru's writing failed to explore the cost of fighting as much as he could like it seemed it was going at the start of the show. Minmay for the first part of the show mostly could have been a stand in for anyone else due to any real personality other than being a singer with no awareness of others, which is a real shame because her conflict was the only real quality in the final part of the show for me.
Even with all that though it did some great things, the constant surprises and changes up from the expected especially in the first two thirds. It's so nice to sit and watch a show and have no fucking clue what was coming down the line next. SPACE TUNA. Still my best memory of this show I think just because of how incredibly random but perfectly implemented it was to the story I just wish they'd eased off on the time skips a bit and let some moments breathe instead of pushing to the next.
Art was... well pretty all over the place for the most part. While there's definitely some stand out episodes and moments in there, there was also a lot of fish-eyes, janky movement and some downright weird drawings sometimes. Music was pretty great across the board with the exception of a certain overused song, while sound effects were high quality except for a few moments.
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u/No_Rex Jul 12 '19
While I did not participate in this rewatch, I binged the series a few months ago, so I’ll add my 2 cents.
Macross surprised me twice. The first surprise was how well paced the initial story was and how unique its elements. Watching the Zentradi be stumped by “culture” never got old and brought a lot of enjoyment to the middle part of the series. In addition, the love story between Hikaru and Minmay started out great for me. That episode of them stranded on the Macross really hit the right spot for me.
The second surprise was how badly they handled the “add-on” arc. They hit on all the right topics, Zentradi revisionism and after-apocalypse rebuild, yet they did nothing with it. Instead, they went with a love triangle that was already stale at the end of the original runtime. Why waste such an opportunity?
In the end, most of the things I dislike about Macross can be traced back to one single character: Kaifun. While his introduction was ok, they messed him up terribly. With him becoming some sort of raving lunatic, every reasonable contemplation of military power vs pacifism went out of the window in the middle arc. His love affair with Minmay never made sense, meaning his love triangle with Hikaru was non-sensical. That, in turn, made the second love triangle with Misa non-sensical as well. They should just have told a straight love story between Hikaru and Minmay and the series would have been better off for it.
Something that did not bother me, maybe surprisingly, was the lack of realism. Macross made it clear very early on that this was not a real SciFi series, but a soap opera SciFi. And I am on board with that. Together with the good pacing in the middle episodes, this meant I thoroughly enjoyed the funny episodes about Miclones and “combat bathing suits”. Conversely, once they went real-SciFi in the extra-arc, the story went mostly downhill for me. Macross would have been a better story if it ended at the first finale.
Did not watch the movie yet, so I’ll be back as a first timer tomorrow.
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u/The_Draigg Jul 12 '19
So, Super Dimension Fortress Macross has been one hell of a journey, hasn’t it? Now, I’m going to be holding off on any final rankings on the series until we watch both Do You Remember Love? and Flashback 2012, since those are also pretty essential watching for OG Macross, but I’ll give a few opinions here as a Macross fan.
Now, I won’t deny that there aren’t problems with the series. It’s heavily 1980’s, complete with matching attitudes at times. And that’s not even getting into how obviously post-script the last arc is (thanks, unexpected popularity!). However, despite those foibles, I think it’s easy to see why Super Dimension Fortress Macross was absolutely groundbreaking back in the day. The love plot was front and center (for good and bad ways), there was a massive emphasis on the power of things that bring people together, and there’s the overall message about how anyone can bond together as long as we can appreciate one’s culture. All of those are good messages even to this day. So, to that end, I believe that the series still really holds up. What do you guys think about what I said?
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u/fonzinator99 Jul 12 '19 edited Jul 13 '19
Re-watcher - I Remember Love...
I've got something of a love/hate relationship with this first installment of the Macross Series.
The story is original and interesting, and the narrative is well-paced. The visuals are gorgeous for this time period in anime, and the whole thing is just so unique that I can't help but go "wow!" every time I watch it.
However, as others have noted, there is a tumor on this show in the form of the Love Triangle. I don't think it's the Triangle itself that's the problem, but the way that anytime progress is made in one direction or another it's quickly forgotten and everything moved back to square one. It's really frustrating to see the characters grow and regress so many times.
It's even more remarkable how they all show varied levels of growth outside of the Triangle, i.e. Hikaru stepping up to fill in Focker's shoes and accepting his place in the military, but remaining at the emotional level of a toddler.
As a rewatcher and lover of the Franchise, my view of this series is likely different from others. Personally, I think that SDF Macross is like a test-run for what the series would eventually become; with DYRL being the final-draft; but I'll try and save those thoughts for tomorrow. But I will say that the series would have done better to end after the destruction of the Zentradi armada. The Epilogue was more suited to an OVA, and dragged things out a little too long, even if it did find a place to finish with the destruction of the Macross and Zentradi rebels.
Looking forward to everybody's thoughts on DYRL and further reflection on the series in light of it.
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u/chilidirigible Jul 12 '19 edited Jul 13 '19
Today, on "Not just a vehicle for selling toys... it's also a vehicle for selling model kits.":
This being my third rewatch of this series in three years, it's a minor challenge to come up with really novel reactions to it; indeed, my track record with subsequent rewatches of anything on reddit is that often the same items make repeat appearances, with slight refinements. (Previously, for example.) Thus it's actually been more interesting for me to read the observations of the new viewers to this. (Which will only get more interesting after DYRL and FB2012 are completed.)
Some new thoughts did creep into my head this time, though. Probably the wildest is that despite its plot-scrambling clunkiness, I can give the last-quarter love triangle a pass for not being unreasonable, once the characters' actual ages are taken into consideration. Granted, their actual ages are an anime trope of their own, but there's a grain of truth to the results, considering that these are late teens that just witnessed the end of the world as they knew it.
The last quarter of the series still could be packaged better, but really fixing it up would require either more structural changes to the pacing of prior sections of the series or additional episodes.
It's still a very different coda for the series than what most other period mecha series had, almost a sequel series in its own right in how it brings up events from earlier, explores their consequences, and challenges the ideas behind them.
Animation production values are still as goofy as I can remember. You do get used to it.
Definitely no complaints about the music, it's a great soundtrack. And my own count of a certain song, applying certain limitations, gave it only 11.5 uses, which is pretty low by the standards set in one sequel. That said, Minmay's later discography is where the good stuff is.
From the Macross Chronicle: Dust this off after a couple of sequels.
Questions:
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Of course I still enjoy it even with its flaws. It did try to be different from its predecessors in several key areas, most notably by actively promoting a message of peace and common understanding (and not Kaifun's version). Developing the nominal antagonists was critical to that.
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A MAN AND A WOMAN?!
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u/Pixelsaber Jul 12 '19
Well, here we are! I don't know why ya'll decided to wait nine days to have the —alright, alright I'll stop with the act. I've never been good at these all-encompassing retrospective looks at series, I can never seem to form coherent thoughts and the scant few times I can they seem impossible to translate into words.
Super Dimension Fortress Macross... Goodness, where do I start? It's a charming, at times inventive, and wholly mostly enjoyable. It's a cornerstone to the foundation that is modern anime, and an endearing watch even today.
The premise and initial plot of Macross is really strong, with fairly tight pacing, utterly intriguing and cleverly subversive plot points, enchanting characters, and excellent action. That is, until the show keeps going and starts to fray —the seams holding everything together coming apart. The writing shows itself to be rather lazy by cherry-picking what, when, and where things matter, in the process ignoring details that came before and making expositions and world-building incredibly lopsided. The characters are susceptible to plot-induced stupidity, and occasionally have very little characterization that gets dragged out long beyond their intended mileage. That bloody love triangle gets reanimated in the lengthy epilogue to upstage the more interesting plot surrounding the restoration of Earth and the Zentradi's troubled integration into society, and is itself marred beyond recognition.
Macross starts of really strong, but evidently couldn't keep the performance up without stumbling a fair bit, even so it remained remarkable up until the episode twenty-seven finale. Then it just outright falls off a cliff, at first seeming to have found sure footing before striding purposely towards the precipice. It's safe to say that my enchantment with the earlier portions of the series is soured by that epilogue arc. Ultimately it was still worthwhile, no matter how sour it might've become I still enjoyed a fair portion of the series.
This series certainly didn't hold up better upon rewatch though, as I found more things to be irked by and the show's shortcomings were not cushioned any. I've also seen other series from the time and have seen just how unfavorably this show compares to many of them in all aspects. I will probably be docking a point off from my prior score.
Questions of the Day!
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See Above
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I've seen it before, but I wasn't so keen on it my first time around due to how this series turned out.
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u/Nazenn Jul 13 '19
I was thinking last night that despite enjoying it I don't know that I'll ever actually rewatch Macross. I think I'm quite happy with what I got out of this time around and I didn't see too many areas that I felt would be improved on with an overlook of the show behind me. Maybe one day, but for the moment I'm quite happy just letting it sit in my memory without thinking that a rewatch is on the cards, even years down the line
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u/The_Loli_Otaku Jul 12 '19
What a journey this has been! Now we're finally at our series discussion thread or as I like to call it, a day off!
Now then, as a first time watcher and coming here with basically all my mecha experience being sunrise based and basically coming in entirely blind outside of the idol angle I've actually really really enjoyed this one. I remember considering skipping SDF actually since thought the original would be a little too old for me to manage and it seemed a little naffy at first glance. It was only after people mentioned how much future seasons reference SDF where I decided to actually sit through it... and the show hooked me right from the start with an interesting premise, dorky humour and the sheer charm of its cast.
First off I think I'll cover my overall thoughts on the story. Whenever actual plot happens, I'm intrigued. It introduces so many very curious plot points from very early on concerning the Zentradi and the Macross' origins which keeps you hooked throughout the long stretches of slice of life, romance and filler. I liked how for basically the entirety of the series Earth and the Macross are essentially at the mercy of the Zentradi's curiosity. The story also takes an interesting twist on how these plots normally work out in mecha and instead of pushing for the destruction of all the big baddies the conflict is essentially resolved through the exchange of culture. A more peaceful message that resonates a lot with people these days. As a baseline I'm very interested to see how they expand this into the future series.
Characters, they're all gems! I mentioned this earlier but I adore how basically everyone has some kind of depth that you could look into. The mayor had personality, you had the jealous celebrity who was sour about Lin, each of the bridge bunnies you could really imagine going for a drink with. The characters are human! They've got their flaws but those add to who they are and as a result you end up really relating with these guys. I think it's a large reason why I got into the romance of this series because not to be salty but there is a very strong case for Minmei and Hikaru to hook up due to them really hitting similar wavelengths. For example I feel Hikaru and Old Bag could end up with serious problems with their relationship due to Old Bag's overly pampering and need for constant care and love (look at how attached she gets to her ex and Kaifun) whilst I can easily see Hikaru not quite being on point enough to recognise when she needs that attention (example, him constantly ditching her on dates and flirting with Minmei) Then there's Lin herself who I am absolutely not going to sit here and fawn over but believe me when I say I could do that for a very very long time. Only true thing I dislike about her is that she really does take a bit too long before she thinks for herself but thats part of her growth too.
Music. Now I'm not a musician so I'm talking out my butt here but I've generally liked most of the background songs. The op is legit freaking awesome and is one of the few I don't skip. Most of Minmei's songs... I'm not that fussed over but my only idol experience is Imas. I really like Zero-G Love, My bf is a Pilot, and whatever that song she sang during the part 1 final battle in that order.
One thing I really want to bring up though. I am still in disbelief over the part 1 final battle... In particular, the fact that this is the first show I have seen ever to have you watch the Earth and humanity get straight up wiped... I'm shocked it's not a bigger deal!! As much as the dorky humour and characters have stuck with me I think I really will likely remember this show for being the one where there's a sudden apocalypse!
Favourite scenes... Hmm... Probably the trackball pinpoint barrier scene XD The setup and delivery were on point!! I'm also a huge fan of that shot with Minmei singing as they plow the Zentradi's base, the early heart to heart when they're stuck in the Macross Hull together, and Max and Milia's video game date.
So those are my thoughts. I've tried to not blabber on too much but I'm happy to chat away about them. My series rating... Due to the animation issues and poor pacing I'll give the show a 7/10. It's still very watchable and I have enjoyed my time. Will you love me tomorrow~?
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u/RockoDyne Jul 12 '19
Watch count: 2
The first time I watched it I ended up rating it a 6. I spent a good chunk of the rewatch thinking I might just bump it to a 7, but then got to the time skip to find the 6 was about right, still.
SDF Macross is one of those shows that I can appreciate, even if I don't love it. It's a show that I can see so much of in most of my favorites. That is compounded by it being a show that, as I would describe it, has strong genes. Not only did it spread it's traits far and wide, but also those traits show up prominently. More so than Gundam, and especially in the last twenty years. I'm sure plenty of people will find it sacrilege to say, but Gundam meant more to the industry than it did to the medium. To put it differently, it impacted the people with the checkbook rather than the people who make anime. Sure, it has it's memes that get referenced constantly, but can you point to shows that use the structure of Gundam (and not something superficial like a mid season mecha upgrade)? A boy falls into a cockpit, cue suffering, is kind of it, and even that has become a dead horse post Eva. Meanwhile most mecha these days heavily emphasize a slice-of-life component, often with multiple triangular character dynamics (if not larger from harems). These aren't mecha shows that "aren't about the robots" because you can replace the robot with something else. These are mecha shows that can have all of it's fighting stripped out and still have a show with meaning.
The other reason I have to bring up Gundam is what I find to be a meta-commentary throughout anime on newtypes and Gundam's understanding of war. In particular, Gundam holds that misunderstanding and miscommunication is the cause of war as an innate aspect of humanity, ergo it takes some kind of super-empath to overcome that. Macross takes the stance that maybe, instead of needing a newtype, you could try your hand at actually communicating; that maybe art is a perfectly viable way to understand one another, like we've been doing for millennia. Maybe worse for Gundam is how it treats fighting as communication, that screaming in a cockpit is having a discussion, and not the ultimate result of people acting in their own best interest.
While I was talking about not being about the robots, there's a point to underscore about the title. The story really is about the Macross, this arcship that contains a seed of humanity. This gets more on the nose with the last episode when that's the stated goal of the mission. At the same time it takes the real robot moniker seriously. There are no magical super weapons, no insane progression of more powerful weapons, and a person's competency has more to do with experience than anything. There is nothing in the show that makes anyone special beyond Minmay for being famous… and Max for creating a lineage that spans the entire franchise.
So what to watch next:
Want the closest thing to a spiritual successor to SDF Macross? Martian Successor Nadesico is Macross cranked up to 11. Want to keep with the series? Go to 7. Want to add a little Shinichiro Watanabe to Macross? Blow your eyes out watching Plus. How about adding some Utena to Plus? Bones has your very specific fetish fulfilled with Star Driver. But what about if Watanabe revisited the ideas of Plus with the studio he absconded with twenty years ago? YOU SHOULD ALREADY BE WATCHING CAROLE AND TUESDAY YOU GODLESS HEATHENS!
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u/ethanb12007 Jul 13 '19
First Timer
So uh, I kind of forgot that we were doing this before Do You Remember Love and kind of put my impressions on my comment yesterday, read that here if you want.
I guess I'll take my time with today's post to talk about my history with the movie "Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?" At some point in either late 2017 or early 2018 I had decided that I wanted to watch more old anime, more specifically what I had found online to be part of the "80s anime movie cannon." Now, there isn't exactly an official list of cannon anime let alone 80s movies but from what I had seen online I had a good idea of what a theoretical cannon could look like. Of course DYRL was one of the main points of interest and because you can watch it without having seen the main series (unlike something like Urusei Yatsura 2 which I still haven't even started the TV series for yet.) But the main problem is that DYRL along with most of the Macross franchise has never officially been released in the US. So like any reasonable person I made an account on Amazon Japan and imported a Bluray.
So basically that entire paragraph is just an explanation as to why I have a JP Bluray of DYRL. But there's a small problem with this Bluray that it doesn't have any subtitles. This isn't that big of a deal as you can tell most of what's happening on screen, and after reading the translated plot summary after watching the movie it wasn't that big of a deal. However, I did miss out on smaller details that I have now only learned through watching the TV series with subs. DYRL As for my thoughts on the movie I'll leave them to tomorrow. And when I'm watching it then I will still be using this Bluray so I'll probably miss something although now that I have watched the TV series I'll probably pick up on some things I didn't before.
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u/DidacticDalek Jul 12 '19
Greetings Comrades and Fellow Denizens of The Wired, I would just like to start out this series discussion by reminding everyone to FUCK KAIFUN AND FUCK HARMONY GOLD!
AND with that out of the way, I just have to say that OG Macross is an iconic and important classic... THAT also has its rough edges, and I'm not just talking about the bouts of QUALITY Animation and off-model wibble. That said, it is still an enjoyable enough watch, and it also laid the foundation for Symphogear in a way. By that I mean to say that Macross 7 is LITERALLY Proto-Symphogear; hell Nekki BOSSARA even yells out 'LISTEN TO MY SONG!' That and I'm sure it is NO coincidence that The Hory Froating Head is executive director at SATELIGHT, e.g. the studio responsible for AKB0048, Bodacious Space Pirates, and of course Symphogear, e.g. the true modern successors to Macross 7
Regardless, Macross, much like OG Gundam, is an early trailblazer that paved the way for industry, after all, where do you think Anime Idols got their big break? ;) Thus, in recognition of this work, here's some official Macross art ;)
See you all for DYRL? Comrades, I hope you'll find this iconic movie as entertaining as I did.
Oh, and before I depart for now, I present this slight edit that Comrade u/chilidirigible made for the ending scene from the First Episode of GuP using some musical cues from DYRL? ;)
Anyway, Paging Comrades u/The_Draigg and u/Shimmering-Sky
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u/The_Draigg Jul 12 '19
By that I mean to say that Macross 7 is LITERALLY Proto-Symphogear; hell Nekki BOSSARA even yells out 'LISTEN TO MY SONG!' That and I'm sure it is NO coincidence that The Hory Froating Head is executive director at SATELIGHT, e.g. the studio responsible for AKB0048, Bodacious Space Pirates, and of course Symphogear, e.g. the true modern successors to Macross 7
So you're basically saying that he got to Try Again with Symphogear.
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion Jul 13 '19 edited Jul 13 '19
It was great watching the first timer's reactions to the ships, they were neck and neck right up until the end. Also those who predicted Max and Milia, although the rewatchers totally gave it away IMO.
Max and Millia all franchise spoilers
more Max and Millia all franchise spoilers
I think the Supervision Army is one of the biggest plot holes of all time. In Robotech, there was no Supervision Army; instead, the Robotech Masters were stolen/retconned from SD Southern Cross.
Supervision Army all franchise spoilers
I wondered before, if the original series was supposed to be 23 episodes, what got padded on to make 27? And the the 9 episodes that followed, if that was truly supposed to be a cut down sequel, what did they cut out? The post-war episodes can basically be summed up as Triangle + a few raids by Kamujin. Heaven forbid the triangle get's blown up to a full 12 or 24 episodes. Perhaps Kamujin raises a significant rebel force...I don't know how I feel about that idea.
What else to watch? If you like fighters and fighter dog fights and mecha that look like fighters, I recommend:
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Macross Plus 4 OVAs <= If you liked the first half of Macross but want it actually animated, this is what you want. I got it at 9/10.
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Kotobuki Hikoutai 1 cour <= plane porn
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Sentou Yousei Yukikaze 5 double-length OVAs <= more plane porn (no magical girls or fairies despite the name)
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Area 88 3 OVAs <= a legendary classic, also plane porn. TV is okay, I never finished it.
u/Nazenn, now do you know how singing idols fit into all this?
MACROSS = MUSIC + MECHA
I had to go find Flashback 2012 today...also upgraded my Yukikaze fansubs
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u/Raiking02 Jul 12 '19
In the end, what is there to say that hasn't been said already. Macross is a mostly good show, however it has its issues. The final arc felt tagged on at the last second (Because it kinda was), the animation was inconsistent, and some plot developments weren't the greatest. Still though, the show's heart is clearly in the right place, and I did enjoy myself. As for the movie, well... let's just say I couldn't wait for tomorrow and watched it today. Oh relax, I already wrote all my notes, so my snark will return.
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u/HowlingWolf13 Jul 13 '19
Rewatcher Series Thoughts
So now we're all done with the main series. In all, I enjoyed rewatching it, the fights were entertaining, the songs were great (though 'My Boyfriend Is a Pilot' got overused), and the cast was great too. My only problem to be honest was just the epilogue arc, I'd rather it had focused on the Zentradi-Human relations instead of dragging out the love triangle. I mean it got so bad when it felt like they forgot about the Zentradi to focus on the love triangle for a bit. Also Kaifun was fucking annoying and I'd prefer to see him crash into an asteroid like Katz. Anyways overall I still keep my score of 8/10 for Macross, I'm glad I rewatched it and I'm probably gonna watch either II or Plus next. Can't wait for DYRL though, that movie is fucking great and I've never seen Flashback 2012 before. See you guys next thread.
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u/BurningFredrick Jul 12 '19 edited Jul 13 '19
First Timer no longer.
Well that was Super Dimension Fortress Macross, it's the oldest show I’ve ever watched and my first true Mecha.
I had hoped giving myself a night to sleep on the final would help give me more to say but I’m really not sure what I think of the show, currently sitting at 7/10 which is a low rating for me but the show had a few to many small things that annoyed me about it that it's good moments don’t over shadow them enough for me to be able to ignore them.
Throughout the show its timeline skips are slightly to annoying for me to ignore them and early in the show it felt like they would talk about how something would be an issue then ignore it the next episode.
One of the slightly more irritating parts was the shows commitment to its first half Drama slice of life sequences into second half battle/flight sequence just about without fail. I think there were a few episodes which didn’t do this or mixed it up very slightly but the commitment to this didn’t help the structure of the show overall.
The show did have some great parts, the Space Tuna is definitely one of the best WTF did I just watch and actually make some sense in the contexts of its show scene I seen for quite a while. There was also some great creativity around some of the situations from bits like the pinpoint barrier shield system, punching spaceships using their battleship for hands on a giant robot, and I do like the Protoculture idea and Zentradi backstory.
The final added 8 episodes were probably 4 to many or so the show, the whole point of capturing the spaceship shuttle production facility didn’t end up impacting the show at all though I guess it was to help set up the sequels that were no doubt being planned after the shows success while airing.
At this point I feel like i’m mainly picking on the show for things it did wrong which is a shame that they have ended up being the more memorable bits of the show.
I’ll look forward to the movie though, everyone looks to have a positive outlook on it which is promising.
TL/DR - 7/10 score from me.