But before I can do that, I have to talk about Macross Seven. But before I can do that, I have to explain what makes Macross great to begin with. Which leads me to now.
Let's take a look at one of the series that, next to Gundam itself, helped define the Space Opera genre.
I wasn't always a fan of Macross. I had heard of it, of course - after all, everyone knew about Robotech, right? And I picked up Robotech: Battlecry (the collector's edition even!) and thought it was pretty swell, up until the game turned into bullshit.
What I didn't know at the time, and wouldn't know until I started to really dig deep into the franchise, is that Robotech and Macross really aren't even the same thing.
For me, my love for the series started with the first episode of Macross Frontier, a show I'll rant about some other day. It was phenomenal though, and from that first episode, I knew I had to go back and look at what other Macross stuff existed. I knew it was out there. Macross Zero, and Macross Plus, were basically legendary anime (and still are to this day), but I'd never sat down and watched them.
I was blown away when I finally got my hands on them, and while it took me some time, I was finally able to find a way to watch the original SDF Macross series. You'd think that going back to a '70s anime would basically be total shit, right?
WRONG.
I'll admit, the first few episodes were pretty cringeworthy, but it was the '80s. The vision of the future then was so different from today, and our vision of the future now may look similarly laughable thirty years from now. Back To The Future, anyone?
Anyways, I digress. Macross had a very troubled early development for the first thirteen episodes. In fact, the show almost never took off! Trouble with getting the money together caused a number of headaches, and while I won't get into this too deeply, you can clearly see the animation mistakes that were made due to different studios working on different sections of the show that must not have been following design documents very well - people's outfits change colors between cuts, so on and so forth. Visually it's kind of a mess.
And yet, there's something inherently f***ing awesome about a plane that turns into a giant robot that also turns into a hybrid of the two things. There's also something even more awesome about humans fighting off an alien invasion of Earth... and something even more awesome than THAT is when those same humans wind up drifting through the depths of space, in the hopes of finding their way home again.
That's the basic premise of the entire show. Over the course of 36 episodes, they took some of the best stuff from Star Trek, and applied it to a Gundam-esque series, with a huge emphasis on what it means to be human.
Originally, they planned the series to only run for 23 episodes, but from the start it was so immensely popular that they extended it an additional 13. The reasons for this popularity may not begin to manifest themselves, however, until about halfway through - at that point you're invested in the characters.
And that's one of the things that struck me about the show early on, were how strong all of the characters were. Not only that, but also the diversity of the cast too. You don't often see dark-skinned characters in anime, excepting as maybe caricatures, but in Macross? From the first episode, we see that Claudia isn't just some token, throw-away character. In fact, she's in charge of weapons and navigation, and is pretty f***ing bad-ass.
Without a doubt, the one thing that makes Macross so infamous is the singing. How the f**k can a song defeat an alien warrior race? To me, this is one of the things that makes the series so goddamned brilliant. Because they try to establish that there is literally power in music (and they're not wrong!), but the real reason they defeated the Zentradi wasn't because of some magical bullshit, but because of culture.
There is a word that I absolutely love, which Zentrans use: Deculture. It was a word that, prior to the events of Macross, was a negative thing to them - it was an unspeakable evil that they should always avoid. Because it gave them the feels. Really, it was just them being hyper-specialized to become an unstoppable fighting machine, with no feelings. The Zentran people had no music, no joy, no love. Everything was genetics, and male and females were separated into entirely distinct races, and more often than not they spent most of their time when not attempting to annihilate humanity trying to kill one another.
But then, they were re-introduced to the concept of culture, and of humanity. They were reminded what it was to have feels. And it touched them on a very deep, almost downright spiritual level. Deculture was no longer an unspeakable evil, but it changed to take on a very reverential meaning to them. When they see something they love, or something that touches them on a personal level, they mutter 'Deculture' to express themselves.
I say all of these things, but then there's this.
Seriously, that shit will forever live in infamy. It is clearly one of the absolute worst animations ever, the very pinnacle of shitty animation.
And yet, it is also one of the most important scenes for the entirety of the Macross series. Because those two? Spoiler alert, but not only do they get married, and have a literal litter of children, but those kids wind up taking on important positions of power and authority in pretty much every main series afterwards.
Not to mention the fact that they are HALF HUMAN HALF ZENTRADI. This is a huge thing, because it allows a very prominent figure to more easily allow people to accept not only an alien race, but also to promote coexistence between the two.
So despite the absolutely shitty quality of the animation at times, the moments in which it displays its brilliance is so shockingly stellar that you're forced to let that stuff slide.
This show did more than a lot of people give it credit for. It created entire cultures of people, and did a great job of exploring just how these incredibly different people might eventually learn to get along. It's got a very pro-peace message, sure, but it also isn't very bashful about embracing the terrible things that come along with being armed to the teeth. This is the show that specialized in showcasing dogfights in space, and machines armed with so much artillery that Gundam would later come back to rip THEM off. This is the show that created the Macross Missile Massacre, that proved to us that more is definitely better where ordinance is concerned, and that the only thing that can make giant robot battles with missiles flying all over the f***ing place better is SOMEONE SINGING WHILE WATCHING THE MASSACRE TAKE PLACE.
The original Macross is truly a thing of beauty. It got me to consider watching other classics and taking them seriously, like Captain Harlock.
Of all the things that surprises me most about Macross though, it's how that even thirty years after its original air date, it still holds up. It gets into some pretty ridiculous territory, what with music basically being magic... but really, it isn't so ridiculous after all, especially not when you consider that there may be some scientific backing behind it all.
See, singing is singing, but when some people sing, they are able to create what they refer to as "Fold Wave Reactions". Essentially, you could say that they are managing to create ripples in space-time itself, because by looking at these 'Fold Waves' is what allows them to manage their faster-than-light travel systems. It's a pretty cool concept, and it's one they love to play with a lot - so much that it's become absolutely integral to the entire series as a whole.
But don't let that stuff distract you from THE GIANT ROBOTS THAT TURN INTO PLANES AND ALSO TURN INTO SOMETHING HALFWAY BETWEEN. AND ALL OF THE MISSILES. LIKE LITERALLY ALL OF THEM BECAUSE THIS SHOW DOESN'T DO THAT SHIT HALFWAY.
I'm not talking like one or two missiles. I'm not even talking five or six. I'm talking like twenty goddamn missiles tracking the same freaking target. I'm talking unloading your entire goddamn payload into the enemy all at the same time levels of "SUCK MAH DIIIIIICK".
Macross is f***ing awesome. Because it's got things I love most in anime: Giant robots, shit exploding, character-driven drama, and great music.
Seriously, great music is the highlight of the show. Go watch Macross Plus. Seriously. Sharon Apple's music still gives me chills. I f***ing love that shit.
Shit, maybe I should've led with AWESOME F***ING MUSIC. SHIT. Or maybe there's a reason I DIDN'T. (Hint: That reason is all Macross 7.)
Go watch this show if you haven't had the chance. See what made the original work, and then go watch any of the other works. I think you'll be pleased with what you see.
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