Having watched Macross Frontier and hearing so much about the original series, I am now pleased to begin blogging the original Super Dimensional Fortress Macross. For some of you this will also be your first experience with the 1982-1983 series, for others a return to an old classic. Please no spoilers if you’ve already seen it. Also don’t burn me at the stake if I, in my newness to the series, blaspheme any of the Sacred Work. In the series timeline these events take place in 2009, so it’s kind of appropriate to begin watching and blogging the series now. Join me as we go back to the present.
I wish the UN was this badass in our timeline. They’d be at the top of my list of potential future employers instead of a ‘well, maybe.’
“The year is 2009, and the galaxy teeters on the brink of war…”
Ten years ago a huge alien space warship crash landed on a remote island on Earth. With the knowledge that humanity was not alone in the universe, as well as far behind technologically, the Earth United Nations government is formed to take precedence over the petty interests of individual nations. A series of conflicts known as the Unification Wars end with UN victory and the unification of mankind. All the while the UN begins restoring the warship named Macross and reverse-engineering its technology to be prepared in case of contact with hostile aliens. In 2009 the Macross prepares to launch and begin trials at a ceremony displaying the UN’s newest fighter craft.
Two of the bridge operators Mise Hayase (foreground) and Claudia LaSalle (judging by her uniform she’s on loan from the League of Free Worlds.)
Earth’s finest fighter craft, the VF-1 Valkyrie.
The demonstration was going well until this little punk had to interrupt it in his crappy homebuilt prop plane. Hikaru Ichijyo, our (currently annoying) protagonist.
Roy Focker, ace pilot of the Unification Wars and ladykiller, narrating the aerial acrobatics. He and Hikaru know each other from their days at some sort of acrobatics team.
After Hikaru ruins the demonstration he lands and meets up with Roy. It seems the Roy left the acrobatics team to, oh, you know FIGHT FOR THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY while Hikaru seems to resent him for being a soldier in a just cause. They do recover from this little bit of history and have a drink out on the flightline while they share a lecherous moment before Roy shows Hikaru one of the new Valkyries. But as Hikaru climbs into the Valkyrie an alarm sounds and Roy tells him to stay put. Captain Global, the captain assigned to the Macross, receives word that several objects have been detected warping into space near the Earth’s moon and proceeds to the bridge before he can be introduced at the ceremony.
Hikaru is rather annoying at this point with his whole ‘I could never be a fighter pilot’ bit, but this is a mecha series and sadly most protagonists go through this phase. He just better shape up quickly or he will forever remain in Roy’s shadow.
Perhaps this was considered fanservice in the ancient 1980’s?
Captain Global: Man of Destiny.
The alien fleet arrives in system searching for a crashed ship from something called the Supervision Army. As they do the Macross automatically powers up and the bow folds apart, a charge builds, and a huge energy beam fires and destroys the alien scout ships sent to investigate. This display of power piques the interests of the alien commander who orders the main fleet closer to Earth. In not the greatest display of first contact diplomacy two UN warships, ARMD I and ARMD II, open fire on the alien fleet with drones and missiles, causing significant damage to several ships before they fire back and disable one UN warship. Back at the Macross orders are given for all fighters to scramble, including Hikaru’s as Mise does not realize that he is not a UN pilot.
They look like either Tyrannid Hiveships or a fleet from LoGH that got coated with some sort of mold.
Chargin’ it’s lazer.
It’s nice to see a series where human weaponry isn’t somehow completely ineffective.
Yes our PS3s and iPods are impressive aren’t they?
After forcing the ARMD ships to retreat the main fleet launches fighters and a dogfight above the Macross and South Ataria Island ensues. Roy makes a good showing for himself downing a couple alien fighters and Hikaru tries not to get his plane too shot up. Eventually hit and in a spin he is advised by operator Mise to put his Valkyrie in ‘configuration B’ which transforms it first into a half fighter-half mecha form and then into a pure humanoid mecha. Despite this aid Hikaru still crashes through several buildings and damages his Valkyrie in the process.
To (heat) seek(ing missle) out new life and new civilizations.
Referred to as Ghosts, these look like some sort of strike fighter.
Welcome to Earth.
Halfway to mecha form…and crashing.
“Hikaru, you just did an incredibly brave thing. What you should have done was land your plane! You don’t own that plane, the tax payers do! Son, your ego is writing checks your body can’t cash.”
Back aboard the Macross the unnamed politician from the ceremony pushes a reluctant Capt. Global into action, making the obvious point that the Macross is no good to anyone on the ground. However there are issues with the anti-gravity drives. As the ship begins to rise they break through the deck and float off on their own, dropping the Macross back to Earth. Meanwhile Roy goes back to the city to look for Hikaru and his crashed Valkyrie. Before he arrives Hikaru notices a girl name Minmay and her younger brother as they take a look at the downed VF-1. Trying to right the Valkyrie on his own Hikaru trips and falls again before Roy arrives.
I didn’t understand Global’s reluctance to launch. While the politician is obviously being presented as the stereotypical slimly politician who gets in the military’s way, he makes nothing but good points during his screen time.
I’ve heard many things about this Minmay girl. As the series progresses I suppose I will find out which are true.
You’d think he’d be more careful after what happened when that Zaku II in 08th MS Team tried using his thrusters in a populated area.
Even the aliens who made this ship gave the contract to the lowest bidder.
Roy arrives to save the day, not for the last time.
But he always has time to combine business with pleasure.
After determining that they want the Macross relatively intact, the alien fleet conducts an orbit bombardment of the now evacuated city to cover the insertion of a unit of Regult bipedal mecha. The ground team attempts to enter the city and seize the Macross, but is repulsed by the UN forces in the city. Roy, always the gentleman, decides to check on Minmay along with Hikaru, saving her and telling Hikaru to take her to one of the shelters since a rookie such as him is of little help in a fight. Roy departs to fly CAP for the Macross and Hikaru and Minmay attempt to return to the ship but get caught up in the fighting. Crashing into a Regult, Hikaru shoots the battlepod full of holes, but panics and uses his whole magazine in the process. Emerging from the Regult is a humanoid figure the size of a Valkyrie in mecha form. Luckily for the dazed Hikaru, Roy shows up in time to shoot the alien in the back (it’s the safest way, isn’t it?) and escort the further damaged VF-1 back to base. The episode ends with the Macross using it’s auxiliary rocket engines to lift off from Earth, heading into space.
These Regults seem to incorporate modular design to fit a variety of weapons systems. Identified thus far are a communication or EW version, missile support type, standard attack type, and one heavy assault type featuring two arms.
Uh…it uh…kind of looks like…are dick jokes too low brow for this blog?
The Regult team seems to have underestimated the competence of their opponents.
Coach class in the world of Macross.
Close encounters of the mecha kind.
He must have been awfully cramped in that thing.
Ere we go, ere we go throo da cos-mos!
Final Thoughts: – It’s pretty fun watching something older than I am. It feels like I’m doing archaeological work or something.
- Speaking of the 1980’s, it really was the golden age of the F-14 Tomcat. Those VF-1’s look a lot like them and Roy Fokker’s tail insignia is just like VF-84’s unit markings.
- I liked how the Macross didn’t just work as its crew wished. The booby trapped cannon and the way that the gravity drives broke loose seemed more likely than an alien ship just working after a crash landing and rebuild by a technologically inferior species.
- As mentioned, Hikaru is kind of annoying to me at this point though I’m hoping he improves with time. Minmay had little screentime, but I take it she’s important to the story and will develop later.
32 Comments
That money shot, the first plunging transformation, amazed me when I first watched it, and I saw it first fairly recently. It’d be interesting (though it’s sadly impossible) to experience it when it was first broadcast. Good point that the way the characters have to figure out how to make the Macross work is rather fun. When I began watching SDF I didn’t appreciate how significant the titular ship would be as a mecha in its own right.
Look forward to an unusual fishing expedition.
Since there’s a patch of episodes in L-Gaim which have the kind of nipple-count you’d have to seek from Queen’s Blade nowadays, I suspect not.
This thing is the definition of hokey! It would make one hell of a Mystery Science Theater 3000 type series.
– That money shot,
lol. What it inconceivable thing to say. I feel dirty now.
Enjoyed reading your thoughts on the show. Other than Frontier, what other series in the franchise have you seen?
Just a couple of technical notes: The Ghosts are unmanned fighter drones. The Zentradi unit with arms is a Glaug, not a Regult.
So can any fan tell me where i can find this show? i have this torrent from anime fiends 1s3l 3kbs leeching heaven :s
There’s a copy of my local library, so you might check yours.
I think you’re doing a fun way of going through this and I’m glad for it.
A note on your comparisons and references:
Macross precedes Colony Wars and LotGH, not only in terms of production, but also in terms of actual science fiction history (Setting of episdode 01 is February 2009!). If anything, those two examples could have referenced or borrowed from Macross.
Hikauru is faaar more sympathetic than most mecha pilot lead characters of his vintage. Also, prepare for LOVE.
Please no spoilers…
@ IKnight
Heh, I was being kind of facetious on that account. While I haven’t seen much anime this old, Maison Ikkoku did have one of the tenants walking around with nipples visible behind a see through nightshirt for example. Though I don’t know if I’d really count that as fanservice per se.
@ droptest
There certainly are some things that deserve to be poked fun at, and the rest should provide us with some good action too.
@ JELEINEN
Thanks:) Frontier is the only Macross series I’ve seen. Prior to starting this retroblogging project I’ve only seen the first 4 or 5 episodes of Macross in its RoboTech form. Thanks for the technical pointers too. The Glaug is familiar to me from the days when FASA licensed some Macross designs for use in BattleTech and Mechwarrior. The Glaug was the Marauder if I recall correctly.
@ random passing dude
Sorry, we’re not allowed to answer how to get raws/subs as per the statement at the bottom of the page. But it shouldn’t be too difficult for you to find it either online, in a store, or in a library (thanks for that last recommendation droptest.) Google ought to suffice.
@ ghostligtning
I’m glad you’re enjoying it. The references are from later works, but they’re more familiar references to me which is why they sprang to mind. Now that you mention it perhaps LoGH borrowed from that shot of the Zentradi fleet for its fleet concepts. And Hikaru hasn’t required a Bright Slap (TM) yet, so he’s got that going for him.
I hope you enjoy this series, if nothing else it’ll make a lot of the homages in MF a lot more apparent.
After watching the whole series and the movie, I felt like I sorted wasted my time watching the series when the movie sums up everything + really good looking + actual music
You will have fun here comrade, so long as you realize it is from that bong using new age hippie Kawamori…
You know for more UN Badassery you might want to watch Macross Zero at some point, though Kawamori was smoking something stronger when he made it.
Ah yes the first sortie of the SDF-1, “here me baby hold together” indeed.
I recommend DYRL be viewed after the series proper.
Oh and obligatory HIGHWAY TO THE DANGER ZONE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0oaG7sE7oI&feature=channel_page
Yes, the distant future, the year 2009…
With the passage of time, I’m having a hard time figuring out how 50′ tall humanoid aliens fit inside (the chicken legs don’t look too comfortable as leg augments)
The 7-year old in me went OMG when the Valkyrie shifted to Gerwalk and Battroid forms.
@ExecutiveOtaku: You might be interested to know that the current publishers (Catalyst Labs) of Battletech have been trying to secure the images for the infamous Unseen, however, they have only been able to get permissions for the non-Macross related mecha designs (e.g. Dougram, et al.). The redesigns Studio Nue did for the Japanese editions made them look more like Five Star Stories rejects than anything else…
As much as I love my Misa waifu…that hairdo is really something. 8′D
Woot!!!!
This is definitly bringing back good ole memories ^_^
I’m actualy surprised that with all the damage and crashing that Hikaru had done that the VF-1 didn’t blow up :/
oh well. ^_^
/o/
I too actually just worked through the series a mere few months ago, and it was a blast.
You may want to have some tuna ready to eat.
And then after this you will watch Macross Plus and 7.
…Please?
YAY!!! NOSTALGIA!!!!
This was my introduction into the anime world, and it just brings manly tears to my eyes when I see the younger folks, retro blogging it. Keep up the good work ExecutiveOtaku.
BTW……mecha-sized rifle sling FTW!!!!!
Also…in the future..when your through blogging SDFM might I recommend that you watch Macross: Do You Remeber Love and later on Macross Plus. There both awesome in their own right.
@ Square
Yeah, I remember several Ghosts being remote piloted by Luca and being made up to be a big deal that I knew was a reference that I didn’t get, for example. This is part of what’s so fun watching the older series later, the whole archaeology and piecing things together part.
@ Crusader
I can deal with a little peace-love-forgiveness disappointment as long as the rest is good. I’ll likely watch/blog Do You Remember Love after the series since it’s being so highly recommended to me. And, oh yes, DANGER ZONE! I must have watched Top Gun about 20 times before the age of 6 and the Top Gun game was the first one I had for the old NES. Needless to say it left an impression. There are few aircraft that look as sweet as the F-14, especially from head-on.
@ Kherubim
Yeah, I’m not a big fan of the redesigns. They look alright on their own but they don’t really seem to mesh with the rest of the mechs.
@ raile
Whatever do you mean, are you not a fan of the cinnamon bun swirl hairstyle?
@ ToastCrust
Tuna? I suppose I’ll find out soon enough.
@ DRmChsr0
Perhaps. I’d like to get to the other candidates from the poll after SDF Macross to be fair to the many people who voted for them. But perhaps, if I can manage the workload, I can retroblog two series with a Macross being one of them or something. No promises, though I can say I’ll at least watch them.
@ grss1982
“and it just brings manly tears to my eyes when I see the younger folks, retro blogging it.”
Sounds like we’re having a Yukimura! Oyakata-sama! moment.
Hikaru seemed like a nice guy to me. A kid who has to grow into his role of hero instead of just being born rambo.
Also, very wrong of me i know, i find it fun to see how much this show resembles Macross frontier XD: the captain, crew interactions, the skull leader, i tell you if there is going to be any pineapple cake in this series it’s going on my epic shows lists.
@EO
DYRL is a very liberal interpretation though still it was animated better and there is one song that it shares with Frontier…
Macross deserves kudos for showing what really happens when you put an untrained pilot in the cockpit of an brand new mecha.
@random passing dude
Apparently, you have not yet heard the horrors of (cover your ears children) PINEAPPLE SALAD!
I am pretty sure the VF-1 is supposed to be a souped up F-14 or something like that. That was one of the biggest appeals of Macross, the fact that it is related to our world rather than Gundam which was set too far in the future. In fact Macross was originally made as a sort of homage/spoof of Mobile Suit Gundam.
Incidentally the director for Macross is the same director for LoGH so that’s probably why you see all the similarities.
Have you noticed how the first two episode of Frontier sort of reference the original Macross? Hobby pilot saves girl in distress by flying fighting machine and holding her by using the hand of the machine.
- BTW……mecha-sized rifle sling FTW!!!!!
hehe
- Hobby pilot saves girl in distress by flying fighting machine and holding her by using the hand of the machine.
Aye, that’s the SECRET formula. And what military wouldn’t love to have its stealth/black vehicles used by civilians to pick up girls?
(Sumimasen for the pun…)
I think you can tell a lot about a show by how many minutes it takes before something like this happens.
This is especially ironic considering the standing policy in place, right up to the moment the booby trap was triggered, was to be as nice as possible to any visiting aliens (IIRC). I wonder what might have subsequently happened if the booby trap malfunctioned. ^_^;;
Truly an awesome show and as childish as Hikaru could be initially, he never gets annoying to point like Shin from Gundam Seed Destiny. I prayed every episode he’d get obliterated.
I think part of why I absolutely adored Macross Frontier so much were the little homages to this. (Funnily enough I’m currently rewatching Frontier).
A big part of my enjoyment though I think is the music. Macross does do a fantastic job of blending action and music.
@ Sakura
I only tolerated Shin as a character because for most of the series he fought for ZAFT against the aggressor Alliance instead of Kira’s BS ‘all war is bad so I’m going to declare war on everyone, Gundam Wing-esque’ bit. I knew it could never be, but I wished that Shin or Athrun would have killed Kira. What they did to the chairman of ZAFT at the end was complete BS too, he was such a good character before they decided to make him all ‘surprise! he for some reason wants to destroy Earth’. Most Gundam fans won’t say this, but there were a lot of things I really liked about SEED Destiny. Unfortunately there were also equal parts RAGE! especially at the end.
Stopping before I really rant.
Macross deserves kudos for showing what really happens when you put an untrained pilot in the cockpit of an brand new mecha.
LOL, taking pot shots at THAT 1979 mecha show?
Funny, I just started rewatching Macross as well. I first watched as a kid and it blew me away. It still does, screw gundam, this is my top mecha show.
that joke about our technology made me giggle haha! amazing read!
Just discovered this – the picture captions made me laugh out loud, especially the one about 80s fanservice. I have a soft spot for the original Macross, partly from cool retro/nostalgia appeal (it’s the same age as me) and partly because it’s good in its own right – the music is great (especially the opening theme, which I usually sing along to), the plot doesn’t drag or get repetitive, and it’s different from a lot of other mecha/sci-fi series (although the newness has worn off somewhat with time as other works have used similar ideas).
Dragging this post out of the abyss for a comment. :O
With older series (and movies), I have fun wondering what it must have been like to see this for the first time. Like, giant soldiers aren’t exactly a foreign concept, but when that Zentradi soldier emerges for the first time, people watching must have thought, “Whoa, what the HELL?!”
I, too, also like that Global’s crew often struggles with learning how to properly use the Macross. It injected a good sense of realism and unpredictability into the series, especially since it is used really well throughout the show, and not in a Gundam-esque, “Oh, your Gundam unexpectedly shut down on you! Guess you’re screwed!” kind of way.
Despite having watched Frontier first and knowing about the Zentradi, it was still quite a surprise for me the first time it happened in SDF Macross. Something about that moment I guess drew me in to the reaction that Hikaru and the others had.
Macross as a franchise beats out Gundam in terms of the how technology works factor. The problems with the Macross and later developments like the FAST Pack definitely give you more of a feel for the technology and how it comes together (or doesn’t in the case of the anti-grav drives.) Though I would say that Gundam does a better job of illustrating why a certain technology matters in battle. I love the FAST Pack equipment and its later variants, but it doesn’t give me the feeling of impact in the same way that the first beam weapons in 0079 had, for example.