SDF Macross: Do You Remember Love (plus promised Macross Meal culinary tribute)

I hope everyone enjoyed the Christmas holiday, and after my week off (and the site undergoing work), it’s time for the Macross movie, Do You Remember Love. In it the series has been altered (in ways that change the story and aren’t canon) and shortened into movie format. The familiar characters and mecha have gotten a pretty impressive visual makeover too, even by today’s standards. There’s only so much you can pack into the short span of a movie, but even so DYRL was a lot of fun to watch. While I enjoyed the series much more because it included more background, character development, battles and the post-war situation, DYRL was definitely enhanced my viewing of the series as well as being sweet, sweet mecha eyecandy. Some parts of the story were very different, and some things changed a lot. For one, I actually liked DYRL Minmay through almost the entire film. Shocking, I know. Many things are different, but at it’s core it’s still the same Macross, so let’s remember love and take a look at the SDF Macross movie adaptation. Warning: this was a two hour long movie with a lot packed into that time, so there are a lot of images in this post.

Additionally, I’ve followed through on the idea I had back at near the start of blogging the series about making a Macross Meal. So after the recap/commentary on the movie, a short feature showing my culinary tribute to Macross. HAVE SOME PINEAPPLE SALAD!!!

Ugh, those are some ugly Zentradi. Have to say, I DID NOT WANT the messy, cancerous, deformed organic look for them and their ships.

The Zentradi aren’t the only ones to get a visual re-do. The Macross and it’s Valkyries are now redone in the hyper-detailed style that was popular in the 1980′s and early 1990′s. Eventually I liked it, but at first it was quite a shock and hard to adjust to.

As the movie opens, Minmay is making her debut before a huge crowd onboard the Macross.

While Roy, Hikaru, Max, and Kakizaki are out on patrol in their Super Valkyries. I liked how they showed them using their smaller thrusters to change orientation.

While the cinematography is not as interesting or innovative as in the series, the movie does do a lot of cool point-of-view cockpit shots.

Max showing off right from the start.

The movie starts off with Britai and Exedol on the bridge of their command ship, speculating about what could be onboard the Macross that’s giving their forces so much trouble. Cut to the Macross where life is going on as normal for the population inside. Minmay is making her debut, but given the crowd that’s jammed into the huge stadium, she’s already much more of a superstar than she was in the series. As it has been told to me by the elder Macross fans, she’s more like a predecessor to Sheryl Nome at this point, and she acts that way too. More confident, more forward, and less arbitrary and confused than her series self. Outside Skull Squadron is on patrol and is directed towards a group of enemy battlepods inside Saturn’s system of moons. Misa calls out their location, while the four Valkyries head out, fire off a barrage of missiles, and then engage the remaining enemies. In one of many nods to the original series, they even throw in Kakizaki calling Max a genius during the fight, despite his last name or the term never being mentioned otherwise. They quickly deal with the battlepods, only to find out that they were a distraction as a Zentradi capital ship defolds and begins attacking the Macross. As the main battle commences, a few Zentradi manage to get inside the Macross and Hikaru disobeys orders and follows them in. The three enemies are dealt with, but as the Macross undergoes transformation and deals with battle damage, Hikaru spots Minmay falling down the length of the ship. Pursuing her, he manages to grab her, only to crash his Valkyrie right into the isolated engine compartment.

The Destroids get their due in the sweet new animation, and my favorite Valkyrie returns for a few shots, the Armored Valkyrie. It seems to be used only for defense, which is wise because while it has a lot of firepower, it’s probably not very maneuverable.

Hikaru disobeys Misa’s order and chases the three enemies inside. But from this confrontational beginning, great things arise.

Three Zentradi battlepods entering the Macross. Travelling down the tunnel like this and having it open to the ‘sky’ of the interior was definitely a nod to the opening scene of the original Gundam.

The first YAKK DECULCCHA! I finally understand! In the movie version, the Zentradi are even more horrified and puzzled by men and women living together, because instead of just being segregated they’re at war with each other.

The classic ‘girl falling caught by Valkyrie’ scene.

Stuck inside the engine section of the ship, Hikaru and Minmay are in a similar situation to that in the series, only much more fun, lighthearted, and NOT CRAZY. Minmay is actually really likable from the get-go, her and Hikaru enjoy their time in the mostly zero-g environment and things are going pretty well. Hikaru is really shy around the pop idol he just rescued, but Minmay takes to him pretty quickly. They scavenge for food, fulfill their Coca-Cola product placement obligations, talk, and wait for someone to find them. Eventually Hikaru asks Minmay about whether Kaifun is her boyfriend, since their on-screen romance seemed so real to him, but she tells him it’s all show. And to demonstrate she starts telling Hikaru that she loves him, and eventually he either plays along or suddenly expresses his feelings, Minmay purposefully leaving him in doubt as she kisses him. The ‘just acting’ setup was definitely a Sheryl-like move, and it was both funny and odd to see Hikaru so flustered by it and Minmay so comfortable being that forward. Just as they’re kissing one of the walls opens up and a bunch of reporters have come to photograph Minmay now that she’s been found. Minmay and Hikaru are all over the tabloids afterwards, leaving Misa furious at one of her pilots making the front page in such a manner. The members of Skull Squadron are disappointed in Hikaru only for the fact that he didn’t do more with Minmay while they were trapped for a few days. Well, except for Max who actually did sound disappointed in him for starting a scandal.

Space Tuna shows another nod to the original series and those who watched it, though there was no shot of them cooking the head over a campfire. The can of soda rocketing off into the distance was a neat idea, but likely a lot messier in real life.

The famous improvised shower is back too, though this time the viewer is the one peeking in, not Hikaru.

DYRL Minmay: trolling for love.

Conduct unbecoming an officer. Misa does not approve.

Skull Squadron in their new digs. I’m loving Roy’s Titans-esque dark blue with red trim flightsuit, but I’m not so keen on the Dragon Ball Z shoulders design, especially the larger ones on the spacesuits.

Woah, Roy, woah. Your question is a little TMI.

The bridge bunnies are back! Sharing the latest gossip about Minmay and Hikaru, and teasing Shammy. Always. Though I think they looked a little better in the series.

Definitely a ‘nobody home inside’ face. Don’t worry, I still love you Shammy, even if you’re a little dense.

Later on in the evening Roy, Claudia, and Misa are having some drinks when Hikaru shows up to turn in a report. Roy insists that he stay for a drink, and even when Misa gets uncomfortable having the pilot who just caused her a bunch of problems there, he makes both of them sit down. Then he starts lecturing the both of them to be more feminine and masculine, respectively, though in the stereotyped, not-so-progressive kind of feminine/masculine (hello 1980′s Japan!). But it seems to work for him, as he demonstrates by starting to make out with Claudia in front of the two. Hikaru is spared further embarrassment when a phone-robot arrives with a call for him. He claims that a family member is sick and runs off, but in fact it was Minmay who called. They meet in a park, where a not very well disguised Minmay asks Hikaru to go out on the town for the night. One of the places they visit has holographic projectors that allow those inside to literally jump into different outfits and costumes, culminating in a moment where the two are dressed for a wedding, another reference to the original series, though in a much more lighthearted sense. After their date, Minmay says that she’d love to go outside and see some of the universe outside the ship, and Hikaru obliges her by taking out a trainer Valkyrie (without permission) and giving her a ride around the rings of Saturn. Misa and Kaifun eventually track them down in a shuttle, but before they can return home a ground of Zentradi show up intent on capturing a human for questioning. Roy shows up, drunk, to assist them, but even he’s not enough and after diving through a ship’s hatch in pursuit he ends up captured along with Hikaru, Minmay, Misa, and Kaifun.

Don’t change, Misa.

My thoughts exactly Claudia.

Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to stop ‘making culture’ inside the club.

DYRL Hikaru is apparently an idol otaku.

Very similar to Minmay’s (CRAZY) fantasy from an early episode of the series.

Making the two seater Valkyrie a trainer makes more sense than the arbitrary seating arrangements in the series.

I’m here to rescue….oh.

Inside the ship they are questioned by Britai and Exedol, who are still shocked at the concept of men and women cooperating. Misa correctly surmises that the two genders are actively hostile to each other among the Zentradi, and when their captors demand a kiss they are further shocked. Kaifun and Minmay have a short, awkward kiss, before the Zentradi get spooked and have the group taken to different cells. But as Misa, Hikaru, and Roy are being taken to their cell, an attack led by Millia rattles the ship and allows the three to escape. They find their way to the hangar, and are almost caught except that Roy tells Hikaru to kiss Misa and shock them into retreat. At first Hikaru is intent on rescuing Minmay and Kaifun, but the attack makes that increasingly difficult. Finally Roy pays the ultimate price buying them time to escape, catching a Qeadaluun Rae in his Valkyrie’s arms and shooting into it, but also into himself. Just as Hikaru and Misa’s Valkyrie is close to Minmay and Kaifun’s cell, the ships starts folding and the two in the cell are left behind while the VF-1 gets tossed back to the devastated Earth.

The Zentradi certainly brought in a good haul.

I’m not really so fond of the men and women fighting each other approach in DYRL. I though the separation was a better idea, with the Supervision Army and whatever else might be lurking out there as the Zentradi’s main enemies.

Awkward kiss is awkward. Also, I’m not sure if not enough Kaifun to hate is a good or bad thing.

Sound advice, even if it got Hikaru slapped.

Elsewhere Millia is making short work of the defending male Zentradi.

Not quite as GAR as in the series, but he had a good run given his short time in the movie. Nice Kamjin cameo as the pilot who he takes with him.

At first Hikaru and Misa don’t know what planet they’re on when they defold, and they wander a cratered desert until they come upon the wreck of the Prometheus after Misa takes momentary control of the VF-1 and crashes it rather than sit and wait as Hikaru wanted.  After raiding it for what canned food remains, Misa has Hikaru fly around to various places looking for any survivors, but they find none. Hikaru is a bit of a jerk for a moment when he sarcastically suggests going all over the world when it’s clear that nothing remains, but he chills out pretty quickly as the two find a place to set up a tent. At night the two talk, and Misa confesses that she feels powerless in her situation ever since the Earth was effectively destroyed. Both of them take some comfort from talking with the other, but Misa is momentarily shocked to see Hikaru’s handkerchief is signed by Minmay. Still, both of them manage to get themselves together a bit and get some sleep.

More cool cockpit shots, this time panning across the ruined landscape.

Ugh, I don’t blame her for refusing to eat it at first. Hikaru mentions that it’s safe to eat since it’s been through a radiation neutralizer. This was the first point that I started to see the undercurrent of anti-nuclear messages in the movie. The series never mentioned any radiation from the Zentradi weapons. Personally, I think stuff like this is kind of preachy since it wasn’t an integral part of the material, but I’ll let it slide since the movie was made during the last decade of the Cold War when nuclear weapons were still a probable threat.

Though of less consequence than the scarf in the series, Minmay’s name on something may as well be the Mark of the Beast.

The next day Hikaru and Misa are out scouting around when they notice an odd tower sticking out of the ocean. Landing on it, they find inside an ancient-looking set of computer consoles, designed for miclones. The computer starts relaying a message to them, and Misa knows enough of the Zentradi language to figure out some of what it’s saying. Apparently it was part of a colony ship that came to Earth and built a city thousands of years ago. But before she can get more answers it diverts its remaining power to raising the city. From out of the water come a huge city, built by the Protoculture. While exploring the city Misa gets a little crazy and starts playing house with the plates and cups left in one of the ruined homes. It’s very odd, but then she snaps out of it and starts crying, but is comforted by Hikaru and the two kiss. To be honest, as much as I prefer Misa to Minmay in personality, both in the series and DYRL, the way the relationship between Misa and Hikaru started felt lacking to me. If I had only ever seen the movie, I might have felt that it didn’t make sense for them to get so close without much in the way of relationship development. Some time later, in the morning, they hear a rumbling and find the Macross descending on the city. Once they’re back aboard, they make their report to Capt. Global, and inform Claudia about Roy. While I understand the writer/director’s reasons for it, I did miss Claudia in the movie and this is one of the few scenes that she’s in.

That’s a lot of time, something which, if canon, I hope is expanded upon in later series.

I need no reason to include more Misa images!

What a sight to come home to! If only it wasn’t caused by a momentary lapse in sanity.

Cute, but kind of lacked for development leading up to it. Still, MISA FOREVER!!!

Misa coming out of their shelter while zipping up her shirt? Bow chicka wow wow! Hikaru, you ladykiller you.

The battle-worn Macross descends on the ruined city. Wonder if the writers were trying to work in the Atlantis myth into the Macross universe.

EO’s ‘Daaawwww of the week movie.’

Global didn’t have much screentime in the movie version, but there was this cool camera angle when Misa and Hikaru were giving their report.

Even with few lines, Claudia managed to have presence in DYRL.

There isn’t much time to rest back onboard the Macross though. A female Zentradi cruiser defolds near the ship and launches battlepods, prompting the Macross to launch its own fightercraft. Skull Squadron leads the way for the humans, with Millia in command of the opposing forces. Kakizaki gets shot down in the opening moments of the fight, while Max engages in an amazing bit of ace combat against Millia, fighting her in the air and chasing her back to her mothership, continuing the fight as a brutal, close quarters slugfest. HELL YEAH! This is exactly the kind of epic fighter/mecha duel I was hoping for in the series. While Max had his share of great battles, none were really all that satisfying to me. This, on the other hand, was just what I was looking for. After pursuing Millia into the ship it folds as a male Zentradi fleet approaches, huge fortress in tow. The male Zentradi ask to start peace negotiations, though this is just a ruse to try and complete an old Protoculture song for use against the female Zentradi.

Another cool cockpit shot. They may not have been as creative as the series was visually, but they certainly did a good job making you feel like you were there inside a Valkyrie.

Poor guy, taken out by a stray shot, though not all deaths are glorious.

What a fight! The constantly turning and anticipating each other’s moves in the air, then the desperate close quarters fighting inside the ship, it was perfect!

Max’s first face to face meeting with his future wife, as the two emerge from their battered mecha after their duel.

The Genshiken Team makes an appearance, though bald this time.

Yes, series Minmay would know all about saying things she doesn’t mean…only to regret it later.

Now that the male Zentradi fleet is feigning peace with the Macross, Minmay and Kaifun are released back to their home. A reunion ceremony is held for her, and Hikaru and Misa are the special guests. She had apparently requested to see them after they were separated during the fold, but it turns into something other than what she expected. In the meanwhile Misa and Hikaru have become a couple, and despite past feelings Hikaru now turns towards Misa when Minmay hugs him. It’s a big shock to her, though I have to compliment DYRL Hikaru for not wavering once he made up his mind. Later on, Hikaru is visited by Minmay when he was just about to take down his Minmay poster (again, it’s a nice touch referencing all these series elements), and she hugs him from behind while he’s pouring coffee, just in time for Misa to come in having translated the lyrics for the old Protoculture song. There’s a moment that would have resulted in several episodes of confusion and hurt feelings had this been the series, but Hikaru quickly explains the misunderstanding to Misa. Minmay is understandably heartbroken to finally confront Hikaru’s feelings, and runs off. When Hikaru and Misa are alone, he explains to her that he knew as soon as he got back to the Macross and saw Minmay’s videos playing that he knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, not Minmay. He more or less proposes to her, and she starts crying True Tears of happiness before embracing him. The series had to stretch the conflict out, but I really liked the quick, clear resolution to the love triangle in DYRL. It felt more real to me, and both Hikaru telling Misa how he felt and her reaction were sweet in a believable way.

The thing is, I actually feel bad for Minmay in DYRL. My allegiance to Misa is forever, but Minmay is so much more likable and a much better person in the movie version.

You put up a much better effort in DYRL, but even that pales before the power of Misa.

Misa with a surprised, but somewhat K-ON looking facial expression.

You gave it your best shot Minmay.

Though I prefer the series in most respects, DYRL really did this scene well. It also helps that it was late enough in the movie that I didn’t have to worry about Hikaru getting wishy-washy unlike the last few episodes of the series.

As before, happiness is quickly interrupted as a female Zentradi fleet with its own fortress defolds in Earth orbit and the male Zentradi decide to engage them and the Macross since the Song of Ultimate Power is still incomplete. All Valkyries are scrambled, but Hikaru must first get the lyrics to Minmay so the Zentradi can LISTEN TO HER SONG and allow the Macross to carry the day. With the battle raging outside, Hikaru runs as fast as he can with the lyrics, finding Minmay at a bench near an observation window, a place they had previously spent time together. She’s still distraught and doesn’t want to sing something translated by her victorious rival, though Hikaru tries to convince her otherwise. She does descend, briefly, into something more like series Minmay or, dare I speak the Great Traitor’s name, Ranka Lee. She starts saying that the fighting has nothing to do with her and wishes that everyone but her and Hikaru would die. So Hikaru gives her a Bright Slap to shake her of such disgustingly selfish thoughts and after recovering she comes to her senses and resolves to sing. If it were just DYRL Minmay, I’d feel bad for her put acknowledge the necessity of it during a moment of imminent danger. But knowing what Minmay was like in the series made The Superdimensional Slap enjoyable.

Girl pilot running with toast in mouth.

Female Zentradi main force, possibly reinforced by Zeon aces.

I would put the mushroom clouds up to just the size of the impacts, but given the other hints at ‘nukes are bad’ in the movie I think this was in line with the writer or director’s message. Man, I’m glad I was only alive for the last few years of the Cold War. Except for where they intersect terrorism, the threat of nuclear weapons seems almost fictional now.

So you can live to mope about it?

The world should just break, right Minmay? Wish Mirai would have gotten slapped too, oh wait, something worse and karmic happened to her!

Thank you online animated gif maker!

Post-return to sanity, Minmay decides to sing that famous song for the first time in centuries.

The fight moves to Earth orbit as the two fleets slug it out and the Macross gets caught in the middle. Bodollza even fires his fortress’ main cannon through his own fleet to attack his enemies, killing Laplamiz and destroying her fortress. But the tide turns when Minmay starts singing, with Britai the first to move to the defense of Protoculture culture. More ships join the Macross in attacking the remaining fortress, some beaching themselves on its exterior to fire point blank at it. Even Millia joins the attack, with Max in another Queadluun Rae beside her, apparently macronized to be able to pilot the craft. Both sides are taking heavy damage, but the Macross and its allied fleet presses onwards and loses no momentum as it advances. Luckily for them, the fortress’ main canon was only able to fire once due to damage it had taken earlier.

The Macross, with its main cannon disabled, heads towards the remaining fortress. Not quite the ‘last flight of the SDF Macross’ from the series, but pretty cool nonetheless.

Minmay at her finest.

Still not liking that deformed look for some of the Zentradi, but Britai remains as cool as ever.

Love and teamwork!

Pretty sweet reflection shot as Hikaru suppresses the fortress’ external defenses.

Minmay continues singing ‘Ai Oboetemasu ka’ as the preparations are completed for the final strike. Hikaru launches in a specially equipped Super Valkyrie for the heart of the fortress: Bodollza, who is hardwired directly into it. Hikaru makes a high speed run for the interior of the structure, dodging enemy fire along the way. In the central chamber, he appears before the huge screen showing Minmay’s singing, in one of those definitively Macross moments. I could definitely see the echoes of it in the last episode of Frontier, now that I’ve seen the original. Bodollza and the fortress meet a quick end once Hikaru gets to the central chamber, and as the fortress starts disintegrating Hikaru returns to the Macross, the humans and allied Zentradi victorious. On the bridge, Minmay finishes her singing and exchanges some knowing glances and nods with Misa. The bridge bunnies immediately start taking a deserved break, and Claudia asks Misa about the song. Apparently it was just an ordinary love song to the Protoculture, but its power was clearly shown, and the power of song in the Macross universe is reinforced by the last shots in the movie, of Minmay on stage preparing to sing.

I liked how they contrasted the similar shot at the beginning where the two were arguing, to this shot right as Hikaru leaves for the final mission.

There were some neat visuals near the end here, like this one showing the pilot and the singer working together.

Another cool one, this one rapidly alternating between the two characters before finally centering on Hikaru during his attack run.

Combination of boom headshot and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

War’s over, time for a nap.

Another war has come to a close. Both (at least in the movie) were worthy, but there can be only one!

In the Macross universe, songs aren’t just songs.

Final Thoughts: – What struck me the most about changes in the movie was in how the love triangle was done. Minmay was actually a likable person and didn’t act so indecisive and selfish, apart from one moment. And Misa seemed to not have been given enough time to show the audience why she should have won, just that she was also a nice, likable person. It almost seemed like the writers felt bad for making Minmay so easy to hate in the original series and wanted to rewrite her to make her a sympathetic character.

- The visual style was really great in some ways, though really not my style in others. The very detailed mecha and human characters were very nice to look at. But the mutated organic style for the Zentradi (apart from Millia) and their ships was not a good choice in my view. While I know that that was a popular style/design theme in the 1980′s and early 1990′s, they’re Zentradi not Supermutants! If the Protoculture was so good at genetic engineering they could have made it so that such abnormalities didn’t occur.

- Lots of nods to the original series was definitely welcome for someone who has watched it. The poster, the tuna, Kakizaki calling Max a genius, I really appreciated all those little bit of detail.

- All in all, it was a fun movie, and I enjoyed it as part of the Macross experience. I prefer the series by far, but DYRL did a few things even better. Max’s duel with Millia and Hikaru’s confession of his feelings to Misa were superbly done.

Special: The Macross Meal – Dishes from or inspired by Macross

Some time ago, when I was still early on in my viewing and blogging of Macross, I though about eventually making a Macross Meal to celebrate the end of the series given the amount of significant foods. Supplied with a list of popular Nyan Nyan dishes listed in My Fair Minmay by Yot-chan, I set out to make a multi-course meal worthy of the series. So here’s six dishes from or inspired by the show. Recipes can be provided upon request, just email me at executiveotaku AT yahoo DOT com. Since the Nyan Nyan dishes are Chinese style food, which I have little experience with, I had fun trying out some new things. Some of it wasn’t too different from Japanese food (indeed, Nyan Nyan is a very Japanese-style Chinese restaurant), so I used what I know from that kind of cooking as a base.

The meal (all but one dish that I forgot to put on the table before the eating started.)

Tuna sushi, for the giant frozen, floating Space Tuna. Bought this one, I don’t trust myself enough with raw stuff.

As per My Fair Minmay, Shooting Star Pork Fried Rice. Pretty much regular pork fried rice, but with a shooting  star of Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce on top.

Another My Fair Minmay listed dish, Dynamite Ramen. I couldn’t think of anything that looked like a stick of dynamite and would work with ramen, so I made it extra spicy to earn the name. Toppings were fried beef (pork would work too), enoki mushrooms, and chopped scallions. Primary spices were garlic, ground cayenne pepper, goma rayu (hot sesame chili oil), and a little Sriracha sauce.

The final Nyan Nyan dish that I made, the Five Ingredient Parfait (though technically I have nine if you count the toppings, I just counted the layers.) From the bottom layer up I had: crushed chocolate cookies, vanilla ice cream, blueberries, more vanilla ice cream, lingonberries, and strawberry ice cream. Then topped it with a few strawberries, a cookie straw, a little dark chocolate syrup, and a chocolate covered cherry.

Kakizaki’s last meal, teppanyaki Pepper Lunch-style sirloin steak. Ever since seeing Kakizaki’s last meal before his tragic death, I’ve been on something of a personal quest to replicate the Pepper Lunch meals that I loved so much when I lived in Tokyo. I went out and bought the cast iron pan and began looking for ways to recreate the honey brown sauce and their distinct blend of pepper. Eventually I managed to get it right. I used two kinds of pepper on the meat and vegetables, and for the sauce I mixed worchester sauce, honey, and a little bit of soy sauce.

Speaking of tragic, I saved the best for last: the infamous Pineapple Salad! Very easy to make, and you can add whatever kind of fruit you want to it. Drizzle some honey over top if you want it extra sweet. Just don’t let your significant other make it for you, especially if you’re a pilot.