#super dimension

[hardworkandguts]

SDF Macross

超時空要塞マクロス

(Anime)

Mecha romance musical by Shoji Kawamori

Era: Early 80s

Rating: S

Plot: In the late 90s, a giant spacecraft of unknown origin falls on an island, leading to the creation of the UN Spacy, to both protect earth from a possible alien invasion and to rebuild the spacecraft. 10 years after, the SDF-1 Macross is ready to be launched, and in attendance are Hikaru Ichijyo, a young stunt pilot at the invitation of friend Roy Focker, Lynn Minmay, a waitress in a Chinese restaurant in the city that grew around the Macross during the rebuild process and Misa Hayase, a first lieutenant working on the bridge of the Macross. However, during launch the solar system is invaded by the Zentradi, who identify the Macross as a ship of their former enemies.

Length: 36 episodes + 1 film + 1 OVA

Thoughts: And here's one of the big ones. Hard what may have come to the heads of two Gundam fans to think "what this needs is jet fighters with legs and singing", but I'm guessing saying "we can sell a lot of toys and soundtracks" at a meeting was probably it. How they *convinced* them it could work is another issue, but oh boy, does it work. It pretty much defined what the series would be known for in the following iterations - the variable fighters, an aspiring music star with a connection to protoculture (after all, what is music but an universal language) involved in a love triangle and the tensions between the civilian side of the Macross and it's military leadership in what's often terrifying life-or-death situations.

The weakest point of the story is probably the love triangle itself, making it where all vertices are very wishy washy about their feelings is just messy. Extending the story to the aftermath of the conflict also didn't seem such a good bet for this show (would payoff in terms of exploring the role of the Zentradi in the post-war) and probably would be better served focusing on different characters. Animation varies a lot (unsurprising for a show that may have had more than a handful of studios involved in, including very young Gainax), but the action scenes are pretty thrilling and you can still feel the impact they had on the medium as an whole, if only for the "this machine transforms into another machine" thing. Wonder if that picked up.

Might do a DYRL post separately, but in brief it's a condensed version of the story with some changes (Hikaru is already a rookie pilot and Minmay a up and coming star) and outstanding production values and maybe *the* defining song of the franchise that gives the movie it's title. Flashback 2012, which serves as the epilogue to the story, is a video album featuring Minmei's songs over footage from both series and movie and new sequences planned but not directed showing her final gig at earth, as she boards the Megaroad (captained by Misa), humanity's first colony spaceship. I don't think it replaces the series (for instance, it compresses the Jenius - Fallyna relationship to a bare minimum, and their kids appear all over the place over the rest of the franchise) but it allows you to get to the basics of the story.

Recommended to: fans of big robots and idols

Plus:

The variable fighter design by Mikimoto is one of those for the ages.

While animation can be a bit spotty, combat is generally on point. Ah ah missiles go brrrrrrrrr

Asking the important question, can singing save the world, which feels very 80s

Unsurprisingly, the music. Iijima is great as Minmei and this role as a virtual idol launched her career and is what best remembered from the show, but Kentaro Haneda's work on incidental music is incredible as well.

Inconsistencies between the TV series and DYRL being attributed in-universe on it being a war film? That works.

Minus:

Other than the infamous baby tossing scene, the added 9 episodes feel like a complete afterthought and feel the only reason to reignite a love triangle is to change it's shape.

Said triangle narratively is a complete mess.

Some bits of animation were very, VERY rushed.

[theruffiansretrorampage]

[rpgsitenet]

Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Love Stories was out on this day in 1994. A turn-based strategy game and the sequel to Skull Leader.

[hardworkandguts]

And a final Orguss 02 post.

[hardworkandguts]

More from Orguss 02.

[hardworkandguts]

More from Orguss 02.

[hardworkandguts]

Some bits from Orguss 02

[hardworkandguts]

Super Dimension Century Orguss 02

超時空世紀オーガス02

(OVA)

Mecha by Fumihiko Takayama

Era: 1990s

Rating: B

Plot: 200 years after the events at the start of Orguss, the kingdoms of Revillia and Zafran, are on the brink of war, and an incident at the border where a Zafran Armor attacks an aircraft carrying salvaged Armors, raises tensions even further. Inside it is Lean, a kid who has been working as a mechanic who decides to enter a working Armor and beats the attacker. After the death of his employer, he decides to join the Revillian army to help his family, as both countries gear up for war.

Length: 6 episodes (~30 minutes)

Thoughts: Few weeks ago while talking of Orguss, the strange follow-up to the original Macross in the Super Dimension series by Big West I mentioned in passing about how Macross became this huge franchise (even with the Macross II false start), while Orguss only got a mostly unconnected OVA sequel when they decided to kick the tires of both in the 90s, so before going in Southern Cross, the third show in the series that flopped pretty hard in both ratings and toy sales, being cancelled after just 23 episodes, I thought I'd finally give Orguss 02 a go. First thing that is apparent is how this is a perfectly fine looking early-mid 90s OVA, and of course, without those pesky broadcast regulations, by the middle of the first episode, you have people turned into chunky marinara by heavy gunfire. Not a lot of gratuitous nudity of the sexy kind, but I'd guess that's because there's only one Emaan and she's not an old lady at the ripe old age of over 18.

While the story doesn't try to reach for the sun like the original did, unlike so much of the meandering episodes, in here it is very much laser focused. First episode sets up the setting, second episode goes deeper into the inner machinations of the Revillia Royal Court and what is pretty much a coup the oust the moderates who are concerned with starting a war when the country is already struggling financially, Lean following Manning into the Palace Guard and joining in a secret mission to steal Armors from Zafran, and during preliminary scouting he is discovered and has no run from not only from security but a giant mecha capable of destroying a city in seconds. Meanwhile, Lean is held at gunpoint by a mysterious girl on the run from the Zafran military, as she is necessary to properly operate the giant mecha. by the midway point while war is declared and it's not looking good for Revillia who have no answer to the giant mecha, Lean and the girl escape to the border, where he learns her name, Nataruma, and her reluctance to change her hair is due to her being an Emaan, her ponytail hiding the two appendages. Lean hides her with her boss's family, but soon find herself in danger again, as the Revillian army also wants to know why she was being chased, and fearing being caught hiding a spy and feeling jealous, his daughter Toria sets her up to be apprehended by the secret police. While Lean mounts a rescue, Manning is working both sides so he always comes on top, letting them escape, and then working with Perion, the older son of the dead king who had been pretending to be mentally handicapped to avoid undue attention from the machinations of his step-mother. The escape almost fails, saved by a familiar face of the old show, Taii, the gung-ho (if the situation suits him) Muu robot the Glomar crew found in their salvage trips. This sets up the final two episodes, where much of story is explained: After "fixing" the world, some parts still ended up in this dimension, including the Armors, who might be weapons from their future, and the Zone, which Taii feels obligated to fix with what seems to be the cause and solution for all problems in this story: another dimensional bomb which he built over the last 200 years, same with his new body after being shredded while covering for Kai and Olsen and his Armor, the Orguss 2. For that, he needs the help of Nataruma, not just a simple Emaan, but a descendant of Kei and Mimsy (who also got transported), her cross-dimensional genetics giving her unexplained powers, including the ability to pinpoint the coordinates for the bomb. Easier said than done as after another coup led by Pelion has him controlling another giant mecha interfering with Taii's plans and losing his mind to it, forcing Lean to get on the Eva again for a final showdown. If Orguss at times felt a bit aimless, in here no time is wasted.

The OVA doesn't try to tie in with the original that much and is very much a standalone show with references being mostly fanservice you can either ignore or the show will explain why it matters. The Zone is the Space Elevator, and the protectors seem to be Muu robots. Nataruma is an Emaan, although not much is made of that until Taii explains where it al fits, and there's some interesting callbacks in terms of design: Revillia's capital looks like a renaissance era city built around concentric city walls, while Kosmar in Zafran looks a southern european city with it's narrow streets built going up the hills. Only with cars, steam trains and airplanes, and, you know, the mecha. In terms of themes, it kinda feels it's taking it more from Macross than from Orguss (did it even have a theme?), mostly as for a show about big robots, a lot of it seen from the eyes on the ground and the destruction and misery war brings, there's even an incredible scene where after chopping off the arm of the Liboh there's a shot from the ground level of it falling on top of the city. It also makes the user turn progressively more unstable, which seems a very Psycommu user thing to happen. For a show supposedly about mecha, there's not much action in them - Lean only gets to control one twice, first when they're attacked in the first episode and then with the Orguss 2 in the end of the last episode. Manning, the charming rogue, also isn't a pilot, he escapes from his botched reconnaissance mission in one, but as he points out, it takes someone special to fly an Armor, and he's just a guy with a talent for undercover missions, and Lean is a mechanic who just accepted the offer to join to provide for Toria and her mother. Most of the plot revolves around the inner machinations of the Revillian royal court, the little concern for human life the leaders of both sides have, even of their own countrymen, and Lean and Nataruma escaping from her predicaments.

Technically, it's around the same level as Macross II (although with much less wonky moments), released an year prior, but not remotely in the same league as Macross Plus, released one year after with some overlap, which may have made it feel a bit of a relic by the time the last tapes went out. Can't say I enoyed the music as much as I did for the original, but that's certainly a matter of taste. In terms of mecha design, also can't say the Armors are particularly memorable, they're literally just giant bipedal mecha who can't even transform (Orguss 2 excluded).

So, where it stands? It's a perfectly good OVA of that time, and since you really don't need any previous knowledge of Orguss to watch it, it's a fun way to spend a lazy afternoon. It does the thing I love of showing what big mecha fights do to the people who are just minding their business below, and while the story isn't trying to do anything particularly creative, it's a very solid anti-war story.

Plus:

Looks good enough

Some visceral OVA moments

A well contained story in less than three hours

Minus:

Not as ambitious as the original

Hardly great mechanical design