Macross

Guest written article by Half Enlightened

A legend was born! Nekki Basara will change history in 2045 by telling humankind about his song... Right? 

Macross 7 is a masterpiece, the whole Macross series, as far as I've seen, is pretty great! If 'power of music' isn't an original idea, in my mind, Macross is why: 1980s' Super Dimension Fortress Macross is a pioneer of that idea, transforming jets that are also robots, and the relationship it builds between humans and the aliens. The best part about it, aside from the Valkyries' GERWALK mode (those things are genius and cool), is the slow paced episodes and how the characters are portrayed as human, with all their insecurities and decisions that make sense according to their fears, not everyone is a soldier after all.
If you're say a Gundam fan trying to find another big mecha series to follow, the politics are a bit less prominent here, but still present. The reason why most robot lovers haven't heard of Macross until they're older is the fact the series was localized and changed when it was brought to the west, giving birth to Robotech. I can't speak much about this version aside the fact I'm grateful it also brought the beloved Valkyrie toys to the west along with it. Maybe SDF Macross was an acquired taste... I'm sure there's a joke to be done here about Pineapple Salad, but I'm not smart enough to do it.

The movie "Do You Remember Love?" reworks the SDF Macross' story to function in its comparatively short time with beautiful graphics, and while it's very good, I still recommend watching the original series before it to get some more context on the movie. I think this remains true to most Macross movies, actually.
Now back to our year's star, Macross 7 is a well put together continuation to the series, featuring a whole band's worth of music - a set of characters to match, a funny love triangle, and rivalry between young adults who are trying to understand themselves when they thought they were sure of who they were already. The relationship between the humans and the Zentradi has changed, and the way music is used develops with the series, along with its meaning to the main characters, and their robots' technology.

In both accounts, the anime have provided me with a great time while soul searching in my young adult years, and to the sound of wonderful pieces of music. Really! While I love Fire Bomber's work in Macross 7, all music featured in the series is high quality, and the soundtrack is memorable.
Another worthwhile mention, Macross Frontier, bringing most of 7's themes back, this time with a more theatrical twist provided by our charming main character, the meaning of work, having a direction in life, and understanding each other. My favorite part of Frontier has to be how they make use of Alto's acting backstory to explore more touchy emotions in him too, not only the main girls. This specially shines through in the Frontier movies, which might be my favorite movie set in the whole series, they really leave you feeling like you wanted just a bit more. 

As a personal note, I should get to watching Macross Plus and Zero again. I feel having watched those too early in my Macross journey might have not done them justice, as a bunch of its context flew over my head. Though Plus stands up early in the series, it is short and condensed into 4 episodes and a movie, which might leave some fans asking questions. Even so, I still remember enjoying them too, Plus as a rather intense adventure, and Zero as bringing a lot more depth into the series and history of humanity.