Oh Macross, It’s Just a Popular Song, of Course it Was a Love Song: Do You Remember Love?

Now to the real anniversary post! It’s been over one year of blogging here at We Remember Love, and it kind of bugs me that our first post is not a Macross one. I think it is only fitting that we do the show this blog is named after, Macross: Do You Remember Love?

While nowhere as divided or polarized as opinions are regarding smash hits such as Neon Genesis Evangelion and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, quite the opposite: the anime as well regarded and loved. However, among fans of the franchise as a whole Macross: Do You Remember Love? does have differing reactions. Granted, I only sampled an extremely limited population but it is important I feel to note the reasons.

• Outside of the great final song and animation, it did a poor job on the story.
• The plot can be bothersome in that it brushes the weaker parts of the characters under the rug.
• Here are mine [->]

There is an overwhelming amount of praise for the animation, and this is merited. But I think it all comes together  in conjunction with the performance of the titular song, in one of the more remarkable sequences in animation:  Ai oboete imasu ka? probably the most representative 10 or so minutes of the franchise as a whole.

I’m as awed by it as I’ve every been. I have this practice: When I rewatch the original TV series (my preferred narrative), I play the scene from the clip above in a way something like a replacement for the sequence in the TV series. Only not really. I play both and suffer an embarrassment of riches at what continuity to follow.

My synthesis: The battle could not have concluded in the space of a single song, so I hack my experience of the narrative by supposing that there is a full concert featuring all the songs in her repertoire, with Ai oboete imasu ka? as the finale. Sure there are obvious continuity incompatibility issues (Max and Millya: they were part of the Macross forces, and not the Meltrandi — I still wonder at Max being grown into Zentran size and piloting a blue Queadluun-rea), but it works.

Use different media players for near seamless cuing. Try it the next time you rewatch Macross!

What does the song mean for the different people involved?

The survivors of the Zentraedi annihilation

There are but few humans left, well below 100,000 in Macross City aboard the SDF-1. However, they found a glimmer of hope as the Britai fleet sued for an armistice with the miclones. It would seem that the Zentraedi had some interest in ‘culture,’ though at that point they were more interested in weaponizing the song: a recorded melody from Protoculture archeology.

They would use this as a weapon against the Meltrans.  However, during the pitched battle Bodolle Zer himself freaked out by the effects of ‘culture’ on both Meltran and Zentran that he opened fire, damaging friendlies and destroying Laplamiz. Britai then rallied all the remaining Meltran to join the Zentran under his command to defend the SDF-1 and assist it in assaulting Bodolle Zer’s battle station directly.

Over 1,000,000 capital ships and countless mecha were involved in this pitched battle. It was a strategic mess, and tactically absurd, but man oh man it was pretty. Ai oboete imasu ka? saved humanity from extinction.

Okay, this image is from Macross Zero but meta-retcon is a Macross kind of cheese. I don’t mind as much, go figure.

The Protoculture, who loved to love, and that is their culture

Who knows, really? Misa did say it was just a love song that became popular. I don’t know how she could have found that out. Perhaps the edition of the lyrics, unless it’s some kind of encyclopedia entry which had information on its position on music charts, sales relative to other music, and other relevant data. It’s much to ask from the fragment she found, but it’s not really worth thinking too hard about.

Ai oboete imasu ka? c/o Anime Lyrics:

Original / Romaji Lyrics	English Translation
Ima anata no koe ga kikoeru "Koko ni oide" to Samishisa ni makesouna watashi ni Ima anata no sugata ga mieru Aruite kuru Me wo tojite matte iru watashi ni	Right now, I hear your voice saying "Come here to me." Just when it seemed loneliness had beaten me. Right now, I see you walking over to me. I close my eyes and wait for you to come.
Kinou made namida de kumotteta Kokora wa ima...	Till yesterday, it seemed filled only with tears. But now my heart is
* Oboete imasu ka me to me ga atta toki wo Oboete imasu ka te to te ga fureatta toki Sore wa hajimete no ai no tabidachi deshita I LOVE YOU SO	* Do you remember? The time when our eyes first met? Do you remember? The time when our hands first touched? That was the very first time I set out on the journey of love. I love you so.
Ima anata no shisen kanjiru Hanaretetemo Karada-juu ga atatakaku naru no Ima anata no ai shinjimasu Douzo watashi wo Tooku kara mimamotte kudasai	Right now, I can feel your gaze though you're not here with me. And in my body a warmth begins to glow. Right now, I believe in your love, so won't you please watch over me from so far away?
Kinou made namida de kumotteta Sekai wa ima...	Till yesterday it seemed filled only with tears. Now the world is...
Repeat *	Repeat *
** Mou hitoribotchi ja nai anata ga iru kara...	** I'm not alone anymore now that you're here with me.
Repeat *	Repeat *
Repeat **	Repeat **

I can’t help but think, as a point of reference, of a very early Beatles song. Actually, I can imagine it as a lover’s response to Paul McCartney singing All My Loving:

close your eyes and i’ll kiss you,
Tomorrow i’ll miss you;
Remember i’ll always be true.
And then while i’m away,
I’ll write home ev’ry day,
And i’ll send all my loving to you.

I’ll pretend that i’m kissing
The lips i am missing
And hope that my dreams will come true.
And then while i’m away,
I’ll write home ev’ry day,
And i’ll send all my loving to you.
All my loving i will send to you.
All my loving, darling i’ll be true.

In this track I see a message, as if written as a letter (in the tradition of P.S. I Love You). There is an invitation to remember fond memories. There is a request to wait, to hold on, until the lover returns. In DYRL? it seems that the lover has returned, hence the declaration “I’m not alone anymore.” It’s like the lover has returned, and is welcomed by memories of how the love began. Do you remember love?

Lastly, worth noting, is the repetitive sections that serve somewhat similar purposes in the song. It is interesting to note the wistfulness and perhaps melancholy in both, while differing in that All my loving is a faster tune with an upbeat rhythm and DYRL? is a slow ballad. Now I’m not comparing these two songs as if I’m judging for the Grammy Awards. My point here is that both are love songs that became popular (though All My Loving peaked at #45 in the US Billboard charts, and Misa didn’t quantify the popularity for DYRL?). As for ordinary, I’m not sure I want to trust Misa as a music critic but let’s assume she’s correct. All My Loving, from the standpoint of comparing it to the rest of The Beatles discography (not even the most popular love songs, or most acclaimed love songs by other artists) is arguably ordinary.

Again to make it clear, I’m not saying Minmay = The Beatles. That’s not the point at all, so check your indignation. My paddle never even went anywhere near your butts so don’t hurt yourselves.

The Zentraedi, and Meltrandi, Deculture! They Remembered Love.

The race, even in its altered form here in DYRL? retains the traits that this is a genetically mass-produced race of clones. They are bred/programmed to know nothing but warfare. The conceit in the narrative is that the Zentran (to use a catchall for male and female factions) are so finely attuned to combat, that they are wholly without ‘culture.’ They have no reproductive instinct, and therefore no driving need to form relationships outside their command structure. I hesitate to say that there is even ‘friendship’ among them, although there are signs that point towards camaraderie. Loyalties that can be construed as fraternal ‘love’ can be argued to exist, but in DYRL? it is anathema, or even ‘deculture’ (disgusting, abominable — as used in the film) to even conceived anything less than enmity between males and females.

That said, there is neither yaoi nor yuri fodder in the depiction of these aliens. Love in our sense, as humans have the concept integral to our culture throughout time, is absolutely foreign to them. Now, since the genetic makeup of both Zentrans and humans (miclones) are nearly identical, and are descended from the Protoculture, Britai and Exsedol arrive at they too must have had culture, or at least they appropriate the culture of their ancestors.

When Minmay sang the song of the Protoculture,  all Zentrans on a genetic level, literally ‘remembered love.’  At some point, Britai just said fuck it, we want culture, we want this love thing and won’t think twice about killing fellow Zentran to get our hands on it. They killed each other for love, but life is a rather intriguing thing to consider in the context of Zentran thinking. If the people they killed died fighting, their values indicate that the deaths were good ones and the killers honor their victims by fighting them.

Hikaru, Loverboy, Hero

The song got him to deliver the killing blow to the hostile Zentrans, that is, to Golg Bodolle Zer himself. I think this is of tremendous significance to Hikaru as a soldier. His final barrage technically ended the battle. Just as important if not more so, is how this song not only allowed him to do something for Misa — with whom he endured many ordeals (captivity, then the discovery of the ravaged Earth, then being the last humans for a while, then discovering Protoculture); furthermore, it gave him an opportunity to not only get to Minmay, but also give her a way to make a difference.

Not bad work, Hikaru. I’m still of two minds about him smacking Minmay up like that, but that’s me.

Misa, Starship Operator, Lover, Translator

Misa translated what turned out to be lyrics found from the Protoculture ruins she and Hikaru found while arriving at a ravaged earth by the assault of the Bodolle Zer fleet.

Fansubbers and Scanlators, here’s some love for you! Humanity was saved from complete extinction, and culture was brought back to an entire race that lost it, by what is for all intents and purposes an illegal fansub/translation of the Protoculture pop song.

Note the long silent exchange of stares after the performance between Minmay and Misa. Note how Hikaru is completely out of the picture by the and. This is important. This establishes them as characters not defined by Hikaru. The whole thing is superbly done.

What does this tell us? It tears the sides of the triangle to form a ladder. There are three steps:

3. Mechanized might

2. Love and sacrifice

1. Song

Mechanized might is represented by Hikaru; his valor and his prowess as a Variable Fighter pilot. The opening of the final battle was a naked display of firepower from all involved.

Minmay, The love of many, but not of the one

Love and sacrifice is represented by Minmay, who in this case gave up her selfish love for Hikaru to sing the lyrics prepared by Misa, the woman who won him from her. Granted, Hikaru had to slap her — who at that point was spouting nonsense about not caring if everyone else dies, and that it’s preferable that only she and Hikaru were the only humans left.

Maybe she asked for it, but still… RAEG

Part of why Minmay is easily vilified is due to the stark contrast with how Hikaru and Misa felt sorrowful when it seemed that she and him were the only humans left when they arrived on the ravaged Earth prior to the SDF-1. Even as they found love amidst the resignation facing the encompassing desolation, they were sorrowful for being by themselves. Minmay, on the other hand…

But she took the slap (possibly the most gorgeous slap sequence in anime, and certainly the most beautiful I’ve seen), and accepted the contribution of her victorious rival.

There’s some delicious irony here. Minmay singing “I’m not alone anymore, now that you’re here with me” in a repeating verse wistful and almost sorrowful in terms of melody. It’s a perfect metaphor for the state of love and triangle: Misa is the one who is not alone anymore, having Hikaru. The lyrics are translated by Misa, the melody is interpreted by Minmay. Minmay owns the sorrow, and suffers for having to sing the words that celebrates Misa’s love.

The song is the biggest thing. In the very end Minmay raises her hand bearing the note with Misa’s handwritten translation of the lyrics in both salute and triumph. Misa accepts the salute, and joins her in triumph. The victory belongs to the translator of the lyrics, and the interpreter of the melody. And Misa may have won her part of the war, and won love, the final victory of Macross is punctuated by song.

1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4…

ONE TWO!!!

Further Reading

Remember, Remember… The Animanachronism celebrates DYRL‘s 25th anniversary (Iknight 2009/07/07)

Love, for a show that is meaningful for a generation of fans (Peter Payne 2009/07/20)

This show is a problematic (relative) masterpiece by Kawamori, but is one nonetheless (otou-san 2008/12/22)

An eloquent endorsement for the show if I’ve ever read one (Kadian1364 2009/10/10)