How to Remember Love: Macross

Here in this page is a collection of assorted Macross-related resources that will help you remember all the love you have for the franchise. It’s loosely organized, but there’s a lot of material within. May your love grow deeper and more fulfilling.

Here’s a concise evaluation and appreciation of the franchise by a fellow long-time fan, in two posts:

The Problem with Macross

My Charging Heart of Love

Not quite a review, but a very well-put together opinion on the franchise as a whole.

For complete newcomers, here’s an interesting guide via Mech9: 10 Things to get you started on Macross.

For those who wish to remember love for specific moments, this post is hard to beat: First Love.

Macross Frontier

Crusader‘s coverage of the series over at THAT Anime Blog was my primary lifeline during the show’s run this year. I won’t comment on his objectivity on his episode reviews because I am simply incapable of objectivity myself when it comes to Macross. I loved all his posts. Here are three great examples:

Macross Frontier 25 (END): Were it so easy… As epic as the ending itself, a lot of flash and torrid writing. I thoroughly enjoyed how we reclaimed the show from the shippers who were the loudest demographic of those who watched it. The said shippers were/are whining at the alleged lack of resolution of the love triangle which to them was the main draw of the show.

Final analysis and verdict: Crusader put forth some striking notions: that Ranka is Kawamori’s troll on moe (I rather enjoyed reading that bit, even as I hurt inside for Ranka’s sake), and a great case for the Alto x Sheryl ship (hurt me some more, will you?). A great, great read.

Sakura-Hime of My Youth: Prior to reading this post, I really didn’t think much of Alto. Now I really appreciate him as a subtly layered male lead. Really good character analysis of an overlooked awesome pilot.

I can’t remember from which post exactly, but Crusader made this excellent observation on how the character of Bilrer represented the success of Zentraedi integration after the terrible war with humans. This alone for me dispels the notion that Macross Frontier failed to be anything less than a nostalgia fanservice vehicle and added little value to the franchise.

Otou-san‘s coverage at Shameful Otaku Secret is a late discovery of mine. I really wish I had known about this during the season because what sets some of his posts apart is that they add something new and different for the fan going through the ‘Macross Experience’. This is something I want to emulate here on We Remember Love.

Cooking with otou-san: This is the kind of post that isn’t quite the episode summary (ep 11), but actually adds value to the experience of the episode and the show itself. And it’s VF cookies too!

Concert scrapbook: Genius. Otou-san you should complete this set! Macross is nothing without the music, and this post creates an atmosphere of memories you wouldn’t get from just watching the series.

Love advice from Sheryl: Another very creative way to do an episode review. Of course it’s not canon, but again it’s an immersion experience in the wonderful universe of Macross, and of course we’re high on that here.

Lbrevis‘ minimalist enumeration of how the series feels close to the end is evident in her observations circa episode 20.

Macross in General

For information about Macross outside Wikipedia, there a number of sites you can just lose yourself in. The most important of which is the Macross Compendium, which is now also a wiki. The articles are still kind of sparse, but in time there’ll be just too much information for us to consume in a single visit.

Something for those of a harder core of Macross fandom, there’s the Macross Mecha Manual. This site is Satsugai. It has detailed technical specifications of every known mecha in the Macross franchise. It also has a Macropedia that explains all the jargon. It’s just too awesome for words. Also, it has a hardcore fans page that has the following:

• Customized Vehicles (both official and fan-made)
• Line-art and comparison pictures
• Line-art animated diagrams
• Fan-made custom Valkyrie profiles
• Fan-made .gifs (you must click this one)
• Pimp my Valkyrie (no kidding)
• Size comparison charts

Perhaps the most truly awesome thing from a fan’s perspective is this analysis on the thrust-to-weight ratio of each of the Valkyrie designs across the franchise, cross-referenced to current real-world aircraft. It’s even in chart form!

What every Macross fan should do is do a pilgrimage to the original Macross Compendium site. Make sure you pay attention to the memories page. Egan Loo is a person who remembers love. He had the most precious fortune of meeting and interviewing key personalities of the Macross franchise during the conventions in the U.S. back in the ’90s: Iijima Mari, Kanno Yoko, Tomo Sakurai, Itano Ichiri (the man himself), Kawamori Shoji himself among others.

Reading Egan’s vignettes, while stunned by the autographed memorabilia almost always puts a lump in my throat. I think of DarkMirage’s interview with May’n recently, which sent me in a fit of envy; but even that is incomparable to Egan’s sharing. Whenever I really want to remember love, I just go there and nourish myself.

If you’ve only seen Macross Frontier, it may seem quite intimidating to feel like to have to go through all this material to experience Macross. Don’t worry, I feel the same way about Gundam. A great way to go about it is to appreciate how many treasures lie in wait for you! I myself have not completed Macross 7. However, Mechafetish and I have agreed to undergo to watch the whole series, in an in-universe chronological order. We call this project the “Super Dimensional Journey of Love Remembered“, and these are our stops:

1. Macross Zero (AD 2008, 5 episode OVA)
2. The Super Dimension Fortress Macross (AD 1999-2012, 36 episode TV series)
3. The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? (AD 2031 or 2009)
4. The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Flashback 2012 (AD 2012, Music Video)
5. Macross Plus (AD 2040, 4 episode OVA)
6. Macross Plus (AD 2040, Movie with an altered ending)
7. Macross 7 (AD 2045-2046, 49 episode TV series)
8. Macross 7 Encore (AD 2045-2046, 3 additional television episodes)
9. Macross 7: The Galaxy’s Calling Me! (AD January 2046, short film)
10. Macross Dynamite 7 (AD 2047, 4 episode OVA)
11. Macross Frontier (AD 2059, 25 episode TV series)
12. Macross Frontier (AD 2059, Movie)

I don’t care how long it takes, or if we end up watching them non-linearly at first. It will be done, because we have hot blood and guts.

If you’re completely new to the franchise and are interested, you might want to follow the chronology above. It’s also good to check out this, and this. They’re not necessary reading, but can assist you in getting a handle on the elements of the franchise.

On a final note, I recommend with all I have that you visit Yakk Deculture. To me, it is to the Macross Memories page (on the original Macross Compendium) what Macross Frontier is to the Macross franchise. It’s a celebration of Macross that is firmly grounded on its tradition yet boldly exploring its frontier. It’s still quite new, but I’ve joined Otou-san (as an Alto to his Ozma) in building another way to remember love.