Anime at first before it became a common norm in American entertainment culture, it was a novelty which revolutionized animation and changed the way we watched cartoons forever.
Macross was the first anime I saw and it's still the best in my opinion; and I will dare say it this show is not just my favorite Anime of all time but it's also my favorite romance story and one of my favorite TV shows in general.
There are a lot of qualities to admire about the show. For one thing the style. The animation is beautiful looking from the backgrounds, mecha, but most importantly the human characters look a little more human. I still feel the animation holds up today in my book, I feel it's a prime example of using animation well and for the right reasons. The battle sequences are violent and well choreographed, the combat vehicles look cool from the way they function mainly the Veritech which is supplied with the options of changing into a half robot half jet, or a full robot, seeing how it functioned I wanted one of my own to drive. The soundtrack is just beautiful to listen to, from the theme song which to me is one of my personal favorite themes in general, down to Minmei's actually songs, they just have a big operatic feel to it.
However the true strength of the show is in it's characters and their drama, in fact that is the real plot of the show while the war with the aliens is really just icing on the cake. Despite animated I deeply cared about them on a human level which was something thats never happened, not that I didn't care about characters in some usual cartoons I watched like "G.I. Joe" but never on a deep level because I always knew the good guys would be alright let alone not much depth. The show was revolutionary in characterization at the time, because they all felt human it was easy to forget their animated. All of them had wants, needs, loves, and development; they physically and psychologically struggle with the war down to their person dilemmas intermixed. Also people die in the show, one character I really liked dies and it made me actually tear up which is something that doesn't happen with me much. You could say the interaction and development plays out almost like a soap opera but I feel saying that is insulting because unlike soap opera characters the characters of Macross are given believable situations, talk and deal with their dilemmas like everyday person would.
This was also revolutionary in developing story arcs which are common now from current shows like "Battlestar Galatica (revival version)", "The Walking Dead" and others. Like the little one with human pilot Max and Zentradi beauty Milia a strange romantic couple whom have fought each other as enemies but this rivalry turned to love, I feel that's a good message that it's better to make friends and significant others then to create bitter rivals.
But the one arc that was the main drive of the show was fighter pilot Hikaru, superior officer Misa, and celebrity Minmei. The love triangle plays out with just enough romance and tension that it actually feels like it matters because of how interesting all three characters are and their development. Hikaru at first is a young hotshot who is a bit arrogant and brash but is compassionate and slightly mature. Misa is slightly older but a beautiful woman who was strong and feisty, has criticism which can be a little unforgiving but is mature and has strong desires in her career but most importantly love. Minmei is a character I both liked and disliked at the same time from her positive qualities looks, beautiful singing voice, fun/funny vibrant persona however her negative qualities are what make her lose points in my book from her immaturity down to being short sighted, self centered and immature.
This romance sort of plays out like a sci-fi version of Jane Austin's "Pride and Prejudice. The relationship between Hikaru and Misa sort of reminded me of Darcy and Elesebeth even in characteristics their uncannily similar. We already know both character are clearly right for one another but the question is when and how they'll make the connection. Hikaru and Misa at first don't really like each other, in fact almost hate each other due to some ill timed first encounters which created lots of misunderstanding. But as the story develops both develops a close friendship, here we already know Misa is the right one for Hikaru do to how well they understand each other; I actually found myself routing for them to get together because both make sense like Castle and Kate in the TV show "Castle", Helo and Athena in "Battlestar Galatica", and well you get it. But like any great romance before true love can blossom both have one obstacle to get past which is themselves.
Super Dimension Macross isn't just another cartoon but one of the greatest love stories of all time.
Rating: 4 stars
