Super Dimensional Fortress Macross II: Lovers Again

Trying to be a follow-up to the original Macross series, this instalment was basically an expanded copy of the 1984 "Macross: Ai, Oboete Imasu Ka?" movie, with a few gimmicks thrown in. It was done without Shoji Kawamori's collaboration.

The mecha style isn't too bad, but lacks some of Shoji Kawamori's finesse (expectable). The plot is sub-par and doesn't rise to the challenge. The animation, on many occasions, is disappointing. The English dub is BAD. The Japanese voice acting is ok, but still, Macross II can't quite hold a candle to the original Macross.

It eventually became an "alternative universe" story and is rightly looked down upon by Macross fans everywhere.

Macross II is a great film for any Anime lover, especially those who know the Macross series (Robotech lovers will also find this movie very excellent!).

The music in this movie is beautiful. If you know the Macross series, and remember Lynn Minmei, then you know why. If not, a quick history lesson: civilization makes music, and it is music that won the first Macross war. Throughout this movie, music is used as a weapon, for romance, for civilization... If it wasn't top-notch, this movie might have failed. But it didn't; the music made this movie worth watching alone.

The dramatic scenes are also top-notch. The characters in this movie are nearly real. Certainly, some of the secondary characters are wooden, but it is easily overlooked because the main characters are so believable! The last episode of this movie contains one of the most moving scenes in Anime, but I won't spoil it for you.

Finally, the mecha combat is amazing. It is truly exciting and fast, and will definately get your adrenaline flowing. While the combat scenes are amazing, they aren't overdone; this movie is about a /story/.

I truly believe that if you wanted to see some really good Anime, or are just getting interested in Anime, watch this movie. It will become the measuring stick by which all other Anime is measured!

~Nick~

For those of us raised in a western society, our first experience with the Macross Saga was more than likely with Robotech, the 1980's animation produced by Harmony Gold, linking 3 separate Anime from Japan into 1 long saga.

The Best of the three stories was the fist part "The Macross Saga". For those of you hoping that this would be a continuation in some way of "The Macross Saga", forget it. You wont find out any further information on what happened to any of the previous characters from the original Macross Saga what so ever. What we have here is nothing more than a pathetic love story set in space with a lot of unnecessary singing. I forced myself to watch it all, even though I had to take regular breaks to relieve my boredom.

For those of you who loved Robotech but have never taken the time to view "The Macross Saga" in its original form from Japan, I strongly recommend you take the time to try and watch it. Although it wont make Macross II any more enjoyable.

I thought this movie was very good. Unlike most Anime I've seen, it has a good story and believable characters. The violence isn't gratuitous--every fight scene means something. Also, the songs, while cheesy at times, were infecting...I often found myself inadvertently swaying in time with them.

The only thing that bugged me with the movie was the English dubbing. The main characters were all done well, but a lot of the supporting characters are very emotionless and halting. It got very annoying, very fast.

Ugh. I can't believe I actually watched the entire movie. Where my friends turned it off, I came home and sat through the whole thing. A very bad experience that is made worse by the horrid dubbing. The plot is a cheasy recreation of the Macross idea, but manages to clutter it up with pointless songs and some lame attempts at bringing across it's very trite message of peace and love. The battle scenes are made dull due to the fact that you really don't care whether any of the characters live or die, the time in between battle scenes that try to shed light on the characters is even more tedious.

The movie isn't even officially part of the Macross continuity, which means that it really shouldn't interest anyone who isn't a hardcore Macross fan (and most of them hate it as well). Too bad this is one of those anime that you can find at your local BlockBuster. Go get Macross Plus instead, and if you really must watch Lovers Again, try your best to find a subbed version.