#macross 2

Macross II is a special entry in the entire franchise. As in, Studio Nue who was behind the original Macross series weren’t involved with it. Shoji Kawamori wasn’t interested in doing Macross sequels until he worked on Plus and 7 a couple years later. The only three returning members behind the original Macross series were Haruhiko Mikimoto on the character designs, Sukehiro Tomito as the…

Macross II: Lovers Again

超時空要塞マクロスII・LOVERS AGAIN

(Anime)

Mecha romance musical by Kenichi Yatagai

Era: 1990s

Rating: C

Plot: 80 years after the events of SDF Macross, humanity has rebuilt earth, and has found peace once again, with the occasional rogue Zentradi attack dealt with the Minmay Attack: blasting idol pop at them until they calm down. A new enemy, with their own singing attack breaks that peace, and just by chance, Hibiki Kanzaki, a reporter more of the "snide insinuations", "disingenuous assertions" and "tabloid journalism" type runs into Ishtar, one of such singers, and introduces her to earth's culture.

Length: 6 episodes ~25 minutes

Thoughts: Oh look it's the ugly duckling of the Macross series. A question, beyond "we waited almost 10 years for something new and this is what they came up with", or "why couldn't they get the same team back together", is exactly why did it get that reputation. It hits almost the same beats the series would do: the Spacy can't be trusted, war is stupid and we should end it by getting a teenage girl singing in a battlefield with barrages of missiles going in every direction. Heck, Delta just ran with this idea of the battle of the idols scenario at the start and the key to the Macross victory being actually a defector from the other side, and at least this one doesn't have around 72 characters too many.

Not to say it is on the level as the others, or something I'd even qualify as good. It looks a bit rough at times and the music is a bit flat when compared to other entries (the score is... Mostly ok). The usual love triangle between the leads was mostly implied and only alluded in the end, probably for the best, but like many other things, it feels like it is copying a bit too much from the original story - the civilian starts with the woman in the military in the wrong foot, meets the aspiring idol and have a great time together until they are split up, a high tension situation brings him and the woman in the military much closer, then the trio get back together and the idol sings her heart out knowing she might be defeated at love, but there's a war to be won, one where thanks to the powers of protoculture, part of the enemy forces looked at their commander and said "you know, fuck this guy, I want to hear pretty ladies sing".

So, is it good? Heh, no. Is it that bad? Also no. It's the not-so-secret third thing in between both we thankfully can put things in. Kind of bleh, completely forgettable.

Recommended to: people who had a bootleg VF toy as a kid and what the same experience?

Plus:

Actions scenes are ok for the most part, but also not the most combat-focused Macross.

Minus:

For a 90s OVA, it goes off-model quite a bit