20https://bestanimations.com/SignsShapes/Arrows/Right/rightarrow29.gif https://anilist.co/review/7384 Super Dimensional Fortress Macross was a doozy. I know that doesnt instill much confidence in its quality but I can assure you that the show never dipped into absolutely awful territory. There were times when I was amazed at the show and there were moments where I couldnt help but wonder what were the writers thinking. As a bit of a forewarning: its difficult to go into a show or any type of media really without it being colored in any way by ones previous experiences and notions. Prior to watching Macross I had already immersed myself in the other premier mecha anime series: Mobile Suit Gundam. In fact I spent a lot of time comparing Macross to its contemporaries the original Mobile Suit Gundam as well as Zeta Gundam. Parts of this review will detail how I believe the show stacks up to the aforementioned shows while it will mostly focus on the merits and shortcomings of the show in and of itself. Macross is the story of the aforementioned battleship the SDF1 Macross a mysterious extraterrestrial battleship discovered and refurbished by the military. On the day of its reveal the ship is attacked by robotic battlepods. Caught in the midst of the conflict is the pilot Hikaru Ichijo. Its a bit hard to give the premise without revealing too much part of this being that Macross does a great job of hooking viewers in during its early episodes with a series of revelations that will keep them on their toes. Fortunately Macross doesnt run out of steam as it goes on maintaining a good pace and interesting plot...for most of its run at least. Despite the scifi setting Macross does a good job in keeping its exposition light and interesting. With the Gundam series in mind the presence of extraterrestrial beings and fasterthanlight travel intrigued me and immediately helped make Macross distinct in my mind. It opened the possibility for a conflict greater than the scope of mankind and the show delivered in flying colors. While its not a perfect show Macross is great in that it doesnt offer a boring episode for the most part well get to that later. I never had to force myself to continue nor did finishing an episode ever feel like pulling teeth. Boring is not a word Id use to describe Macross. The music of Macross is wonderful and tracks fit scenes very well. And thats just the OST Mari Iijima as the pop star Lynn Minmay has a beautiful voice and I love her songs even if My Boyfriend is a Pilot is a bit overplayed I guess its Minmays Wonderwall. As far as voices go I listened to the English dub. The voice actors played their parts well and I definitely recommend it. The character designs are simple yet unique and pleasing to the eye. As far as animation goes youll be able to tell quite easily that is an 80s TV anime arguably from a still. This isnt a detraction however. In fact I believe it gives the show a bit of charm. There are quite a few animation errors making a few scenes look quite wonky. The battles look great and theyre exciting. The protagonists planes of the VF1 Valkyrie line can transform into walking mechs similar to how the Zeta Gundam a mech can transform into a plane an ability that makes fights more dynamic. Planeonplane dogfights are a bit more prevalent than mech action but this doesnt make the battles any less exciting. In fact it could serve as a breath of fresh air and can give mecha fans something new to watch. In comparison to its Gundam contemporaries Id say the action is superior to 1979s Gundam and generally a bit inferior to 1985s Zeta Gundam. The characters are also enjoyable and feel like actual people. I was very invested in their struggles their goals and their journeys to achieve them. Even characters that seem like theyll be simply side characters show a surprising amount of charm and depth. I enjoyed Macross story and its theme. Macross leans in the archetypical war is hell category but not nearly as much as a typical Gundam show. In fact while tragedies do occur I felt Macross overall maintained a generally optimistic tone which coming from Gundam is quite refreshing. Instead of detailing why humans are destined to murder one another until the end of time Macross explores the relationship war has in being an agent of culture as well as the effects of culture shock. This combined with Macross focus on music and idols made for an intriguing unique take on mecha and war stories. Despite the faults that I detail Macross unique concept and its aptitude in handling this aspect of the story makes this an anime worth checking out. Unfortunately things begin to fall apart here. Besides being a war story Macross is a love story complete with a love triangle. This love triangle both makes and breaks the anime. The focus on romance is another aspect of the show that makes it both unique and interesting. While many mecha shows have romance subplots few have it as a central focus Macross and DARLING in the FRANXX are the only ones that jump out at me. From the love triangle to depictions of other romances your enjoyment of Macross hinges on how well you believe the show pulls it off. During the first twentyseven episodes the love triangle realistically progresses and the characters act in a way that makes sense. All members of the triangle are fleshed out and no character is explicitly made to be demonized. I say this because I refuse to acknowledge Lynn Kaifun as an actual character. In recent memory no character has made me so vitriolic so irately angry as Lynn Kaifun a...thing thrown in the story with no other purpose than to add drama. Fine love triangles do this all time Im used to it. But Lynn Kaifun is so annoying so smug that by the time the final episodes rolled around I wanted nothing more than to destroy my computer screen in the manic hopes that hed feel it. I wish I was exaggerating but hes just that insufferable. A big part of this is that hes a devout pacifist in a show about a war in which the military is an absolute necessity so more often than not hes whining. When hes not whining hes a control freak. When hes not whining or a control freak hes a smug idiot. When hes not whining a control freak or a smug idiot the onedimensional Kaifun doesnt exist. Things seem to wrap up on episode twentyseven. Both the war and love triangle are seemingly resolved. If anything theres probably one more episode. Maybe an OVA epilogue or something. There are nine more episodes. This is the lowpoint of the show in my opinion. Macross which I previously stated was exciting and interesting now becomes a slog. Its still not awful but at the same time the difference is like night and day. The love triangle effectively resets and Hikaru acts like a moron in order for the love triangle to stay alive. I cannot tell you how many times the other member of the triangle would see the two others at the wrong moment and as a result would run away crying. The triangle just refused to die and it baffled me. Everything was wrapped up so nicely in twentyseven. Even the conflict in relation to the war palls in comparison. Maybe that was the point but it fails to be entertaining which really is unfortunate because the show was so good before the final nine episodes. Episode thirtysix paradoxically feels both too much and not enough is happening. The final battle has the OP theme which while epic I cant help feel isnt earned. Its a bit of a bummer that I finished the review on such a sour note. I did actually enjoy SDF Macross and it has a unique spin on the mecha genre. Unfortunately the final nine episodes really do bog down the show in a way that it doesnt deserve. I recommend SDF Macross though acknowledge that it hits quite the snag at the end. 7.9/10