Macross Plus: The Movie

Original Title: same
Romanized: Macross Plus
Literal:

Plot Synopsis

Seven years ago, three young kindred spirits shared wonderful moments together. Now, they've each gone their own way: Isamu Dyson; a wild and carefree daredevil who lives to fly, Guld Bowman; a cold, formal half-Zentraedi dedicated to the military, and Myung Lone; a former singer who now works as the manager for the wildly popular Sharon Apple, an artificially intelligent computer singer.

Isamu and Guld, both test pilots, are reunited as part of two opposing teams vying for the contract to design the new U.N. Spacey Veritech fighter. It's not long into the combat testing before old animosity between the two pilots surfaces, and a violent confrontation between the two during testing is only the first run-in. Things are complicated further when they find that Sharon Apple is on the planet doing a concert, bringing Myung with her. Though they have all changed over the years, Isamu and Guld's feelings for Myung still run deep, but there is a dark secret from their past that continues to drive them apart.

Quick Review

Rating: 5 / 5
Reviewer: Marc
Review Date: 2006-07-24

Macross Plus: The Movie polishes the visual and emotional feast of the OAV series into something even better.

Macross Plus takes all the fundamentals of the Macross heritage--strong characterization, interesting (if not wildly original) plot, pop singing, and plenty of transforming robot action--and elevates them to something entirely new. Wrapped in world-class visuals, seasoned with spectacular action, grounded in a rich and emotionally nuanced plot, and backed by one of the most memorable scores of all time, it is Macross Plus is everything you could ask for in anime.

Despite its long lineage and relatively archetypal story, Macross Plus feels fresh, interesting, and is just plain good anime. Truly one of the new anime classics, it is a must see for almost anyone: For Macross fans, for transforming robot fans, for admirers of beautiful art and animation, and for basically anyone who even claims to like anime.

You'd do well to watch both the OAV and Movie version, but if you're only going to watch one and have the choice, make it the movie.

US DVD Review

The "Movie Edition" DVD is Japanese-language only with English subtitles, and claims Dolby 5.1 surround sound. Extras are listed as consisting of photo galleries, and apparently little more.

Content Guide

Some serious violence and mature themes make for a 13-up (note that the movie is slightly more gory than the OAVs).

Violence: 3 - Quite a bit of realistic fighting, plus one fairly bloody scene that was absent in the OAVs.

Nudity: 1 - Sharon's avatar is dressed provocatively, but no real nudity.

Sex/Mature Themes: 2 - Significant mature themes, but nothing explicit.

Language: 1 - Some mild expletives.

Notes and Trivia

This Movie edition, as discussed above, is composed of the four OAVs cut together into a 2-hour movie. Some scenes are cut or shortened to tighten it, the story is adjusted, and new animation added to even out the plot. The most substantive changes, and most of the new animation, come at the very end.

The Macross Plus story is based on the long-running Macross series that began with the original Macross TV series (which was commandeered for the first part of Robotech). The setting will be recognizable to Robotech fans, but differs greatly from later parts of that saga.

Availability

Available in the US from Manga Video on subtitled (only) DVD, labeled the "Movie Edition." Was originally available on subtitled (only) VHS.

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