Macross II

Original Title: 超時空要塞マクロスII LOVERS AGAIN
Romanized: Choujikuu Yousai Makurosu II: Lovers Again
Literal: Super Dimensional Star Fortress

Plot Synopsis

After the great Zentraedi war, Earth has enjoyed decades of peace and prosperity. But now, investigative reporter Hibiki Kanzaki is out covering a huge scoop: "The Minmay Defense," a formerly foolproof tactic that uses Earth's music to confuse invading Zentraedi, might one day fail.

As if on cue, a Zentraedi fleet soon appears on the outskirts of the solar system and attacks, but this time they aren't alone. Commanding them are the Marduk, a micronian race who have learned to use songs of their own to stimulate and control the Zentraedi. Hibiki sets off to cover the battle, and while he barely escapes with his life he brings home a mysterious woman named Ishtar.

A great battle is about to begin. On one side there are the Marduk, determined to destroy Earth and it's culture at any cost. On the other is UN Spacy, Earth's defense force, preparing for a desperate fight with the massive invading fleet while trying to conceal all this from Earth populous. Caught in the middle are Hibiki, determined to let the people know how precarious their situation is, Ishtar, who believes she can bring peace to her race by introducing them to Earth's culture, and ace Valkyrie pilot Silvie Gena, wrestling with her conscience, her sense of duty, and the possibility that this enemy woman's dream of peace might be Earth's only chance of survival.

Review

Rating: 3 / 5
Reviewer: Marc
Review Date: 2006-06-26

Macross II is another OAV entry in the ongoing Macross saga. It is also solid enough sci-fi to be enjoyed by fans and the unfamiliar alike. Although hampered by the Macross premise and a clunky dub, this attractive series strikes a good balance of action, drama, and sci-fi flavor.

The standing Macross premise--pop music saves the galaxy--is has always been rather silly, but Macross II handles it as well as can be expected. The people of Earth never make it out to be more than music, and as long as you're willing to accept that it's the idea of love and emotion that's really doing the work it's not a big issue. Aside from this, the effort taken to make the world seem realistic is commendable. The Marduk speak another language consistently (it is subtitled, even in the dub), the reactions of the press and the military seem plausible, and there are other nice touches here and there.

The storyline is quite good: Interesting characters, a few original ideas, a functional political background, and even some thought provoking situations. Unfortunately, the writing doesn't keep up. The pacing is a little off, parts of the plot and some of the characters' reactions (mostly Hibiki's) are contrived, and the dialogue is awkward in spots. It does, however, get its footing after a while, and even with all its flaws the story held my attention.

Macross II is also a sharp-looking series, particularly given its age. The art has some nice style to it, and the character designs are by old-school master Haruhiko Mikimoto. As you'd expect from him, the classically-styled designs have lots of variety and are pleasing to the eye. They also manage to be expressive without being too exaggerated, although the character animation is a bit rough. The mecha and space battles are, however, smoothly animated, and there are a few outstanding action scenes. Speaking of which, as you might expect from something with Macross in the title, there's no shortage of transforming robots and massive fleets of giant space ships, all of which are well designed (inside and out) and rendered onscreen.

Aurally I can only speak for the English dub, which is very uneven. The script suffers from terrible lines here and there, and the acting is marred by random, awkward pauses. It is possible the halting timing is due to freak script spacing or just plain bad acting, but much more likely (particularly considering how consistent it is) whoever did the editing is to blame. It's too bad, since for the most part the casting and acting are good in spite of the script. Hibiki is a little whiny at times, but if you ignore the odd gaps and occasional clunker of a line, the dub can even be called good. Silvie gives a standout performance, and Ishtar's voice is very distinctive, fitting the character well.

Finally, there's some fine music to be heard, almost a given in a Macross series. The requisite Japanese pop songs (left in Japanese in the dub) are catchy, but not spectacular. Coming a little closer to the alien beauty of the songs in Macross Plus is the song of the Marduk Emulators. It only comes into play a few times, but the eerie, semi-musical wailing not only does a marvelous job of setting up the Marduk, it also makes for a couple of very unnerving battle scenes. The rest of the background music is made up of a well-orchestrated traditional film score that would be at home in a major theatrical movie.

Macross II has a lot going for it: Fine art and character designs, impressive action, interesting story and characters, solid acting in the dub, and quality music in a variety of styles. It also has some major flaws: Shaky writing, lackluster character animation, and terribly edited English dialogue. On balance, it falls short of its potential but is still an enjoyable chunk of space opera. Definitely worth at least a look for Macross fans, but doesn't require any experience with the series, so lovers of space opera might give it a try, too.

Related Recommendations

Note that much of what this tried to be Macross Plus is, so it's required viewing if you enjoyed this and haven't already seen it. Also somewhat similar is Gunbuster; the premise is quite different, but much of the feel is the same.

US DVD Review

The "Movie" DVD combines the set of OAVs into a single disc. It features digitally remastered video, Japanese and English stereo soundtracks plus an English subtitle track, and by way of extras an image gallery, mechanical designs, crew information, trailers, and a music video.

Content Guide

Some rough language, a few pretty intense moments, and a fair amount of large-scale violence make for a 13-up.

Violence: 3 - Not extremely violent, but it is a war story.

Nudity: 1 - Some lean outfits.

Sex/Mature Themes: 1 - Light romance here and there.

Language: 2 - e at times, but not unrealistically so.

Notes and Trivia

Takes place 80 years after the previous installment in the Macross Saga, Macross '84: Do You Remember Love. Note, however, that it was a production licensed by the owners of the Macross series and its production didn't involve much of the "official" Macross creative staff. As such, some Macross aficionados consider it a sort of "parallel universe" story outside the rest of the Macross series.

Although Manga sells it as "Macross II: The Movie," this is basically just the six-part OAV series stuck together without credits. The "movie" label isn't exactly incorrect, however, since Manga did release this version in a limited theatrical run starting 2000-11-28. Since it was originally an OAV, it's of course not widescreen.

The soundtrack CD is available in the US from Animetrax.

Availability

Available in the US from Manga Video on a single "Movie" hybrid DVD. Was previously available from Manga on a single subtitled or dubbed VHS volume, both out of print. Going farther back, the series was available on three subtitled VHS volumes from the now-defunct US Renditions.

As of this writing RightStuf stocks both the DVD and the soundtrack CD.

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