Macross, simply the mention of this name conjures up nostalgia in the form of imagery and song for many an Anime fan. Even now patches, clothing, models, and toys adorning Roy Fokker’s iconic cracked skull Jolly Roger can be found throughout Japan. For many American anime fans, Macross was their first Anime. The series was widely broadcasted in the States, under the name Robotech: Macross Saga.
So when I mentioned to my friends who watch Anime that there is a new Macross series it was no surprise to me that there were some very strong opinions about Macross and the Macross franchise. Yet as differed as they opinions are, they could all agreed that the original Macross (which aired from 1982-1983) is the series by which the rest of the Macross franchise is to be measured against.
To celebrate Macross’ 25th anniversary, a new the series Macross Frontier has been created. The series originally ran in Japan from April 3, 2008 to September 25, 2008 for a total of 25 episodes and occurs in the same universe as Macross Zero, Macross, and Macross 7. The series is available on DVD and Blu-Ray.
The story follows human pioneers who are venturing across the Milky Way galaxy to find an inhabitable planet to colonize. The human angle of Frontier centers about a lone kabuki actor turned pilot (Alto Saotome) and his love triangle with an established pop star (Sheryl Nome) and upcoming pop star (Ranka Lee). The colony and its three main characters face perils and personal crisis through out the series provided by the series’ main enemy called the Vajra (a race of space insects).
The mecha lovers in the crowd will appreciate that all of the mechs have been redesigned for this show and are more akin to those found in Macross Zero while taking the combat to a whole new level. In short, the time honored Macross traditions of intertwining human drama with fleet crisis while paralleling the intertwining of songs with battle is well represented in Frontier.
Many long time Macross fans will really appreciate the homage that Frontier pays to the original Macross in the form of keys songs such as “My boyfriend’s a Pilot” and “Do you Remember our Love” as well as the finely executed inter-cutting of combat and concert. Frontier also has pays homage to Macross Zero in its 10th episode with a factious film recapturing its events as well as Sheryl’s relation to one of Zero’s characters.
Without spoiling too much, if you like what made the original Macross so popular then you will definitely enjoy Macross Frontier since it provides those elements in spades. What Frontier does is it takes the time honored Macross formula and kicked it up a few notches while it pays homage to many of the concepts from the original Macross work. The music is top notch, the mecha combat is glorious, and the love triangle is as sharp as ever. This series has garnered much praise and a positive reception from long time fans and long time naysayer alike.
