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Super Dimension Fortress Macross (超時空要塞マクロス Chō Jikū Yōsai Makurosu, lit. Super Spacetime Fortress Macross) is a 1982 anime television series created by Studio Nue, Artland and Tatsunoko Production. It started the Macross metaseries and the Super Dimension Trilogy, both financially supported by the Big West advertising agency.

It was later adapted as the first part of Robotech by Carl Macek and Harmony Gold. It was followed by a theatrical adaptation, The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? and a prequel, Macross Zero in 2008. It also received a modern manga adaptation, Super Dimension Fortress Macross The First. Due to its popularity, a sequel Super Dimensional Fortress Macross II: Lovers Again OVA was released in 1992, although it would not involve many key staff from Studio Nue.

Synopsis[]

Life is out there... and has made the stars its battlefield.

It is A.D. 2009. Ten years of furious conflict and frenzied construction have turned an alien wreck into human triumph; the colossal space battleship Macross. On the day of the ship's launch, a world waits with baited breath to witness mankind's next giant leap.

Hovering above the planet, though, the Zentradi, a merciless warrior race, seek to advance their agenda of destruction and conquest. When long-dormant systems aboard the Macross suddenly fire upon the alien fleet, the ship meant to preserve humanity may become its undoing. A war of attrition erupts, taking mankind across the solar system and beyond in a fight to justify its existence [1]!

Plot[]

ASS-1 at Earth[]

In 1999, a damaged alien battleship de-folds near Earth and falls into the planet’s atmosphere. It destroys buildings in its uncontrolled flight which ultimately causes it to crash in South Ataria Island in the Pacific Ocean. With the threat of possible alien invasion, humanity forms the Earth United Nations Government and their military, the U.N. Spacy.

Episodes[]

Comprehensive Listing of Super Dimension Fortress Macross Episodes

Episode Title Japanese Airdate
01 Boobytrap (ブービー·トラップ) October 3, 1982
02 Countdown (カウント·ダウン) October 3, 1982
03 Space Fold (スペース·フォールド) October 17, 1982
04 Lynn Minmay (episode) (リン·ミンメイ) October 24, 1982
05 Transformation (トランス·フォーメーショ) October 31, 1982
06 Daedalus Attack (ダイダロス·アタック) November 14, 1982
07 Bye-Bye Mars (バイバイ·マルス) November 21, 1982
08 Longest Birthday (ロンゲスト·バースデー) November 28, 1982
09 Miss Macross (ミス·マクロス) December 5, 1982
10 Blind Game (ブラインド·ゲーム) December 12, 1982
11 First Contact (ブルー・ウインド) December 19, 1982
12 Big Escape (グローバル・レポート) December 26, 1982
13 Blue Wind (ブルー・ウインド) January 9, 1983
14 Global Report (グローバル・レポート) January 16, 1983
15 China Town (チャイナ・タウン) January 23, 1983
16 Kung Fu Dandy (カンフー・ダンディ) January 30, 1983
17 Phantasm (ファンタズム) February 13, 1983
18 Pine (Apple) Salad (パイン・サラダ) February 20, 1983
19 Burst Point (バースト・ポイント) February 27, 1983
20 Paradise Lost (パラダイス・ロスト) March 6, 1983
21 Micro Cosmos (ミクロ・コスモス) March 13, 1983
22 Love Concert (ラブ・コンサート) March 20, 1983
23 Drop Out (ドロップ・アウト) March 27, 1983
24 Good-bye Girl (グッバイ・ガール) April 3, 1983
25 Virgin Road (バージン・ロード) April 10, 1983
26 Messenger (メッセンジャー) April 17, 1983
27 Love Drifts Away (愛は流れる) April 24, 1983
28 My Album (マイ・アルバム) May 1, 1983
29 Lonely Song (ロンリー・ソング) May 8, 1983
30 Viva Milia (ビバ・マリア) May 15, 1983
31 Satan's Dolls (サタン・ドール) May 22, 1983
32 Broken Heart (ブロークン・ハート) May 29, 1983
33 Rainy Night (レイニー・ナイト) June 5, 1983
34 Private Time (プライベート・タイム) June 12, 1983
35 Romanesque (ロマネスク) June 19, 1983
36 Goodbye, Tenderness (やさしさサヨナラ) June 26, 1983

Characters[]

Civilians[]

United Nations Government[]

U.N. Spacy[]

SDF-1 Macross[]
Pilots[]
Bridge Crew[]
Engineers[]

Zentradi[]

Boddole Zer Main Fleet[]

67th Glruimual class branch[]
109th Branch[]

Mechanic[]

Civilian[]

United Nations Military[]

U.N. Spacy[]

Variable Fighters[]
Destroids[]
Vehicles and Support Units[]

U.N. Navy[]

Zentradi[]

Power Suits[]

Battle Pods[]

Vehicles and Support Units[]

Music[]

See also: Super Dimension Fortress Macross TV Soundtrack

Songs Composer Lyrics Arrangement Debut Vocals
"Macross (Song)" (マクロス Makurosu) Kentarō Haneda Akane Asa Kentarō Haneda Opening theme Makoto Fujiwara
"Runner" (ランナー Ran'nā) Kentarō Haneda Akane Asa Kentarō Haneda Ending theme Makoto Fujiwara
"Runner" (ランナー Ran'nā) Kentarō Haneda Akane Asa Kentarō Haneda Ending theme (final episode) Mari Iijima

Staff[]

  • Planning - Yoshimasa Onishi
  • Original - Studio Nue
  • Original Cooperation - Artland
  • Series Composition- Kenichi Matsuzaki
  • Character Design - Haruhiko Mikimoto
  • Mechanical Design - Kazutaka Miyatake, Shōji Kawamori
  • Chief Director - Noboru Ishiguro
  • Art Director - Kikuko Tada, Kazuko Katsui
  • Music - Kentarō Haneda
  • Setting Supervision- Koji Kurokawa
  • Producer - Akira Inoue, Hiroshi Iwata
  • Production Assistant - Hiroyuki Yamaga, Akiyoshi Nishimori
  • Supervision - Shōji Kawamori
  • Assistant Director of Drawing - Narumi Kakinouchi
  • Color Assignment - Yui Atsuko, Kitagawa Masato, Yoshida Michiru
  • Editing - Miki Sachiko, Tashiro Masami
  • Recording Director - Yasunori Honda
  • Production - Shuji Uchiyama
  • Production Cooperation - Artland
  • Production - Daily Broadcast, Tatsunoko Pro, Anime Friend

Production[]

Super Dimension Fortress Macross is one of the works that symbolized the anime boom of the early 1980's, which began through the success of Space Battleship Yamato and Mobile Suit Gundam. It is characterized by its unique style that is interspersed with the trends of youth culture during its creation, such as "real robot" animation, science fiction, romance and music idols.

After the first cour of its production, strong fan support and healthy merchandise sales led to the series being extended from 13 to 23 episodes (2 cour and half a year of programming) and later, to 36 episodes (9 months of programming and 3 cours long).[2] Furthermore, in 1984, a year after the end of its television broadcast, the film The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? was released, cementing its popularity.

The major difference between Macross and Yamato and Gundam is that the production crew of the series were very young who entered the animation industry as either fans of science fiction (SF) or animation in general.

Shōji Kawamori, who was in charge of mechanical design, storyboarding, and production supervision, and Haruhiko Mikimoto, who was in charge of character design, were classmates in Keio High School and central to the planning of this series. Kawamori and Hiroshi Ônogi who were the series screenwriters, were also students at Keio University during the broadcast of this work.

Kawamori was appointed as a co-director at the time of production of the theatrical version. Toshihiro Hirano (now: Toshiki Hirano), Ichirō Itano, and other veteran animators were involved in the theatrical version's production. Besides professional students, amateur students also participated in the film's production, including Hiroyuki Yamaga, who made his directorial debut, and Hideaki Ogino, Mahiro Maeda, and Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (Sadamoto later worked for Gainax), who was in charge of illustration and painting.

These young staff brought an experimental direction of "making what they wanted to see" to the entire production, and as a result, shared a palpable sense of the generation with their audience. Additionally, it was Noboru Ishiguro, the series' chief director, who recognized this attitude and sense. This sense would lead him to be the president of Artland.

Series composer Kentaro Haneda and his "Healthy Wing Orchestra" composed the accompanying music such as the theme song, BGM, Lynn Minmay's insert songs, which received the 1st Japan Animation Award Music Category.

Release[]

The series originally aired on Mainichi Broadcasting System from October 3, 1982 to June 26, 1983. It was aired at 2:00 pm on Sunday, as the station was trying to develop a new animation time frame, and overall viewership rate remained at a fairly low average of 6.4%.[3] Ratings took a dip due to issues regarding its time slot. However, Yamagata TV, which was broadcasted at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, recorded a high 36% audience rating.[4]

The series was originally licensed in North America by AnimEigo, who restored the series and released it unedited on DVD with Japanese audio and English subtitles [5]. At first, a limited edition pre-order boxset across nine discs was released on December 21, 2001. Preorders were available on AnimEigo's web store. Three smaller boxsets, each comprising three discs, were released from September 10, 2002 [6][7][8]. Finally, AnimEigo released nine individual volumes. In 2003 Madman Entertainment released a six-disc PAL format version of this edition entitled Macross Ultimate Collection.

In the summer of 2005, ADV Films announced that it would be releasing an English dub of Macross on January 10, 2006. It was later announced that Mari Iijima would be reprising her role as Lynn Minmay in English.[9] To commemorate this, Robotech.com then allowed fans to post online questions that would be answered by Mari Iijima herself.[10][11] Hikaru Ichijyo was voiced by Vic Mignona, the voice of Edward Elric of Full Metal Alchemist and Kurz Weber of Full Metal Panic![12]

The dub was streamed by Hulu in the United States from February 2010 but was removed in February 2013.[13]

On July 28, 2016, the un-remastered version of Super Dimension Fortress Macross became available on Amazon Video with English subtitles.[14]

Gallery[]

Notes & trivia[]

See also: Macross#Trivia

Big West spun off its success to create the Super Dimension Trilogy, which included Super Dimension Century Orguss and Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross. Similar works that had similar concepts followed, such as Genesis Climber MOSPEADA and Megazone 23. In particular, Megazone 23 was produced by Artland and several Macross staff. It was the first blockbuster in the growing OVA genre, and is a historical trendsetter that became the forerunner of the current trend of "Mecha and Pretty".[15] The series also heavily influenced themes that would be common in mecha anime, such as “love”, “peace”, “heritage of ancient civilization” and so on. Countless homages, such as Martian Successor Nadesico were born from this.

The popularity of this series and Urusei Yatsura encouraged the rise of young creators in their early 20's to the forefront as production companies sought to attract these young, talented personnel. Mamoru Nagano, who worked on Heavy Metal L-Gaim stated that he was hired by Sunrise to be their full-time designer because Macross greatly impacted them. Staff were quoted saying, "I felt like it was better to leave it to a young man".[16] Nobuteru Yūki (Escaflowne, Yamato) saw deeply affected by the 27th episode, "Love Drifts Away" so much that it became the catalyst for him to move into the animation industry.[17]

Gainax's predecessor, Daicon Film, was bought by the studio as a result of the self-produced animation DAICON3 Opening Anime, and Hiroyuki Yamaga and Hideaki Kanno came to Tokyo in the name of "Technical Training" and participated in the production of Macross at Artland. After that, Kazutaka Miyatake, Ichirō Itano, Toshihiro Hirano, Narumi Kakino and others participated in the DAICON4 Opening Animation, created as a collaboration similar to the original. The film, which is seen as a parody, featured a VF-1A Valkyrie with a Gundam beam saber and a "Super Macross", which had the Space Battleship Yamato and Captain Harlock's Arcadia attached to both of its arms.[18]

"Valkyrie", which is the iconic mechanical unit in this work, is an innovative idea wherein a fighter aircraft resembling a real aircraft (F-14 Tom Cat), transforms into a robot in an instant. In Aura Battler Dunbine, which started production four months after the Macross began, featured a mecha which could stransform. Even in Mobile Suit Gundam, would also follow suit when it produced Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam two years after Macross aired with its titular Mobile Suit could transform into a fighter form. These examples show how the "Valkyrie" can be said as a revolutionary design that has caused a "transformation boom" in the real robot genre. It is now considered one of the "pillars of real robot animation" alongside "Gundam". Additionally, some writers have argued that the Valkyrie combat helped inspire the live-action film Top Gun.[19]

Real-life artists debuted as part of a tie-up to fictional idols in animation such as Takako Ota in Magic Angel Creamy Mami, Kumi Miyasato in Megazone 23 and Eri Tamura in Idol Densetsu Eriko. The sequel to this series, Macross Frontier, selected a singer for its heroine Ranka Lee via a public audtion, as well as Macross Δ, which hired Minoru Suzuki to play Freyja Wion, all made their debut as artists outside of their respective series.

Finally, by having characters in the series use the nickname "Otaku", a term also used by some of the series' younger production staff, it became widely used among anime fans. There has been a theory that this contributed to the spread of the modern use of the word "otaku". However, Shōji Kawamori, who has once described himself as an "otaku", commented in the Animage, June 2001, that these were merely "words used by generations older than us."

See also[]

Movies[]

OVA[]

Manga[]

References[]

  1. SUPER DIMENSION FORTRESS MACROSS volume 1 UPON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS
  2. Magazine Supplement March 1983 "MACROSS COLLECTION" Tokuma Shoten, page 40 (Comments by Hiroshi Iwata).
  3. December 23, 2007 (TBS) · December 28, 1983 (Daily Broadcast) Late-night broadcast "Congratulations 25th anniversary! Macross is coming back SP!!"
  4. Animage March 1983 Issue
  5. SuperRestored Television Series Macross. AnimEigo. Retrieved on 2008-12-26.
  6. Macross, Super Dimensional Fortress Box Set 1 (eps 1-12). Amazon.ca. Retrieved on 2008-12-26.
  7. Macross, Super Dimensional Fortress Box Set 2 (ep.13-24). Amazon.ca. Retrieved on 2008-12-26.
  8. 3pc Box: Set 3 - Macross. Amazon.ca. Retrieved on 2008-12-26.
  9. Mari Iijima Official Website: Macross (Archived)
  10. Mari Iijima Fan Interview Part 1! (Archived)
  11. Mari Iijima Fan Interview Part 2! (Archived)
  12. ADV Films Official Macross English Dub Page.English/Japanese Cast Information. 04-09-09
  13. Template:Cite news
  14. Super Dimension Fortress Macross (English Subtitled) 1 Season (Archived)
  15. Ryukawa Hikawa "Flow of the era leading to the theatrical version of Macross", "Kiné Shun Mook BS Anime Night Talk Vol. 4 Macross: Do You Remember Love?" Kinema Junposha, 2007, p.139.
  16. Yuriika Poetry and Criticism Vol. 44 No. 14 Special Issue Special Issue" Nagano "Aodosha", 2012, p.13.
  17. "WEB Anime Style" No. 11 Nobuteru Yūki / Senba Yuriko
  18. The name is from the general product publication "DAICON IV OPENING ANIMATION Setting Materials Collection".
  19. Yasuhiko Yanagisawa "The attraction of the Valkyrie's popularity in the United States" "Separate Volume Treasure Island 293, This Animation Is Great" Takarajima, 1997, p. 173.

External links[]

Chronology
2008 2009 to 2012 2012
Macross Zero Super Dimension Fortress Macross The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Flash Back 2012
Production
1982/10/03 to 1983/06/26 1984/07/07
Super Dimension Fortress Macross The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?
TV Series Super Dimension Fortress Macross | Super Dimensional Fortress Macross II: Lovers Again | Macross 7 | Macross Frontier | Macross Δ
Events Unification Wars | Space War I | Sharon Apple Incident | Protodeviln War | Vajra War
Movies The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? | Macross Plus Movie Edition | Super Dimensional Fortress Macross II: The Movie | Macross Frontier Movie: The False Songstress | Macross Frontier Movie: The Wings of Goodbye | Macross FB7 Galaxy Flow Soul: Listen to My Song! | Macross Δ Movie: Passionate Walküre | Macross Δ Movie: Absolute Live
OVA The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Flash Back 2012 | Macross Plus | Macross 7: Encore | Macross 7 the Movie: The Galaxy's Calling Me! | Macross Dynamite 7 | Macross Zero
Books Misa Hayase: White Reminiscences | My Fair Minmay | Macross Ace | Macross Dynamite 7: Mylene Beat | Shōji Kawamori Macross Design Works | Macross Chronicle | Macross 7: Trash | Macross Plus: TAC Name | Macross The Ride | Macross 7th Chord | Super Dimension Fortress Macross The First | Macross F ~Secret Visions~ | Macross Δ Manga | Macross Δ Gaiden: Macross E | Macross Δ: Kuroki Tsubasa no Shiro Kishi | Macross Δ: Ginga wo Michibiku Utahime | Variable Master File | Macross Δ: Girl of Al Shahal
Video Games Super Dimension Fortress Macross (Arcadia 2001)| Super Dimension Fortress Macross (Famicom) | Super Spacefortress Macross | The Super Dimension Fortress Macross 2036 | The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Eternal Love Song | Super Dimensional Fortress Macross II (Arcade) | The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Remember Me | Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Scrambled Valkyrie | The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Skull Leader | The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Love Stories | The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Skull Leader Complete Pack | Macross Plus (Arcade) | Macross Digital Mission VF-X | The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? (Game) | Macross VF-X2 | Macross 7 -Shake the Heart of the Galaxy- | Macross Plus Game Edition | Macross M3 | The Super Dimension Macross: Aiuchi Typing Valkyrie | The Super Dimension Fortress Macross | Macross Ace Frontier | Macross Triangle Frontier | Macross Ultimate Frontier | CR Fever Super Dimension Fortress Macross | My Boyfriend is a Pilot 2012 | Macross 30: The Voice that Connects the Galaxy | Macross Card Fighter | Pachislot Macross Frontier | Macross Δ Scramble | Uta Macross Sma-Pho De-Culture | P Fever Macross Δ
ONA / Short Film All That VF - Macross 25th Anniversary Air Show | Macross 7 Plus | Macross Fufonfia | Delta Mini-Theater
Concerts Macross One Night Stand | Mylene Night | Macross 25th Anniversary Live: Minmay meets Fire Bomber | Macross Crossover Live A.D. 2009x45x49 | Macross Crossover Live 30 | Fire Bomber 2014 Basara Explosion | ANIME SYMPHONY JAPAN PREMIUM CONCERT MACROSS 35th × Macross F 10th Anniversary | Macross Crossover Live 2019
Drama / Character Album The Super Dimension Fortress Macross Vol. III MISS D.J. | The Super Dimension Fortress Macross Vol. IV Distantly Fading Memories | The Super Dimension Fortress Macross Vol. V Rhapsody In Love | Macross 7 Docking Festival | Macross 7 CD Cinema 1: Mellow Heart Beat | Macross 7 CD Cinema 2: Melodious Illusion | Macross 7 CD Cinema 3: Galaxy Song Battle | Macross Generation | The Super Dimension Fortress Macross Inside Story~Macross Classic | Macross Frontier Drama CD◎Nyan Dra Dra1 | Macross Frontier Drama CD◎Nyan Dra Dra2 | Macross Frontier Drama CD◎Nyan Dra Dra3 | Macross Frontier Drama CD◎Nyan Dra Dra4
Others Macross 15th Anniversary | Macross 30th Anniversary Project | Macross: The Museum | Macross The Musicalture | Macross: The Museum ver.2.Δ | Macross Modelers | Macross Blue Moon Show Case in Tokyo SkyTree | Macross: The Art 1982-2018 | Macross Bakuon Film Festival | Macross Boys | All Macross Big Voting | Macross Won’t Stop | Shoji Kawamori Expo
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