Just watched Macross: Do You Remember Love?
Length: 1hr 55min
Rating: 8/10
Genre: Mecha, Action
Prior to watching this movie, my exposure to the Macross saga was limited to the original television series and Macross Frontier. I decided I wanted a change from what I usually watch, and if you look at my MAL, it's pretty clear that I don't generally watch mecha anime. I watched Macross with a buddy of mine a few years ago and enjoyed it, and I heard this movie was good so I gave it a shot.
The movie is basically a retelling of the original series. Humans are at war with the Zentraedi, a giant-like male warrior race whose only culture relies around waging battle. The Zentraedi are also at war with the Meltrandi, another giant race of warmongers who are comprised entirely of women.
The flagship carrier SDF Macross is the pride of humanity, and also its home after earth was devastated during the initial battle of the war. The survivors of earth rely on the U.N. Spacy, the surviving military forces, to keep them safe. Ace pilots fly the VF-1 varitech fighter, which look similar to the F-14 Tomcat, but can also transform into a robot. Both the civilian populace and military make their homes on the SDF Macross, working alongside each other. It's very much the last bastion of hope the earth has left. Because of this, the pilots that put their lives on the line almost every day are revered. In these dark times, people have become devoted to music as a huge form of entertainment, and worshipping pop idols is pretty common. Lynn Minmay is the most popular idol on SDF Macross, and rookie VF-1 pilot Hikaru Ichijyo is her biggest fan.
The first thing that really caught my attention was how beautifully animated this movie is, especially the space combat sequences. Despite being nearly 30 years old, the animation is on par or better than what we're used to seeing today. There's something beautiful about quality cel animation that puts it a cut above, and you'll definitely see it in this movie. The attention to detail in this movie is amazing. Granted, this was a big budget production back in the day, but I don't think they could have done better with modern technology.
That being said, I don't really like the character designs for the movie. I'm okay with the 80s style, but the characters have ass eyes in this movie, and their facial expressions are flat and inexpressive. You don't get much convincing emotion from any of the characters because of the awkward way their faces are animated/designed. Minmay is especially bad at this.
The story was good enough for a movie, but being a movie, there wasn't enough development between the characters for it to be a strong standalone character study. I enjoyed the stories of the side characters in the original series, but they're largely absent in the movie. This is common with movies, since they simply don't have time to include the stories of everyone involved. The story revolves almost entirely around the war and the love triangle surrounding Hikaru, Minmay, and Misa. Anyone wanting to learn more about the Macross universe should definitely watch the series also, as there's a lot of great stuff contained in the TV show that wasn't in the movie.
One of the most important things to come out of this movie is the song "Ai Oboete Imasu ka (Do You Remember Love?)," which is arguably the most famous anime song in history. Minmay sings the song during the climax of the movie, and everything great about the movie comes together in a final 9 minutes of sheer awesome.
I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone who likes anime, even if they're not particularly into mecha. As I said before, I think you'd do well to watch the TV show also. This is an anime classic, and shouldn't be missed.
The movie is basically a retelling of the original series. Humans are at war with the Zentraedi, a giant-like male warrior race whose only culture relies around waging battle. The Zentraedi are also at war with the Meltrandi, another giant race of warmongers who are comprised entirely of women.
The flagship carrier SDF Macross is the pride of humanity, and also its home after earth was devastated during the initial battle of the war. The survivors of earth rely on the U.N. Spacy, the surviving military forces, to keep them safe. Ace pilots fly the VF-1 varitech fighter, which look similar to the F-14 Tomcat, but can also transform into a robot. Both the civilian populace and military make their homes on the SDF Macross, working alongside each other. It's very much the last bastion of hope the earth has left. Because of this, the pilots that put their lives on the line almost every day are revered. In these dark times, people have become devoted to music as a huge form of entertainment, and worshipping pop idols is pretty common. Lynn Minmay is the most popular idol on SDF Macross, and rookie VF-1 pilot Hikaru Ichijyo is her biggest fan.
The first thing that really caught my attention was how beautifully animated this movie is, especially the space combat sequences. Despite being nearly 30 years old, the animation is on par or better than what we're used to seeing today. There's something beautiful about quality cel animation that puts it a cut above, and you'll definitely see it in this movie. The attention to detail in this movie is amazing. Granted, this was a big budget production back in the day, but I don't think they could have done better with modern technology.
That being said, I don't really like the character designs for the movie. I'm okay with the 80s style, but the characters have ass eyes in this movie, and their facial expressions are flat and inexpressive. You don't get much convincing emotion from any of the characters because of the awkward way their faces are animated/designed. Minmay is especially bad at this.
The story was good enough for a movie, but being a movie, there wasn't enough development between the characters for it to be a strong standalone character study. I enjoyed the stories of the side characters in the original series, but they're largely absent in the movie. This is common with movies, since they simply don't have time to include the stories of everyone involved. The story revolves almost entirely around the war and the love triangle surrounding Hikaru, Minmay, and Misa. Anyone wanting to learn more about the Macross universe should definitely watch the series also, as there's a lot of great stuff contained in the TV show that wasn't in the movie.
One of the most important things to come out of this movie is the song "Ai Oboete Imasu ka (Do You Remember Love?)," which is arguably the most famous anime song in history. Minmay sings the song during the climax of the movie, and everything great about the movie comes together in a final 9 minutes of sheer awesome.
I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone who likes anime, even if they're not particularly into mecha. As I said before, I think you'd do well to watch the TV show also. This is an anime classic, and shouldn't be missed.
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