The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? (1984)
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Director: Noboru Ishiguro, Shoji Kawamori
Starring: Mari Iijima, Arihiro Hase, Mika Doi
Synopsis:
The last remnants of humanity are locked in a battle with an alien enemy aboard a repurposed alien warship.
Impressions:
These days, it's fairly common to take a popular anime series and cut it down for a theatrical release. In this case, everything was rebuilt from the ground up, so there's a fair bit of rewriting done to make the story fit in the two-hour container. I do prefer the TV series because there's much more time for character building, but we do get fairly well-realized character arcs for the main trio. From the opening shot of the Macrosss, you can appreciate the gorgeousness of 80s scifi anime with a feature budget. Although character animation can be a bit stiff at time, Haurhiko Mikimoto's beautiful character designs are better represented here, so that's definitely a plus. I'm not a huge fan of the redesigns of some of the Zentradi, especially Exsedol with his giant pulsing brain, but this gets carried over to Macross 7, so I guess it's canon despite this film being an in-universe dramatization of the original series.
I find it interesting that the battle of the sexes (quite literal in the case of the Zentradi and Meltrandi) is a main thematic focus, though I think some present-day viewers might get their feathers ruffled a bit (but the feathers of such people tend to be easily ruffled). The dramatic changes made to the plot make for a very different experience than the original series, which makes it far more than a simple rehash. I can't deny some mixed feelings when I hold this up in comparison with the original, but this is a major piece of cinematic animation and a landmark example of science fiction that not just deserves to be seen but also warrants a place in your collection.
Rating:Own It