20https://bestanimations.com/SignsShapes/Arrows/Left/leftarrow15.gif https://anilist.co/review/3394 20https://bestanimations.com/SignsShapes/Arrows/Right/rightarrow29.gif https://anilist.co/review/7456 550https://images.justwatch.com/poster/16679301/s592 Two years ago I embarked on my reviewing journey. One of the first works that I reviewed was Super Dimensional Fortress Macrosshttps://anilist.co/review/3394. While not perfect it was a quite enjoyable and unique take on the mecha genre one that stuck with me. While the Macross series is relatively short and straightforward compared to the behemoth I know and love known as Gundam the sequels have escaped me. But now almost exactly two years later Im ready to dive back into the idol mecha series with a fervor ...headfirst into an entry thats lukewarmly received by the fandom. Super Dimensional Fortress Macross II: Lovers Again was created by the advertisement production company Big West who decided to go ahead without the original creators from Studio Nue. Given the fandoms burning hatred for a product that they feel is a bastardization of the source material created due to not respecting the original creatorshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotech it would make sense that fans would be less receptive to it. Another possibility is that with the release of Macross shows by the original studio that take place around the same time the continuity presented in II has been rendered noncanon incentivizing new fans to skip over it. 500https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/macross/images/1/18/SilvieGena1II1.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140125003250 However the main reason seems to be that many just didnt find Macross II that good of a show. Macross II was reportedly quite hyped prior to its release and while it certainly has its fans the widespread consensus seems to be that its nowhere close to being the worthy successor to the original. Macross II avoids the problem of having an infodump of exposition by simply foregoing any and all explanation making for a bit of a disorienting and confusing watch. It would have really helped to have a Gundamesque opening narrationhttps://www..com/watch?v=C7OSeEMxDKE at least for the first episode. Without it a lot of my understanding of the show came from reading a rewatch thread. Ill be nice and give a synopsis unlike the show itself. The year is 2092. It has been 80 years since the SDFII left for the cosmos. Back on Earth for the duration of the time gap U.N. Spacy has been successfully repelling Zentradi attacks using idol music. Owing to its successful military campaign for nearly three generations Spacy has amassed influence its soldiers and leaders obtaining celebrity status. This celebrity culture attracts the prying camera of Hibiki Kanzaki a reporter at SNN whos hungry for the next big scoop. After reporting on and possibly fabricating a scandal between ace pilot Sylvie and her superior he must discard the story and write a letter of apology. Not one to be still for too long he flies to space with another reporter to catch the latest battle. There they encounter a new alien force one that apparently uses song to their benefit. During the battle they encounter a mysterious woman who may be the answer to the secret of the new alien force The biggest praise that I can give Macross II is that it has really good production values. Apparently its series standard but Macross II has excellent music. Its opening is a boppy city pop jam its ending is a wonderful Jpop ballad that I cannot get out of my head and the OST is delightfully 80s. The character designs also scream 80s anime and theyre quite pleasing to look at. Macross II gives me a major feelings of anemoiahttps://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.com/post/105778238455/anemoiannostalgiaforatimeyouvenever::text=in20your20browser.anemoia202D20n.watch20the20locals20passing20by. I can somehow distinctly see myself watching this on VHS. The action is also quite a treat to look at. I wouldnt say it gets my blood pumping but its visually striking which I think is good enough. Ive seen people call the animation stiff but personally I dont see it. The mech designs are also nothing to sneeze at. The valkyries look slick while the antagonist suits are the intimidating mech designs that I live for. Ill probably get the 1/100 Gigamesh if I ever decide I no longer want to maintain any semblance of financial responsibilityhttps://www.ebay.com/itm/1100MACROSS2LOVERSAGAINGIGAMESHMODELKIT/123534862572. While there are problems brought on by the formatting being a short OVA allowed Macross II to have downright immaculate production. The only mark against it is that I hear the English dub is subpar which is par for the course for the time. The subs I used were also pretty bad so hooray for equivalency I guess? The premise has a lot of good things. I liked that Hibiki was a reporter thus allowing for a different perspective from the the pilot protagonist of the original. I enjoyed the concept of a propagandaladen society that U.N. Spacy propped up potentially allowing for a decent analysis of this societys faults and fostering Hibikis importance. I liked the concept of Spacy relying on music to repel the Zentradi leading to them being overwhelmed when they encountered a race that was immune. I liked the varied cast that was rife for exploring. I also just liked that there was an entirely new alien race with its own culture that we could learn about. Its beautiful music and visuals combined with a strong premise with many concepts to explore make me understand how some people can hold this anime dear. On paper its certainly a great OVA. If I did watch this as a kid Im sure Super Dimensional Fortress Macross II: Lovers Again would hold a special place in my heart. At the very least its production and ambition prevent me from outandout hating Macross II. And boy oh boy it should count itself lucky for that shield. https://www..com/watch?v=KO6RQXWBtRkabchannel=TRONELASMUSICAE Macross II has a wealth of concepts at its disposal and its biggest problem is that it doesnt adequately explore these concepts. Lovers Again has a lot of things but it doesnt have many things going for it. As Macross II demonstrates you can have the best ideas in the world but theyre nothing without good execution. The characters feel flat and ultimately unexplored. I barely have a sense of who Sylvie is as we spent very little time with her. The same goes for the rest of her squadron. Hibikis a bit better but only marginally and I dont get the sense of how hes changed if at all as a reporter by the end of the series. Hell if Im being truthful I didnt know much about him at the beginning besides he was hungry for a scoop no matter how sensational. Why is he hungry for big scoops? What drew him to journalism? Id say Ishtar is a bit better with the caveat being that Im referring to Ishtar as she appears on Earth because there isnt much you have to do to pull off being a fish out of water. Ishtar as a whole is as underwhelming as the other characters. What was he life like before? What makes Ishtar special compared to other emulators? She ends up not being much besides a limp Minmay parallel and admittedly organic fanservice. Mash could have been an interesting positive genderqueer character but no like other characters theyre a striking design and a decent proofofconcept. Feff is on the cover as an intimidating presence. And yes his design is badass but he really didnt do anything to warrant being placed on the cover. 550https://i63.serv.com/u/f63/12/93/28/35/741210.jpg Macross II didnt do anything to earn its subtitle Lovers Again which is a damn shame because it really is a wonderfulsounding title. There was a line in episode two about Ishtar and Hibiki loving one another but I didnt see it at all. At the end Hibiki gets with Sylvie despite hardly interacting with her. Like in the original my ship sunk but this time I found myself not quite caring because it all felt so hollow. Ishtar thanks Sylvie for being her rival despite that not being apparent in the OVA itself. It felt like something that was fleshed out in the series bible but not explored in the show itself. And thats really how Id describe all of the concepts. The propaganda angle was more fleshed out in the series discussion by fans than the actual show itself. The alien race the Marduk were hardly explored and their leaders were onenote villains. The power of song wasnt really explored more than surface level. As I said Hibikis role as a reporter was underutilized. Everything being so halfbaked means that I end up not really caring about whats going on in the OVA. 550https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/macross/images/a/a7/M2Feff01.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20180721085624 In the discussion thread I followed someone commented so this is bad right? To that I answer not really. Its certainly mediocre but I wouldnt jump to call it bad per s. Its certainly subpar its certainly messy but I feel its heart is in the right place. In regards to a grade a professor once told me that he doesnt fault ambition and I agree with that. Ill commend Macross II for the things it wanted to achieve it didnt aim to coast by. Unfortunately its short runtime made it so that essentially none of these ideas were realized. I still havent gotten around to watching it but I hear this is essentially the problem of Gundam F91: a product made for an entire series being squeezed into one movie. Its aim and its production make it so Im wary of calling Macross II bad. Its bungling of said aim makes me confident in calling it not good. 200https://i.ur.com/xvOPT9E.png 520https://i.pin.com/originals/71/5c/28/715c2800d652a636cf728134fc440650.jpg Given that theres a tabletop RPG of this Id be inclined to take a stab at the concept myself in an interactive manner. Unfortunately I doubt Id find anyone to play with