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This is the original follow up to the
legendary Macross saga, a tale of an invasion by giant alien soldiers.
In this sequel, 80 years have passed since the great Zentraedi war,
and now a new threat has arrived - soldiers with their own song, one
powerful enough to breach the Minmei defense and destroy the Earth,
which is shown early on in the series as the Earth forces are decimated
by the initial attack, but managing to pull it together to quash the
initial wave - but they were the scouts, and the main invasion fleet
is both plentiful and close behind
Macross II is largely derided by the fan community as wholly inferior
and a bit of an embarassment, so much so that it was officially written
out of the continuity and labelled "alternate universe",
which is another label for "canned". This is a bit unfair,
as Macross II has much going for it, and really deserves more credit
than this. Lets start with the plus points;
The mecha designs are superb, and in all honesty I prefer most of
them to those found in Macross Plus, and they certainly ride roughshod
over the simplistic and occasionally childish efforts found in Macross
7. Based on a "V" style, they're sleek, futuristic and look
bloody marvellous when the battle armour is added on for the space
sorties - in some ways I wish they'd re-introduce them into another
"official" timeline so that there might be some new kits
of the beast...
The Character designs are wonderful too, with Hibiki and Ishtar looking
particuarly memorable. Sadly, Hibiki comes across as a bit of a prat
at times, and my loyalties tended to lie with alien general Lord Feff,
who's a typical example of noble intent personified.
One gripe I do have is with the resolution of the love triangle -
it tries too hard to emulate resolution of the original series, to
the point of being if not farfetched, then certainly fickle. Either
the dub doesn't reflect the true character of Sylvie, or the writers
missed the point a bit and overshot the character dynamic by miles...
Never mind, this is a solid anime and deserving of attention. Nice
music, and in the original Japanese too! At the new bargain price
of £5.99 per tape, it's a bargain too! Check out MVM
for the tapes, or the DVD.
7/10 - Solid, exciting and stylish & deserving of a better
fate.
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Possibly the ultimate Macross incarnation, it certainly comes across
as the most mature take on the series available in the UK, and to
top it all off Manga Entertainment have released a box set!