Macross Zero (2002)

Fresh and Exciting

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Don't get me wrong, I love anything Macross-related, and this isn't a total disaster: the animation is beautiful, particularly in the dogfights, there's some nice humor here and there, some pulse pounding action and so forth, though the musical score struck me as rather generic and bland, and there's much to praise in the beautifully-realized transforming mecha, that's all great stuff.Alas, the story is goofy and the conclusion is incoherent. Young Buck Pilot crash lands on a Polynesian island that's populated by Aztecs (Or maybe it was Mayans). Excuse me? Turns out the Aztecs were experimented on 10,000 years ago by aliens they called "The Birdmen," and the priestly bloodline in these Polynesian Aztecs (Or Mayans) have the ability to psychically control various Birdmen artifacts left behind, including a machine that will wipe out all of humanity if we haven't figured out how to control our more base instincts (Violence, hate) by the time it's activated. Well, despite what Thor Heyerdahl wrote, neither Mayans nor Aztecs were Polynesian, and Polynesians are no mesoamericans, and even if they were, Polynesia was only settled in the last two or three thousand years and neither Mayan nor Aztec civilization was anywhere near 10,000 years old. In essence, it's just ancient astronauts crap that would play well in the 70s, but is kind of dated and silly now. That notwithstanding, we have the UN fighting the aptly-but-unimaginatively-named "Anti-UN" over control of this island and it's artifacts. The Anti-UN are not given any great depth or motivation, and the characters are not exactly compelling. It's good to see Roy Fokker again, but he's more of a jerk than usual in this OVA, and we get a cameo of Captain Bruno Global towards the end, but aside from that, no one we know is here. All of this would be merely annoying, of course, if the story were good, but the story is not good. It's merely an excuse to show some admittedly amazing dogfights, some cool transforming robots, and a (Typically) hot naked chick. The story is something to string action pieces to, but doesn't really have any umph behind it. It's ending is utterly abrupt and incoherent, and in the end none of this has any real relevance to the rest of the Macross universe. (or, for that matter, the Robotech universe where I think it could probably fit in somewhat easier.) In the end, it's just a bunch of stuff that happened that no one ever bothers to talk about again afterwards, so it may as well have not happened.Many people complain about the hokey-jokey nature of Macross 7. (Occasionally for good reason) Macross Zero goes to the exact opposite extreme, and is positively grim, far far grimmer than the original Macross, and remember the original Macross involved the deaths of 6 billion 999 million human beings in the space of about ten minutes, so it's a pretty grim show on occasion by itself. Everybody in this miniseries is so dour and unlikeable and grim all the time, to the point that it was hard to get involved in the whisper-thin storyline.Also, I found the redesign of Fokker's character to be particularly distracting. Pilots in Macross generally had long hair, and Roy was no exception. In flashbacks in Macross we also saw that he had long hair years in the past, however in Zero he's got a more typical military buzz-cut in 2008. Unless he's wearing a wig or hair extensions (Unlikely), there's no way he could have grown his hair out to Macross lengths in a year or so. This creates a continuity error through the series, and I'm probably taking this too seriously, but it really distracted me.

As I am from the United States, my first exposure to the world that is Macross actually came from Robotech, the combination of three anime titles: Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber Mospeada. While there were some similarities to the original Macross storyline, between the Americanization of the story and the new English dialog, I don't consider that my first exposure to REAL Macross, although it did get me interested in the original anime.I recently had the opportunity to watch Macross Zero, a 5-part OVA (direct-to-video) prequel to Macross. I was just going to watch one episode at a time and decide if I enjoyed it or not. I ended up watching the entire story in one afternoon.The animation in Macross Zero is nothing short of stunning. The use of CGI animation with "old school" 2D animation is almost seamless and there are sequences which will just cause your jaw to drop (Roy Focker's first transformation of his VF-0 to Battloid is a prime example).The story, however, is not as strong. Part 5 of the series seems to suffer from a need for a part 6. Too many plot lines are resolved in the final episode in an unsatisfactory manner. The viewer is expected to assume the causes of some of the events seen at the beginning of part 5 which were not even hinted at in earlier episodes. The story is still quite entertaining, but it just loses cohesiveness at the end.The music is either good or bad. Actually, it is either extremely good or extremely bad. The battle sequences have a soundtrack which just draws you into the action. If you're REALLY crazy, you could even take the battle sequence music and plop into any Hollywood dogfight footage from the past 30 years. It's that good. On the other hand, incidental music for other non-combat moments is sub par at best, especially one of the main themes (don't know the name, sorry). You'll know the one I'm talking about, though, for two reasons: 1) There's a real high note which the singer just CANNOT hit, always comes up short.2) Obligatory naked anime chick in the scene where the music is used. What is it with this obsession with naked women in anime, anyway? This is a series which I will want to watch over and over (not for the naked chick - get your mind out of the gutter). I would even put money down for the soundtrack, although only for certain tracks. Too bad iTunes doesn't have an anime soundtrack section.

After watching Macross Plus, I was very interested in having a look at other anime series bearing the Macross name. Macross Plus is one of my favourite anime series of all time, so I thought it would be hard to top. After discovering Kawamori had made another Macross mini-series, Macross Zero, I was really looking forward to seeing it, and I have to say I wasn't disappointed. At the very least, this mini-series is, for my part, well on par with the Macross Plus series. Both had a very memorable main song that will have you humming it for a good while after watching it.Parts are funny, parts are heartwarming and parts are incredibly emotional and sad. Oh, and let's not forget the fantastic action sequences. The blend of CG and cel animation was interesting, and one didn't intrude too much on the other's turf. One thing though - I really hate the way that characters don't finish sentences, for example they might say "Is that..." or "That's...." etc. This is a typical anime trait that I'm not fond of, but given all the plus points of the series I am more than willing to overlook this annoyance.Thoroughly recommended if you are a Macross fan, but if you haven't seen any Macross stuff before you might want to go over the history of the series by looking at the older ones first. That way you will get the most out of this gem of an anime.

Once again Shoki Kawamori-San has given us something that rivals the complexity and sheer beauty of Macross Plus. Seeming to follow a Lucas-esque trend he has chosen to do a prequel instead of a sequel in an attempt to show us a key point of the Macross 7 series. Spiritia.This strange, mystical, yet apparently inherent part of us all all, force. Stirrings of the Force from Star Wars abound, but you won't be seeing people leaping 50 feet in to the air. Its more nature based. With episodes 1, 2, 3 & 4 out, and only 5 to go we are all still a little confused as to spiritia and more important the 'birdman' alien device, for which the head is running around whilst the body is sat on a Stealth Aircraft carrier. Hopefully all will be explained in the final episode as its set one year before the original series, (set in 2009, but released in 1984.)The artwork and action is amazing in some places, (during fight scenes mostly,) and a little lacking in some others, but overall is pretty good. Better even than Macross Plus. Unlike before however characters are not predominantly Japanese but American or European. An attempt to play to the large US and European fan bases that have had immense difficulty getting hold of Macross material due to legal constraints over distribution rights. Shin is an often confused character, much like Hikaru Ichyjo in the original series, (NOT Rick Hunter his americanised version in the stolen series.) The stories have progressed and are more mature, although still comprehensible and enjoyable by the kids.All in all an excellent buy, if you can find a copy outside of Japan.