Macross II: Lovers Again

One of my fav macross serie´s for years on end, Though the storyline os on an alternative macross timeline, it shows that , well it was trying to be quite special from the ´macross saga´ and did a nice job to it, but still from many fans it has received mixed reviews, the Minmay attack specially was becoming discarted along with some of the mecha/designs wich i liked , you see big space shipbattles and other known macross related stuff, colorful animation , nice and bright personality , buit some stuff could be done better

Story

A.D. 2089 - 80 years after Space War I, human and Zentraedi are living in ignorant bliss and peace on Earth when a new alien race called the "Marduk" appear within the Solar System. Annoying SNN rookie reporter Hibiki Kanzaki discovers Ishtar, an "Emulator" that enhances the Marduk's combat abilities through singing, while reporting on the first contact with the Marduk. Hibiki smuggles her to Earth to teach her the values of life and culture. Together with ace Valkyrie pilot Silvie Gena, can they find a way to save Earth from total destruction at the hands of the Marduk leader Ingues?

The plot was rather simplistic ... and had the potential to go Orwellian - state vs. individual, censorship and the public's need ... no right to know things! Sadly this was never taken to any kind of satisfying conclusion so while it had great promise it never lived up to its potential. The part that was done well was Ishtar's discovery of earth culture. Overall, the story was Mediocre at best.

Character

Hibiki started off as a totally unsympathetic character, very papparazi-like, but he learned some life lessons from an older war correspondent who changes his view of life. Ishtar is a very well conceived character and because of that the end sequence for her made me cry.

They are surrounded by a largely forgettable cast of support charcters, chief of which are Silvie and Max, the resident ace pilots with little to no character development. In fact the zentradi who is always protecting Ishtar was more memorable than either of them ..

Art/Animation

Dated animation but very little frame reuse. The animation as a whole was decent at the best, besides Hibiki and Ishtar (who has faboulous outfits), the rest are kind of stereotyped and not very exciting to look at. Fight scenes were rendered "ok" not great either.

Sound

Sound was the highlight of this anime. Great songs, some taken from other series (Macross 7 etc.) and some new songs. This was the best thing about this anime.

Enjoyment

Overall this is only something you'd watch for the music and the sake of saying you watched it to finish the series. I might go look for the music CD but I doubt I'd buy the series DVD.

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Written July 30, 2014 5:23 pm EST
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I didn't want to believe it, but the consensus is right on this one: Macross II is mediocre.

Given its lackluster reception, I was actually surprised that this really does feel like a genuine Macross entry. We can even give it credit for being the first sequel and therefore solidifying the themes that run through the franchise: mechs, music, and romance. However, unlike future installments, it doesn't take these elements to new places.

The plot's conflict and resolution is almost exactly the same as the ... original series. A new alien race has shown up, and when offense and singing proves ineffective, there's only two options left: offense and singing. In other words, the resolution is dumb, doesn't make much sense, and is anticlimactic in its unoriginality.

The romance progresses predictably save for one part near the end. The problem is that unlike the original Macross, Hibiki doesn't have Hikaru's charming, innocent naivete. We also aren't given time to see his relationship grow, like we do with Hikaru and Minmay. There's no enticing mystery about whether these two feel the same way towards each other, because it never crosses the mind that they don't. All throughout Macross II, it feels like there's only one possible way it can conclude.

The least-recycled part of the premise is Hibiki's career as a journalist, which is unsurprisingly its best aspect. But there isn't enough time to focus on this side hustle, so outside of the exposition, this and any themes regarding media censorship play a trivial role. It's interesting how Hikaru's perspective is of one kid in the middle of huge events he has little control over; it makes him relatable. Hibiki feels like someone who happened to be in the right place at the right time.

The Variable Fighters are exactly the same as they were in the first Macross. When a new unique machine named the Metal Siren appears that's revealed to be a two-seater, I was hoping and expecting it would be piloted by Hibiki as Ishtar sits in the back and uses her power of song in some way. Cool right? Doesn't happen. It's just a high performance regular VF that plays no significant role in the story.

The combat sequences themselves are all right, the colors are so dark due to the age of this thing that at times I couldn't really tell what was going on. But without any reason to care about the enemy or pilots (since there's only three characters that matter and one of them you barely see fight), these combat sequences seem like fluffy fanservice for the mecha crowd.

Oh yeah, and the music. The score is a bleating mess of horns and synthesizers that couldn't sound more low-budget or stock. The pop songs are… okay. But they're pretty damn far from the memorability of "My Boyfriend is a Pilot" or Firebomber's songs.

There's nothing about Macross II that's offensively bad. It's just boring at worst, and mildly interesting at best. I could like it more if 20 minutes were shaved off the runtime's last quarter. I don't particularly recommend it.

Macross II is average for an OVA, and probably below-average for Macross. Still, there's much worse things an anime could be than an average '90s OVA. If you're really into that style like I am, this could be good enough entertainment for an afternoon.