The Super Dimension Fortress Macross

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This article refers to the anime series by this title; for the ship which shares the same name, see SDF-1 Macross.

The Super Dimension Fortress Macross
超時空要塞マクロス (Chō Jikū Yōsai Makurosu)
Genre	Adventure, Drama, Mecha, Romance, Science Fiction, Space Opera
TV anime
Directed by	Noboru Ishiguro
Studio	Studio Nue, Tatsunoko Productions, Artland
Network	Mainichi Broadcasting System
Original run	3 October 1982 – 26 June 1983
No. of episodes	36

The Super Dimension Fortress Macross (超時空要塞マクロス, Chō Jikū Yōsai Makurosu^?, lit. "Super Time Sky Fortress Macross") is an anime television series. According to story creator Shoji Kawamori, it depicts "a small love triangle against the backdrop of great battles" during the first Human-alien war. [1]

Macross is a science fiction series that combines giant transforming robots, apocalyptic battles, wartime romance, and victory through the use of various unconventional means, including bubblegum pop music. It features mechanical designs by Kazutaka Miyatake and Kawamori (both of Studio Nue) and character designs by Haruhiko Mikimoto. In addition, Macross created one of the first anime idols Lynn Minmay, turning her voice actress Mari Iijima into an instant celebrity, and launching her musical career. Most of its animation (with edited content and revised dialogue) was adapted outside of Japan for the first saga of Robotech.

Contents 1 Story 2 Title 3 Production staff 4 Cast 4.1 Human side 4.2 Zentradi side 5 Episode list 6 Sequels 7 Video games 8 Harmony Gold, Robotech, and Macross 9 Legal issues 10 English releases 11 See also 12 Sources 13 External links

[edit] Story

In 1999, a city-sized alien spacecraft crashes on Earth, and over the course of 10 years the humans rebuild the spacecraft just before a fleet of Zentradi warships arrive on the hunt for the ship belonging to their enemy, the Supervision Army (See Protodeviln). Meanwhile, a young civilian pilot, Hikaru Ichijyo comes of age and struggles with a love triangle between a rising pop singer Lynn Minmay and a dedicated bridge officer, Misa Hayase. During the war that ensues, the human crew operating this untested alien ship find themselves alone in fending off the invaders. Due to inexperience operating the ship, they end up stranded on the edge of the solar system, with refugees from the city that grew around the restored space craft living within the ship. The malfunctioning "fold system", which usually allows rapid space travel, vanishes, causing the crew to take about a year to return to Earth using conventional engines.

While journeying back to Earth, the Macross encounters the Zentradis, who would do anything to capture the ex-Supervision Army craft.

[edit] Title

The series title uses the name of the main human spacecraft (which is usually shortened to SDF-1 Macross as it is Earth's first Super Dimension Fortress). The original name for the Macross project was Battle City Megaload (or Battle City Megaroad, as the Japanese transliteration to either "L" or "R" gives the title a double meaning in reference to the story line: Megaload, referring to the spacecraft containing an entire city of people; and Megaroad, referring to the long journey through space back to Earth). However, one of the sponsors of the project was a fan of Shakespeare and wanted the series and the spacecraft to be named Macbeth (マクベス Makubesu). A compromise was made with the title Macross (マクロス Makurosu) due to its similar pronunciation to Macbeth in Japanese and because it still contained connotations to the original title. The word Macross comes from a wordplay combination of the prefix "macro" in reference to its massive size (though when compared with the alien ships in the series, it is only a relatively small gun destroyer).

[edit] Production staff

Japanese Staff

• Original Design: Studio Nue, in cooperation with Artland
• Series Coordinator: Ken'ichi Matsuzaki
• Character Designs: Haruhiko Mikimoto
• Mechanical Designs: Kazutaka Miyatake, Shoji Kawamori
• Creative Supervisor: Eiji Kurokawa
• Background Art: Kikuko Tada, Kazuko Masai
• Music: Kentarō Haneda
• Recording Director: Yasunori Honda
• Chief Director: Noboru Ishiguro
• Produced by: Mainichi Broadcasting, Tatsunoko Pro, Anime Friend

English Staff (ADV Dub)

• Executive Producers: John Ledford, Mark Williams
• Produced & Directed by: Matt Greenfield
• Production: ADV Studios
• Production Manager: Joey Goubeaud
• Post Production: Shelly Thomas
• International Coordinator: Toru Iwakami
• Project Translator: Javier Lopez
• ADR Script: Mike Yantosca, Matt Greenfield
• Sound Design & Mix: Matt Wittmeyer
• Recording Engineer: Bryan Leach
• Editors: Roberto Garcia, Patrick Givens, Neil O'Sullivan
• Production Assistants: Miyuki Kamiya, Maki Nagano, Paul Mericle

[edit] Cast

[edit] Episode list

1. Booby Trap
2. Countdown
3. Space Fold
4. Lynn Minmay
5. Transformation
6. Daedalus Attack
7. Bye Bye Mars
8. Longest Birthday
9. Miss Macross
10. Blind Game
11. First Contact
12. Big Escape
13. Blue Wind
14. Global Report (Recap Episode)
15. Chinatown
16. Kung Fu Dandy
17. Phantasm
18. Pineapple Salad
19. Burst Point
20. Paradise Lost
21. Micro Cosmos
22. Love Concert
23. Drop Out
24. Good-bye Girl
25. Virgin Road
26. Messenger
27. Love Drifts Away (愛は流れる Ai wa Nagareru)
28. My Album
29. Lonely Song
30. Viva Maria
31. Satan's Dolls
32. Broken Heart
33. Rainy Night
34. Private Time
35. Romanesque
36. Farewell to Tenderness (やさしさサヨナラ Yasashisa Sayonara)

[edit] Sequels

Several sequel series and one prequel have followed, with most using a chronology created by the Studio Nue creators (the rest followed their own storylines). The main Studio Nue chronology consists of (in chronological order):

Story Time	Title	Production Year
2008	Macross Zero	2002-2004
2009-2012	The Super Dimension Fortress Macross	1982-1983
2012	The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Flash Back 2012	1987
2031	The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? as a "historical" movie within the Macross universe	1984
2040	Macross Plus	1994-1995
2045-46	Macross 7	1994-1996
2047	Macross Dynamite 7	1997
Parallel World	The Super Dimension Fortress Macross II: Lovers, Again	1992

A feature film, subtitled Do You Remember Love? (愛・おぼえていますか Ai Oboete Imasu ka), was released in 1984, with a condensed version of the storyline and cutting-edge animation. (A shortened, English-dubbed version of the feature was also released to video as Clash of the Bionoids, though this is largely lambasted.) This movie was later described as a "historical drama" movie within the Macross universe (similar to, for example, Pearl Harbor in the real world). In Macross Plus and Macross 7, it is revealed that there was a movie produced after Space War I (the original Earth-Zentradi conflict). Macross II, the only animated project without Studio Nue's direct involvement, was declared a parallel-world story by Studio Nue.

In March of 2007, Studio Victor placed a casting call for a voice actress to play the heroine in an as-yet-untitled new Macross series.

[edit] Video games

Like many other anime franchises, Macross video games are based on its universe. These include:

• The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: A sidescrolling game released in 1985 for the Nintendo Famicom by Namco and Bandai. The main objectives of the lone Valkyrie are to destroy the Zentradi forces, penetrate the Zentradi mothership, and destroy it. A simplified rendition of the song Shao Pai Long plays in the background throughout gameplay.

• The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Scrambled Valkyrie - A 2D shooter released on the Nintendo Super Famicom and based on Do You Remember Love?. The story takes place after the movie, but before the launch of the SDF-2 Megaroad-01.

• The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? - A 2D shooter released on the Sega Saturn and the Sony PlayStation. Very closely based on the movie, it had a solid mix of 2D and 3D action and special effects that added depth to its gameplay. It was released with 2 CDs (on Saturn) as it contained footage and sounds from the movie. The footage contained new scenes showing Hikaru and his fellow pilots still on Earth flying on their way to the Macross which made a space fold jump just before the massive Zentradi attack reached them.

• Macross: Digital Mission VF-X - The first ever 3D graphics and polygonal game of the franchise made by Bandai Visual, it was panned by critics, Macross fans and video gamers alike for its poor production quality and shallow gameplay.

• The Super Dimension Fortress Macross ("超時空要塞マクロス") - A full 3D shooter released by Sega-AM2 only for the PlayStation 2. The game features both famous and new characters, as well as a large number of VF (Variable Fighters) from the TV series to Macross Flashback 2012. This game made by one of the most experienced and famous development team (Shenmue series, Virtua Fighter series, Daytona USA series, Virtua Cop series) has been acclaimed by both the media and the gamers as the best Macross game ever released. As a difficult-to-obtain import game, it has become a collectible for Macross fans worldwide.

• There were three arcade games released by Banpresto, all of which were scrolling shooters: Macross, Macross II, and Macross Plus.

[edit] Harmony Gold, Robotech, and Macross

In 1984, Harmony Gold licensed the first Macross series from Tatsunoko and planned to dub the series on home video. In 1985, Harmony Gold edited and rewrote the series with The Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross and Genesis Climber Mospeada into Robotech, to syndicate on weekday television and to promote a Revell model line. Robotech's credits listed only the English adaptation's production crew and two Tatsunoko producers.

In 1999, Harmony Gold asserted it had exclusive rights to the "distribution of the Macross television series and the right to create and authorize the sale of merchandise based on such series" outside Japan, and began sending cease-and-desist letters to import toy dealers, temporarily barring Macross-related merchandise from North America.^[1] These merchandise have since been imported again by the same toy dealers in direct sales, and Harmony Gold has sublicensed additional material for North American retail distribution.

Harmony Gold has at least partially reversed its earlier position. According to company representative Tommy Yune, Harmony Gold would have allowed the possible release of Macross Zero and the Macross 7 manga by A.D. Vision and Tokyopop respectively. He has also denied that Harmony Gold had blocked the release of either production, and informally admitted that the company had handled previous license enforcement attempts badly. The credits of recent English releases of Macross have included most of the Japanese production staff except for Big West, in a better effort to recognize the original creative talent.[2]

[edit] Legal issues

In 2000, Big West and Studio Nue took Tatsunoko Productions to the Tokyo District Court over who had the rights to the first Macross series, due to Harmony Gold's attempt to bar Japanese Macross merchandise in North America the previous year. During production, Big West hired Tatsunoko to assist in the production of the series. Before the series premiere, Tatsunoko was given the license to distribute the show worldwide (i.e., outside of Japan), as well as earning some royalties to the merchandise. Tatsunoko then sub-licensed Macross to Harmony Gold USA for the production of Robotech.

In 2002, the Tokyo District Court ruled that Big West/Studio Nue is the sole owner of the original character and mecha designs for the first series,^[2] while that same court ruled in 2003 that Tatsunoko owned the production rights to the first series.^[3][4]

[edit] English releases

In fall of 1984, Harmony Gold released the first English-language version of Macross: an English-dubbed VHS video release containing unedited video footage of the first three episodes with a new English theme song, adapted dialogue scripts, and several name changes (which were later used in Robotech, aside from Rick Yamada (Hikaru Ichijyo), who became Rick Hunter). This release was cancelled after one volume when production of the Robotech adaptation began. The first episode of this 1984 English dubbing was later released as an extra in the Robotech Legacy Collection 5 and Robotech Protoculture Collection DVD releases, and is also included in the first volume of ADV Films' 2006 release of Macross.

Streamline Pictures then released Robotech Perfect Collection: Macross on VHS in the summer of 1994, combining two English subtitled episodes of Macross and the corresponding dubbed episodes of the Robotech adaptation in each volume. This was the first English subtitling for Macross, but it contained unedited video footage with incomplete and mistranslated English subtitles and was cancelled after seven volumes and 14 episodes.

In December 2001, AnimEigo released The Super Dimension Fortress Macross DVD box set. It was the first complete, unedited English release for Macross, containing unedited English-subtitled video footage with no English dubbing. The nine DVDs in this set were re-released in three smaller 3-disc boxes and later in one final new artbox.

In the summer of 2005, ADV Films announced that they would be releasing an English dubbing of Macross on January 10, 2006. This is the first complete, unedited English dubbing for Macross. Mari Iijima, the Japanese voice of Minmay, plays the same role in the English dub. She is the second Japanese voice talent to dub the same character in both Japanese and English. [3]

[edit] See also

• Super Dimension Fortress - a UNIX shell access provider named after The Super Dimension Fortress Macross
• Itano Circus
• List of companies in Macross
• U.N. Spacy
• VF-1 Valkyrie
• Variable fighter

[edit] Sources

• Macross Compendium

1. ^ Harmony Gold bars Macross Imports
2. ^ Macross Lawsuit
3. ^ Tatsunoko Wins "Author's Right" to Macross
4. ^ Tatsunoko Wins Macross Lawsuit

[edit] External links

Official Sites:

• Macross Official Website (Japanese)
• Big West (Japanese)
• Macross Compendium

Other Sites:

• Super Dimensional Fortress Macross at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• Super Dimension Fortress Macross at the Internet Movie Database
• The Invid Connection (Beyond Reflex Point) - Information on Macross and Robotech
• Macross World
• Macross Nexus
• Macross Generation (In Spanish)
• MAHQ
• UN Spacy Database
• Macross RPG Galaxies
• Macross RPG Community
• ADV Films Macross trailer
• Macross Video Game reviews at Anime Video Games

Macross anime series and films The Super Dimension Fortress Macross | Macross Zero | The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Flash Back 2012 | The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? | Macross Plus | Macross 7 | Macross Dynamite 7 | The Super Dimension Fortress Macross II: Lovers, Again