What show of Macross grabbed you?

[Queadlunn-Rau]

Well for me, it was Macross II the movie, big bro bougt it cause it had Robotech-esque jets on the cover, and the word "Macross" on the back cover. Even if Macross II is not officially part of the Macross storyline, it still holds a special place in my heart. It had a cute charachter, Ishtar and the freckled hot kicking pilot Slyvie. Also it heldd the Macross in a savior status, post war duty, guardian monument, that fired a heck of a beam. I must of worned out my vhs tape watching that moment when the Macross fires its first Macross Cannon, and putting my tv volume at max, too get that pleasure rumbling of it going off. Also it had some memorable charachters like Feff, he was one cool guy of the enemy. And those VF-2SS valkyries, I get mega envy seeing those model kits on e-bay. So what Macross hooked ya?

[Phyrox]

eh, I liked DYRL...

but what the hell does a Draken have to do with any of this? Is it just to waste bandwidth or something?

[Queadlunn-Rau]

oh nothing, just that it looked Macross-listic! It even has a Macross symbol on it. And suprised that you knew what it was, unless you went to the website.

[robokochan]

Dryl for me as well...

BTW there are alot of members here that are damn near experts on all aircraft....

Also that is not a Macross UN Spacy "Kite"...that is a red circle with a white triangle....

Rob MN

[phoenix01]

Ready to throw things at me?

I was hooked by none other than Robotech.

Back in 1985, that was all the Macross loving us poor American kids could hope for. That brief exposure of Macross, twisted and perverted though it may have been, was enough. I later purchased (ready to throw something else?) "Macross in Clash of the Bionoids" thinking in my confusion that it was Robotech. Later, when Macross II came out, I began to realize the truth. Finally, by Macross Plus, I really began to seek out pure Macross goodness.

Now, I own the original SDF Macross on DVD, which holds a higher place in my collection than the Robotech VHS tapes.

Now if only I could convince my wife to sit through anything with subtitles instead of English dubbing, or they would do a proper English dub of Macross, I'd be set.

[LORD KUNGFU]

dude, thats an awesome pic. And that symbol looks totally like a Mospeada symbol on my legioss. Take a look.

Oh, and DYRL by the way.

[Queadlunn-Rau]

Haha, dont feel bad about buying "Clash of the Boiafidaf whatever it was", i did it also. Ordered it from Right Stuff Animation cause in the description it said a dubbed version, i was young back then so i didn't know. Dang vhs tape had two warped spots, one at the first battle in the movie with the Super Valks launching missiles at battlpods and the other at the end, showing Minmay sing DYRL, grrr wanted to smash my tape!!! Had a ARII Vf-1d battroid, but it's in pieces now, was trying to mod it, but too hard. Then had a bootleg vf-1s that transformed, but since it was a bootleg, or maybe i played with it too much, it broke. gosh, now i'm just saving up for those lordly Yamato toys.

[Gui]

Same as phoenix01

[HWR MKII]

macross plus grabbed me. it was the first time i had seen tracer rounds done well in animation.

WOW a millia type saab draken never thought id see one of those. it would be neat to see it with the redbull draken

Edited December 10, 2004 by HWR MKII

[polidread]

the Macross TV series on local TV ! first hazy childhood impressions!

and years later Macross Plus' first two OAVs rekindled my flames

that's when a friend of a friend lent me a VHS of the DYRL and everything went volcano on me!

[Prime]

Being in Canada I was exposed to Robotech in the mid-80's and was hooked. Then when Macross Plus came out here I picked it up and that converted me to Macross proper. Then I searched other Macross shows out and seeing things like DYRL and Zero and so on only re-enforced my love for that universe.

[Boxer]

At first I remember fragmentory memories of seeing 'Bursting point', probably from Robotech. Then later in High school I learned about Robotech from a friend, then sought out the material myself. Eventually I ran into the origional material, and being a purist, the rest is history.

And my Orguss fandom came from trying to reasearch the Orguss Valk to the maximum possible degree

[ewilen]

Started with Robotech, later saw DYRL (probably without subtitles), then a several-year hiatus before I saw a couple eps. of M+ at a college anime club. M+ didn't really grab me at the time. Much later, I noticed the reappearance of Valk toys and discovered this site, along with learning that the original Macross had finally been released in unadulterated form in the US.

[Roy Fokker]

My first macross was ofcourse "Robotech".

But what really got me into Macross? Got me addicted? Hooked?

DYRL. Pure ecstacy and goodness and sweetness and light and....

*sigh* I love that movie to pieces!

[Commander McBride]

None of the series, actually. I got into Macross because of the Valkyries themselves. As both an aircraft and mecha fan, the VF-1 was so badass in my eyes, especially because the F-14 was my childhood favorite (and still is) plane. I guess, directly, what really hooked me were the Yamato 1:60s. Series wise, my first Macross, Plus, is what did it.

[Seto Kaiba]

First Macross that grabbed me was Super Dimensional Fortress Macross, and a few weeks later, confirming my addiction to Macross was Macross II: Lovers Again.

[Ignacio Ocamica]

SDF Macross, then came DYRL? and Mac Plus, and the rest is history (like my wallet)

[eugimon]

SDF macross is what got me started, and I watched DYRL at the time as well... but it wasn't until mac plus that I truly fell in love with macross.

[Druna Skass]

Robotech and DYRL got me into it, but what really grabbed me was Macross Plus. Everytime me and my cousin are playing verus on Ace Combat 4 we're always reciting lines from Isamu and Guld's numerous duels.

My cousin (in Su-37): I bought you lunch twice in high school!

Me (in F-15ACTIVE): I bought you lunch thriteen times! (lets 4 missile loose)

My cousin: You kept count? (dodges those missiles).

Edited December 11, 2004 by Druna Skass

[Zentrandude]

tv series. guess its one of the perks of having a navy dad and living overseas during the 80s.

[Gwynne]

I guess I was a new generation fan of the old Robotech that was show on cartoon network about 6 or 7 years ago when I was in 7th or 8th grade. It was also my first taste of anime(but I did not know that at the time).

[Wheels]

Same as phoenix01.

Except I never knew "Clash of the Bionoids" exsisted, thank God, until I came to this site.

And the part about having a wife, I'm still single , thank God.

[haro genki]

DYRL here. Saw if via fansub, loved it, and the rest is history... (DYRL still remains my favorite form of Macross period )

[Skull00]

I'm Australian where Robotech wasn't aired untill 1987 or so. Luckily I lived in the States from '82-'85 and saw RT there in 1985. After the last episode aired I cried for like a whole day. I was only 7 but it definately had a profound effect on me. I soon realised it was from a country called Japan. I then started to have an interest in everything Japanese, from Bonsai to the Karate Kid!

When I got back to Australia I'd tell kids about Robotech and they'd be totally confused but when it did come on here my friends were totally hooked too.

In University I studied Japanese and went to Japan on exchange for a year partly out of my love for Macross and the unique culture that produced it.

During High School I joined a local anime club and watched Macross Plus and DYRL. After that I knew I had to get the original Macross and ordered the Harmony Gold Perfect Collection tapes...then they were cancelled 2002 was a watershed because I finally got the Animeigo set. Now I feel I've come full circle...But there is always still more to collect!!!

[lord_breetai]

Well... I was hooked by Robotech the Macross Saga...

We rented it from the video store... they only had the Macross Saga (none of the other two) in those 6 episode cut up volumes... we would rent the series over and over... it was just so cool.

I had little or no interest in the other sagas, at first cause they didn't seem to be enough like the Macross Saga that I loved so much... it wasn't really until I learned that they were three unrelated shows in Japan that I got interested in the other parts of Robotech.

Later I picked up some volumes of the perfect collection and also Macross II, then I saw Plus on TV. then I placed my first ever SASE order with a fansuber (for this was before the dawn of Digi subs *gasp*) and got DYRL, Macross 7 Vol 1, Flashback, Robotech the Movie the Untold Story, MOSPEADA love live alive (now for 10 points... what now defunct fansub distributor did I get that from?)... and... and... It was just an organic growth.

But in the begining it was the Macross Saga.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

I liked robotech when it first came out. Then I got into SDF: macross. I didn't think the 2 other series within the robotech name were done as well as 'the macross saga' for reasons that relate mainly to characters. (I still loved the mecha in mospeada though, and as a little kid I was hoping toys of these mechs would come out)

Today I remain a casual anime fan, but a big transforming robot lover.

I just thought that the idea of the modular tranformations in macross make the robots kind of believable and that's truly what got me into the original macross. Knowing that the design has some functional purpose as well as looking cool helps to keep me hooked into the tv series. When I saw DYRL, I thought: Fark, those explosions are beautiful, but I didn't think the story did justice to all the things that happened in the series. (yes many will argue DYRL was presented better but the tv series grounded us inside the world of macross rather than taking us on a short trip)

years then pass..

Now by the time of macross plus, the idea of the variable fighter was no longer fresh in my mind anymore and given that the meat of my memories was space war I, I thought nothing could really top the ideas within the original series without just adding to, and giving us more of the same... But the overall attention to detail in the animation got me back into macross again. At first I couldn't care less for the cocky character Isamu (he is no hikaru) because he has no reason to be so single minded and flat. Yeah yeah, we get the idea he is young, full of come, loves to fly, and is a good pilot, but what else? (why should we care? I saw this in top gun ) Most of the skills he has will go wasted now that there is no war, right? And focusing a whole story on testing advanced valkyries didn't seem that interesting a concept at first, since no one will be fighting real enemies and not much interesting will happen on a mass scale. (of course in top gun towards the end only, they DID get to fight real enemy/enemies, and in true style of that movie we the audience will predictably expect to see this happen at the climax of mac plus.)

Then after viewing all 4 ova in one go I finally CAN apreciate that this is just a side story and I can relax and enjoy it for what it is. I can now just sit back and enjoy the cool mech fights and valkyrie upgrades and the climactic scene where he rescues the princess.(the overly depressed myung) But I can't help but feel that after that ova ended and the lack of a bigger and much deeper story that: I just want more. I still view macross plus as primarily focused on the action. As a matter of fact, I actually liked the story ideas in macross II better, about the independent coverage of an alien attack by a new race of aliens and how the government's need to look good and not let the people know the truth gets in the way of common sense. I was more interested in Hibiki, than either Isamu or Basara since the two former characters just come off as being too full of themselves and unnecessarily hotheaded jerks if they had been real people.

So naturally, given that the original aging tv series I feel was the foundation amoungst which all the rest of the future of macross stands on, I sense that the best is passed us. I liked macross Zero and all, but to me it is just an 'origin' story and merely aimed for fans of the original with a narrow scope (those who wish to know more about the anti-un) and again, it won't hold the same fondness I have for the original SDF:Macross. Mainly because the tv series covered a lot more ground, had the most characters that were a big part of the central story, and there was a lot of varied mecha in that series that just seemed fresh and new at the time of first viewing. (there was a sense of wonder about what they were all capable of doing) Everything else after this merely being an extension of what was great in the past and just presented in a newer and more interesting way - ie more detailed mech fights and filling in the stories with too many characters with bad "attitude" who are stand-offish )

Give us all a new series on the scale of SW I or remake the original, so that the name macross can come back. I feel that although purists do not want more of the same, the great majority of us do. As much as I didn't care for macross 7 (yes it did answer questions about this 'supervision army' thing without me needing to read on online compendium but this could have easily been tacked into the original series had it been more than 36 eps imo) I feel that centring a whole story on a thin origin story (mac zero) or stretching a series to be sooo focused on the lives of civilians (mac7) and not padding it with enough strong characters, drama, detailed mecha battle scenes, interesting moral dilemmas and generally: real meat, then you will see people gradually losing interest.

I don't mind the humor of macross 7 though, but usually I prefer something serious, where you can integrate that humour into the background of a realistic story rather than have the characters make fun of each other or be a parody of themselves. (here's a good movie example: compare something like lethal weapon 1 which had characters who could still be funny by what they say and by being themselves but still be in dangerous situation, versus the later lethal weapon movies, ie post LW II; where the movies started taking on an almost action-comedy tone)

I think the problem I see in a lot of anime is the main character sometimes takes on the "I'm the central character of the universe, I can afford to fold my arms and be distant from what everyone else is doing or feeling", is the thing that gets me a little pissed off because it just doesn't feel natural. People in real life are full of different variety of feelings and moods. It's hard for me to sympathise with character like basara (there was no change or modification in his own behaviour, this whole series was him preaching to us all) or Isamu or anyone in macross zero because they aren't being themselves until the end of the show/series. If somebody like Isamu or Shin had to fight in a team in space war I and left his mates because he wanted to be the lone wolf, they would probably end up killing too many good people. They might seem like great characters to have in a flashy action flick, but I'm more interested in more grounded characters like Hikaru and Hibiki because they do not fit the typical mold of being try hards. (they have lives out of thier main job, career, or role throughout the story which adds depth)

The jist of it is that: SDF:macross didn't try to put the focusing lens on any one person or thing. (we saw competitive behaviour, fear of death, fear of killing people, love, ambition, depression, greed, grief, sorrow, suffering, death, revenge, conviction, sacrifice, jealousy, etc pretty much everything under the spectrum was covered) It had equal balance compared to all the other series which got carried away and didn't let the audience decide what was important to them rather than, dare I say it, have a central idea or main character "marketed" to people with a specific taste. (Zero being for fans, Plus being mainly for the dogfights and action, 7 for the masses.) If they got back to basics I'd be happy.

The valkyires and giant robots do take centre stage but it is possible to integrte all this cool stuff into the story and with deep characters grounded in reality as opposed to comic book heroes. You don't need to neglect one just to focus on another. In fact it would be possible for them to have say 3 episodes in a row dedicated to just a long drawn-out mech battle (kind of like how battles happen in DBZ ) and have the drama played within it as oppossed to "lets have a battle at the end of each eposode" and wrap everything up in 30 min chunks. (there doesn't even need to be a strict structure ie "let's have the main character always play some music" or "let's have a certain amount of action in each episode" - totally unecessary imo All this can be integrated together rather than seperated form each other like you usually see: action only here, talking only there, drama only in this particular spot, backstory revelations ONLY towards the end etc - with it all seperated)

Edited December 14, 2004 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[connor99]

For me, it had to have been DYRL?, with it's shorter storyline, more than excellent art and of course, the HIKARU VF-1S Variant Valk !

[Evanta]

Mosepeda (the original jap ver w/ chinese subs) and Robotech: Macross Saga got me as a child. Unfortunately nothing came to Singapore for the next many years, so I was left high and dry.

Then I saw Macross II when I was 17 in a laserdisc store. That was like, in heaven when I saw it. resurrected loving.

And I still think it's way better than the 'offical' continuation that is Macross 7, though M+ beat out MII by a bit.

[Graham]

Actually, it was the Arii & Imai Macross model kits that first got me hooked on Macross back in 1982. I didn't actually see my first episode of the TV series until visiting HK in 1986. I finally got to see DYRL in 87 or 88 and that was what really got me hooked big time.

Graham

[Fory-san]

I actually first watched the badly dubbed version of DYRL, Clash of the Bionoids. I knew about Macross from my older brother who was into Robodreck and had watched a little with him. However, I really wasn't into it despite the fact I found the mech designs really awesome. When I got into anime, I wanted to see the original Macross, but I had to settle for Clash of the Bionoids. Despite the dubbing, I loved it. ^^

[Skull00]

Props to Low Viz Lurker for his always highly detailed and passionate posts! Enjoy reading em!

[Roy Fokker]

Props to Low Viz Lurker for his always highly detailed and passionate posts! Enjoy reading em!

Agreed!

And I must add though, I actually felt DESOLATE when Cartoon Network cancelled Robotech. I remember waking up early mornings, an HOUR before I needed to get up to get ready for school - just so that I could watch the rerun of the episode that was on the previous evening!

But nothing took my breath away like DYRL...

[Aurel Tristen]

DYRL

[promethuem5]

Robotech....at first! Then I learned about how much cooler Macross was and got DYRL. Its not my favorite....Id rather there were good American mangas of the whole series and read those...like Gundam, I enjoy reading the manga of Endless Waltz alot more thn watching it (im like that). I intend to get Mac+ next,a dn expect big things from it....I got a YF-21FP for Xmas, and have a 19 comming soon, which is my fav valk.

Thats the brink of it tho....I REALLY wish there were a whole line of mangas of it all....

[CoryHolmes]

As far as Macross goes, Plus is what suckered me in. The rest of the franchise just doesn't stand up to the bar of excellence that Plus set. DYRL (especially), FB 2012, SDF, Mac 7 (shudder), all simply fail to live up to Plus in my mind.