It’s 2045, 35 years after the end of Space War 1, fought between humanity and the Zentradi, as chronicled in the original Super Dimension Fortress Macross. Now united in peace, human and Zentradi colonists spread out across the galaxy in enormous city-sized ships in search of new habitable worlds. Seven years into their long journey, the city-ship Macross 7 and its paired protector warship Battle 7 are continually attacked by the mysterious Protodevlin “vampires,” humanoid aliens who feed by draining sentient creatures of the mysterious spiritual energy “Spiritia,” leaving them empty husks. Arrogant lead guitarist and singer of rock band Fire Bomber, Basara Nekki, is convinced that his singing will end hostilities between races, much like famous idol singer Lynn Minmei achieved 35 years previously. Basara rides his custom red Valkyrie mecha into battle, singing loud rock songs while refusing to attack, earning adoration and ire in equal measure.
Macross 7 streams on Disney Plus in the UK/Canada/Australia/NZ. As of writing, no US release date has been confirmed.
This is the series I’ve been waiting thirty years to watch officially in English, and it’s finally here (at least if you live in non-U.S. English-speaking territories). I’m more than a little sad that it’s me reviewing this show and not long-term Macross 7 devotee, the sadly missed former ANN Executive Editor Zac Bertschy, who lamented during a 2009 ANNCast episode that he doubted Macross 7 would ever be officially released in English. I miss you so much Zac, you were at least right about one thing regarding Macross 7 — it’s ridiculously good fun, and I remember you every time I watch an episode. At the risk of starting the review on a downer, let me also shout out similarly mourned Nick Dupree, former ANN writer who also loved Macross, who I’m sure would have jumped at the chance to review this show. Zac and Nick were two writers who inspired me to write about my love of anime in the first place, and their absence leaves a persistent hole in this journalistic medium that can never be filled.
Premiering in October 1994, Macross 7 is the third sequel to 1982’s original SDF Macross TV show (and 1984 movie), following 1992’s non-canon Macross II OVA and August 1994’s Macross Plus OVA. Of all SDF Macross‘ myriad sequels, Macross 7 is tied most closely to the original in terms of plot and characters, which makes this series more of a hard sell to newbies. Perhaps that’s why Disney+ began streaming later, (slightly) more stand-alone shows Frontier and Delta first?
It seems there will always be a problem for Western viewers regarding where to start with the Macross franchise, because due to horrible legal issues, entirely the fault of hated rights squatters Harmony Gold USA, the original show and movie aren’t available in non-bastardized form. Carl Macek‘s liberally adapted-for-80s-kids’-TV Robotech: The Macross Saga, streaming on Crunchyroll, keeps enough of SDF Macross‘ original plot intact but does change the soundtrack, character names, and many worldbuilding details, which means it doesn’t quite function as a perfect prequel to Macross 7. Instead of the long out-of-print, more accurate 2001 AnimEigo 2001 sub and 2006 ADV dub of SDF Macross, it’s the best we have. One half of Macross 7‘s central duo, pink-haired guitarist/singer Mylene, is the daughter of two prominent SDF Macross characters, Max and Milia Jenius, who themselves play very prominent roles in the story as commander of Battle 7 and mayor of Macross 7 city respectively.
Mylene is that guitar-wielding pink-haired girl in almost all of Macross 7‘s publicity material. She’s very sweet, fun, and determined — always trying to escape her parents’ shadow and forge her own path, whether via music or piloting the pink Valkyrie mech she acquires partway through the series. Mylene has a sense of humor, often pulls funny faces, and adores her squashy little alien pet Gubaba — that hairy brown blob that perpetually sits on her shoulder, mirroring her facial expressions hilariously. Unlike SDF Macross‘ Minmay, Mylene is more decisive, less flighty, and generally much less annoying. While she sometimes expresses disgust, or perhaps even jealousy, towards the other women who give Basara attention, there isn’t much romantic tension between the two leads — mostly, they bicker like siblings, and it’s usually Basara’s fault.
Amazingly, Basara may be an even more insufferable male protagonist than Frontier‘s sulky Alto, likely one of the reasons that Macross 7 seems to be so divisive among fans. Basara is terminally self-obsessed, refuses point-blank to ever explain his thought processes or motivations, needlessly stokes conflict with his haughty attitude, and causes countless avoidable problems for his bandmates. He pilots his flashy red experimental Valkyrie by using a guitar fretboard while screaming his songs into the void. I’d argue he’s the most eminently punchable lead character in anime’s history, and most of Macross 7‘s cast seems to agree — except his bandmates Ray and Veffidas, who seem inexplicably accepting of his relentless bullshit.
For some reason, Basara is convinced that he can solve the conflict without violence by singing at the enemy Protodevlin forces. Incredibly, for the first sixteen episodes, he achieves absolutely nothing except to get in the way of Macross 7’s military protectors. Why he’s not locked up in the brig, or at least beaten to a pulp by main military rival Gamlin, is beyond me. It’s only once ridiculously chesty alien vampire Sivil is introduced that it seems his music has at least an effect on someone, even if that is to seemingly induce in her first emotional distress, then inexplicable tingling, suggestive moaning, and eventually… explosive orgasms? Yeah, there’s a truly hilarious scene where Sivil steals a kiss from Basara (whom she’s become obsessed with), and the resulting energy discharge rips off both their clothing, leaving Basara lying stunned and half-dressed on the floor, while a mostly-naked Sivil flies away crying. Thankfully, the completely bonkers Macross 7 doesn’t take itself seriously at all.
This lighter, sillier tone feels like the entire series was made as a prolonged shitpost poking fun at the perceived seriousness of the prior Macross franchise entries, and I am absolutely here for it. While these first 26 of a total 52 episodes (including three OVAs Disney+ jammed onto the end of what was initially a 49-episode series) are very repetitive and in need of ejecting around half their runtime with judicious editing, Macross 7 is otherwise wonderfully entertaining in a truly light-hearted way. I particularly love the Flower Girl running joke. Flower Girl is an unnamed character who appears in every episode. She seems to be Basara’s biggest fan and always carries a bouquet she’s desperate to give him. She’s eternally prevented from doing so by interruptions, accidents, distractions, or her own timidity. It’s heartbreaking and hilarious to see how Macross 7 messes with this poor, sweet girl. Oblivious Basara doesn’t deserve her pure-hearted love, anyway.
The closest thing Macross 7 has to a series-standard love triangle at this point in the series involves Mylene’s sort-of-boyfriend Gamlin, he of the purple Wolverine haircut, whom her mother sets up as a potential marriage partner for her. While Mylene initially objects, it seems she really does enjoy spending time on dates with him despite his complete inability to understand her or her goals. He harbors an entirely one-sided rivalry against Basara, viewing him as some romantic (or otherwise) threat. Basara barely acknowledges the poor guy’s existence. One potentially off-color aspect is that Mylene is only fourteen years old, while Gamlin is nineteen… which is a bit of a yikes age gap. He does treat her with (baffled) respect, thankfully though.
SDF Macross veterans Milia and Max fulfill important authoritative roles in the story, butting heads in their public and private lives. Interestingly, such a seemingly perfect couple have since (secretly) split, even after parenting seven(!) children together. That’s quite a ballsy narrative move, and it adds a certain level of background conflict to Mylene’s life and the administration of the Macross 7 ship. Max clearly still pines for his ex and looks for excuses to speak to her, while Milia treats him with disdainful irritation. I can’t help but hope one day, they’ll reconcile.
One of Macross 7‘s biggest draws is its excellent soundtrack, courtesy of Fire Bomber — the real-life band behind which went on to phenomenal success, releasing a dozen albums of songs related to the series and its spinoffs. Without a separate score, all of Macross 7‘s music is from Fire Bomber, which means you’d better learn to love Basara’s favored battle song Planet Dance because he sings it every goddamn episode, often more than once. Repetitive use of a handful of songs aside, almost every Fire Bomber track is excellent, in an early-to-mid-90’s popular rock kind of way.
While most episodes feature fairly short mecha battles complemented well by the soundtrack, episodes 25 and 26 really up their game with some superb, massive space battles easily comparable to the set pieces in SDF Macross, Frontier, and Delta. These episodes no doubt expended huge swathes of resources, meaning some other episodes appear frankly pedestrian in comparison. But it’s a show that almost always looks good, in almost painfully ’90s fashion. We’ve got big-haired dudes wearing shoulder pads, skinny pointy-eared girls with enormous eyes, super-cool chunky transforming mechs, and charmingly retro airbrushed backgrounds. Outer space and the ships that traverse it have never looked quite so colorful. Macross 7 is like the culmination of every other sci-fi anime I watched growing up, and had the show been available to me back then, I guarantee I would have been obsessed with it.
Macross 7 certainly isn’t for everyone. Its silly tone and the daft plot will turn off those looking for serious space opera, while those pining for idol pop music might not be as enamored with Fire Bomber’s energetic rock (but they’re wrong). It also takes forever for the plot to kick into gear, and seeing the same re-used transformation sequences and hearing the same songs does get tiresome. However, apart from the spectacularly irritating Basara, the rest of the cast is a lot of fun, especially the adorable Mylene, mysterious Sivil, and perpetually drumming, mostly silent Veffidas. With many basic questions about the main characters and their antagonists still yet to be answered, I’m desperate to watch the show’s second half and then write about what further rock-and-mecha-packed lunacy awaits.
