Line #40 Anime/Macross


1	[[quoteright:726:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/20240328_115518.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:726:Welcome to the galaxy-spanning saga of [[ThePowerOfLove love]], [[OrchestralBombing music]] and [[TransformingMecha Valkyries]].]]
3	%% The image used is from the recently-released ''Macross: Shooting Insight'', the first ''Macross''-related videogame to be released in the West following the agreement between Big West Japan and Harmony Gold over the ownership of the ''Macross''/''Robotech'' IP in the West.
4
5	''Macross'' is a long-running multimedia franchise created by Creator/ShojiKawamori, who also provided mechanical designs alongside Kazutaka Miyatake and Haruhiko Mikimoto, and currently distributed worldwide by [[https://ja.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%93%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF%E3%82%A6%E3%82%A8%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88 Big West]]. Along with ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato'' and ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'', it's considered one of three unassailable pillars of anime SpaceOpera.
6
7	The general plot of each series concerns a galaxy-spanning conflict waged with TransformingMecha (and usually involving aliens). In the middle of it all, ThePowerOfRock comes into play, as does the PowerOfLove, thus forming the three core pillars of ''Macross'': HumongousMecha and TransformingMecha in the form of the titular "Macross" space battleships and the iconic variable fighter jets known as "Valkyries"; superpowered music, usually leaning between [[MagicMusic mythically supernatural]] and [[ThePowerOfRock implausibly awesome]]; and the various [[LoveTriangle love triangles]] between the main protagonist(s) and their love interest(s).
8
9	The first show, ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'', first aired in 1982 under the Mainichi Broadcasting System. Since then, it has led to numerous sequels (both anime television series and [=OVAs=]), mangas, and video games.
10
11	On March 18th, 2024, it was announced that all anime entries (save for ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' and ''Anime/MacrossDoYouRememberLove'', as its footages is being used for the ''Robotech'' franchise) will air worldwide on Creator/DisneyPlus.
12
13	[[index]]
14	[[AC:Anime]]
15	* ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' (1982-1983), the original series, set in 2009. It is regarded as a classic among mecha fans, depicting a war between humanity and giant militaristic aliens known as the Zentradi.
16	** ''Anime/MacrossDoYouRememberLove'' (1984), a movie adaptation of the original series, with significant plot and design changes. Despite that, it is regarded just as highly as (if not ''higher'' than) the original series itself.
17	** ''Macross: Flashback 2012'' (1987), an extended music video clipshow for in-universe IdolSinger Lynn Minmay, which also acts as an epilogue to the series.
18	** ''[[Anime/{{Robotech}} Robotech: The Macross Saga]]'' (1985), a western adaptation of the original series along with ''Anime/SuperDimensionCavalrySouthernCross'' and ''Anime/GenesisClimberMospeada''.
19	* ''Anime/MacrossII'' (1992), an OVA and manga series that was made without the original creators' authorization, and has since been placed as an AlternateContinuity. The story takes place in 2090, nearly 80 years after the first series, and follows a news reporter as he gets caught up in a war against the Marduk, who use enslaved Zentraedi soldiers to fight for them.
20	* ''Anime/MacrossPlus'' (1994-1995), a short OVA (and later movie) sequel set in 2040 (thirty years after ''SDF''), focusing on a contest between two prototype planes and a VirtualCelebrity; two paths that cross when three ChildhoodFriends meet up after seven years again.
21	* ''Anime/{{Macross 7}}'' (1994-1995), a full series sequel taking place on a colonization fleet in 2045, which encounters the enemy the Zentraedi were fighting before they met humanity. Something of a black sheep in the series due to being less serious in tone, with plot elements that push it toward the SuperRobotGenre.[[/index]]
22	** ''Macross 7 Encore'' (1995), a set of three OVA episodes covering additional stories set during the events of the anime.
23	** ''Macross 7 The Movie: The Galaxy is Calling Me!'' (1995), a short movie also set during the events of the anime that was released with the CompilationMovie version of ''Macross Plus''.
24	** ''Macross Dynamite 7'' (1997-1998), a short OVA sequel to ''7'', taking place in 2047 and focusing on thwarting a group of poachers trying to hunt literal {{Space Whale}}s.
25	[[index]]
26	* ''Anime/MacrossZero'' (2002-2004), an OVA prequel to the original series set in 2008, depicting the tail end of the UN Wars mentioned in the series's backstory, and offering some more insight into the [[{{Precursors}} Protoculture]] and their contact with ancient humans.
27	* ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'' (2008), a full series sequel set in 2059, nearly 50 years after the original series. It is also set on a colonization fleet, and depicts humanity's encounter (and clash) with a new alien race known as the Vajra. Something of a "modern retread" of the original series in many of its themes.[[/index]]
28	** ''The False Songstress'' (2009) and ''The Wings of Farewell'' (2011) are a pair of movie adaptations for ''Frontier''. Like ''DYRL?'', these movies follow a different plotline and resolution from the television series.[[note]]This said, ''False Songstress'' uses a significant amount of the show's animation and ''broadly'' follows its plot beats for the first two-thirds of the movie or so; ''Wings of Farewell'' is a completely new production along the lines of ''DYRL''.[[/note]]
29	** ''Macross [=FB7=]: Listen to My Song!'' (2012), which acts as a sort of {{Crossover}} between ''Frontier'' and ''7'', while also serving as a CompilationMovie for the latter.
30	[[index]]
31	* ''Anime/MacrossDelta'' (2016), the fourth full series. It takes place in 2067 (eight years after ''Frontier'') on a remote cluster of colony planets. It covers the exploits of Walküre, a group of {{Idol Singer}}s whose songs can counteract a mysterious "disease" spreading around the colonies known as Var Syndrome, which causes extreme aggression and violent outbursts in those it affects.
32	** ''Passionate Walkūre'' (2018) and ''Absolute Live!!!!!!'' (2021) are a pair of movie adaptations for ''Delta''. Like ''DYRL'' and the ''Frontier'' movies, these movies follow a different plotline and resolution from the original show's, with the latter, much like ''DYRL'' and ''[=WoF=]'', being a totally new production.
33	* A new ''Macross'' [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2023-06-04/new-macross-animation-project-to-be-produced-by-sunrise/198798 project]] which would be produced by Creator/{{Sunrise}}.
34
35	[[AC:Related Works]]
36	* ''Franchise/{{Macross Expanded Universe}}''
37	[[/index]]
38
39	----
40	!!The ''Macross'' franchise is the TropeNamer for:
41
42	* BridgeBunnies: The term was originally coined by fans to refer specifically to the female bridge crew of the original ''Super Dimension Fortress Macross''.
43	* MacrossMissileMassacre: In fact, one of the main animators of the earlier series was Ichiro Itano, the very man who pioneered the MMM's most common aesthetic look.
44	* {{Roboteching}}: Sort of... the TropeNamer is technically ''Anime/{{Robotech}}'', but the name came from the ''Macross''-based part of the series.
45	----
46
47	!!Tropes applying to the franchise as a whole:
48
49	* AcePilot: While the protagonists do all end up becoming highly skilled pilots in their own right, the franchise has an interesting tradition of having the best pilot in any given series ''not'' be the main character.
50	* AllThereInTheManual: A good amount of background material covering the science and technology in each series as well as the events that take place in between them is revealed in the various editions of the official ''Macross Chronicle'' data books.
51	* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: The protagonist is seldom the best pilot, always being outclassed by someone else, either by a colleague, a rival or artificial intelligence.
52	* ArtificialGravity: It's how massive cities that look like normal cities on Earth can exist inside spaceships.
53	* BackgroundMagicField: Fold Waves, a naturally existing energy wave in super dimension space that travels effectively Faster-Than-Light. This serves as the basis for the series's main form of FasterThanLightTravel (folding into super dimension space). Additionally, the ability of certain people to generate this through song ([[InsistentTerminology Human Space-Time Resonance]], also known as [[InsistentTerminology Fold Receptor Factor]]) is used to explain the more [[ClarksThirdLaw mystical]] things added to the franchise such as Anima Spiritia from ''Anime/Macross7'' and the Mayan priestesses' powers in ''Anime/MacrossZero''. [[spoiler:The main thrust of the conspiracy plots in all versions of ''Macross Frontier'' involves various Macross fleet factions attempting to harness and ''[[HumansAreBastards weaponize]]'' this phenomenon, and the singers who can invoke it; ''Macross Delta'' similarly revolves around attempts to utilize the phenomenon for various purposes.]]
54	* BlandNameProduct: The names of the companies that manufacture the various mecha in the series are rather blatant plays off names of real life aircraft and weapons manufacturing companies. Just open up a mecha guide for ''Macross'' (like [[https://www.mahq.net/mecha/macross/macross.htm this one]]) select a series and a mecha and look at the manufacturer.
55	* BroadStrokes: ''Macross'' tends to play fast-and-loose with canon. This started as early as the original series vs its movie adaptation ''Do You Remember Love?'', which depict the same war but with vastly different events taking place. ''Macross Frontier'' and its movie adaptations similarly depict mutually exclusive sets of events coming to pass. ''Macross 7'' tried to explain away ''Do You Remember Love?'' as an in-universe movie, thus rendering its progression of events fictional, but the Zentradi keep their movie exclusive designs and ships, rather than the original series' look. This gets to the point that the various ''Frontier'' productions use ships and characters designs from ''DYRL'' all the way up to a hollowed-out ''Boddole-Zer''-class command fortress appearing, which would only make sense if ''DYRL'' was canon.
56	* CompilationMovie: The franchise has a strange relationship with these. More often than not, this will be averted, as seen by the ''SDF'' and ''Frontier'' movies that use brand new animation and tell a different take on the story of each respective series. ''7'' and ''Plus'' (as well as ''II'', but that was an [[{{Macekre}} American-made recut]]) play this more or less straight, with ''Plus'' in particular being a big offender. And then there are the ''Delta'' movies which use pre-existing assets and animation like the ''7'' and ''Plus'' compilations, but tell a different story much like ''DYRL'' and the ''Frontier'' movies.
57	* CoolPlane: Right [[CoolPlane/{{Macross}} here.]]
58	* CoolStarship: The franchise's eponymous ''Macross'' and ''New Macross''-class ships. Which also transform into HumongousMecha.
59	* {{Deconstruction}}: The various TV series tend to take the popular anime and IdolSinger tropes on their day and deconstruct them.
60	** Specifically, ''SDF'' focuses on a Music/MichaelJackson-esque multi-talented performer and the stresses she suffers, ''7'' focuses on a high-energy J-rock band and the various personality struggles that the makers of such music face, ''Plus'' is a scarily prescient look at what it would take to create a "virtual idol" and the toll it would take on the human being who would have to provide the foundation for its existence, ''Zero'' hammers home that musical "stars" are hardly exclusive to the modern era, ''Frontier'' focuses on "solo idols" of the [=2000s=], the way they evolved ''from'' the MJ/Minmei mold, and the issues with how seemingly interchangeable they are now and the fleeting nature of fame in a more modern music era, and ''Delta'' examines the Music/{{AKB48}}-style "idol groups" that exploded in popularity in the [=2010s=], the difficulties of even joining such a group, and what it means to be "famous" in that kind of context.
61	** DeconReconSwitch: After deconstructing those tropes, the series will happily reconstruct them as the finale nears.
62	* EnhancedPunch: The ''SDF-1'' can focus its forcefield on its fist to give it a powerful punch into an enemy's hull, where it then [[MacrossMissileMassacre unloads its missiles into the enemy]]. Later ''Macross'' and ''New Macross''-class ships, as well as smaller mecha like the ''Macross Quarter'' and even later models of Variable Fighters, can also perform the same maneuver (except the [=VFs=] generally lack the missile part).
63	* FasterThanLightTravel: Done by "folding" into "superdimensional space", with long jumps eating up ''a lot'' of power (which is part of why humanity's FTL-capable colony ships still often take ''generations'' to find a habitable world). Though as the series progress, FTL travel becomes faster and more reliable overtime. By the time of Macross Frontier, the obstacles to FTL travel are nearly-overcome. On the other hand, FTL travel for species such as the Vajra and/or the Protodevlin is almost instantaneous.
64	* GenerationShips: Form a major part of the setting, with several series being set on them. Unusually for the trope, they're FTL-capable; it's just that long jumps still take ''a lot'' of time to complete and recover from.
65	* HalfHumanHybrid: Due to the prevalence of InterspeciesRomance and HumanAliens, human-alien hybrids become increasingly common in the shows taking place after the original, to the point where it's barely noteworthy by the time of ''Frontier'' and ''Delta''.
66	* HumanAliens: Almost all intelligent species in the galaxy, humans included, look similar to the Protoculture. {{Justified}} as the Protoculture messing with everyone's evolution to make them look that way.
67	** By later series, humans and Zentradi have integrated so much culturally and genetically that it's hard to see the latter as "alien" anymore, especially once other Protoculture derived races appear that show even more physical differences.
68	** The only known exceptions are [[StarfishAliens the Vajra]] and possibly the Gyararashi (it isn't clear whether the latter have animal or human-level intelligence).
69	* IdolSinger: Most often the ''other'' major draw besides spectacular dogfights. The ''Macross'' franchise has been the [[TropeCodifier codifier]] of the idol genre, specifically the ''anime idol'' subgenre: moreoften than not, the franchise has featured ridiculously cute (almost bordering on {{Moe}}) girls in frilly dresses singing absolutely ''godly'' songs (just check the SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic tab!). That being said, there has been the occasional subversion or even aversion:
70	** ''Anime/MacrossPlus'' features a virtual idol (predating Music/{{Vocaloid}} by a good 15-or-so years) as the ''antagonist'' rather than the protagonist LoveInterest.
71	** ''Anime/Macross7'' features a rock band as the protagonists instead (which still gave us a ton of SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic). [[MemeticMutation Listen to my SOOOOOONG!!!]]
72	** ''Anime/MacrossZero'' has by far the most radical departure from the high-octane blood-pumping songs of the rest of the franchise - it features tribal/folk-singing styled music instead.
73	* IncredibleShrinkingMan: Zentradi possess the technology to reduce themselves to one-tenth their size and mass. The original intent was for storage and transportation of mass troops. It was eventually adapted to infiltrate and later integrate with miclone cultures.
74	* InertialDampening: Starting from ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'', most variable fighters now have something called the "Inertia Store Converter" that not only functions as this, but converts inertia into extra power.
75	** Averted in earlier shows. The lack of this actually plays into the plot of ''Anime/MacrossPlus'' (and, in-universe, likely ''informed'' the development of such technology).
76	* LoveTriangle: One omnipresent trope in the series is the love triangle: pretty much any ''Macross'' story is guaranteed to have this in some form or another. They usually avoid becoming a RomanticPlotTumor, as equally as much attention is paid to the characters' relationships as is paid to the overall space opera.
77	* MagicMusic: With the possible exception of the original series, music tends to do things which border on this, though it's usually explained as being a product of [[AppliedPhlebotinum Fold Waves and Fold Receptor Factors]].
78	* MetaCasting: The up-and-coming IdolSinger character in any given series is usually voiced by a real life up-and-coming singer/voice actress; examples include Mari Iijima voicing Lynn Minmay in ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'', Creator/MegumiNakajima voicing Ranka Lee in ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'', and Minori Suzuki voicing Freyja Wion in ''Anime/MacrossDelta''.
79	* MiniMecha: The ubiquitous Zentradi battle pods/suits may be HumongousMecha from a human perspective, but for their giant-sized pilots, they straddle the line between this trope and PoweredArmor.
80	* NuclearWeaponsTaboo:
81	** Due to this trope, the series uses the term "Reaction Weapons" instead. WordOfGod is that these are actually anti-matter pair annihilation weapons that are, ironically, more destructive than nuclear weapons. When this was pointed out to Shoji Kawamori, he simply stated that "[[ShrugOfGod Nobody's protesting about anti-matter weapons]]".
82	** Later series seem to have traded out Reaction Weapons in favor of Fold Weapons as the fictional WMD of choice. Fold Weapons are even more destructive than antimatter bombs, given that they operate by distorting space-time and are capable of planetary-level destruction.
83	** It should be noted that these devices deployed by the UNS/NUNS are augmented with severe power limiters in order for them to be deployed in a tactical situation. Left unrestricted, these weapons would have annihilated not just their enemies, but also themselves in battle.
84	* OldSchoolDogfight: A franchise staple is the clever combination of this trope with TransformingMecha, which leads to some very creative maneuvers involving ''partial'' transformations.
85	* OneWordTitle: The franchise as a whole is simply known as ''Macross'', though the individual series avert this.
86	* OurGiantsAreBigger: The Zentradi, a race of thirty-foot-tall {{Proud Warrior\|RaceGuy}} HumanAliens who have appeared in every series (with the exception of ''Anime/MacrossZero'') and come to make up a significant portion of the (New) United Nations' population.
87	* ThePlace: The eponymous ''Macross''-class spaceships, which usually act as home base for the main characters.
88	* {{Precursors}}: The Protoculture, who play a key role in the franchise's main MythArc; they were responsible for the evolution/creation of what seems to be every single sentient humanoid species in the galaxy, including humanity, and their powerful relics and ruins can still be found all throughout the Milky Way.
89	* ThePowerOfRock: The other ubiquitous trope in the franchise is music and singers playing a major role in the central conflict. It isn't always rock music, but that gets used a lot since it tends to go very well with incredible aerospace battles.
90	* RealRobotGenre: It straddles the line between this and the SuperRobotGenre. There are a number of fantastic plot elements but the technology and pseudo-science is mostly [[MinovskyPhysics internally consistent]], even if it resorts to HandWave on occasion. Yes, this includes ''Macross 7''; Super Robot-y as it is, the ideas it introduced to the series are picked up and used (in a more subdued manner) by later stories. That said, what truly keeps the franchise primarily in the Real Robot category is that even its most advanced mecha are never treated as anything more than advanced prototypes or custom-modified mass production models.
91	* RiddleForTheAges: Exactly what happened to the ''Megaroad 01'', and with it, the original series cast? Thirty real-life years later and nearly fifty in-universe years later, and all anyone knows is that it disappeared without a trace a few years after its launch. No ''Macross'' series touched that plot thread until ''Delta'', which dropped some vague hints that seemed to relate to it near the end of its run (and ''Zettai Live!!!!!!'' providing slightly more clarification), but the full answer is still left ambiguous [[spoiler:and, more importantly, how much contact they're maintaining with the New UN and who knows about that is deliberately unclear]].
92	* RubberForeheadAliens: While all humanoid species in ''Macross'' closely resemble humans, some still have a few clearly non-human features, like fins, tails, tentacles, etc. It's explained the Protoculture devoted a significant amount of time and resources into creating all these humanoid species, as a galactic scale AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence experiment. Earth seems to have gained the greatest lead... though the Protoculture no longer exists to continue these tests.
93	* SettlingTheFrontier: The series set after the original primarily take place on {{Colony Ship}}s and/or distant planets far away from Earth.
94	* ShoutOut: "Space Fold" technology is likely to have been lifted from Creator/FrankHerbert's ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'' franchise, in which space is "folded" to move ships FasterThanLight in much the same way.
95	* ShownTheirWork:
96	** Creator/ShojiKawamori was an engineering student and, according to some sources, graduated with a degree in aircraft engineering. The result is that most of ''Macross''[='s=] variable fighter designs have very plausible looking fighter modes compared to most TransformingMecha.
97	** Usually, when a Macross or New Macross class warship are configured in assault (humanoid) mode and land on a habitable planet, the vessels rest in large bodies of water. This is because the ships are unable to structurally support their own weight over long periods in this configuration within Earth-like gravity or greater. The ships are also still buoyant and their center of gravity, as well as carrier arms, keep them upright. (The one exception being the ''Elysion'' from Delta, which stands entirely on land over the nearby city.)
98	* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Though the franchise engages in a fair amount of {{Deconstruction}}, it is ultimately very much on the idealistic end of the scale, with its themes of how understanding, love, and music can overcome all odds and convert the most alien of foes into friends.
99	* SourceMusic: There's plenty of moments throughout the franchise where the music the audience hears is also being performed in-universe, since each series has at least one main character who's a singer of some kind.
100	* SpaceNavy: The (New) United Nations Spacy[[labelnote:*]]'''Spac'''e Nav'''y'''[[/labelnote]], or (N.)U.N.S.
101	* {{Spinoff}}: ''Macross'' was originally part of sponsor Big West's "Super Dimension" Trilogy, which also includes ''Anime/SuperDimensionCenturyOrguss'' and ''Anime/SuperDimensionCavalrySouthernCross''.
102	* SpiritualAntithesis: Oddly, its American adaptation, ''Anime/{{Robotech}}'', became this as their timelines progressed. In ''Macross'', the Zentradi become more like humanity, while in ''Robotech'', thanks to repeated invasions, humanity is becoming a warrior race like the Zentradi.
103	** This is no more clearly on display than in their respective versions of the climactic battle against the Zentradi. In ''Robotech'' the attack is headed by Minmay singing a fierce song about fighting on to ultimate victory in battle[[note]]Representative Lyrics: ''Still, we must fight or face defeat/We must stand tall and not retreat/With our strength we'll find the might/There's no fight we can't fight together/All together/We can win..''[[/note]] In ''Macross'' the attack is headed by Minmay singing a song that is a somber and ''very'' pointed anti-war song with lyrics that would not be out of place in a Japanese-language production of ''Theater/{{Lysistrata}}''[[note]]Representative lyrics: ''Love drifts away/Time drifts away/I'm rotting away.../Love drifts away/Time drifts away/I stand before you with a desolate face/I shall forever hate war/We women will recover/We will grit our teeth and stiffen our spines/For the sake of our children''[[/note]].
104	* SuperPrototype: Averted; while we do see plenty of fancy prototypes, that's because they're usually test units for future mass-production models, which themselves often end up being ''superior'' to their prototypes.
105	* TransformingMecha: It was among the first RealRobot series to feature transforming mecha, and the ''Macross'' itself was, at the time, the largest transforming mecha that had ever been seen (over ten times larger than the next contender, though ultimately it would be supplanted a few years later by Unicron, arguably ''the'' largest transforming mecha ever created, thanks to the success of ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'').
106	** The popularity of the original's toyline (helped by the fact that Creator/ShojiKawamori helped Takatoku make an actual transforming Valkyrie toy) may have helped popularize this trope, seeing as Takara made their Diaclone line in response to this, that later became the basis for the ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}''.[[note]]Which then turned around and used the Valkyrie toy itself for the "Jetfire" character, though due to legal issues he ended up with a very different character model from his toy[[/note]]
107	* TranslationConvention: It is strongly implied (and sometimes outright shown) that all the human characters are actually mostly speaking in English, as evidenced by most of the in-universe text that's shown onscreen.
108	** Additionally, it's implied that the aliens are using their own native languages whenever they're speaking among themselves, as evidenced by the fact that each species has been shown to have its own writing system, with several favoring them over, say, the Roman alphabet or Japanese characters.
109	** This may be true to an extent especially in Macross Zero and SDF Macross. However, after Space War I, human colonies grew more diverse and each colony now sport a specific cultural heritage, including language. Moreover, since the Zentradi (friendly to humans or otherwise) are numerically superior to actual humans, it is implied that the galactic Lingua-Franca is actually Zentran by the time of Macross PLUS.
110	* UnitedNationsIsASuperpower: Humanity is united under the rule of the (New) U.N., which grows to incorporate a number of other species.
111	* WaveMotionTuningFork: The incredibly powerful signature weapon of the franchise's eponymous CoolStarship is a defining example of this in anime.
112	** WaveMotionGun: Most of the later ''New Macross'' battle ships have a Macross Cannon integrated into a ship sized gunpod instead, starting with the [[Anime/Macross7 Battle Seven]], continuing with the [[Anime/MacrossFrontier Quarter, Battle Frontier and the Battle Galaxy]] and currently ending with the [[Anime/MacrossDelta Elysium]]. However, ''Frontier'' reveals that there were also more Superdimension Fortresses built by the U.N. Spacy, and these actually retain the basic looks of the SDF-1 besides having streamlined electronics.

Context Anime / Macross