Macross (マクロス) is a Japanese science fiction mecha anime media franchise, created by Studio Nue (most prominently mecha designer, writer and producer Shōji Kawamori) and Artland in 1982. The franchise features a fictional history of Earth and the human race after the year 1999, as well as the history of humanoid civilization in the Milky Way. It consists of four TV series, nine movies, six OVAs, and multiple light novel and manga series, all sponsored by Big West (advertising agency), in addition to 40 video games set in the Macross universe, two crossover games, and a wide variety of physical merchandise.
Within the series, the term Macross is used to denote the main capital ship. This theme began in the original Macross, Super Dimension Fortress Macross.
"Overtech" refers to the scientific advances discovered in an alien starship ASS-1 (Alien Star Ship-One later renamed Super Dimension Fortress-One Macross) that crashed on South Ataria island. Humans were able to reverse engineer the technology to create the mecha (variable fighters and destroids), faster-than-light space fold drive for starships and other advanced technologies that the series features.
Title
The series title comes from the name of the main human spacecraft (which is usually shortened from Super Dimension Fortress Macross to "SDF-1" or The Macross as it is the first). The original name for the Macross project was Battle City Megarōdo (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, Big West Advertising, was a fan of Shakespeare and wanted the series and the spacecraft to be named Macbeth (マクベス). A compromise was made with the title Macross (マクロス) 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 in comparison to human vehicles (though when compared with the alien ships in the series, it is a relatively small gun destroyer) and the distance they must cross.[1]
Themes
The following are themes commonly seen and established among the various series in the Macross franchise.
U.N. Spacy
The U.N. Spacy (統合宇宙軍) is a fictional space military arm of the Earth Unified Government (地球統合政府). It was established by the successor to the modern United Nations in order to defend Earth from a possible attack by hostile aliens, and was involved in Space War I against an extraterrestrial race called the Zentradi. Later operations of the U.N. Spacy expanded into interstellar colonization and general peacekeeping of off-world Earth settlements.
The term "Spacy" is a portmanteau of the terms Space and Army or Navy. Some Japanese sources also use the term Space Army and some English-language sources use the term Space Navy, suggesting that the term is a contraction.
Variable fighters
The valkyrie fighter is one of a series of transformable aerospace fighters, primarily designed by franchise creator Shōji Kawamori and Kazutaka Miyatake. They are generally able to transform into jet/space fighters, Battroid (a humanoid robot) and a hybrid of the two modes, called Gerwalk (Ground Effective Reinforcement of Winged Armament with Locomotive Knee-joint).
Series chronology
Several sequel series and one prequel have followed. Most use a chronology created by the Studio Nue creators, and those that followed their own chronologies were regarded as "parallel storylines" by the studio. Several different studios were involved with Studio Nue in the Macross franchise along the years, but since 2002's Macross Zero, production has been handled exclusively between Nue and Satelight, from which Shōji Kawamori is one of the main key members. The main of Macross production consists of (in chronological release order):
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. This movie was later described as a "historical drama" movie within the Macross universe (similar to World War II films 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). Kawamori described the relation between the two depictions of Space War I: "The real Macross is out there, somewhere. If I tell the story in the length of a TV series, it looks one way, and if I tell it as a movie-length story, it's organized another way."[17] (An edited, English-dubbed version of the feature was also released to video as Clash of the Bionoids.)
Macross II, the only animated project without Studio Nue's direct involvement, was declared by Studio Nue to be a parallel-world story.
Video games
Macross video games are based on its universe, sometimes expanding it with original characters and sidestories; latest games often include newly created anime footage, and all of them were exclusively released in Japan;[29] except a Takatoku Toys handheld electronic game distributed by Incoming Trading, a Banpresto arcade game licensed by Fabtek, and a Bandai Visual PlayStation game whose debuted North American localization was eventually cancelled probably due to copyrights issues involving Harmony Gold.[30]
See the list of Macross video games for all the official and crossover releases from the 1980s up to the 2010s.
Legal complications with international distribution
Harmony Gold purchased the international distribution rights for the Macross series and between 1999 and 2003 filed trademarks on the distribution of Macross merchandise and media outside of Japan.[30] Harmony Gold's international distribution rights are under dispute however as they bought the rights from the Japanese company, Tatsunoko Production, which in a court ruling against companies, Studio Nue and Big West, was ruled to have only the rights to the international distribution of The Super Dimension Fortress Macross and no legal claim to the rest of the franchise; those belonging to the latter companies.[31][32][33][30] Harmony Gold claims that the case does not apply to them since it occurred in Japan and does not apply to the international distribution rights.[34]
Legacy
Macross was the basis for the Robotech franchise in North America. Super Dimension Fortress Macross was adapted into the first saga of the Robotech television series (1985–1986), called The Macross Saga, which spawned the Robotech franchise. Robotech was influential in the Western world, helping to introduce the anime medium to North America.[41]
Macross popularized the concept of transforming mecha, which can transform between a standard vehicle (such as a fighter plane or transport truck) and a fighting mecha robot. Shōji Kawamori introduced the concept with Diaclone in 1980 and then popularized it with Macross. Kawamori then went on to design transforming mecha for Transformers (1986). The transforming mecha concept became popular in the mid-1980s, with Macross: Do You Remember Love? (1984) and Zeta Gundam (1985) in Japan, and with Robotech and Transformers in the West. Transformers went on to influence the Hollywood movie
External links
References
- <Egan Loo>. Macross Compendium FAQs Internet Archive Wayback Machine, Big West, January 15, 2003, retrieved June 28, 2022^
- The Super Dimension Fortress Macross (TV Series). Macross Official Website. Series Section. 04-09-09 retrieved November 28, 2007^
- [http://www25.advfilms.com/titles/macross/ ADV Films Official Macross English Dub Page. Main Section. 04-09-09]^