CHOUJIKUU YOUSAI MACROSS: AI OBOETE IMASU KA

DESCRIPTION

CAST

OVA ActionMacross II: Lovers Again
ANIME ActionChoujikuu Yousai Macross
OVA DramaChoujikuu Yousai Macross: FLASH BACK 2012
NOVEL ActionChoujikuu Yousai Macross "Gekijouban": Ai Oboete Imasu ka

REVIEWS

• 

  CodeBlazeFate

  91/100
  DYRL is a truly beautiful work, both visually and emotionally.

  *SINCE CHANCES ARE, YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THIS MOVIE, I IMPLORE YOU TO SEEK IT OUT BEFORE RETURNING TO THIS REVIEW. THERE ARE PLENTY OF SPOILERS FOR "MACROSS: DO YOU REMEMBER LOVE?".

  You know, people tend to have a lot of adamant notions on things. There are people who believe that the original version of a story is inherently and exponentially better than alternative versions and retellings. There are people who try to say that men are inherently better than women or vice versa. You have people who claim music to be less impactful and worth being labeled "art" as paintings and fiction. In one fell swoop, Macross: Do You Remember Love manages to address every single one of these issues (including the first and third ones indirectly) and do so phenomenally. As a fan of this franchise since the days of watching Robotech on DVD as a kid, I'm glad to finally examine this work of art.

  We begin in the midst of the war between the Earth forces and the Zentradi. Ultimately, it's the Earth people who are at a gigantic disadvantage, more so than in the original series. After one such battle which ended up with a few Zentradi crashing into Macross and discovering the "miclones" (or Micronians for Robotech fans), famous superstar pop idol Lynn Minmei is trapped in an engine room with the pilot who rescued her from an armed Zentradi, Hikaru Ichijou. It is then where they bond and form an eventual romance in the span of 3 days, with part of the love expanding on their time together. After another fun time with them goes wrong as not only are they caught by Misa (Hikaru's commanding officer) and Kaifun (Minmei's cousin who is seemingly unrelated in the movie for some reason), but all 4 of them, as well as another pilot, Roy Focker, are captured by the Zentradi and are forced to show them their culture before we learn that the Zentradi have been at war with Melteadi. Basically, Zentradi are giant war guys and Melteadi are giant war girls. After an attack on the Zentradi ship, not only does Roy Focker die, but Hikaru and Misa (who got separated from Minmei and Kaifun) are now stranded on a desolate wasteland that was once called Earth.

  With no hope for survival on this now ruined planet, Hikaru and Misa bond after some talk about what the hell they're gonna do. While one can argue that this romantic development moves a bit too fast, we do see the gist of what they're going through, in the span of a week, these two, who are alone in this desolate globe, are without hope as they toil away, looking for possible survivors and eventually just trying to survive, they can only really bond if they want to make any of this time remotely worthwhile, and that's exactly what they do, even after they find a lost city and end up learning that the human race was a combined effort from micronized Zentradi and Melteadi to create an environment and people of both sexes that can live in harmony. With this in mind, the two bond more so than ever, despite their rough introduction to each other as a nagging superior and upstart subordinate. Once the Macross arrived for the details, the Melteadi attack them, and after a few minutes into the fight, the Zentradi show up, using Minmei's singing as a way to screw them up and force them to retreat, as they have noted that culture is an effective weapon against both the Zentradi and Meltradi, and have learned how to use that to their advantage in their ear against the Meltradi.

  Now all of our protagonists meet back up on Earth, and remember two singular cards, one of which Misa found on Earth. It is here that the love triangle really heats up, as Hikaru has chosen Misa over Minmei and now Minmei will know, and she takes it about as well as a love rival would considering that these two were originally in a relationship, and all of this bites Hikaru in the ass. Now that the lyrics from the cards are now ready for the new song and now that the Meltradi and some of the Zentradi are here, Hikaru rushes desperately to reach Minmei, even if it means literally slapping some sense into her to make her realize that now it's about the word instead of her dwindling relationship. Afterwards, we get my favorite scene in the movie.

  As the final battle rages on, Minmei sings the titular sing: Do You Remember Love. Not only was this enough to screw up the Melteadi long enough for the Zentradi to take out their leader, but it even convinces some of the Zentradi to turn against their leader, allowing Hikaru to take him out. Was this turn a bit forced, yeah, but it still led to a really satisfying payoff. Following that, Minnie and Misa have a small, quiet, and impactful moment of understanding one another, and it's done gloriously. With that, both the movie and the war are over. Do I think that some parts could've been handled better, yeah, but what we got was still great. It expands only some of the concepts laid out by the original series (Melteadi and Zentradi feuding, the connection between Zentradi/Melteadi and humans), and it does so greatly, as well as tackling some interesting ideas.

  I'm glad that this movie never tries to pick a side when addressing sexism as a major topic, since that would really be a disastrous move (even if some people will ignorantly call this movie sexist, but I digress). In fact, one could say that there was no true villain in the movie aside from sexism and the ignorance of culture. People were repeatedly put down for being sexist, and both of the alien overlords were eradicated on account of their sexism and ignorance of culture not making them understand cooperation and continue the war against each other. It's a nice message to send; both sexes should work together instead of bickering over something as dumb and trivial as "which gender is superior". Not to mention that I really like the message at the end that's implied by Misa: even an ordinary song can be impactful, for music is exactly that: impactful. We never really get to hear a message that highlights the importance of music and by extension, culture, but it's always nice to see it handled well without it being spelled out.

  My ultimate gripe is that almost all characters not a part of the main trio get the shaft. Sure,I'm glad Kaifun takes a back seat and doesn't get to be a total dick, and I'm glad that Roy got to die with badassery, but Max and Millia were sidelined, Roy is really flanderised from his show counterpart (now being an obnoxious and playfully sexist macho man instead of a more suave and down to earth cool guy who also happens to be a lil' bit of a womanizer), Hayao is just a light version of this version of Roy (was he even named in this movie?) and Claudia doesn't get to be as much of a fun, jovial, and down to earth character as before, but that one was inevitable due to the fact that this is a 2 hour film and the TV series was a series of 36 22 minute episodes. Not to mention that the trio of Zentradi that went to Earth in the original doesn't show up at all here. At the very least, the trio that occasionally hangs out with Misa and Claudia act as naturally as possible, which is a rarity in anime; side-characters that act genuinely human.

  On the flip side, the main trio gets expanded upon. Hikaru, while more of an asshole in the beginning Han he ever was in the original, he grows rather quickly when he's stranded on a desolate wasteland of a planet. He's still pretty great and his ultimate love interest, Misa is handled just as well in the TV series, only with more streamline development. We get to see the more fragile side of her that was not as present as before and it's rather nice to see the two warm up to each other. Yet out of all of the trio of the love triangle, Minmei was handled the best, by far. People claim this version of her to be infinitely superior to the TV Minmei, and I kinda have to agree with them. Her development was more streamlined, and her demeanor seemed more lax and lovely than the original one was, even making fun little jokes and jabs here and there. Plus, her adventures with Hikaru are a sight to behold. Not to mention that she's just as beautiful as the scenes with her and Hikaru having fun. Even when she's at her worst (with the whole love triangle thing) she ends up realizing a grander purpose and that the needs of the world outweigh the needs of her and her romance. This development is so grand in its intensity that it even amazes Hikaru, who made her develop in the first place. As mentioned previously, the moment that sealed the deal on Minmei being my favorite character in this movie was the final scene with her and Misa, which was handled so damn well that I was blown away. Speaking of blown away...

  Studio Artland has been heralded as one of the best studios ever made, mainly due to them working on the critically acclaimed Mushishi and that elitists' fapping shrine, Legend of The Galactic Heroes, which is considered by many to be the creme de la creme of anime. Not to mention that they worked on the original Macross. So, of course, they worked on this and did a splendid job. Although, they weren't the only studio that worked on it, Tatsunoko Production joined the fun as well. Honestly, both studios did an amazing job with this anime. Every ship, explosion, character, and background is lavishly detailed and it all looks majestic. The action really sells itself as the best in the franchise as well, and the character designs by Haruhiko Mikimoto are as gorgeous as ever, and nothing really dips at all. It's easily one of the best looking anime movies I've seen to date, and given that this was in 1984, that's amazing in its own right. Each location is so strikingly different and full of personality, even the more mystical yet oppressive desolate Earth and the more alien Zentradi and Zentradi environments, which are more distinctly alien than ever before. Then again, when one of your key animators is the legendary Hideaki Anno, you know your eyes are in for a treat. I mean, just look at this movie! I can't begin to do it justice!

  

  The OST by Kentarou Haneda is still pretty great, with some classic tracks form the series, and it all works as well as you'd expect from Macross. Now for the real thing which happens to be one of the 3 things that characterize Macross: the songs. Each song sung by Minmei (Mari Ijima, who voices her and sings the songs). All of your favorites from the original series show up here and are as catchy and fun as ever. Plus, the titular song, "Do You Remember Love?" is easily my favorite of them all, partially due to it playing in the most majestic moment of the movie, and partly since it's in between the two scenes that made her my favorite character in the movie. It's a truly delightful song if I do say so myself. As for the dub "Invasion of the Spacenoids", that is its own abomination that I refuse to associate with this movie. It's some fucked up localization that is nothing like the movie and is even marketed as its own thing, not with Macross or even Robotech, by even the Robotech cast would've been an infinitely better fit. Get that weak shit outta here.

  DYRL is a truly beautiful work, both visually and emotionally. I honestly can't say much more than what I have aside from mentioning the Max and Milia plotline, which despite a brilliant reversal from their plotline in the TV series, was as sidelined as the characters involved. It's not my favorite installment in the franchise, but it's one that can stand perfectly on its own as both a gateway into the franchise and a superb supplement to the original series it diverges from.

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• 

  ohohohohohoho

  90/100
  Macross: Do You Remember Love? is a future fairy tale.

  Macross: Do You Remember Love? is a future fairy tale. You have to have a cold heart, a jaded soul to not be touched by this glittering lovers' fantasy. It's as cool and stylish as it is hopelessly romantic. It has some of the best traditional animation you'll ever see, and a truly classic look to everything from the machines; to the settings; to the abstract, dreamy, ephemeral backdrops that the characters sometimes sing or talk in front of when emotions are running high; to the characters themselves. The battle for love takes place among the twinkling stars that guide and cross the characters' fates. I'll admit, I first tried to watch this film years ago after giving up on the series a few episodes in. I gave up on the film, too, feeling a bit incredulous toward the on the nose representation of a battle between the power of love, embodied by humanity, and the force of unfeeling, unconscious war and conquest represented by dorky, monumental green aliens, one of whom has a giant pulsating brain-head. The aliens are horrified by the fact that human (aka miclone) men and women live together, and even more horrified by the fact that they hug and KISS. Don't make me yack de culture!

  I mean, although it gets to be a little more complicated than that, the premise is a little silly. No one can really deny that. But it wouldn't be such a great, modern, scifi fairytale if it were otherwise. Isn't the moral of the story equally obvious in, say, Cinderella, or Beauty and the Beast? A work of art, which as far as anime go, this one undeniably is; isn't meant to be flawless, but to carry something inside it that transcends its flaws. So when I returned to this film for the second time with a few dozen more anime under my belt, and growing weary of approaching everything with a calculating, serious critical eye all of time, I came back to Do You Remember Love? with a bit more patience, and a rather more open heart. By the end of the story, my heart was fully in bloom.

  I'll keep my analysis short this time, but there will be some spoilers as usual.

  Although I have been pretty firm so far about my characterization of this story as a fairy tale, I think it's worth noting that even though the day is seemingly saved and everything is ostensibly reconciled with a fairytale conclusion, at the end of this story, what it seems to say about the future of the human race and the power of culture is not all that tidy, and not without any traces of suspicion.

  The premise of Macross reminds me in a few ways of Evangelion, though obviously, it predates Eva by quite some time. Whereas Adam is the progenitor of humans (indirectly) and Angels in Evangelion, the Protoculture generates the Zentradi/Meltrandi and humans alike in Macross. Like in Evangelion, the humans in Macross do battle with a species that, little do they know, is not totally Other, but a mirroring of itself, despite how incomprehensible or hideous they may seem. Then, ultimately, the tool used to "defeat" the Zentradi and apparently end warfare is a popular love song from deep in the Protoculture's past. But what is the actual effect of this love song?

  The climax of the film, which takes place during Minmay's rendition of the song, is a battle. The song unites the Zentradi, Meltrandi and humans against a faction of the Zentradi that is resistant to acceptance of "culture," culture being, defined by the Zentradi themselves, "productive creative acts not related to warfare." Minmay's music is an example of culture. Yet the love song that saves the day is merely a call to arms that unites once quarreling forces against a common foe. It's a battle cry. The Zentrandi remark at the end of the film upon how there are 1000s of fleets left to destroy, but one says to the other "Still, look at what one song was able to accomplish?" What the song accomplished was the utter annihilation of their foe. Culture, according to the narrative, is a powerful weapon.

  Earlier in the story, Minmay uses her music to help her fans forget their sorrow. Later, she uses a forgotten pop song to unite everyone's hearts against those who refuse to join in the union. Music, for all the good it seems to accomplish, seems nevertheless to function as a kind of analgesic mind control tool. What does that say about the fact that the song that had the immense power to turn the tides of battle was just a pop song, of the type of music that comes a dime a dozen on radio broadcasts and streaming platforms that we, the viewers, listen to without a second thought day in and day out? What does that say about this movie, a piece of pop culture itself? Do we take what we take in for granted? Should we be as careful as we are grateful with regards to how we let the cultural artifacts we embrace affect our hearts?

  After all, the humans at the end of the story haven't eradicated war. They haven't eliminated lovers' quarrels. A sometimes bitter love triangle is at the heart of the story. They've survived the apocalypse, but conflict remains. Minmay is love that cannot be hidden, but she is pure performance. She cannot articulate the words for herself. Hayase has the heart of love beating inside of her, but she cannot present herself as a woman, as affectionate. At the end of the story, they've reconciled. They restore love to its rightful place by reconstructing an old forgotten song together, content and performance. But as they do, the Zetrandi fly off to eradicate anyone else who would stand against Culture. Content and performance. The "protoculture" world has, in essence, been restored, and while it's a beautiful, triumphant moment, that's really all it can be. The city has risen from beneath the earth. We remember love. But what we remember, we can easily forget again, and perhaps we are doomed to. Then we'll remember again.

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• 

  SpiritChaser

  100/100
  A masterpiece film that does justice in what the series lacked in. Looks so beautiful it brings tears to the fans.

  There will be spoilers.

  Movies often fail when trying to retell a series because of how rushed and condensed they have to be. Still, "Do You Remember Love?" managed to cement itself as necessary viewing for after the series, despite its flaws. I watched this first not knowing what I was getting myself into, and with fascination, though I obviously missed a lot as this was intended for those who had already watched the series. After watching the series and coming back to watch this one more time after not remembering it so well, everything made sense, even more so at times. It felt like a whole different experience, so much more satisfying with it's breathtakingly beautiful art, so much more improved compared to the series. Seeing Minmay and Misa drawn so much more beautifully and moving so fluidly was a pleasantly otherworldly experience that can only be really appreciated if the viewer watched the series first. Consistently throughout, the animation shocked me in how good it looks. If I was alive back then, surely I would be one of those that slept in the streets outside the theater waiting for this to come out. At the time, the film was a massive success back in 1984, only coming second place to "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind."

  The movie is very different than the series. In the movie, the writing makes Minmay look like the better choice for Hikaru while the series spent most of the time making Misa appear that way. The end of the series gets even deeper than this, however. Misa appears very unpleasant this time but Minmay is portrayed without many of her flaws from the series. Hikaru is much more decisive and assertive instead of feeling so confused and oblivious previously. The Zentradi's men and women get involved in the conflict. There is more explained about the story and origins of certain parts.

  As the humans travel in space inside a city that is inside a giant robotic fortress that can transform into a soldier, they often get into fights with a strange alien race from far away. Humanity is struggling to stay alive against it as nearly the entire population has been wiped out by them. The secrets of protoculture, and a 500,000 year old song become their secret weapons.

  As a romance it sadly did not get to develop itself out as well as it could, but tried it's best by changing even more from the plot to make it as dramatic and meaningful as possible. Since most who watched it had already seen the series, the majority of the characters were not developed at all here or rarely focused on to help make this just under two hours long. Nothing is perfect, but despite it's flaws, it still nailed the core of what Macross is about. I cannot forget the hilarious reactions of the Zentradi to the so called degeneracy of Protoculture.

  The climax of the film is the famous "Do you Remember Love?" sequence. It is legendary, and the height of what the original Macross has to offer, for all it has in epic moments. If I was to name the greatest moments in anime based on what I have experienced, this would be near the top, as one of the most crowning achievements of the medium in what it can do, when there is love and passion behind a project led by legendary staff.

  In the final confrontation, the Macross and it's cast are stuck between a crisis just as the main Zentradi forces begin their giant battle between their women and men. Through resolve, Minmay begins to perform "Do You Remember Love?" in the Macross as it is broadcasted for everyone to hear and see. It begins to return culture to an alien race that had lost it, as this is a 500,000 year old song that they felt sounded familiar. With space battles, explosions and death going on all around for her to see behind the glass, not to mention that at any time she could get attacked, Minmay passionately and unmovingly continues to sing her song as everything becomes chaotic around her. Her song creates an alliance between millions of Zentradi who then suddenly turn on their master in order to protect Minmey and her music. Hikaru, the ace pilot, moves out during the confusion as the song nears the end. There is an interesting use of imagery as Misa's frame flashes and alternates with Hikaru's plane before taking off. During the most passionate moment of the song, Hikaru charges at the Zentradi's main supreme commander while Minmay's frame with her hand reaching out flashes in and out behind Hikaru ship, as if to personally deliver to Lord Boldov not just the protoculture of her music, but their ace pilot as he grows near. The song ends as the action slowly cools down, and Minmay looks down looking a bit sad. After all, it was a love song that wasn't all too fitting for her to sing at the moment. Never having seen something of this quality in the Macross series, it was breathtaking.

  The song itself is one of my favorite songs not just in anime, but all time. Tragically, the man who composed it committed suicide in the early 2000s. Not just him, but Hikaru's voice actor had suffered the same fate a few years earlier.

  Despite all its flaws, this is still a masterpiece. And for anime, a historical document.

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