Macross II

Summary: >

Eighty years have passed since the original Macross. The Zentradi still threaten Earth, but thus far have easily been defeated when exposed to a cute Japanese pop star singing, dancing, and hopping around. Only in anime would this be an actual military tactic.

Then a new sect of Zentradi are encountered, utilizing a death song to neutralize the "pop idol defense". Hibiki is a reporter suspicous of a government cover up, but finds an even bigger story than he could have imagined. He finds a Zentradi girl who was songstress known as an "emulator". While mainly interested in a big scoop, hiding her until he gets the whole story is getting tough. The Zentradi girl meanwhile is having problems adjusting to earth, but may be the key to saving it.

Thoughts: >

By now Macross is a franchise with a long history of titles, with many ups and downs. Macross 2 came out about 10 years after the first, but is a too scared of breaking out to succeed as it should. It's true to the ideas of the original, but mired in a typical 90s anime feel. Wether this is for you or not depends on your like (or dislike) of Macross, but this one is easily skipped.

The basic plot is okay, but the characters involved are weak. Ishtar is the usual space case alien girl experiencing the wonders of mankind for the first time. Following her around with a camera all the time (no one else was creeped out by this?) is Hibiki who I found very annoying. Nothing totally unexpected happens, but thankfully it's only six episodes. Any more and it would be a tough watch due to the simplistic story (nothing wrong with that, but there are limits to how that can be stretched).

The dub is pretty good, although strangely contrasting with the singing still in Japanese. The last song however is dubbed in English, and not very well. This is also the song making Zentradi battle fleet become bewildered and confused. Appropriate for anyone who remembered the terrible dubbed singing in Robotech.

In the end it's on the weak side. Decent for a mecha anime, and decent for a Macross follow up, even if disappointing compared to its heritage.

Screen Caps: >