Customer Reviews

Macross II The Movie

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

When I first saw this movie, it was my first introduction into the world of "Macross". It wasn't as good as it could've been. But after seeing more "Macross" titles like "Macross Plus" and "Robotech" and doing a little research on this film, I quickly realized how low it really was in the world of anime.

"Macross II: The Movie" (also known as "Macross II: Lovers Again") is a classic example of how a franchise can be milked out for all of its worth. Many problems plagued this movie from the start, including the overall "silliness" of the film and the "bluntness" of the characters' features (face shapes, noses, etc.) that was at the time being replaced by more sharper features in anime. The movie was originally set several years after the last "Macross" series, but because of the lackluster appeal of this movie, it was eventually discarded as an alternate universe.

Although it does put out a decent effort on its part, "Macross II" somehow manages to contain a flaw in every aspect. The plot is quite original, although in the end it's one of the movie's main pitfalls. The characters, while not completely stereotypical, aren't well fleshed out and at times act like cardboard cutouts. This can be attributed to the less-than-bearable English voice acting, which often is flat, emotionless, and even laughable.

I will give the film credit for one thing, however. For the English release of the movie, the invaders use the movie's original Japanese track as their "alien language," quite an original idea I have yet to see elsewhere. Even so, while I haven't seen "Macross II" in Japanese, the Japanese voice acting in the English version often at times sounds as flat as the English voice acting. The animation, while probably good enough for its time, is nothing special. Movements, particularly speaking, appear choppy and oftentimes unnatural.

Even the two major factors that define a "Macross" world - fighting and music - fall short. The fighting in "Macross II", while plentiful, makes the viewer feel he's watching uninspired vintage footage. And the singing, while done rather well, consists mostly of bubblegum pop that isn't anything to talk about.

All in all, "Macross II" made a decent effort yet couldn't live up to the standards of the rest of the "Macross" series. If watched on its own without any previous knowledge of the Macross universe, it might be seen in a better light. But with the name of "Macross" attached to its title, and with everything that defines a "Macross" series/movie falling short in this film, "Macross II: Lovers Again" isn't a good choice for serious anime fans.

I've been a fan of the Macross universe since the beginning of time (for the Macross Universe anyway). Recently I ran across this little gem of an anime that was bashed by almost every reviewer in professional sites. The truth is, this title not only delivers excellent animation, but also quality entertainment for all ages.

The story opens with an ambitious reporter for the SNN uncovering alleged scandals drawing from his inspiration formed when he saw the war report from the first Zentraedi war. In a series of events, Hibiki, the main character, runs across an alien girl, who at first is Hibiki's "scoope" but later becomes more. As the story progressed, the movie uses the theme of love and music to begin tying up loose ends in the movie, and ultimately agrees with the proverb "Love conquers all".

This movie has many underlying social comments, including human rights(or Marduk rights), handling responsibilities, government censorship of the media.

All in all, this movie's animation quality is extremely well-done. The characters definitely follow the style of the Macross series. Transformations of mechas are done with extra detail. Action sequences are done with impressive cinematography complete with crisp animation and timely perspective changes, as well as excellent camera work.

The English dubbing as well as the localisation of the script are not among the best in the anime genre, but they are nothing terrible either. On top of all that, if you truly do not like dubbing, you could always turn on the subtitles and switch the audio to Japanese track. There are awkward pauses every now and then, however.

This movie is extremely highly recommended, and unlike most other anime DVD releases, this one actually contains a respectful amount of extra goodies outside of the featured film and previews for other animes.

If you are a fan of the Macross universe, snatch this one up with extra greed in your eyes and drool in your mouth. If you're not ... well, buy it anyway... or I will tell the Marduk Emulators to sing the song of death as I unleash my Zentraedi warriors upon you...

First off, I want to say that this work is nowhere near as good as the rest of the Macross sequel offerings (Macross Plus, Macross Zero, Macross 7, etc).

That being said, I think that this series is unfairly being compared to it's siblings, that are paradigms of the genre (kinda like Alien 3, which in and of itself, was a good movie, but paled in comparison to it's predecessors). But if you look at it by itself, you'll find that it's a pretty fun story with really good animation. Again, not up to par with the rest of the family, but still able to knock the socks off of a lot of other anime offerings out there.

Every review I have read here is talking about Macross Plus - an entirely different series produced several years after this. Macross II is the first sequal series to Macross. The first half is an intriguing set-up for a series, but the second half is lackluster and delivers no real pay-off. PLUSES: The character designs by original Macross designer Haruhiko Mikimoto are fantastic. The animation and space battles for the first half of the story is great. The universe feels like a natural extension of the original series. MINUSES: Poor second half, both in terms of animation quality and storytelling. Overall, a worthwhile diversion for Macross fans, and any fan of Mikimoto or Kawamori's designs. And still light years better than Macross Zero or the infantile Macross 7 which inexplicably ran for many years. Enjoy.

So this isn't best anime feature in the world. Okay maybe that is an understatement. The art is dated, the subbing is awkward, and all that other jazz. But you know what? That is the best thing about this movie! It is so damn bad it is freaking hilarious, heck the opening battle scenes had me rolling on the floor with the fact they were fighting amidst holograms of dancing pop singers! And what is up with the singing? The singing is the best part! Hell I am little [irritated that] the characters didn't whip out any dance moves during their selected scores...

Just try to keep a straight face when Hibiki is placed in jail and he gives his "heartfelt" speech about media censorship or whatever...

Even the closing dialogue will give you big chuckle. God, what a disastrously great movie.

The 3 main characters go through the same end-fate as Lynn Minmei, Rick Hunter, & Lisa Hayse. (Does that make Kyle like Marduk?) It's basically the original Robotech crossed over with Audrey Hepburn's Roman Holiday (the similarities are outstanding). The English music bites the big one, so I highly reccomend watching it subed.

Also reccomend Gall Force: Eternal Story & Wind of Amnisia.

It's not a bad anime.
But the story lacks the 'soul' and the connection with characters that you have with the original macross. Another story that uses the macross name and have no direct relation with the original story.

I just saw Macross II: Lovers Again, and believe me, it was an excellent movie from start to finish. For those of you like me who have watched the classic Robotech series on either early morning television back in the 1980s, to a rebroadcast on the Sci-Fi channel in 1991 to Cartoon Network's airing of it, Robotech has been a classic series, and Macross II captures the spirit and essence that has made Robotech so popular. The characters, while somewhat blunt and re-used anime sterotypes, fit in well with the action - orientated universe of Macross. The music fares well with the story's simple but effective plot, nothing to the quality of Macross Plus, but decent in its own right. Yet the thing that shines about this film is the way it captured anime's classic look and feel in its beautiful renditions of space battles, gorgeous backgrounds on both land and space and creative and somewhat cute character design that is what anime is all about. I'm personally captured to this wonderful feeling, and Macross II has all of it, and (dare I say), does it better than Macross Plus. An overall excellent movie, don't miss this!

Ok now here comes a review from someone who has never seen Macross, or any of the series, or any of the macross plus series. I am entirely uneducated in the Macross world of anime. But a friened of mine who is a Anime buff had this and i saw it at his house and Loved It Entirely. This movie is Amazing beginning to end. Some people complained comparing this to the seires or other macross medie. But not having anything to compare with, other then the anime titles i own (many St Fighter movies and episodes, Princes Mononoke, Akira and many others now) i loved it.
This movie had everything and more that a movie should have. Great animation, Excellent voice overs. Wonderfull plot, action, drama, Everything.. and even the tail end of one of the songs is in english i believe its "do you remember love". The song also is excellent. Now on the other hand i have seen the origional version and it is better then the dubbed version. But belive me, not by that much. and personally i like not having to read the subbing. And with voice over that are as good as these i dont need subbing. They voices have great emotion and anything you would expect from a good dubbing job. I am Very Very pleased with this Amazing movie. Any anime fan should buy it. It was the 1st movie that sparked my entire anime collection and it is also the Best anime i have seen to date.

Okay, everyone's opinions seem to be clashing on this particular anime, so I might as well put my two cents in. Do you dig anime/sci-fi with epic yet rediculous plotlines like stopping a war with songs of love? Do you like gundam/macross style space battles? Do you love the often stereotyped anime main characters? Do you wish more anime had soft edges on the characters instead of the sharp lines so often seen? Do you like cool backgrounds, japanese pop and (above all) long for an animated movie longer than an hour and twenty mintues? Look no further! If you are what I consider a true anime fan, you'll love this movie. It's got everything. Epic space battles, weird plot, cool backgrounds, japanese singing, sappy motivational speeches, and a really hot alien babe the story revolves around. Don't rent it, buy it!