Macross Zero
April 20th 2008 23:40
Category: Videos
Created by: Shoji Kawamori.
Director: Shoji Kawamori.
Screenplay by: Hiroshi Ohnogi.
Producers: Kaya Ohnishi & Minoru Takanashi.
Starring: Akira Kamiya (Roy Fokker), Kenichi Suzumura (Shin Kudou), Sanae Kobyashi (Sara Nome), Yuuka Nanri (Mao Nome), Minami Takayama (Nora Polyansky), Nachi Nozawa (Professor Hasford), Noami Shidoh (Aries Turner), Ryuzaboru Otomo (D.D.Ivanov), Sousuke Komori (Edgar La Salle), Tamio Ohki (Nutouk), Kinryuu Arimoto (Raizou Nakajima) & Kouji Tatani (Hassan).
Produced by: Bandai Visual, Big West, Macross Zero Project & Satelight.
Released by: Satelight
Running Time: 150 minutes.
It could be said from the title alone that this is the prequel to Macross Plus, Macross Super Dimensional Fortress I, Robotech, Macross Seven and Macross II, though in reality its more sort of different take on the stories that began originally with Macross Super Dimensional Fortress I and what would later be known in the west as Robotech, the Macross Saga. Certainly there are a number of common elements amongst the various shows, in particular the fact that they are all Mecha films, that there is a UN Spacy, that there is and was a global conflict between a Unified World government and anti unification forces and their occurred an incident which literally changed the face of global society and provoked major conflict – the catastrophic arrival of an alien spaceship. These are shared elements in all the various incarnations yet when push comes to shove they are only to maintain a familiar feel to a show that is as different from its predecessors as chalk is from cheese.
Macross Zero could be seen to be so called because it’s at the very start of when this saga began, when the global conflict is raging, the alien spaceship has crash-landed and mankind begins to take its first tentative steps towards the stars and interstellar exploration. Of course as the whole mecha angle has been a big thing throughout all the shows of this particular franchise the Zero could be the result of the fact that the United Alliance UN Spacy are flying the VF-0, the first variable fighters that would later become famous in the west as the Veritech Fighters that would capture the imaginations of literally thousands of kids on weekday afternoons all across the US, Australia and anywhere else that screened Robotech. Ah it takes me back to the halcyon days of my youth, drinking soda pop and watching Robotech…oh well enough reminiscing.
You wouldn’t be blamed for thinking that Macross Zero is something combining elements of your standard mecha anime with culture clash, melodrama and a little bit of Erich von Daniken just to spice things up. It’s interesting to note that Robotech, which was initially based on Macross Super Dimensional Fortress I, had this notion of protoculture which was the mysterious power source used to power the Veritech Fighters, Battloids and the SDF-1 was something that Harmony Gold the makers of Robotech came up with. It didn’t exist in Macross Super Dimensional Fortress I, yet here in this particular show it crops up, though the protoculture of Macross Zero is a far different concept from the one Harmony Gold used in their remake. Instead protoculture is literally defined as the first culture, the very source of human society, which was the result of extraterrestrial influence. Shades of Erich von Daniken definitely, and there is even a Daniken like figure within the series; Professor Hasford, who is the proponent of this bold and somewhat out their theory.
But what does this all have to do with mecha fighting, global conflict and so forth? Quite a lot actually, it is one of the driving themes in the series which just goes to show that the makers of this series obviously wanted to put a bit of a spin on the standard mecha anime, but then again it seems the Japanese always like to explore various themes and plots via the mediums of their various anime franchises and Macross it seems is no exception. In fact if anything it seems to be following in a time honoured tradition of such exploration that was begun with the whole Gundam Seed universe, an anime series that has had more incarnations than you think would be humanly possible. In fact in the west the only series that could be viewed on comparable grounds is the Star Trek franchise which has had numerous spin offs as well as movies and a significant cult following.
Essentially the drama in Macross Zero revolves around an alien artefact and the legends of the people of the island of Maya. These two facets intertwined like the strands of DNA are the basis for the whole protoculture theory, yet when the drama opens on the first episode these things are furthest from the mind of the main protagonist in the story. Shin Kudou remembers the day that the alien space ship crashed to earth; it was a day he describes as having two suns in the sky, the one in the east rising and the other in the west. From childhood reminiscences the story moves into the thick of the action, Shin is now a pilot in the United Alliance forces and it is on a routine mission with his co-pilot Edgar La Salle that he finds himself catapulted into a world of trouble, whilst engaging enemy fighters over an island archipelago he finds himself in combat with a fighter the likes of which he has never seen or heard of before, a variable wing fighter piloted by the enemy. Unfortunately for Shin the pilot is just too good and he finds himself bailing out along with his co-pilot.
Later Shin awakes on a tropical island, his wounds bandaged but with no one around, he eventually discovers the locals and there is some hilarity later as he realises that the wooden sword he has in his hands after his awakening is not so much a weapon but a symbol of declaring one’s love to a woman. The island is called Maya and its inhabitants are the Mayans, naturally, looking at the scenery in particular the huts and lodges the whole place reminded me of somewhere in the Solomon Islands or Papua New Guinea. It is here that Shin recovers from his wounds and learns that the perspective of the islanders is very different from what he has dealt with in the ‘real’ world, at first he dismisses it as all some kind of cultural thing but as time passes he begins to see and to realise that the Mayans probably have a fairly good grasp of the past, the world and reality. They are a people deeply connected to the ebb and flow of life, a connection that even with the modern era it seems they have never really lost.
Unfortunately the outside world has a distinct interest in the island for a variety of reasons, the least being that they want to know why the other side is so interested. It seems that Maya holds the key to the secrets of the alien artefact that has been found and codenamed Aphos. Looking like some kind of weird birdman Aphos bears more than a passing resemblance to the birdman of Maya legend and to a lot of the murals and totem poles that are found on the island in various sacred sights. It seems that the birdman is something more than just a myth and as events unfold its significance assumes almost apocalyptic significance.
Whilst I was watching this, relatively short, series I was literally blown away by the animation in particular that involving the fight sequences and the birdman it is literally jaw dropping stuff. Certainly the fight sequences even those between normal jet fighters, was on par with those in Final Fantasy VII if not better. It was literally edge of the seat nail biting stuff; still other scenes were also incredible for their seeming ‘reality’ and I briefly wondered if they were actual real life shots or animation. These were the scenes that occur during Shin’s recollection of the crash landing and the resulting conflict, some of them looked as if they were direct shots from a news feed and the shots of tank columns and F-117 Stealth bombers dropping payloads looked simply incredible. Certainly the production team on this project have really excelled with this series, it’s certainly a highly crafted piece of cinematography but its one that does to my mind have a couple of flaws.
Its first flaw is its length, made into five episodes running at approximately thirty minutes each, I got the feeling that near the end the drama became rather rushed towards an inevitable climax. I felt in my own opinion that there should have been at least another two or three more episodes to gradually build things up not rush them. Secondly the ending seemed a bit too open ended and unusual for my taste, ever further emphasising my impression that things were being rushed in the last two episodes. Finally I had to wonder what happened to the alien spaceship that crash-landed and started all this hullabaloo? Where the heck did that go? It certainly wasn’t Aphos as Aphos had been sitting at the bottom of the ocean for a very long period of time, hundreds of thousands if not millions of years is the impression I got from the story. In the end though even though these aspects annoyed me a little it does have to be said that Macross Zero was an enjoyable viewing experience. It’s definitely worth watching and it’s a very touching drama even if a little bit confusing near its conclusion.
Director: Shoji Kawamori.
Screenplay by: Hiroshi Ohnogi.
Producers: Kaya Ohnishi & Minoru Takanashi.
Starring: Akira Kamiya (Roy Fokker), Kenichi Suzumura (Shin Kudou), Sanae Kobyashi (Sara Nome), Yuuka Nanri (Mao Nome), Minami Takayama (Nora Polyansky), Nachi Nozawa (Professor Hasford), Noami Shidoh (Aries Turner), Ryuzaboru Otomo (D.D.Ivanov), Sousuke Komori (Edgar La Salle), Tamio Ohki (Nutouk), Kinryuu Arimoto (Raizou Nakajima) & Kouji Tatani (Hassan).
Produced by: Bandai Visual, Big West, Macross Zero Project & Satelight.
Released by: Satelight
It could be said from the title alone that this is the prequel to Macross Plus, Macross Super Dimensional Fortress I, Robotech, Macross Seven and Macross II, though in reality its more sort of different take on the stories that began originally with Macross Super Dimensional Fortress I and what would later be known in the west as Robotech, the Macross Saga. Certainly there are a number of common elements amongst the various shows, in particular the fact that they are all Mecha films, that there is a UN Spacy, that there is and was a global conflict between a Unified World government and anti unification forces and their occurred an incident which literally changed the face of global society and provoked major conflict – the catastrophic arrival of an alien spaceship. These are shared elements in all the various incarnations yet when push comes to shove they are only to maintain a familiar feel to a show that is as different from its predecessors as chalk is from cheese.
Macross Zero could be seen to be so called because it’s at the very start of when this saga began, when the global conflict is raging, the alien spaceship has crash-landed and mankind begins to take its first tentative steps towards the stars and interstellar exploration. Of course as the whole mecha angle has been a big thing throughout all the shows of this particular franchise the Zero could be the result of the fact that the United Alliance UN Spacy are flying the VF-0, the first variable fighters that would later become famous in the west as the Veritech Fighters that would capture the imaginations of literally thousands of kids on weekday afternoons all across the US, Australia and anywhere else that screened Robotech. Ah it takes me back to the halcyon days of my youth, drinking soda pop and watching Robotech…oh well enough reminiscing.
But what does this all have to do with mecha fighting, global conflict and so forth? Quite a lot actually, it is one of the driving themes in the series which just goes to show that the makers of this series obviously wanted to put a bit of a spin on the standard mecha anime, but then again it seems the Japanese always like to explore various themes and plots via the mediums of their various anime franchises and Macross it seems is no exception. In fact if anything it seems to be following in a time honoured tradition of such exploration that was begun with the whole Gundam Seed universe, an anime series that has had more incarnations than you think would be humanly possible. In fact in the west the only series that could be viewed on comparable grounds is the Star Trek franchise which has had numerous spin offs as well as movies and a significant cult following.
Essentially the drama in Macross Zero revolves around an alien artefact and the legends of the people of the island of Maya. These two facets intertwined like the strands of DNA are the basis for the whole protoculture theory, yet when the drama opens on the first episode these things are furthest from the mind of the main protagonist in the story. Shin Kudou remembers the day that the alien space ship crashed to earth; it was a day he describes as having two suns in the sky, the one in the east rising and the other in the west. From childhood reminiscences the story moves into the thick of the action, Shin is now a pilot in the United Alliance forces and it is on a routine mission with his co-pilot Edgar La Salle that he finds himself catapulted into a world of trouble, whilst engaging enemy fighters over an island archipelago he finds himself in combat with a fighter the likes of which he has never seen or heard of before, a variable wing fighter piloted by the enemy. Unfortunately for Shin the pilot is just too good and he finds himself bailing out along with his co-pilot.
Later Shin awakes on a tropical island, his wounds bandaged but with no one around, he eventually discovers the locals and there is some hilarity later as he realises that the wooden sword he has in his hands after his awakening is not so much a weapon but a symbol of declaring one’s love to a woman. The island is called Maya and its inhabitants are the Mayans, naturally, looking at the scenery in particular the huts and lodges the whole place reminded me of somewhere in the Solomon Islands or Papua New Guinea. It is here that Shin recovers from his wounds and learns that the perspective of the islanders is very different from what he has dealt with in the ‘real’ world, at first he dismisses it as all some kind of cultural thing but as time passes he begins to see and to realise that the Mayans probably have a fairly good grasp of the past, the world and reality. They are a people deeply connected to the ebb and flow of life, a connection that even with the modern era it seems they have never really lost.
Unfortunately the outside world has a distinct interest in the island for a variety of reasons, the least being that they want to know why the other side is so interested. It seems that Maya holds the key to the secrets of the alien artefact that has been found and codenamed Aphos. Looking like some kind of weird birdman Aphos bears more than a passing resemblance to the birdman of Maya legend and to a lot of the murals and totem poles that are found on the island in various sacred sights. It seems that the birdman is something more than just a myth and as events unfold its significance assumes almost apocalyptic significance.
Whilst I was watching this, relatively short, series I was literally blown away by the animation in particular that involving the fight sequences and the birdman it is literally jaw dropping stuff. Certainly the fight sequences even those between normal jet fighters, was on par with those in Final Fantasy VII if not better. It was literally edge of the seat nail biting stuff; still other scenes were also incredible for their seeming ‘reality’ and I briefly wondered if they were actual real life shots or animation. These were the scenes that occur during Shin’s recollection of the crash landing and the resulting conflict, some of them looked as if they were direct shots from a news feed and the shots of tank columns and F-117 Stealth bombers dropping payloads looked simply incredible. Certainly the production team on this project have really excelled with this series, it’s certainly a highly crafted piece of cinematography but its one that does to my mind have a couple of flaws.
Its first flaw is its length, made into five episodes running at approximately thirty minutes each, I got the feeling that near the end the drama became rather rushed towards an inevitable climax. I felt in my own opinion that there should have been at least another two or three more episodes to gradually build things up not rush them. Secondly the ending seemed a bit too open ended and unusual for my taste, ever further emphasising my impression that things were being rushed in the last two episodes. Finally I had to wonder what happened to the alien spaceship that crash-landed and started all this hullabaloo? Where the heck did that go? It certainly wasn’t Aphos as Aphos had been sitting at the bottom of the ocean for a very long period of time, hundreds of thousands if not millions of years is the impression I got from the story. In the end though even though these aspects annoyed me a little it does have to be said that Macross Zero was an enjoyable viewing experience. It’s definitely worth watching and it’s a very touching drama even if a little bit confusing near its conclusion.
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