Macross Zero

Tonally very different to its predecessor as it leaves the comedy and idols behind to become a much more serious military drama, whilst that might remove an aspect of what made Macross unique it does fit the story rather well.

Its a pretty good entry, the story was engaging, the themes whilst not unique were still there and handled well and the characters were good. I do think this series could have benefitted from a bit more fleshing out both in terms of its characters and stories but they still did a pretty good job.
It was a bit sad to see the jets in CG as ... there models obviously look worse, but the choreography and battles with them were still really cool and fun to watch.
The soundtrack actually didn't stand out to me for the most part, apart from one or two pieces here and there, but the pieces towards the end really stood out giving me chills and emotions.
For a five episode ova its definitely worth the time and I quite enjoyed it overall.

Macross Zero is a great entry in the Macross Franchise, a thorough summation of the core themes present in most entries. On the surface, Zero stands out as it primarily takes place on Earth, with most battles much smaller in scale compared to SDF Macross or Frontier. Along with this, the music present is very different than other entries - the j-pop soundtrack is replaced with tribal hymns as well as singular ballads. However, at the end of the day, a young pilot finds himself in a troubling situation that uncovers the very nature of humanity and its origins, reminding the viewer of the commonality ... between the different Macross entries.

The art direction for Macross Zero is great, as it provides a good contrast between the bright tones of the island and metallic sheen of the VFs and UN technology. The animation itself is not bad either, with characters rarely going off-model. The series truly shines in its CG, as it looks great for an early 2000s production, even rivaling CG sequences in recent anime.

The sound is great, from the primarily tribal soundtrack to the harsh noises of the dogfights. The stripped back nature of the soundtrack is very pleasant and a neat contrast to the poppier elements usually present in the franchise.

There are some things I do wish were explored in further length, however. Taking place some time before the events of SDF Macross, the series covers the war between the UN and Anti-UN forces. However, the conflict takes the background almost immediately, with the motivations of the Anti-UN unclear as well as the nature of the war other than the few fights in the beginning and the end. This is somewhat an issue, as the protagonist, Shin Kudo, has very personal motivations for fighting for the UN, something shared in common with his Anti-UN counterpart. I understand that this may have been for worldbuilding purposes, but I do wish that their commonality was acknowledged and discussed, to flesh out their motivations. Roy Focker, a character from SDF Macross is prominent in Macross Zero, and his appearance does a great job explaining as to why acts a certain way during the events of SDF Macross.

Overall, I enjoyed Macross Zero a lot, appreciating its relatively more realistic nature compared to other entries in the Macross franchise. I highly recommend it if you find other entries, such as Delta or Frontier, too "anime" and prefer something more grounded yet still want something that embodies the overall spirit of Macross. A solid 8/10.

This is not your typical Macross. There is music, missiles, and a love triangle, but the saccharine taste and the glitz has been toned way down. The characters have realistic proportions, the music is not cheery, and we're not getting a beach episode. This is the grounded Macross.

Story
I liked the story. It's the Macross take on the natives-meet-civilization tale that we've seen many times before: Dances with Wolves, Pocahontas, Avatar, . . .

The setting is before the events of the first Macross. There is an alien ship/artifact on a Pacific island and the natives have a mystic relationship with it. The UN ... and the Anti-UN vie to capture it and exploit its power. The natives get caught up in the conflict and the story unfolds. Pretty fresh territory for this franchise.

I have to give them props for integrating a seemingly unrelated story into the mainline Macross series. They tie in the alien artifact, the music, and the Nomes.

That this anime is five episodes long is good and bad. It is short enough to be mostly engaging all the way through, but not long enough for twists and turns and character development.

Characters
The characters are mostly one dimensional. That's not a bad thing with an anime of this length.

We have our UN Team: Shin, our MC good guy, & Roy, Mr. Hotshot from the original Macross. Shin is a generic dud. Roy had his moments but was a minor character. There was also Aries, the scientist who was trying to learn more & exploit the natives. I like how her character started as curious and progressed to being straight-forwardly evil.

Then there is team Island: Sara, the main girl; Mao, the little sister; and the chief. They were just kind of there. Wasn't feeling them.

Then there are the Anti-UN guys: Two skilled pilots and the evil Dr. Hasford. Bad guys!

It was an average group of characters. I cheered for Shin and Sara, of course, but they didn't have great, memorable character moments. None of them did. The characterization was subdued.

Music
The music is not the standard Macross fare. Gone are the sugary pop songs, the racy rock tracks, and the dogfight montages. We get tribal music with melodic singing/humming, hand drums, and shakers. It's the island feel. I wasn't feeling it. I signed up for the pop/rock songs, the power ballads, & the little ditties. This is different.

The sound effects and voices are pretty good. Professional level. Not much to comment here. Oh yeah. The jets sound cool.

Art
It looks good. This anime doesn't look like the stereotypical anime. The characters have more realistic proportions. The hair colors are normal (mostly). The cartoony stuff is toned down a lot. I like the style. The quality of the art is good as well. Things were pretty to look at and the island setting amplified it.

The jets/mecha fights look great. The action is well directed. We get the sense of speed and G-forces. The time period was prior to the SDF discovery and technology boom so all the tech looks more like modern day. I thought that was a cool touch.

I really liked the style of the title cards. Very islandy.

They use CGI. I think it's fine for mech shows.

Enjoyment
I was expecting something more light-hearted. Instead, I got a dramatic story.

The action scenes were decent. It may be because my tastes are changing, but I got a little tired of the mech action toward the end. Much of it seemed inconsequential - the bad guy is not getting defeated by a no-name character & for all the shooting and explosions, the plot isn't pushed forward by the fighting.

I didn't have the best time with it, but I did make it through all 5 episodes.

Overall
It wasn't what I was looking for. I can see why other people would like it and how it is a nice departure from the typical Macross formula.

The positives: Decent dramatic story, nice realistic art, and decent action.

The negatives: Not my style of music, the love triangle was weak, I wasn't in the mood for something like this (I know).

Decent but not my thing.