Choujikuu Kidan Southern Cross

Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross may seem like your average mecha anime from the 1980s, but in reality it's one of the most unique members of the genre. Unlike the popular Gundam series, or even the other mecha titles by Tatsunoko Productions, Southern Cross is written from the point of a female protagonist. Jeanne is brave, strong, capable, and most importantly, thoroughly entertaining.

Another thing that sets Southern Cross apart is its message. The Glorians, who colonized the planet, are so quick to assume that the Zor are hostile invaders that they launch into a war without taking the time to learn about ... the mysterious race. It is eventually discovered that the Zor are the original inhabitants of what is now Glorie, and more shocking still, the Glorians and the Zor are thought to share a common (human) ancestry. Southern Cross takes a stance against preemptive violence and knee-jerk reactions, and the positive, anti-war message that this serious embodies is admirable.

Aside from the ideologies of war, the relationships of this series are the real shining stars. The shaky love between Jeanne and Seifreit is one of my favorites (and has been since childhood); they develop real feelings for each other through battle, trials, and hardship. Bowie and Musica are another great love story because of what their relationship represents: Even though their races are at war, they still fall in love because they can look past trivial, close-minded judgments. Rivalries and family relationships are also important in Southern Cross. It's certainly a series driven by the characters and their growth.

The animation falls short in a few episodes but because the story and characters are so great, I barely notice anymore. The soundtrack becomes a little repetitive by the time you're at the end of the series because it's not too terribly diverse, but what is there is notably entertaining. The opening theme, "Hoshi no Deja Vu" by Katori Yoko, is one of the greatest opening themes of all time - no, seriously, it is. :D

The English adaptation of SDC Southern Cross is the second saga of the Robotech series: the Robotech Masters. It wasn't well-received by the fans and was the least favorite of the trilogy. However, if you've seen Robotech Masters, you'll be pleased to know that the original storyline is much better than the adaptation; please consider giving it a second chance. It's a largely ignored and/or unappreciated series, but it deserves so much more.

"Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross", or just "Southern Cross" for short, is not really related to "Super Dimensional Fortress Macross" in terms of story despite both of them being part of the "Super Dimensional" trilogy. However, the two became artificially entwined after they were stitched together to form the first two parts of "Robotech", the Americanised anime TV series. "Macross" became the first arc, "Robotech: The Macross Saga"; "Southern Cross" was adapted into the sequel arc, "Robotech: The Masters", and got the short end of the deal. While "Super Dimensional Fortress Macross" stayed mostly intact through its transition, "Southern Cross" underwent such drastic editing that ... I was shocked to see how much it had changed.

In retrospect, perhaps I shouldn't have been so surprised - it was forcibly joined onto the end of "Macross", so its story had to be heavily edited in order to fit in with the overarching story. Unsurprisingly, the result is a mess; despite the major changes, a lot of the story in "Robotech: The Masters" is still inconsistent with "Robotech: The Macross Saga". Of course, being the original series, "Southern Cross" doesn't have this problem, so watching it is quite a different experience - a better one, but that's not saying much. I will say though, that I was a little disappointed to find that the protagonist in the original story isn't actually the offspring of a certain couple from "Macross".

"Southern Cross" is focused on a military squadron that operates on Gloire (a planet colonised by Earth) as it comes under attack by the alien race Zor. (Note: In the "Robotech" version, the Zor are the Robotech Masters, the force behind the Zentradi from the previous arc). The said squadron is led by Jeanne Francaix, who, in addition to having an extremely French name (the makers even went as far as giving her a name that closely resembles the French word for "French" itself), also possesses an extremely annoying personality. Unfortunately for the viewers, she's also the main character, meaning she gets a lot of screen time in which to be annoying. I find it absurd that the army showed such tolerance for her lack of discipline. Her behaviours were probably meant to be taken as comedic, but it's terribly unfunny. "Southern Cross" had occasional moments that did make me laugh (for example a funny scene at the cinema), but the key word there is "occasional".

The story of "Southern Cross" is a mixed bag. On one hand it contains some interesting developments and ideas, such as an alien race made up of triplets, and the human versus aliens issue not being as black and white (a point that was lost when the show became "Robotech: The Masters) as it normally is. On the other hand, it's riddled with flaws too. The whole alien-human love subplot from "Macross" is found here also - perhaps they were trying to establish some common themes across the "Super Dimensional" franchise, but it just came off as a cheap rehash of ideas. The show also suffers from incompleteness and plot holes. Plot points like the connection between the Zor and the flowers were never really explained, and the ease with which Jeanne's squadron was able to hold off masses of enemy forces seems ludicrous. The ending is very abrupt and leaves things hanging. The show was apparently axed due to bad ratings, which would explain a lot. It's only got itself to blame though - it just isn't good enough to deserve better ratings.

One thing that did impress me is the music; the OP/ED is especially catchy, but the sound department is let down by the voice acting, in particular Jeane's annoying voice. In fact, the "Robotech" version of this character is even more annoying, owing to the character's voice being more so. The animation direction is old and quirky, but I do like the nice, distinctive character designs.

Overall, "Southern Cross" is an improvement over its "Robotech" counterpart, but it's still not very good. It has its entertaining moments, but for the most part it's just dull.

This review was written after I'd watched the original "Southern Cross". Before that I'd watched and reviewed "Robotech: The Masters". As a bonus, I've included below (an edited version of) that sh*tty review. See how generous I am!

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I remember watching this as part of "Robotech" when I was young, and I remember thinking how much it sucked back then. Recently, I've discovered how to obtain anime from the internet, and started watching "Robotech" all over again, including "The Masters" arc just for completeness sake.

Well, it still sucks.

Mediocre story; criminal reuse of ideas from the preceding "The Macross Saga" arc; inconsistencies in the story (in every episode the Robotech Masters seem to change their mind as to what to do with "these puny humans") ... this is one crap anime.

The main character is one of the most annoying ever, with a voice to match. There are a few decent touches in this anime, like the illustration of political in-fighting on Earth, and the music is still good. Despite these positive points though, this is easily the weakest link of the three arcs in "Robotech".

Southern Cross is an utterly forgettable show. It's only grip to relevancy is the fact that it's the third part of the super dimensional trilogy, and is the second part of the Robotech series. Even then it's a weak grip due to how niche the titles that it's in have become. There's really not much to the shows uniqueness from its plot and characters, the only thing of note is that the main lead is a woman.

There are three leads actually, and they are all women. The show however is more focused on one of them the most Jeanne. A capricious, spunky, stubborn girl who ... serves as commander of a squad in the southern cross army. Following her and her team's actions during the war between humans and the Zor who were once native to the planet the humans are now colonizing. The Zor basically are this series Zentradi, but instead of it being a war between a culture and culture-less society. It's more between humans and thier ability to express emotions and the emotionless Zor who focus more on logic and rationality. As the war escalate it's the emotions that some of the Zor come in contact with that becomes their undoing. The last episodes get hectic due to the show being cancelled leading to a mildly unsatisfying ending.

As for characters, despite how it's lead on, the two other female leads get shafted early on. There's Marie who tries to one up Jeanne whenever she can, and Lana who comes off as being a model soldier for others. The only other characters of note are Bowie due to his implied background, his dreams and desires, and is also a fundamental figure who pushes the plot. And there's also some German named pretty boy who was brainwashed by the zors until bring freed,but becomes the less interesting part of the show. everyone else is one-note.

When compared to its predecessor, Macross, Southern cross is rather average in terms of production value. Backdrops of countryside and cities look par for the course during it's time. Character designs are somewhat decent, but forgettable. The odd changing of proportions that makes things bigger or smaller from one scene to the next. The animation is ok, but has a lot of stuttering even with basic panning and zooming. The only interesting thing are the ridiculous battle suits that the characters wear despite not serving much of a purpose due to them fighting in mechas. The mechas themselves following the same philosophy as Macross with changing into three different shapes. This time Turning from a hovercraft, to a walking cannon, to finally a common mech.

The soundtrack is decent 80's pop funk. It's nice to listen to, but sometimes doesn't fit well with many scenes. Mostly due to the soundtrack being mostly upbeat even during more sad or somber scenes.

It's not a bad show, but It's certainly dated and doesn't have much to it that can't be found in other shows. It only seems worth watching for those who have a passing interest in seeing the little footnotes in the history of much more well known anime.