Macross

After a mysterious spaceship crashes into Earth, humanity realizes that they are not alone. Fearing a potential threat from space, the world pushes aside their nationalism, conflicting interests, and cultural differences, unifying under the banner of the United Nations. The newly formed UN forces decide to repurpose the alien spacecraft, naming it SDF-1 Macross. Unfortunately, on the day of its maiden voyage, a fleet of spaceships belonging to a race of aliens known as the Zentradi descend upon Earth, and the SDF-1 Macross, acting of its own accord, shoots down the incoming squadron, sparking an intergalactic war.

In an attempt to escape, the Macross tries to launch itself into the Moon's orbit, but the ship—as well as the city it was in—is teleported to the far reaches of space. Caught up in this mess are Hikaru Ichijou, a free-spirited acrobatic pilot, and Minmay Lynn, an aspiring singer. These two, alongside Macross' crew, experience an epic journey rife with grief and drama, coming face-to-face with the cruelties of war along the way.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Hayase, Misa Main

Doi, Mika Japanese

Lynn, Minmay Main

Iijima, Mari Japanese

Ichijou, Hikaru Main

Hase, Arihiro Japanese

Focker, Roy Supporting

Kamiya, Akira Japanese

Jenius, Maximilian Supporting

Hayami, Show Japanese

Fallyna, Milia Supporting

Takeda, Eri Japanese

Global, Bruno J. Supporting

Hazama, Michio Japanese

La Salle, Claudia Supporting

Ohara, Noriko Japanese

Milliome, Shammy Supporting

Miyuki, Sanae Japanese

Kridanik, Vrlitwhai Supporting

Kanie, Eiji Japanese

Ishiguro, Noboru Director, Episode Director, Script, Storyboard

Honda, Yasunori Sound Director

Yamaga, Hiroyuki Episode Director, Storyboard, Assistant Director

Akiyama, Katsuhito Episode Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Oct 3, 2025

Shadesukz

Recommended

Intro:
SDF Macross was the first in a long-lasting series, focusing on the blossoming Mecha Genre of the time, and managed to focus on a much more grounded and, arguably, realistic take on the style.

Animation: 10/20
Age is dragging this down the most, but it's incredible what they were able to achieve with the cel-based animation style, and for the most part, stayed on model. Scenes are dynamic but obviously suffer from the animated 2s style of the era.

Story: 15/20
I was actually really gripped with the story, the twists and turns, as well as the much more mature and realistic style of writing. All of which were ... impressive to me, but a lot of the characters felt like they were constantly in conflict with their own emotions and acted like they had never been socially conditioned in their life (Despite other times acting reasonably), and no, I'm not talking about the antagonists of the show, hell half the time they actually made more reasonably human decisions than the main love triangle, if it wasn't for that, as well as the fact it seemed as though they were padding the pacing for the sake of episodes, this'd probably be a 20, though I could look past that latter point, as I did enjoy it regardless.

Music: 20/20
Undoubtedly, the best part of the show, aside from the actual lyrical inserts and OP/Endings, the soundtrack in the background for each episode was incredible, and each character's theme did a great job in the moments where they mattered.

Uniqueness: 15/20
Hard to judge for such an old show, but the musical twist, and of course, the incredible universe the writers were able to conjure for this show, has incredible depth, even at this point in the show.

Enjoyment: 20/20
I wholeheartedly enjoyed my time with this show throughout its entire runtime, and at points had to tell myself that I had to stop because it was getting too late (I watched 18 episodes in one day, with 2 breaks for food, and other sessions were just as long). Probably one of my favourite shows I've seen, and I can't wait to continue the sequels.

For those who it will matter to, I watched the show with the English dub, as I watched the show while doing other things, and you kinda gotta read subs!

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Sep 11, 2025

theo1763

Mixed Feelings

I have no idea if this was the first anime I saw or if it was Speed Racer, but Macross (or Robotech, as I knew it when I was growing up) is among the first things that I recall viewing as a kid. I was likely 8 or 9 at the time, and honestly, the only two things that actually registered back then were the mechs and the uniforms. Stumbling upon it again now as an adult, after having gotten into Gundam and other mecha anime, I approached it with a great many expectations. I ended up coming very close to dropping it because it ... just was not holding up for me. I'm also stubborn, though, and hate to leave anime unfinished, so I continued. While there were a couple of moments of enjoyment, I for the most part just felt disappointed. The show itself is rather meh, and by the latter part of the series, I found it to be really slow and melodramatic. It does have a certain touch of its era, which isn't always bad, but in this case, it made the pacing hard to watch.

The characters did not help much at all. Hikaru is another of those insufferable protagonists, like some of the early heroes of Gundam. He's a competent pilot and okay leader later on, but he broods about Minmay so much and is indecisive or oblivious so many times. And to top all of that off, I didn't like the way he treated Misa throughout the series, and honestly, he was sexist at times. Minmay herself was a mixed bag for me, too. She is flirtatious and sweet but shallow and unsure of what she really wants. Her cousin Kaifun was horrid, an absolute prick whenever he showed up. The love angle subplot was odd in general, and I just do not get why some anime produce these cousin romance tales. Misa was the only main character that I really liked. She's strong-willed, competent, and professional, though her personality isn't much beyond that. Captain Global was a nice character as well, and I wish Max and Milia had been given more attention. Their romance was way too quick, from enemies to a date to marriage in literally one episode. The Zentradi did have some interesting backstory to begin with, but then they were mostly a bunch of morons and not very interesting antagonists.

The designs of the jets and mechs are still pretty, and I liked them a lot, but using the same designs over and over again tired me out. They never really changed throughout the series, and the battles started to become a little stale as a result. On top of that, there was a lot of recycled animation for the fight scenes, and as such, they began to lose their fascination after a while. The art and animation are very 80s, which I am not opposed to, but the consistency wasn't always great. On the audio front, the music was good, but I became so sick of hearing the same Minmay songs over and over and over again. They're fine at first, but they get on your nerves after they're done so often. The Japanese voice acting was fine overall, nothing amazing, but fine for the characters. The English dub was okay, but not the best.

In the end, I can see why Macross is so highly thought of and how it was such a behemoth of mecha anime history, but to me, it just did not work. I appreciate what it did for the genre, and I can see that in the '80s it was probably revolutionary, but watching it now, it was old, redundant, and infuriating. I came out more disappointed than I was impressed, and for sure, I feel Gundam does a much better job with the same ideas. There were a few things that I enjoyed, like the mech designs and the characters of Misa and Captain Global, but those were not good enough to overcome all the things I disliked about the story, the pacing, and the characters. Still, I'm glad I pushed through, since at least now I understand its effect and place in anime history more. I rated it 5/10 since, while there's some charm to the design and some of the characters, overall execution dulled me more than it inspired me.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Aug 28, 2024

Prashantttt

Not Recommended

Funny

First Let's give it a correct -
Title ( Macross - A Total Disaster with a Cringe Story, Lame Romance, and Useless Characters)

Basically 90% of the 90s romance anime are xhit and macross is one of them ... If you’re looking for an anime that’s a complete waste of time, “Macross” is perfect for it . I thought I was going to watch a mecha show with some romance but what I got a boring, confusing story, a love triangle that makes you want to roll your eyes, and characters that are so irritating you’ll want to throw your TV out the ... window. Let’s break down all the ways this anime fails horribly.

About story ( a mess)

(Macross) tries to mix space battles, alien invasions, and love drama, but it just doesn’t work. It feels like the writers had no idea what they were doing and threw in every idea they could think of. One moment we’re in a space fight, the next, we’re dealing with a stupid love triangle. And none of it is interesting! The plot is repeating and boring, and just when you think something might happen, it drags you into another dull scene. You will start enjoying some serious fighting scenes but suddenly a romance nonsense scene will puked it up because bitxh called (minmay) main fMC of the show is ready to play with MC's feelings , and Mc has no idea what he wants .There’s no clear direction, no real excitement, and no reason to care about anything that’s going on.

The painful annoying romance

The romance in “Macross” is just awful. We have a ridiculous love triangle that makes absolutely no sense. **Lynn Minmay** is supposed to be this sweet girl, but honestly, she’s just a selfish brat who keeps playing with the main character’s feelings. At the start, she chooses Lynn Kaifun, a movie actor, because he could make her famous. She’s always looking out for herself, jumping from one guy to another based on who can help her the most. She’s only with Kaifun because he’s a big star and can boost her singing career. But when things don’t go her way and Kaifun’s fame starts to fade, she loses interest.

Animation ( Art style)

Ya , it’s an old show from the 1980s, so we can ignore that thing but the art style is still pretty bad. The character designs are inconsistent, with their faces constantly changing shape and turning ugly at times. One moment a character looks ok , but suddenly their faces changes and turned into ugly faces ,but it's ok it's a 1980s show



CHARACTERS

Hikaru, the Main Character ( a confused with no self respect guy)

Then there’s Hikaru, the main character. In the beginning of the show I thought he will show us his true potential and lead the story alone, which will make him a worthy guy but buy He’s constantly getting dragged around by Minmay’s stupid games, and he never stands up for himself. He’s always cry about how hard things are for him, but he never does anything to change his situation. He just lets Minmay play with his feelings, and then he wonders why he’s so unhappy.
Writer never gave him a chance to stand for himself, he went from an ordinary guy to the captain of the team. For what ? For crying over a bitc.h , who is making his life worse , for what so that you will repeat the same thing again and again and will never learn lesson from your past.


Misa Hayase (Boring and Lifeless)

And let’s not forget Misa Hayase. She’s supposed to be this strong, serious officer, but she’s just boring. She’s got no personality, no interesting traits, and she’s just there to make the love triangle even more unbearable. She acts tough, but really, she’s just as clueless as the rest of them. She is chasing our MC hikaru because her boi- friend died in war , but chasing a guy who has no interest in her , till the end ..

Minmay The Annoying Diva ( the worst thing about the show)

Minmay is the worst of all. She’s not just selfish, she’s annoying too. ( The gold digger of the show) In the beginning of the show she chose Lynn Kaifun when he can made her successful at the beginning of the story.
remember her boyfriend is a movie actor at the beginning story.
then she chose the MC when the MC was successfully had the rank of commander, at this time her boyfriend not famous male actor anymore and poor. and in the beginning mc was just an ordinary guy.

She doesn’t care about anyone but herself. Even when things are serious, all she cares about is her stupid singing career. Original singers got wasted over this type of characters .
She is ready to show her love side with Hikaru, making him think she likes him, but then she ignores him whenever it’s convenient for her. She’s not in love with Hikaru; she’s in love with what he can do for her. She plays with his emotions like it’s a game, not is not only the worst character but the worst thing about this show .

Final Thoughts

"Macross"is a waste of time. The story is confusing and boring, the romance is cringe-worthy and annoying, and the characters are so bad that you won’t care what happens to them. "Macross" is a disaster from start to finish.. and thanks to that D grade romance zhit. Recommending it to someone is same as a crime.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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