Macross Dynamite 7

Alright, I have to say it:

The previous reviewer on here is obviously not a fan of the Macross series. Several of her points indicate this fact.

This Anime OVA is targeted to a certain audience, Macross (7) fans! Dynamite is an extension from the Macross 7 series and therefore the character development has already been established. There's no need to recover each characters' personality!

It was NOT meant for someone to just randomly pick up and start from scratch with. The new characters that were introduced were brought in with enough detail and background for the viewer to know what's going on and most of the ... unanswered questions that were pointed out were explained in the show and the others are just well, common sense.

Question by the previous reviewer:
Why hunt these mysterious Galactic Whales?

1. Hm.. they're an unknown species,
2. they're rare,
3. everyone wants to know more about them through research which = $$$ for
the supplier.

I believe that sounds pretty sensible to me!

As far as the animation goes, this is definitely an improvement in the Macross series. Especially the opening! They really vamped the CG way up on this OVA!

The other reviewer covered everything pretty much but I just couldn't stand the view that was portrayed in the writing - plus, most of it was BS.

This OVA was meant for Macross 7 fans so that completely nullifies half of what the previous user stated!

If you are a Macross fan then you'll definitely love this OVA and it's new songs!

So I guess they decided to milk a little more money out of the Macross 7 franchise by releasing this OVA.

Story

In a nutshell, Basara meets Moby Dick

A "calming" wind blows Basara to the planet Zola where he encounters some more strange people and galactic whales which migrate to Zola but are in danger of being poached for money. Why? Well this is one of the things that aren't explained - exactly why do people want galactic whales and how come they're so expensive? The entire OVA is full of such unanswered questions which makes the story really terrible. The ending was nice though, that's the ... only redeeming feature. But by then, it's too late to save the series from being horrible.

Character

There's very little character development for Basara, or anyone else in this OVA. He's selfish - leaving Fire Bomber behind to perform without him. Still a pacifist and has the bigger picture in mind.

Mylene got even more annoying if possible. She's still unable to decide between Basara and Gamlin. I swear, she has better have Einstien's closet (all of the same clothing) because if she has to choose what to wear every morning it will take days at the rate she's going.

Ray totally sold out and became a moron! He put up the worst Fire Bomber concert, in fact the worst ever concert in any anime series. When both lead singers are away it is smarter to cancel the concert rather than play with a radio and 2 cut out cardboard caricatures substituting for the real thing. If this were to happen in real life there would be riots and lawsuits.

Gamlin is the same nice guy and Elma and her sister are forgettable.

Ahab, I mean, Graham, Elma's father, has a thing about killing the white whale. His is the best developed character in this series.

Art/Animation

Dated animation and TONS of frame reuse. The animation as a whole had budget cuts, it's not even as good as Macross 7, or encore or the movie.

Sound

New songs are the reason for this OVA. Parts of it felt like anime music videos to boost music sales. Overall the songs are forgettable, except for the song at the end of the anime, just before the ending theme.

Enjoyment

Overall this is only something you'd watch for the sake of saying you watched it to finish the series. Not good, not exciting, pretty blah, decent at the best.

Every time I watch this OVA I love it more.
As much as I absolutely adored the ending of Macross 7, it was a bit bittersweet and left me with a bit of a heavy heart. Dynamite fixes that little issue and is a PERFECT ending to Macross 7, as it's finished on a more upbeat and fun note.

If you liked Macross 7, I implore you to watch Dynamite. It's wonderful to see how Basara's character has grown in the year that passed between M7 and Dynamite.


--STORY--

I feel like many people write this off as a 'save the whales' narrative when that's really just sort of ... a background plot of the story. It's prevalent, yes, but it's definitely NOT the core focus of the show.

The actual narrative is pretty much spelled out in the opening;

"A passionate feeling from the time I started singing
Has been left sometime somewhere somehow
Here I say goodbye to boring everydays
No one can stop my burning feelings"

It's essentially a story about Basara heading out to find a new muse after Sivil has left - and he happens to find in the galactic whales. His almost childish obsession with these gigantic aliens is one of the most charming things I've ever seen in an anime.

Along the way Basara meets Elma and her father Graham, who he forms a very interesting bond with.

The only complaint I have about the story is the Mylene subplot in episode 2, which doesn't fit into this series at all and leaves a very bitter taste in everyone's mouths. If I enjoyed Dynamite any less than I do this MIGHT'VE lowered my rating of the story a bit, but the rest of the OVA is so charming and fun that I can give it a pass... bitterly.


--ART--

The art in this show is absolutely *GORGEOUS*.

It's a wonderful step up from Macross 7, and the designers really brought in their A game when it came to Zola's environmental design. The entire OVA has a very unique, very colourful aesthetic, and it's absolutely creatively inspired.

Many characters have slightly more realistic features than in the cartoonier style of Macross 7, and they look amazing and consistent.

The character designs are beautiful of course, as they were done by none other than Haruhiko Mikimoto.


--CHARACTERS--

I absolutely adore Basara in this OVA, as it shows a very natural progression of his character.
He's still the same person at the core, but more open to other people, and he has shed pretty much all of the repressed irritation that he held on to throughout most of the main show.
Having suffered a burnout on City 7, he decided to leave to see the galaxy (most likely inspired by Sivil to do so!) and he found a brand new source of inspiration in foreign places. Again, Basara comes through as an IMPECCABLY written artist, and a consistently wild-at-heart character who follows his instincts first and foremost.

Graham is the second most important character in this show and I find him a very interesting one. Him and Basara have opposing views regarding a certain issue, but while there's clear tension between them, there's also immense respect. I wish I could go more in depth regarding this, but that would reach into the spoiler territory.
He does come across as a bit of a Captain Ahab stereotype at first, but there's much more depth to him beyond that, and his motives come from an interestingly misguided place.

Elma is one of my favourite children in anime. She's written very realistically and is thoroughly lovable, but it did make me a little sad to realize that the reason she talks so much whenever she gets a chance is most likely due to her being pretty much neglected by her entire family and not really having anyone to talk to.

The rest of the characters get less screen time and development, and the other characters from Macross 7 don't get much character progression, but a lot of nice moments, such as Gamlin jumping in to support his homie Basara even when he has no idea what's going on.


--SOUND--

It's Macross 7. It's Fire Bomber. It's Yoshiki Fukuyama on vocals. What else do you need to know, aside from maybe the fact that Angel Voice, the big finale song, was composed by Yoko Kanno, famous for her score for Cowboy Bebop.

Every song in this OVA is a solid 10/10.


--ENJOYMENT--

As it's fairly clear by now, I am absolutely in love with this OVA. It was an emotional rollercoaster and it completely blew me away with it's breathtaking ending when I watched it for the first time... and it continues to do so upon every rewatching.

The story is the continuation of macross 7 and leaves something to be desired, I don't know what happens to my characters. It is only clear how good the protagonist is, I hope he will fuck me. No seriously, he is a beast of how good he is, he only takes the anime type has a lot of charisma and with that he conquers you by taking out the protagonist the mediocre anime and the soundtrack as always very good.

En español:
La historia es la continuación de macross 7 y deja que desear no se que pasan con mis personaje. Solo queda en claro lo bueno ... que es el protagonista ojala me follara. No en serio es una bestia de lo bueno que es el solo se lleva el anime tipo tiene mucho carisma y con eso te conquista sacando al protagonista el anime mediocre y la banda sonora como siempre muy buena.

The OVA follow-up to the series falls short of expectations, attempting to inject more Basara singing action into the mix. However, it takes a questionable turn by introducing space whales, a trope reminiscent of Star Trek IV, and weaving in a Moby Dick-esque plot that ultimately feels unsatisfying. While the animation quality is passable, it's unable to rescue the messy storyline. Despite a handful of catchy tunes like "Dynamite Explosion," the narrative struggles to align with the essence of Fire Bomber. Adding to the disappointment is a troubling scene involving Mylene, which feels out of place and uncomfortable. The glaring absence of Max and Milia's ... storyline leaves Battle 7's reconstruction unexplored, further detracting from the overall experience. In summary, this sequel falls short of expectations and does a disservice to the legacy of Macross 7.