Story 5/10
I had high expectations for this anime going in because I thought it had a really cool premise and I'm a huge fan of Mobile Suit Gundam, and it's painfully obvious this show was heavily inspired by Gundam. I mean Macross premiers in 1982, Gundam premiers in 1979 and both are about giant robots in space.
My biggest problem with this anime is it feels sappy and too sentimental. For example, there are several episodes where the aliens hear Minmay singing and than suddenly decide they don't like war and want to stop fighting. They explain how Minmay's song is the first music they've ever heard, but in despite of that I just find it impossible to believe that trained soldiers will just spontaneously change sides like that all from hearing one song. I mean maybe if they heard Minmay's songs repeatedly over a long period of time, I could see that happening, but not that quickly. Seriously, is Minmay a witch or a goddess or something? It borders on the line of deus ex machina.
Another big problem I have with this anime is its world building. A future where every country on Earth puts asides their differences and forms one centralized global government sounds wonderful, but its too idealistic and almost childish to believe. I mean you're telling me countries like Israel and Saudi Arabia actually worked together. Seriously?
Also, I feel like there's too much focus on Minmay and her story. Seriously, this anime feels less like a scifi action anime and more like a rags to riches story about Minmay becoming a star. Of course, I guess I should've predicted that with titles like "Do you remember love?" and "Lovers again."
Characters 6/10
Now, Hikaru may get more screen time than Minmay, but Minmay is definitely the protagonist of this story. Even when Minmay isn't in an episode, Hikaru won't stop talking about her.
I can't really think of anything I dislike about Minmay, but I'm not really a fan of love stories so I didn't really care about this love triangle that forms between Misa, Hikaru, and Minmay. Oh, and also there's Minmay's COUSIN Kaifun who she becomes romantically involved with and talks about marrying. HER COUSIN!!
Unfortunately, besides Minmay, none of the other characters have much personality or are that memorable. At first Hikaru is unsure about becoming a soldier and feels guilty for killing the aliens, but it doesn't really affect the story or change Hikaru's character.
We learn Misa has a complicated relationship with her father and she's still grieving over the death of her old boyfriend, but, again, it doesn't really affect the story or create any conflict.
Art 7/10
This anime had some talented animators working on it, but they still could've done a better job.
Even though the giant robots the characters fight with are prominently shown in the anime's opening, they don't actually appear as often as you'd assume in the anime. Whenever there's a fight, the characters mostly just fight with their planes instead. So if you were looking forward to a lot of giant robot fights, I'm sorry to disappoint you.
Also, I'm not really a fan of the Macross's design. It just looks kind of weird with it having two navy battleships for hands, no head, and this two towers on its shoulders. Plus, the Macross's special attack is just it punching an enemy ship which is kind of lame.
Sound 8/10
There are a variety of songs that Minmay's sings in this anime and I thought they were good.
Fun Fact: Minmay's voice actor also sings all the songs and she went on to become a J-pop idol in real life.
However, besides the music, whenever one of the aliens talked there was this really weird kind of synthesized echo and they made a ton of noise every time they took a step. I guess that was to emphasize how the aliens were giants, but it was kind of annoying and unnecessary.
Overall 6/10
I would not recommend this anime. There are so many other great mecha anime to watch like Gundam, Gurren Lagann, and Code Geass so I'd recommend one of those first. Also, if you're a fan of romance anime, again, so many better anime to choose from.
