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!
---
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".
