Top Gun’s “Playing with the boys” hums softly in the background.

I like to think of my heart as a pumping device that delivers large operatic space themed anime directly into my ice cold veins. Sure, I’m a fan of Gundam and the multitude of series, movies and other assorted media that particular franchise has blessed sci-fi fandom with, but I honestly have to say that with a gun to my head….

[Author’s note: I reach for my framed photograph of Shōji Kawamori]

….Macross has Gundam beat most days of the week.

Ok, whoa there cowboy. It needs to be said at this point that both are completely different and both are critically important among their totally unique ecosystems; Gundam is straight up war story that plays to the audience as a never ending combat documentary, while Macross (it can be argued) is a mecha themed love story that these days is written solely to shift copious amounts of J-Pop to its tween audience.

In fairness that’s not an inaccurate description, but every now and then, like Gundam, Macross pulls off something remarkable that helps change the entire zeitgeist of anime history.

It’s a difficult series to rank in preferential order, because every studio that has ever set out to build upon the Macross story (and there has been quite a few of them) has done so with the intention of giving the audience a completely unique and evolved product with every iteration. Macross Plus for instance was a product of its time, a direct to VHS/DVD grown up version of kitschy space anime that wasn’t limited by the restrictions of television and could be eaten up by a more discerning audience in nerd culture hotspots like Akihabara.

Regardless of this however it has to fall upon someone to attempt to discern the good and the bad from the decades of Macross series, licensed sequels and OVA specials. To make life easier for yourselves, the reader, we’ll be leaving the (surprisingly numerous) theatrical and direct to home release movies out of this list. Truth be told the majority of Macross movies are condensed reworkings of their respective series anyway, with the exception of Macross FB 7, which is a weird Frankenstein’s monster of Macross 7 and the insanely popular Macross Frontier.

I have no doubt that the following list will probably draw quite a few raised eyebrows from people familiar with the franchise, Macross is something that is incredibly intimate for every true believer. There are times when it is damn near impossible to not feel offended or even belittled when our favourite series’ quality is drawn into question. But it’s important to remember that this list is purely subjective, the feelings of the author don’t reflect the overall quality of any particular series. All Macross is good Macross.

With that in mind here is every Macross series and OVA ranked from worst to best:

10. Macross II [1992]

Produced by Big West, a company not only responsible for throwing money and support behind the original Super Dimension series but also toys, video games and albums, Macross II was the first time that Kawamori-san’s brainchild had tepidly toed the water of a franchise.

It’s difficult for us to understand these days why that would be the case, but it’s important to remember that in the 10 years between 1982 and 1992 only two Macross titles were released: the epoch-making 1984 movie Do you remember love? and 1987’s OVA (well I call it an OVA release) stand alone Flash back 2012.

For Studio Nue, the creators of Macross, Macross was never meant to be any more than a short sprint. It was simply a popular entry in an anthology trilogy of television programs that fell under the title Super Dimension. Studio Nue’s official response to fans asking for more content was that Macross was done and dusted and from their standpoint all the characters we know and love had been officially put to bed.

With a desire to fill a gigantic Valkyrie shaped void, Big West pulled up their pants and set out to give the world exactly what throngs of fans were clamoring for – a proper sequel.

Did they get it? Yes and No. Some fans will defend Macross II to the death and it needs to noted that the series certainly did give us a lot of great things: the Valkyrie VF-2 ranks up there as my second favorite transformable fighter from the entire franchise. Add to that genuinely interesting characters and some deliciously brilliant alien ship designs and on paper it looks pretty damn great. But when you step back and look at the finished product from 1,000ft there’s something about the whole enterprise that doesn’t quite hit the mark and presents itself like overcooked linguine.

Sure, it’s edible, but it lets the whole dish down.

We got an all new alien race called the Marduk (Mardook), all new Zentran and Meltran culture designs and hardware, plus we even got a fuck-off sized Marduk battle cruiser that was meant to tickle your nostalgia bone as pleasant memories about the final battle in DYRL came flooding back into your nether regions.

In the end however it never really felt like a proper sequel – the stakes were never truly high and it reminds me more of an attempt at telling an additional adventure, a side-mission DLC, more than a proper ending to a beloved story.

09. Macross 7 Encore [1995]

To be honest I wasn’t quite sure whether this could truly be considered an OVA series. The overwhelming consensus among the Macross community is that Macross 7 Encore is 100%, absolutely a standalone series that holds its own within the Macross 7 timeline.

With that in mind I don’t feel so bad in throwing it to the curb and giving it a bloody good kicking.

My thoughts on Macross 7 and its second OVA series can be seen later in the article, however I’m pretty darn sure that even the most hardcore Macross 7 supporter (they probably can’t hear me because Fire Bomber is cranked to 11 in the background) isn’t the greatest champion of Encore’s existence.

Encore is exactly as the name suggests, that little bit at the end that of the finale that is meant to satisfy an audience that desperately needs to shove just one more spoonful of oversaturated goodness into their mouth-holes before unbuckling their belts and slumping in their seats.

So let me be clear I have absolutely no illusions that Macross 7 Encore was never meant to be anything more than a thank you to fans and an attempt to tell just one more teeny tiny new story before the lights were turned off for good.

But how well does it stand up in the 21st century? Well, the story is somewhat quaint, but ultimately forgettable.

Honorable mentions however for excessive use of the (gnarly) VF-21, Milia Jenius in an old Space War 1 flight suit and an entire fleet of saucy Meltrandi with super awesome skater haircuts \m/.

08. Macross 7 [1994]

Ok, this is where it gets real. This is where it goes from light hearted jabs about M7: Encore to genuinely needing to pack a bullet-proof vest every time I leave the house.

I have absolutely no doubt that Macross 7 was well received when it was released. It spawned 49 episodes in its original television run, with Manga, (several) movies and two OVA series closely in tow.

So before I continue on with my description I have to throw out there the reasons why I’ve put it so far down the list: I honestly believe that fan reactions should absolutely contribute weight to the final rankings, but we need to keep in mind that a central pillar of Macross is constant evolution.

Every single series, bar none, is an attempt to tell an exciting story in a new and different way. There are few elements besides transformable fighters and a basic love triangle that remain the same between iterations. For this reason we can no longer examine Macross 7 only in the context of how it was received at the time, it should also factor in how far Macross has come since 1982 and the new ways they reinvent their storytelling abilities. Hindsight is important too.

Keeping that in mind it’s fair to say in hindsight that Macross 7’s biggest flaw is its undeniable length.

49 episodes was simply too much for a show with the simplest of ingredients to cook with. By episode 20, when most programs were well and truly deep into exposition, Macross 7 had transformed itself into a Taco Bell Menu; it scrambled to give you a brand new dish every week using the same limited ingredients over and over.

After consuming a decent chunk of the series you soon get to know the basic pattern for how every episode forevermore will likely play out – We begin with the day to days of popular (but not quite yet uber famous) rock band Fire Bomber. Maybe they’re doing a gig, maybe they’re grocery shopping, but what is 100% certain is that the band’s front man Basara is being cheeky and aloof. An easily resolvable personal drama will soon present itself, before that entire B-story is sidelined by the inevitable introduction of an A-story that involves an attack on the Macross 7 fleet by a small cadre of Protodevlin fighters.

This wouldn’t be too much of an issue in a smaller series, but in an effort to fill 49 episodes a considerable amount of airtime was seemingly given over to the character of Gigile screaming “SIVIL!” at the top of his lungs, while Sivil herself zipped around in the air like Superman repeating the phrase “Anima Spiritia” over and over to nobody in particular like a well trained parrot.

We also didn’t quite get much of a love triangle happening. Even Macross Plus, probably the most adult and rational minded series in the franchise, drew an incredible amount of the story’s intensity from the interpersonal relationships between its three main protagonists. Macross 7 on the other hand initially gives us the pretense of a rivalry between Basara and Gamlin, before introducing even more elements on top with the Protodevlin character Sivil. That interaction alone also introduces us to that weird “Just let it go, bro” pining that Gigile has for Sivil.

If you’ve never seen Macross 7 everything I just wrote may seem confusing, but what it amounts to is less of a simple love triangle and more of a constantly evolving ‘love orgy’. An orgy that, by its end, doesn’t quite satisfy the audience’s desire to tick the “Love triangle” checkbox from their Macross questionnaire.

From the outside looking in I know it seems like I’ve taken a giant Michael Jordan sized dunk all over this series, but as a follow up to the above I also need to state that I genuinely adore this show too. Fire Bomber is genuinely amazing, their music still hasn’t dated, we got to see some amazing combat with fighters we had only glimpsed briefly in previous shows and even more was revealed about the origins of the Zentradi and the fate of the mysterious Protoculture.

In all I think we need to take into account how well Macross 7 plays in the modern era. It’s goofy, it’s colorful and it sure as hell took a lot of balls to make the central character in a space themed war epic a pacifist that shoots wireless music speakers at bad guys. Massive props.

Macross 7 took a lot of risks that most anime would consider bonkers, but not only did the series roll with it, it proudly wears them on its sleeve. This is why we love it, but it’s also why other series narrowly edge it out of the coveted top spots.

07. Macross Delta [2016]

I’ve already written a quick summation of my feelings on Macross Delta, you can find it here.

For the tl;dr crowd here’s a quick rundown:

Delta fleshed out the Macross universe in ways that the audience hadn’t quite expected – in my years working in the fields of data analytics and marketing there is a phrase that constantly pops up that acts as a guide for how our company services customer’s data:

“Give them answers to questions they didn’t know they had to ask”.

The core of Delta’s worth within the framework of the Macross franchise can be summed up by that important single sentence. I mean, we knew that the Protoculture were creating life throughout the galaxy and they had a direct hand in the evolution of the human species……so……does that mean there are other humanoid races out there too?

Yes. Quite a few actually.

Delta is a stiff wakeup call that splashes you in the face with cold water and blasts you in the backside with a hot coffee enema. It filled in so many gaps about how the Macross universe worked and hinted at the hidden history of the interplay between humanity, newly discovered humanoid races and their often cold hostility towards the UN Spacy and the NUNS.

It also gives us an interesting perspective on how we view humanity’s embrace of a militaristic style government – what if there were multiple sides and perspectives to living under the shadow of NUNS controlled Valkyries?

Some parts of Delta were exceptional; the animation was a genuine step up from Frontier, the VF-31 Siegfried was a gorgeous piece of ass and I felt a genuine affinity for all the characters, even the baddies. It does have some downsides though, enough to tip the balance and send the series hurtling further down the list than a lot of Macross fans would feel comfortable with.

For a start the character Hayate never quite felt like the perfect match for a series lead. Too many times I had the impression someone early on had hit CTRL-C, CTRL-V on Frontier’s main character Alto and used that as a basic template to work from. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, Alto is arguably the most fleshed out and most composed main character of any series of Macross before or since. But it didn’t leave Hayate with much of an internal struggle, I got the impression that if he had never joined Delta Flight he would have been quite happy working menial jobs or living his best NEET lifestyle wherever he ended up in the galaxy. It’s a far cry from Hikaru, Isamu and Alto who could never fathom how their lives would end up without soaring through a sky in one way, shape or form.

Secondly, Delta’s shift to a Walküre group dynamic felt more like a corporate decision than a conscious choice to change the dynamic of the series. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the soundtrack to this series (not as much as Frontier), but it felt like a definite warning sign that perhaps there are elements at play in Macross that now go beyond producing a great series. Walküre walk the ever disappearing line between J-pop fever dream and actual magic-girl anime characters, enough that I had a sudden existential crisis and worried myself with thoughts like, “Is this Macross now? I mean, I like it, but, we’re missing at least a little bit of grit”.

In all Delta is a pretty great series and ended up being the first Macross interaction for an entirely new generation of fans. Beyond adding new blood to the fandom it brought along with it a whole new tank of energy that thankfully will likely propel Macross onwards to another series sometime in the future.

That is, if they stop making more movies.

06. Macross Zero [2002]

What would happen if you took Macross and made it Evangelion?

Macross Zero.

Ta-daaaa. That’s it. That’s the whole review.

Jokes aside Macross Zero is a bit of a give and take within the context of the Macross universe; while the core concept of relationships and love triangles remain, the entire pop-singer/idol element was stripped from it entirely and thrown into a nearby bin.

However, for every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction – for every second of Miss Macross hijinks that was written out of the series, ten seconds of air to air combat and goddam nostalgia was surgically grafted into the empty space.

Acting as a prequel to the original 1982 SDFM television series, Macross Zero is a short but intense OVA that attempts to explain the origins of life on Earth, human’s relationship with music and the universe, as well as offer insight into the war that engulfed the planet when the alien spacecraft fell from the sky that day all of those (not so distant) years ago.

We’re also treated to the introduction of the Valkyrie transformable fighter, technology that we ultimately discover wasn’t created by the UN, but instead by their world war rival the *checks notes* Anti-UN.

That’s their name.

In all it’s a series that feels…….weird man. But through it all the DNA of what makes a Macross storyline undeniably great is there – iconic new Valkyrie designs, genuinely good characters and a potential world ending event that gives the narrative a dramatic sense of urgency.

We’re introduced to the VF-0, the SV-51 variable fighter and best of all……Roy motherfucking Focker.

He’s back baby. Aerial Duke Nukem.

Lastly, the series dramatically transforms our preconceptions about the Protoculture and their level of sophistication. Macross 7 painted a picture of an advanced race of civilized humanoids, however Zero takes that initial interpretation and skews it dramatically. From here on in the name Protoculture conjures up images of biblical old testament iconography that could easily have been stripped out of a Hideaki Anno acid trip.

It’s a strange juxtaposition to the straight-edged temperament of the original series, but it pairs exceptionally well when you place it side by side against the insectoid-bio-mechanical nature of the Vajra from Macross F. A theme no doubt carried across into Macross F when it’s revealed that the Vajra were the inspiration for the Protoculture’s taming of Fold Space and interstellar travel. It tracks that the Vajra influenced the Protoculture’s technology design too.

It probably isn’t the best place to start for a Macross n00b, but like the city of Rome all roads lead to Macross Zero. It’s not the greatest destination on your journey to ultimate Macross fandom, but it is definitely essential and ultimately worth the trip.

05. Macross Dynamite 7

I have to say, Macross 7 Encore is the fly in the ointment when it comes to the tried and true tradition of Macross producing really great OVA series.

Dynamite 7 however does not, under no circumstance, disappoint.

At only 4 episodes long it also doesn’t break the bank when it comes to valuable time investment, with the average viewer being able to knock out the entire thing in less time than it takes to assemble a flat packed wall unit.

Right off the bat you can instantly feel that something is different – the awesome Tetsuro Amino is back on directorial duties, but somehow the whole enterprise feels so much more refined and runs at a pace that feels far more becoming of something a little more grown up and mature.

It retains the fun zaniness of the Macross 7 universe, but with the time and budgetary constraints of the main series behind them in the rearview, it feels like the entire production was able to take their time and tell a really good story from start to finish.

Basara, not content with the emptiness of fame, grabs his guitar and heads off into the galaxy in search of….well….something. Stopping on the planet Zola he soon becomes embroiled in a feud between the local police force and a group of poachers who make a living through the black market hunting of Galactic Whales.

That’s it really. There’s no galactic space war and no doomsday weapon that is threatening to blow up the entire universe and everything in it. It feels like a four episode arc of Cowboy Bebop, several years before Cowboy Bebop even popped into existence.

The series also draws inspiration from classic literature, with one character mirroring the creeping madness of Moby Dick’s Captain Ahab and his eventual shedding of reasoning in an effort to catch one particular elusive Galactic Whale.

We’re also introduced to the super awesome VF-500B Star Mirage, an all new transformable fighter that was designed specifically for the series that would eventually end up in a glut of video games. Honestly, the fighter mode of the VF-500B is a genuine thing of beauty.

Battroid mode, not so much.

04. Flash back 2012 [1987]

Pitched as Macross’ last hurrah, this single 30 minute episode of Macross ended up becoming an incredibly pivotal moment in Macross history. Part clip show, part finale, FB2012 wraps up the final moments of the original SDFM series through a series of vignettes from the perspective of super Macross idol and original fanboy crush Lynn Minmay.

In fairness, the importance of this OVA isn’t measured by the 85% recycled content from the original ’82 series and the immortal DYRL, it comes from the tiny glimpses of ultra-important storytelling that would end up changing the direction of the entire Macross franchise from Macross Plus and Macross 7 onwards.

Overcome with a sense of wanderlust and by reliving the nostalgic memories of her time during Space War 1, Minmay looks to new horizons and decides to leave Earth on the newly built interstellar colony ship Megaroad-01.

While this may be a simple premise, when it came time for producers to dust off the series in ’94 this single 30 minute episode would end up being the catalyst that set the groundwork for every series that followed.

Without that 10 second shot of Megaroad-01 ascending into the heavens we don’t get a Macross 7, a Macross Frontier, a Macross Galaxy, no Planet Eden, nothing.

For first time viewers FB2012 can be a little jarring – in essence it is a 30 minute long music video that interlays some bizarre real life footage over the top of classic scenes from previous titles. On my first watch I didn’t quite know what was going on. Buyer beware.

But the music is amazing and listening to Mari Iijima sing Tenshi no Enogu is a goddam privilege and worth the price of admission alone.

03. Super Dimension Fortress Macross [1982]

There’s little more to say about SDFM Macross that hasn’t already been said. However I’m still amazed to this day that a single one off series that kicked off an anthology trilogy ended up having the level of staying power it did.

Like a lot of older western fans, my love affair with Macross actually started with (gets ready to duck and cover) Robotech, so I make no bones about how much this original series of Macross means in not only my affection for Macross but also my development as a whole.

SDFM stands as a testament that a truly iconic anime series really needs time to develop – it wasn’t perfect right off the bat, especially when help up against the rigors of time, but unlike Macross 7 SDFM does manage to keep an incredible amount of relevancy to the franchise as a whole. It didn’t take risks or push the envelope of kitsch more than it needed to and at times can feel a little stiff and boring. However, that stiffness actually plays to its strength when you disassemble Macross and reimagine it in the context of what ultimately I think writers, producers and everyone involved wanted it to be seen.

A war documentary. With singing.

Of course what sets this apart from a lot, well, most Macross series or OVA’s is that there is absolutely no buy-in required for newbs. This is where it all began. New fans that came into the franchise off the back of Macross Delta could potentially slip right into the series with no problems. In fact, it would probably provide a lot of context for the majority of what they’re seeing on screen. I can’t guarantee that they’re going to enjoy their time watching SDFM, I mean, there are no parachuting magic girls or episodes on the beach for a start. Although it does have plenty of girls with odd colored hair.

Its biggest drawback in modern times is that it definitely does have that “old anime” feel to it. I’m not referring to the brightly colored, pointy-nosed, boundary pushing art style of the 1990’s, instead I’m referring to that decadent age of anime when frame rates were low and hand drawn art often came from dubious places in an effort to speed up the production process. There are entire episodes of SDFM that you could tell were the product of “creator crunch”.

On the flip side to this however there are some incredibly detailed action sequences that still hold up to this day – Max and Milia’s dogfight over and inside the SDF-1 in Episode 18 Pineapple Salad is a prime example.

Sometimes it’s dark, sometimes it’s playful, but ultimately it’s epic. Long before Game of Thrones the series wasn’t afraid to take the viewer to uncomfortable places that a traditional narrative isn’t meant to take you. You’ll feel the pit of your stomach churn as you watch, 27 freaking episodes in, as the Earth is obliterated and humanity is driven to the brink of extinction.

You’ll ask, “Wait, what was it all for then!?” and sit on the edge of your seat as the crew of the SDF-1 metaphorically roll up their sleeves and charge into the enemy ranks knowing they’re heading to their doom.

Or can the least important character, a young idol singer that’s passed over by everybody, be the one to save all of humanity? Ugghh. It still gets me teary eyed, man.

That’s Macross - A true tale of war and the ultimate example of David and Goliath.

02. Macross Frontier [2007]

The final two spots honestly nearly came down to a coin toss.

I can’t begin to tell you how epoch making Macross Frontier, or Macross F, was in the world of Macross fanatics. Initially billed as a 25th anniversary reinvention of the franchise it didn’t quite make its intended deadline, not that it mattered, Macross F brought with it an energy that shifted the product from a mecha inspired nostalgia trip to a classic anime that changed our relationship entirely with the Macross universe.

It’s actually frightening just how perfect this series really is. To this day I still use the first two episodes of Macross Frontier as a prime example of an introduction to an anime series done perfectly.

Likewise, its final two episodes.

Macross F also marks the first time that audiences were truly involved on a personal level with the romantic relationships of its main characters. That might seem a little harsh considering just how iconic SDFM’s love triangle was between Hikaru, Minmay and Misa, but it’s fair to say that our levels of simping were cranked all the way to 11 when Sheryl Nome and Ranka Lee entered the scene.

The audience’s hearts melted into gooey puddles of liquefied mush when Ranka repeatedly had her heart torn out of her chest and shouted loudly at the screen when beloved characters met their demise in both dramatic and romantic ways.

Well at least I did.

Frontier also serves as an incredibly accessible entrance point for new converts to the Macross franchise – each episode (at least for the first several episodes) includes a run down on all the important events in Macross history and requires absolutely zero level of buy-in to truly come to grips with how the universe of Macross operates.

It also toes the waters of modern day commercialized anime quite well, committing itself to the task of giving us gorgeous anime girls and catchy pop music while still maintaining a dignified level of grit and seriousness. Frontier is everything that Delta is trying to emulate and should absolutely make its way immediately to the top of anyone’s list that has consumed Macross Delta but haven’t indulged in any other titles in the series.

In all the series is going to be hard to top and although there is still one other title left on this worst-to-best list, I think I can say with certainty that Macross F also deserves the same amount of shine as the number one spot. It’s equally as perfect as number one, just for a list of completely different reasons.

To summarize: when the world has moved on from Macross, Ranka Lee and Sheryl Nome will still be here and I’ll be there right with them, simping to the very end of the universe. Now shut up and take my money.

01. Macross Plus [1994]

It’s easy to look at the date on this series and immediately put it into the “It’s old don’t bother” basket. I’m willing to bet quite a lot of people have. I’m also willing to bet that most people saw this OVA series on VHS decades ago and didn’t quite get with the program. It didn’t help that the series was split over two tapes, with episodes 1 and 2 quite readily available and (for some reason) episodes 3 and 4 rarer than hen’s teeth.

There were plenty of proper releases in Japan, but in the west it wasn’t until years later we were blessed with a DVD release that contained all four episodes in a single location. For this reason it’s been a slog to convince people just how amazing Macross Plus is – a four episode OVA series, Macross Plus was the first true sequel to the original series of SDFM and was a co-directorial venture between Shōji Kawamori and a then unknown ex-animator called Shinichirō Watanabe.

Yes, THAT Shinichirō Watanabe. Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Space Dandy, Terror in Resonance.

And it’s classic Watanabe; brilliant pacing, long lingering glances at beautiful scenery and action that cuts back and forth exactly in the places it needs to cut, at exactly the right time.

With music by Yoko Kanno (Yes, THAT Yoko Kanno), it’s honestly a forgotten gem not just among Macross, but among anime series in general. It’s also Kanno at her most straight-edged, an era where she seemed to be happy towing the line of commercial 90’s techno while at the same time toying with the strange symphonic melodies that would go on to become her trademark in the following years. The Macross Plus theme, alongside Mari Iijima’s Ai Oboete Imasu ka might just be the entire franchise’s most iconic and instantly recognizable song [EDIT - Ok, probably third most iconic song, right after Aimo].

The series also makes a departure from the traditional fare of alien invasions and galaxy wide crises, instead following the interwoven lives of two test pilots, estranged since childhood, as they compete for lucrative military contracts. When an old flame appears the rivalry between the two pilots spills over from the testing ground into real life and their feud turns deadly.

It doesn’t sound like the makings of a great series of Macross, or even the kind of Macross story that younger viewers would be used to with Frontier or Delta, but honestly all the components for a earth-shakingly good yarn are there: a love triangle, new and exciting mecha, idols and a looming crisis that threatens the lives of many people.

In all it has aged incredibly well – when the sheen of magic girls and idol simping has rubbed off and the well has run dry for glossy anime and cute characters with amusing colored hair, Macross Plus will still be on Watanabe-san’s resume, beckoning curious fans to take a closer look.

And it will still be all class.

- Andrew Archer

Ranking every Macross series and OVA from worst to best