Macross II

is a six episode OVA in the ''Macross'' franchise. It was the first installment of ''Macross'' to feature a new cast of characters. ''Macross II'' was produced by Big West, with no involvement from the original series creators from Studio Nue or the original series animators from Tatsunoko Production.

Background

After '' Flash Back 2012'', Studio Nue no longer wanted to work on ''Macross'' as a series. Big West continued alone, building from '' Do You Remember Love?'' with ''Macross II'' and three video games: ''Macross 2036'' and ''Macross: Eien no Love Song'' for the PC Engine CD and '' Macross: Scrambled Valkyrie'' for the Super Famicom.

In light of this, Studio Nue decided to continue the story themselves, though they used the original television series as a base instead. This began with the 1994 ''Macross Plus'' and no further work is based on what is now considered a "Parallel World" timeline.

Plot

The story takes place in 2092, 80 years after the events depicted in '' Macross: Do You Remember Love?'' The SDF-1 ''Macross'' still exists, as does the U.N. Spacy ''Minmay Attack'' stratagem, which has been successfully employed to thwart the Zentradi threat ever since. However, a new humanoid alien race called the Marduk (Mardook in the original Japanese version), arrives in the Solar System with enslaved Zentradi and Meltlandi warriors who are seemingly unaffected by the ''Minmay Attack''. The Marduk employ their own female singers, called Emulators, who incite their giant warriors with songs.

The story focuses on reporter Hibiki Kanzaki, who is caught in the middle of the action when he rescues an Emulator, Ishtar, while covering a battle between the U.N. Spacy and the Marduk. Hibiki proceeds to teach her about Earth's culture, which she then shares with the rest of the Marduk. However, the Marduk leader, Emperor Ingues, considers Earth's culture anathema. With the help of ace fighter pilot Silvie Gena, Hibiki and Ishtar attempt to end the war.

Characters

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: The series' main protagonist, Hibiki is an entertainment reporter for the television network Scramble News Network (SNN). Desiring to advance his career, he jumps at the chance to cover the first encounters with the Marduk. While covering one of the battles, he discovers Ishtar, an Emulator used to excite the Marduk forces' aggressive tendencies through her singing. Originally seeing the scoop of a lifetime, Hibiki harbors Ishtar on Earth and shows her Earth's culture but is eventually moved by Ishtar's belief in bringing peace to her people by spreading Earth's love songs. Hibiki also finds himself having to deal with the U.N. Spacy, which is overzealous in not allowing any possibility of public panics despite having the frontline pushed all the way back to Earth itself.
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: An Emulator within the Marduk race. Her singing enhances the aggressive tendencies of the Marduk's Zentraedi and Meltrandi warriors and allows the Marduk to control them. When Hibiki brings her to Earth, she is shocked by human culture and traditions. Because of her experiences, she changes her Emulator song to be one which encourages the Marduk to be peaceful. She believes the SDF-1 Macross is the legendary ship of the Alus, an entity prophesied in Marduk culture to bring peace to their civilization.
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: Sylvie is an ace ''Valkyrie II'' variable fighter pilot and commander of the ''Faerie Squadron''. She has a Meltrandi grandmother, from whom she inherited her prowess at fighting (reportedly second only to Nexx Gilbert), and becomes very angry at the Marduk when she discovers that the aliens brainwash their Zentradi and Meltrandi soldiers. Hibiki's pursuit of a scoop of her secret meeting with Supreme Commander Exxegran makes her punch the reporter in the nose. Her feelings for him change over the rest of the series.
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: One of the UN Spacy's elite pilots, Nexx appears to be a bit narcissistic because of fighter pilots being highly popular in Earth society. Although he doesn't seem to go very far with Sylvie beyond a few dates, he is genuinely in love with her. He pilots a combat-worthy prototype of the VA-1SS Metal Siren variable fighter during the U.N. Spacy's fleet engagement against Marduk near the Moon and takes command of one of the two Macross Cannons committed to resist the final Marduk assault on Earth.
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: An idol singer who is used in the U.N. Spacy propaganda releases. She is known for singing and during the annual U.N. Spacy Moon Festival.
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: An SNN cameraman and war correspondent, Dennis believes in presenting both sides of a story even if it means getting it from deep behind enemy lines. He thinks Hibiki doesn't understand what journalism is really all about but nevertheless sees potential in him. He dies during Hibiki's first assignment with him inside a Marduk warship; his death has a significant impact on how Hibiki looks at the world of journalism.
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: A transsexual owner of a beauty salon, Mash is one of Hibiki's close friends. Their bond is good enough such that he is the one Hibiki turns to when the latter decides to harbor Ishtar after rescuing her on an assignment.
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: One of the U.N. Spacy's senior commanders, Exxegran has a noble spirit and is equally aware of how complacent the organization has become. He appears quite personable as Sylvie and her Faerie teammates look up to him as a father figure.
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: Feff is a commander in the Marduk forces. Despite his battlefield prowess, he does not entirely believe in Ingues's extreme enforcement of cultural purity and eventually turns on him once he understands what Ishtar is trying to do. Feff later confesses that he harbors feelings for Ishtar.
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: The Marduk Empire's supreme ruler, Ingues is cruel, despotic, and obsessed with eliminating any foreign culture. He even purges troops within the fleet that have been exposed to other cultures.
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: Commander of the U.N. Spacy's 12th Fleet, Balser leads from the fleet flagship ''Gloria'' during a valiant but ultimately futile defense against the Marduk invasion near the Moon. The ''Gloria'' is destroyed when the sheer number of Marduk warships overwhelms the defenders.

The Faerie Squadron

The Faerie Squadron is a trio of Valkyrie pilots under Silvie's command. In the final episode, all three of them later join Nexx Gilbert in manning a Macross Cannon ship.
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: She is interested in Nexx Gilbert and is always looking for a way to get closer to him.
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Production

''Macross II'' began production in 1991 and debuted simultaneously in the United States and Japan, during the second quarter of 1992, in order to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the original ''The Super Dimension Fortress Macross'' television series. Out of the original ''Macross'' staff, only three of them returned for ''Macross II'': Haruhiko Mikimoto (character designer), Sukehiro Tomita (scripter) and Yasunori Honda (sound director). Shoji Kawamori, the creator of the original ''Macross'' series, did not participate in this project because, at the time, he had no interest in writing sequels. Since co-creator Studio Nue was also absent from this project, studios AIC and ONIRO handled the production.

''Macross II'' was framed as six episodes because, at the time, it was felt that short OVA series were the current trend in anime. Initially conceived as taking place 300 years in the future,"Macross II, 'Lovers Again' Close-Up", ''Animerica'', 1992, Vol.1, No. 0, p. 12 that number was pared down to 80 years during production. ''Macross II'' also takes place in the same universe as the PC Engine Super CD-ROM² games '' Macross 2036'' and '' Macross: Eternal Love Song''. The staff was not allowed to use any of the original ''Macross'' characters in this project."Mikimoto Mania!", ''Animerica'', 1992, Vol.1, No.0, p.10 Furthermore, the staff decided to avoid the "idol" singer concept that was propounded in the original series. Their rationale was that Japan was experiencing an "idol boom" during the 1980s and ''Macross'' mirrored that. Haruhiko Mikimoto explained that he and director Kenichi Yatagai differed on what they envisioned ''Macross II'' to be; compromises had to be made on both sides. The mechanical designs for ''Macross II'' were created by Junichi Akutsu, Jun Okuda and Koichi Ohata (who previously worked on ''Gunbuster'').

Media

''Macross II'' is a six-episode OVA that was released in Japan from May 21, 1992, to November 21, 1992, on VHS volumes, on June 25, 2001, on DVD and on July 25, 2014, on Blu-ray. It was also broadcast on TV Tokyo

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