Macross Plus 4k
Gwenda Gronert
Macross Plus (マクロスプラス, Makurosu Purasu) is a four-episode anime OVA and theatrical movie in the Macross series. It was the first sequel to the original Macross television series that took place in the official timeline (Macross II was quickly retconned by series creator Shōji Kawamori as a parallel world story in the Macross universe). Plus was a groundbreaking combination of traditional cel and computer-generated animation at the time of its release, paving the way for the incorporation of more computer-generated imagery in Japanese animation.
Both the OVA series and movie were released in Japan by Bandai Visual and in North America and Europe by Manga Entertainment. The Australian VHS version was released by Manga Entertainment and the DVD version by Madman Entertainment under sub-license from Manga Entertainment. It features several new mecha designs inspired by the original series.
Three decades after the great war between the humans and the Zentradi, in January 2040, the U.N. government is developing new technologies to use in their transforming fighter aircraft by running tests on the colony planet Eden. Military test pilots and former childhood friends, loose cannon Isamu Alva Dyson and the Zentradi mixed race Guld Goa Bowman, are selected to each pilot a new aircraft (Shinsei Industries' YF-19 & General Galaxy's YF-21) for Project Super Nova, to choose the newest successor to the VF-11 Thunderbolt variable fighter which is currently still in use by the U.N. Spacy military forces. Their own personal grudges end up disrupting the tests, and begin to wreak havoc on the program.
Their rivalry heats up when a mutual friend, Myung Fang Lone, shows up. Myung was a childhood friend of both pilots, but the three of them had a falling out, and quickly grew apart. This is alluded to throughout the story, and evidence of the strained relationship between Myung and either of the two men is apparent, while their distaste for one another is obvious. When they meet again, they discover that Myung is now the producer of Sharon Apple, the hottest entertainer in the galaxy, who just happens to be an AI hologram. Unbeknownst to the public, the Sharon AI is incomplete and requires Myung to provide emotions during concerts.
Meanwhile, the AI Sharon Apple has developed a malevolent consciousness, due to an illegal bio-chip having been installed by lead scientist on the project, Marge Gueldoa. During her concert in the Atlantis Dome inside Earth's Macross City, Sharon quickly takes over both the Ghost X-9 and the SDF-1 Macross Fortress and hypnotizes her audience and the Macross' staff, while trapping Myung in the Macross itself.
Wanting to prove that manned fighter units are a necessity and to prove his worth, Isamu and Yang (the YF-19's engineer) take the fighter jet and space-fold to Earth to beat the X-9 at its own game, while Guld gives chase in the YF-21. Sharon hacks into Earth's outer space defences, but both Isamu and Guld make it through. They then proceed to attack each other again, as they argue about childhood grudges. At the climax of the fight Guld, finally achieving a target lock, releases a large fury of missiles seemingly destroying the YF-19. As this happens, Guld is flooded by repressed memories. Now realizing it was truly his own jealous rage that had torn the friendship apart. Having saved himself and Yang by cutting engine throttle and gliding, the YF-19 then appears in the skies above Guld and the two old friends reconcile.
When discovering that Myung's life is in danger, Isamu and Guld quickly go to her aid. While Isamu goes after Sharon, Guld fights the X-9 and ultimately destroys it by removing the gravitational safety limiters on his aircraft, and matching the X-9's velocity/maneuverability, which is much higher than normally possible due to it being computer-controlled and having no pilot, until he achieves a target lock and shoots the X-9 down. However, removing the limiters allows Guld to achieve accelerations exceeding human (even Zentradi-Human) limitations, which ultimately leads to his death, the g-forces generated by his piloting literally crushing him even as he crashes the YF-21 into the X-9, destroying it.
While fighting the SDF-1 Macross, Sharon hypnotises Yang who shoots at Isamu but only hits his helmet. Isamu ejected Yang but then is hypnotized by Sharon's voice, and is left to crash to his death. At the last second, Myung's voice reaches him and brings him out back to consciousness. Dodging the Macross' fire, Isamu is able to destroy the central computer, effectively eliminating Sharon.
The design of Eden City was influenced by the San Francisco landscape (which also served as a backdrop for Frontier City in Macross Frontier). The wind farms throughout the planet were based on those found in California's Central Valley, while Eden's highways were designed from those seen in Orlando, Florida.[1]
The series was directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, featuring character designs by Masayuki and animation direction by Kōji Morimoto, who designed the Sharon Apple concert scene. Shōji Kawamori designed all the new variable fighters in the anime. Kazutaka Miyatake was credited for the use of his previous designs for the Macross and the Destroid Monster, and he was also involved in the project as mecha designer for the YF-21 cockpit, both the YF-21 and YF-19 flightsuits, the X-9 Ghost drone fighter and the renegade Zentradi battlesuits.[2]
Yoko Kanno composed the score for Macross Plus. The orchestral score was recorded in Tel Aviv, Israel, by members of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, except for "Dogfight" (an orchestral track used during the final battle between Isamu and Guld), which was recorded in Prague, Czech Republic by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.
The soundtrack CDs were released in Japan by Victor Entertainment. In North America, only the first two soundtracks were made available; first through JVC, then subsequently through AnimeTrax (a division of The Right Stuf International).
An English dub version was produced for the international market, featuring a North American cast and an English version of the main theme "Voices". When it came to Episode 4 of the original translation, due to a rights issue at the time, the entire soundmix including music and sound effects had to be recreated from scratch. Only the songs performed by Sharon Apple ("Pulse," "Information High," and "Santi-U(second half)/Torch Song") and the English version of "Voices" were retained. The background music entitled "Dogfight" was replaced with another track entitled "Breakout" (featured in Episode 1 and 2), notably in the main Dogfight sequence and just after Isamu recovers from his trance.
It was later that Bandai Visual commissioned a new dub for Episode 4, retaining the original Japanese soundmix but utilizing a new voice cast due to actor availability. Most notably Isamu's part was recast with David Hayter, most famous for his voicework on the Metal Gear series. This version was exclusive to Japan, also being included as the English dub of choice on the Japanese Blu-ray release in 2012, still retaining the original Manga versions of Episodes 1 - 3.
After completion, the series was re-edited for theatrical release, with a shortened 115 minute runtime. This version, entitled Macross Plus: Movie Edition, features multiple new and alternate scenes, while removing and shortening many other scenes from the original OVA series.
Macross Plus was first released in Japan on VHS and Laserdisc formats by Bandai Visual, and on DVD, the very latter on August 25, 2001 (Ep.1) & February 25, 2002 (Ep.4) respectively. All aforementioned discs include the English dub. Manga Entertainment released the series in VHS (dubbed and subtitled versions) and Laserdisc formats in Europe and as their first title in the North American market. The English-dubbed series was also released in MovieCD format for Windows 3.1/Windows 95-based PCs. In 1999, Manga Entertainment released Macross Plus on DVD format, with two episodes per disc. Sales of disc 2 of the series were affected by a subtitle timing error, which was corrected on subsequent reprints.
A subtitle-only version of Macross Plus: Movie Edition was released on VHS in the U.S. through Manga Entertainment, with a DVD release in 2000. The DVD version is a direct transfer from the VHS release, causing the subtitles to be part of the footage itself, so they can't be turned off. There is no English dub for the movie version.
On August 24, 2007, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Macross, Japan released on DVD an HD remastered box set containing both the entire OVA series and Movie. Unlike the episodic releases however, which include the English dub alongside the Japanese track, said dub was omitted, and a PCM mix replaces both (Dolby Digital) stereo options heard before. On June 21, 2013, a Blu-ray box, again featuring episodes 1-4 & Movie saw release. This time however, the English dub was reinstated, and episodes 1-4 include both Japanese and English audio, with episode 4 using the newer Bandai dub, while retaining Manga's original for episodes 1-3. Movie Edition on the other hand is Japanese only, but offers English subtitles, plus a new DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track to go alongside its PCM option. A stand alone Blu-ray of the theatrical cut was reissued on January 29, 2016.
During the release of the series, Shogakukan published the companion visual book This Is Animation Special: Macross Plus, which covered the first two episodes.[6] A follow-up book was released, covering the production of the Movie Edition.[7]
Macross Plus toys were not available until 2000, when Yamato Toys released a 1/72 scale diecast replica of the YF-19.[8] Since then, aside from Yamato, replicas and figures of the series' variable fighters have been manufactured by Doyusha[9] and Kaiyodo (under the Revoltech line).[10]
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