Review: Macross Δ


A new Macross series is met with both excitement and trepidation for me. Macross is, without shadow of doubt, my favourite media franchise. Frontier set the bar for me and nothing has bettered it. So of course the expectations were high for me when Delta was announced. It’s been 8 years since Frontier and in this time Shoji Kawamori has helmed some of my favourite (but indecisive amongst most) series. Will it fall flat on its face, wallow in mediocrity or shine once again?

An outbreak called the Var Syndrome is affecting millions across the galaxy, when it hits an uncontrollable rage visit the victim. Only the songs of Walküre can cure them and with the help of their Delta Squadron help to stem the Var Syndrome. This is not the only threat as a group called the Ariel Knights challenges them from the Kingdom of Wind, Windemere. We follow Freyja Wion, an aspiring singer influenced by Walküre and stows away on a ship in the hope of reaching a vocal audition to become Walküres next member. She is met and helped by Hayate Immelmann, a drifter going from one job to the next. When a Var outbreak occurs on their planet they are both put in danger and it is only Hayates skill set and Freyjas unique voice that help them make it out in one piece.

The plot gets deeper and deeper the further the series goes on without ever overloading you with plot threads. With revelations aplenty and all sorts of goings on in the background, this is on both sides as well with disruption in the Windemere Kingdom, resentment and vast swathes of secrets all to come out. It is executed nigh on perfectly. No thread is left loose by the series end and the revelations that come induce all manner of emotions in you. Hints of what to come are dangled in front of you in the briefest sense; they make you think of what is to come, how they are linked and who is up to what.


It also makes you question the tactics and ethics of the NUNS which the good guys are supposedly on side with. With atrocious war crimes clearly no issue for them and human experimentation just another means to an end it is really hard to support them. The latter is one thing that really hits my nerves in any medium and a sure fire way to make me feel hate for them and who they did it on as well riles me up. To this end it is Windemere that you feel for after suffering at the hands of the Galactic Federation and seeing them rise above the suffering they have had to endure and think that they may be in some way justified after constant stifling / poor treatment of them.

Freyja and Hayate are the first characters we meet and they are certainly interesting. Hayate being a drifter is looking for somewhere to belong but he has some rather unique skills which suggest a secretive past. Freyja is about as energetic as it comes. She always sees the positives, has lofty dreams and loves to sing. She harbours something of a fraught past and coming from where she does that can be understandable. Mirage rounds off the main trio (of which I will go into more detail later). She is a VF pilot who follows rules to a tee and dislikes those who take a brazen attitude to this.

Whilst these three are the main three there is a wealth, and I mean a wealth of characters to talk about. You have the idol unit Walküre which is made up of lead singer Mikumo, Reina, Makina, Kaname and Freyja who joins later. Mikumo is by far the most interesting and mysterious of them as she acts very differently, almost distant to the rest. Reina is a super hacker and her best friend Makina is super cheery. Kaname is effectively the leader. She helped recruit them and create Walküre, keeps a solid head and tries her best to make everyone feel at comfort. Over the course of the series we learn more and more about them to the point where we feel like we know them and care deeply about them.


The pilots of Delta squadron protect them. The aforementioned Mirage joins Messer, Chuck and Arad as the main pilots here as well as Macross Elysion captain Ernest. They all have attributes unique to them and most get substantial development. From Messer and the effect he has had on his comrades and potential love interest to Arad and his acting as a commander should, disciplining where necessary and trying to balance personal relationships to Mirage going through sustained periods of inner conflict and Chuck trying to hold it up for his kids after a disaster.

On the side of the Windemereans we have the King Gramia and his son Heinz who represent the authority in the kingdom. Below them are Roid a close advisor and the Ariel Knights headed by Keith that includes a variety of personalities and reasons for fighting from the likes of Qasim and Bogue. We see these reasons, we learn more about them and why they hold an almighty grudge against the NUNS and their back stories. They may be the enemy but they are humanised here to the point that even a tragedy for them has an emotional impact on you.

That a series, in 26 episodes, can flesh out as many characters as this does, giving them development, depth and making them unique to the viewer is quite the feat. There are a few characters almost sidelined or given little screen time but they aren’t major players so it isn’t adversely affecting this.


As always with a Macros series there is a love triangle and this one, above all else had me gripped. The triangle this time is between Hayate, Freyja and Mirage. It is a relatively slow burn for all 3 as they begin to realise their feelings. Mirage starts off scolding Hayate for his approach and lackadaisical nature towards piloting whilst Freyja, having known him a tad longer starts to feel towards him when he begins getting closer to Mirage. There are sweet scenes between Hayate and the two girls, such as his birthday present for Freyja or the time spent with Mirage. There are also sad scenes when they feel like Hayate is growing apart from them. I would say Hayate almost seems oblivious to this but then he goes out of his way to cater to their feelings, whether it is being a good friend or not I do not know.

One thing that is for certain though is this triangle had me hooked. I will reference Macross Frontier because it is arguably the closest and most well known series but in that I was with Sheryl all the way from the start, Ranka never caught on with me in that way. Here though right up until the series end I had no idea who I wanted Hayate to end up with. Both Freyja and Mirage had their strong points and I cared deeply about both but it was so, so hard to choose. That is a sign of good writing, that they never heavily favour one side, that each girl is given enough time for you to care about and boy do you care. Seeing Mirage crying sent me into an anger induced state matched only a couple of times in the series and seeing the inevitable ‘effect’ show on Freyja sent me into shock.

This being a celebration and anniversary of Macross there are plenty of nods to series past. Whether it be the lineage of Mirage who is a Zentradi, to the feats and established historical events caused by singers such as Minmay (Macross), Sharon Apple (Macross Plus), Fire Bomber (Macross 7) or Sheryl Nome and Ranka Lee (Macross Frontier) these are fantastic for the devoted fan to see them tied-in in a canonical manor. The explanation of why singing has been so important across the generations was also a splendid sight to see and take in.


The animation deserves a special mention here. Most of the time such as during concerts and everyday non-action sequences the animation is traditional, it looks good and flows well. When it comes to the action sequences in the Valkyries though it is CG and wow is it beautiful. CG these days usually raises groans from many anime fans as usually it can be awkward and simply does not blend in well. Here that is not the case. It is so smooth and does not look out of place, it is a seamless transition from traditional to CG and that is an incredible achievement, you can really tell they were given a big budget for this and that the team was talented.

The idol performances themselves are a sight to behold. Full of gravity defying movement, almost combat esque movement in some cases and routines to even match the VFs. It is wonderful to see and a further evolution on those performed in Frontier by Sheryl and Ranka. The costumes themselves also help here immeasurably, bright and vivid colours yet not overstuffed and can change in an instant. They simply look gorgeous on all the girls and brings a bit of joy to those in otherwise desolate areas.

Whilst the idol performances of Walküre are a treat it is the dogfights in the Valkyries that almost steal the show. They are smooth and action packed, missiles flying around with their smoke streams, constant manoeuvres in the Valkyries and it tracks them all, with the amount of VFs on screen it could be confusing but not so here. The camera tracks them all the time, from the classic meeting of the eyes from the two ace pilots to the long stretches of pure dog fighting brilliance it is a marvel to behold.


The larger scale conflicts including the Elysion were some of the absolute highlights of the series. Seeing this behemoth transform and enter the fray still gives me that spine chilling feeling. It is these large scale battles that dwarf the smaller ones in terms of action and tactics as well with Ernest going head to head with Gramia in one which really marked a high point at the time. These large scale conflicts are always a highlight in any series here and it is a joy to see them so expertly treated with the respect they deserve.

It also helps that the character designs and general art direction is superb. Walküres outfits are sensational, not too cluttered for an idol costume and they look lovely with vibrant colours. The characters themselves all look set apart. From the varying hair colours and styles to body shapes and even races as is known in Macross. Characters from Windemere have what is called a rune on their hair which changes colour to match the feelings they have. I really liked this, the different styles and way they work set them apart. The background art also shows a direct contrast with Ragna being bright and colourful and Windemere being dull, dark and drab to reflect the suffering they have gone through.

The soundtrack by Saeko Suzuki is excellent with the dark tonal shifts when moving to Windemere and sounds amping up the action when necessary as well as lightening or dampening the mood. That said the real musical aspect of the series is of course the singers themselves. The difference here is that you have an idol unit going up against an operatic singer. I really like the contrast here, idol units are very modern and very big right now in the anime landscape as well as in real life. Operatic singers harken back centuries and have a classical touch to them. It’s kind of new vs old in that regard, a real clash of cultures and ages.


The idol side, is made up of Walküre. The songs are really catchy and all the singers are superb, a special mention to the singer of Mikumo JUNNA who is just 15 and the singer of Frejya Suzuki Minori. Both of these are newcomers to this and their voices are just incredible, powerful, emotional and rousing. JUNNA especially, it has been quite some time since a voice that powerful has hit my ears and to repeat myself she is just 15. That is simply incredible as her voice is years beyond that. She has a bright future ahead of her without doubt.

Their songs hit the mark on all occasions, not once did I feel that a song was weak when it was introduced. From the opening Ichido dake no Koi nara which is sang in the series to Ikenai Borderline which quickly became one of my favourite songs of the year in any genre to softer, more melodic songs such as AXIA ~Daisuki de Daikirai~ and Hametsu no Junjou. What also helps is that being an idol unit there are different members and that means different vocals. You can tell all 5 apart, they all have something different about them. Be it Reina and Makin with their more catchy, cheery J-Pop style, the more melodic style of Kaname, the Mikumo powerful resonating voice or Freyjas all round energetic vocals.

On the other side, of the Windemeres you have Prince Heinz whose singing voice is provided by Melody Chubak. Now I’m not the most well versed in operatic singing and I am not going to pretend otherwise but even I can tell that she has done wonders here. It matches and sounds operatic, whether or not Melody Chubak was classically trained I do not know but to the untrained ear like mine it is hard to tell. My only experience with operatic singing is Simone Simons and Tarja and here Melodys vocals hold up well to theirs so that is a big plus point.


If I have to bring up a negative point or two then really the only minor (and I mean minor) gripe I had was the repeated use of songs. Sometime it felt that the same song on Walküre side was used too many times before introducing something new. Again that is a minor gripe and the same could be said of Heinz the Wind Singer with his same one song over and over. Another minor point is some new songs taking longer to really get in to. Doesn’t help when you have to follow a hit like Ikenai Borderline and initially they left me a tad cold so to speak. They grew on me though and now those feelings are a thing of the past.

My trepidation and worry for this new Macross series was ultimately unfounded. I am a big fan of Shoji Kawamori and yet again he has not let me down in helping to craft what is (barring a miracle) going to be my favourite anime of this year. With an incredible new idol unit, Satelights animation A game brought to the table and an engaging set of characters and plot that pays tribute to all of Macross gone by this is a perfect way to celebrate an anniversary.

Studio: Satelight
Aired: Spring 2016 - Summer 2016
Available: 9 x BDs with English subtitles
Episodes: 26

10/10

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