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.
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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