Macross II

Macross II (超時空要塞マクロスII Lovers Again), also known as The Super Dimension Fortress Macross II: Lovers, Again or Super Dimensional Fortress Macross II, is the first animated sequel to The Super Dimension Fortress Macross to feature a new cast of characters. The Super Dimension Fortress Macross II: Lovers Again was produced by Big West.

Plot
The story takes place in the year 2092, eighty years after the events depicted in the movie 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 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 captures 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

 * Hibiki Kanzaki (神崎 ヒビキ)
 * The protagonist, Hibiki works as an entertainment reporter for the television network SNN (Scramble News Network). He wants to be more, however, and jumps at the chance to cover the first encounters with the Marduk invaders. While covering one of the battles, he discovers Ishtar, an Emulator used to excite the aggressive tendencies of the Marduk through her singing. Originally seeing the scoop of a lifetime, he harbors her on Earth and shows her Earth culture but is eventually moved by her belief in bringing peace to her people by spreading Earth's love songs. At the same time he also finds himself having to deal with the U.N. Spacy, who is overzealous in not allowing any possibility of public panics despite having the frontline pushed all the way back to Earth itself.
 * The protagonist, Hibiki works as an entertainment reporter for the television network SNN (Scramble News Network). He wants to be more, however, and jumps at the chance to cover the first encounters with the Marduk invaders. While covering one of the battles, he discovers Ishtar, an Emulator used to excite the aggressive tendencies of the Marduk through her singing. Originally seeing the scoop of a lifetime, he harbors her on Earth and shows her Earth culture but is eventually moved by her belief in bringing peace to her people by spreading Earth's love songs. At the same time he also finds himself having to deal with the U.N. Spacy, who is overzealous in not allowing any possibility of public panics despite having the frontline pushed all the way back to Earth itself.


 * Ishtar (イシュタル)
 * An Emulator within the Marduk race. Her singing enhances the aggressive tendencies of the Zentradi warriors in the Marduk armies and allows the Marduk to control the Zentradi. When Hibiki brings her to Earth, she is shocked by the variety of cultures and traditions of the humans. 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 the Marduk culture to bring peace to Marduk.
 * An Emulator within the Marduk race. Her singing enhances the aggressive tendencies of the Zentradi warriors in the Marduk armies and allows the Marduk to control the Zentradi. When Hibiki brings her to Earth, she is shocked by the variety of cultures and traditions of the humans. 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 the Marduk culture to bring peace to Marduk.


 * Silvie Gena (シルビー·ジーナ)
 * Sylvie is an ace Valkyrie II variable fighter pilot and commander of the Faerie Squadron who, despite being merely 17 years old, is ranked the second finest pilot only after Nexx Gilbert. She has a Meltrandi grandmother, from whom she inherited her prowess at fighting, and becomes very angry at them when she discovers the Marduk's use of brainwashing and Emulators to keep Zentraedi soldiers under their command fighting. She and Hibiki got off with a bad start due to the latter's pursuit of a scoop on her secret meeting with Supreme Commander Exxegran (where she punched Hibiki in the nose). Her feelings begin to change, however, after crossing paths with him on several occasions during the war against Marduk.
 * Sylvie is an ace Valkyrie II variable fighter pilot and commander of the Faerie Squadron who, despite being merely 17 years old, is ranked the second finest pilot only after Nexx Gilbert. She has a Meltrandi grandmother, from whom she inherited her prowess at fighting, and becomes very angry at them when she discovers the Marduk's use of brainwashing and Emulators to keep Zentraedi soldiers under their command fighting. She and Hibiki got off with a bad start due to the latter's pursuit of a scoop on her secret meeting with Supreme Commander Exxegran (where she punched Hibiki in the nose). Her feelings begin to change, however, after crossing paths with him on several occasions during the war against Marduk.


 * Nexx Gilbert (ネックス·ギルバート)
 * One of Sylvie's colleagues and the champion Valkyrie pilot in the Solar System. He appears to be a bit narcissistic, probably as a result of variable fighter pilots in Earth society being bestowed treatment similar to that received by pop idols, and is the epitome of stereotypical "manliness". 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 is given command of one of the two Macross Cannons committed to resist the final Marduk assault on Earth.
 * One of Sylvie's colleagues and the champion Valkyrie pilot in the Solar System. He appears to be a bit narcissistic, probably as a result of variable fighter pilots in Earth society being bestowed treatment similar to that received by pop idols, and is the epitome of stereotypical "manliness". 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 is given command of one of the two Macross Cannons committed to resist the final Marduk assault on Earth.


 * Wendy Ryder (ウェンディー·ライダー)
 * An idol singer who is used in the U.N. Spacy propaganda releases. She is known for singing Invitation with the Valkyrie (バルキリーで誘って) and Friends Now (今は友達) during the annual U.N. Spacy Moon Festival.
 * An idol singer who is used in the U.N. Spacy propaganda releases. She is known for singing Invitation with the Valkyrie (バルキリーで誘って) and Friends Now (今は友達) during the annual U.N. Spacy Moon Festival.


 * Dennis Lone (デニス·ローン)
 * A cameraman and a war correspondent in the SNN, he believes in presenting both sides of a story even if he has to sneak into an enemy stronghold in the heat of a battle just to get it. 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 after being caught in an explosion in a Marduk battleship where they found an unconscious Ishtar, and his death has a significant impact on how Hibiki looks at the world of journalism.
 * A cameraman and a war correspondent in the SNN, he believes in presenting both sides of a story even if he has to sneak into an enemy stronghold in the heat of a battle just to get it. 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 after being caught in an explosion in a Marduk battleship where they found an unconscious Ishtar, and his death has a significant impact on how Hibiki looks at the world of journalism.


 * Mash (マッシュ)
 * One of Hibiki's friends and transsexual owner of a beauty salon. His friendship with Hibiki 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.
 * One of Hibiki's friends and transsexual owner of a beauty salon. His friendship with Hibiki 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.


 * Exxegran (エックセグラン)
 * One of the very high-ranking commanders of the U.N. Spacy. He has a noble spirit and is equally aware of how complacent the U.N. Spacy command has become. He appears quite personable as Sylvie and her Faerie teammates looks up to him as a father figure.
 * One of the very high-ranking commanders of the U.N. Spacy. He has a noble spirit and is equally aware of how complacent the U.N. Spacy command has become. He appears quite personable as Sylvie and her Faerie teammates looks up to him as a father figure.


 * Feff (フェフ)
 * Feff is a commander of the Marduk forces and reports to Lord Emperor Ingues. Despite his ferocity and cruelty in combat, he does not entirely believe in the Ingues's extreme enforcement of cultural purity and eventually turns on Ingues once he understands what Ishtar is trying to do. He later confesses that he harbors feelings for Ishtar.
 * Feff is a commander of the Marduk forces and reports to Lord Emperor Ingues. Despite his ferocity and cruelty in combat, he does not entirely believe in the Ingues's extreme enforcement of cultural purity and eventually turns on Ingues once he understands what Ishtar is trying to do. He later confesses that he harbors feelings for Ishtar.


 * Lord Emperor Ingues (イングス)
 * Supreme ruler of the Marduk Empire. He is cruel, despotic, and insanely-preoccupied with eliminating any culture distinct from that of Marduk, having no problem ordering the destruction of even his own forces over the slightest presence of an alien culture.
 * Supreme ruler of the Marduk Empire. He is cruel, despotic, and insanely-preoccupied with eliminating any culture distinct from that of Marduk, having no problem ordering the destruction of even his own forces over the slightest presence of an alien culture.


 * Commander Balser (バルゼー)
 * Commander of the U.N. Spacy's 12th Fleet, he commands the fleet flagship Gloria and leads 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.
 * Commander of the U.N. Spacy's 12th Fleet, he commands the fleet flagship Gloria and leads 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.


 * Saori (沙織)
 * A member of Sylvie Gena's Faerie Squadron. She is interested in Nexx Gilbert and is always looking for a way to get closer to him. During the final battle of the war against Marduk, she is assigned the position of a bridge officer aboard the Macross Cannon captained by Nexx.
 * A member of Sylvie Gena's Faerie Squadron. She is interested in Nexx Gilbert and is always looking for a way to get closer to him. During the final battle of the war against Marduk, she is assigned the position of a bridge officer aboard the Macross Cannon captained by Nexx.


 * Amy
 * A member of Sylvie Gena's Faerie Squadron. During the final battle of the war against Marduk, she is assigned the position of a bridge officer aboard the Macross Cannon captained by Nexx.
 * A member of Sylvie Gena's Faerie Squadron. During the final battle of the war against Marduk, she is assigned the position of a bridge officer aboard the Macross Cannon captained by Nexx.


 * Nastasha (ナスターシャ)
 * A member of Sylvie Gena's Faerie Squadron. During the final battle of the war against Marduk, she is assigned the position of a bridge officer aboard the Macross Cannon captained by Nexx.
 * A member of Sylvie Gena's Faerie Squadron. During the final battle of the war against Marduk, she is assigned the position of a bridge officer aboard the Macross Cannon captained by Nexx.

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, 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. Furthermore, the staff decided to eschew 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 Kouichi Ohata (who previously worked on Gunbuster).

Parallel World
Originally promoted as a canon sequel to the Macross: Do You Remember Love? theatrical movie, Macross II has since been relegated by Studio Nue as taking place in a "Parallel World" and is no longer considered part of the original series canon.

Media
Macross II is a six-episode Japanese OVA and was released in North America by the following companies.

Video releases
U.S. Renditions released Macross II in 1992 and 1993, dubbed into English, on three VHS cassettes each containing two episodes. L.A. Hero released the series in 1993 as a movie in a limited amount of theaters across the U.S.A. as a 120-minute film on 35 mm film.

Manga Entertainment consolidated the six episodes in 1995 into a single VHS cassette called Macross II: The Movie. This compilation removed the opening and ending credits for episodes 2 through 5, as well as the episode previews. It was released as two VHS cassette variations: the first contained the English dub and the second contained the original Japanese dialogue with English subtitles.

In 2000, Macross II: The Movie was released on DVD by Manga Entertainment. This DVD included both the English dub and the original Japanese dialogue with English subtitles. Bonus materials included a music video (actually a creditless closing theme), four character profiles and an image and mechanical designs gallery.

Macross II: The Movie was released as a downloadable video rental on the Xbox Live Marketplace for the Xbox 360 by Starz. This release only included the English dub and it was in standard definition. Manga Entertainment released Macross II in 2008 as a downloadable video purchase on the iTunes Store in its original six-episode format with each episode available individually. The episodes only include the English dub and they are in standard definition.

Soundtracks
The music score was composed by Shiro Sagisu, who subsequently became famous for his works on Neon Genesis Evangelion. J-pop singer Mika Kaneko composed and performed the series opening and ending theme songs while Hiroko Kasahara performed Ishtar's songs and Yukiyo Satō did Wendy Ryder's songs. Some of these songs were reused as background music in the 1995 series Macross 7.

The U.S. release of the soundtrack is as follows:


 * JVC (1993) Macross II Original Soundtrack Volume 1 is released in North America on CD. This compact disc contained the background music and vocal songs from, approximately, the first half of the series.
 * AnimeTrax (2001) Volume 1 is re-released as the Macross II Original Soundtrack on CD. This version retains the cover art from its Japanese counterpart and does not include the linear notes found in the JVC release.

Volume 2 was only released in Japan (along with Volume 1) by JVC's parent company, Victor Company of Japan, as The Super Dimension Fortress Macross II Original Soundtrack Vol. 2 in 1992. This compact disc contained the background music and vocal songs from, approximately, the second half of the series.

Manga
Viz Comics published a ten-issue monthly comic book limited series called Super Dimensional Fortress Macross II that was circulated, monthly, from September 1992 through June 1993. This limited series was originally published as a manga in Shōnen Sunday Comics Special by Shogakukan, Inc. in Japan. While a traditional manga will typically deviate from its anime counterpart, the Macross II manga was a direct adaption of the Macross II anime. The manga series was scripted by Sukehiro Tomita and illustrated by Tsuguo Okazaki. The English version was translated by James D. Hudnall and Matt Thorn.

In 1994, Viz Comics reissued the ten individual issues in a single trade paperback volume. Unlike the previous Viz series, which was released in the same size as Silver Age comic books, this compilation was published in the same size as conventional manga and was spiral-bound. Viz also released an original manga sequel titled Macross II: The Micron Conspiracy, written by Hudnall with artwork by Schulhoff Tam.

Posters
Four official Macross II posters were released by U.S. Renditions, L.A. Hero and Viz Comics. The first two posters featured the cover art from "Marduk Disorder" and "Sing Along." These two posters each measured 25 x 39 in. The third poster released was the 27 x 41 ⅛ inches official theatrical poster for the Macross II 35 mm film release, featuring the cover art from "Station Break." The fourth poster, released by Viz Comics, featured Ishtar and measured 28 ⅝ x 40 ½ inches.



Role-Playing Game
In 1993, Palladium Books released a role-playing game called Macross II: The Role-Playing Game. This release was followed up that same year by Macross II: Sourcebook One: The U.N. Spacy, which was an extension of the first game. In 1994, Palladium joined forces with Canadian role-playing game company Dream Pod 9 to produce a three-part Deck Plans supplement series, which features technical schematics of U.N. Spacy and Marduk warships and new rules for ship-to-ship combat. While some of the mechanical information presented is translated directly from the Japanese source material, Dream Pod 9 acknowledged that some of it is also "pure conjecture." Many details are customized to fit the mechanics of Palladium's Mega-Damage system.

American Manga series
In November 1994, Viz Comics published Macross II: The Micron Conspiracy as a five-issue comic book limited series. Marketed as a "100% made-in-America sequel" to Macross II, the story is set one year after the Marduk war and follows Hibiki Kanzaki and Sylvie Gena as they attempt to uncover the explanation behind a series of mysterious attacks against the Zentradi on Earth. This series was written by James D. Hudnall with illustrations provided by Schulhoff Tam.

Model kits
Bandai released a 1/100 scale model kit of the VF-2SS Valkyrie II. The model was capable of transforming into Fighter, Gerwalk and Battroid modes, but required the swapping of hip joints for each mode. The kit also included additional sprues for assembling the Super Armed Pack. Several companies have made garage kits of the VF-2JA Icarus, as well as additional parts to convert the Bandai Valkyrie II into an atmospheric mode fighter without the Super Armed Pack.

Video Games
Banpresto released an arcade game adaptation of Macross II in 1992. The game was a side-scrolling shooter, where the player controlled a VF-2SS Valkyrie II and battled Marduk units on the screen. Transformation was attained only by acquiring lettered icons (B for Battroid, G for Gerwalk, F for Fighter). Players were armed with lasers and a limited amount of smart bombs.

Characters, mecha and story elements from this OVA are featured in the Sony PlayStation Portable videogame Macross Ultimate Frontier, the sequel to Macross Ace Frontier (2008). Ultimate Frontier was released in Japan on October 2009.

Reception
In 1992, Macross II was described as "the most eagerly anticipated anime sequel ever." Volumes 1 and 2 of Macross II went on to become the #1 selling anime videos in the United States in September 1992 and January 1993 respectively. Despite its bestseller status, Macross II failed to develop an affinity with many fans of the original Macross series. Criticisms from Mecha Anime HQ concerned Macross II's decision to feature a journalist as the series protagonist instead of a military pilot, and that the storyline adhered too closely to its predecessor. Anime News Network described the plot as "unoriginal" and noted that it seemed as if too much material was squeezed into Macross II. Colony Drop reiterated Anime News Network's assessment that the series too closely resembled the original, however, stopped short of completely denouncing Macross II. Colony Drop praised the series mechanical designs as well as some of the action scenes and music. Their reviewer stated that Macross II's greatest offense may be that it was merely an average series that carried the monumental name of Macross.