The Super Dimension Fortress Macross II: Lovers, Again

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The Super Dimension Fortress Macross II: Lovers, Again
超時空要塞マクロスII Lovers Again
(Chojiku yosai Macross II - Lovers Again)
Genre Adventure, Drama, Mecha, Science Fiction
OVA
Director Kenichi Yatagai
Kenichi Yatsuya
Studio Bandai Visual
Episodes 6
Released May 21, 1992 Flag of Japan
Animated film
Director Kenichi Yatagai
Kenichi Yatsuya
Composer Shiro Sagisu
Studio U.S. Renditions
Released June 4, 1993 Flag of the United States
Runtime 2 hrs. 30 mins.
Manga
Author Tsuguo Okazaki
Sukehiro Tomita
Publisher Shogakukan Flag of Japan
Magazine Viz Media Flag of the United States
Original run 1992 – 1993
Volumes 1

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

Contents

[edit] The "movie"

It is a six-volume OVA release in Japan and overseas, but in North America it was edited into a compilation by removing the opening and ending credits and released as Super Dimensional Fortress Macross II: the Movie by local publisher Manga Entertainment.

[edit] Plot

The story begins eighty years after Space War I (the first Human-alien war) and the events depicted in the first Macross story. The SDF-1 Macross still exists, as does the Minmay Defense (Minmay is a typical anglicized spelling of the name, though the Japanese transliterates more correctly as Minmei) used by U.N. Spacy (the UN's military in space) that has successfully thwarted the Zentradi alien threat ever since. However, a new micronian (beings with bodies sized on a scale akin to humans, as opposed to the genetically engineered, 50-foot (15 m)-tall bodies of the Zentradi) race called the Mardook (マルドゥーク Maruduuku, a homage to the Babylonian god Marduk (マルドゥク Maruduku), but pronounced and spelled differently) arrive with its fleet of enslaved Zentradi and Meltlandi giant warriors (often pronounced "Meltrandi") who are seemingly unaffected by the human defense measures. The Minmay Defense is named after a central character from the original Macross storyline whose love songs proved to have a disorienting, almost debilitating effect on the attacking Zentradi, cloned warriors who exist in a strictly military society devoid of male/female contact or any of the concepts associated with civilian culture. The Marduk-controlled Zentradi forces in Macross II, on the other hand, employ their own "cultural weapon" in the form of Emulators, female Marduk singers who perform during battle to inspire and condition their warriors in a way that counteracts the effect of the Minmay Defense.

SNN reporter (a direct reference to CNN and the contemporary Gulf War controversy), Hibiki Kanzaki, captures a Mardook Emulator named Ishtar (named for the goddess of fertility, sexual love, and war in the Babylonian pantheon) while covering a battle. He proceeds to teach her human culture, which she tries to share with the rest of her people. However the Mardook have rejected culture and view it as a contamination of their souls, dedicating themselves instead purely to the pursuit of genocidal military conquest at the direction of their ruler, Lord Ingus. At the same time, Ishtar secretly believes the SDF-1 is actually the legendary Alus ship, prophesized to bring balance to the universe.

Since the production did not involve the original Macross creators from Studio Nue, this project has since been considered a "parallel world" story by the studio. The plot and setting of Macross II is not compatible with the timeline or story developed by Studio Nue and expanded in the other Macross sequels.

[edit] Episodes list

  1. Contact (コンタクト)
  2. Ishtar (イシュタル)
  3. Festival (フェスティバル)
  4. Marduk Disorder (マルドゥーク・ディスオーダ)
  5. Station Break (ステーション・ブレイク)
  6. Sing Along (シング・アロング)

[edit] Related productions

[edit] Table game

Macross II was also made into a role-playing game by Palladium Books in 1993, though the license has since been relinquished, and the game is out of print. It had the main game rulebook, an official sourcebook, and a three-part "Deck Plans" series for the UN Spacy and Mardook warships, which were co-produced with Canadian RPG firm Dream Pod 9.

[edit] Manga series

In March 1995, Viz Comics released a limited-series sequel to Macross II, set one year after the Mardook invasion. Called Macross II: The Micron Conspiracy, the five-part series reunites Kanzaki and his UN Spacy girlfriend, Sylvie Gena, as they try to stop the plans of a terrorist group called the UN Resistance.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Japanese version

[edit] English version


[edit] External links

Official Sites:

Other Sites:

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The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Flash Back 2012 · The Super Dimension Fortress Macross II: Lovers Again · Macross Plus · Macross Dynamite 7 · Macross Zero
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