| The Super Dimension Fortress Macross II: Lovers, Again | |
The VHS cover for Macross II's original North American release. |
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| 超時空要塞マクロスII Lovers Again (Chō Jikū Yōsai Makurosu II: Rabāzu Agein) |
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| Genre | Adventure, Drama, Mecha |
| Original video animation | |
| Directed by | Kenichi Yatagai |
| Written by | Sukehiro Tomita |
| Music by | Yasunori Honda |
| Studio | AIC, Oniro |
| Released | May 21, 1992 – November 21, 1992 |
| Episodes | 6 |
| Anime film | |
| Macross II the Movie (American movie adaptation) |
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| Directed by | Quint Lancaster |
| Written by | Raymond Garcia |
| Music by | Les Claypool III |
| Studio | U.S. Renditions |
| Released | June 4, 1993 |
| Runtime | 155 minutes |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Sukehiro Tomita |
| Illustrated by | Tsuguo Okazaki |
| Published by | Shogakukan |
| English publisher | Viz Media |
| Demographic | Seinen |
| Magazine | Big Comic |
| Original run | 1992 – 1993 |
| Volumes | 1 |
| Manga | |
| The Micron Conspiracy (Original English Language manga) |
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| Written by | James D. Hudnall |
| Illustrated by | Schulhoff Tam |
| Published by | Viz Media |
| Published | 1994 |
Macross II (超時空要塞マクロスII Lovers Again Chō Jikū Yōsai Makurosu II: Rabāzu Agein), 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.
Contents |
The story takes place in the year 2092,[1] eighty years after the events depicted in the movie Macross: Do You Remember Love?[2] 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 alien 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.
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.[3][4][5] 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).[6] 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.[7] 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.[8] Initially conceived as taking place 300 years in the future,[9] 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.[10] The staff was not allowed to use any of the original Macross characters in this project.[11] Furthermore, the staff decided to avoid 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.[11] The mechanical designs for Macross II were created by Junichi Akutsu, Jun Okuda and Kouichi Ohata (who previously worked on Gunbuster).
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.[12][13]
Macross II is a six-episode Japanese OVA and was released in North America by the following companies.
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.[14]
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.
On May 2, 2011 the full movie in English dub was uploaded by Manga Entertainment to their Youtube channel.[15]
| EP# | Title | Original release date | English release date |
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| 01 | "Contact" "Kontakuto" (コンタクト) |
21 May 1992 | September 1992 |
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Hibiki Kanzaki, an entertainment report for SNN (Scramble News Network), exposes Sylvie Gena and Exxegran at a secret meeting at a hotel, earning his breaking story huge ratings. He is reprimanded by veteran reporter and cameraman Dennis Lone for only being interested in ratings, and then his bureau chief tells him he must apologize to both Exxegran and Sylvie or he'll lose his job. Sylvie catches Hibiki as he's leaving the SNN building and says she wants to talk with him. As they are talking at the Culture Park, the SDF-1 Macross gives off a huge energy burst, and then Sylvie is recalled due to a large number of unidentified ships defolding near Jupiter. He is assigned to be the Valkyrie pilot to take the drunk Dennis Lone to cover the story. They get to the battle and begin filming the use of the "Minmay Defense", a holographic projection of a singing idol star. The song causes the attacking alien ships to stop, but a mysterious song broadcast by the enemy causes them to begin attacking again. The U.N. Spacy tries to fight the unknown enemy, but starts losing the battle. Hibiki begins losing his nerve as he's in disbelief that U.N. Spacy could lose and that so many people are dying all around him. Lone tells him to pull himself together and get inside one of the enemy capital ships. When they get inside the Marduk ship, they see Ishtar and Lone goes to retrieve her so they can take her back to Earth, but he's killed in the process. He tells Hibiki to get the story out before he dies. Hibiki takes Ishtar and the footage back to Earth |
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| 02 | "Ishtar" "Ishutaru" (イシュタル) |
21 June 1992 | September 1992 |
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Marduk leader Lord Feff follows Hibiki and Ishtar back to Earth. Hibiki doesn't tell anyone other than his friend Mash about Ishtar. As he's filming the sleeping Ishtar for his story, she awakes and becomes afraid, wondering where she is. After being fitted with a translator, she is able to understand Hibiki who is able to calm her down enough to learn her name. She learns there are Zentran and Meltran (males and females) living together on the planet with the humans. While they are talking, the SDF-1 Macross emits another energy discharge, and Ishtar says that it's the light of the Alus. Hibiki then turns on the news and learns that the military is preventing SNN from broadcasting all of the footage and is glossing over the actual events of the battle. Ishtar leaves without Hibiki noticing, so he goes to search for her. Ishtar is overwhelmed by the variety of music and individuality on the Earth and runs into the city aimlessly while trying to find the ship of the Alus. Hibiki finds her in a park. Meanwhile, Lord Feff's soldiers have begin trying to locate Ishtar, and some of them have been shot down. The military leadership is discussing their options. Mash gives Ishtar a makeover, and Hibiki takes her to the Culture Park to teach her about Earth's cultures. Sylvie and Saori follow them to the park and rescue them from being hurt or killed by the attacking Marduk. They are saved from the attackers by U.N. Spacy Valkyries, but Ishtar runs away and finally sees the SDF-1 Macross, the ship of the Alus right before Lord Feff arrives to take her back. She refuses to go back and Lord Feff leaves, confused about why Ishtar would abandon her position as Emulator. |
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| 03 | "Festival" "Fesutibaru" (フェスティバル) |
21 August 1992 | January 1993 |
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The media continues to cover up the threat of the invading Marduk, assuring the populace that U.N. Spacy, and during the report, Ishtar sees an advertisement for the annual U.N. Spacy Moon Festival and asks to go. Hibiki asks her again who she is, and she says she needs to go to the ship before she can tell him. After finishing a date with Nexx Gilbert, Sylvie sees Hibiki and Ishtar riding down the street on his motorcycle and decides to follow them. They arrive at the SDF-1 Macross and go up to the bridge where Ishtar partially activates the ship simply by touching some of the control panels. She tells Hibiki that she's an Emulator of the Marduk, and they use the Zentradi to destroy any culture they find. The Marduk use the Emulator's songs to control the Zentradi. She tells him that she believes the Macross is the legendary "ship of the Alus" which will bring peace to the Marduk. Sylvie arrives and tells them she's taking Ishtar into custody as she's the enemy, but Hibiki convinces her otherwise. They then go to the Moon Festival where they see a demonstration of the new Metal Siren Valkyrie. After Ishtar is touched by the love song performed by Wendy Ryder, Ryder is flown off in the Metal Siren by Sylvie where they are promptly attacked by the Marduk who are under orders to capture her as the "enemy Emulator". Hibiki goes after them in an SNN Valkyrie with Ishtar, who insisted on going with them. In order to have them let Sylvie and Wendy go, Ishtar tells Lord Feff she will return if he lets them go. Sylvie goes after them and arrives at the ship just before they jump. |
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| 04 | "Marduk Disorder" "Marudūku Disuōda" (マルドゥーク·ディスオーダ) |
24 September 1992 | January 1993 |
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The Marduk torture Hibiki as they try to determine who the SNN is and what what he did to contaminate Ishtar. Ishtar is transported to another ship in order to be examined so they can determine what needs to be done to decontaminate her from her exposure to the alien culture. Sylvie rescues Hibiki just before he is to be brainwashed. As they are escaping, Hibiki keeps stopping to record parts of the ship and they discover the Marduk are using mind control to keep the Zentradi soldiers fighting for them. Ishtar is taken before Elensh in order to be treated for her contamination, but she resists the treatment, explaining about the ship of the Alus and why they shouldn't destroy the people on Earth. She resists every attempt to remove the new songs from her mind, telling Elensh that they are now part of her soul. Sylvie and Hibiki try to find Ishtar in order to rescue her, and Sylvie reveals that her grandmother was Meltrandi. Ishtar begins singing a new song, causing all the Zentradi to stop fighting, so Lord Emperor Ingues orders the ship destroyed due to the contamination from Ishtar's exposure to the culture of Earth. Just as they find her, the unit sent by Ingues to destroy the contaminated ship arrives and begins firing at them. Lord Feff arrives and takes Ishtar away just before the ship is destroyed, and Sylvie and Hibiki barely escape the ship in time as Feff chases them, trying to destroy them. Sylvie and Hibiki are picked up by a U.N. Spacy ship sent to retrieve them. |
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| 05 | "Station Break" "Sutēshon Bureiku" (ステーション·ブレイク) |
22 October 1992 | |
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Lord Emperor Ingues orders all of his ships to begin the attack on Earth. Sylvie explains to Commander Exxegran what happened and why they were out with the Marduk ships. Hibiki, meanwhile, hijacks the emergency military channel and broadcasts information the military has been suppressing, and is arrested. The Marduk press the attack and appear to be unstoppable. The Zentradi warriors overpower the U.N. Spacy defenses with ease. The supreme U.N. Spacy council questions Hibiki and has Sylvie arrested. Commander Balser leads a fleet against the invading Marduk and their Zentradi warriors. He is confident he can defeat them with the four macross Cannons he has under his command. However, as he fires the Macross Cannons, thousands more Marduk units appear above them and begin attacking. The Marduk begin using their Emulators to drive the Zentradi into a fighting frenzy, but Ishtar still refuses to sing the songs of war. Hibiki continues to be questioned about where he got the footage of the inside of one of the Marduk ships. Ingues orders the Emulators to begin singing the death song, which causes the Zentradi to go berserk and begin suicidal attacks on the U.N. Spacy forces. He also punishes the units in Ishtar's group for refusing to sing the death song. Lord Feff pleads with Ishtar to do as ordered by the Emperor, but she refuses, telling him she can't destroy the world of the Alus. He orders his Zentradi to be linked to the songs of the other Emulators, and the unrelenting attack on the U.N. Spacy forces continues. Balser leads his ship into the middle of the enemy Marduk fleet and is destroyed while taking out several of their vessels. Lord Feff sends Ishtar away, telling her that he is loyal to Lord Emperor Ingues and she must leave. Sylvie tells Exxegran of her plan to launch a sneak on Ingues' mothership using the SDF-1 Macross. Hibiki records a message explaining that he thinks humans aren't learning from previous mistakes. |
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| 06 | "Sing Along" "Shingu Arongu" (シング·アロング) |
21 November 1992 | |
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The Marduk have broken through every defense launched by U.N. Spacy, and civilians are evacuated to underground bunkers for safety. Sylvie begins executing her secret plan by jail-breaking Hibiki and taking him to the SDF-1 Macross. Ishtar makes it to the Macross and begins looking for the center of the ship. Sylvie discovers that it is still operational and she launches it. They launch an attack on the Marduk mothership, but it has little effect. Ingues counterattacks and the Macross itself is destroyed, except for the bridge section. The Marduk attack destroys everything in their path. Hibiki and Sylvie finally realize their feelings for each other and kiss as Ishtar comes into the room. She tells them that this is the true power of the Alus. Sylvie doesn't believe there is anything else that can be done, but Ishtar begins broadcasting to the Marduk and tells them they must not destroy the culture of the Earth. This causes the fighting to cease and makes some of the Emulators unsure about Ingues' plan, causing him to start destroying those who question him. Ishtar then begins singing a love song which causes the remaining Emulators to join with her, turning the remaining Marduk against Ingues. Feff is incensed that Ingues refuses to accept that this may be the legendary Alus, and leads an attack by the remaining Marduk against Ingues, destroying both him and his ship. The Marduk and the people of Earth sign an eternal peace treaty and Ishtar leaves with Feff to spread the new culture among the remaining Marduk. |
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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:
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.
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.[9] 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.
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 inches (990 mm). 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.
Front cover of the Macross II RPG core rulebook, illustrated by Kevin Long |
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| Designer(s) | Kevin Siembieda, Jean Carrières, Martin Ouellette, Claude J. Pelletier, Marc-Alexandre Vézina |
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| Illustrator(s) | Ghislain Barbe, Wayne Breaux, Jr., Dominique Durocher, Newton Ewell, Kevin Long, Thomas Miller, Bryant Velez, John Zeleznik |
| Publisher(s) | Palladium Books, Dream Pod 9 |
| Years active | July 1993 – August 1996 |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction |
| Language(s) | English |
| System(s) | Megaversal |
| Website | www.palladiumbooks.com |
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.[16] 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."[17] Many details are customized to fit the mechanics of Palladium's Mega-Damage system.
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.[18] This series was written by James D. Hudnall with illustrations provided by Schulhoff Tam.
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.[19] 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.
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.[20]
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.[21]
In 1992, Macross II was described as "the most eagerly anticipated anime sequel ever."[22] 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.[23][24] Despite its bestseller status, Macross II failed to develop an affinity with many fans of the original Macross series.[25] 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.[26][27] Anime News Network described the plot as "unoriginal" and noted that it seemed as if too much material was squeezed into Macross II.[28]
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