Finished watching Macross 7

Finished watching Macross 7 + Macross 7 Plus + Macross 7 Encore (1994~95, Mainichi Broadcasting System, Studio Nue, 49 Epi + 3 OVAs + 11 Shorts) on 12/17/2017.

Nekki Basara is the lead singer of Fire Bomber, a somewhat popular rock-band aboard the space colony ship, Macross 7. During one of their outdoor concerts, Macross 7 is attacked by a large number of mysterious enemies piloting heavily-modified Valkyries. Named Protodeviln, these enemies attack opposing pilots by stealing an energy called Spiritia, leaving them seemingly brainwashed. Owning a modified state-of-the-art red Valkyrie of his own, Basara takes off mid-concert to engage the enemy... with his own fighting style; playing music.

So, usually when I get into an anime franchise I tend to be a completionist (to some extent) by watching all the episodes of all the different series and spin-offs by either release date or story chronology. Macross 7 however was a bit of an exception for me. When I first researched the franchise, I often heard that Macross 7 was skippable or it was a silly series, not to bother with it, etc. Others however loved it, and apparently it was very popular in Japan. Or at least the music was, I heard. After watching Delta, I had gotten used to watching Macross and sort of needed one more hit, that's when I decided to give 7 a try. And boy, what a ride I was in for. It really was as I had been advised. Silly, over-the-top, corny, ridiculous, confusing. But it was good! It was also fun! I think having gone into 7 with the expectations put forth by other fans was what sort of eased me into enjoying 7. I knew it was going to be different from what I had seen so far, and so with that open-mind... I found myself singing with Basara outloud as he battled cringy alien monster designs and even when he wasn't battling and his band needed a helping-hand! And Basara, oh, Nekki friggin Basara, that man is quite the work-of-art. Not only do I think he's pretty awesome, but also a complete ass butt to his friends. He can be such a selfish little toad! Aside from that... I really enjoyed the music in this one, and they really make the show about it. There's always two or three songs that get played by episode, but they're so catchy and awesome that I don't really get tired of them. In fact I look forward to it. The variety of songs keep it from getting repetive... well, to an extent. Aside from that the show could really be more coherent. Some episodes feel a bit filler-y and the enemy designs, like I mentioned are just not that great. They seem a bit generic for my taste.

7.5/10 - Really love the music!

Finished watching Megazone 23

Finished watching Megazone 23 (1985, AIC, Artland, Tatsunoko, 80mins) on 10/18/2017.

Yahagi Shogo is given ownership of an unusual-looking, red motorcycle from a friend. Immediately after, black suits show up looking for the bike and Shogo drives off with it to later find out that the bike turns into an armed fighting robot. Looking for a place to hide, he then contacts Takanaka Yui, a girl he had just met to help him out. After a series of strange events, the two find themselves in the middle of a government conspiracy hiding secrets that question what's real and what's not, including a popular musical idol named Tokimatsuri Eve.

So first off, this movie was put together by the same staff as the original Macross series. Cool, right? I love their style. There's a lot of similarities with the two IPs. Visual. Thematic. Robots. Idols. Space. 80s. It's great! The music of course is pretty awesome with Eve's songs and the soundtrack just has that typical 80s synth stuff. What I enjoyed about the story was the conspiracy going on with Eve and how she gets the main characters involved in it. It's an interesting concept.

8/10 - But despite all my praise, I think the storytelling suffers from its age. Old anime seem to always have thing that don't quite add up and this one's no different. But it wasn't too bad.

Finished watching Macross Delta

Finished watching Macross Delta (2016, Studio Satelight, 26 epis.) on 07/17/2017.

A disease has spread through the remote location of the Milky Way Galaxy called the Brisingr Globular Cluster. This disease dubbed the Var Syndrome turns humanoids berserk with a killing intent. But the music of a talented idol group by the name of Walküre seems to suppress the symptoms of the infected. Wishing to join this group is an apple-loving young girl from planet Windermere, who at the end of her stowaway trip meets Hayate, a young man with a passion to cruise the skies.

7.5/10 - Accompanying these series I always find myself intrigued about the new song idols and how different the idol ideas seem to be with each new iteration. For Macross Delta I was pleased to see them go the idol group way. Not because idol anime is what I'm into, specially since I haven't watched any, but because the potential was there and that's what was popular at the time. So I'm really excited about what will be done next. Maybe a DJ artist or band? Or maybe something more traditional. I'm really intrigued. As for the series itself, I really enjoyed it. Not the best Macross in my opinion, but quite up there. I really enjoyed the songs and I think Mikumo has a great voice. In terms of mature voices, if we were comparing Mikumo to Sheryl, I'd totally go for Mikumo any day. There's something about Sheryl's voice that just seems forced or, maybe pretentious to me. At the same time I sorta get it, it reflects her big ego. And as tradition dictates, what would Macross be without a love triangle. Hayate, Freyja and Mirage are the main focus here, but I think it's obvious who has the upper hand on Hayate, of course. I mean, Freyja is pretty cute. But I also appreciate that Mirage doesn't feel discouraged by that.