Macross Frontier: A Short Affair With Deculture

It was in my first year in grade school when I first caught glimpse of a particular mecha anime showcasing transforming planes into giant robots, giants boarding monstrous ships and armadas, and beautiful songstresses whose singing can wipe an entire battalion— Yes, Macross.

At first I thought it was ludicrous. I never even liked Transformers back then. I was never a mecha fan in the first place. Being my 5-year-old self, I never bothered looking into things that never caught my interest the first time I see them. I was fixed with the score of what interests me and that alone; it was selfish, and childish of me. If I would’ve been interested in Macross the first time I saw it (which was in English back then and was being aired in a not-so-famous tv network), I wouldn’t have been able to fully grasp it due to my fixation on the stereotypical line of the gripe between good and evil. I wouldn’t have been able to understand the schema of emotions that each character conveys, nor the ‘point’ that the story tries to present. Good thing I didn’t watch Macross back when I was little, else I would’ve taken it shallowly.

Ghostlightning has got to be one of the few good compatriots that I have close by. He’s an onii-sama figure (Yes, he’s FAAABULOUS~) to me, who’s very open with talking about his affair with anime and life— and he loves K-On! Macross and everything about it. I guess I didn’t only pick Macross out of the reason that he urged me to watch Gunbuster (not related with Macross but it’s part of a deal), and that since Macross Frontier is one of his mistresses. I can see and feel the love that he has for Macross. He remembers love. And I wanted to feel that same thing and soon before my anemia gets the best of me.

Judging the Macross franchise, it’s something that has been living on since the early age of anime, and up to this date is still something garnering an ever-expanding fandom by the millions; a true protoculture. Gundam I think is a bit bigger though it lack something, which I will discuss later on. That said, Macross has got to be a very fitting specimen for my deeper affair with anime, and I mean root-deep. I’m not as time-faded as the early Macross fans are, I’m only about 18; I wasn’t even born when Robotech started airing. That’s why I wanted to start my affair with Macross with a Macross from this generation, and that being Macross Frontier. Thouh the time-line’s way after the war of the humans and the Zentradi, which is the pinnacle of the Macross plot as I see it, the mere presence of politics between humans and zentrans is enough to suffice for now.

How did I come to like Macross then, after choosing it (otherwise I wouldn’t put up a post about it)? Moreover, why did I chose it over Gundam? Was it the characters? Close. The mecha and science bit? Warmer. The music? YES! The music. I love songs. They’re the closest of keys to people’s hearts, of course depending on the key and the person. I don’t normally dive into a show’s discography; not after I’ve seen a few episodes and liked them. It was different with Frontier. I’ve already memorized much of the songs prior to watching the show, and I did so too with Macross Frontier’s Galaxy Tour’s final stop in Budokan.

What was the original Macross about? What was Macross Frontier about?

They’re both stories of struggle: In Macross being the struggle of humans from extinction; in Macross Frontier being the struggle to live and to find a new Earth.

Macross Frontier was about nostalgia, the setting being about half a century since the original Macross’ timeline, when humans sought to travel into the far reaches of space in search of new homes.  Having jumped immediately into Frontier, the previous space war remains hazy to me, but what I know is Macross being a space opera. And a space opera is never a space opera without music. Music makes anyone nostalgic, reminding about the good times and the bad times, the happy times and the down times. I’m sure Ranka Lee made most of the Macross fanboys “HHNNNNGGG!”, and at the same time nostalgic about Lynn Minmay. Macross was about songs that bring about hope even in the darkest of hours. Macross was about songs of love— to someone one wishes to protect, or to a soldier in the midst of gunfire. Maross was about songs that transcend time and boundaries, folds and galaxies.

I do not wish to review the entirety of Macross, it’s just that the Macross saga has become a string of intertwining histories, bound together by songs that originated from the first, to songs from Frontier reaching to the past.

It was a synesthetic  experience— my short affair with deculture. I’ll use this experience to see more of Macros. Every episode doesn’t fail to make me sing along. It was a good foothold for my recovery after being hospitalized for a while after collapsing from anemia. Even my old man watched it with me; it did good things for me. The space fight scenes, accompanied by extravagant music scoring doesn’t fail to keep me at the edge of my seat— every time.  I know I might be exaggerating a bit here. Maybe it was the hype. Maybe it was just me. Or maybe it was just fantastic.

I don’t feel that what I should think about Macross Frontier should be based on what I’ll think about the previous Macross series (which I will soon watch). I enjoyed Macross Frontier out of itself out of itself and that’s more than enough for me. It left me with a good experience and a few good words that kept ringing in my head as I cruised through the show out of my habit of never skipping the opening cinematic despite doing a marathon [lines from Triangular (1st OP), pre-chorus part]:

痛いよ

It hurts

味方だけど愛してないとか

I’m on your side, but you don’t love me

守るけど側にいれないとか

I’ll protect you, but I can’t be by your side

苦い二律背反

It’s a bitter self-contradiction

今すぐ　タッチミー

Immediately, touch me

運命ならばつながせて

When it comes our destinies, make them connect

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P.S. Auguri Buon Anno everyone! (Though it’s 3 days late.)