45. Super Dimensional Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? - Dir: Shoji Kawamori & Noboru Ishiguro
Preamble: I will admit that a lot of my love for this film is based upon nostalgia. There aren't many (none at all?) other films ranked on this list that I feel as nostalgic about. There is, however, something very special about this film. Not only was the television series it was based on one of my first experiences with Japanese animation, but it also did a lot to shape the person I am today. It helped me get into the world of Japanese pop-culture, science fiction, illustrating, and music. There are many things about myself that I can easily trace back to my initial experiences with this universe. And for these very important personal reasons, reasons beyond the fact that I also happen to think it is a great animated feature, I feel that it belongs on my Top 100.
Super Dimensional Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? Ah, what a name and what a movie. This is what classic Japanese Animation is all about. Just the name itself conjures up nostalgic memories of yesterday: running home from the fourth grade to catch the latest episode of Robotech, and attending my first anime convention, realizing the true power of the unedited series as well as this incredible film which retells the story. The music, the characters, the animation, and the story are the very things that attracted me to Japanese animation in the first place. And still, even after all of these years, SDFM:DYRL not only holds up, but is still a force to be reckoned with.
This is due, in no small part, to the creative talent and storytelling capabilities of Shoji Kawamori. Although his filmography may be small, it is an example of quality over quantity. Kawamori's Macross series made giant transforming robots, singing pop-idol young starlets, heroic floppy-haired boys, and melodramatic drama popular to thousands of fans across the globe. Who in their right mind never dreamed of someday flying a Valkyrie, or meeting a girl as spunky and hot as Lynn Minmay or as gorgeous and smart as Misa Hayase? Who never wished that their hair were as cool as Max's blue locks, or Hikaru's tangled mop? Who never wished for the experiences and friendships shared by the Defense Force as they battled the onslaught of the Zentradi forces? Without Kawamori, none of these questions would have ever even been possible. To me, this is like trying to imagine a childhood without Star Wars.
SDFM:DYRL is, at it's core, a story of an alien invasion. The Zentradi, a race of aliens created for the sole purpose of war, are hell-bent on tracking down a lost ship, the Macross, which is the key to the universal power of Protoculture. Protoculture is the universal matter from which all things were created, and it gives life to those who have it. The Zentradi finally find their lost ship, and it happens to have crash landed on Earth. The earthlings have reverse-engineered the ships technology, and have appropriated it for their own kind of pseudo-futuristic militaristic needs. The Zentradi, however, want their ship back, and thus the pawns are in play for an epic game of space-chase. Although this story is quite basic on the surface, what really sets Macross apart from the other giant-invading-robot movies/series are the characters, their authentic emotions, and the attention to detail.
The animation itself is quite beautiful, although it may seem somewhat primitive by today's digital standards. It is, however, a great example of how Japanese animation differs from its Western counterparts. While Western animation, especially concerning studios such as Disney and Warner Bros., put more energy into creating smooth animated movement, the Japanese directors and artists have always been more interested in creating insanely detailed drawings. Some Japanese directors have claimed that Japanese animation is actually more of a mix between the detailed still drawings of manga and the fluidity of traditional Western animation, thus it is an art form in and of itself being neither comic book nor cartoon. Macross is a perfect example of this ideology. Although the animation may not be extremely fluid, what we are given are vastly detailed cityscapes, landscapes and space frontiers, as well as mechanical and character designs to die for.
And how can I possibly even mention the word Macross without at least a brief mention of the music? Kentaro Haneda, the original music's composer, composed a score and songs that are as captivating as the film itself. Music plays a huge roll in the film and in the Macross universe. Not only does the score add to the tension and excitement of the epic space battles, but through diegetic use, the viewers share similar experiences with the film's characters. At key points in the film, Lynn Mynmay performs a pop-song to boost the soldier's moral and drive the alien invaders away. They find that the power of love, and the power inherent in music, disrupts the Zentradi's ability to successfully fight. So while the characters are being driven by the powerful pop-tunes, so too do we the viewers feel uplifted. I know this all sounds cheesy on paper, but in actuality it adds a great deal of emotional resonance.
SDFM:DYRL is a classic in every sense of the word. A movie that is just as good today as it was almost 20 years ago. Some films do not live up to the memories we have of them, and as we get older some films lose their power. SDFM:DYRL on the other hand, becomes a beacon of light to remind us of the reasons we fell in love with Japanese films in the first place.
