Macross: Do You Remember Love? Review (1984 Movie)
Macross: Do You Remember Love?
Do You Remember Love is a movie adaptation of the phenomenal
1982 Super Dimension Fortress Macross series, with the movie being released back in summer of
1984 to a huge marketing campaign. The film is without a doubt a defining pillar of anime, one that set the stage for things to come with its foundations still being used today. From the phenomenal soundtrack to the awe-inspiring visuals,
Do You Remember Love is without a doubt an all-time classic and a must watch for anyone who has a love for animation and all things anime.
To know more about the film, you have to go all the way back to
October 3rd 1982 with the release of the original series itself. The original Macross series is without a doubt one of my all-time favorites. It’s a show filled with an amazing, engrossing cast, a captivating soundtrack and a beautiful story. The series was notable for its combination of action, Sci-Fi and romance, all held together with its core theme of music, a combination it pioneered and a combination that is still used today in the world of anime. Epic fights in space with a Japanese pop song playing in the background, all choreographed with finesse…what’s not to love? The music in Macross is truly a defining element of the series, and was embraced by fans all around the world, with its popularity transitioning
Mari Iijima, the voice actress for one of the main characters into a mega hit sensation overnight.
Originally inspired by the hit series
Mobile Suit Gundam, which had released a few years prior and was already setting the world on fire, it’s fair to say that Macross had a troubled start. Originally conceived as a 48 episode series, the original sponsor’s ideas of a comedy focused series clashed with Studio Nue’s ambition to create an epic space opera. With the original sponsor soon out of business, Macross was left without a sponsor, until an advertising agency named Big West approached the studio with the intention to branch out and agreed to sponsor Macross. With reservations in regards to how popular Macross may end up being, the episode run was cut down to 27 and the budget reduced. With the debut out of the way however, it was clear that Macross was a huge success and Big West was finally convinced to give the thumbs up to extend the series to 36 episodes, which would allow the studio to end where they had originally intended. This of course is without going into the whole ordeal that is Harmony Gold and their stranglehold on the series outside of Japan, but that’s another story. I want to keep this positive.
So with that out of the way, let’s get to the main event, Do You Remember Love? We’ll call it
DYRL from here on out since it shorter.
DYRL is as mentioned above a film adaptation of the classic series, and without a doubt the best way in which I’ve seen this concept handled. Unlike say the
Gurren Lagann movies which splices a little bit of new footage with the show, in an attempt to recreate and stick to the fidelity of the original series, staying true to the original script, or the
Gunbuster/Diebuster movies that just cut content from the original OVA’s, thus removing key plot points and characterization in order to fit into a smaller run time,
DYRL is lovingly reanimated from the ground up and takes liberties with the story while still treading familiar ground. This accumulates to what I can only describe as the best looking animated anime film I have ever seen. In case anyone is wondering, I watched this on the 30th Anniversary Blu-ray Box, and boy does this film look and sound stunning.
Taking a near 16 hour series and condensing it into
an hour and 55 minute film is no easy task and less so when a template for doing so hasn’t been invented yet, so the task is doubly daunting. Taking this all into consideration, I am more than pleased with the way in which they tackled the task; in fact I am enthralled by the resulting film. People often ask “Which one did it better?” and “What should I start with first?” Well in my opinion, the answer is pretty obvious.
If you want to get into Macross, (which if you haven’t already you really should!) the original 36 episode series is the definitive way to go about it. It is the quintessential Macross series, and
DYRL is heightened by its viewing as it is the animated embodiment of the term nostalgia. Looking back at the world and characters that you know and love in a new light is enthralling and fun, and quite honestly you’d be hard pressed to see me without an ear to ear grin on my face while watching this and it would be just as hard to see my eyes dry while doing so. Never have I been so pleased with an animated film, and never has an animated film looked and sounded this good. Everything is familiar if you’ve seen Macross, and yet everything has more life to it and more energy. Details everywhere, Macross has never looked this good, and it never will. From a visual standpoint, you’ll be hard pressed to beat the fidelity here. Everything and everyone has been recreated with love and care.
Does
DYRL hold up on its own two feet? Yes, but it’s very clear that
DYRL is a love letter in and of itself, to the fans, to the world of Macross. For a film that
released over 30 years ago, it holds up effortlessly, stomping on the face of newer films. The world of Macross has been given a new lick of paint, and it’s hard to ask for anything more than that. To have something you care for reconstructed with such delicacy is something any fan of a series should hope for if this is the result.
The audio is an important pillar that makes up the entirety of Macross, and I’m extremely pleased to say that it’s all in tact here. Presented in a DTS-HD HR 5.1 track, each of Minmay’s songs sound delightful. Most of the background audio are new renditions of tracks from the show itself, however many new tracks from the late composer Kentaro Haneda make their way onto DYRL and each and every one of these background tracks hit the right spot, and it feels oh so good to hear one of these tracks as Hikaru pilots his VF-1A Valkyrie through a barrage of missiles, dodging and weaving. Nothing beats this sensation, and if anyone knows Macross, you’d know that Macross loves to dish out those missiles. The soundtrack ranges from soft and sombre to sweeping and powerful with your healthy dose of
Lynn Minmay classics thrown in for good measure. From
0-G Love to
Sunset Beach. All of it comes together to make a film that will have you shuffling from side to side one moment, shedding tears the next, and laughing all the way as the visual onslaught blows your mind away.
The story does little to introduce you to the world of the Super Dimension Fortress itself and its crew and instead throws you straight into the skirmish. I loved that about this film if I’m honest, it goes in with the intention that the people watching are acquainted with the series, and that’s great. Get in there and give me a spectacle! That’s not to say that no exposition is at play here, because there’s certain scenes that exist just to explain what’s going on, but thankfully these scenes are either touched up and play out a bit differently to the equivalent scenes in the TV series, or are totally new scenes altogether so you’ve always got something to keep you on your toes plot wise.
The characters are a strong point of Macross, with an amazing female cast. It is dated, and simplistic at times, but earnestly so. Its heart is in the right place, and that’s what I love about Macross and DYRL. It’s punchy, overly confident and yet sincere. It’s a story about an alien race going in an all-out war with Humans and the inhabitants of the Super Dimension Fortress itself, with the power of love, music and culture being the ultimate deciding weapon in this war. It’s overly optimistic on paper, but the series delves into themes that include the effects of war on soldiers, dealing with lost and found love, all wrapped up in a complicated love triangle that inevitably leaves someone with the cold shoulder. The comedy hits the right notes, and knows when to stay away, and the serious moments have you fully invested as you care for its strong cast. The cast in the film is very week development wise compared to the stellar series, as everyone’s development on screen is compromised in order to strengthen the protagonists own development in the short period of time. Again, it worked for me since I was already acquainted with the amazing cast, but without seeing the series’ first you’d be hard pressed to know that certain characters are a couple at all!
I think it was the correct choice overall as you spend a vast majority of the time with a small subset of characters in
DYRL anyways, which is a shame since I love everyone in Macross, with the TV series even managing to get me to care for characters that I hated which goes to show just how great the characters are in Macross and just how great the voice actors play their roles with mastery. I’ve never really fallen in love with a character in an anime before, as I detest most females in anime, but man I was head over heels for
Hayase, and I still am, and unlike the TV series, I actually cared a lot for
Minmay herself, unnaturally so. Her eyes and her dancing man…infectious.
In terms of the actual Blu-ray itself and its transfer, let me say that screenshots don’t do it justice at all. The movie looks absolutely stunning in motion thanks to the juxtaposition of the dark, deep space and the bright explosions and neon lights that give each scene a sense of vibrancy and life. Colors pop and standout amidst the starry night sky. It’s true; the Blu-ray is faced with a myriad of issues. Its super grainy, and both dirt, tears and scratches are visible, with many scenes looking really blurry at times, and the ending credits (a scene from
Macross Flashback 2012) looking like it was pulled from a VHS, and yet I still fell head over heels for this because at times the visuals do truly shine as you see each and every star in the sky sparkling and shimmering to the sound of Minmay. I think the DVD is a fine way to watch this, but man in motion I really loved how it looked on Blu-ray, and the sound quality was to die for, with the sounds of missiles ricocheting from to channel to channel. The previous voice actors reprise their roles here, but with the added bonus that both the Zentradi and Meltrandi, whom are the aliens in the film and series, have their own language in this film, which sounded pretty awesome!
Yak Deculture!
So, in the end it’s plain as day that I’m head over heels for
DYRL. Macross is without a doubt one of my favourite TV series of all time, and DYRL is a love letter to that series. Many things are skipped and changed but that’s fine because the changes they made were the right ones for the format. Instead of cramming everything into barley 2 hour film down from a 16 hour series, the story has been reconstructed in a way that makes sense for the time that they have. The reoccurring music is a delight to hear with the new visuals, and the new music being some of my favourites in the series. Like the TV series itself,
DYRL is a happy, sad, emotional roller-coaster, one that I’m happy to ride on again and again and again. DYRL to put it simply is a 2 hour Macross Music video, beautifully choreographed and lovingly put together, a ride though memory lane. In the end, I remembered the love that I had for Macross, and got to experience it all over again.
10/10
