Anime: Choujikuu Yousai Macross: Ai Oboete Imasuka

I've repeatedly seen the acronym "DYRL" pop up when reading user comments about mecha, Sci-Fi, space opera anime. I looked it up and found this, "Macross - Do You Remember Love". Being a Macross fan and having my curiosity piqued, I decided to check it out, especially with comments from fans saying it was amazing for its age.

As a big fan of Macross, I found this moderately enjoyable and I actually thought it was a treat watching it in dated visuals, due to some of the unique things presented this way, but I wasn't really expecting something so superhero'ish on levels exceeding something like Gundam. Showing a handful of units or less accomplishing so much may be called glamor by some, but I call that cheesy. I have some other minor quibbles with the writing/directing/screenplay, but that may just be me, seeking attention to detail in places the director wouldn't assume a typical viewer to look out for. Most of my complaints* are military protocol related, a pet peeve I have due to my own military experience.

I watched a few other Macross works before this, but not the original series, and I find that this helps fill in a good amount of backstory I haven't seen before. This was fairly flashy at points, yet very slow in others, with a lot going on towards the end and, because of this, I didn't fully understand the ending the first time watching it.



I consider myself fairly sharp, so I wonder if many other viewers watch this and wonder WTF just happened after all the fireworks die down. After going back and finding those critical scenes with meaningful dialog and actions a few times, wanting to get the whole plot outline clear, I gained appreciation for the overall plot in this movie. I don't blame the people that say they don't like the plot, since even I didn't get it the first time around--it would take a fan or someone really wanting to like the movie to bother going through it again to understand it better.

I'm surprised that I wrote a lot about just the plot. It's interesting, but I found the movie didn't make it interesting. Here's a quick rundown of the other elements:

Visuals: 8/10 - Surprisingly solid considering its age. I like the holographic dress up sequence (and other character clothes designs), the detail of the protoculture city and then having it contrasted by the city inside Macross, and the duel between the pilot with the glasses and the ace Meltradi pilot. At times, I reminded me of the alien level in Contra (2?) on the NES or the purple bubbly level on Metroid.
Audio: 9/10 - Impressive. Top notch sound effects, voice acting, insert songs. I didn't notice the BGM being bad or good. Nothing really note worthy that impressed me to give it the last point, though the insert songs did give it a point, so I didn't think it was close to perfect anyways.
Story: 6/10 - Interesting, but presented/flowed in a way that made it hard to follow. Pacing changes a bit too much too suddenly. Romance story was somewhat interesting, showing why Hikaru picked who he did after his experiences. The whole story about what happened to Earth ended up kind of a mystery to me, it's like it got lost in the beginning along with the character intros and development and then very late in the story reminds you of what Macross's current mission is. The conflict between Zentradi, Mentradi, and humans was probably the most fulfilling, though it took me another look to understand it well enough to appreciate it.
Character: 6/10 - Average; nothing special. A bulk of the movie was character intros and development. Despite this, I felt the characters were kind of lame--I liked the characters better in other Macross series much more. The romance and tragedy didn't affect my feelings much at all--the scene which Hikari confesses his true feelings and the twirl and expression the girl gives in reaction is probably the only scene that came close to moving me. I didn't get attached to any of the characters, though I did feel sorry for the girl Hikaru didn't choose. At one point, I confused the manager for Hikaru due to that kissing scene, which made me rewind to see that again to get back on track.
Value: 5/10 - Not worth watching more than once, collecting, or recommending to others except for die-hard Macross fans.
Enjoyment: 6/10 - I liked it as a Macross fan for the visual and audio candy and story, since I didn't watch the original series.

I think my score is fair, considering I'm comparing it to all the anime I've watched up to this point. I don't think it's very good overall nor is it something I could recommend to others, but I do think it's amazing for its age. I wonder how popular it was back when it was new. I think what we have here is a poorly written/directed movie which only is interesting due to being based off of the very rich and detailed universe of Macross.

*Complaints:


Sorry for experimenting with a "different" review style. I wrote a few recently and think that the usual format, broken up by the individual scores, wasn't really my style and that something more like the orthodox format that most pro reviewers use was worth trying out. I left out some names to avoid spoiling it (even though I do suck at remembering names). If you read this far, tell me if you like it and vote. :mymaster:

If you are a true Macross or mecha fan, you need to watch this. This is a re-telling of the events in Macross not a summary. [br][br]Summary: After earth is made into a planet void of all life by the Zentraedi aliens, the battship Macross takes flight into space with the last of humanity. Hikaru, a young squadron pilot, rescues a girl named Minmay and instantly falls in love with her things get awkward when he gets the same feelings for his captain, Misa. [br][br]Animation: Far and away better than the tv series. The battle sequences I was surprised were very good for its time. Very high quality for a movie in the 1980's. The backgrounds have been touched up from the series with the Macross looking more realistic looking. The characters are a little better but not much. [br][br]Sound: Keeping the elements from the tv series, Do you Remember Love? keeps the 80's J-Pop feel going. The sound effects for the fight sequences were very well done compared to the original. the seiyuu remain relatively the same but a thumbs up to them as well. [br][br]Story: This is the best part of Do you Remember Love? The movie gives a little background into the "protoculture" which was hinted at in the tv series. I feel after watching both the movie and the show that I learned more about the origins of the Zentraedi and the human race. The love story of Hikaru, Minmay, and Misa is done better in my opinion. This is due to me ACTUALLY liking Minmay in the movie! [br][br]Character: Because it is a movie there is not much time to go into characters. Hikaru is pretty much taken from the series and doesnt change much until the end. Minmay is likable to me in this compared to the show where I hated her guts. [br][br]Value: Unless you are a Macross fan or a die hard mecha savant you probably wont re-watch this. I probably wont because I like the series better.[br][br]Enjoyment: I liked this companion to the series indeed. The extra parts re-telling how mankind came to be and the battle sequences made this an awesome two hour experience for a Macross fan such as myself.[br]

Macross DYRL, if I am not mistaken, is sort of an "alternative" universe as well as a "sequel" to the TV series. Not a sequel in the sense that it continues the storyline, but within the Macross universe timeline, DRYL creation date is 203x. Macross DYRL is a film within a film. In the Macross universe, the people (UN Spacy, etc) decided to make a movie re-telling the Space War story. The thinking behind DRYL is, within the Macross universe, some of the events of pre, during, and post Space War was either kept from and/or just not known to the general public. For example; the fate of ARM I and II and Prometheus warships; the events between Minmay and Hikaru (I'll stop there to prevent spoilers). So I think to make any direct comparison or correlations between DRYL and TV would be inaccurate.

Animation 9
Taking in consideration that this movie was released in 1984, Macross DRYL was (and its is) a visual powerhouse. Very few movies at the time came close.

Sound 9
Soundtrack is excellent and goess well with the change scene, whether action or romance. Sound effects were very well done, none of the crappy explosion effect that you would find typical in the early 80's mecha film.

Story 7
Some people will disagree with me about this. Although DRYL is set present as aa alternate setting, I think it is best that people watch the TV series to get the overview depth of the storyline. While DRYL itself has its own substance as a stand alone film, it doesnt hurt to watch the series to get the better feel for the franchise. Don't get me wrong though, DRYL storylione is very complete in its own right, and it is the alternative to the TV series, but it doesnt hurt to watch the series even though both are substancially different.

Character 7
Character development is not the fault of the story, but merely the fault of the film length. It is a movie after all, you cannot really cram an epic story of Macross into a 2 hour movie without cutting lot out of corners and editing. While each character in the movie is well done and presented (for those who never saw the series), not knowing and understanding their history leaves a big void.

Value and Enjoyment 8
This is a movie that you can watch multiples time and keep enjoying it. Lot of action, with a good amount of drama and some romance. It doesnt leave too much in the end where you might feel it needs a direct sequel, so that this film can still be a stand alone movie in its own right.

As a Macross fan, Do You Remember Love? is an interesting conundrum. In some ways, it surpasses the original series, in other ways it falls far far short.

Animation: 9

The one area that the Macross TV series falls down is probably one of the strongest points of DYRL. The detail in the animation here is superb, even compared to modern features. Colour and movement are a delight. The mecha and character designs that were already so good in the TV show are tuned to near perfection in the film version.While the TV show is the canonical storyline, DYRL is the visual canon of Macross, and very rightly so.

Sound: 10

After seeing how music played such a prominent role in the TV series, the movie takes steps to make what was already good even better. Music gets an upgrade in the form of the title song, a fantastic piece, used at the film's climax and sound effects get a large upgrade over the TV series. Voice acting is also very good here.

Story: 5

Sadly, but not unexpectedly, the strength of the series is the undoing of the movie. You can't expect them to compress 36 episodes into one film, and really, they don't even try. The movie is closest to being a retelling of episodes 6 to 27 of the TV series, the actual war with the Zentraedi, no aftermath, and massive changes to the love story. So much of what made the TV series great is lost, and not even effectively replaced. An odd history of humanity appears; the times, places and facts of other events change, and not for the better. Things move fast and without real explanation. All in all, disappointing.

Character: 5

The loss of storytelling naturally effects the development of the characters. Hikaru, Minmay and Misa are all partly developed, but not in any satisfying way. The alteration to when Hikaru and Minmay meet is extremely detrimental to their character arcs. Misa doesn't really have an arc at all. The various drives she has in the TV series are essentially absent. Secondary characters like Roy, Max, Miriya and Claudia may as well not be there at all. They get no development, and that manages to make parts of the plot even more confusing.

Value: 6

DYRL is worth watching for two things only: the title song and the redone animation. Neither are a particularly compelling reason to me. The tale told in the TV series in exponentially better and the pretty pictures here don't make up the difference.

Enjoyment: 6

As a Macross fan, this is fine. Characters and story that were incredible have become adequate. Sure it looks nicer, but the stuff under the hood isn't nearly as interesting. If you've not seen SDF Macross, you may appreciate this more, but I wouldn't bet on it.