by the fans for the fans

I plan to look into Macross 7 but I wanted to ask what the stories are based on (Seto you stay out,cuz I know you hate Macross 7) and I know Max and Millia are now an estranged couple.

Since I always try to see deep into things to find the best way to enjoy stuff I figuered I can learn to like Macross 7,After all I enjoyed Robotech Masters saga and The Untold Story so I am sure I can igore the hate on Macross 7.

I was about to get one on Ebay just now but decided to ask around.Some call the fan subs "bootleg" but since I do not speak a word of japanese then that is all I can get.The DYRL? and Plus has nice subs as well as frontier so maybe same quality is in M7.

Don't waste your time. It is just empty-headed hentai with no redeeming qualities. I mean, I enjoy it, but I have neither the refined taste nor the lofty sensibilities of someone like yourself. If you were the kind of lowly beast that I am, perhaps I would recommand it as a way to slake your baser thirsts...but as you are a gentleman of distinction, I humbly beseech you to spare yourself the horrid experience of Macross 7.

Ghost Maker wrote:

(Seto you stay out,cuz I know you hate Macross 7)

I don't actually HATE Macross 7, I just don't like how it just completely takes the piss out of the U.N. Spacy, the main character's attitude, and the lack of musical variety in a show ostensibly about a rock band.


Ghost Maker wrote:

I plan to look into Macross 7 but I wanted to ask what the stories are based on

Well... Macross 7 is nominally a stand-alone show that doesn't require you to see any or all of the previous Macross shows, though watching Macross Plus first would probably be helpful.

Watching Macross 7 in continuity order is kind of a tall order, since the movie and the Macross 7 Encore OVA both occur during the events of the TV series, though there's no official statement of just how those episodes fit into the continuity. It's estimated that the three Macross 7 Encore episodes occur somewhere between episodes 39 and 42, and that the movie Macross 7: the Galaxy is Calling Me! occurs between episodes 42 and 43. The Macross Dynamite 7 OVA is the only animated Macross 7 feature set after the main series.

If you want, there are also two canon manga side-stories that fit into the Macross 7 continuity. The first, Macross 7 Trash, occurs between episodes 41 and 42 of the Macross 7 TV series. The second, Macross Dynamite 7: Mylene Beat occurs roughly concurrently with the events of the OVA, and overlaps the end of the second episode and the start of the third.

So, all in all, a "suggested reading/watching order" might look something like this:

Macross 7 episodes 1-40
Macross 7 Encore
Macross 7 episode 41
Macross 7 Trash
Macross 7 episode 42
Macross 7: the Galaxy is Calling Me!
Macross 7 episodes 43-49
Macross Dynamite 7 episodes 1-2
Macross Dynamite 7: Mylene Beat
Macross Dynamite 7 episodes 3-4

Confusing, I know, but it's the best approximation of "continuity order" you can get. Macross 7 Encore isn't an exact fit, but Fleet of the Strongest Women is probably the best episode in the entire series.


Ghost Maker wrote:

I know Max and Millia are now an estranged couple.

Yeah, as of 2045 Max and Milia have apparently been living separately for a few years, with Max serving as the captain of the Battle-7, and Milia serving as the civilian City-7 module's mayor. Exactly why they separated is never clearly explained, but two causes are suggested:

1.) Milia was upset that Max got promoted past her while they were raising their family.

2.) Rumors that Max had an affair around 2029 that produced an illegitimate son, believed by many to be T-Crush athlete Chiba Midou, who lives on the 35th colony fleet's cemetery ship. Max categorically denies the rumors that Chiba is his illegitimate son and says he never cheated on Milia. (see Macross 7 Trash) (probably true, as Max was serving on the Haruna at the time the alleged affair should have taken place)


Ghost Maker wrote:

Since I always try to see deep into things to find the best way to enjoy stuff I figuered I can learn to like Macross 7,

Macross 7 is kind of like Gundam ZZ. If you can get past the sillyness and much lighter tone of the series, it has some good moments. The sillyness is what puts a lot of western fans off the series.


Ghost Maker wrote:

I was about to get one on Ebay just now but decided to ask around.Some call the fan subs "bootleg" but since I do not speak a word of japanese then that is all I can get.The DYRL? and Plus has nice subs as well as frontier so maybe same quality is in M7.

Well, the only real, legit Macross shows you can buy in the US are the original series (though that was through ADV, which is now out of business), Macross Plus, and Macross II: Lovers Again. Downloading fansubs is one of those gray areas in the DMCA, but buying and selling bootlegs (fansubs burned to DVD, etc.) is not. Still, since you don't have a real computer, your options are kind of limited, and nobody seems to really pay attention to the Macross bootlegs, since most of the shows aren't licensed here.

Oh boy the bastard child of the Macross universe.

". . . .on a Saturday night . . ."

Planet Dance is still stuck in my head. The only reason why i endured M7 at first was just to get a glimpse of Max and Miriya. Basara annoying as hell.

After a while Planet Dance was tolerable only because the other flight squad (Seto help here) was even worse than that.

Macross 7 ended up growing on me and it was tolerable. But certainly not of my favs.

SIGHUP wrote:

Oh boy the bastard child of the Macross universe.

And yet it was almost ridiculously popular in Japan... which just heightens the parallels to Gundam ZZ.

SIGHUP wrote:

After a while Planet Dance was tolerable only because the other flight squad (Seto help here) was even worse than that.

You mean the unit the U.N. Spacy puts together after their patience with Basara and Sound Force runs out? They're the Jamming Birds, they fly those sound energy system-equipped VF-11D Thunderbolts.

Of all the ways Macross 7 disses the U.N. Spacy, the Jamming Birds are definitely the most offensive. They exist solely as the show's chew toy, getting kicked around so the show's creators can make Basara look better. It's even more galling for me, because Macross 7's creators used a bunch of songs off the Macross II soundtrack as the Jamming Birds repertoire, including "For Now, a Friend" and "Riding in your Valkyrie".

A related, but little-known bit of trivia about Macross 7... almost all of Macross 7's background music is actually taken from the Macross II: Lovers Again OSTs. The techno-pop type stuff that's on everybody's car radios is off Macross II OST 2, and the songs sung by the Jamming Birds and other artists are typically songs from Macross II OST 1.

Thanks for your tips Seto.I already watched Macross plus a couple times,I got that Manga version that is a 4 part series with some cut scenes.I watched both english and japanese with subtitles and it was a nice series.

When you said M7 lacked music variety does that mean it is like (no offence) Frontier?,Because to this day I keep hearing "Aimo,Aimo luhshey" or what ever Ranka kept singing.

Which fan subbed company you recommended to me back then?,I forgot.

One more thing!

Both Macross 7 manga titles have been fan-translated. If you're looking for Macross 7 Trash, there's a torrent of that on BxT (it's 287mB, so nothing huge), and you can find Macross Dynamite 7: Mylene Beat on /rs/.

Ghost Maker wrote:

Thanks for your tips Seto.I already watched Macross plus a couple times,I got that Manga version that is a 4 part series with some cut scenes.I watched both english and japanese with subtitles and it was a nice series.

Yeah, if you liked the YF-19 and YF-21, you'll probably be pretty happy, because mass-production models of same (the VF-19F/S and VF-22S) come into service late in Macross 7. It's kind of awesome on several levels seeing a 52-year old Max is still able to kick ass and take names, as he leads an assault personally in a blue VF-22S... to say nothing of Milia's matching red VF-22S that shows up later.


Ghost Maker wrote:

When you said M7 lacked music variety does that mean it is like (no offence) Frontier?,Because to this day I keep hearing "Aimo,Aimo luhshey" or what ever Ranka kept singing.

Sort of, yeah... the Macross 7 soundtracks have a few dozen different songs, but they only ever actually use like five or six of them in the show. It's one of the main complaints a lot of western fans raise about Macross 7. For like the first ten episodes, Basara sings the same song over and over again... if you want to look them up on YouTube or something, the most common songs are Planet Dance, Totsugeki Love Heart, Holy Lonely Night, My Friends, Submarine Street, and Remember 16.


Ghost Maker wrote:

Which fan subbed company you recommended to me back then?,I forgot.

I know VIP Fansubs is working on the remastered R2 DVDs, but they haven't finished yet as far as I know.

The only group that's ever done the whole damn thing is Central Anime, which they did back in the early days of fansubs, so the work is not exactly what you'd call the best quality job... but until VIP finishes, it's all we really have. They did a pretty good job, but there are a few pants-on-head-retarded screwups in the subs early on, like somehow mistranslating the song title "Planet Dance" as "Parry Stands", and the (in)famous "Get in the car!" when the vehicle in question is clearly a motorcycle.

Seto Kaiba wrote:

and the lack of musical variety in a show ostensibly about a rock band.

I think it has some of the best music that Macross has to offer. The show is hard to get through, but there are a few good moments in the show. If you are expecting good sci-fi, or fair to good animation then you might want to skip it.

ACK!!! I guess I was spoiled...

I wandered onto Mac7 after seeing Zero and Frontier, so I sorta have the view that the animation's kind of 'strained'. It's not so much that it's bad, per se, but when I look at cell animation, I look for something on par with Macross Pluss, or 08Th MS Team.

Yeah, it was cool to see the VF-19 and the VF-22 in action, and seeing Max in his old, familiar role, but I was somewhat dissapointed to see the the VF-22 was, in essence, watered down. None of the cerebral interface stuff that was in Mac+.

As far as the music in Frontier, I have to agree. 'Aimo Aimo' (Even the war-anthem version) was used a bit much in the series. I can understand that it's central to the whole story line, but it left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Ranka's other stuff seemed a bit 'forced', too. Then again, I've never been much of a fan of pop music, and that's what it seemed to be, to me. Also, there was an element of competition (Again, understandible, given the tensions between Ranka and Sheryl), and that made it, somehow, artificial...