The early 80's were a good time to be a science fiction fan, particularly a fan of space. Star Wars achieved international success right around the same time as the anime scene was swept up in Matsumoto Leiji's trio of interstellar works, Space Battleship Yamato, Space Pirate Captain Harlock, and Galaxy Express 999. The turn of the 1980s saw the release of Mobile Suit Gundam, which revolutionized the mecha genre forever. And in between the two Daicon sci-fi conventions that would forever be immortalized for Studio Gainax's breathtaking opening animations—reveling in their place as fan-made work to capture what it meant to be an otaku in these exciting times—there came a work that was somewhere in between the straight-laced space operas of the studios and the hectic comedy of the fans, a show with a spaceship shaped like a giant robot, with dogfights overshadowed by pop singers, and with all the political push and pull that catapulted Gundam to fame three years prior.
It must have been somewhat outlandish seeing The Super Dimensional Fortress Macross week to week, as it rode a thin line between all the space-based epics of the day and yet still developed a profile unlike anything before. We are thrust immediately into the modern world as it comes under attack from an alien force called the Zentradi, and as the young stunt pilot Ichijou Hikaru is forced into military duty aboard the giant Yamato-esque space ship Macross, recently excavated and made operational. Seeing him taking up the mantle of a military fighter against his will immediately brings to mind the trials of the newtype Amuro from Gundam, but Hikaru's sarcasm cuts through this comparison as soon as it's formed. Likewise for Lynn Minmay, the girl he rescues during the alien invasion; her development from Hikaru's friend and love interest into a fully-fledged singer, only to become the face of resistance for the Macross, set the stage for more women such as Gundam Wing's Relena Peacecraft to emerge in their own right within the narratives of young boys with big robots.
Unlike the outward-bound Galaxy Express in 999 or the Arcadia in Harlock, the crew of the Macross just want to be home, having warped to the outer edge of the solar system along with a chunk of the city it had been rechristened in just prior to the Zentradi attack. There is a dualism that occurs in SDF Macross, where the city and its humdrum life exists in space, neither too far from the other. After a skirmish with the Zentradi or reconnaisance of their current position, Hikaru will return to the Macross and immediately go out into town to see Minmay's concert, or to grab a drink with his squad mates. Another dual image we rarely see in other works of the time is Hikaru both as a rank-and-file pilot and as a commander, with him being assigned a few subordinates later. Here we directly see how a person can rise in the ranks, while scenes of him with his superior officers or enjoying himself with Minmay remind us that he is still the cheeky young man we saw in the first few episodes. With all these scenes running in tandem, the mixture of tense and mundane feelings come alive in a way its rival Gundam often didn't provide.
But of course much of this has to do with the value placed on the mundane. The huge split that occurs in Macross is of course that of the military and the entertainment industry. As Hikaru continues to win accolades dogfighting with the Zentradi, Minmay's rise as a singer happens to coincide with an odd discovery: the Zentradi, who know nothing but fighting, are completely unequipped to handle culture. The Zentradi commanders play their roles perfectly to that effect, from the curiosity and scientific mind of Britai to the disgust of the pilot Kravshera. When this confusion, coupled with Zentradi fear of a long-extinct culturally rich race called the Protoculture, becomes apparent to the crew of the Macross, Minmay begins to take a role both in entertainment as well as in military affairs, her songs both being weapons against their enemies as well as an olive branch, confusing the Zentradi but also inviting them to experience peace through culture. It turns the comedy of singing into the seriousness of survival, but it also turns the horrors of war into the beauty of culture.
There is also a love triangle, one that evolves between Hikaru, Minmay, and Hikaru's commanding officer Hayase Misa. The difference between the singer Minmay and the warrior Misa is a less subtle example of the show's discussion of war and peace, but as we observe the world through Hikaru's eyes, both his longing for peace and his desire to protect the Macross through war, this triangle becomes more and more heartbreaking, the aspects of love and affection falling to the backdrop to be replaced by what they represent to Hikaru. While Minmay is developed as a character through tensions with her soldier-hating brother and her career, and while Misa reconciles herself with her loved ones past, their personalities and personal lives shine through to us only on the periphery, while their ideals, the trajectories of their lives, and their actions towards the future take center stage.
The biggest change comes about near the last third of the show, where a massive time skip renders the world, the war, and all the characters completely from scratch. Here the emotional core of the show rears its head to an almost unbearably tragic degree. The days of constant terror aboard the Macross as it went home had always felt claustrophobic and fraught with danger, but it isn't until this time skip that we realize how much Minmay's singing and the daily life in the city had made everything feel comfortable at the end of the day. Thankfully despite the last few political struggles and scenes of the characters' core values being laid bare under a moral microscope, the ultimate tone of Macross is hopeful and fun. It shows a version of space that is simultaneously as bombastic and militant as the show's predecessors as it is playful, invigorating, and wonderous as a heated late-night otaku discussion would make space seem. And with all the great songs and crazy history to build off of, it's no wonder this show spawned a franchise that has lasted for decades, even as the later installments put the titular Macross ship well behind them.