When Macross: Do You Remember Love? was released in Japanese theaters in 1984, it changed anime forever, and this new 4K restoration is a fitting tribute to that.
Prior to Macross: Do You Remember Love?, the TV series Super Dimension Fortress Macross, which aired in 1982 over 36 episodes, dealt with the invasion of giant aliens and humanity’s attempts to thwart them and survive.
The key point here is the reason the aliens attacked in the first place: A decade earlier, a massive spaceship crashed on an island in the Pacific. The aliens were chasing this ship without knowing that the planet it crashed on was already inhabited.
However, compared to the TV series, the movie changes up key events in the story, and it’s worth unpacking those here.
Specifically, the movie shows humanity being attacked by the alien, all-male Zentradi, giant clones created for combat. The human refugees of the initial attack flee in the crashed alien starship, now called the Macross, and end up at Pluto with around 50,000 survivors.
By the time the movie starts, the Macross has reached Saturn, and the refugees have built a giant city inside it. We are also introduced to a singer onboard the Macross, Lynn Minmay, who has been raising everyone’s spirits on the journey back to Earth.
What changes over the TV series is that the Zentradi are, in fact, at war with the all-female Meltrandi. The ship that crashed on Earth was a Meltran Gun Destroyer, hence why the Zentradi now view it as an enemy.
However, the Zentradi are obviously confused about why tiny people are on the ship, calling them “miclones” and wondering what happened to the Meltrandi forces.
Naturally, the suitably vicious Meltrandi arrive and start killing everyone, and the Zentradi fold space to return to their commander and understand why miclones ended up on this Meltrandi ship.
Alongside this is the love story between a variable fighter pilot called Hikaru Ichijo and singer Lynn Minmay. Only for Hikaru and Minmay to be separated in the Meltrandi attack, and Hikaru ends up being stranded on a devastated Earth with his superior officer, Misa Hayase.
Amidst the burgeoning love triangle, it’s revealed that the Zentradi and Meltrandi are devoid of culture, with the host Protoculture being long extinct. However, humanity’s own culture and that of Lynn Minmay’s music are the keys to ending a senseless galactic war that has raged for hundreds of thousands of years.
Unlike the TV series, the movie’s backstory is more self-contained and simpler. The Meltrandi and Zentradi were allies in the TV series but are pitted as enemies here because the movie is actually a documentary within the Macross timeline. This is why characters in later Macross shows actually know about the movie, which is kind of fun in a way.
This is because, in the TV series, the ship that crashed on Earth was actually a Supervision Army Gun Destroyer. The Supervision Army is an entirely different kind of foe that wouldn’t be addressed until Macross 7.
All that aside, these changes in the origin of the conflict make for a more direct story that conveys what Macross is all about: music and its impact on people.
The premise of having an alien race bereft of a culture exposed to music and realizing what it has lost in the endless warring millennia is a unique, nuanced, and poignant one.
That’s why, after all these years and, quite frankly, excessive multiple viewings on my part, I still enjoy watching it. I feel that each time I watch this movie, I learn something new.
From the amazing mecha designs by Shoji Kawamori and Kazutaka Miyatake to the gorgeous character artwork by Haruhiko Mikimoto, this movie is an assault on the senses in more ways than one.
With music being a big part of the narrative, Kentaro Haneda’s score is wonderful. As is the titular song, Do You Remember Love?, sung by Mari Iijima, who also voices Lynn Minmay, and which is used in the climax of the film.
This movie also marked Kawamori’s debut as a director, which is certainly an impressive start to what has since become an impressive creative career. So, this new 4K remaster is rather important and special to me.
First, the 4K visuals are great. I saw the movie on the big screen and at home with this new 4K restoration, and I think this is probably the best it has ever looked. While some shots are still out of focus, this is how I think the original movie was made, so there’s very little we can do to correct these issues at this point.
Those few shots aside, the rest of the movie is crisp and pristine. The mecha, in particular, are rendered very cleanly, with very clear line detail. The same goes for the character designs, with many of them now looking genuinely luscious. The credits song footage for An Angel’s Paints, however, is upscaled, as it seems the masters for that have still sadly eluded us.
Second, the 2012 hybrid game/Blu-ray release was censored prior to its release due to the CERO rating process, but this is still absent from the 2016 Blu-ray version. In short, this release is also completely uncensored.
Third and finally, this 4K remaster also features official English subtitles for the first time ever. The translation, handled very capably by the nice people at Creative Sphere, is solid throughout and is ultimately why you really need to pick up this specific release.
What’s more, as Japanese and US Blu-ray releases share the same region, you will be able to play this 4K version just fine.
In addition, there is also a regular Blu-ray disc along with the 4K remastered disc, both of which come with the aforementioned English subtitles.
Overall, this is the best version of Macross: Do You Remember Love? to date, not only for the 4K restoration but also for the addition of English subtitles for the first time. Even after all these years, it remains a handcrafted anime masterpiece.
This 4K remaster of Macross: Do You Remember Love? is priced at 8,100 yen (or around $52) and can be imported from Amazon Japan.
Disclosure: I purchased this Blu-ray set with my own money.
Follow me on X, Facebook and YouTube. I also manage Mecha Damashii and am currently featured in the Giant Robots exhibition currently touring Japan.
