Macross TV or DYRL?

[Aladdin Sane]

I watched DYRL? for the first time yesterday and although I thought it was quite enjoyable, I wasn't as taken with it as others seem to be.

It looks very nice with some great animation and new designs (though I'm a little iffy on the new look for the Zentradi) and the music is as great as ever (sounded fantastic coming through my surround sound system, had My Boyfriend is a Pilot in my head all day today). There was a lot of nice moments (all the extra time with Misa is of course a plus, and the segment with Hikaru and Minmay alone in the ship with Zero G Love playing was great) and I liked the way the story was presented as it was but overall I prefer the depth allowed for by a series instead of the two hour movie format. I found Minmay to be a lot more likable in the movie and was less annoyed by Hikaru towards the end (he was very wishy-washy when I thought the love triangle should have been resolved to the point of just wanting to reach into my screen and slap him. Just go on the picnic damnit, you should be over Minmay by now!).

Regarding the extra "maturity" of DYRL?, I think citing that as an advantage is missing the point of the TV series. It's about Hikaru maturing as the war progresses, becoming comfortable with his role in the military, dealing with the deaths of people close to him and moving forwards in his relationship. As the character is immature to start with, there needs to be a certain element of that in the series itself. Another aspect that seems to be missing from the movie that was in the series that adds to the "maturity" is the lack of comic relief, which I feel is something of a loss. The clip show where Hikaru is in hospital and tries to ride the bicycle into space to rescue Minmay, for example, is one I really enjoyed and possibly the greatest clip show of all time. There's also the extra gore present in the movie which I felt was somewhat gratuitous.

On the whole though, for all the points I've given to DYRL?, I was merely entertained by it whereas I was completely and utterly engrossed with SDF:M TV, watching the whole thing in three days. I'd need to rewatch the TV series again to be able to fairly judge the two given that it's been a fair amount of time (nearly a year) in between viewings of it and the movie, but my initial instinct is that the extra development time and lightheartedness afforded to the TV series gives it the advantage for me. You're given more time to get to know the characters and care about their story, as well as further background into the series universe itself (the movie assumes you either know or don't care about how the Macross came into human hands, how humanity first encountered the Zentradi, etc) which the movie doesn't have.

Edited March 23, 2010 by Aladdin Sane

[aquilon]

You don't go to the hospital to check out the doctor. You go to see the hot nurses. Like the one Hikaru had -

I was engaged to a smokin' hot doctor - she actually made going to get my gums worked on "fun" - does that count????

[dreamweaver13]

I was engaged to a smokin' hot doctor - she actually made going to get my gums worked on "fun" - does that count????

But... dentists aren't doctors...

*runs and hides from homicidal dentists carrying dental drills*

[Arios]

DYRL hands down

[doomedhuh]

I think the tv series is much better

it had more coming of age aspects to it