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What does everyone think of Macross II?


ShizumaRobo

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I just want to see what all the Macross fans thought of it. To me, it was a decent series. I'm kinda glad it was retconned from the series canon, but it was definetly watchable for me. At least it had a good soundtrack. (The Hush of 100 Million Years is a great song) Still, I also thought it felt a bit too much like they were copying the orignal at times. I still like it a bit more than Macross 7. (Sorry fans)

Edited by ShizumaRobo
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I'm not really a fan for various reasons. However, it does have its fans, and there are certainly things to appreciate about it, such as Mikimoto's designs.

Edited by Radd
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I'd say it was decent. I've obviously seen a lot better, but a lot worse too.

The story was ok - it had potential, potentially interesting thematic (the whole journalisme/censorship aspect) and the Marduk were pretty cool villains all things considered - but the execution was rather meh, and in the end it felt like a cheap copy of DYRL.

Also from a technical standpoint - it was *very* cheap. It's supposed to be an OAV (which at least at the time meant better quality), but graphically it was so-so and very unheaven with character looking very different one episode to another (eck... in episode 3 Ishtar looks like Minmay with short blue hair rather than Ishtar :|). Same thing with the animation... it looks more like a cheap TV Series, than an OAV. There's only episode 5 which was really good in both aspects - a shame all the episodes didn't have the same quality.

Other than that the music was really good, I loved Ishtar's song, the mecha was pretty neat and iventive, and there was some good action action pieces here and there. So I like Macross II for what it is, but I find it very poor compared to other Macross productions.

-Sergorn

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I think Macross II is sometimes unfairly hated on. To trash Macross II simply because it's been retconned out of the official timeline or because Kawamori wasn't involved is unfair IMHO.

Granted Macross II isn't great but it isn't terrible either. The story wasn't really creative (pretty much an extension of DYRL) but I think it moreover suffered from lack of episodes and the plot moving too quickly. Animation and production values were varied. Some parts very well done, other parts were lackluster.

In general, Macross II fell below the standards expected for OAVs (both in terms of production and story-wise) at the time.

To me, Macross II felt rushed. Considering that it was all released within the span of 6 months in Japan, maybe it was.

I didn't think too highly of it back then but, looking at it today, it isn't that bad. Personally, I can say I like it more than Macross Zero.

Edited by Vifam7
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Mac II's not perfect but then again alot of it's flaws - uneven animation quality, rushed/truncated story, derivation plot, can be leveled at Mac 0, Mac+, heck even SDF:M. I think it's just as worthy as any other entry. To me the plot makes more sense in Mac II than in Mac+ but that's just my opinion.

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TO me it was truly nothing amazing...But was great eye candy. Mecha was great both U.N. Spacy and Marduk designs.

VF-1MS will always have a place in my heart..

But they also did alot of extra things that where kinda....well...Cheap and rushed. We had a bad intimation of Rick, Lisa and Minmay's love triangle...instead of a Ace pilot dying a Ace Reporter/pilot died the same way Roy did...and he was drunk to...

But never the less it was a very cut and paste idea onto something new and it didn't really play out well.

And last time i checked who gets hit wit a mother ship main cannon full on...And survives? We seen smaller charged partial cannons peal Moons and large warships apart like ripe Fruit...But for some strange reason the Bridge survived that? But you gotta give it up to the Mecha Designer... adding another 4 partial cannons to the Original macross design...Impractical but hey what can you do>

Wasn't the worse and wasn't the best.

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I initially liked Macross II until I got to the last episode. It felt like the series was planned for more installments, but was cut short due to poor sales or something and was ended early.

Macross II was 5 episodes of build-up, 1 episode of conclusion, and a poor one at that.

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I think Macross II is sometimes unfairly hated on. To trash Macross II simply because it's been retconned out of the official timeline or because Kawamori wasn't involved is unfair IMHO.

I have to agress. Granted I loved all of Kawamori's Macross works (and most of its non-Macross stuff), and regard Macross II as the weakest of the bunch. But the involvement (or lack thereof) from the original creatore and the canononicity really have no revelence whatsoever whatsoever on the quality of the series. Eck... just look at Gundam - there's both been some very weak work from Tomino, and some great stuff without him or even non-UC.

All things considered I wouldn't a mind a non-Kawamori Macross series as long as it's great personally.

I initially liked Macross II until I got to the last episode. It felt like the series was planned for more installments, but was cut short due to poor sales or something and was ended earl

I agree about this as well. One of the problem with Macross II is that it felt incredibly rushed - as if they were trying to cram to much in too few episodes. In an away it almost felt like they were trying to redo Macross (with a similar build-up at first), except with only 6 episodes instead of 36. No wonder that didn't work :mellow:

-Sergorn

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I have to agress. Granted I loved all of Kawamori's Macross works (and most of its non-Macross stuff), and regard Macross II as the weakest of the bunch. But the involvement (or lack thereof) from the original creatore and the canononicity really have no revelence whatsoever whatsoever on the quality of the series. Eck... just look at Gundam - there's both been some very weak work from Tomino, and some great stuff without him or even non-UC.

All things considered I wouldn't a mind a non-Kawamori Macross series as long as it's great personally.

I agree. I suspect very few fans would be swayed by whether or not Kawamori was involved, providing they liked what they saw.

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I think Macross II is sometimes unfairly hated on. To trash Macross II simply because it's been retconned out of the official timeline or because Kawamori wasn't involved is unfair IMHO.

Hmm...do people really trash it just for that reason?

I don't hate it, but I don't like it much, either. After I saw Flashback 2012 in '87, I thought it was a prelude to a new series. So, five years later, Macross II came out. I picked up the comic, and quickly realized that it wasn't what I had hoped it would be. Then I rented the tape, and just found it kind of...boring. I did end up watching the whole thing (and, much later, buying the DVD), and, let's face it, in 1992, Kawamori hadn't become "Mr. Macross," so his non-involvement never crossed my mind. I just knew a sub-par OVA when I saw it.

Hell, I almost didn't see Macross Plus, because II had been such a disappointing experience.

Loved it, screw the haters.

Well, then...screw you, too. ^_^

All things considered I wouldn't a mind a non-Kawamori Macross series as long as it's great personally.

I tend to take a hard line on stuff like this. I enjoy a lot of the non-Tomino U.C. Gundam stuff, but Gundam is still Tomino's world. He created it, he should have final say. If something he created is retconned out of existence (like Gaiagear)...well, I just don't buy that. It would be like if Brain Herbert and New York Times Bestselling Author Kaven J. Andersonâ„¢ wrote something that contradicted the original Dune series, and said, "Well, ours is the OFFICIAL timeline, so forget about what Frank Herbert said." A George Lucas Star Wars story will, to my way of thinking, always supercede a non-Geroge Lucas Star Wars story, no matter how bad the Lucas story or how good the other one.

Macross is a little different, since my understanding is that the original story was a group effort. So, if Kawamori weren't involved, but Ishiguro directed it, fine. If neither of them were involved, but Mikimoto did the character designs and Tomita did the script (like MacII), again, fine. As long as SOMEONE vital to the original production, who knows the Macross world inside and out, is working on the project, I'll give it a chance.

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I just want to see what all the Macross fans thought of it. To me, it was a decent series. I'm kinda glad it was retconned from the series canon, but it was definetly watchable for me. At least it had a good soundtrack. (The Hush of 100 Million Years is a great song) Still, I also thought it felt a bit too much like they were copying the orignal at times. I still like it a bit more than Macross 7. (Sorry fans)

Same here. It kind of "felt unnecessary" because of that. But it's not as bad as people make it out. I think my main criticism is how it wasn't really about war, more a battle of good vs evil and the main villain was too easy to hate.

They could have added a twist to the story and go down a path the original show didn't to make it interesting: like make the emulators convert humans to the alien's cause instead of the other way around in SDF:M. And then have humans turning against each other and causing a war amongst their own kind. (infecting it with an evil version of culture and causing a global war, racism, a spread of hate propaganda etc)

Despite the fact it's not canon I think it could have had potential and added a great "what if?" storyline to the macross universe. "What if the humans were contaminated by evil and manipulated by an alien race's culture?" Would we have acted acted violently just like the zentradi did in SDF:M and fight to keep our traditions and fear alien belief systems were taking over our children's minds with ideas that we are against?

One thing later macross shows lacks is the depth of the original which questioned the humans actions as much as the aliens since humans have waged wars against each other since the beginning of time. You can say that if people loved maybe there wouldn't be wars, but what if the aliens were more cultured than humans and tried to convert us to their ways and contaminated earth with their customs? This would make the universe interesting because it wouldn't assume that humans were the most evolved and civilised race out there. Just different, and lucky for having the best weapons due to a ship that crashed onto the world. All the old problems would still exist: racism, elitism, fight for controls over land etc. Aliens invading doesn't make those old problems disappear. Just postpones them. (as we see minmay's music loses its effect when she isn't feeling happy and her performance drops, or the aliens learn to be "cultured" but still act violently as well. The giants that lost the war who had a human girlfriend might still want to retain some of their old beliefs: proud that they served their former controllers who needed soldiers like them for defense. But we never got to see stuff like that in macross II which could have presented "the other side of the story" ie perhaps showing even worse alien races in existence out there in the universe that the PC feared which made them create the giants.)

If they had added a twist and gone down a different direction, maybe people would start to like macross II for attempting to expand on the universe rather than copy what already was done by the original tv series and movie. I think when people are scared of something alien to them or just think it would be easy to take something from another (because of he belief that they are more civislised, superior, evolved) they try to convince themselves that it's ok to kill, use, enslave other races for their benefit since "that other race is less civilised, so it's ok". If they went down the path of making a race of aliens more civilised than humans, and have the humans fight for their freedom to keep their traditions and maintain their culture, then it wouldn't just be about humans being the only ones that were cultured. It would be one of many other aliens races fighting for control over each other just like wars fought on earth. Perhaps have humans form an alliance with rogue zentradi and use them to fight the other race or something? Anything to show that humans although well-meaning, and having the best weapons, might not be fit to take control over other races if they can't solve their own problems (the racism, wars, xenophobia etc) first. The original war (Space War I) would have been a battle for survival against all odds, the second war could be about rogue zentradi having to choose to ally with their old enemies against humans, or to join in a fight for survival (but maintaining their old traditions of thinking that war is the "meaning of life since its our full time job") with humans against the more-cultured race of aliens that wants to convert humans over their their beliefs.

Would the rogue zentradi be seen as bad and evil to humans if it was them who came to their rescue after the more-cultured-humans alien race had enslaved them and forced them to give up their music or traditions to assimilate with them? Maybe some rogue zentradi would be celebrated as heroes, or the human sympathisers to rogue zentradi would then convince more humans that just because they are a warlike race and destroyed planets, doesn't mean humans wouldn't also have attempted to control or destroy other races that they didn't like or just wanted to control "because they can" (due to being more evolved/civilised/cultured or whatever.) I think if macross II had more "shades of grey", rather than be black and white, it would be more interesting. Like the race of aliens in space battleship yamato, you can still have warlike groups within a civilised culture forced to kill to survive due to the planet dying.

So why not have humans "be the bad guy" forced to use their former enemies (rogue zentradi) to aid, to demonstrate that nothing really changes since ancient times despite the advancement in civilisation and sophistication with weapons? The message being that no race, including humans is fit to have absolute power and the other races exist to ensure that no one race has absolute power over each other so long as each race keeps attacking and growing in sophistication which forces them to compete until one dies? Once humans spread themselves to survive from becoming extinct, they will eventually have to face the problem of what to do when they disagree with each other and get into a war? I think a sequel that involved an alien race who tried to convert humans to their culture, would bring up new questions that the first couldn't go into.(does being more cultured and hearing basara's songs automatically mean you won't kill people, blow things up, or act destructively like the warlike races which at least had an excuse for acting that way since it was mind programming?)

Edited by 1/1 LowViz Lurker
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I tend to take a hard line on stuff like this. I enjoy a lot of the non-Tomino U.C. Gundam stuff, but Gundam is still Tomino's world. He created it, he should have final say. If something he created is retconned out of existence (like Gaiagear)...well, I just don't buy that. It would be like if Brain Herbert and New York Times Bestselling Author Kaven J. Andersonâ„¢ wrote something that contradicted the original Dune series, and said, "Well, ours is the OFFICIAL timeline, so forget about what Frank Herbert said." A George Lucas Star Wars story will, to my way of thinking, always supercede a non-Geroge Lucas Star Wars story, no matter how bad the Lucas story or how good the other one.

Well of course I'll agree work from the original creator will always superced other stuff in terme of canonicity and such. But... why should it have any influence on our enjoyment of the show ? I'd say what's most important is our en enjoyment of the show and wheter it is good or not in itself.

That's why the kind of heated debate there can be about picky continuity details tend to drive me crazy - that's pretty much secondary for me : the most important for me is wether or not I enjoyed the show/novel/series. (That's not to say I don't enjoy big continuous continuity... but it's silly to let some tiny details spoils the enjoyment we can get out of it)

-Sergorn

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Well of course I'll agree work from the original creator will always superced other stuff in terme of canonicity and such. But... why should it have any influence on our enjoyment of the show ? I'd say what's most important is our en enjoyment of the show and wheter it is good or not in itself.

That's why the kind of heated debate there can be about picky continuity details tend to drive me crazy - that's pretty much secondary for me : the most important for me is wether or not I enjoyed the show/novel/series. (That's not to say I don't enjoy big continuous continuity... but it's silly to let some tiny details spoils the enjoyment we can get out of it)

-Sergorn

Mostly, I agree. And I am mostly talking about cononicity. To take Gundam as the handiest example, I really love 0080 and 0083. But, when I wrote the post that you quote, I was thinking of an article in a very early issue of Animerica, when 0083 came out, that essentially said how great it was that Tomino wasn't involved with the new Gundam series, because he is better known for putting his characters "through misery than adventure." It also said that it was hard to know what to think about him, since "without him, there would have been no Mobile Suit Gundam, but there also would have been no Gundam F91." (I'm quoting from memory, so that may be a little bit off.) To me, that sentence should've stopped before the "but." It's his baby. If he makes to make it massively depressing, a la Zeta, that's his business. If he wants to make it slapstick comedy, a la the first half of Double Zeta, that's likewise his business. I may not like it, but I can't ignore it (unlike the 08th MS team, which I can and do ignore...I know it's popular, but for whatever reason, I dislike it).

And to have Bandai come in and say, "Well, Gaiagear is no longer canonical, because we've made G-Saviour"...well, that plain doesn't work for me.

Although, if G-Saviour had actually been good, I would've enjoyed it on its own merits, as an alternate take on far-future Gundam.

So if Tomino and, say, Shinichiro Watanabe (to name a Gundam-involved director who I admire), each come out with competing Gundam animes that contradict each other, I'll watch and probably enjoy both of them. But if I then try to make a definitve Gundam timeline...then I'll take preference to the Tomino version.

So yeah, I'll watch anything that's good, but I'll always side with the creator when it comes to questions of canonicity and authority.

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So yeah, I'll watch anything that's good, but I'll always side with the creator when it comes to questions of canonicity and authority.

Yeah, then I agree :) Is they creator did it, then it's definite canon even I do not like it (eck I'm very fond of his Post-Zeta work... and pretty much felt CCA ruined Char and Amuro... but since that's how Tomino wanted to end it, so be it). That's also why I consider Turn-A Gundam as defenite Gundam canon even though Bandai and most Gundam don't - since it's pretty obvious Tomino conceived it this way.

-Sergorn

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Frankly I think Macross II makes more sense in the Macross world than M7. Official or not, it felt more like Macross than M7.

Well... I guess it's true in a way (though I'd say personnaly that you can't get MORE Macross-ish than Macross 7 ; I mean this series is basically Macross pushed to the extremes !) - But yeah of all the sequels/spin-off, Macross II is probably in many way the closest there is to the original Macross series. But I'd argue it's because they took "cheap sequel way" by just basically ripping of the original series.

One of the thing I actually like about all the Kawamori-created Macross series - is that every series is very different from each other. With each one he tried to bring Macross to a different action - and that's also what I like. Macross Plus brought a grittier more realistic approach to the franchise, while Macross 7 took a more lighthearted and crazier out (In a way I've always found baffling to think that two such different Macross series were created at the same time :blink: ), Macross Zero brough some of the crazier aspect of Macross 7 in a gritty Macross Plus while also taking a much more mystical tone and approach. As for Macross Frontier... it feels like a neat binding of everything that came before yet with an identity of its own.

-Sergorn

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Well... I guess it's true in a way (though I'd say personnaly that you can't get MORE Macross-ish than Macross 7 ; I mean this series is basically Macross pushed to the extremes !) - But yeah of all the sequels/spin-off, Macross II is probably in many way the closest there is to the original Macross series. But I'd argue it's because they took "cheap sequel way" by just basically ripping of the original series.

One of the thing I actually like about all the Kawamori-created Macross series - is that every series is very different from each other. With each one he tried to bring Macross to a different action - and that's also what I like. Macross Plus brought a grittier more realistic approach to the franchise, while Macross 7 took a more lighthearted and crazier out (In a way I've always found baffling to think that two such different Macross series were created at the same time :blink: ), Macross Zero brough some of the crazier aspect of Macross 7 in a gritty Macross Plus while also taking a much more mystical tone and approach. As for Macross Frontier... it feels like a neat binding of everything that came before yet with an identity of its own.

-Sergorn

You've meantioned what I think is one of the biggest strengths of Macross as a franchise...that it doesn't feel like a franchise. Kawamori takes the same basic ingredients and uses them in astonishingly varied ways in each show.

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You've meantioned what I think is one of the biggest strengths of Macross as a franchise...that it doesn't feel like a franchise. Kawamori takes the same basic ingredients and uses them in astonishingly varied ways in each show.

Yeah definitly :) That's whate makes Macross so unique to me.... simply enough : it takes risks. Kawamori tries to do something different everytime - even though this kind of approach always risks alienating the fans.

I mean just look at Gundam - hell I'm huge Gundam fan, but truth be told the franchise has been mostly going on for almost thirty years by doing more of the same. Eck even Zeta Gundam (which I would definitly consider as the best the UC has to offer) was very much a rehash of MSG in many aspects. Indeed that's also why I love Turn-A Gundam so much - after just doing more of the same Gundam for over a decade, Tomino finally comes back to Gundam... with what was basically one of the most original take on the Franchise... taking the basic ingredients, but doing something vastly different from the previous series - eck that's the kind of appraoch I'd wish every franchise would take :)

Of course that's not to say a Macross series simply using the "Macross II approach" couldn't be great but I dunno... if we'd just get a new Macross series that would basically feels like a rehash (even a great one), it would somewhat dissapointing IMO.

-Sergorn

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I enjoyed it. Granted the truncated story has always been a source of frustration for me. Far too many dangling ends by the time it ended.

The mecha designs of the VF-2 series were pretty sweet considering they were based off the VF-1 and the VF-4, the only SK designed mecha at the time.

The Metal Siren is one Fugly variable IMO, the weapons package it carried was innovative, but as a space based fighter it could have been so much better than what was designed. There was no Kawamori inspiration in it at all...

Comparatively, the VF-17, being a similar type of space based fighter (and I am not a drooling fan of it) was a better design.

Anyway, for its time and what the producers had to work with, it turned out not too badly. Unfortunately it's weak story structure and the apparent lack of funding for decent animation by the end, didn't help it either.

Although the idea of using a song defence that ultimately fails and facing a foe who uses song for war instead of peace was a nice turn about from the original series. It posed the "what if" question and then explored what could happen next. It was the first production with the Macross label that didn't have a hero who was a Valkyrie pilot... It may have given the fanbase more credit than it deserved at the time.

The things that killed it's possibility of inclusion into canon (as it currently is) was the setting (Earth) and the era (2070's), both of which severely limited future productions in the universe. Studio Nue had no choice but to relegate it Alternate Universe status if Mac Plus and Mac 7 were to see the light of day, since both take place in the 2040's.

BigWest and Bandai still treat is as a Macross property since one owns it and the other Sponsored and merchandises the title.

Personally I harbour the belief that SK has seen it and has used ideas from it in canon productions (though no recorded evidence exists to support my personal belief).

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As for Macross II, If you are really a Macross fan and enjoy the Macross Universe for what it represents, Then macross II is as good as any of the other series. I agree that the Animation lacks at times, Especially Episode 6, that is the most rushed or under funded episode of the series. But the music is really good, the VF-2SS is one of the better designed Valkyries out there. The the story was so-so, I think someone else said it was more or less a continued DYRL story line... yeah, thats pretty much what it is.

But as for series like Macross 7 & M Zero, Macross 2 is just far better. Haruhiko Mikimoto is one of the greatest Anime designers out there imo and he did give us some great characters, Sylvie Gina and Ishtar are awesome!! Macross Zero wasn't even as good, The Animation on the fighters and mecha was amazing, but what if Mikimoto had done the designs, it would have been 10 times better, Plus a story that is so loose, it just never holds up. Macross 7 is ok, but still haven't found a good copy to sit down and watch all the way through... So I won't bash it.

I've been watching macross since I 1st though Robotech in 1985 was the original, then learned the real story. So for all those who want to bash Macross II, its your choice, but overall its just not that bad. Besides, if you have never even watched it, how can you have an opinion?? Not everything Kawamori is sacred. Personally with the new technologies out there, I would love to see this series as a remake with far better funding and direction, yet still having Mikimoto as the character designer.

MACROSS for Life!!

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As for Macross II, If you are really a Macross fan and enjoy the Macross Universe for what it represents, Then macross II is as good as any of the other series. I agree that the Animation lacks at times, Especially Episode 6, that is the most rushed or under funded episode of the series. But the music is really good, the VF-2SS is one of the better designed Valkyries out there. The the story was so-so, I think someone else said it was more or less a continued DYRL story line... yeah, thats pretty much what it is.

But as for series like Macross 7 & M Zero, Macross 2 is just far better. Haruhiko Mikimoto is one of the greatest Anime designers out there imo and he did give us some great characters, Sylvie Gina and Ishtar are awesome!! Macross Zero wasn't even as good, The Animation on the fighters and mecha was amazing, but what if Mikimoto had done the designs, it would have been 10 times better, Plus a story that is so loose, it just never holds up. Macross 7 is ok, but still haven't found a good copy to sit down and watch all the way through... So I won't bash it.

I've been watching macross since I 1st though Robotech in 1985 was the original, then learned the real story. So for all those who want to bash Macross II, its your choice, but overall its just not that bad. Besides, if you have never even watched it, how can you have an opinion?? Not everything Kawamori is sacred. Personally with the new technologies out there, I would love to see this series as a remake with far better funding and direction, yet still having Mikimoto as the character designer.

MACROSS for Life!!

I always like to pose the question to those who dismiss the Mac II story as a rehash of DYRL to prove it...

As for remakes, as much as i'd love to see what Mac 7 would be like with Kawamori in direct control of the production, I'm satisfied with Frontier so far and am glad he didn't do a re-make. :)

Edited by Zinjo
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I'm one of the very few who loves Macross II. A lot of people will claim that Macross II is a rehash of DYRL? I don't believe that to be the case at all. The story in II is completely different from the one in DYRL? The lore and plot devices are the only things DRYL? and II share and-or have in common. The music is what I love most about II, followed by the story. There are a lot of scenes in II that made me a fan...especially with the music playing during these scenes. The battles are fought on a bigger scale too...another thing I like about II. The VF-2SS is no VF-1S...but it's still a good design in my opinion; I like the other mecha as well. I just wish they could have expanded more on II.

(Edited for grammar.)

Edited by Oihan
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