(Sorry, I've really been slacking on these lately. Hopefully I'll get caught up fairly soon.)
In the year 2008, exactly one year before the events of SDF Macross, the Unification War rages on. A young pilot, Shin Kudo, crash lands on an island after a fierce battle and finds himself among a group of islanders whose ancient culture holds a connection to the spaceship that provided the impetus for the war. With Shin’s arrival, the peaceful inhabitants of Mayan Island get caught up in the war, and Shin finds himself torn between war and peace.
Macross Zero somehow manages to be simultaneously the most mystical entry in the Macross canon and its most down to earth story. The OVA makes no bones about the mystic origins of the Mayans (no relation to the actual Mayans). Their priestess, Sara Nome (who of course makes up one corner of the requisite Macross love triangle), can control certain aspects of the island through song. It is basically magic. Even Macross 7 does not go quite that far with it.
But the issues of culture are some of the most interesting in all of Macross, because it’s really the first time the series is dealing with a “real life” type of scenario. It’s a culture clash in the purest sense of the phrase -- the more modern culture represented by Shin does not immediately mesh with the more natural culture represented by Sara. Obviously at the forefront is the war. Mayan Island is a peaceful, quiet place, but once the war whips around, it becomes a haven for violence and death. Several of the Mayans get caught in the crossfire. It’s not a war they ask for, but it’s a war they receive nonetheless.
However, there are also problems of a more basic, practical type. While the Mayans stay on an island, they are not necessarily isolated from the rest of the world, especially as travel and communication have improved manyfold all around them. Several Mayans -- particularly those of the younger generation -- have got a taste of modern life and chose to leave the island, rarely returning to see those who remain. And as the Mayans slowly assimilate to modern existence, Sara believes they lose the essence of what makes their people who they are, and their culture disappears bit by bit.
The cultural debates Sara and Shin have at various points throughout the series are quite interesting, at least for me, because they’re balanced and make good points on both sides. Shoji Kawamori has made no bones in the past that he tends more to the natural side of things. But Macross Zero does not just say, “Nature is beautiful, and mankind should appreciate it! Cities are evil!” Modern culture might not be all natural, but that does not mean it is evil and should be completely shunned; just as all that is natural is not necessarily good, either. There’s a balance that should be maintained -- the growth of culture while remembering one’s past.
I gather that not everyone cares about that, though, and there are plenty of reasons to watch Macross Zero otherwise. The battle scenes are uniformly fantastic, even better than those of Macross Frontier. (Which should be expected since, you know, Zero is an OVA and Frontier is a TV series, albeit a series with a solid budget.) Probably the only bad thing about them is that because the planes are all CGI, they have this plasticy look to them that I’ve never liked. But that doesn’t stop all the fights from looking really awesome. (And the planes in Frontier have a similar look to them at times, too, so whatever.)
The story is also solid. It answers a fair number of questions about the origins of Macross’ mysterious Protoculture but also leaves a bunch of others wide open. (Even though this is a prequel, it’s best to not watch this OVA until you’ve seen the original series.) It was also made in the period where basically every mecha series was one big psychological mindscrew with a weird ass ending, and although Macross Zero mostly eschews the psychological mindscrew aspect of its time period, it more than makes up for that with its weird ass ending. Definitely the strangest conclusion of any Macross series.
Overall, though, it’s a good OVA, and a strong capper to my experience with Macross. If I had to rank every series/movie in the canon, I’d go SDF Macross > Macross Plus = Macross: Do You Remember Love? > Macross Frontier > Macross Zero >>>>>>> (to infinity and beyond!) Macross 7.
Fun fact: The 10th episode of Macross Frontier involves a movie made that tells the story of this OVA. It’s pretty awesome.
If you like this, then watch ... : If you like the mystic angle and weird ending, then definitely watch RahXephon, which works in somewhat similar themes at times. (Although, admittedly, that’s where the similarities end. :p) And, of course, every other Macross series except Macross 7!
