Macross Zero

Macross Zero (マクロスゼロ, Macross Zero^?) is an anime prequel OVA to The Super Dimension Fortress Macross consisting of five episodes. It was directed by Shoji Kawamori and produced by Satelight. It is set nine years after the fall of an alien spaceship on Earth and one year before Space War I, the first large-scale extraterrestrial war. The alien space ship, which would later be rebuilt and rechristened SDF-1 Macross, caused the formation of U.N. government and helped trigger the U.N. Wars. Amidst the violence, a U.N. F-14 pilot named Shin Kudo is attacked by strange enemy aircraft that can transform into robots. Crashing down, but surviving, on Mayan Island he learns that this remote island and its peaceful native inhabitants hold a great secret linking them to the alien space ship and would become the focus of the war, whether they like it or not. Roy Focker, a major character from the original Macross also makes an appearance in this series.

Characters

• Shin Kudo (工藤 シン, Kudō Shin^?): Japanese/American fighter pilot flying for the UN. Lost his parents early in the U.N. Wars.
• Sara Nome: Priestess of Mayan Island. Highly skeptical of outsiders and the violence they bring with them.
• Mao Nome: Sara's younger sister. Cheerful and outgoing, and longing to see the outside world. Also has a very obvious crush on Shin.
• Roy Focker: Famed U.N. ace and test pilot for the new and experimental variable fighter the VF-0.
• Edgar LaSalle: Shin's RIO, and best friend.
• D.D.Ivanov: Ace pilot flying for the Anti-U.N. forces. Roy Focker's former instructor turned rival. Flies the SV-51 Anti-U.N. variable fighter.
• Nora Polyansky: Ivanov's wingmate. A ruthless and highly skilled warrior dedicated to the Anti-U.N. cause.

English Release Possibilities

As of 2007, there are no plans to officially release the series in English due to legal concerns with the Macross copyright, including but not limited to the original series. According to Tommy Yune of Harmony Gold USA (sub-licensor of the original Macross series and merchandising rights of The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? outside of Japan), the company would have been "willing to let the deal go through" for a possible release by A.D. Vision. ^[1] BigWest would not be willing to deal with Harmony Gold directly or indirectly due to their close ties with Tatsunoko. There is bad blood between BigWest and Tatsunoko over the legal battle in Japan over ownership of SDFM in 2002. The awarding of intellectual property rights to BigWest and Studio Nue of the Macross franchise is the most likely reason why Harmony Gold trademarked the name "Macross" in early 2003, thus effectively blocking any new Macross releases in the US unless a legal challenge is issued by BigWest in US court. Such a challenge has yet to be made.

Trivia

• The animation for Macross Zero is a combination of computer-generated imagery and cel animation.
• The combat resembles a Warsaw Pact versus NATO war, with the UN forces flying F-14s and anti-UN forces flying MiG-29s, until the transforming variable fighters are introduced.
• The Greek characters "ΡΓΣΨ" are written on one of the missiles in episode 4.
• The Russian characters "Локон" are written on Nora's HUD during episode 5 which transliterates to "lokon", which means "Curl"; the intended meaning may be "lock on".
• The "Spiral" logo (which relates to the Protoculture) that appears in several places during the anime also appears again in Macross Frontier.
• A character from the pilot episode of the upcoming Macross Frontier T.V. series (Sheryl Nome) has the same last name of two of the main characters that appear in Macross Zero (sisters Mao Nome & Sara Nome).

Errors

• In episode 2, Roy Focker's VF-0 clearly shows no wing load, but it can still fire missiles.
• In episode 4, in one scene, the same aircraft is depicted not having its gunpod, but in another scene, it is clearly shown firing its gunpod.
• In episode 5, Shin's VF-0 carries a booster unit on its back. However, when Shin's aircraft is briefly shown during a shot depicting the Bird Human firing its cannon, it is shown to not have any load on its back.

Episodes

References

External links

Official Sites:

• Macross Official Web Site (Japanese)
• Macross Zero Official Site (Japanese)
• Bandai Visual's Macross Zero web site (Japanese)
• Macross Compendium

Other Sites:

• Macross Zero (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• Macross Zero at the Internet Movie Database
• Macross Mecha Manual A website profiling the fictional vehicles of the Macross series
• Mecha Anime Headquarters Another site with information about the mecha of the Macross series

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fr:Macross Zero ja:マクロス ゼロ sr:Макрос Нула