Macross Flashback 2012 - 1987

Macross Flashback 2012 is a 30 minute OVA released in 1987. It was created primarily to convert the original designs and plans that were made for the original ending of the movie Macross Do You Remember Love. This could not be animated during 1984 due to time conscritions. The creators had intended to include concert footage after Minimay's Countdown in DYRL, as well as possible some other short scenes to conclude the story for all the major characters. Instead all fans got were scrolling white credits down a black screen, although the song is fantastic, this could arguably be called somewhat of an anti climax. Later editions of Macross DYRL would however incorporate the concert footage from the first segment of Macross Flashback 2012, under the label 'Perfect Edition'. This version was released on Laserdisc in 1992 and later on DVD in 1998. Although Macross Flashback was released on DVD in 1998, it was given such a limited print run it's virtually impossible to find now without paying extortionate prices of around $160. It wasn't even remastered like DYRL was, which is disapointing but this can be recitifed assuming it's blessed with another release in the future.

Macross Flashback 2012 is the ultimate music anime video anthology. The OVA starts with a black screen and all you can hear is Minimay doing a countdown, which is the perfect place to start, considering thats where DYRL originally finished. This immediatly signals to fans that this is a continuation of that story. Then it quickly starts with flashes of colourful light, music blazing and behold our very first first music video of the OVA. The fast tempoed and delightfully beautiful 'Angel Paint' features first on the music list. We see an older and even more attractive Minimay, singing and dancing like we've never seen her before. Moving with such precision and fluidity, it's a wonderful showcase for the new sparkly character design. Her futuristic outfit is a striking mix of pink and blue. Fans are left mesmorised by the visuals as we witness Minimay's very last concert performance on Earth. As the screen zooms out of Macross city, the story shifts to the Flashback segment of the OVA.

The second music video only uses footage from DYRL. It plays to the delightfully playful and happy song 'Sunset Beach' with excellent sparkly visuals to match. I particulrly like the choice of live action shots blended in to this segment including a cola can falling into a large city of mainly skyscrapers and the glowing red sign of two people dancing, all perfectly timed to synchronise with the music. the editing for both the animation and the special effects are exquisite. Going from the opposite end of the spectrum is the fifth music video called 'Silver Moon, Red Moon' whichonly use footage from the tv series. This one focuses on Misa's relationship and her longful desires to be with Hikaru. It's a touching video, i particularly love the shot of Hikaru pulling out some photos of Misa as she walks off into the sunset.

Although some fans were disapointed to see that Flashback 2012 wasn't a completly new OVA since it reused footage from DYRL and the TV series. I have to add that i think the creators of Macross did an outstanding job in making this. This was made as a last hurrah, a thankyou for all the dedicated fans out there. Sadly this would be last time fans would ever see the original cast make an appearance in any Macross related show. Although some might say this is a blessing as future works havn't been as good in comparison. There are references to the original works in later incarnations, one example that immediatly springs to mind is the song 'Watashi no kare wa pilot' (My Boyfriend's a Pilot) which is briefly sung by one of the background characters called Kate in Macross Plus.

The footage from DYRL has obviously aged a lot better than the TV series since the movie was made on a budget of $2 million dollars which set the record in 1984, although it would be eclipsed later on in the decade by other visually impressive productions such as Wings of Honneamise ($8 million) and Akira ($10 million). DYRL was also made 2 years later when huge advances in both character designs and artistic skill, which are easily apparent in the greater smoothness of the animation. I'm sure the production staff would have found the concept of mixing newer with older character designs a daunting task at first but I feel they overcame this hurdle with flying colours. The gentle editing pulls everything together nicely so shots with contrasting designs appear to blend together with ease. Good examples of this would be from the music videos 'Shao Pai Lon' which is the fourth music video and a great upbeat song to listen to. Then there is the fan favourite 'Do You Remember Love?' which is eighth on the playlist. Both use a wide array of footage from the archive that is Macross, plus both songs are very catchy and a delight to listen too, even if they are very different in tone as one conveys joy and the other sadness. The second part of 'Angel's Paints' is the very music video to appear. Like the others, there is no dialogue, only music to match the visuals. I could write about it in detail but then that would take the fun and joy of spotting all the new features in this very last segment.

As Macross Flashback 2012 pulls to and end, it is great seeing the evolution of the character designs from 1982 to 1987. All three were professionally animated by the famous character designer Haruhiko Mikimoto. Out of them all, my favourite designs are by far from the newer animated segments from Flashback 2012. I love all the new character designs especially the redesign for Minimay, accompanied by her great variety of new and sophisticated outfits. The only exception is the original character design of Misa from the TV series which i have always prefered over the the later redesigns for some reason.

Overall Macross Flashback 2012 was is a must see for any fan of the franchise. If your an experienced fan then I can understand some of the frustration in only seeing around 7-8 minutes of new animation however stunning it might rate. But I must argue the other music videos are so well edited together, it easily makes up for the show's short run time. Macross Flashback 2012 even has a great credit sequence of both singers Makoto Fujiwara (Macross TV opening & ending) and Mari Iijima (Minimay's voice actor) combining together to form a duet of the song 'Runner' which used to play the end credits of every episode of the TV series, a great bonus for us fans. As the vocal song plays we see a collage of pictures of an older Minimay, followed by a goodbye message to all. Fans certainly deserve to own a dvd release of this especially after the $200 most fans put down for the original Animeigo boxset of the TV series in 2001. If you don't own the Macross TV boxset then they are available at Robotech.com for $39.99. Our only real hope for Macross Flashback 2012 is Bandai Visual who own the worldwide distribution rights to the property, since they produced it in cooperation with Big West. They're already bringing us a latest entry into the Gundam franchise so lets hope they can bring the US another entry into the Macross franchise.

Download - Macross Flashback 2012

Overall Grade/Rating: A
Commercial Availability: VHS (Japan), Laserdisc (Japan) DVD (Japan)