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This early anime series that helped introduce the genre to the United States in the mid-1980s is a curious hybrid. Harmony Gold bought the rights to the 36-episode Super Dimension Fortress: Macross, in which an alien invasion was held at bay by the voice of a girl pop star, but executives felt that American viewers wouldn't accept that plot. Producer-story editor Carl Macek intercut sequences from Macross with two similar-looking sci-fi series from Tatsunoko Studios, Genesis Climber Mospeada and Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross, creating a sprawling 85-episode space opera with a completely new story line. The story begins in 1999, when a gigantic spaceship strikes the Earth at Macross Island in the Pacific. After a decade of analysis, repair, and study, the Earth forces are ready to relaunch the gargantuan flying fortress, now called the SDF-1--just as the alien Zentraedi attack, hoping to capture it. The first six installments in the 85-episode series introduce the main characters during the initial battles, ambushes, feints, and counterattacks: ace pilot Rick Hunter; his best friend, dashing fighter commander Roy Fokker; SDF-1 captain Gloval; his straight-laced assistant Lisa Hayes; and aspiring singer Minmei. In retrospect, the circa-1980s series has a rather camp appeal: the stilted romance between Rick and Minmei unfolds as coyly as a prolonged episode of The Brady Bunch. Technically, the show looks very primitive, and the crudely drawn space battles and explosions reveal just how much computer animation has contributed to the look of contemporary anime. Contains the first six episodes: 1. "Booby Trap," 2. "Countdown," 3. "Space Fold," 4. "The Long Wait," 5. "Transformation," 6. "Blitzkrieg." Unrated; "contains mild animated violence." Suitable for ages 8 and up: violence is restricted to spaceship and robot battles. --Charles Solomon
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