Macross Watch Order: The Complete Guide Including Movies & OVAs
Macross is one of the best 80s mecha anime you could watch, and in case you haven’td watched it when it was going, but would like to start watching it now, we have you ready with our article. In it, we are bringing your the best Macross watch order, including all movies and OVAs.
Macross is a Japanese science fiction mecha anime media franchise/media mix, created by Studio Nue and Artland in 1982.
The franchise features a fictional history of Earth and the human race after 1999, as well as the history of humanoid civilization in the Milky Way.
The term Macross is used in the series to denote the main capital ship. This theme began in the original Macross, the SDF-1 Macross.
Overtechnology refers to the scientific advances discovered in an alien starship ASS-1 (Alien Star Ship – One later renamed Super Dimension Fortress – One Macross) that crashed on South Ataria island. Humans were able to reverse engineer the technology to create the mecha (variable fighters and destroids), faster-than-light space fold drive for starships and other advanced technologies that the series features. The first TV series was adapted into the first season of Robotech in 1985, with edited content and a revised script.
Let’s now go and see how to watch the complete Macross franchise.
Macross watch order at a glance
Macross consists of four TV series, seven movies, six OVAs, one light novel, and five manga series, all sponsored by Big West Advertising, in addition to 40 video games set in the Macross universe, two crossover games, and a wide variety of physical merchandise. With so much content, it is not easy to know the right way to watch the anime, so let us show you.
TV Series
- Super Dimension Fortress Macross (1982)
- Macross 7 (1994)
- Macross F (2008)
- Macross Delta (2016)
Movies
- Macross: Do You Remember Love? (1984)
- Macross 7 Movie: Ginga ga Ore wo Yondeiru! (1995)
- Macross Plus Movie Edition (1995)
- Macross Frontier: The False Songstress (2009)
- Macross F Movie 2: Sayonara no Tsubasa (2011)
- Macross FB7: Ore no Uta wo Kike! (2012)
- Macross Delta Movie: Gekijou no Walküre (2018)
OVAs
- Macross Flash Back 2012 (1987)
- Macross II: Lovers Again (1992)
- Macross Plus (1994)
- Macross 7 Encore (1995)
- Macross Dynamite 7 (1997)
- Macross Zero (2002)
- Macross F: Choujikuu Gekijou (2011)
Specials
- Macross 7 Plus (1995)
- Mini-Chara Macross (2002)
- Macross XX (2002)
- Macross F: Close Encounter – Deculture Edition (2007)
- Macross F: Close Encounter – Broadcast Edition (2007)
- Macross F Music Clip Shuu: Nyankuri (2010)
- Macross Frontier: Sayonara no Tsubasa Epilogue (2011)
- Macross Delta: Delta Shougekijou (2016)
Let’s now see what those shows and movies about are, and what is the best way to watch Macross anime in order.
Macross chronological watch order
We will now show you the best way to watch Macross anime and that is in chronological order. We will also let you know about every Macross show and movie, what are they about and how they connect to each other, so let’s check them out below.
Macross Zero
Macross Zero is set in 2008 A.D., one year before the events of the original Macross series, depicting the final battles of the U.N. Wars between the U.N. Spacy and the Anti-UN forces, and is also set in the South Pacific, where a gigantic alien spaceship crash landed 9 years earlier. Amidst the violence, a U.N. Spacy F-14 KAI pilot named Shin Kudo is attacked by a strange enemy aircraft that can transform itself into a robot.
Crash landing on Mayan Island he learns that this remote island and its peaceful native inhabitants hold a great secret linking them to the alien spaceship and would become the focus of the war, whether they like it or not. Shin eventually returns to his carrier fleet and joins the Skull Squadron, and also operates brand new transforming fighters, the VF-0 Phoenix.
He trains and engages Anti-UN forces operating from a converted ballistic missile submarine as both sides fight to locate and control alien artifacts, with the peaceful and agrarian Mayan caught in the middle of the war.
Super Dimension Fortress Macross
According to story creator Shoji Kawamori, it depicts “a love triangle against the backdrop of great battles” during the first Human-alien war. It is the first part of two franchises: The Super Dimension trilogy and the Macross series.
Macross: Do You Remember Love?
The movie is a film adaptation of the original Macross series, with new animation. The film’s storyline does not fit directly into the Macross chronology, and was originally an alternate universe retelling of the story, but was later established as part of the Macross universe. Within the Macross universe, it is a popular movie (i.e. a movie within a television series), shown in Macross 7.
However, later Macross productions like Macross Frontier used elements from both the first T.V. series and this film. In Macross tradition, it features transforming mecha robots, Japanese pop music, and a love triangle.
The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Flash Back 2012
The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Flash Back 2012 is a 1987 collection of music videos from The Super Dimension Fortress Macross animated television series (1982–1983) and the Macross: Do You Remember Love? theatrical film remake (1984).
Released to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the series, it also contains several minutes of new footage that depicted story events that were initially planned, but not animated for the endings of the television series (the launch of the Megaroad colonization ship captained by Misa Ichijyo), and the film (the final concert on Earth for Lynn Minmay).
Macross Plus
Macross Plus is a four-episode anime OVA and theatrical movie in the Macross series. It was the first sequel to the original Macross television series in the official timeline (series creator Shōji Kawamori quickly retconned Macross II as a parallel world story in the Macross universe).
Plus was a groundbreaking combination of traditional cel and computer-generated animation at the time of its release, paving the way for the incorporation of more computer-generated imagery in Japanese animation.
Macross Plus Movie Edition
Before the script evolved into a four-volume video series, scriptwriter Keiko Nobumoto originally wrote Macross Plus as a feature-length work. The movie edition returns the story to the initially planned feature length. The theatrical version has approximately 20 minutes of new and alternative footage, though the filmmakers also dropped scenes (such as Isamu’s battle training at the beginning of Episode 1).
The chronology at the beginning of the story is different as well, with Myung Fang Lone and Sharon Apple appearing almost immediately whereas their entrance does not occur until about 14-15 minutes into Episode 1.
Macross 7
Macross 7 is an anime television series. It is a sequel to the show The Super Dimension Fortress Macross that takes place many years after the events of the first series following a cast of mostly new characters. The show ran from October 16, 1994, to September 24, 1995, at 11:00 a.m., and 49 episodes were aired.
Although it has been distributed in other parts of the world, for the longest time it remained unlicensed in North America until July 2022 when Right Stuf and Nozomi Entertainment announced that they would be releasing the series on home video.
Macross 7: Encore
Macross 7: Encore is an OVA consisting of three unrelated episodes set during the Macross 7 series. Though never officially aired in the linear broadcast, the episodes were only released in the media merchandise until its official broadcast on Animax Japan starting on January 18, 2022.
Macross 7 the Movie: The Galaxy’s Calling Me!
Macross 7 the Movie: The Galaxy’s Calling Me! is a theatrical episode of Macross 7. It is estimated to be the episode around episodes 38-41 of Macross 7, (in reference to episode 42), which was shown alongside Macross Plus: Movie Edition.
The story tells of how Basara Nekki and Mylene Flare Jenius’ sister, Emilia Jenius became acquainted. Basara winds up on an icy planet due to a fold accident. The townsfolk he encounters say a monster lives in the mountains, which causes Basara to investigate. He then meets Emilia Jenius, a full-sized Meltlan who sings on the planet because her voice is too loud for populated worlds. Emilia, who sports Milia Fallyna Jenius’ green hair, aspires to be like Lynn Minmay, and flies a Queadlunn Ouilqua Power Armor—a custom variant.
Emilia’s singing causes an Anima Spiritia irregularity, causing the Protodevilin, Gavil, Glavil and Natter-Valgo to investigate on orders by Lord Gepernich. Basara and Emilia fight the Protodevilin with song after Basara throws his VF-19-Kai “Fire Valkyrie” in the way of Emilia’s missiles attacking Glavil.
With the help of the other Sound Force members who show up during the battle and Gamlin Kizaki, the Protodevilins are repelled and flee. However, Emilia’s custom power armor is destroyed while saving the townsfolk from a flood during the battle.
Macross Dynamite 7
Macross Dynamite 7 is an anime OVA set one year after the events in Macross 7. Released in 1997 in celebration of Macross 15th anniversary, Macross Dynamite 7 was a four-episode OVA that continued the Macross 7 series’ story.
Macross F
The series features the 25th New Macross-class Colonial Fleet, dubbed the Macross Frontier, en route to the galactic center. This heavily populated interstellar fleet (consisting of numerous civilian vessels and their military escorts) contains a makeup of both human occupants and their Zentradi allies.
As such, many of the Macross Frontier’s companion vessels appear to merge more metallic Human designs with organic Zentradi aesthetics. Macross Frontier’s plot explores a combination of action/political intrigue/space drama more than previous Macross series have done in the past.
As the series begins, during a mission to an unexplored asteroid belt a reconnaissance New U.N. Spacy (N.U.N.S.) VF-171 is destroyed by extremely powerful and fast insectoid biomechanical alien mecha known as the “Vajra” which immediately begin their attack on the rest of the fleet.
Unable to stop the new enemy threat, the N.U.N.S. Colonial Defense Forces authorizes the deployment of a private military provider organization called S.M.S. (Strategic Military Services) which utilizes the new VF-25 Messiah variable fighter to combat the alien menace.
Macross Frontier: The False Songstress
A theatrical version of the Macross Frontier anime television series was announced in Japan during the broadcast of the 25th and final episode “Your Sound” (“Anata no Oto”) on September 25, 2008. According to interviews with Shōji Kawamori the movie was to be an adaptation of the story from the television series.
The theatrical film adaptation of Macross Frontier opened in Japan on November 21, 2009, under the name Macross Frontier the Movie: The False Songstress.
The first movie retells the events of the anime from episodes 1 to 13, with significant alterations to the story and timeline of the television series.
Macross Frontier the Movie: The Wings of Farewell
The official website of the Macross Frontier anime series has confirmed that there will be two theatrical Macross Frontier films. While The False Songstress primarily reedited footage from the show’s initial 13 episodes, the second film, titled Macross Frontier the Movie: The Wings of Farewell sa), diverges significantly from the events of the television series, featuring entirely new animation and new music.
The Wings of Farewell provides an original story and an alternate conclusion to Frontier, following directly off of The False Songstress.
Macross FB 7
Macross FB7 is a movie adaptation of Macross 7, using the framing device of the main cast of Macross Frontier studying the mysterious lack of new songs from Fire Bomber in over a decade, via a set of tapes that are delivered through mysterious means.
Macross Delta
Macross Delta is set in the year 2067, eight years after the events of Macross Frontier in a remote part of the Milky Way Galaxy called the Brísingr Globular Cluster, Burījingaru Kyūjō Seidan), which is plagued by the Vár Syndrome, a mysterious phenomenon which turns people berserk without any apparent cause.
A team of talented idols, the Walküre, uses the power of their songs to calm down the infected by the Vár Syndrome, assisted by the Delta Flight, a team of experienced Valkyrie pilots, while facing the interference from the Aerial Knights of the Windermere Kingdom, which found a way to exploit the infection in their favor as part of their plan to resume war against the New United Government for control of the Cluster.
Super Dimensional Fortress Macross II: Lovers Again
The story takes place in 2092, 80 years after the events depicted in Macross: Do You Remember Love? The SDF-1 Macross still exists, as does the U.N. Spacy Minmay Attack stratagem, which has been successfully employed to thwart the Zentradi threat ever since. However, a new humanoid alien race called the Marduk (Mardook in the original Japanese version), arrives in the Solar System with enslaved Zentradi and Meltlandi warriors who are seemingly unaffected by the Minmay Attack. The Marduk employ their own female singers, called Emulators, who incite their giant warriors with songs.
The story focuses on reporter Hibiki Kanzaki, who is caught in the middle of the action when he rescues an Emulator, Ishtar, while covering a battle between the U.N. Spacy and the Marduk. Hibiki proceeds to teach her about Earth’s culture, which she then shares with the rest of the Marduk. However, the Marduk leader, Emperor Ingues, considers Earth’s culture anathema. With the help of ace fighter pilot Silvie Gena, Hibiki and Ishtar attempt to end the war.
Do you need to watch Macross movies and shows in order?
Despite some unexplained references to the previous series, the stories are fairly self-contained. Therefore, no special watch order is required. Still, it is recommended that you watch Zero before Frontier or Delta, so you won’t miss anything.
