I watched the Macross movie, Do You Remember Love? It solved the problem that I complained about the last time by ending on the climatic battle with the Zentradi. As with any movie, they had to cut out large portions of the series, such as Max and Milia's romance, although on the whole I'm satisfied with it. It's not as full of a plot, but the way they managed it in medias res still ultimately worked out to create a coherent story. However I think I would've preferred to watch this first instead of the whole series to understand what it's like for a person who doesn't know the whole back story because that may have helped me along.

This time around I disapprove of two changes: For one, the Zentradi really look like aliens. If we're supposed to originate from the same being except they went on to become war machines whilst we stayed as protoculture, it doesn't make sense for them to look completely different. For two, and this is the biggest one, they didn't have time to develop Keifun and Minmay's relationship. It starts out with them already knowing each other, and although Keifun is somewhat possessive of her, there isn't the true love triangle that appeared in the original series. Because of this, it makes less sense for Hikaru to turn to Misa instead: He left Minmay because he felt she was leaving him for her cousin, and even though she returned to him at the end he already had established a relationship with Misa. Here, he and Minmay actually become a couple (remember in the 1982 show she kept on denying anything was between them), gets trapped on Earth briefly with Misa, and then for some reason just decides to ditch Minmay. It makes no fucking sense.

The production level is definitely higher, but I actually miss the shitty animation. That was half the fun. It's like watching the original Gundam. What the fuck am I supposed to do now that I have to take this shit seriously?

But that is the overall tone: Seriousness. The movie lost all of the comedic moments — the Zentradi spies making fools of themselves, the awkwardness of the kiss scene, Max kicking a Zentradi in the balls with his Valkyrie — probably due to time constraints, so watching it is a completely different ride. I definitely recommend this though because I found it quite enjoyable on its own.