Next on my Gundam/Macross list was Macross Plus, which I had watched probably about twenty years ago when it was first released and remembered almost all of it. There were some subtleties that somewhat went over my head because, although I was aware of it, the idea of rape hadn't quite coalesced fully into my mind as a concept. As an adult, when you see Guld fully remember the incident, all the pieces throughout the series fall into place and create a comprehensive picture. As a kid, I knew on some level what had happened yet really I just conceived it as "Guld did something bad and blamed Isamu for it." The love triangle, Guld's seesaw emotions resulting from guilt, the jealous hatred... I didn't understand it with full appreciation.

That being said, Macross Plus is a solid little series. It weaves together both the immediate story of the three main characters and the larger examination of machine automation very well in a compelling manner. It doesn't add much to the greater Macross universe much, but considering it's so short I wasn't expecting that. My only complaint is the dude on Sharon Apple's team who allowed her AI to turn malevolent. He as a character was such a trope that it stuck out like a sore thumb in an otherwise interesting cast of characters.

Kanno also did the music, and this is a far cry from her best. The main song, Voices, is a great and played in my head for about a decade afterward, and the orchestral background music is nice although out of place, but everything else falls short. Particularly disappointing are Sharon Apple's songs like Santi-U because she's supposed to be the most popular singer in the galaxy. Well, I guess that just demonstrates the differences between the Sharon and Myung.