8.534 minSeason 1 • Episode 5
LatestIn the South Pacific, two military forces prepare to fight a nuclear war. In desperation, Shin and Sara decide to sacrifice themselves . . . in order to protect the Mayan people.
Taking place one year before the events of the original Macross series, Macross Zero chronicles the final days of the war between the U.N. Spacy and anti-U.N. factions. After being shot down by the anti-U.N.'s newest fighter plane, ace pilot Shin Kudo finds himself on the remote island of Mayan, where technology is almost non-existent. While Shin stays on the island to heal his wounds, the tranquility of the island is shattered by a battle that involves the UN's newest fighter - the VF-0.
Direction
Shoji Kawamori's dogfights remain unmatched in anime history
Practical Effects
Hand-drawn mecha in an era of digital blandness
Score
Yoko Kanno before she was YOKO KANNO
Creator
Shoji Kawamori
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Kawamori personally storyboarded every aerial sequence, treating VF-0 dogfights like kinetic poetry. The man literally flew in fighter jets for research.
The Mayan island mythology pulls heavily from Mesoamerican and Pacific Islander spiritual traditions, which... let's say Macross has complicated feelings about exoticism. The 'bird human' concept would resurface in Macross Frontier with even less subtlety.
JP
