When I think back to how much Macross Plus influenced me as a younger man, I start to realise just how much I owe Shin’ichiro Watanabe and Shoji Kawamori. Their combined artistry gave me a film which, in years to come, would influence not only how I draw but also how I write. Macross Plus helped give a shape to my thinking where fiction, illustration, and drama are concerned. I can’t help but look back fondly on such a piece of work. While it didn’t make me any more or less of an anime fan, it did have a profound effect one me as a person. As perhaps strange or exaggerated as that sounds, it’s the truth.

VOICES is the first anime song I learned to sing. I don’t have a particularly nice voice where music is concerned, but I enjoy it all the same. The strange part is, VOICES and Information High were the only songs I really listened to. At the time I was too young-of-ear to appreciate orchestra in an anime. I preferred techno and pop-punk. Iczelion, for being a piece of garbage, at least entertained me with its music. Macross Plus’s soundtrack didn’t really find a place in my library until some years later, when I was more thoughtful about things.

All the same, music was not why I watched anime. Where with video games I would almost insist upon having good music, with anime all I required was a passable tune. I was there for one simple reason: Technology. I’ve always been a fan of visual technology. If it looks good, I’ll probably buy it. I wrote on this some time ago, discussing how pornographic technology can be. Macross Plus showed me a future where technology was not only beautiful, but believable too. While I knew Transformers and Star Trek was unrealistic because nothing actually looked like it worked, Shoji Kawamori’s designs made me think differently about the future. That’s not to say I was deluded into thinking “this is the future of things”, but that my entire perspective as an artist suddenly acquired something new.

What’s more is, I was suddenly no longer content to sit by and watch anime, now I wanted to draw it. The big eyes and small mouths had never inspired me, nor had the pastiche of realism that productions like G.I.Joe had offered in my youth. With Macross Plus, I encountered something different — something closer to human. It didn’t try to just look human, but stylised the human figure with an experienced hand. Where most anime had obeyed the typical tropes of popular Japanese cartooning, the artists had here rendered a work not for the average teenage consumer, but for a serious science-fiction viewer.

Looking back now, it’s hard to believe this movie came out in 1995. Final Fantasy VII wasn’t even out yet — That’s how old this is! Yet there’s something utterly timeless about it. Even the way 3D was implemented in the film is gorgeous — or has at least aged well. There’s no attempt to imitate reality with the CG, only to create bizarre effects, which stand up remarkably well come 2007. The concert scene’s gorgeous sequence is still amongst some of the best animation I’ve ever seen. It almost literally yells that it comes from the future, in the same way the giant ads in Blade Runner signalled what was soon to be.

Drama was another section entirely however. I think Macross Plus is where I first became aware of anime as a mature medium for storytelling. The personalities of Isamu, Guld, and Myung were — and are extremely well rounded. There’s a pathos with each character that doesn’t strike you as coming from popular culture. Where we usually see characters written to a particular demographic, Macross Plus has little, if any such pandering. In many ways, it’s easy to hate the people you’re watching, because their faults mirror reality in all too filthy ways. From Isamu’s snarky attitude to Guld’s brutish hatefulness, to Myung’s self-defeatism, these are people you could easily know. What they do is another matter — that much is science fiction, to be a test pilot of a transforming fighter plane. But who they are is very real. It gave me a lot to think about as a young author searching for his characters.

When I think about how many times I’ve watched Macross Plus, it becomes a bit boggling. Every year at least once since 1995. That’s not counting the fact I watched it in 2005 about four times. Thus, I’ve probably seen this film well over 30 times, either in its movie format, or via my original VHS collection of the OVAs. I have a feeling there will be many more viewings, long after my VHS has been run down to fine-grain sand.

The thing is, where Akira tends to be the “beautiful classic” for most fans, Macross Plus is in my head even more deserving. Akira’s narrative is vague and difficult to discern, and by all means is a terrible adaptation of the manga. It’s exciting and grips you by the nerve-endings of your skin, but that is all it does. It makes you think, but not in a constructive way. Rather, it only makes you think because of unanswered questions that were vague to begin with. It’s sad that not more people have read Akira as a manga, for the very fact that it provides a much better structure for its questions. By contrast, Macross Plus provides a very thick human drama that does raise certain questions of morality and psychology, without trying to be vague. On top of that, it’s gorgeous to look at and to experience. I can hardly think of a film I like more.