Despite average visual quality and poor writing, the premise of MACROSS 7 was interesting enough to garner a small but loyal following who forgave the show for its blemishes and followed it for the straightforward premise -- the positive effects of singing on one's life-force. In that regard MACROSS 7 proved to be quite enjoyable, but the actual portrayal of the show's premise was nevertheless disappointing. At times the show became so cheesy that it was difficult to take it seriously. So when the movie was released, I secretly hoped that this time around, the writers would take a more serious, nitty-gritty approach to the storytelling.
When an unusual spiritia (form of cosmic life-force) is detected from a space-time distortion near the Macross 7 immigration fleet, a curious Basara decides to find out where the spritia is coming from, and is led to a desolate planet with a small mining settlement. The once warm planet has frozen over, and the mines are running dry, leaving the miners with little hope. And then there's the mysterious howling from the "cursed" mountain.
The howling turns out to be the singing of a full-size Zentradi female named Emilia practicing her singing on the barren planet. Emilia and Basara engage in a song duel, which Basara eventually wins (despite the Zentradi's much louder voice), and the two quickly befriend each other.

Emilia's Queadlunn-Quilqua. Emilia, Basara, and the little Fire Bomber fan, Pedro.

But the peace doesn't last, as Gepruniti's protodevilns converge on the scene, with orders from Gepernich to investigate the source of the unusual spiritia -- and to destroy it.
Teaming up with the rest of the Sound Force members, Basara and Emilia try to drive off the protodevilns, who have combined into a form that renders them impervious to the singing. In the heat of the battle, the shockwaves trigger a flood from the mountain that threatens to destroy the settlement, but Emilia saves the day by diverting the flood away from the miners, and the protagonists eventually send the protodevilns packing.
The movie lasts only half an hour, and is a continuation of the TV story. But while the artwork is more consistent and shaded much better than the TV episodes, the plot could have easily been that of a typical MACROSS 7 TV episode -- and an average one at that. The two new songs are pretty good, but no attempt was made to make the story more worthy of a "movie" designation. I remember several episodes that were much more melodramatic and engaging than this.
This disappointment is compounded, since more could have been done with Emilia who, as it turns out, is Mylene's sister! But this tidbit is merely tacked onto the ending (with Mylene addressing Emilia as "Onee-chan!"). The show doesn't even explain why Emilia is full Zentradi size, or why she's living away from her parents, Max and Milia Jenius. In fact, the only interesting result of Emilia's size was that the kid Pedro gets buried under a Zentradi-sized bra while playing around in Emilia's underwear drawer.
As much as I try to defend the TV show to those who summarily dismiss it, it really isn't worth it in the case of the movie. My advice? Do yourself a favor and steer clear of this one. Now where did I put that magnet?