Macross Plus DVD

—by Kenneth Jin-ho Cho

Perhaps one of the most anticipated DVD releases by the American public this year had to have been THE MATRIX (1999). With a compelling story, phenomenal visual effects and a heart-stopping ending, THE MATRIX left fans eagerly awaiting the DVD release. Paralleling the "real" world, Manga Entertainment's MACROSS PLUS is a title that anime fans have been waiting for ever since the DVD format was introduced.
Finally, the wait is over.
Released simultaneously, Volume 1 (containing Parts 1 and 2) and Volume 2 (with Parts 3 and 4) could possibly be an anime videophile's dream. The story of test pilots Isamu Dyson and Guld Bowman and the love triangle they find themselves in with childhood friend Myung Fang Lone, MACROSS PLUS almost single-handedly revived the Macross saga when first released in 1994. With the haunting musical score of virtual idol Sharon Apple, composed by the now-legendary Kanno Yoko (PLEASE SAVE MY EARTH), and the vivid mecha action from Itano Ichiro (MACROSS), this series left fans breathless and desperately wanting more. As an original animation video series, MACROSS PLUS was originally released on VHS and LD formats. And for the first time in either Japan or America, MACROSS PLUS has come to the Digital Video Disk format.
Billed as "The Top-Gun of Japanese Animation," Manga Entertainment's DVD release of MACROSS PLUS marks the series' first foray into the DVD format. Packaged in snapcases, the DVDs don't offer much in the way of printed material other than an insert with chapter listings. The DVDs themselves have love-it-or-leave-it silkscreen art. Overall, the packaging is typically Manga Entertainment: not much thought to aesthetics, use of blurry images and self-promotion everywhere. Listed on the back as some of the DVD features are: Manga 2000 commercial, Manga Fan Club commercial and a Manga Video commercial. Are these really "features?" I think not.
The video picture, however, more than makes up for the packaging's shortcomings. Testing equipment included playback on a Pioneer DVL-909 combi-player and displayed on Sony's new 27" Wega television via S-Video. Compared with the original Japanese laserdiscs, also readily at hand, Manga Entertainment's MACROSS PLUS DVDs win hands-down. As the DVD format has progressed, original problems like bad encoding leading to artifacting, have become almost non-existent in today's releases. It shows with this one. Colors and hues are crisp and vibrant while the fast-paced action of the series shows no signs of disrupting the picture. If you need an anime title to reference your video equipment, this is the one.
Audio is somewhat of a minefield...you purists out there beware. MACROSS PLUS is available in Dolby Digital (AC-3) but only on the English dub soundtrack. The Manga Entertainment dub of MACROSS PLUS was probably one of the more bearable dubs in the industry, but listening to the very impressive 5.1 soundtrack, you almost forget about the dubbing. Referenced through a Pioneer VSX-606 Dolby Digital receiver and 5.1 speaker set-up, tracking of sound effects took full advantage of what Dolby Digital has to offer: sweeping jet exhausts scream past and behind viewers, gunfire noticeably tracks right to left and Sharon Apple's concert in Part 4 will engulf you into the audience at Macross City. The Japanese soundtrack is in digital stereo, as was the original laserdisc release. The popular misconception that the original MACROSS PLUS laserdisc release was in Dolby Surround is probably due to the fact that the Movie Edition laserdisc was encoded in Dolby Surround.
Subtitles on DVDs are an anime fan's dreams come true. Since multiple language soundtracks and multiple language subtitles can be encoded, DVD owners have a plethora of viewing options: watch it in English, watch it in Japanese with subtitles or watch it in Japanese with no translation. What could go wrong? With this DVD release, subtitles were almost perfect until Part 4, when timing becomes horrendously apparent—at the end, the timing was almost a full two seconds off. The quality lapse here is inexcusable.
With DVDs priced to sell, MACROSS PLUS almost sells itself. And except for the subtitle problem in Part 4, Manga Entertainment produced a stellar product for the American anime fan, with no wait in-between releases. We can only hope that Manga Entertainment will give the rest of its library the same treatment.

Released in N. America by Manga Entertainment
90 minutes each
DVD Color/Dolby Digital
English language - Dolby Digital 5.1
Japanese - Digital Stereo
English Subtitles and SDH
UPC: 6-60200-40212-9
$29.95 each
Available now in the USA
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