KOKONO DREADNOUGHT DESTROYER SERIES

'Angelbirds' is a play on the US Navy Blue Angels and US Air Force Thunderbirds demonstration teams.ĭuring Hikaru's flashback to Focker's stunt-piloting days, look for 'Kawamori' and 'Haru/Hal' etched on the Fokker D.VIII replica turboprop biplane. The creators designed the Angelbirds team colors to look like a Japanese schoolgirl sailor uniform - navy blue skirt, red knotted handkerchief, and all.

If the color scheme of the Valkyrie aerobatic team seems odd, imagine each fighter in Battroid mode. Kawamori was notorious for his aviation fan roots, noticeably dark complexion, and (according to some friendly jabbing from Mikimoto) disheveled appearance. He's the caricature of Macross creator Kawamori Shoji, as drawn by his old school friend and character designer Mikimoto Haruhiko. (After the debut broadcast, the standard opening animation that's on this DVD release was used instead.) A similar shot substitution was used in the first episode of Macross 7 to conceal another plot surprise.Īs the camera pans across Roy Focker's air show audience in the beginning of the episode, watch for the gaunt, dark-toned, mouth-gaping man in the back.

KOKONO DREADNOUGHT DESTROYER SERIES

When the series debuted in 1982, the creators deliberately inserted no scenes of Hikaru in a Valkyrie cockpit into the opening, and only one fleeting shot of the Valkyrie in Battroid mode, substituting other shots in order to keep the Valkyrie's transformation and Hikaru's exploits a surprise until the very end of the episode. 'The Super Dimension Fortress' prefix ('Choo Jikuu Yoosai') is a wordplay on an intermediary working title, 'The Super Dreadnought Fortress Macross' ('Choo Dokyuu Yoosai Makurosu').Ĭomments attributed to Kawamori Shoji in the Macross liner notes are drawn from Nanda, Mamoru (1983) Best Hit Series: The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Macross Graffiti, Akita Shoten, Tokyo.Įpisode 1 'Booby Trap' (July 17, 1999-February 7, 2009) Along with its similarity to Macbeth's Japanese pronunciation, the finalized title also retained the first title's connotation. Studio Nue and Artland regrouped and proposed the title 'Makurosu,' or 'Macross' when written in English. According to Chief Director Ishiguro, the producer for the sponsor was a fan of Shakespeare, and insisted on naming the series and ship 'Macbeth' (pronounced 'Makubesu' in Japanese). The original story creators at Studio Nue and Artland initially named their project, 'Battle City Megaload/Megaroad.' The double pun refers to the ship's massive civilian population and long space journey. The series title is a complicated play on words, the result of the project's convoluted preproduction. About the Title: 'The Super Dimension Fortress Macross'

Kokono dreadnought destroyer