Macross Plus original plan?

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Mafty
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Macross Plus original plan?

So I've heard in several places that the Macross Plus OVA was not actually supposed to be part of the Macross franchise initially, that it was a separate project Kawamori came up with that was reworked into a sequel. So is this actually true? And if so, how much changed between the earlier draft and the finished product? Other Kawamori mech works (Escaflowne, M3, Aquarion, Nobunaga the Fool, Last Hope, etc) are so radically different in setting that they can't be connected to the Msacross universe, while Plus's universe seems to be readily tied into the Macross universe.
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Seto Kaiba
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Re: Macross Plus original plan?

Mafty wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 4:23 pm So I've heard in several places that the Macross Plus OVA was not actually supposed to be part of the Macross franchise initially, that it was a separate project Kawamori came up with that was reworked into a sequel. So is this actually true?
Yes, this fact is well attested-to in official materials.

Macross Plus was the realization/completion of an original (non-Macross) story concept that Shoji Kawamori began developing for Bandai in 1984-1985 called Advanced Valkyrie. The project was short-lived, with its sponsor Bandai backing out after only about a year and nothing to show for it save for a plot outline, some line art for prototype transformable fighters that were to feature in the story, and a few rough prototypes for plamodels. The story would be revived almost a decade later and become the basis for Macross Plus.

Kawamori would go on to further develop several of the designs from Advanced Valkyrie for use in a later concept called Air Cavalry Chronicles, which would later be split in two with the story changing genres and being animated as The Vision of Escaflowne and the mechanical designs being further refined for use in Macross 7.

Several of the designs from Advanced Valkyrie and Air Cavalry Chronicles that were not directly appropriated for their completed Macross sequel forms would later be adapted into Macross via video games. Two of the main mecha from Advanced Valkyrie would adopted into Macross via Macross M3... with the VF-X-10 of Advanced Valkyrie becoming Macross's VF-9 Cutlass and the VF-3000 being carried over as the VF-3000.


Mafty wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 4:23 pm And if so, how much changed between the earlier draft and the finished product? Other Kawamori mech works (Escaflowne, M3, Aquarion, Nobunaga the Fool, Last Hope, etc) are so radically different in setting that they can't be connected to the Msacross universe, while Plus's universe seems to be readily tied into the Macross universe.
The basic framework of the plot is largely unchanged. It involved a rivalry between two test pilots evaluating different models of transformable fighter for an organization called NOVA at an airbase in the US in the early 2000s. When the story was reworked for Macross, the story was moved farther into the future (2040) and the airbase changed to a base on another planet (Eden). The mutual love interest for the love triangle was added, as was the obligatory idol for the musical aspect of it. The design aesthetic was also reworked to be more evocative of the latest modern jet fighter prototypes at the time, as the original inspirations were a bit dated... but the idea of a conventional plane and forward swept wing plane in competition was retained.

Advanced Valkyrie wasn't developed as a Macross story, but design-wise it didn't exactly stray very far from it given that Kawamori was fresh off DYRL? at the time and hadn't yet branched out into more super robot-y science fantasy or regular fantasy work. The same was true for Air Cavalry Chronicles, which is why the fighter designs of the Zaibach Empire in that story were later retooled slightly and became the Varauta VFs from Macross 7. In the Macross Delta series, another unused Air Cavalry Chronicles design (the Fanelian LV-7 Valorous Rapier) was repurposed to be the Windermerean Sv-154 Svard, the fighter the Aerial Knights used prior to adopting the Sv-262.
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Chris
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Re: Macross Plus original plan?

Seto Kaiba wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 5:06 pm The same was true for Air Cavalry Chronicles, which is why the fighter designs of the Zaibach Empire in that story were later retooled slightly and became the Varauta VFs from Macross 7. In the Macross Delta series, another unused Air Cavalry Chronicles design (the Fanelian LV-7 Valorous Rapier) was repurposed to be the Windermerean Sv-154 Svard, the fighter the Aerial Knights used prior to adopting the Sv-262.
While we're on the subject of Kawamori never discarding a design, I find it interesting that elements of his proposed GP03 design pretty clearly went on to be used in Battle 7.
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