General Discussion

Hey guys,  
 
Basically I tried to watch Macross today but well I just felt it really hasn't aged well art wise. What I was wondering should I keep at it even if it looks incredibly dated? Or shall I try another series within the Macross franchise? 
 
Thanks!

I assume you mean Super Dimensional Fortress Macross proper from 1982 and not the edited Robotech.  It's among my all time favorites so I am going to side with sticking it out.  Since I don't know how far you are into it, I can't tell you if things improve, but if you're used to modern animation with all the CG aid, then probably not by those standards.  The story and relationships between the characters is what I love.  Animation is just the means to conveying them.  Now I will admit that I like a lot of older anime and have no problem with the art style.  I recently finished up Mobile Suit Gundam from 1979, Space Pirate Captain Harlock from 1978, and am currently in the latter half of Urusei Yatsura from 1982.  I guess if all you've experienced is the glitzy art of modern anime then traditional hand drawn cel work would seem flat and boring.  It must be hard to adjust.  Kind of like watching an old black & white movie when all you've seen before are high definition wide screen movies in THX.  Of course, I am presuming some things here, so I could be way off the mark on some of my assumptions.  If that's the case, I ask that you forgive my incivility.    
 
As to Macross, if you really are eager to get through it and move on to the other chapters of the story, you should seek out the movie, Super Dimensional Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?  To begin with, the animation is theatrical quality so it is far above the TV series.  All the important plot points are there even if at the cost of the characterization.  What's most troubling is the near dismissal of pilots Max and Milia.  If you plan to go farther into the franchise they're important because of the later series, Macross 7.  Also, Roy Focker is a key character in the OVA series Macross Zero.  What this means is that many of the characters in the later series have their roots in the original 1982 show.  I haven't seen Frontier yet, but it's on my "to do" list.  If you're interested, I wrote a few blogs about the franchise over the last few months.   
  
This is some scenes from Do You Remember Love?, the Macross movie from 1984. The English dub release was called Clash of the Bionoids.   

@PenguinDust: Yeah your blogs were what really brought my attention to the series in the first place = P I think it didn't help that I was watching Robotech thinking it was Macross..... Cheesy American dub and dated animation kinda made me cringe somewhat. After watch that clip however and reading your post has made me want to give it another go, thanks!
 
@adoggz: Yeah you have a fair point. It's not that I'm not used to this era of anime. I grew up watching Dragon Ball Z which I'd say only has a lil bit better animation than this. Then again at the time I was 6 or 7 and I guess the quality of the animation didn't bother me as long Goku was gonna go and beat up another alien or something.

@TriforceF:  Wow, thank you for the compliment!  I am glad to hear you are giving it another try.  I think it's worth the effort and as adoggz said, after a while I doubt you'll even notice.  Yes, the American dub in Robotech is pretty irritating to my ears today, but when I was a kid, I loved it.  Of course, there wasn't that much to choose from back then.  One point in favor of the original series English dub is that the character of Lynn Minmay was played by the same actress in the Japanese language version, Mari Iijima.  Another point for that version over the Robotech one is the 6 additional episodes that take place.  Robotech Macross ran 30 episodes and SDF Macross runs 36.  Subbed is still my personal choice in any case.
 
If you can get into that, you should try a few other older shows.  I suggest Space Pirate Captain Harlock, although it takes a few episodes to really get going.  It also moves at a slightly slower pace than Macross, MS Gundam or the original Dragon Ball series.   
 
As for our perceptions as children versus our understanding when older, I can completely agree.  As I said over on Screened.com in a thread, when I was a kid I loved the Pippi Longstocking movies.  But years later when I saw them again I was shocked to see that the movies were dubbed in English from Swedish...very poorly, at that!  I really had no clue when I was a 7 year old.  I also liked Gamera movies back then.  I can't say the same these days (unless it's a Mystery Science Theater version), but on the other hand, I do still enjoy Godzilla movies, so I guess I haven't completely grown up even if I am an adult.