New trailers have been released for the upcoming Macross Delta sequel movie, as well as the all-new Macross Frontier short that will accompany it when it premieres in Japanese theaters on Oct. 8.
The new trailer for Macross Delta: Zettai LIVE!!!!!! features the first glimpse of Yami_Q_Ray sound unit, which will compete against the series' Walkure band. The new trailer also features a few short looks at the new Valkyrie fighters that will make their debut in the movie, as well as the surprise return of fan-favorite character Max Jenius, the ace pilot from the original Super Dimension Fortress Macross who was last seen serving as a captain in 1994's Macross 7. While the first Macross Delta movie was simply a compilation movie that retold the events of the TV series, Zettai LIVE!!!!!! will tell a new story that sees Walkure and the Valkyrie pilots who protect them come up against a new threat to the galaxy. A new poster was also revealed for the movie, which shows how the new Yami_Q_Ray band compares to the original Walkure.
A new trailer was also shown for Macross Frontier Short: Labyrinth of Time. The new short appears seems to take place after the bittersweet finale of the 2011 movie Macross Frontier: The Wings of Goodbye, and shows an older looking Ranka Lee with a new haircut and costume, as she remembers her past adventures with Sheryl Nome and Alto Saotome. The trailer features the new song "Toki No Meikyuu," which was written by Yoko Kanno, the legendary composer who previously penned the score for Cowboy Bebop and its upcoming live-action remake, who also produced all of the music from the original Macross Frontier anime series.
Both theatrical releases are being produced to celebrate the upcoming 40th anniversary of the Macross franchise, which began with the debut of the original and highly influential Super Dimension Fortress Macross in 1982. The series is widely remembered for its iconic mecha designs from anime legend Shoji Kawamori, its timeless soundtrack and its dramatic story, which portrayed a massive space war from a more personal perspective. The series was also lauded for showing the lasting effects of that war, as the second half of the series detailed the struggles of its survivors to rebuild society and overcome the lasting prejudices and trauma born during the conflict. The show spawned multiple sequel series, including 1994's critically acclaimed Macross Plus, whose English dub features a young Bryan Cranston.
The Macross series was also initially brought to the United States as part of Harmony Gold's Robotech series, which took elements from three completely different and unrelated anime series - Macross, Genesis Climber Mospeada and Super Dimenion Cavalry Southern Cross - and rewrote and re-edited them together to create a new show. While Robotech is praised for being one of the first mecha anime to be localized for Western audiences, a long-running legal dispute between Harmony Gold and the Japanese creators of Macross eventually prevented the release of the original anime or any of its sequel series internationally. That legal battle was recently settled earlier in 2021, which will allow both series to finally be re-released. While there has yet to be any announcements regarding the distribution of any new Macross material in the United States, Funimation recently announced a new Blu-ray release of Robotech.