Review] "The Super Dimension Fortress Macross" Package Art Collection is now on sale! This 176-page book is packed with 100 pieces of powerful art by Yoshiyuki Takani and Artmik, as well as historical documents!

The "Super Dimension Fortress Macross" plastic model series has dominated the market since its release in 1982. On February 20, 2023, "The Super Dimension Fortress Macross" Package Art Collection, which includes many of the artworks on the packages, was released.

In 1982, when the "Mobile Suit Gundam" and "Gunpla" craze was still going strong and people in and outside the industry were looking for a "post-Gundam," "The Super Dimension Fortress Macross" burst onto the anime scene like a comet. In this work, the "Valkyrie," a variable fighter modeled after the real-life U.S. military fighter "F-14," plays an active role. Its gimmick of transforming from the fighter form of a fighter to the battroid form of a humanoid robot, and then to the intermediate gawk form with arms and reverse-jointed legs growing out of the fighter, shocked many anime fans.

The design was created by Shoji Kawamori, who continues to work on the "Macross" series in the position of general director.

Kazutaka Miyatake of "Studio Nue" was in charge of various other mechanics, including the space battleship "Macross," which serves as the mother ship for the main characters, the massive land battle machine "Destroid," and the mobile weapons operated by the hostile alien Zentraedi.

The miraculous balance of realism, science fiction, and the wicked sense of humor unique to anime had a tremendous impact on later robot anime culture.

At the time, the popularity of Gunpla was driving the popularity of plastic models of anime characters. Because it was released at such a time, a large number of "Macross" kits were released to the public. The "Macross" plastic models released by Imai, Arii, Nichimo, and several other manufacturers seemed to have put a lot of effort into their products, all of which were of high quality, but at the same time, their packaging also showed a strong sense of care.

Until then, anime character kits were mostly "anime goods" with standing pictures of characters and robots in cool poses or celluloid style. However, the "Macross" plastic model package art was a massive, thickly painted illustration, which looked mature and comfortable when placed side by side with the military plastic model packages. It was a very adult style that would not look out of place alongside military-style plastic model packages.

The package art was created by popular illustrator Yoshiyuki Takani. He has created package art for many plastic models, including tanks, aircraft, and battleships, and is a popular and talented illustrator. His illustrations are all realistic, and he depicts the weapons that appear in his animations as vividly as if they were real weapons.

Along with Takani, Toshimitsu Suzuki (died in 2020) worked on the "Macross" package art. He was not only an illustrator, but also a brilliant man who founded Artmic and served as the producer of "Kikou Sousei Mospida" and "Megazone 23. He also created many works of art with a realistic touch, but with a touch of humor, as if he was an illustrator based in the world of animation.

The package art for the "Macross" plastic model series was created by Takani, Suzuki, and the other members of Artmik.

This book contains approximately 100 original artworks in good condition from the package art created by these artists. It also includes previously unpublished package art for plastic models that were never commercialized, making it a book for fans to covet.

The package art they drew was all dramatic, as if they were clipped from a scene on the battlefield, and all of them were completed as a single piece of art.

In particular, Mr. Takani later created package art for character plastic models such as "Super Dimension Century Orguss" and "Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack," realistically depicting the activities of numerous robots. In other words, the "Macross" plastic models were the catalyst for bringing a new culture of "realistic package art" into the world of anime character kits.

This book not only includes all of such art, but also includes the parts that were trimmed in the design stage of the package, but are included in the angle of view at the time of production.

In addition to the animation settings, the book also contains a large amount of first-class materials, including setting drawings in which Shoji Kawamori and Kazutaka Miyatake wrote the details and markings of the aircraft for the package art, and layouts created by both Kawamori and Miyatake for the package art. These materials provide insight into how the people involved with "Macross" at the time viewed the mechanics that appeared in the film. What kind of activities did they intend to make them perform?

In addition, the interviews are also worth reading. The interview with Yoshiyuki Takani and Kazutaka Miyatake was conducted by Hideki Tenjin, who is currently involved in many "Macross" related package art projects, and Atsutomo Yamashina, the eldest son of the late Toshimitsu Suzuki, recalled his father's "Macross" days.

In addition, articles that appeared in Shogakukan's school yearbook magazine and "Corocoro Comic," booklets distributed at model stores, and other materials related to "Macross" plastic models are all included in the book.

(I was surprised to find that even under the cover of the book, there is a lot of information!) ).

This book should be read by all "Macross" fans as well as all plastic model fans. You will surely be able to feel the atmosphere of "that era" when character kits were hot and exciting, when various manufacturers and works were working hard to "break away from Gunpla" and "post-Gunpla".