Lynn Minmay and the whole Macross thing

I have always loved Macross. I actually enjoyed both the original TV series as well as the Harmony Gold work that rewrote the different anime of Macross, Southern Cross, and Mospaeda into the Robotech saga (Carl Macek) which included novels by Jack McKinney (most of which I've read).

Obviously (to some people at least), I loved Superdimensional Space Fortress Macross because of the gorgeous transformable mecha. But much like most fans of the anime, the attraction is for the soap-opera love-triangle of the three lead characters: Lisa Hayase, Hikaru Ichijoe, and Lynn Minmay. Of the three, Minmay's character is the most enduring - beyond being pretty and cute (requirements for an anime ingeneue), Minmay became a star because of the truly catchy and well-made pop songs that elevated the anime from its peers.

The songs created such mood and context for the anime that did much to flesh-out the 21st century space-age setting. The songs were also important in that it made the "Minmay becomes a superstar" plotline credible; and most of all, how music and the terran society (intersexual as opposed to the Zentraedi monosexual) will create enough "Shock and Awe" among the Zentraedi so that the final attack against them could succeed.

Here is the scene in "Do You Remember Love" wherein Minmay's song Ai oboeteimasuka (in the story: the secret code of the ancient proto-society wherein both warring races come from); note the reactions of the Zentraedi and how the Superdimensional Fortress Macross eventually succeeds.



The context: the love-triangle is broken when Ichijoe breaks up with Minmay and chooses Lisa (more due to the former's lack of maturity and behavior as a stuck-up fading popstar, manifesting on how she fails to get why flying is so important to Ichijoe as she tries to force him to give it all up). Minmay, although heartbroken gives up her selfishness (she had vowed never to sing again) and agrees, asked by Ichijoe to sing the song that is the only hope of their victory. In her doing so, almost everything is redeemed.

She is a vapid, ditzy, and insipid little girl, whose pettiness and selfishness couldn't (until the end) how much bigger her talent is than her concerns. And to this day she is loved by all Macross enthusiasts, even though most of them would pick and are partial to Lisa. Also it would have much to do with the uncanny brilliance of the songs themselves.

The treat I discovered quite recently is Iijima Mari, the seiiyu (voice actor) for Lynn Minmay and also the singer (and at times songwriter) of her songs. Now based in the U.S., she is going to be the voice actor for the English re-issue of Macross in the U.S. This is big news, since the Robotech series had no way to translate the songs and was forced to improvise - with quite disgusting results.

The thing about Mari, is how uncanny her resemblance is to Minmay (not exactly down to her looks, but she does give you this Japanese teen idol - which she actually was, vibe). I'll post other videos capturing this Minmay "feel" but in the mean time, here is her personal favorite from all the Macross recordings.