I have always thought that rewatches were a very powerful weapon: indeed, it is not wrong to say that works, in a certain sense, are made to be seen and seen again. And if a year ago I was pleasantly fascinated by Macross Zero, now one could say that it has definitively won me over. Because Macross Zero is objectively one of the best works of the franchise, whether for its crudeness, its maturity, or its poetics. Released in the same year as me - 2002 -, Macross Zero is chronologically placed a year before the events of the original Macross series, effectively rising to the status of a true prequel to the entire franchise. In July 1999, an alien spaceship crashes on Earth (which will later become the SDF-1 Macross) and the balance of the world, in compliance with this, is upset. The protagonist of the story is the fighter pilot Kudō Shin, part of the United Nations, who, following an enemy attack, coming from the forces opposing them, will find himself on a remote island in the middle of the ocean; the island of the Mayans, populated by the homonymous and peaceful indigenous population, as well as the guardian of a great secret. With this analysis of mine I set myself - the ambitious - goal of convincing as many people as possible, even those who know nothing about Macross, to see this work of 5 OVAs, also by virtue of its status as a prequel to the entire story; therefore, nothing better than starting right from here, in a vision that you will not regret. This invitation to third parties is something new to me, having never proposed anything similar in my previous reviews. But as they say, “there’s always a first time!”, so why not try, being blindly convinced of the great intrinsic value of both the Macross franchise in a broad sense and of this little piece of it. With my greatest humility and animated by the best auspices, I have nothing left to do but dig deep into this work, to illustrate its contents and best ideas.

From legend to reality

The main setting in which the story moves - as well as the cradle of an immense and coveted secret - is the island of the Mayans, a lush and abundant island, and where Mother Nature dominates almost unchallenged. Its indigenous population lives there peacefully, taking advantage and making use of the countless "gifts" that she offers them. Naturally, the Mayans - with centuries of history behind them - have their own culture, understood in its broadest sense, in all its facets and with all their customs; a culture that obviously also expands to the more folkloristic side, that is, concerning the origins of the island: legend has it that, a long time ago, the "Tori no Hito" (鳥の人), or Bird-People - venerated as local deities -, arrived, traveling among the stars, on Earth and that here they dropped the shell of a sea turtle.

This shell, following its breakage, would have originated the island of the Mayans. It is useless to mention the numerous symbols that this animal possesses, and with it its shell: look at that, for the original Maya the shell was a representation of the celestial vault, and was linked to stars and constellations. These Bird-People, coming from the stars, seem to represent the essence of something that comes from "beyond", something otherworldly coming from the celestial vault. The myth of creation then continues: it is told of how a fish-man, frightened by the immense wings of these "beings", said to them: "You may even fly, but you do not know how deep this ocean really is"; at this point the Tori no Hito, angry, cut off the tail and fins of the latter. And behold, as if by magic, legs began to grow from the lower part of this man: thus the first human being, Rooy Kanu, was born. Not long after Rooy Kanu became thirsty and began to complain and cry: "I am such an unlucky man. I am thirsty and yet I have no fountains with which to moisten my throat,” to which he also added: “I have no wife with whom I can share my joy and sadness.” Once again, the enraged Tori no Hito descended from the heavens and cut off his head: from the blood that flowed from his neck a woman was born, Rooy Waka. After giving birth to their children, Rooy Waka left and returned to the stars, leaving this message to her husband: “My beloved Rooy Kanu… The day [I] return will be the day in which the destiny of the stars will disintegrate[…]. [That] is the day in which the Song of Destruction will echo throughout the world.” ▶ Horobi no Uta

This last passage of the legend is decidedly prophetic, since it will turn into reality: in the last episode, in fact, the Song of Destruction will echo throughout the world; let's add that another key element of the story is the relationship that develops between the male protagonist, Shin, and the main female character of the story, Sara Nome, the priestess of the island and descendant of the Wind Clan, and we will realize how everything fits together. It can be said that in a certain sense Rooy Waka returns, taking on Sara's clothes; likewise her husband, Rooy Kanu, takes on Shin's clothes: here the legend ends up turning into truth, with husband and wife who after centuries, also thanks to the bond of love, find themselves united again, almost as if transcending time and space, simply, this time, with Sara and Shin who take their form.

Returning to the Mayan customs, there is one that particularly struck me: in their community it is customary to confess your love to the girl you like using special tools, wooden spears in particular, which are worked and carved until they are transformed into such by the interested parties starting from the raw material. Usually at sunset, you turn to the girl by showing her this spear and if she places her hand on it, then, by equivalent, she will have accepted your feelings. Unaware of all this, Shin, shipwrecked on the island for the first time, takes possession of one of these tools using and treating it as if it were a weapon, even going so far as to point it at Sara, the priestess of the island.

And yet, what in other places would have been perceived as an aggressive gesture, here is instead a gesture of love, according to the customs of these people. Needless to say, when the boy learns the meaning behind these objects, thanks to Mao, Sara's sister, he will make fun of himself: threatening someone with a love letter; don't you find it a splendid paradox?

And, to tell the truth, even these objects become prophetic in a certain sense: towards the end of the first episode, Shin reaches Sara and, fascinated by their culture, sits down next to her, starting to carve some spears with her. An apparently meaningless image that, instead, will end up turning into truth too: if we said that spears represent people's feelings, and these two just below are those of Sara and Shin, what can we legitimately expect from the continuation of the story?

Mother Nature…

Another crucial theme in the story is the relationship between man and nature: that uncontaminated nature, full of raw materials, that [we] are probably slowly killing here and there around the world. This theme, typical of Miyazaki’s vision in my opinion (and I did not mention Miyazaki-sensei by chance, he will return to this discussion later), overflows in a preponderant manner in many moments; nature, as such, must be respected and the human being, first of all, must learn to respect it. This is why I am right in believing that the sequences at the end of the fourth episode are fundamental; to understand them, however, we must take a few steps back. Sara, even in the guise of a priestess, is the first to devote herself totally to nature: placing blind faith in the latter and conservative with respect to new technologies, she must be defended and venerated; she herself will present herself as "the hand carried by the wind", given, also, her descent from the Wind Clan. About whom we don't know much in fact, but we can guess that it is an important lineage given the powers, in some ways, "supernatural" that Sara finds herself possessing: in addition to the countless predictions, like all good priestesses, she possesses a sweet song capable of transmitting vigor to everything around her (what I call the Song of Creation): ▶ Video ▶ The complete version of the song.

Therefore, there is a deep connection between the latter and nature: indeed, it would not be wrong to say, starting from the scene mentioned above, that she and nature are one. At the end of episode four, Shin finally understands the real reason behind Sara singing:

And shortly after the boy, moved in spirit, will do the same, singing in place of Sara for the wounded forest. This moment is very important in my opinion: even Shin, a fighter pilot and outsider who had never had anything to do with the island before, learns to respect the immensity of nature, finally understanding, perhaps, its raison d’être. Macross Zero is undoubtedly a very naturalistic work, in which the latter is placed on a pedestal, in all its magnificence, supremacy and infinite beauty: I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more realistic and detailed owl than this one in an animated work in my entire life.

And technology.

A corollary to all this, is also the “delicate” relationship between nature and what is artificial, in particular the role of technology. At one of the huts located near the beach, there is one containing an electricity generator, lying there inoperative for an innumerable time, with no one capable of repairing it. Shin, who is much more skilled, obviously knows how to repair it and brings electricity back to all the Mayan houses.

If Mao, the younger sister, is in favor of using technology, as mentioned above, Sara is absolutely against it: she places nature in a position of absolute supremacy, believing that the latter is more than sufficient to satisfy all the needs of the islanders, providing them with water and food, its raw materials. Sara conceives technology as a "pollution", a pollution also in the soul, which goes to contaminate the spirit of the people, who lose awareness of what is really necessary to satisfy their needs. And so the picture emerges: the artificiality that usurps the primeval and uncontaminated beauty of nature - thus making people unable to truly appreciate the extreme splendor of nature, preferring cities to it -; that misleads the human being, leading him to question the most futile things, to become attached to the pleasures of life and material things.

Nature, therefore, is associated with a condition of total purity, with particular regard to the soul of people; and yet is technology really so negative? Although we can speak of a "contamination" of the Mayan island, in this regard, is it a truly negative contamination, as Sara conceives it, or positive? The other orientation is supported and symbolically represented by Sara's little sister, Mao, who on the contrary seems to be rather fascinated by it:

To say that Mao saw some good in the latter is probably an exaggeration; however, unlike her sister, she has been able to recognize – and accept – its importance and the impact it has had, even on them directly. In fact, it turns out that the only family photo they have, in which their parents, unfortunately deceased, are portrayed, was taken by a foreigner from the city, who then left it with his sisters on the island.

And if we can, for better or for worse, all agree on the undoubted usefulness of technology, provided that it should not be abused, it can certainly instill fear for its potential (even in the future, just think of our current situation, with artificial intelligences in development). But on the other hand, it could also fascinate, and who knows, as Shin says, even Sara deep down in her soul, as much as she doesn't want to admit it, will not be curious about the so-called "cities".

War

War and human cruelty are also absolutely central to the story. And they are, just think, right from the background that is given to us in the first minute and a half at the beginning of the series: the fall on Earth of an alien spaceship was the source of a whole series of disorders that undermined national peace and thus led to the outbreak of a war.

A war of which the protagonist remembers the beginning:

As a child, he says, something that shouldn't have exploded exploded; the boy got out of bed and went to look at the view: he noticed two suns, the real one to the east, and an immense light to the west that shone in total darkness. And like all children he was attracted by it, thinking it was a wonderful play of lights; now, in the present time, the excitement of that time gives way to immense disillusionment, sadness but above all a great trauma. In fact, soldiers soon broke into the boy's house and brutally massacred everyone, riddling them with bullets, with the latter miraculously managing to save himself by hiding under the bed, in the most classic - but always effective - hiding places. It is undoubtedly an impactful, strong, decisive beginning, which immediately aligns the viewer with the tracks that the series will follow during its five episodes. On the other hand, as will be said in the series, humans do not realize a disaster until it happens; and this is terribly true as well as extremely sad. We always realize too late the horrors and mistakes made; turning the argument around we could also say that until you live it and experience it firsthand, you will never be able to savor its terror. Naturally, as in the worst nightmares, war also arrives on the Mayan island, which is overwhelmed along with its entire ecosystem. From the inhabitants' point of view, its arrival can certainly be traced back to the permanence of foreigners on their island - that is, a divine punishment for having "denatured" themselves following contact with external culture and its subsequent contamination; and here we also discover the reason behind which the island has always remained closed both from a cultural point of view and with regard to hosting potential foreigners, precisely to avoid conflicts arriving from outside or the island finding itself at the center of conflicts of interest that would have upset the peaceful life of the same.

And while part of this is certainly true, on the other hand the sad truth is that, sooner or later, the conflict would have arrived anyway: this is because on the island of the Mayans, as mentioned, an immense secret is kept, which obviously is coveted by all those who are interested in it. Submerged near the island, in fact, there is a relic that is presumably alien and seems to possess the same characteristics as the spaceship that fell eleven years earlier. And naturally the United Nations is intent on getting its hands on it; vice versa if they fail to take possession of it, to avoid it also falling into the hands of the anti-United Nations opposition forces, make a clean sweep of it (known in code as Operation Iconoclasm), in a great classic. And here, already at the end of episode one, the island ends up turning into a battlefield, in whose airspace above it the new prototypes of fighters developed, the famous Valkyrie, fight. All of this is predicted slightly in advance by Sara, who prophesies the imminent arrival of a "Kadun" (I'll come back to this later), blown by the wind, which will bring destruction. With it the Tori no Hito will awaken and with it the Song of Destruction will echo throughout the world.

And it is precisely with war that the extreme cruelty and instrumentality that human beings can take on come to the surface: it matters little if innocent civilians, peaceful natives or the ecosystem of an island are involved in the course of events; If the elimination of all these is functional to the achievement of the pre-established goals, then so be it. Everything is absolutely legitimate in order to achieve the goal, right? This Machiavellianism can be deduced from one scene in particular: we discover that Sara, like Shin, also carries her trauma within herself. When she was still a child, in fact, she was approached by Dr. Hasford, a researcher and anthropologist who came to the island to carry out research and confirm his thesis on Protoculture, according to which aliens would have influenced the growth of human civilization by manipulating its DNA; he introduced himself to her in a kind way, moved by friendly intentions, even offering her a pearl necklace as a gift. Seizing the opportunity that had arisen and the girl's moment of distraction, Hasford treacherously took a blood sample from her, traumatizing her for the rest of her life. Moreover, since she belonged to the Wind Clan, her father had imposed a rule according to which she should never share her blood with anyone, which instead happened in this sad episode of her life as just mentioned, with the consequence that since then Sara feels responsible for having violated a taboo rule, feeling immense sense of guilt.

Tricking a little girl by luring her with gifts of various kinds and then treacherously taking her blood is quite despicable, in my opinion, and it well exemplifies the concept of instrumentality I was talking about before, with perhaps consequent discrimination, according to the following reasoning "What do you want it to be; after all, this one is a native while on the other lies the good - supreme - of science in the name of which everything is permitted!". But, listen up, it is not the cruelest thing present in Zero. At the end of episode four we have yet another taste of how unimaginable the cruelty of human beings can be, and with it how unscrupulous some can be: multiple warheads are dropped on the very center of the island by the Valkyries of the Anti-UN forces, transforming the entire jungle into a sea of fire, and razing a good part of it to the ground. All the fauna and flora are instantly burned and wiped out in the space of a few milliseconds; the same milliseconds it took for my tears to fall from my eyes, shocked by the horror I was watching on screen, in what is probably the crudest and hardest scene to digest of the entire show (especially given how it comes after equally splendid sequences). Here too, the same formula mentioned above could be applied: “Come on, who cares; destroying an island is always better than destroying more than two!”, with the same conclusions seen above. If with Shin learning to respect nature and its ecosystem one could say that man had learned something, a few moments later the spectator is immediately denied and silenced, with [the same] man who chooses to destroy it, crushing and trampling it with a serenity that is disturbing, and testifying, once again and for the umpteenth time, that [we] have never learned a damn thing from our mistakes (and we will continue, presumably, to repeat them forever and ever).

Kadun

Another very interesting discussion is the one related to the “Kadun”, already mentioned in the course of this analysis; but what exactly are these Kadun? First of all, it must be said that the work does not give us an absolutely crystal-clear answer in this regard, that is, it does not tell us in detail what they are but we spectators can intuit it – in a rather subjective way – during the course of the vision. Initially, when Sara mentions the Kadun, I immediately thought that this term indicated, in the language and culture of the Mayans, evil spirits (to be understood in the strictest sense, that is, evil spirits that take possession of the bodies of human beings, also behaving like curses).

This is certainly a correct declination for how they are spoken of throughout Zero, however at the same time reductive: qualifying them in this way is still not enough; they require some more interpretation. Also because this term refers to several things throughout the series: concepts (e.g. the Kadun of Conflict – very important, we will talk about it again shortly; the Kadun of Misfortune); elements (e.g. the Kadun of metal or fire); feelings or emotions (e.g. the Kadun of anger and fear). At a certain point, in episode four, from Sara's memories we learn of a very interesting speech made by her father when she was still a child: in essence, all objects would have a real name – different from the one they are normally designated with –; real names that we have – according to Sara's father – very simply forgotten over time, and which we don't even try to remember.

And what if the concept of Kadun was connected to this speech? What if the Kadun with their many declinations – being an extremely versatile term, which can refer to many things – were the ones to represent these primordial and lost names behind all things, which Sara’s father tells us about in this flashback? It could be quite a suggestive connection; what is certain is that this sort of ultimate truth behind the names of all objects certainly recalls metaphysics: a sort of “philosophical mysticism” according to which one believes that behind the appearance of things there is a profound truth, often lost or forgotten in the course of history or time – just like in this case –. Following research, this theme could also be connected, if desired, to Martin Heidegger’s Ontology of the Word and Being, according to which the being of things is intimately linked to language, which is no longer just a tool to describe reality but itself becomes a path through which it manifests itself. From this perspective, “forgetting” the true name of things could be interpreted as a loss of access to their true essence, which would then manifest itself only through authentic recognition.

The Tori no Hito and the similarities with Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

It is time to delve deeper into the emblematic Tori no Hito (鳥の人), one of the pillars of the entire story of Macross Zero: we said that this Bird Person is venerated by the Mayans as a local deity, having played a crucial role in the creation of their island; but does this Bird Person really exist, if we ask ourselves about the truth behind the legend? And if so, what are its origins?

Time to connect a lot of dots: the Tori no Hito really existed – and does exist – and 500,000 years ago, it came to Earth together with the civilization that had created it, after having traveled among the stars. Well yes: this being was conceived by the Protoculture, the super advanced intergalactic civilization that lived 500,000 years before – as well as the cradle of all humanity in a broad sense, both of humans on Earth, following their manipulation of the DNA of the creatures then living (thus confirming Hasford's theory as true) as well as of the Zentradi race (the historical antagonists of the first series of Macross) –. And, in particular, it was conceived – even before their arrival on Earth – as a surveillance tool: a sort of control device – with its own conscience and will – to be placed and left in a certain place; when the Protoculture arrived on Earth, after having contributed to the genesis of the human race, they left the Tori no Hito there – for the purposes mentioned above – and shortly after they left the blue planet. Coincidentally, the great secret that the Mayan island holds in its depths off the coast, as well as the alien relic being researched by the United Nations (known in code as A.F.O.S. – Artifact from outer space) is the Tori no Hito, which is actually a legacy of an ancient civilization (a bit like the remains of the submerged Atlantis in Ai oboete imasu ka?). Currently, this artifact is not functional and, over time, has separated into two main pieces: the torso – already in the possession of the United Nations – and its gigantic head, which lives in the depths of the ocean off the Mayan island: the head of the Bird Person is also the “treasure” of Mao, Sara’s little sister, and it is a location that the girl often visits and to which Shin will also lead her, during an afternoon of diving.

But it doesn't end there: the Tori no Hito is also closely connected to the Song of Destruction (and in fact if we remember Sara's predictions, we learn from her that the day in which the Bird Person will awaken coincides with the day in which this song will resonate throughout the world). And in fact, Sara's task, as a priestess belonging to the Wind Clan, is precisely that of preventing the reactivation and awakening of this being; she is precisely the key to it, even in a material sense. Now that the picture has become decidedly more complete, we can answer another question, that is, for what reasons this control device was left by Protoculture on Earth: from Macross film version - Ai oboete imasu ka? we know that the protoculturians soon understood the mistakes they made following the creation of the giants - the Zentradi - and the countless wars they were protagonists of, to the point that a community of them - precisely - came to Earth, where they also created the submerged Atlantis that we see halfway through the film, conceived as a place where they could live in peace far from the bellicosity that had now surrounded them only to abandon it at a later time. When they manipulated the genes giving impetus to the development of the human race, they, most likely, saw this operation as an experiment: their hope, perhaps, was that this new civilization, their daughter, might not repeat their same mistakes and follow that bloody path such as that of war. And so, to prevent this, they left this being, the Bird-Person, under surveillance, programmed by them to exterminate all humanity when it learned of the - eventual - unchanged bellicose nature of the human being. And this long expression – “the unchanged warlike nature of the human being” can be beautifully summarized in another, but much shorter, expression: the Kadun of Conflict. So to recap: the protoculturians came to Earth countless cycles ago, where they contributed to the birth of humanity in the hope that it would not follow their same path of destruction in the future, in what was in their eyes a real experiment. To prevent this – and therefore in case of a negative outcome of this experiment – this instrument of control was left on Earth programmed for a future mass extermination if it had reconfirmed this warlike nature of men. Having said all this, the literal translation is Bird-Person and it is absolutely correct based on the original writing [i.e. this 鳥の人]. While I was doing my own research I also (re)discovered that this term is actually not new at all but can also be found elsewhere and, more precisely, in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, the “zero” film by Studio Ghibli. But we will return to this topic shortly. Undoubtedly, this term evokes a winged figure, which as such could absolutely represent an otherworldly figure coming from the beyond, in this case from the stars; certainly, therefore, it retains and covers itself with this aura of mysticism, which in the series it ultimately has, being a tool potentially capable of destroying all of humanity, an ancient artifact of a highly advanced civilization that existed thousands of years ago. Another very interesting thing, in my opinion, is that in Macross Zero this term is versatile: in fact, the name Tori no Hito does not only refer to the Bird Person in the strict sense – that is, the weapon we just talked about – but it is also used, sometimes, to refer to the Valkyries – who, after all, if you think about it, are fighters – and as such they fly – and have anthropomorphic features, and therefore Bird People –, and, even, Shin himself, permeated by a strong passion for flying – and who at the end of the story, without giving any spoilers, will really turn into a Tori no Hito –.

As mentioned, however, the paternity of this term is to be attributed to the film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind by Miyazaki Hayao, to which a real OST of the same name is dedicated, which plays at the end of the film - composed by Hisaishi Joe -, as its final ending. youtube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY7hxh7nCfU&ab_channel=DoppelFace )

It is undeniable that between these two works there are numerous points of contact and some analogies: first of all the element of flight. In Macross the passion for flight is a common denominator that permeates practically all the protagonists of the respective series of the franchise (with the exception perhaps of Basara in 7 - he has more of a devotion towards music) and Shin is obviously no exception to this list. Since the dawn of time, flight and flying have always been full of significant symbolic meanings: flying as an attempt to go beyond every frontier, to be able to go beyond perhaps even the limits imposed on human beings but above all of great freedom (being able to soar freely in the skies like birds for example and go wherever we like, observing the world from above). And, from my point of view, I do not interpret this freedom only as freedom in the broadest sense of the term but also, and in particular, as freedom of spirit, in a much more philosophical and poetic sense if we want. Well, in Macross Zero, in my view of things, the concept of flight takes on, in particular, more spiritualistic connotations: as a consequence of this, flying acquires more meaning from a spiritual perspective, referring perhaps more to all those characterized by a strong nobility of spirit and not easily subjected to the most primitive human instinctual impulses, such as anger or fear – and in the ending Shin reflects this concept well, in my opinion –. Nausicaä, on the other hand, is a Tori no Hito in the strict sense – that is, a Bird Person – by virtue of her ability to fly thanks to her Möwe, a particular motor glider – used exclusively by the latter – which she uses as a means to move quickly from the Valley of the Wind (and from her native village) to the surrounding areas and the Sea of Decay.

Another huge point of contact between the two works – and in particular between the two Tori no Hito – is the following: given that this name, in Macross Zero, is versatile and can certainly also refer to the character of Sara (on the other hand, she is the ignition key, as mentioned, of the alien artifact and, by virtue of this, the one responsible for preventing its activation and awakening); : Both characters – Nausicaä and Sara – to whom this terminology can be referred have both a prophetic role in the story and also act as a point of contact between man and nature, creating a bond between them and trying to establish a sort of balance between them. In Nausicaä’s film there is the belief – erroneous – that the Sea of Decay is the evil that must be eradicated: this immense forest in which numerous and monstrous mutant insects live as well as plants that release poisonous spores into the atmosphere, slowly but progressively expanding and which is believed, as such, to threaten the survival of human beings. When, instead, and as the protagonist will discover during the film, this jungle together with its plants filters the pollution produced by human beings, thus keeping the environment healthy and clean, and even hiding clear water underneath it. Nausicaä, therefore, in a race against time will try to prevent the forest from being destroyed, together with its fauna and flora; as for Sara, we have already spoken about her, she is in fact one with nature, with which she shares a deep spiritual connection. In Nausicaä, again, there is a prophecy in which "a person dressed in a blue robe in a golden field will come down and reconnect the lost bond with Mother Earth [...]". At the end of the film, the protagonist will be able to calm the wrath of a horde of Ohmu (mutant insects), angry and attracted by one of their cruelly wounded cubs used as bait, giving, however, her life in exchange and sacrificing herself. The Ohmu, in an immense gesture of compassion towards her and happy by the return of their cub, surround the lifeless Nausicaä, starting to touch her with their tentacles and lifting her up into the sky, with her lying on this enormous golden expanse. To the amazement and disbelief of all present, they bring Nausicaä back to life in one of the most evocative, beautiful and emotionally charged scenes in all of Japanese animation. What the others see in the distance at that moment is a girl dressed in a blue dress who walks triumphantly on a golden field, effectively identifying Nausicaä as the warlord of the aforementioned legend: her figure thus becomes prophetic and messianic, the one who ultimately indicated humanity a path to peace, rebuilding the lost bond between it and Mother Earth. In Macross Zero, beyond the numerous predictions of which Sara is the protagonist, in the guise of a priestess of the Wind Clan, we saw that in the finale she can actually identify herself as the reincarnation of Rooy Waka, the first woman born according to the legend behind the creation of the Mayan island (or at least she symbolically takes on her role, being able to identify with it).

With regard to Miyazaki, the Tori no Hito concept will later appear in the music video made for the single “On Your Mark” by the Japanese duo Chage & Aska in 1994. The following year, the musical duo turned to Studio Ghibli and commissioned the latter to make a music video for the song. This video clip, released in July 1995 and lasting six minutes and forty seconds and endowed with an incredible expressive power, is set in a future in which the world is contaminated by radioactivity: during a police raid inside the headquarters of a religious sect, two policemen find an angelic creature, in the appearance of a young girl with two white wings, unconscious and chained. They manage to revive her but the girl is immediately taken away by scientists, who intend to conduct various experiments on her; the two policemen, however, thinking back to the latter, remain worried about her bad luck and, unable to forget her or pretend nothing has happened, decide to set off to save her: disguising themselves as scientists, they manage to break into the research institute where she is being held prisoner and finally manage, after a desperate and long escape, to free her, thus making her fly away and giving her back her freedom. This angelic being is known as “Tsubasa no Haeta Shōjo” (翼の生えた少女), or even “Tori no Hito” and also “Tenshi” (天使) – angel – thus confirming that, at least in Miyazaki’s vision, Tori no Hito actually seems to refer to winged creatures with “mystical” origins similar to classic angels. ▶ The official song by Chage & Aska

Graphics

I won’t dwell too much on the graphics but I think it’s right – and also respectful – to spend a few words on it: the animation studio is always Satelight (the same studio that would have taken care of the subsequent productions of Macross) and the graphics of Macross Zero are absolutely excellent. The drawing style is pleasant to the eye, marked but not excessively and at the same time delicate, and the characters are wonderfully outlined; there are some absolutely amazing images, for example the naturalistic ones in which the different forms of life that inhabit the forest are illustrated, which more than being frames of an anime look like real paintings. The colors are amazing; the forest is highlighted on every occasion, as mentioned one of the greatest strengths, undoubtedly, of the series. Not to mention the computer graphics: the models are very well made, always blended with the visual framework on the screen and portrayed with a maniacal attention to detail (but for those who worked on it it could not have been otherwise); I also believe that the best dogfights of the entire franchise are animated in Macross Zero. Breathtaking fights to say the least, engaging and capable of keeping the viewer glued to the screen, with whirling camera movements that give the scenes a continuous and superb dynamism. From the point of view of air combat, Macross Zero is one of the maximum if not the maximum representation, as said before; on the other hand it is also the debut work of the legendary Valkyrie in the internal universe of Macross, being introduced ex novo as new fighter models developed by the UN and the Anti-Un forces. And therefore a work that highlighted their performance could only be a formality. If I had to give a summary vote it would probably be a 9/10, maybe even a 9.5. I would say one of the most majestic and solemn representations that I have ever seen of our beloved dawn. ▶ Video This is Valkyrie's phenomenal transformation into its humanoid version.