Macross books & magazines
Caveat: this is nowhere NEAR a complete collection of Macross print media. And it’s probably also less than half of everything out there. I never felt the urge to be a completist on this front. But I did find the stuff that appears to occupy the top of the pyramid, so please consider this a list of recommendations if you’re on the hunt. Japanese titles are included for internet search purposes.
Let’s start with contemporary magazine coverage for the first TV series, 1982/83. Anime specialty magazines were at their peak back then with six monthly titles to follow. Just about every issue that came out during the TV run (and shortly thereafter) had coverage, but here I picked out just the ones with Macross covers.
October 1982 issue
November 1982 issue
February 1983 issue
May 1983 issue
June 1983 issue
July 1983 issue
July 1983 issue
July 1983 issue
November 1983 issue
August 1984 issue
This is Animation was a series of books similar in scope to the Roman Albums from Tokuma Shoten; coverage bounced around to different shows from one volume to the next. Four volumes were devoted to Macross, three for the TV series and one for the movie. Content was split between episode guides, illustrations, production designs, and making-of material, and each volume had something that would never be reprinted elsewhere.
Top Volume (Episodes 1-7)
超時空要塞マクロス 上巻
This is Animation the select 3
120 pages, color and b&w
Shogakukan, 1983
Middle Volume (Episodes 8-18)
超時空要塞マクロス 中巻
This is Animation the select 5
118 pages, color and b&w
Shogakukan, 1983
Bottom Volume (Episodes 19-36)
超時空要塞マクロス 下巻
This is Animation the select 7
120 pages, color and b&w
Shogakukan, 1983
超時空要塞マクロス 劇場版
This is Animation the select 11
144 pages, color and b&w
Shogakukan, 1984
Reproduction dioramas of famous TV scenes 1
超時空要塞マクロス/TV名場面模型ジオラマ再現 1
116 pages, color and b&w
Imai/Arii, 1983
Reproduction dioramas of famous TV scenes 2
マクロスからオーガスへ/TV名場面模型ジオラマ再現 2
116 pages, color and b&w
Imai/Arii, 1983
Intended to promote model kit sales for both Imai and Arii, these books were loaded with model photography and tips. They also included a fair amount of production designs. The one on the right was the first Macross book I ever bought. I found it in a hobby store, and they had no idea what it was or what they should charge for it. I think I paid 5 or 6 bucks.
マクロスパーフェクトメモリー
OUT magazine special
260 pages, color and b&w
Minori Shobo, 1984
404 pages, color and b&w
Shogakukan, 1984
If your budget or shelf space is limited, these are the two books you want. They’re very thick and chock full of everything you need for a well-rounded experience. In the case of Perfect Memory, I learned later that it was a spinoff of OUT magazine, which was created by fans for fans. Thus, they were uniquely attuned with the kind of books fans would want, and boy did they get it right with this one.
The “Gold Book” is the equivalent of Perfect Memory for the 1984 movie Do You Remember Love. Landing these two books pretty much convinced me that I didn’t need to keep looking for more when it came to the originals.
As the first official Robotech publication, this huge trade paperback carved out its own niche in anime history. Most of its pages are devoted to an episode guide for all 85 episodes with smaller design sections devoted to each series and a very well written article on the history of anime up to the mid 80s.
Long out of print, but worth your attention.
Color and b&w, 254 pages
Donning/Starblaze, April 1986
マクロス7
98 pages, color and b&w
Shogakukan,1994
Fire Bomber 公式プログラムinマクロス7
104 pages, color and b&w
Tokuma Shoten Roman Album, 1995
マクロスプラス
98 pages, color and b&w
Shogakukan, 1995
マクロスデジタルミッションVFーX
I played this game quite a lot, and was delighted to find a book that covered it as if it were an anime series with lots of juicy production designs.
Playstation game guide
Color and b&W, 112 pages
Shogakukan, 1997
僕たちの好きな超時空要塞マクロス
There are hundreds of books in the “Our Favorite” series (this one is volume 919), all of which seem geared toward the generations that missed out on the real time experience. It primarily covers the original TV series with very brief nods to the sequels.
144 pages, color
Takarajima, 2003
河森正治 マクロスデザインワークス
159 pages, color and b&w
Movic, 2001
If Shoji Kawamori is remembered for nothing else, his place in history is still assured with the genius of a seamlessly transforming Valkyrie that continues to impact the world of animation and product design today. He was in continual dialogue with that concept for decades after the first Macross series, revisiting it for games and sequels. That work is collected here up to the year 2001.
宮武一貴 マクロス&オーガスデザインワークス
113 pages, b&w
Movic, 2005
Miyatake was the master designer of just about everything in Macross that Kawamori didn’t handle, which easily made him the single most productive mecha designer of the series, if not the entire industry. This in turn was only a single jewel in his career crown, which now spans more than 50 years. This book contains an extensive collection of his work from Orguss and multiple Macross productions.
Hidetaka Tenjin Art Works of Macross: VALKYRIES
バルキリーズ 天神英貴マクロス画集
Kobunsha, 2005
Kobunsha, 2011
Tenjin is the “dean” of painted Macross art for packaging of all products; toys, models, home video, you name it. These books collect his works across multiple series. Third Sortie was published in 2016.
Variable Fighter Master File VF-1 Valkyrie
ヴァリアブルファイター・マスターファイル VF-1バルキリー
This is a book that could have come straight out of the world itself, an extensive look at the Valkyrie as a real aircraft with all of its history, specs, and variants as extrapolated from the screen and related media. It’s pure mecha porn with illustrations, CG, and enhanced model photography.
128 pages, color and b&w
Softbank Creative, 2009
Macross The First
Following the path of Yasuhiko Yoshikazu’s groundbreaking Gundam the Origin manga (serialized in Gundam Ace magazine), Macross character designer Haruhiko Mikimoto returned to his own stomping ground for a “reimagining” in the wake of its 25th anniversary. It was serialized in NewType Ace, but I gather that the magazine was discontinued and the manga went with it and remains unfinished.
6 volumes
196 pages each, b&w
Kadokawa, 2009-2013
Macross Chronicle
マクロス・クロニクル
50 volumes
Deagostini, 2008-2010
“File magazines” are a lively element of print media in Japan, essentially an encyclopedia broken up into weekly or monthly segments that you collect one by one and distribute into binders. They exist for all sorts of subjects from world history to live-action films and TV shows to anime masterpieces. Deagostini is a participant in this game, and they did a bangup job with Macross to mark the 25th anniversary.
Macross Chronicle was published biweekly for 50 issues that covered every production through Frontier and every topic you could want from character and mecha to in-universe history to merchandising. The whole run fits in five large ring binders sold separately.
After collecting these, I heard that a second edition followed that was 81 volumes long (probably to include Delta), but I didn’t feel the need to go through it all a second time.
Three of these gorgeous books were published to correspond with the three Robotech stories with this one entirely devoted to Macross. Though Robotech nomenclature is used throughout, the book is packed with genuine archival material from the original with a story guide and a huge collection of production designs. Highly recommended. Good luck finding a copy!
248 pages, color and b&w
Udon, 2017
『超時空要塞マクロス』パッケージアート集
As the most recent addition to the library, I have to single this one out for special attention since it is (A) still available and (B) awesome. Back in the early days, the thing that most captured our attention was the stunning box art on the model kits that made their way into American hobby shops. This is a treasury of that artwork, reproduced in all its vintage glory with artist credits in English and a lot of bonus content.
176 pages, color and b&w
Shogakukan, 2023
Order it here
Related books
Anime SF Plamo Encyclopedia
アニメSFプラモ大全科
B&W with color, 264 pages
June 1984, Akita Shoten
Anime mecha model kits hit their peak popularity in the early to mid 80s, and this thick paperback-size book did its best to catalog as many as possible from several different manufacturers. It also included some “how-to” articles for beginners to the hobby. Mostly B&W photos, mostly from only one angle, but a real heartwarmer if you got your start back then like I did.
高荷義之 アニメ・イラスト集
Takani was responsible for most of that box art that commanded our attention, but it was only one small part of an extensive career. This was an early compendium of paintings and illustrations for Macross, Dunbine, Gundam, Xabungle, and others
106 pages, color and b&w
Tokuma Shoten, 1983
ワンダーアート タカニスタイル
Twenty years on, Takani had twenty more years of work to add to the gallery. This volume was an even bigger collection of paintings and illustrations for anime mecha, games, box art, magazines, book covers, historical subjects and more.
144 pages, color and b&w
Oakla Publishing, 2002
Part 1: Mobile Weapons
Entertainment Bible 6
スタジオぬえメカニックデザインブック
Part 1 機動兵器編
194 pages, color and b&w
Bandai, 1989
Part 2: Space Battleship
Entertainment Bible 9
スタジオぬえメカニックデザインブック
Part 2 宇宙戦艦編
194 pages, color and b&w
Bandai, 1990
Studio Nue is the longest-running, most accomplished design house in the entire world of anime with work going back to the early 1970s. They made their first big mark with Space Battleship Yamato and were the nerve center for Macross along with countless other productions. These digest-size paperbacks collect more of their work in one place than anything else.
Bandai’s Entertainment Bible series was similar to This is Animation in that volumes were devoted to different topics. There was at least one Macross volume in the run.
美樹本晴彦 イラストレーションズ
English edition; paintings and illustrations from Macross, Orguss, Gunbuster, Gundam, and otherss
96 pages, color and b&w
Movic, 1992
河森正治デザインワークス
Huge compendium of mecha design from several Macross series, Cyber Formula, Armored Core, Patlabor, Gundam 0083 and others.
208 pages, b&w with minimal color
MdN Corporation, 2006
森下直親画集 鋼人
129 pages, color and b&w
Futabasha, 2007
森下直親画集2 鋼鬼
130 pages, color and b&w
Futabasha, 2017
As Hidetaka Tenjin is to Macross, Naochika Morishita is to Mobile Suit Gundam, but they both dabble in other worlds. For example, a fair amount of Macross paintings can be found in these two books collecting Morishita’s work among package art for other 21st century mecha anime products. (You’ll see two of his Macross cover paintings at the end of this page.)
天神英貴 WORKS
More from Hidetaka Tenjin! Box art, game art, package art and more for Gundam, Macross, Votoms, Patlabor and others. He also released a larger 20th anniversary edition in 2018, but its Macross content is minimal.
103 pages, color
Ascii Mediaworks, 2010
Yuji Kaida Illustration Collection
開田裕治画集 メカニズムの軌跡
Yuji Kaida is one of the top mecha painters in the world with a career spanning at least 40 years. This book collects his best mecha paintings from box art to posters and everything in between, with a focus on 80s and 90s anime. His Macross work is unforgettable.
Order it here
192 pages, color
Ikeda Shoten, 2022
Great Mechanics G
グレートメカニック
Quarterly magazine, Futaba Co.
Great Mechanics is entirely devoted to the craft of anime mecha design and has evolved quite a bit over its lifetime. It began as a series of “mook” paperbacks in February 2001, and expanded into a quarterly periodical titled Great Mechanics DX. This version ran from June 2009 to December 2014, then expanded again into Great Mechanics G. It continues under that title to this day.
Every issue runs about 100 pages and is generously split between new and classic titles with interviews and articles on mecha design and related merchandising. It’s always a surprise and a delight to see what the latest one brings.
The Autumn 2018 and Autumn 2022 issues featured Macross cover stories, but coverage can be found in other issues as well.