is a science fiction anime television series that aired on Tokyo MX in Japan from April 3, 2016, to September 25, 2016. The fourth television series set in the Macross universe, it is directed by Kenji Yasuda and written by Toshizo Nemoto with Shōji Kawamori being the chief director and mechanical designer, with Chisato Mita (Capcom) handling the original character design. Kawamori is also credited as the original creator along Studio Nue.
Summary
Macross Delta is set in the year 2067, eight years after the events of Macross Frontier in a remote part of the Milky Way Galaxy called the , which is plagued by the , a mysterious phenomenon which turns people berserk without any apparent cause. A team of talented idols, the , uses the power of their songs to calm down the infected by the Vár Syndrome, assisted by the Delta Flight, a team of experienced Valkyrie pilots, while facing the interference from the Aerial Knights of the Windermere Kingdom, which found a way to exploit the infection in their favor as part of their plan to resume war against the for control of the Cluster.
Production The series was sponsored by Big West Advertising and Bandai Visual. As with the previous Macross series, the Macross Delta staff have scouted new talent for the anime. Auditions began on December 1, 2014. On February 7, 2015, it was reported that over 8,000 people auditioned to star in the new series. The final selection round was held in Tokyo in late April 2015. The finalists went through interviews with the judges, and demonstrated their singing and voice performing skills.
Macross Delta held a Chō Jikū' Seisaku Happyōkai" ("The Super Dimension" Production Unveiling), a live-streamed event that revealed more details on the project on October 29 at 12:00 p.m. Kawamori appeared at the event to reveal the main staff, the winner of the audition for the new singer in the anime, and the new anime's characters.
Promotional media A promotional visual created by artist Hidetaka Tenjin an depicting 2 fictional dogfighting aircraft was posted in the franchise's official website on Friday the 25th September 2015. Kawamori confirmed that both fighters in the visual are "Valkyries" (transforming variable fighters), and he specifically cited the old Swedish jet fighter Saab 35 Draken as an inspiration for the darker Valkyrie in the background of the image. Kawamori added that he has been a fan of the Draken jet since he was a child. He also acknowledged that the blue and white Valkyrie in the foreground shares a design lineage with previous variable fighters in the Macross series and therefore was less of a challenge to design. By contrast, the background variable fighter will feature a relatively new transformation scheme that bears little similarity to those of previous Valkyries.
Shoji Kawamori explained that the two fighters have exhausts in different colors because they were developed by different companies. He also noted that he has been deliberately avoiding more direct design inspirations from current real world fighters, since stealth technology has made modern combat aircraft look too similar and harder to distinguish from each other. Kawamori added that this new series will emphasize "Valkyrie versus Valkyrie" duels as opposed to previous television series. While video productions such as Macross Plus and Macross Zero prominently featured variable fighters against each other, Kawamori admitted that it has not been the focus in a Macross television series in a long time.
The staff also presented the official designs by Shōji Kawamori for the two main variable fighters: the VF-31 Siegfried and the Sv-262 Draken III. The VF-31 is flown by the Walküre group's escorts, the "Delta Flight". Kawamori confirmed that the VF-31 is an update of the YF-30 Chronos that appeared in the PlayStation 3 video game Macross 30: Voices across the Galaxy. However, unlike the YF-30 the VF-31 design has built-in gunpods in its arms and forward-swept wings.
The Sv-262 is used by the Aerial Knights Valkyrie Aerial Knights of the Windermere Kingdom. The new variable fighter design was inspired by the real-life Saab 35 Draken. While describing the Sv-262, Kawamori mentioned that this is the first time that a Valkyrie with this unique delta wing design variant has appeared in Macross. Hidetaka Tenjin also noted that unlike other Valkyries its cockpit is not transparent.
New series logo The Macross Delta logo features a planet within the Japanese characters that form the word "Macross". Shoji Kawamori specifically noted that this planet is the main setting for the new series. He also explained that this was made deliberately in direct contrast with Macross Frontier, whose setting was primarily in space. Kawamori started to describe more details about Macross Deltas setting but stopped short and asked fans to watch "The Super Dimension" Production Unveiling event.
Kawamori pointed out that the delta symbol in the logo is made of triangular symbols to symbolize the three main thematic elements of Macross: music, a love triangle, and Valkyries. However, he also noted that the two symbols are split, and explained that this is indicative that the three elements will not come together as expected in the new story.
The Super Dimension Production Unveiling 18-year old Minori Suzuki from Aichi Prefecture was announced as the winner of the newest Macross singer auditions. Suzuki plays Freyja Wion, an aspiring idol who is full of spirit and who is always smiling. Other characters include five girls that form the "Tactical Sound Unit Walküre", the first major songstress group in the Macross anime franchise. (Macross 7 had the "Jamming Birds" group, and the PlayStation video game Macross Digital Mission VF-X had the group "Milky Dolls").
Hidetaka Tenjin is credited as the "Macross visual artist" for this series while Majiro (Barakamon, Nagareboshi Lens) and Yuu Shindo (My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU, Persona 4: The Golden Animation) adapted the original character designs by Chisato Mita (designer in Capcom's E.X. Troopers video game). Other non-Japanese staff members include Thomas Romain as worldview designer, Vincento Niemu as art designer, and Stanislas Brunet as mechanical designer.
Bandai also presented prototypes of the DX Chōgōkin models of both fighters.
Media
Anime
A Macross Delta Preview Special was aired on Japanese television on New Year's Eve in 2015, with the all-but complete first episode.
The anime premiered on Tokyo MX and BS11, along other stations in Japan on April 3, 2016. The series used twelve musical themes: two openings and ten endings. Openings by Walküre: Episodes 2-12 and 14: Episodes 15–2: Endings 1-14 by Walküre New Year Special and episode 1:
"Giraffe Blues", and Endings 15-25 all by Walküre, except one Zettai reido θ Novatick" (絶対零度θノヴァティック)" , "God Bless You", "Love! Thunder Grow"
by Mina Kubota. Episode 26: "Zettai reido θ Novatick" (絶対零度θノヴァティック)"
The series started streaming on Disney+ in several countries & territories all around the world (via the Star hub) in 2024. The series started streaming on Hulu in the United States on January 13, 2025.
Movies A compilation film with some plot changes, Macross Delta: Passionate Walküre, was released in Japanese theatres on February 9, 2018. On October 8, 2021, a new film, Macross Delta: Zettai Live!!!!!!, serving as a sequel to Passionate Walküre, was released in Japanese theaters.
Manga Four manga adaptations were officially serialized, all released in June 2016. The first one was serialized in Kodansha's Monthly Shōnen Sirius. The second, titled was written by Shoji Kawamori and serialized in Kodansha's Magazine Special. The third, , was serialized in Ichijinsha's Monthly Comic Rex. The last, , was also serialized in Monthly Comic Rex.
Music Singles Release date Title NotesDecember 31, 2015"Ikenai Borderline" (いけないボーダーライン)Digital single March 21, 2016 "Koi! Halation THE WAR" (恋！ ハレイション THE WAR)Digital single May 11, 2016 "Ichido Dake no Koi Nara / Rune ga Pikatto Hikattara" (一度だけの恋なら / ルンがピカッと光ったら ) August 10, 2016 "Zettai Reido θ Novatic / Hametsu no Junjou" (絶対零度θノヴァティック / 破滅の純情) February 14, 2018 "Walküre wa Uragiranai" (ワルキューレは裏切らない) May 27, 2020"Mirai wa Onna no Tame ni Aru" (未来はオンナのためにある)
Albums Release date Title Notes July 27, 2016 Walküre Attack! September 28, 2016 Walküre Trap! January 25, 2017 Walküre ga Tomaranai Mini album February 14, 2018 Walküre ga Uragiranai Mini albumOctober 13, 2021Walküre Reborn!
Songs Title Lyrics Arrangement Composition Strings Arrangement Vocals Episode Album Absolute 5 Kisuke Takuya Watanabe Walküre 22 Walküre Trap! Rokutsumi Sumiyo Hideyuki Daichi Suzuki Ryōki Matsumoto Kiyono Yasuno, Nao Toyama, Nozomi Nishida 9, 10 Walküre Attack! Mina Kubota Heinz (Melody Chubak) 6, 15, 18 Miho KarasawaYūsuke Katō Yūsuke Katō Walküre 3, 4, 9, 18 Walküre Attack! Kazumi Yasui Kazuhiko Katō 25 Walküre Trap! Kotomi Fukagawa Rokutsumi Sumiyo Akiko Watanabe Aneta Umuya Umuya Aneta Tatsuya Kurauchi 3, 4, 17 Walküre Attack! "Giraffe Blues" Naho H-Wonder Yūsuke Katō Mira Larrazábal, JUNNA 7 Minori Suzuki 8, 23 Zettai Reido θ Novatic / Hametsu no Junjou (single) Walküre 9, 11, 18 Walküre Attack! Kiyono Yasuno 11, 20 Walküre ga Tomaranai JUNNA 21 Zettai Reido θ Novatic / Hametsu no Junjou (single) Kotomi Futagawa Umuya Aneta Nao Toyama and Nozomi Nishida 1, 7, 17 Walküre Attack! Naoki Nishi Minoru Komorita JUNNA 18 Walküre Trap! Walküre 14, 15, 17 Zettai Reido θ Novatic / Hametsu no Junjou (single) God Bless You Katsutoshi Kitagawa Walküre 16 Walküre Trap! "Hear The Universe" Yuho Iwasato Rasmus Faber Walküre 17 Walküre Trap! Miho KarasawaYūsuke Katō Yūsuke Katō 13, 26 Walküre Attack! Naoki Nishi Minoru Komorita 1, 2, 8, 13 Walküre Attack! Maaya Sakamoto Katsutoshi Kitagawa 19 Walküre Trap! Umuya AnetaKotomi Fukagawa Tatsuya Kurauchi 1, 2, 4, 17 Walküre Attack! Toshizō Nemoto Saeko SuzukiTOMISIRO Mina Kubota Minori Suzuki, Nao Toyama, Nozomi Nishida 10 LOVE! THUNDER GLOW Kenzo Saeki SiZK SiZKStephen McNair Walküre 18 Walküre Trap! Kohei Dojima Katsutoshi Kitagawa Kohei Dojima Kiyono Yasuno, Nozomi Nishida, Nao Toyama 21 Walküre Trap! "NEO STREAM" Emi Nishida Mirai Watanabe Tatsuya Kurauchi Walküre 8, 14 Walküre Attack! Saida Kaseki TeddyLoid Nozomi Nishida and Nao Toyama 17 Walküre Trap! "Silent Hacker" Saeko SuzukiTOMOSIRO Nao Toyama, Nozomi Nishida, Kiyono Yasuno 7 Walküre Trap! "Remember 16" K.INOJO Atsushi Takashi bamboo tree Zack & Hack 11 Naoki Nishi Minoru Komorita Walküre 5, 17 Walküre Attack! "Walküre Attack!" UiNA Kōtarō Odaka Kōtarō OdakaUiNA Walküre 6, 10, 13 Walküre Attack! Happy Field Mina Kubota Happy Field Walküre 16 Walküre Trap! Mina Kubota Heinz (Melody Chubak) 8, 10, 12, 13, 15 Junko ZushiKouichi Kawashima Mitsunori Ikeda Junko ZushiKouichi KawashimaMitsunori Ikeda Walküre 15-25 Walküre Trap!
International release
Due to a legal dispute over the distribution rights of the Macross franchise, involving Studio Nue and Big West against Harmony Gold, much of the Macross merchandise post 1999, including Macross Delta, has not received an international release.
However, on March 1, 2021, Big West, Studio Nue and Harmony Gold reached an agreement on the international distribution of most Macross sequels and films. In America, these series are available for streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.
Reception