Depending on which side of the Pacific Ocean you are on, references to Macross (or its American "adaptation" Robotech) are towards its Cool Plane Transforming Mecha or, especially if in Japan (due to cultural differences and not being Screwed by the Lawyers of a certain Harmony Gold), its plethora of Idol Singers.
Anime & Manga
- 16bit Sensation: Another Layer: In the alternate 2023 Akihabara Konoha gets stuck in, mention is made of Womankind Final Mission. This is a nod to the aptly named Walkure Last Mission concert tour for the Girl Group Walküre from Macross Delta which occurred earlier that same year as the group's final concert tour.
- Anime-Gataris features multiple references and Lawyer-Friendly Cameos to the Macross franchise, going all the way from the original to the most recent at the time. See its page for more details.
- The Café Terrace and Its Goddesses has a scene where Ami Tsuruga utters the series catchphrase "Deculture" while Facepalming.
- The Daicon IV anime by Studio Gainax features a segment where the SDF-1 Macross fires off a Macross Missile Massacre…at the VF-1 Valkyrie. In addition, near the end is a cameo from Q-Taro dressed up as the Zentraedi commander Breetai.
- Lucky Star:
- The OVA has Konata Izumi refer to Miyuki Tatara as the “Galactic Fairy”, the moniker of Sheryl Nome from Macross Frontier. This doubles as an Actor Allusion, as Miyuki and Sheryl (her Non-Singing Voice that is) are both voiced by Aya Endo.
- There is an official set of figures of the Lucky Star girls cosplaying the cast of Frontier with Konata as Alto, Tsukasa as Ranka, Kagami as Klan, and of course Miyuki as Sheryl.
- Oreimo:
- Kirino Kousaka does Ranka Lee’s Kira Pose twice while singing along to the opening of Stardust Witch Meruru. This is possibly a nod to Kirino’s big brother Kyousuke being voiced by Yūichi Nakamura, who voiced The Hero Alto Saotome in the same anime. This carries over into Kirino's appearance in Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax, where she does the Kira Pose for some her animations.
- The novels also feature a character who calls himself “Skull Leader” and who ties his hair back in a matter emulating Ranka’s adoptive big brother Ozma Lee.
- Otaku no Video features multiple references to Macross as part of its Reference Overdosed nature, but a few of those references stand out among the rest.
- The end of the first OVA has the cast waiting in line for the premiere of Macross: Do You Remember Love? complete with them ogling a settei of the main cast. In addition, Kubo takes the opportunity to compare his then-girlfriend Yoshiko to Minmay, coinciding with their group's token female Yuri being compared to Misa.
- The park icon for Otakuland as conceived by Kubo and Tanaka is a bizarre mashup of the SDF-1 and Gunbuster with the Yamato and Nautilus as its carrier arms. In the Gainax Ending of the second OVA, Kubo and Tanaka board the mecha and find their rest of their group in its bridge, itself reminiscent of the SDF-1's complete with Yuri wearing an outfit evocative of Misa's.
- Episode 12 of Pop Team Epic features an eyecatch similar to the original Super Dimension Fortress Macross, which is followed up by Popuko and Pipimi beating up a bunch of Zentraedi. For bonus points, the male version has Show Hayami, the voice of Maximilian Jenius, as Popuko.
- Project A-Ko:
- The city that the OVA takes place is clearly modeled after Macross Island.
- B-Ko's appearance is an obvious nod to Minmay, complete with them sharing the same hairstyle.
- One of the major action sequences of the movie homages the climactic battle of Macross: Do You Remember Love? complete with the Fighter-Launching Sequence. As an instance of Shown Their Work, the animators even inserted a nod to one of the original scene's Freeze-Frame Bonuses in having one of the planes fire off a can of soda amidst a salvo of missiles.
- The Final Battle of Shin Mazinger Zero features the VF-1 among many other Humongous Mecha.
- Idol Singer Kanon Nakagawa from The World God Only Knows does Ranka Lee’s Kira pose in the anime. Amusingly, her seiyuu Nao Tōyama would go on to voice Reina Prowler in Macross Delta.
- Episode 4 of Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku contains a nod to Macross Frontier as Hanako says "I'll never be like your beloved Ranka" before promptly storming off. This prompts her boyfriend Tarou to reply "Are you trying to say that you're more like Sheryl?" in response.
Films
- Crimson Typhoon from Pacific Rim is a Cyber Cyclops Humongous Mecha whose head bears a partial resemblance to the VF-1’s.
Live-Action TV
- A recurring background in The Toys That Made Us feature a VF-1 in robot mode as well as a carded figure of Misa Hayase/Lisa Hayes, albeit the latter is in Robotech branding. In addition, the episode on Transformers shows a toy commercial and clip from the original Macross anime to contextualize Jetfire’s origins (see the Toys section below for more information).
Music
- The music video for "Cirno’s Perfect Math Class" by IOSYS features Cirno doing Ranka Lee’s Kira Pose, shortly before being hit by a bus.
- The aptly named MACROSS 82-99, who is one of the progenitors of the Future Funk genre.
- The Vocaloid Megpoid Gumi is a Captain Ersatz of Ranka Lee, down to being voiced by Megumi Nakajima.
Tabletop Games
- BattleTech used several mecha designs from Super Dimension Fortress Macross for some of its earliest mechanote , but these wound up being Screwed by the Lawyers following a lawsuit from Harmony Gold, which forced FASA to remove them before reintroducing them decades later. See this page for more details.
- The T’au KX139 Ta’Unar Supremacy Armour from Warhammer 40,000, with its arsenal of Arm and Shoulder Cannons, brings to mind a Destroid.
Toys
- One of the main characters of LEGO Exo-Force is named Hikaru and specializes in piloting flying mecha much like Hikaru Ichijyo of the original Super Dimension Fortress Macross. In a surprising nod, Shoji Kawamori, the head of the Macross franchise, would go on to make several MOCs of Exo-Force mecha.
- The toyline for Exo Squad featured several rebranded Macross (by way of Robotech) toys such as the Valkyries, Battlepods, and Destroids.
- Despite being a rival mecha series, Transformers has made several references to Macross.
- The character of Jetfire originated as a rebranded VF-1S Valkyrie from Takatoku Toys, which was later bought out by Bandai. Due to the Transformers franchise being a co-production between Hasbro and Takara, the latter being one of Bandai’s chief rivals, his character model wound up being completely changed as a means of Writing Around Trademarks and to avoid giving promotion to a rival company. In more recent iterations, it has become popular for new versions of Jetfire to homage his original Valkyrie toy, usually by giving him booster packs, a faceless Cool Helmet, or even the ability to assume a pseudo-Gerwalk mode. As of a 2013 lawsuit (over a non-transforming Jetfire-themed redeco of a G.I. Joe Skystriker), Harmony Gold can no longer sue Hasbro over the character of Jetfire, which has resulted in more Jetfire toys that bear a closer resemblance to the original toy, culminating in a 2021 Funko Pop that was literally a Super-Deformed Valkyrie. In turn, the character's ties to the franchise would also be referenced in a 2022 Robotech VF-1S Valkyrie figure that bears Jetfire's color scheme.
- In the concept art for IDW Publishing’s 2006 Beast Wars comics, the Cybertronian mode of the previously Toyline-Exclusive Character Spittor is a bipedal walker reminiscent of the Zentraedi Regult. This served as a major inspiration for the Animated version of the character (who was ironically regulated to being a Toyless Toyline Character this time around).
- The alternate mode of Animated Starscream (and by extension the rest of the Animated Seekers, who are all clones of him) is based on Isamu Dyson’s YF-19 from Macross Plus. The AllSpark Almanacs also feature multiple instances of Zentraedi script in the background, as part of its Reference Overdosed nature.
Video Games
- The opening of Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown features Avril's hand stretched out into the sky in the middle of a desert, which homages Isamu Dyson's introductory scene in Macross Plus.
- The Empire of the Rising Sun in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 has access to the Tengu, a Transforming Mecha that can turn from a jet to a Gerwalk-looking mecha that clearly resembles the VF-1 Valkyrie. In addition, the VX designation given to the Striker and Defender brings to mind the VF designation given to the various mecha in the Macross franchise.
- The Game Mod Red Alert 3: Paradox gives the Empire several more references, such as the VF-23 Fujin Variable Striker (complete with a reference to the Macross Missile Massacre in its tactical analysis) and the Incredible Mobile Fortress Tatsu, a cross between the SDF-1 of Macross and the White Base of Mobile Suit Gundam.
- Makoto Kikuchi of The Idolmaster has covered “Seikan Hikou” from Macross Frontier.
- The Battlecruiser captain in Starcraft is patterned after Captain Global.
Web Animation
- Several different V Tubers have covered different songs from the franchise:
- Gawr Gura of Hololive EN has sung a mashup between “Rune Ga Pikatto Hikattara” and “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire twice, as both songs sound extremely similar to one another.
- Several different Hololive members such as Suisei Hoshimachi, Tokoyami Towa, and IRYS have all covered "Ikenai Borderline".
- Ouro Kronii, IRYS, and AZKi have covered "Seikan Hikou".
Web Original
- Secret Galaxy has a five-part series covering the history of both Macross and Robotech (more so the latter).
Western Animation
- Being a love letter to various mecha anime, Megas XLR has a few references.
- In the first season finale, the Glorft Mothership transforms in a matter emulating that of the SDF-1.
- In the episode “Universal Remote”, Megas unfurls a quadruple shoulder cannon array much like that of a Destroid.
- In the Season 1 finale of Star Wars Rebels, the engine room where Kanan and the Grand Inquisitor duel in is based of the SDF-1's engine room.
- Episode 11 of Sym-Bionic Titan features mecha that bear a stark resemblance to Zentraedi Battlepods.
- Voltron: Legendary Defender features several nods to Macross/Robotech, which is fitting as both franchises underwent the Frankenslation treatment when being exported to the United States in the first place.
- A Roy Fokker look alike is seen in the Galaxy Garrison cafeteria. Hikaru/Rick, Milia/Miriya, and Max can also be seen in the group of cadets.
- The Galaxy Garrison uniforms resemble those of the UN Spacy.
- One of Voltron's attacks in the pilot involves punching through a ship and shooting the mouth beam of the lion in question... in other words, it's the Daedalus Maneuver.
- The war continuing after the main Big Bad is killed off is a reference to the storyline continuing after the big fight between the Zentraedi and the humans is over with the Zentraedi becoming accustomed to life on Earth as a result.
- The IGF-Atlas is an overt reference to the SDF-1 Macross, from the name, design of the Mission Control, and the fact that it's actually a Transforming Mecha. The name "Atlas" may also be a dual nod to both Macross and BattleTech, as the latter franchise was the target of a lawsuit by Harmony Gold over perceived copyright infringement regarding the former (one of the mechs in the latter is called the "Atlas").
- The first date of Allura and Lance draws a lot of parallels with the first date of Hikaru/Rick and Minmay.
