“Macross: Do You Remember Love?” is finally released on Blu-Ray – only in Japan

Since Harmony Gold Robotech was founded and Super Dimension Fortress Macross with two other animes, they had a tight grip on the franchise, preventing faithful translations of Macross titles from being released in the United States. That was until recently, when it was announced a few months ago that the Macross franchise would be streaming on Hulu for the first time ever. Unfortunately, due to Harmony Gold's interference, one major entry in the Macross franchise will likely never see a new U.S. release: the 1984 film retelling of the first Macross television series.

The first US release of the film was a heavily edited dubbed version of the film titled Battle of the Bionoids was released on VHS in 1988. A second dubbed version of the film (with the minutes cut and faithfully titled “Macross: Do You Remember Love”) was released on VHS in 1995, but a subtitled version was never officially released in North America. Unlike the rest of the series streaming on Hulu, this title still seems to be barred from legal re-release in the US. Japan, on the other hand, is fortunate that a Blu-Ray re-release of this film has been announced. An uncut Blu-Ray with English subtitles will be released in Japan on January 29, 2025 to mark the belated fortieth anniversary.

This is the first official uncut release of the film with English subtitles. Since Japan has the same Blu-Ray region code as North and South America, American fans have an incentive to import the film. Please note that Japanese Blu-Rays are significantly more expensive than their US counterparts, so fans should expect higher costs.

The Blu-Ray includes a 24-page booklet and the option to watch the original theatrical version or the Complete Edition. Japanese fans who pre-order on certain websites will receive even more extras, such as a recording script, a Macross badge, and an image of the film's previous laserdisc release. These extras will be very hard to come by for international fans.

Although there won't be an uncut release with English subtitles in the US anytime soon, one is available for import.

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