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New Macross Anime Holds Songstress Audition Contest
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
During a livestreamed special on Sunday, Bandai Namco Filmworks gave more details on Sunrise's new Macross animation project which was announced in June 2023. Flying Dog and Lantis are hosting a "Macross x Sunrise 'New Macross' Super Dimension Songstress Audition 2025" (or "Macross Heroine Audition") contest to find the new songstress (or songstresses) for the upcoming project.
The livestream revealed the main audition song "Ai to Ai" (written as "I to I" in the song's web link) which was written, scored, and arranged by musician Fuwari. Every week, the contest's YouTube channel will stream videos of past franchise songstresses and special guests performing "I to I." The first video below features Minori Suzuki, the voice of Freyja Wion in Macross Delta.
Entrants to the audition are limited to women between the age of 13 and 22 (as of April 1, 2025) who reside in Japan. (Entrants under 18 must have their guardians' permission.) Entrants must submit their audition photos and videos between March 2 and April 30. The second round of judging will take place online in late June, with the final judging to take place in late July in person in Tokyo.
Flying Dog and Lantis (Bandai Namco Music Live) are in charge of the music for the new project.
Two previous Macross projects, Macross Frontier and Macross Delta, held similar open auditions which selected Megumi Nakajima and Minori Suzuki, respectively. Both singers appeared on Sunday's special to discuss their own experiences during their auditions and eventual performances.
Studio Nue began the Macross franchise in 1982 with The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, a television anime series featuring the themes of a love triangle, music, and transforming fighter planes. Studio Nue worked with the advertising agency Bigwest and the anime studio Tatsunoko Production as production partners.
The franchise spawned three more television series (Macross 7, Macross Frontier, and Macross Delta), several theatrical films (starting with The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?), and several video series (including Macross II, Macross Plus, Macross Dynamite 7, and Macross Zero). Macross Delta ran from April to September of 2016, after a preview of the first episode in 2015.
The latest animated work in the Macross franchise, the Gekijōban Macross Delta: Zettai LIVE!!!!!! feature film, opened in Japan in October 2021 alongside the "Gekijō Tanpen Macross Frontier Toki no Meikyū" (Macross Frontier Film Short: Labyrinth of Time) film short.
Bigwest, Studio Nue, and Harmony Gold USA announced in April 2021 that the companies agreed to allow the immediate distribution of most Macross television sequels and films globally. The companies agreed to cooperate on the distribution of future Macross and Robotech projects.
The official Macross website announced in March 2024 that the "Star" brand of Disney+ would stream numerous anime from the Macross franchise. The Canadian version of the Disney+ platform is streaming anime from the Macross franchise. Several anime started streaming on Hulu in the U.S. on January 13.
Source: Press release
Disclosure: Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings Inc., is a non-controlling, minority shareholder in Anime News Network Inc.
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