Quote:Kawamori confirmed that both fighters in the visual are "Valkyries" (transforming variable fighters), and he specifically cited the Swedish fighter Saab 35 Draken as an inspiration for the fighter in background. He added that he has been fan of Draken since he was a child.

He also acknowledged that the fighter in the foreground shares a design lineage with previous variable fighters in Macross anime and therefore was less of a challenge to design. By contrast, the background fighter will feature a relatively new transformation scheme that bears little similarity to those of previous Macross variable fighters.

The emcee also noted that the two fighters have exhausts in different colors, and Kawamori explained that this is because the fighters come from different manufacturers. Kawamori also noted that he has been deliberately avoiding more direct design inspirations from current real-life fighters, since stealth considerations have made real fighters look more similar and harder to distinguish from each other.

Kawamori added that this new series will emphasize "Valkyrie vs. Valkyrie," as opposed to previous television series. While video series such as Macross Plus and Macross Zero prominently featured variable fighters against each other, Kawamori has not done this in a Macross television series in a long time.