Macross Zero is an anime prequel OVA to The Super Dimension Fortress Macross consisting of five episodes. It was directed by Shoji Kawamori and produced by Satelight. It is set nine years after the fall of an alien spaceship on Earth and one year before Space War I, the first large-scale extraterrestrial war. The alien space ship, which would later be rebuilt and rechristened SDF-1 Macross, caused the formation of U.N. government and helped trigger the U.N. Wars. Amidst the violence, a U.N. F-14 pilot named Shin Kudo is attacked by strange enemy aircraft that can transform into robots. Crashing down, but surviving, on Mayan Island he learns that this remote island and its peaceful native inhabitants hold a great secret linking them to the alien space ship and would become the focus of the war, whether they like it or not. Roy Focker, a major character from the original Macross also makes an appearance in this series.

This is the first Macross series to feature real world planes and real world companies other than in in-jokes, references or cameos.

The anime series Earth Girl Arjuna (also directed by Kawamori and animated by Satelight) makes a cameo on episode 3.

On episode 3, when Aries is filming Sara on a lake, the companies Satelight and Tin House (animation companies behind the series) are labeled on her camera.

Real world equipment is seen for the first time. The Carrier destroyed in Episode 1, is in fact a US Navy Kitty Hawk Aircraft Carrier named Illustria, in homage to the HMS Illustrious Aircraft Carrier of the Royal Navy. The Merlin Helicopter and F-14 Tomcat are both seen in this episode, (used by the Royal Navy and US Navy). The Russians are represented by the MiG-29 Fulcrum, the French and Israeli's by two different types of assault rifles. Studio Nue has tried to use NATO equipment versus Warsaw pact equipment to better reflect today's world conflicts.

Animation from the original series, along with new animation sits beside real video and photo footage of recent real world conflicts in the first few minutes to set the background.