no...and yes? like i said, it's the 25th anniversary series, so it is jammed with homages and allusions and all sorts of insider stuff, but it can also be viewed completely as a stand alone. if you've got time on your hands and don't want to dive right into it, i would watch Macross: Do You Remember Love? (the fabulous movie version of the first Macross series) and Macross Zero, a 5 episode OVA prequel to DYRL?, because those are the two series most plot related ones it draws upon, but you could definitely just start with Frontier and then work your way through the back canon, and then re-watch Frontier and appreciate much of it on a different level.
Re: 06
no...and yes? like i said, it's the 25th anniversary series, so it is jammed with homages and allusions and all sorts of insider stuff, but it can also be viewed completely as a stand alone. if you've got time on your hands and don't want to dive right into it, i would watch Macross: Do You Remember Love? (the fabulous movie version of the first Macross series) and Macross Zero, a 5 episode OVA prequel to DYRL?, because those are the two series most plot related ones it draws upon, but you could definitely just start with Frontier and then work your way through the back canon, and then re-watch Frontier and appreciate much of it on a different level.