I think you should watch it
The first half may have a lot of plotlines that seem frivolous or melodramatic, but it provides great contrast for the actual masterpiece second half. If you're even a little entertained, watch until the end.
The story takes place in the years preceding and during the French Revolution. It's historical fiction: emphasis on fiction, a lot of the shit even with real people just didn't happen. So consider all the characters as just characters. I think the anime does a great job at development: character development and world development. Slowly over the course of 40 episodes you can see France change and the characters change with it. Oscar starts off as a noble and very loyal to the queen, but she's also a person with an extremely upstanding moral character, which, without giving too much away, doesn't lead to her staying that way.
It feels like a 70s anime for sure, but also the best 70s anime to exist.
I think Oscar may be my favorite anime character ever.
Since all almost all Macross is standalone there is no harm in putting stuff on hold between entries. Since Yamato is space opera/sci-fi doing a historical melodrama afterwards in RoV maybe would be more refreshing than a Macross entry