Though I fear some eventual subpar episodes as we pass the original 26 episode season mark (apparently the series was extended during its course), we have nothing but more awesome in this week’s episodes. The Zentradi boarding action is still on going at the start of episode 23 and the Zentradi Cult of Minmay for the most part succeeds in linking up with the UN Spacy forces. Then we have the fallout from recent events on both the political-military and romantic fronts. And then Misa departs for UN HQ on carrying vital information as Max and Millia make first contact.
Hikaru’s even pulling out the Max moves lately. It’s been pretty good seeing him develop as a pilot (instead of being naturally good from the beginning like so many mecha protagonists.)
You’re telling this to the wrong commander.
Kamjin’s reply.
The Zentradi initially make progress inside the Macross until the combination of UN reinforcements and Cult of Minmay deserters disrupt their lines and force a gradual retreat. Hikaru is dealing with the remaining forces when he comes to the amphitheater in time to see Kaifun make his move on Minmay. Eventually she pushes him away, but Hikaru has had enough of it, calls for a team to rescue them, and walks off in his VF-1. Around a nearby corner he runs into several Zentradi Regults and enters BERSERKER mode, charging straight into them and annihilating the group.
Kissing cousins.
Minmay, on the path to redeeming herself.
Sad robot.
Why bother with Coordinator genetic engineering when all you need is rage?
The Cult of Minmay deserters disembark from their craft and surrender themselves to the UN forces. After the remaining hostile Zentradi retreat Hikaru is called to a meeting. There Global, Misa, Max, two senior officers, and the Genshiken Team are waiting to hear his opinion on whether or not the Zentradi deserters should be taken in or not. While his first reaction was to turn them down, after hearing Misa’s case and reconsidering he decides that his opinion as someone who has observed the Zentradi onboard their own ships is that they should stay. Integrating them may be difficult since all they’ve known is war, but they did come voluntarily at great risk to be part of human culture. Their DNA matches that of humans as well, but the two senior officers are not happy with Captain Global’s decision and feign illness to leave early. Surveying the damage later, Misa and Hikaru come across Minmay’s relatives who they inform of Minmay’s whereabouts. As they leave to visit her at the hospital, Hikaru and Misa agree to watch the restaurant and have another personal talk. They both wonder about the future of the Zentradi defectors, but the topics also turn personal, with Misa admitting that she’s over Kaifun, and that it was based only on his outward similarity to her past love. Hikaru is still not ready to admit what he knows to be true, and Misa selflessly suggests that he tell Minmay his feelings.
Broken, like the one it was modeled on. Still, given her recent improvements there may yet be hope for something other than the BAD END.
I’m interested in finding out what the Cult of Minmay faction will be doing now that they have been permitted to stay. Are they going to continue as pilots or just stalk Minmay?
They’ve been speaking to each other more and more seriously lately.
Pretty neat part where their talk about the war is matched by a flashback background. These episode are just full of cool shot sequences, as I’ll continue to comment on throughout this post.
Misa admits her past mistakes in the CUTEST MANNER POSSIBLE.
Before too long there is a scramble alarm and Hikaru rushes to launch. There is a brief skirmish of little significance, but afterwards Misa asks Global for permission to head to UN HQ and personally present the evidence and information on the Zentradi and their defectors that has recently been acquired in the hopes of opening negotiations. However she leaves without telling Hikaru, or anyone else, lest news of her trip get out and make the civilians jealous of her ability to return home.
Hikaru is still working the last of the Minmay out of his system, but shows a slight smile after Misa wishes him luck and for once they don’t bicker or take shots at each other.
Another one of those cool sequences. Goes from Misa in foreground with Hikaru walking away not knowing that she’s leaving, to split screen that rotates and reverses facing, then back to single screen with Hikaru in foreground and Misa in the back. Though I wasn’t wild about the sketch-drawn looking last frame that they ended the episode on, thought it took away from the feeling of movement that the rest of the sequence had.
As Misa prepares to leave several Valkyries are undergoing repairs as Max readies to escort her shuttle back to Earth and spots a FAST Pack, an attachment of some sort latched onto Hikaru’s VF-1. On the bridge Shammy continues her on the job training in Misa’s steed with slowly increasing success. Right before the shuttle takes off Misa phones Hikaru, telling him of the mission and her reasons for not telling him of her departure. After that, with the radar clear of enemies, Misa and her escort fighters launch for Earth.
Her supervisor checking up on her.
A new toy.
Max is going to be extra stylish in his newly repainted blue Valkyrie.
Is that Frau Bow in the background?
The shuttle proceeds to Earth until Kamjin and a group of Regults ambush it and its escort. Max’s team is greatly outnumbered, but it will take 20 minutes for reinforcements to reach them. At this point Capt. Global calls for the deployment of the ‘Booby Duck’ apparently the codename for the FAST pack-equipped Valkyrie. Hikaru climbs in and launches, the huge boosters attached to the top of the fuselage allowing him to arrive on scene extremely quickly. The setup is also equipped with a large amount of missiles, which he uses to clear a path through the Zentradi before firing reverse thrusters and shakily coming to a near stop. With Hikaru there Max’s team drives off the Zentradi attackers with only some damage to the shuttle.
Kamjin’s forces backlit by a globular cluster.
Certainly makes it bulkier, but in space it shouldn’t make too much of a difference. Not recommended for atmospheric use.
Damn Max, 30?! Max is here to kick ass and chew bubble gum, and evidently there’s a severe bubble gum shortage on the Macross.
While they take up a lot of space, these seat/escape pod combos are a great idea for transporting VIPs.
With the Zentradi gone, the shuttle begins descending to Earth. Before Hikaru and the shuttle part ways he and Misa have a short conversation where he thanks her for being such a good tactical officer, even when he’s complained or given her a hard time for it. Signaling a good luck message with his VF-1’s lights, the two craft and individuals then part ways for now. Landing at Alaska Base, Misa greets her father formally and heads inside to discuss the future of the Zentradi defectors and Earth’s response to the enemy fleet.
A very nice gesture.
More camerawork eye candy. Camera is close up to each character then pulls away to show their craft. I haven’t really seen many shots like this in anime, only sometimes in certain modern, CG-using science fiction shows.
Hikaru is troubled when he returns to the Macross, trying to get over his past feelings for Minmay and also missing Misa greatly when Max, ever the good friend, tells him to cheer up and invites him out to an arcade for a diversion. Hikaru claims that he doesn’t miss Misa, but Max, displaying his tactical genius in both air combat and social situations, deftly maneuvers around this denial and continues on with his plan to cheer him up while subtly letting his words about missing Misa stand. Apparently Max is also the best simulator pilot on the ship as well, and he racks up quite a large amount of prize tokens playing a Valkyrie simulator. But there is another skilled real/game pilot there, and Millia is attracting a crowd with her skills.
Always good to have a friend like Max.
Max is being especially cutsey in this scene. Must know Millia might be watching.
Holding court at the arcade.
Once Max spots Millia and her good fortunes at the game, he can’t help himself from challenging her to a game. She demands that he bet all his winnings to play, which he gladly does and sits down. A big crowd gathers, and everyone focuses their attention on their game. He even gives a quick wink to the girl that he’s so smitten with. They play a long and intense game, and Millia flashes back to her battle over the Pacific as the maneuvers employed by her opponent are spot on to those she encountered in the past. Eventually Max gets the better of her, but before she tries to leave in a huff Max grabs her hand and asks her out on a date. And she agrees, leaving Max quite the happy guy but Hikaru feeling even more down over his current romantic situation.
The clash of titans.
What the hell is up with the background characters this episode? Upper right of both of these has some very odd looking individuals.
Wish I had this moment in animated gif format.
Rock Em Sock Em Valkyries.
Aces in love.
When someone with a knack for estimating distances goes ecchi.
Max has no need for silly games and pretend wedding ceremonies.
Concluding events this time, Misa meets with her father at the UN Alaska base where she convinces him to talk the higher ups into negotiating with the Zentradi. While they agree to this, they’ve also determined that they will use the Grand Cannon built into the base first, and then negotiate once the Zentradi are weakened. Misa however doubts that power of the superweapon in the face of superior Zentradi numbers and technologies. Back on the Macross Minmay and Kaifun give a press conference as Kaifun is released from the hospital. Nosy reporters keep pressing them about whether they have a relationship, if they’re getting married, and about Hikaru. Minmay tells them that Hikaru is just a close friend and that she is not getting married to Kaifun. But then Kaifun makes things creepy by saying that he wouldn’t be opposed to marrying his COUSIN. Hikaru is further feeling depressed as Max comes in all giddy about his date, asking Hikaru for his opinion on the tie he’s going to wear. Going out for a walk he runs into Claudia, who gives him some sage advice, telling him that he shouldn’t be down about Minmay because he already has a much better girl. Without directly bringing up Misa’s name, Claudia tells him that people often miss what’s right in front of them, and that minor bickering is just an outward face of true feelings that have yet to reveal themselves. Roy and her were the same way, and she leaves Hikaru with this thought as the episode comes to a close.
Adm. Hayase: “Misa, I am your…”
Misa: “Yeah dad, I know, you bring up that reference every time we stand on this platform. It’s getting old!”
Adm. Hayase: “Search your feelings, you know it to be true!”
Genetically, your DNA would be.
Kind of has the private high school uniform look going on. Guess he’s betting on Millia having a thing for younger guys.
You are transparent…Claudia sees many things…She sees dere within tsun…She sees two great rivals – House Hayase and House Lynn – competing…She sees you at the center of it.
Final Thoughts: – The Zentradi defectors are going to be interesting to watch as they integrate with the humans and potentially have to fight their former comrades.
- Misa’s trip to UN HQ comes at an inopportune time for her and Hikaru, but perhaps it will both give him time to end things with Minmay.
- The UN higher ups have a point about using the cannon, but it could also be held in reserve as a bargaining chip in negotiations. If it doesn’t live up to expectations they will have shown their hand when it might be better to bluff.
- I think Max and Millia are about to get kyaaaa cute. I swear to God, if either of them die during the course of this series I’m going to freak the hell out.
- Now that I think about it, there is a lot less emphasis on the singing and music careers in this as opposed to Frontier. This is not a bad thing in my opinion.
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12 Comments
Well, technically, Kaifun’s only Minmay’s cousin by marriage, although they certainly look similar (maybe that’s just the hair, though).
Next, it’ll be the downward descent into QUALITY, but that’s only giving the REAL animators time to work on one of the best-animated TV episodes you’ll ever see.
Ah, Claudia…so often overlooked, but one of the characters that truly makes the show, IMHO. I think her V.A., Noriko Ohara, really is one of the best actresses in anime I’ve ever heard…there’s such a sadness in her voice in the post-Focker episodes…
LOL at the Gundam Seed and Start Wars references.
The “new toy” a.k.a. the “Booby Duck” really looks BADASS. If I’m not mistaken it is technically the grand daddy of the VF-25’s Super Pack.
Also, I’ve never realized before how AWESOME the camera work was in SDFM. Props for making me reallize that AFTER 20 YEARS.
“Max is going to be extra stylish in his newly repainted blue Valkyrie.”
If we ever get invaded by aliens and our engineers develop Valkyries, I want it to have that EXACT PAINT SCHEME. I’m gonna avoid the brown color scheme like the plague.
Heh, yeah, next episodes animation had some really spotty places. ^^
As for less emphasis on the music, each series stands on its own. Frontier certainly went more for the music numbers, but I actually think it made the series more viscerally exciting. I’d say SDFM has Frontier beat on the storyline front, though. Especially since it set up the whole universe, giving Frontier much more place to play around a bit.
I don’t think I could really decide who is more awesome, Misa or Sheryl.
Another great couple of episodes, IMO these eps have some of the best character development of the whole series.
The “Booby Duck” is what is eventually known as the Super Valkyrie with each of those pods in the back containing a good number of micro-missiles which launch from the four ports on their sides. Another variant exists that replaces the right dorsal pod with twin lasers called the Strike Valkyrie, but this is saved for the movie.
Also, Max doesn’t just get a repaint, but a full upgrade to a VF-1J (same variant Hikaru was using) from his trusty VF-1A.
Finally, just for lulz, I believe the more direct translation of Max’s lines in the arcade are “bust 88cm, will expand when unwrapped.” That said, the eps I warned you about are coming up.
@ Yot-chan
Yeah, Claudia is a great supporting character. The way she speaks post-Roy always has a sad note to it even when she’s trying to cheer up Misa or talk to Hikaru. Her voice never lets you forget what happened to Roy, even long after his death.
@ grss1982
The camerawork, along with the character development, are the things that make me love this series so much more than the original Gundam, despite primarily being a Gundam fan. Hell most modern series don’t approach the levels of each in this original series.
@ Magnus
Once I watch all the old Macross I’m going to go back to Frontier to truly appreciate how fleshed out the background was. I didn’t dislike (most) of the singing elements in Frontier, I just thought it was kind of silly to devote so much time to it in the middle of a war.
My vote is for Misa. In my mind, of the two series I’ve watched/am watching: Misa > Sheryl > Minmay > Ranka. Though Minmay still has time to screw things up even worse than Ranka, so the last two are tentative.
@ d3v
The Strike Valkyrie sounds sweet. That’s cool that Max gets a later model VF-1 to go with the custom paint scheme.
I’ll have to go back and listen to that scene, I was laughing too much to really hear much of what was said in that line.
You should do this with macross 7 afterwards ^^ its awesome to watch this kind of series nowadays.
It’ll be interesting if you do Macross 7, it’s really the baptism of fire to see if one is really a Macross Lifer.
But yes Max and Millia are AWESOME, probably one of the greatest equal partner relationships in all of anime.
If I were you, I would make an exception and review the next three episodes instead of only the next two in your next post, even if it took you an extra week. You’ll know why after you watch them (and the one after it). On the meanwhile, dammit man, reading you makes me feel like if I was watching Macross for the first time all over again. Thanks a lot for giving the old glory a chance, and good to know that you’re loving every second of it so far.
This marks the point beyond which I’ve only seen the Robotech dub; it’ll be interesting to see if there are any significant differences (apart from the confusing stuff with the Robotech Masters that was supposed to lead into the ‘next’ series, i.e. the dubbed Southern Cross).
Max’s impression of Millia was translated: “Bust about 55cm…will expand when unwrapped.” in the version I saw. If anything that’s even funnier, because it implies he’s expecting to have a chance to unwrap her in the near future.
@ Dennis and Square
I’m considering it. I’ll have to take into account how good vs horrible it is since I hear so many…interesting things about it, heh. My next retroblogging series is likely going to be a mecha series to make up for the lack of mecha in new shows lately. I must keep hope alive for my brothers and sisters in mecha-dom!
@ Lindem
Hmm, I shall think on this after I watch the next two episodes. Thanks for the heads up. It’s such a fun series to watch and to blog, and aside from that one recap episode I can’t find any serious complaints about it. The characters undergo nicely done development, the mecha are cool, there are actual tactics and military technical details, and I even get couples to root for
@ Keith
After listening to it a couple times, it’s a hard call to make on that translation. I’m having trouble picking out two words that would make the difference in translations.
He definitely says “Bust about 85 cm” (バストは八十五ぐらい). But the second sentence is harder for me to figure out. The first part sounds like he says “in future” (未来と) which would support your version. But the pace of his words picks up for the words immediately afterwards which makes it difficult to figure out which verb he’s using. It almost sounded like he says “type” （タイプ）near the end which might be why the fansubbers who did my version gave the translation they did. However I think this is more likely verb+たい, to want to do something. Wish I had a Japanese DVD rip with the Japanese subtitles left in, that would make things super simple, but as it is with the pew pew laser sounds going on, the music, and Max picking up speed in his words for the key verb, it’s difficult for me to pick out the word he’s using. I’d welcome someone with better listening comprehension giving their opinion. I often have more listening comprehension difficulty with male speakers due to the lower pitch/bass that tends to blur words together.
Given that “in future” comes through pretty clear and that (verb)+tai is plausible given what I could pick up, it is the verdict of this court that Max is having perverted thoughts. Though my best guess is that he isn’t speculating on whether they expand, but making a mental note about wanting to investigate in the future. If I were in the fansubber’s position, that’s what I would put into the finished product.
@ExecutiveOtaku: The version you’re watching is not a fansub, it’s the ADV sub. The earlier AnimEigo sub translates it as “Will expand when unwrapped.” I *believe* the line in question is: いがいときあっさするタイプだな, but I’m not sure, since he’s talking pretty fast.
Both the ADV and the AnimEigo subs are good, and generally hew pretty close to each other. Occasionally, though, there are some differences…and a couple of times in the show, the lines are completely different.
(I know, because for the Galaxy Network version, I’m checking both versions against each other to choose which one I think is best. I find myself drawing more from the AnimEigo subs, but the ADV subs are usually just as good, sometimes better.)
@ Yot-chan
The verb could be 圧搾する for compression. Then it would work with いがいと＿＿＿＿タイプだな and match the sounds you heard. Which would be more in line with the ADV translation, I guess. Like, he notes the size and then ‘but aside (from this fact) she seems the type to keep them compressed/bound/”under wraps”‘
Guess I reverse my position on that one. Now that 圧搾する seems to fit some of the sounds for the verb, the ADV ones make more sense. Certainly was hard to figure out what verb he was using. The sounds I originally thought were there were kisatsu suru or something along those lines. Thanks for the clarification.