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| Three Zentradi soldiers receive an unusual assignment... |
Original Air Date - Macross: Dec. 12, 1982.
Written by: Ken'ichi Matsuzaki. Directed by: Noboru Ishiguro, Hiroshi Yoshida.
Original Air Date - Robotech: Mar. 15, 1985.
Story Editor: Steve Kramer. Supervising Director: Robert V. Barron.
PLOT - MACROSS:
Loli, Warera, and Condi, the Zentradi who intercepted the Miss Macross broadcast, make their report to Britai. However, that report is muddled by confusion about the meaning of the things they witnessed. Archivist Exsedol proposes that they clear up the confusion by capturing a sample of humans.
Kamujin is ordered to provoke the Macross by firing a warning shot. This will be followed by a surrender demand - not with any expectation that the humans will actually surrender, but rather to draw ships out to investigate.
Kamujin naturally interprets his orders in the most aggressive way possible, but this ends up serving Britai's plan. The attack knocks out the human ship's radar, leaving them blind in an asteroid field. A recon mission is needed just to guide the battle fortress through the asteroids.
Lt. Misa Hayase volunteers, with Hikaru and his team acting as her escorts. Meaning that she is the one who falls into Britai's trap - leaving it up to Hikaru, Max, and Kakikazi to rescue her!
PLOT - ROBOTECH:
Bron, Rico, and Konda, the Zentraedi who intercepted the Miss Macross broadcast, make their report to Breetai. However, that report is muddled by confusion about the meaning of the things they witnessed. Archivist Exedore proposes that they clear up the confusion by capturing a sample of humans.
Khyron is ordered to provoke the SDF-1 by firing a warning shot. This will be followed by a surrender demand to the humans - not with any expectation that the humans will surrender, but rather to draw ships out to investigate.
Khyron directly disobeys orders, firing directly on the human ship ... but this actually ends up serving Breetai's plan. The attack knocks out the ship's radar, leaving the humans blind in a field of planetary debris. A recon mission is needed just to guide the battle fortress through the debris field.
First Officer Lisa Hayes is assigned, with Rick and his team acting as her escorts. Meaning that she is the one who falls into Breetai's trap - leaving it up to Rick, Max, and Ben to rescue her!
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| Three humans in battle armor get into a fistfight with Britai. It ends up being a much more even fight than expected. |
CHARACTERS:
The episode begins with Hikaru and Misa once again at odds. When one of his pilots sustains a hit during a scouting mission, Hikaru wants his team to return to the ship. She berates him for violating orders, only for him to reply that in space, any hull damage could be potentially deadly.
In an amusing beat, Roy allows the two to bicker for a moment, smiling in amusement... and then steps in to settle the matter by ordering them back to the ship. As he observes, Hikaru is actually in the right... but he does go on to reprimand his friend for his insubordinate tone.
This interaction is the unlikely start of the thaw in Misa and Hikaru's adversarial relationship. After the attack, she sees one of the ships floating amidst the debris. The pilot has died of explosive decompression after his ship was damaged. Her guilt over issuing a potentially deadly order (which was fortunately countermanded) leads to her behaving more mildly in the back half of the episode.
Advantage: None.
NARRATION:
Once again, there's no substantial difference in narration between the two episodes.
Advantage: None.
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| Minmay cancels a date. Macross's Hikaru reacts much better than Robotech's Rick does. |
CUTS AND ALTERATIONS:
As usual, Robotech makes all of its cuts to the first half of the episode. Character beats are trimmed and/or simplified, while the action scenes remain fully intact - which, not for the first time, makes clear where the two series' different priorities lay.
Breetai Likes Aggression. A Lot: I cannot resist mentioning the Robotech episode's unintentionally hilarious exchange between Breetai and Exedore. After the archivist reveals his plan, he says that it will call for increased aggression. Breetai's response? "I like nothing better than aggression. Exedore, I think we should discuss this matter further in my quarters." I had to pause the episode until I stopped laughing.
Kamujin Is Wary of Exsedol; Khyron Is Dismissive: Kamujin seems to find Exsedol unsettling. He refers to him as a "walking skeleton," adding that it's impossible to know what he's thinking. He seems to be the only person Kamujin is even a little afraid of. Robotech's Khyron, by contrast, refers to Exedore as a "fool," his tone filled with disdain.
Kamujin Pushes the Boundaries of the Plan; Khyron Just Disobeys: This has become a recurring difference between the characterizations. Macross has a scene in which Kamujin carefully details how his adjustments to Britai's plans will rely on a retiring old soldier. Robotech removes this exchange and just makes Khyron blatantly insubordinate. Again.
Hikaru Watches Another Couple While Waiting for Minmay: While Hikaru waits in the park for Minmay, he notices another couple interacting and watches them wistfully. It's a nice character beat. It's also a moment that's been completely removed from Robotech.
Hikaru Responds a Lot Better to Minmay than Rick Does: A very busy Minmay ends up cancelling the date. Macross's Hikaru is disappointed, but he understands that she is fulfilling her dream. Robotech's Rick is just sulky, whining that she hasn't spent enough time with him since winning the competition. Over the previous episodes, I've mostly wished for him to move on from Little Miss Mixed Signals. The Robotech version of this scene marks the first time that I'd actually root for her to tell him to take his passive-aggressiveness and shove off!
Misa Volunteers for the Mission; Lisa Is Assigned: After seeing the pilot who died of exposure to space, Misa's guilt prompts her to volunteer for the recon mission; Robotech changes this to Gloval assigning Lisa over her objections. This undermines her sense of responsibility and determination to do something that isn't on the "warm and safe" bridge.
Hikaru Realizes They're Falling into a Trap: In both versions, enemy fighters pull the escort away from the recon ship. In Macross, Max observes that the Zentradi don't seem to be putting forth their usual effort, at which point Hikaru recognizes that this is just a diversion. Bizarrely, most likely as a result of a mistranslation, Robotech's Max says the opposite: That the Zentraedi are putting forth more effort than usual. A check of Macross's official English dub does nothing to clear up the confusion, by the way: That version features a completely unrelated line at that point!
Advantage: Macross.
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| Hikaru and his team fly escort for Misa's recon mission. |
INCIDENTAL MUSIC:
The Macross episode's incidental music is particularly weak. A tense scene mid-episode is punctuated by tinkly music that sets no tone at all. As an added bonus, it's also highly intrusive. The Robotech score is well-used throughout, greatly enhancing the second half and at least staying out of the way of the scenes in the first half.
Advantage: Robotech.
OVERALL ADVANTAGE: NONE:
The Macross episode misuses its score at points, with background music that is not only ineffective but actively distracting, while the Robotech version benefits from a greatly improved soundtrack. If all else was more or less equal, then Robotech would likely have won this round... However, the Robotech version features much weaker dialogue, and it undermines Lisa's guilt by having the captain order her on the mission instead of volunteering for it. In the end, it evens out to a wash.
OTHER MUSINGS:
Macross was a series plagued with behind-the-scenes animation difficulties. This episode marks the first time this becomes obvious. Animation is generally a bit sloppier than usual, which results in a confusing moment near the end.
While Max wrestles with Britai, he calls on Kakikazi/Ben to fire a missile at a bulkhead. This opens a hole that sucks the Zentradi out into space. A hatch closes to seal the gap... but this isn't actually animated and can only be seen after the fact, which makes it momentarily confusing why the humans don't just escape through that hole instead of trying to break open the airlock. This is not a "Robotech cut something it shouldn't have" issue - This is a problem with the original episode!
But a quick note on a Robotech issue. "M. HAYASE" is stenciled onto the ship that Misa is flying in Macross... and is still visible in Robotech, a dead giveaway as to the character name change. Today, this would take someone all of five minutes to correct on even the crudest video editing software. In 1985, given the tight budget and turnaround time, correcting it would likely have been impossible.
Despite weaker animation than usual, Blind Game is a good episode. It builds directly on the events of Miss Macross, advances various character arcs, and is entertaining in its own right. The default plot structure (Zentradi try to capture ship -> humans manage to escape) could easily become repetitive, but excellent characterization has thus far kept it fresh. Even in Robotech, which simplifies many interactions, the character work is far above average, which I suspect was the reason the series proved so successful on its US debut.
Overall Rating: 7/10.
Previous Episode: Miss Macross
Next Episode: First Contact
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