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| Hikaru, Misa, and Kakizaki are prisoners of the Zentradi! |
Original Air Date - Macross: Dec. 19, 1982.
Written by: Sukehiro Tomita. Directed by: Noboru Ishiguro, Fumihiko Takayama.
Original Air Date - Robotech: Mar. 18, 1985.
Story Editor: Steve Kramer. Supervising Director: Robert V. Barron.
PLOT - MACROSS:
Hikaru and his squad have fallen into a Zentradi trap. Quick thinking allows Max to escape - but Hikaru, Kakizaki, and Lt. Misa Hayase are taken prisoner.
Britai folds to the main fleet so that the Zentradi leader, Lord Bodolzaa, can interrogate the humans. Upon seeing the enemy forces, Hikaru and Misa realize that humanity has no chance against the full might of the Zentradi. But the interrogation gives them insight into their captors - including Lord Bodolzaa's obsession with something called "protoculture," which he is certain the humans possess.
Meanwhile, Max thinks fast, first to conceal himself from their captors, then to begin working on a rescue...
PLOT - ROBOTECH:
Rick and his squad have fallen into a Zentraedi trap. Quick thinking allows Max to escape - but Rick, Ben, and Lt. Lisa Hayes are taken prisoner.
Breetai folds to the main fleet so that the Zentraedi leader, Lord Dolza, can interrogate the humans. Upon seeing the enemy forces, Rick and Lisa realize that humanity has no chance against the full might of the Zentraedi. But the interrogation gives them insight into their captors - including Lord Dolza's obsession with something called "protoculture," which he is certain the humans possess.
Meanwhile, Max thinks fast, first to conceal himself from their captors, then to begin working on a rescue...
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| Hikaru and Misa do what they're best at: argue. I'd tell them to get a room, but the Zentradi have mostly taken care of that. |
CHARACTERS:
Hikaru lashes out at Misa for getting them captured... even though he also failed to recognize the Zentradi trap until it was too late. This leads to a fun bit of '80s sexism, as Hikaru snaps that "women shouldn't be soldiers. They're a lot cuter when they're just cooking or singing." Robotech tries to dial it down... which actually makes it worse, as Rick calmly explains that some jobs are just "too hard" for women.
Aside from allowing herself to be drawn into (another) argument with Hikaru, Misa is at her most capable. She had the foresight to conceal a micro camera to record and gather intelligence during their captivity. During the interrogation, she stops either of her subordinates from answering questions. She also observes the Zentradi's reactions to their behavior and turns them to her advantage. Being captured by the enemy is the kind of situation most people would describe as "too hard" - and of the three captives, she is easily the one making the most productive use of the situation.
She's only the second most competent person in the episode, however, because Max is on hand. He thinks fast to avoid getting captured, and he then spends the remainder of the running time improvising like mad to get himself into a position to rescue his comrades. At this point, Max is challenging Roy for the title of Most Consistently Capable Main Character.
Advantage: None.
NARRATION:
Ugh. Robotech returns to Bye-Bye Mars territory, with the narrator stubbornly refusing to shut up. This is made worse because most of the time, he's literally just telling us what we're watching as we're watching it! The Zentraedi study scans of Lisa, and the narrator helpfully says that the aliens are examining the prisoners. Minmei fears that Rick has been killed, and the narrator lets us know that she's upset. Rick reflects on Minmei, and the narrator tells us that he's thinking about Minmei. Please, Mr. Narrator: Shut up and get out of the way of the story!
The Macross episode uses narration only to set the scene at the start, and the original version of the episode is so much the better for it.
Advantage: Macross.
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| Hikaru thinks about Minmei. In Robotech, the narrator makes sure to tell us that he's doing so. |
CUTS AND ALTERATIONS:
Robotech Excessively Overdubs the Opening Fight: The Robotech version of the fight with Breetai is practically a radio play, with the characters helpfully telling us what we're looking at every time anything happens on screen. "Watch it, he's ready to charge," Max says of Breetai. "Behind you!" Lisa warns. "The missile's heading right at you - Watch out!" Rick calls. The Macross version plays out without the chatter, trusting the viewer to actually, y'know, watch what's happening on the screen.
The Argument - Hot vs. Cold: Macross's Hikaru is much colder toward Misa than Rick is. When he learns that Misa's pilot was killed, he replies, "That's what happens when you underestimate outer space." Robotech's Rick expresses condolences for the man's death, which is: (a) less interesting; (b) ignores the callback to their argument at the start of the previous episode; and (c) makes Rick's subsequent sexism feel even less palatable because of his calm.
The Interrogation Is Much Shorter: The interrogation scene has been greatly cut down for Robotech - a bizarre choice to trim, since it's not only the best scene of the episode, it's also the most important. From Zentradi questions, Misa is able to determine that the aliens have no concept of "civilians" and that they segregate themselves by sex. In Robotech, these bits of data are discussed after the fact, but we no longer see the humans actually discover them in the moment.
"Birds and Bees." A Minor Censorship Change: When the confused Zentradi ask how humans are "born," Macross's Kakizaki talks about a man and a woman making love. Robotech's Ben just mumbles something semi-incoherent about "the birds and the bees."
"Protoculture" Has a Completely Different Meaning: Both versions see the aliens demanding to know about protoculture. In Macross, Lord Bodolzaa talks about it as something from the Zentradi's distant past. His meandering explanation, which is very much that of someone grasping for information he only half possesses, ends up pretty clearly amounting to just plain culture... which ties much more strongly to the themes of the series as a whole. Meanwhile, Robotech's Lord Dolza talks about protoculture as the ancient secret of Robotechnology, lost in the course of too many wars. Thus, a thematic element is reduced to a simple plot device.
Singing Debut - A Different Song: Minmay makes her singing debut. Macross sees her singing My Boyfriend is a Pilot, which includes moderately suggestive lyrics and dance moves. Its lyrics also parellel the relationship between the listening Roy and Claudia, with Roy glancing out at the Macross's hangar as Minmay sings about how her pilot boyfriend loves his planes more than her.
In Robotech, this has been replaced with My Time to Be a Star, a generic and tinny composition which, if memory serves, will be reprised approximately 10,000 times across the next 25 episodes. The lyrics are empty, bubble-headed nonsense; when Roy glances at the hangar while Minmei sings about being a big star, I can only assume it's because he's bored with this insipid nonsense.
Oh, and Mari Iijima - Macross's Minmay - can actually sing!
Lisa - Volunteer or Conscript?: The opening narration in both versions helpfully reminds us that Misa/Lisa volunteered for this mission. There's only one problem... The Robotech version of Blind Game clearly shows Capt. Gloval ordering Lisa to fly the recon mission, with her even objecting to the order! It was a senseless change then, and it's handwaved away now. "Ignore what you actually heard in the last episode - She volunteered, and she always volunteered. There are five lights."
Advantage: Macross.
INCIDENTAL MUSIC:
As is almost always true, the Robotech incidental score is better than the Macross one. However, the end song is so much better in Macross that it isn't even funny, and the song is used in the same way as incidental music. As a result, I'm going to call this one a draw.
Advantage: None.
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| Lord Bodolzaa gets a little handsy with Misa... |
OVERALL ADVANTAGE: MACROSS:
That the original episodes have to be trimmed to allow for American advertisers is a given, and it's honestly usually pretty well done. In this episode, however, the most significant cuts are to the best and most important scene, a decision that boggles the mind given the existence of an extended flashback that could be trimmed (even removed entirely) without anyone ever noticing!
Add in that the Robotech narrator keeps elbowing his way into scenes that don't need him and the redefining of "protoculture" into a plot device with no thematic resonance, and there's just no question that the Macross version of this one is better.
OTHER MUSINGS:
This set of episodes must have been made during one of Macross's journeys across animation studios. There are multiple points in which frames are clearly missing, creating a jagged look to character movements. At other points, the screen is practically still frame with only lip movements. This is particularly visible during an early scene between Roy and Minmay. Even the smoke from Roy's cigarette looks awkward and blocky as it rises into the air.
This is a pity, because First Contact is a key episode. It gives both viewers and characters new information about the Zentradi. It introduces the concept of "protoculture." It raises the level of the Zentradi threat by showing just how powerful their destructive force really is. And it moves the relationship between Hikaru and Misa forward substantially. To borrow a term from Bablyon 5 creator J. Michael Straczinsky, this is a "Wham!" episode - but it's been animated as if it was a throwaway.
Oh, one bit of praise to the writing: This is only the fourth episode to feature Max and Kakizaki/Ben, and yet they already feel like an intrinsic part of both versions. That can be hard to pull off when characters are introduced midway through a series, and here it's been accomplished seamlessly.
Overall Rating - Macross: 8/10.
Overall Rating - Robotech: 7/10.
Previous Episode: Blind Game
Next Episode: Big Escape/The Big Escape
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