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| Misa, Hikaru, and company all receive promotions. |
Original Air Date - Macross: Jan. 9, 1983.
Written by: Sukehiro Tomita. Directed by: Noboru Ishiguro.
Original Air Date - Robotech: Mar. 20, 1985.
Story Editor: Steve Kramer. Supervising Director: Robert V. Barron.
PLOT - MACROSS:
Hikaru, Misa, Kakizaki, and Max receive a hero's welcome on the Macross. They are promoted, they are the guests of honor at a public reception, and they receive leave. Despite this, Hikaru and Misa find it difficult adjusting to what had been normal life, and neither feels comfortable being called a hero.
Zentradi spies Loli, Warera, and Conda are also having trouble adjusting. They have no frame of reference for the things they see on the Macross. They find themselves filtering everything, from changes of clothing to advertising signs, through their military background, which cannot accommodate much of their new experiences.
Meanwhile, after hearing Misa's report, Capt. Global decides that the Zentradi simply will not be willing to destroy the ship. He hatches a desperate gambit for the sake of the people on the Macross. But his plan doesn't account for the defiance of Zentradi commander Kamujin Kravshera...
PLOT - ROBOTECH:
Rick, Lisa, Ben, and Max receive a hero's welcome on the SDF-1. They are promoted, they are the guests of honor at a public reception, and they receive leave. Despite this, Rick and Lisa find it difficult adjusting to what had been normal life, and neither is comfortable being called a hero.
Zentraedi spies Rico, Bron, and Kondo are also having trouble adjusting. They have no frame of reference for the things they see on the SDF-1. They find themselves filtering everything, from changes of clothing to advertising signs, through their military background, which cannot accommodate much of their new experiences.
Meanwhile, after hearing Lisa's report, Capt. Gloval decides that the Zentraedi simply will not be willing to destroy the ship. He launches a desperate gambit for the sake of the people on the SDF-1. But his plan doesn't account for the defiance of Zentradi commander Khyron...
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| The Zentradi spies are confused by everything they see - including differences between men's and women's clothing. |
CHARACTERS:
The most interesting aspect of both versions is the theme of culture shock. The Zentradi spies boggle at literally everything they see, from changes of clothes to the various advertising displays around the city. Hikaru and Misa also experience a degree of this, both seeming uncomfortable in their return home. Misa returns to the bridge almost immediately. Hikaru attempts to return to duty. Roy orders him back to standby, insisting that he take his leave whether he wants it or not.
Advantage: None.
NARRATION:
This episode apparently occurred on opposite day. For a change, it's the Macross episode that suffers from overuse of narration, while Robotech is more sparing. It's Macross that feels the need to tell us that the Zentradi spies are on the ship, right before we see them on the ship discussing their mission, and it's Robotech that just cuts straight into the scene and trusts us to follow along.
An even more egregious example occurs during the briefing. In Macross, the narrator summarizes the group's discoveries. In Robotech, Lisa reveals her findings while making her report, which plays far better.
I never thought this day would come - but this one time, the Robotech episode is much less intrusive in its narration than the Macross one.
Advantage: Robotech.
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| The command staff is skeptical of Misa's report. |
CUTS AND ALTERATIONS:
Robotech Cuts More Abruptly to the Zentraedi Spies: Robotech cuts the shots leading up to the first scene with the Zentraedi spies. This does mean that Macross's unnecessary narration is removed, which is a good thing. But it does make for an abrupt and jarring scene transition.
No More Disco: The spies steal their clothes after they see the three bridge officers going to change out of their uniforms. In Macross, we hear the bridge officers chatting about going to the "disco." Robotech was released in 1985, by which point disco was dead and its corpse rotting, so the dialogue has been adjusted to remove that reference.
Rick Makes Fun of Ben at the Briefing: In both versions, it quickly becomes clear that most of the command staff do not believe the escapees' report. In Robotech, Ben comments on this, and Rick teases him that it's because he looks shifty. I prefer this to the original version, in which Kakizaki remarks on Misa's impressive memory, only for Hikaru to whisper back that she's smarter than Kakizaki will ever be. In Robotech, Rick is clearly teasing in a good-natured manner; in Macross, Hikaru is just being mean, and for no good reason.
A Change of Rank: In Macross, Hikaru is promoted to First Lieutenant, and Kakizaki and Max to Second Lieutenant, while Misa is made a captain. Robotech adjusts those to match the US navy, where the original promotions would have the characters jumping two ranks in one go. Thus, Rick becomes a Second Lieutenant and Misa a full commander.
Macross Lingers More on the Spies' Culture Shock: In Macross, there are multiple shots in which the three spies stare at the sight of males and females mingling, which reinforces their society's strict segregation of the sexes. Robotech dispenses with this (got to get in that extra ad break!), jumping straight to the comedy moment in which Bron realizes that his clothes - which include a skirt - are for women and not for men.
Better Dialogue at the Reception: The newly anointed heroes wait on stage in front of the public. Macross's Misa complains to Hikaru that she doesn't like events like this, while Robotech's Lisa tells Rick that she actually felt more comfortable as a prisoner. Then Minmay comes out to aware each of them with flowers. The crowd cheers for her... and Macross's Kakizaki complains about Minmay getting attention at their reception, while Robotech's Ben instead expresses unease about being put on display. In all of these instances, the Robotech lines are sharper, better, and more in character.
Return to Duty: But Robotech worsens the dialogue in the scene in which Lisa returns to the bridge. In Macross, Claudia teases Misa for being too serious. Misa instantly puts on a fake "giggly schoolgirl" attitude, then asks if that's really how she should behave. This is both fun and in character (and it helps that she's dead right). Robotech just has her blandly appreciating the well wishes, with the "giggly" animations at odds with the changed context.
Khyron's Motives Are Simplified: In both versions, Kamujin/Khyron attacks the SDF-1, but with very different motivations. Macross's Kamujin worries that the battle fortress will escape (again) and that it will reflect badly on his clan. Robotech's Khyron makes no mention of these concerns. He's just tired of being held back from fighting the way he wants to.
Advantage: None. Each version has multiple scenes that work better than its counterpart.
INCIDENTAL MUSIC:
Robotech's music is not only better, in this episode it's extremely well used. For example, the Robotech theme is invoked not during an action scene, but instead as music that is played at the heroes' public reception. The theme is often distracting when used as incidental music; in this context it works perfectly. And yes, it all but goes without saying that the action scenes in the second half benefit greatly from the Robotech music. Macross doesn't do anything wrong in this area, but it doesn't do anything special either.
I will say that both Macross's Minmay and Robotech's Minmei desperately need to get a new song. We have heard their respective debut songs three times in the last four episodes. I may like My Boyfriend Is a Pilot a lot more than This Is My Time to Be a Star, but at this point both songs are getting equally old.
Advantage: Robotech.
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| Minmay performs for the newly anointed heroes. Character art is noticeably less detailed than in previous episodes. |
OVERALL ADVANTAGE: ROBOTECH:
This is a rare instance in which Robotech feels more polished. The music is better, the narration is more sparing, and even much of the dialogue is sharper - and dialogue is not generally Robotech's strong suit! I wonder if, by this point in production, Macross was facing a crunch and there just wasn't time to properly polish this particular script. Whatever the case, watching the two versions is a bit like comparing a rough draft to a final draft.
OTHER MUSINGS:
I've read that Macross's production ran into problems, including an increasingly tight schedule and multiple switches of animation studios. Given that three of the past four episodes have had visible issues, I'd wager that this run of episodes came during a crisis point.
Whatever the case, there are once again some obvious problems. Characters appear noticeably less detailed than in most of the past episodes. There are also visual continuity errors - glaring ones. At the episode's climax, the ship undergoes its transformation into Giant Robot Form (TM). A few shots later, it is briefly a ship again, only to return to being a robot a few shots after that. Warera/Bron, who unwittingly put on a skirt early in the episode, is suddenly in that skirt again during the transformation... and back to pants a single shot later.
Though I think the Robotech script for this episode is generally more refined than the Macross one, in both cases I find myself wishing that it had been split in two. I would have liked a full episode dealing with the characters' return to the ship and their issues adjusting to that, and I think the action plot that dominates the second half could easily have been expanded into its own episode. If I'm right about the production crunch, though, that might have been asking too much of the beleaguered production team at this point in Macross's development.
Despite the issues, this is a solid episode - even if, for a rare change, Robotech ends up doing better by it than Macross did.
Overall Rating - Macross: 6/10.
Overall Rating - Robotech: 7/10.
Previous Episode: Big Escape/The Big Escape
Next Episode: Global Report/Gloval's Report
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