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| A chance for peace: Exsedol meets with Capt. Global. |
Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Messenger
Original Air Date - Macross: Apr. 17, 1983.
Written by: Ken'ichi Matsuzaki. Directed by: Katsuhito Akiyama, Noboru Ishiguro.
Robotech: The Messenger
Original Air Date - Robotech: Apr. 8, 1985.
Story Editor: Steve Kramer. Supervising Director: Robert V. Barron.
PLOT - MACROSS:
After Lord Britai orders a cease-fire, Archivist Exsedol travels to the Macross as a peace envoy. He meets with Capt. Global, the other leaders on the ship, and the Zentradi defectors, and all of those present try to figure out what happens next. However, even if the cease-fire holds, there is still the issue of the Zentradi main fleet: more than 4 million ships, enough to overwhelm the Macross, Britai's fleet, and even Earth through sheer force of numbers!
PLOT - ROBOTECH:
After Lord Bree'tai is convinced to order a cease-fire, Exedore travels to the SDF-1 as a peace envoy. He meets with Capt. Gloval, the other leaders on the ship, and the Zentraedi defectors, and all of those present try to figure out what happens next. However, even if the cease-fire holds, there is still the issue of the Zentraedi main fleet: more than 4 million ships, enough to overwhelm the SDF-1, Bree'tai's fleet, and even Earth through sheer force of numbers!
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| The Zentradi defectors react to seeing Exsedol. |
CHARACTERS:
One element of this episode that I appreciated in both versions: the captain is realistic in his reaction to the Zentradi peace overture. He is hopeful that the cease-fire is authentic, but he remains ready for a trap. When he leaves to meet with Exsedol, he orders Claudia to fire on the enemy if they do anything aggressive.
Several amusing moments are wrung from Exsedol's confusion about human culture. He fully believes that Kaifun actually possesses the superpowers seen in the martial arts movie. He also refers to Minmay's singing as a psychological attack; when the Macross command staff doesn't understand what he's talking about, he entertainingly performs a few lyrics from My Boyfriend Is a Pilot, complete with falsetto voice and exaggerated twisting motions.
Though these moments are funny, the episode never reduces him to a comedy figure. He's the perfect representative to the humans, reasonable and intelligent, but capable of being firm. The response of the renegade Zentradi to him is telling. Milia provides an instant salute, responding automatically to a superior officer. The three defectors quake in terror until he assures them that he isn't here to harm them. Given that this show was a product of the '80s, it's fair to compare this to the reactions of a Soviet defector arriving at a meeting only to find that the head of the KGB is the guest of honor.
Advantage: None.
NARRATION:
Robotech (again) doesn't trust its audience to keep up with the plot turns. Narration is layered over the entire scene in which Bree'tai's flagship shoots down Khyron's fighters to stop an attack on the humans, all to make sure that even the dumbest child will understand what's happening.
Macross lets the same scene play out without narration, because those writers did trust the viewers to comprehend. Besides, there's a Britai/Kamujin scene immediately after it that provides a full explanation. As a result, the Macross version of the scene is more dramatically effective... and it feels nice to be respected as a viewer rather than to be talked down to.
Advantage: Macross.
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| Exsedol has a plan - and it's a lot more detailed in Macross. |
CUTS AND ALTERATIONS:
Britai Acts Alone; Bree'tai Follows Orders: For some reason, the Robotech episode insists that the cease-fire was ordered by Lord Dolza, meaning that Bree'tai is just doing as he's been told. Macross makes it clear that Britai is acting alone, improvising to try to control the disorder within his fleet... which is the version that makes sense, given that in both episodes the crisis point comes when the main Zentradi fleet learns what is happening. I suspect this was a product of a very rushed translation/script writing process.
Animation Error Removed: Probably the only change that's for the better, and it's purely cosmetic: In the Macross episode, while Col. Maistroff drives Exsedol through the city, a red car randomly flashes onto the screen before blinking away again. Robotech snips away that shot, deleting the error.
Exsedol Encounters an Additional "Military Secret": Exsedol is stunned by a poster showing a woman in a skimpy swimsuit. The colonel, embarrassed, allows him to believe this is a "military secret." Robotech ends the scene there. Macross continues, with Exedole then noticing a brassiere in a shop window and asking for clarification of this "armor's" purpose, showing him - just like Milia - viewing everything through the lens of a fully militarized culture.
Robotech's Exedore Thinks Max Was a Zentraedi Prisoner: Another continuity error. In Macross, Exsedol recalls Hikaru from his time as a Zentradi prisoner, but he only recognizes Max from the wedding broadcast. In Robotech, Exedore seems to believe that Max was also a prisoner, even though he was the one who evaded capture and ended up breaking the others out. Oopsie.
Misa's Father Actually Has Two Brain Cells; Lisa's Does Not: Misa's father does not expect the cease-fire to hold. In Macross, he reasons that the cease-fire is only with the small portion of the Zentradi that are already here, and he predicts (accurately) that it won't apply to their main fleet. In Robotech, because Lisa's father is ambecile, his only justification is to huff that "the Zentraedi cannot be trusted."
Protoculture: For Macross's Zentradi, "protoculture" is human culture, with the threat being the disruption caused by exposure to such a different way of life. In Robotech, "protoculture" has been re-imagined as a MacGuffin to be chased, and so dialogue adjustments make clear that the Zentraedi want to recover the "protoculture factory" on the SDF-1. Bree'tai also informs Azonia that their fleet needs that factory because the Zentraedi supplies of protoculture have run out.
Exedole's Plan: Though Exsedol presents the same plan for dealing with the main fleet in both versions, the Macross episode allows him to share substantially more detail. The Robotech version skims over these same details, presumably on the theory that kids will find strategy boring.
Advantage: Macross
INCIDENTAL MUSIC:
Both episodes use their incidental scores to perfectly fine effect. The Robotech episode might get a slight edge from the music buildup near the end, when we see the main fleet, but it's not enough of one for me to give the nod to either version this time.
Advantage: None.
OVERALL ADVANTAGE: MACROSS:
This is an excellent episode. That said, the changes made slightly weaken the Robotech version. Some elements are simplified, such as Exsedol's plan. Others are dumbed down: Misa's father (Macross) responds to the peace talks with intelligent skepticism, while Lisa's father (Robotech) is just a warmongering idiot. Other changes introduce small but noticeable continuity errors. None of these are enough to remotely ruin the episode, but they do diminish it.
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| Britai explains their situation to Lap Lamiz. In Robotech, Bree'tai also tells Azonia that their protoculture is running out. |
OTHER MUSINGS:
Even in its Robotech version, Messenger is a terrific installment. It's a "calm before the storm" entry, made up mainly of characters sitting in rooms talking... but the characters not named Kaifun or Kyle (or, in Robotech, Lisa's father) are intelligent, the things they say are interesting, and the larger situational context makes it gripping even before the crisis point is reached.
The series continues to reinforce the theme about the power of culture. Exsedol expands on previous hints that Zentradi have been exposed to culture shock before, with results that were considered undesirable. The Zentradi defectors insist upon - and are, in fact, evidence of - the power of Minmay's songs. Exsedol outright admits that without her music, the fragile alliance being forged would not be possible.
It's also an episode that significantly raises the stakes, with the main fleet now a specter of oncoming doom. The final shots of the Zentradi main fleet filling the sky make for such a strong cliffhanger that it took an act of will for me to stop and write this review before moving on to the next installment.
Overall Rating: 9/10.
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