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| Kaifun whips up a mob to chase Hikaru out of town. To no one's surprise, this backfires spectacularly. |
Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Satan's Dolls
Original Air Date - Macross: May 21, 1983.
Written by: Sukehiro Tomita. Directed by: Katsuhito Akiyama, Noboru Ishiguro.
Robotech: Khyron's Revenge
Original Air Date - Robotech: Apr. 15, 1985.
Story Editor: Steve Kramer. Supervising Director: Robert V. Barron.
PLOT - MACROSS:
Renegade Zentradi Kamujin attempts to keep his word to the other rebels to restore them to full size, ordering the theft of the miclone device in Trad City. Hikaru is able to stop the theft from this community, which is more than fifty percent Zentradi. But when he suggests placing the device in military custody to prevent further attacks, Minmay's cousin Kaifun whips up the crowd into a frenzy until Hikaru just leaves without the machine.
This means there's nothing to stop Kamujin from a second attack. This time, he leads it himself and takes time to target the communication towers so that the city can't call for reinforcements again. Thanks, Kaifun - I'm sure the residents will feel great about their freedom from the military while they're cleaning up rubble and burying the dead!
Meanwhile, Exsedol and Admiral Global share the results of their research into the Zentradi's origins...
PLOT - ROBOTECH:
Renegade Zentraedi Khyron attempts to keep his word to the other rebels to restore them to full size, ordering the theft of the protoculture device in New Detroit, a city whose population is more than half Zentraedi. After stopping the theft, Rick Hunter plans to assign a full-time military guard to prevent more trouble. The town's mayor is about to agree... until Kyle shows up and practically starts a riot to force the soldiers to leave the city.
This means there's nothing to stop Khyron from a second attack. This time, he leads it himself and takes time to target the communication towers so that the city can't call for reinforcements again. Thanks, Kyle - I'm sure the residents will feel great about their freedom from the military while they're cleaning up rubble and burying the dead!
Meanwhile, with their protoculture reserves dangerously low, the Robotech Masters prepare for their journey. It will take decades for them to reach Earth - but when they do, they will be ready to lay claim to the protoculture factory!
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| Minmay disapproves of Kaifun's actions, but she does not act to stop him. |
CHARACTERS:
Minmay observes the confrontation between Hikaru and Kaifun from inside a car. She actually agrees with Hikaru, which is later affirmed by her certainty that the city is going to be attacked (Minmei's agreement with Rick is made even clearer in Robotech). Still, she does not intervene - something she berates herself for at the end.
Exsedol is distraught by discoveries about the Zentradi's origins. Few viewers will be surprised by his findings, which trade in pretty stock sci-fi concepts. Still, it's a shock for Exsedol, and the title of the Macross episode comes from his reaction to this discovery.
Advantage: None.
NARRATION:
Neither episode's narration is intrusive. That said, typical of the series, Robotech lays voice over atop several scenes that don't need it.
Advantage: Macross.
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| Lap Lamiz manipulates Kamujin into taking action. Robotech's Azonia just stands there admiring him. |
CUTS AND ALTERATIONS:
The Robotech Masters: Yet another cutaway to the Masters, as Carl Macek's Americanized show uses the epilogue arc to create a prologue for the next generation's conflict. It works better here than in the previous two episodes. The scene follows directly on from their failed experiment in Viva Miriya, which helps it to feel like part of the overall story. It also helps that the cuts that make room for this scene are better chosen than in the previous episodes.
Vanessa, Kim, and Shammy Gossip: The big cut that makes room for the Masters' appearance? A moment of these three gossiping about Minmay's love life, which is abruptly cut off by a glare from Misa. This scene contributes nothing to characterization, theme, or story; it isn't particularly amusing; and I didn't miss it at all in the Robotech version.
The Reason for the Near-Riot: Hikaru plans to take the machine away from the city. Yes, he promises that it will be available for the city's Zentradi to use on request; but when you have to travel an unspecified but likely significant distance for a service, that effectively denies that service to a lot of people. In Robotech, Rick merely proposes putting a guard on the machine - the one that had just been targeted. In Macross, it makes sense that there would be resistance to Hikaru's proposal, so it makes sense that the crowd would go along with Kaifun. In Robotech, that makes a lot less sense. The machine is staying here, fully accessible to the public, just with some added security - which doesn't seem like something that people who just weathered an attack would object to. As presented in Robotech, I'd expect most of the crowd to tell Kyle to shut up and go away.
Hikaru and Minmay Share an Acid Trip: Well, that's what it looks like, anyway. At the tail end of Kaifun's protest, Hikaru and Minmay lock eyes, and we get a psychedelic dream/vision of them embracing against, um, swirls. This was removed from Robotech - and I wholeheartedly endorse its removal.
Lap Lamiz Manipulates Kamujin; Azonia Is Smitten with Khyron: After learning of the failed theft, Kamujin initially assigns the next attempt to his deputy. Lap Lamiz touches his shoulder and softly coos that he's the only Zentradi who hasn't become soft, which prompts him to take command himself. Robotech simplifies this, with Khyron already intending to oversee the operation personally while Azonia beams in approval.
Advantage: Macross. Though the actual cuts are well chosen, other interactions are simplified to bad effect.
INCIDENTAL MUSIC:
I'm giving Macross the nod mainly because of the ending. It's narratively identical in both versions: Hikaru/Rick arrives at the battle-scarred city just in time to watch Kaifun and Minmay drive away, while Exsedol's musings about his people are layered over it. Macross's presentation is much stronger, however, thanks to the use of one of Mari Iijima's songs, which makes an effective counterpoint to the scene. The Robotech version just doesn't carry the same weight.
Advantage: Macross.
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| Exsedol is shaken by a discovery about his people's origins. |
OVERALL ADVANTAGE: MACROSS:
Robotech does a pretty good job this time integrating Southern Cross footage, certainly compared to the previous two installments. This marks the first time that the "Masters Prologue Arc" hasn't harmed the main episode. This is helped by the one major cut (the gossip scene) having been a pretty poor scene in the original, meaning that it was not missed in Robotech.
What does harm the episode are changes to two interactions. In Macross, there are legitimate reasons for the townspeople to resist Hikaru; Robotech, by changing this so that Rick is blameless, makes the townspeople seem irrational to even listen to Kyle. Another change to the interactions of Kamujin and Lap Lamiz strip away intriguing character dynamics, flattening what had been interesting moments into mere "villain scenes."
All of which leaves the Macross version clearly the superior one. As usual.
OTHER MUSINGS:
Despite the dramatic title, this episode is mostly setup. Kamujin's plans are advanced by his successful operation, but the "revenge" promised by the Robotech title never really materializes. The other major strand cements the Zentradi's origins, and in Macross is used to give backstory to the war between them and the Supervision Army. Ramifications from this, however, are left to future episodes (or possibly the Macross sequels, as there is very little of this show left).
Overall, this forms a necessary step in the show's epilogue arc, and it's a perfectly fine episode as far as it goes... but it's not one of the series' highlights.
Overall Rating: 6/10.
Previous Episode: Viva Maria/Viva Miriya
Next Episode: Broken Heart
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