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| Yellow and Aisha encounter veterans of the first Earth Reclamation mission. |
Genesis Climber Mospeada: Old Soldiers' Polka.
Original Air Date - Genesis Climber Mospeada: Feb. 5, 1984. Writer: Kenji Terada. Director: Mari Kobayashi.
Robotech: Ghost Town.
Original Air Date - Robotech: June 19, 1985.
Story Editor: Steve Kramer. Supervising Director: Robert V. Barron.
PLOT - MOSPEADA:
Stig's group has reached a desert in the American southwest. Stig, Ray, and Mint scout ahead, visiting a small town in hopes of purchasing supplies. They are instead ambushed by the locals, who mistake them for a gang that has been raiding supplies. While the three are in the town jail, the raiders strike again, snatching their Mospeadas.
Meanwhile, Aisha has another of her headaches. By now, the group understands that they are caused by proximity to the Inbit. Yellow decides to take her out to try to identify where the enemy is. They end up captured by the raiders instead, who remove their masks to reveal... old men.
The men take them back to their trading outpost, where they sell the supplies they have stolen. Yellow is shocked to find that they operate out of a disused Mars ship. They are veterans of the first Earth Reclamation Force, survivors of a failed assault on Reflex Point who have decided to put the war behind them. When Stig catches up with them, he is outraged, but Yellow points out that the old men did their duty at the time and that their war is now over.
But when the ship's receiver picks up orders from a third Mars force, asking any survivors to attack Inbit relay towers to clear the way for them, Stig decides that he has to do what he can to make sure this new expedition doesn't meet the same fate as his own...
PLOT - ROBOTECH:
Scott's group has reached a desert in the American southwest. Scott, Rand, and Annie scout ahead, visiting a small town in hopes of purchasing supplies. They are instead ambushed by the locals, who mistake them for a gang that has been raiding supplies. While the three are in the town jail, the raiders strike again, snatching their Cyclones.
Meanwhile, Marlene has another of her headaches. By now, the group understands that they are caused by proximity to the Invid. Lancer decides to take her out to try to identify where the enemy is. They end up captured by the raiders instead, who remove their masks to reveal... old men.
The men take them back to their trading outpost, where they sell the supplies they have stolen. Yellow is shocked to find that they operate out of a disused battle fortress, the SDF-3. These men are veterans of the war against the Robotech Masters, but they have now decided to put war behind them. When Scott catches up with them, he is outraged by what he sees as desertion, but Lancer points out that these old men are in no fit state to assault anyone.
When the ship's receiver picks up orders from a new assault force, asking any survivors to attack Invid military targets to clear the way for them, Scott decides that he has to do what he can to make sure this new expedition doesn't meet the same fate as his own...
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| Yellow convinces Aisha to help track the Inbit. |
CHARACTERS:
Yellow, having seen both the humanoid Inbit, Sorji, and Aisha's reaction at coming face-to-face with her, is at least considering that Aisha might be connected to the aliens. The others don't seem to be there yet, probably because of their sense of protectiveness of her, but they now take on faith that the "headaches" mean Inbit are nearby.
I had thought that the ending of the previous episode had restored Aisha's consciousness of herself as Inbit, but that appears not to have been the case. She does participate more directly than in earlier entries, showing a willingness to go along with Yellow's plan to detect the enemy even though she knows it will be painful. She's also more relaxed in her interactions. When Yellow tries to probe for her memories, he asks about her birth, prompting her to ask if he can remember when he was born.
The other regulars are mostly backgrounded, though there are a pair of good scenes involving Stig. At the start of the episode, Ray and Mint tease him for his seriousness, telling him that he should take off his battle armor and enjoy the feel of riding in the open air. When Stig meets the old men, they are even more dismissive of his severity, outright laughing at the notion that "the silly old men" should do battle with the Inbit.
All of this is largely consistent between the two versions, though Robotech makes the old soldiers' dismissiveness of Scott even more blatant when their leader, Frank (Franky in Mospeada), tells him that they aren't interested in his orders.
Advantage: None.
NARRATION:
Robotech's narration is restrained: an opening recap, a quick bit of voice-over when the episode cuts from Stig, Ray, and Mint to Yellow and Aisha, and a slight bit near the end. It's not intrusive, nor is any of it overly melodramatic as has happened in some episodes, making this category a wash.
Advantage: None.
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| The old mens' "trading post." In Robotech, this is the SDF-3. |
CUTS AND ALTERATION:
The Origin of the Craters: As Stig, Ray, and Mint ride through the desert, Mint notices all the craters surrounding them. Stig explains that this was the site of a fierce battle between the Inbit and the first Reclamation force. Robotech alters this, with the craters now caused by the war against the Masters. This isn't just to tie previous arcs into this one; in Robotech's more compressed timeline, the veterans they meet would be far too old to have fought the Invid, who were established as coming to Earth only ten years previously.
Annie Can't Wait to Meet a Real Cowboy: Mospeada's Mint is excited at the prospect of meeting a "macho man" who might sweep her off her feet. Robotech's Annie is just carried away with enthusiasm at being in an area that's such a close match to old westerns, enthusing about meeting a "real cowboy" when they get to the town they're approaching.
Scott Anticipates the Ambush: When Stig, Ray, and Mint reach the town, they remark on it being a ghost town. Stig calls out to anyone who might be listening, saying that they're looking to purchase supplies, only to be ambushed by the townspeople. In Robotech, Scott is instantly uneasy, saying, "I don't like this," mere seconds before they are ambushed and then sighing that he was afraid that was going to happen.
The Old Men's "Trading Post" Is a Disused Battle Fortress: In Mospeada, the old men are living out of an old Mars spaceship. Robotech relabels it as the SDF-3... though it's visually a bit small compared to the SDF-1 from "The Macross Saga." Maybe they started downsizing by the time they got to #3?
Lancer Snaps that the Old Men Are Cowards: In Robotech, Lancer disgustedly exclaims that the old men are cowards and deserters... which makes it a little odd that they would continue dealing with him, let alone inviting him and Marlene to share their supper. Mospeada makes more sense, with Yellow listening to their remarks about being well out of the war and mildly remarking that they're lucky Stig isn't there to hear them.
"Gabby Ain't Too Fond of Shorty": Pierrot and Donald, the final two ex-soldiers, arrive on the Mospeadas stolen from Stig and Ray, Franky warns them to turn them off so that the HBT doesn't draw the Inbit. When Pierrot ignores the warning, mute soldier Darjeeling throws hot soup on his hands. Robotech changes this entirely, with Gabby (Darjeeling's Robotech counterpart) tossing the soup not to enforce safety precautions, but simply because he "ain't too fond of Shorty" (Pierrot's counterpart). Given that Robotech kept the plot device of the Invid detecting protoculture, I have no idea why this was changed - particularly when this scene explains the alien attack later.
Frank Wants to Go After the Invid: In Mospeada, Franky tries to destroy the ship's receiver when it picks up orders to attack Inbit relay towers to clear the way for a third human invasion force. Robotech's Frank instead wants to go on the attack against the Invid - which makes a bit of a hash of the animation, which shows him drawing a gun on the receiver while Scott restrains him.
Annie Whines about the Cowboys Not Being "the Good Guys": As Stig, Ray, Houquet, and Yellow prepare to attack the Inbit relay towers, Mospeada's Mint grouses about being left out of the action again. Robotech's Annie is instead put out about "the cowboys" (the old men) not joining in the attack, because cowboys are supposed to be "the good guys."
Advantage: Mospeada.
INCIDENTAL MUSIC:
Both episodes apply their scores well, with the series' respective action tracks nicely supporting the ending set piece.
Advantage: None.
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| Stig, Ray, and Mint get a different welcome than expected... |
OVERALL ADVANTAGE - MOSPEADA:
Both versions are quite good, with most of the changes being minor. Unfortunately, a couple of Robotech's changes are not only pointless, but slightly disrupt the flow of the episode - notably the scene in which Darjeeling/Gabby burns the hand of Pierrot/Shorty, which is done for tangible reasons in Mospeada and which is just a pointless bit of "comedy" in Robotech. That moment and a couple of others make Mospeada the better variant, albeit only slightly.
OTHER MUSINGS:
The preview at the end of the last episode had me expecting that this would be a throwaway along the lines of many of Mospeada's early episodes. Instead, Old Soldiers' Polka ends up being surprisingly good.
The script follows up on the developments involving Aisha from the previous episode, giving both her and Yellow strong roles. It also continues the growing sense that the group is nearing its destination, with the old soldiers' previous failure a harbinger that Stig and his group are going to find the going a bit tougher the closer they get to Reflex Point.
In artwork and initial presentation, the old ex-soldiers deliberately evoke the old western trope of the aging outlaw gang. However, their backstory ties them to Stig's journey, with this group acting as a reflection of what the regulars might become if they fail but survive - living an existence that's as pointless as it is hopeless. None of the old men is characterized in anything other than broad strokes, but that's all that's truly needed, and the finale ends up being particularly effective.
Overall, this episode exceeded my expectations at every turn. I expected a mediocre throwaway. Instead, I think this ranks among my favorites of the series.
Overall Rating: 9/10.
Previous Episode: White Night Serenade/The Midnight Sun
Next Episode: Forte of the Glacier City/Frostbite
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