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| Yellow gives the performance of a lifetime. |
Genesis Climber Mospeada: New York Bebop.
Original Air Date - Genesis Climber Mospeada: Mar. 4, 1984. Writer: Kenji Terada. Director: Mari Kobayashi.
Robotech: The Big Apple.
Original Air Date - Robotech: June 25, 1985.
Story Editor: Steve Kramer. Supervising Director: Robert V. Barron.
PLOT - MOSPEADA:
Stig's group deviates to New York City to replenish supplies of HBT before the assault on Reflex Point. The city is under the control of Sorji, the female humanoid Inbit. She wants to observe the humans, so she allows them to live in peace as long as they don't rebel.
Yellow, Ray, and Mint find a large supply of HBT in Carnegie Hall, which the aliens have turned into a makeshift warehouse. While evading the Inbit, they meet George, a boy with dreams of being a musical stage star. He takes them to Simon, a choreographer who is preparing for a performance and who is overjoyed at meeting the famous Yellow Belmont.
The human fighters aren't the only new arrivals. Batra, the male humanoid Inbit, has come to implement his own plan: destruction of every living thing in the city. He launches a devastating attack, leaving Yellow and Simon to stage an impromptu concert to raise the morale of the survivors and to bring Stig and the others to their rescue.
PLOT - ROBOTECH:
Scott's group deviates to New York City to replenish supplies of protoculture before the assault on Reflex Point. The city is under the control of Sera, the humanoid Invid princess. She wants to observe the humans as scientific specimens, so she allows them to live in peace.
Lancer, Rand, and Annie find a large supply of protoculture in Carnegie Hall, which the aliens have turned into a makeshift warehouse. While evading the Invid, they meet George, a boy with dreams of being a musical stage star. He takes them to Simon, a choreographer who is preparing for a performance - and an old friend of Lancer's.
The human fighters aren't the only new arrivals. Corg, the humanoid Inbit prince, has come to implement his own plan: destruction of every living thing in the city. He launches a devastating attack, leaving Lancer and Simon to stage an impromptu concert to raise the morale of the survivors and to bring Scott and the others to their rescue.
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| Sorji is conflicted as her "brother" prepares for a massacre. |
CHARACTERS:
Even on Mars, Yellow dreamed about his music being performed at Carnegie Hall. This is even more direct in Robotech, with Lancer having visited Carnegie Hall in the past and vowing not to give up on his dream of performing there someday.
This is an excellent character episode for Sorji, who is becoming increasingly conflicted. She finds the humans "beautiful" and is distressed when Batra launches his attack on the civilians. She continues to feel drawn to Yellow. When she sees that he and the others are in the city, she takes the opportunity to directly confront Aisha - not to berate her for betraying their race, but to demand to know why the humans allow her to live among them.
Unfortunately, Robotech's Princess Sera does exactly what Mospeada's Sorji does not: Demands an explanation for Marlene's betrayal. Robotech also changes Marlene's response. In Mospeada, Aisha takes the confirmation that she's an Inbit with calm resignation, having already pretty well figured it out over the past few episodes. In Robotech, Marlene gasps that this can't be true - a more stereotypical reaction and thus a less interesting one.
Advantage: Mospeada.
NARRATION:
Robotech's opening narration reframes the Invid presence in New York as being specifically targeted at Scott's team, with the enemy expecting them to come here to collect protoculture. The narration then segues into the Invid Regess, directing her troops as they patrol the streets, looking for signs of the rebels. The narrator also chimes in to cover several scene transitions, which is mostly unnecessary but at least isn't intrusive.
Advantage: Mospeada.
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| Sorji confronts Aisha. Their conversation is a lot more generic in Robotech. |
CUTS AND ALTERATION:
The Invid Are Searching for Scott's Group: In Mospeada, it's pretty clear that the Inbit occupation of New York City is ongoing, with the residents seeming accustomed to living their lives around the aliens. In Robotech, the Invid are specifically laying a trap for Scott and his team.
Rand and Lancer Confirm That George Mimicked a Cat: Yellow, Ray, and Mint are almost caught by the Inbit at Carnegie Hall when they're rescued by George, a theater kid who mimics a cat to convince the Inbit nobody is present. Ray and Lancer congratulate him on his impression. Because Robotech assumes that the after-school children are too dumb to follow along, Rand and Lancer ask if the "cat" was George. Yeah, writers - I'm pretty sure the kids caught that without the extra help.
Sera Is Determined to Speak with Ariel: Sorji and Batra argue about the humans in New York, with Sorji finding them "beautiful" and wanting to study them and Batra calling them "parasitic" and wanting to destroy them. Though the overall scene is similar, the argument between Sera and Corg in Robotech feels more slapdash. Batra's "anything living is my enemy" is replaced with a generic sneer about how Sera lacks "the stomach" for extermination. There is a notable change at the scene's end, though, with Sera deciding that she needs to find and talk with Ariel (Marlene), which sets up the later scene between them.
Corg Gloats: Mospeada's Batra laughs as he targets civilians, reveling in the destruction. Robotech's Corg is even pettier than that, mocking Sera as his forces attack: "There, princess, observe your lifeforms now!"
Sera Demands to Know Why Marlene Betrayed The Invid: When Sorji confronts Aisha, she confirms Aisha's fears about being an Inbit and demands to know why the humans have allowed her to survive among them. In Robotech, Princess Sera instead reveals that Marlene is an Invid, which Marlene cries can't be true. Sera barks about how "Ariel" betrayed them, demanding to know why she hasn't reported in. It's a pointless change that not only alters the meaning of the original scene - It takes an interesting interaction and makes it into dull cliché.
The Others Hesitate When Scott Decides to Attack the Invid Hive: Mospeada's Stig decides to use the enemy's HBT against them by attacking one of the pipes inside the Inbit fort, a plan that the others enthusiastically endorse. When Robotech's Scott announces that he wants to attack the Invid hive, the others are understandably hesitant, because he doesn't explain his plan. The plan doesn't really get explained in Robotech at all, and an action climax that already feels rushed in the original version seems even more so as a result.
Advantage: Mospeada.
INCIDENTAL MUSIC:
Both shows use their regular tracks to good effect. Both also use their songs well, with Mospeada's Yellow singing Blue Rain and Love Pebbles, while Robotech's Lancer sings Lonely Soldier Boy and Look Up, the Sky Is Falling... the latter of which is actually a better fit for the action/performance intercutting than in the original version.
Music ends up being a big strength for both versions of the episode - which is only appropriate, with a story that centers its action/sci-fi plot around musical theatre.
Advantage: None.
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| Batra and his Inbit target New York's civilians. |
OVERALL ADVANTAGE - MOSPEADA:
I like both versions of this episode, but Mospeada's scenes with Sorji - both her argument with Batra and her confrontation with Aisha - are simply better-written than the corresponding bits in Robotech.
OTHER MUSINGS:
There's one glaring issue with this episode: Geography.
The regulars were last seen in the vicinity of the Rocky Mountains. Before this episode begins, they apparently traveled to New York (roughly 2,000 miles). They also engage in a pitched battle across the episode's second half. Now, Reflex Point's location hasn't been specifically identified, but we have seen it pointed to on maps, and it looks like it's somewhere in the north/central part of the United States.
There's no place it could be that wouldn't involve the team bypassing Reflex Point by anywhere from several hundred to a thousand miles to get to New York... meaning that if they have enough fuel to reach New York and fight while they're there, then they already have the fuel they need to attack Reflex Point. In short, it's clear enough that someone on Mospeada's writing staff really wanted a Broadway-themed episode set in New York City, whether it made any sense or not.
Still, when the resulting episode is this much fun, who really cares?
New York Bebop is energetic. It zips through its story, it includes action set pieces and dance numbers, and it still finds room for some pretty good character moments for Sorji, Yellow, and Aisha. Between the action and the dancing, the animation is ambitious for the rapid pace of mid-'80s television, and a few seams show - notably, the white outlines separating the dancers from the background. Still, sheer momentum makes it all but impossible not to have a good time.
My only reservation is that I think it is a bit rushed, and it might have worked even better as a two-parter. That aside, this is thoroughly entertaining.
Overall Rating: 8/10.
Previous Episode: Arpeggio of Murder/Hired Gun
Next Episode: Black Hair's Partita/Reflex Point
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