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| Hikaru takes a photo with Minmay on the eve of his first mission. |
Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Daedalus Attack
Original Air Date - Macross: Nov. 14, 1982.
Written by: Sukehiro Tomita. Directed by: Noboru Ishiguro, Fumihiko Takayama.
Robotech: Blitzkrieg
Original Air Date - Robotech: Mar. 11, 1985.
Story Editor: Steve Kramer. Directed by: Robert V. Barron.
PLOT - MACROSS:
Two months have passed since the Macross's modular transformation. The city has been rebuilt, and life for the civilians has returned to something approximating normality. Hikaru has completed his training to become a Valkyrie pilot and is enjoying his first day of leave with Minmay - but a series of awkward coincidences lead him to an uncomfortable encounter with First Officer Misa Hayase.
Meanwhile, Capt. Global prepares a bold plan to throw off the Zentradi pursuers. He will use the rings of Saturn to disrupt their sensors, but not in an attempt to escape. Instead, he will launch a counterattack with the Macross's fighters, using them to draw the enemy into range of the ship's big gun.
Hikaru's first battle as a fighter pilot is about to begin, leaving him to worry that it might also be his last...
PLOT - ROBOTECH:
Two months have passed since the SDF-1's modular transformation. The city has been rebuilt, and life for the civilians has returned to something approximating normality. Rick Hunter has completed his training to become a Veritech pilot and is enjoying his first day of leave with Minmei - but a series of awkward coincidences lead him to an uncomfortable encounter with First Officer Lisa Hayes.
Meanwhile, Capt. Gloval prepares a bold plan to throw off the Zentraedi pursuers. He will use the rings of Saturn to disrupt their sensors, but not in an attempt to escape. Instead, he intends to launch a counterattack with the SDF-1's fighters, using them to draw the enemy into range of the ship's big gun.
But no plan survives contact with reality. When the ship's new Pin Point Barrier system interferes with the main gun, it's up to Lisa to improvise a daring solution...
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| Hikaru has an uncomfortable run-in with Misa - who is now his superior officer... |
CHARACTERS:
In Macross, significant focus is given to Hikaru's pre-mission anxiety. He feigns cheerfulness to Minmay, but he's privately wondering if his first contact with the enemy will also end up being his last. The Robotech episode deliberately reduces this aspect, trimming away one scene of him worrying and adjusting the dialogue and tone of the first half.
Minmay is equally clueless about the reality of his situation in both versions, congratulating him on his first mission and, after she leaves him for the night, cheerfully telling him that she'll see him tomorrow, oblivious to the fact that it's far from certain that he'll still be around the following day.
Advantage: Macross.
NARRATION:
For the first time, Macross doesn't use the narration just to recap the situation or emphasize atmosphere, but to actually tell us what happens next. We're told about a conversation that would make for a good episode ending... except that instead of seeing the conversation, we just hear about it as the narration runs over the closing space shots. It plays for all the world as if the episode overran and the writers decided to "Captain's Log" a scene that needed to be in the episode proper.
Robotech's closing narration is also pretty bad, telling us about how the battle affects Rick when we really should be allowed to see that for ourselves. Still, at least it doesn't feel as if it's trying to make up for deleted scenes, earning it the edge this time by default.
Advantage: Robotech.
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| Roy tells Hikaru that he's joining the next mission, in a scene that was cut from Robotech. |
CUTS AND ALTERATIONS:
Hikaru Is Shocked to Learn He's Already Assigned to Combat: Early in the Macross episode, Hikaru is gushed over by Minmay's aunt and uncle. Then Roy arrives to let him know that he will be flying in the upcoming mission. Minmay responds with enthusiasm, but Hikaru is shocked that to hear that he'll be in combat so quickly. This scene has been removed entirely from Robotech.
Slight Dialogue Change to Rick's Run-In with Lisa: After having made a thoroughly awful first impression with the First Officer, Hikaru/Rick has the misfortune to solidify that by running into her and her fellow bridge officers twice. The dialogue is slightly adjusted in Robotech, and for the better. In Macross, I winced at the awkward encounter; in Robotech, I laughed, particularly at voice actress Robin Levenson (Sammie)'s parting shot of "Lecher!"
Robotech Moves the First Act Break: Macross ends its first Act with Hikaru lying in bed, fearful about what is to come. This scene is still in Robotech - but it's moved back to after the commercial, with Act One instead ending with the unveiling of the ship's new Pin Point Barrier. Both work as Act Breaks. Still, the change illustrates the difference between the two shows: Macross goes to commercial on Hikaru's personal dilemma; Robotech, on a new plot mechanic.
Advantage: None. Neither version is overall better than the other, though the changes strongly reflect the different priorities of the two shows.
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| A Zentradi soldier, frozen in terror when Hikaru invades his ship. |
INCIDENTAL MUSIC:
This episode sees the first misuse of the Robotech theme. When Lisa puts her "Daedalus Attack" into effect, it's a cue for the episode to bring in that stirring, heroic score...
Except that it's a complete mismatch for the context. The sequence begins with Rick and a Zentraedi soldier staring at each other, each equally terrified of the other. The ending narration (in both versions) emphasizes that, though he's already killed enemies who are safely anonymous in battle pods, he was not able to pull the trigger when looking in the face of a frightened living being. As written and animated, the encounter is reminiscent of the famous moment in All Quiet on the Western Front, in which protagonist Paul stares at a dying French soldier and realizes the joint humanity they share.
Lisa's plan, which destroys the Zentraedi ship and obliterates the terrified alien right in front of Rick's eyes, is not intended to be a fully triumphant moment. It's a necessity for the humans' survival; but that necessity is a tragedy, and it's intentionally framed as such... except for the Robotech score, which clashes horribly with the context.
Advantage: Macross.
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| Hikaru graduates with his fellow trainees, many of whom are destined to be cannon fodder. |
OVERALL ADVANTAGE: NONE:
I personally prefer Macross's emphasis on character. Still, a lot of that does come through in the Robotech version, even if it's a bit de-emphasized. There's at least one moment in each version that I find preferable to its counterpart in the other: Rick's awkward, comical encounter with Lisa in Robotech; and Hikaru's face-to-face with an equally terrified Zentradi in Macross. Though the episodes have different priorities, the Robotech version is generally faithful and well-written.
OTHER MUSINGS:
I can't help but wonder why Robotech changed the episode's title. Daedalus Attack makes sense in terms of the story, while Blitzkrieg is meaningless. When Capt. Gloval announces a "blitzkrieg," I half-expected his bridge crew to ask what he actually means (in Macross, Capt. Global just says "surprise attack", which is both clearer and more accurate to the actual plan).
By either title, this is a good episode. It suffers from an abrupt ending, with Macross actually using its narration as a substitute for scenes that aren't present. Up to that point, however, it's effective in balancing a character-heavy first half and an action-heavy second, and the sustained moment in which Hikaru/Rick and the enemy soldier just stare at each other is particularly effective.
Overall Rating: 7/10.
Previous Episode: Transformation
Next Episode: Bye-Bye Mars
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