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| Stig's team reaches the center of Reflex Point. |
Original Air Date - Genesis Climber Mospeada: Mar. 18, 1984. Writer: Sukehiro Tomita. Director: Mari Kobayashi.
Original Air Date - Robotech: June 27, 1985.
Story Editor: Steve Kramer. Supervising Director: Robert V. Barron.
PLOT - MOSPEADA:
Stig and the others have finally made it to Reflex Point, where they have joined forces with other survivors of the Second Liberation Force. The humans and Inbit soon enter into a pitched battle... but the fighting is disrupted when Aisha projects herself to her friends, guiding them through the Inbit defenses.
Aisha hopes to find a peaceful solution, and when Sorji offers her support, there appears to be at least a chance of discussion. Batra, the warlike male humanoid Inbit, rejects any talk of peace, setting out to annihilate all the humans on the battlefield. Even as Stig takes off to stop him, an even bigger threat appears:
The Third Earth Liberation Force, arriving with such military might that its commander is confident of victory - even if that means the destruction of the Earth...
PLOT - ROBOTECH:
Scott and the others have finally made it to Reflex Point, where they have joined forces with ground forces sent by Admiral Rick Hunter. The humans and Invid soon enter into a pitched battle... but the fighting is disrupted when Marlene projects herself to her friends, guiding them through the enemy defenses to the center of the Hive.
Marlene hopes to find a peaceful solution, which the Invid Regess utterly rejects. When Princess Sera offers her support for Marlene, there at least appears to be a chance of discussion. Then Prince Corg, the warlike male humanoid Invid, denounces the idea of peace and sets out to annihilate all the humans on the battlefield.
Even as Scott takes off to stop him, an even bigger threat appears: Admiral Hunter's fleet, with orders to drive out the aliens - or, failing that, to destroy the Earth!
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| Houquet, Mint, and Ray react to being left behind. |
CHARACTERS:
When Stig orders the three civilians to stay behind, each responds according to their character: Ray is angry, Mint is upset at "breaking up," and Houquet understands... which doesn't stop her from joining Ray when he decides that he's going anyway. Since this is the first half of the two-part finale, various character threads are tidied up. Jim, who once considered himself a coward (he really wasn't), joins the fray and expresses defiance even in the presence of the Inbit leader, while Houquet and Ray finally recognize their feelings for each other.
There are also good moments for the Inbit characters. Aisha has fully regained her memories, and she returns to Reflex Point determined to try to get the two sides to talk to each other. Batra ignores her, declaring, "Battles are what build the future!" After some wavering, Sorji sides with Aisha, rescuing Yellow from the battlefield so that he can join the others.
All of this is largely consistent between the two versions, making this a rare episode that's equally good at action and characterization in both Mospeada and Robotech.
Advantage: None.
NARRATION:
Robotech adds only a small amount of narration, establishing Admiral Hunter's fleet at the beginning and covering a couple of transitions later in the episode. For the most part, the action is allowed to play out without interruption.
Advantage: None.
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| Stig and his friends confront the Inbit leader. Robotech's Regess is more directly villainous. |
CUTS AND ALTERATION:
Admiral Hunter Is Missing: Because Robotech has made such a big point about the Earth forces being under the command of Admiral Hunter, and because there was neither time nor budget for original animation, the writing staff had to come up with a reason for him not to make an appearance. Thus, the SDF-3 fails to materialize at the rendezvous point.
Civilian Reactions to Being Left Behind: In Mospeada, Ray is resentful when Stig orders him, Houquet, and Mint to stay behind during the attack, while Houquet understands his reasons. In Robotech, this is all but reversed: Rook is snide in responding to the order, while Ray shrugs that he's just as happy not to get killed.
Mint Hopes to Find a Good Man Among the Inbit: Mint's tiresome, season-long running (limping?) gag about wanting a husband gets a punchline, as she jumps into Jim's jeep and announces that she's given up on human men and will hopefully find a good man among the Inbit. I've mostly hated this aspect of the character, but this made me laugh thanks to a good voice performance and funny reactions from Jim. Robotech replaces this with some bland dialogue about how Annie refuses to allow Lunk and the others to abandon her.
The "Cloud Effect" Around Marlene (Further) Obscures Nudity: When Aisha appears to the group in Mospeada, they can clearly recognize that it's her despite the shimmering effect surrounding her. However, even though the effect masks any details, you can tell that Aisha is nude in this form. Robotech increases the effect so that Marlene is only recognizable in a few facial close-ups, with the group seeing her mostly as a shimmering cloud.
The Regess Is More Overtly Villainous: The Inbit leader is a threatening figure, but she acts less out of malice than out of a belief that the humans are both less important and more corrupt than her own people. Robotech changes her lines into a villain monologue, with her sneering at the group and labeling "Ariel" (Marlene) as a traitor for having allowed them inside.
Admiral Hunter Ordered the Destruction of Earth: In Mospeada, the commander of the Earth forces is excited that they have the military power to win this battle, and he dismisses the potential destruction of Earth as a "worst case," collateral damage that he's clearly willing to live with. This is already chilling, but Robotech decides to push it further, telling us that Admiral Hunter has ordered the destruction of Earth if they can't dislodge the Invid... which doesn't seem very in-character for the person we followed across Robotech's first 36 episodes.
Advantage: Mospeada. Though only by a hair.
INCIDENTAL MUSIC:
Robotech uses its incidentals well, but the "otherworldly" track gets played a bit too much and becomes repetitive. Mospeada makes excellent (and restrained!) use of its music. It also delivers a highly effective, Act break-spanning rendition of Love Pebbles against the battle that, unlike the attempt to use it in White Night Serenade, actually fits the context and enriches the scenes (Robotech just uses standard "battle music" over the same action).
Advantage: Mospeada.
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| The human fleet reaches Earth. This is not a good thing. |
OVERALL ADVANTAGE - MOSPEADA:
...But not by much. Robotech's changes are mostly minor, primarily existing for the sake of standards and practices or to fit that series' larger context. It's an excellent episode either way. However, one dumb change (Rick Hunter, Destroyer of Worlds!) and Mospeada's use of music helps the original version to ever-so-slightly outshine the Americanized one.
OTHER MUSINGS:
One of Mospeada's consistent strengths has been its action. Of the three series that made up Robotech, Mospeada has offered the most consistently well-animated and coherent battles. That remains true here, with the action scenes being visually exciting and well-edited.
There are memorable visuals throughout this episode. Flowers blow through the battlefield after the humans penetrate the Inbit force field. The spectral Aisha guides her friends on separate paths through the Inbit defenses. Jim drives his jeep into the vaguely surreal passage that separates the inside of the base from the battlefield, replicating Mospeada's mid-episode bumper in the moment. One scene after another provides something that makes a basic sensory impact. In combination with excellent characterization and generally strong production credits, it helps the episode go by quickly. So quickly that I was genuinely startled when the end credits started to roll.
The confrontation inside Reflex Point dominates the second half, and it's an excellent scene. Aisha initiates the conversation/confrontation as she appeals for peace while talking about the similarities between the humans and Inbit, but each character gets a moment to either support or lash out at her. The human and Inbit characters parallel each other. Her desire for peace is echoed by both Sorji and Yellow. Stig's anger is directly reflected by Batra's. Batra's delight in battle is equaled by the commander of the human fleet, who all but declares Earth's destruction as acceptable collateral damage. In both good ways and bad, we see that Aisha is right in her claim that the two sides are far more alike than not.
The episode ends on an excellent cliffhanger, one that subverts general expectation. Even one episode ago, Stig would have looked on the arrival of the human fleet as a boon, the proverbial cavalry arriving to save the day. Here, the cavalry arrives - but that's not something to celebrate...
Overall Rating: 10/10.
Previous Episode: Black Hair's Partita/Reflex Point
Next Episode: Symphony of Light
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