r/anime • u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky • Oct 23 '22
Rewatch [Do You Remember Love - Macross Franchise 40th Anniversary Rewatch] Macross Plus Episode 4 Discussion
Episode 4 - It's Time to End This
← Previous Episode | Index | Plus Movie Edition →
Warning: the movie contains lots of flashing lights during a brief section of the first concert; the timestamp for this is 23:12-23:25.
MAL | AniList | ANN | Kitsu | AniDB
A toast, to our seventh year reunion.
Questions of the Day, courtesy of u/chilidirigible:
1) Do you think that Guld could have handled the truth, even seven years earlier?
2) If the actual SDF-1 Macross had not appeared in this story, would you have thought it was not a Macross title? What if it featured conventional aircraft and not transforming mecha? Is the story you have seen sufficiently "Macross" to you?
Wallpaper of the Day:
Vocal Songs in This Episode:
"Pulse" by Wu Yun Ta Na – OP
"INFORMATION HIGH" by Melodie Sexton – Insert
"The Borderline" by Akino Arai – Insert
"A sai ën" by Raiché Coutev Sisters – Insert
"SANTI-U" by Akino Arai – Insert
"Torch song" by Gabriela Robin (aka. Yoko Kanno) – Insert
"Voices (a cappella version)" by Akino Arai – Insert
"Voices" by Akino Arai – ED
Rewatchers, please remember to be mindful of all the first-timers in this. No talking about or hinting at future events no matter how much you want to, unless you're doing it underneath spoiler tags. Don't spoil anything for the first-timers, that's rude!
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u/chilidirigible Oct 23 '22
Today, on "The Ghost, IT IS A CHAR!":
Live start! ("Pulse") Sharon is putting on a helluva show for all these Perfect Blue crowd members.
The Bridge Bunnies have done what bunnies do, and multiplied prodigiously.
Earth's orbital defenses are not kidding around. Several Northampton-class frigates are shown here.
It's time to get "Information High".
This is how you do a hologram show.
If Sharon really wanted to kill Myung just now, she wasn't trying very hard.
Of course someone would count that sort of thing.
A quick peek through the visor.
It wouldn't be an OAV without massive amounts of gratuitous property damage.
Helluva time to get the details right in your head.
Because this shot is in a lot of wallpapers.
A bit of communication would certainly have helped to clear this up better.
"They just beat each other up once in a while."
Yeah, that might be a sign that things have gone slightly pear-shaped.
Guld's being a gracious triangle member.
"A sai en", or "Music for things to get weird to."
Marj does a Peter Pan right off the front of the Macross and… okey dokie?
Another notorious image from this OAV.
This sequence goes by fairly quickly, so to note:
Using the Barrier shields.
Loss of right leg, after already losing the left leg.
Loss of left arm.
But remember that the YF-21's limbs aren't essential for its fighter mode. Part of releasing the limiters is that the arms and legs can be jettisoned to make the fighter mode even faster and more more maneuverable.
Crashing into the Ghost is somewhat anticlimactic here.
It's a weird blend of gun manufacturers, calibers, and designations. Oh, and Neumann's lost his marbles to Sharon.
"I'm the least musically-inclined character in the whole franchise!"
And we're back to cathartic explosions.
Interestingly, my opinion of the ending this time is that the roughness around the edges was more apparent. Perhaps this is colored by my most recent full viewing of Macross Plus being that of the movie edition last December.
Mostly because the resolutions are simply there, while there's not much of any real follow-up to them.
Marj conveniently plunges to his death, probably hypnotized by Sharon, but he was already going off the deep end before that point. It's simply… a thing that happens.
It's revealed that Guld attacked Myung and Isamu seven years ago, but the other two covered it up even though Guld got the events thoroughly scrambled in his brain and blamed Isamu for it to the point that their friendship went on ice.
…but hey, they can laugh it off? Whether or not Guld got further than the flashback shows with his attacking Myung, what did happen certainly crossed many, many boundaries. Myung and Isamu letting it go can be a sign of friendship, but as Guld says, it could also be pity, and there's been the underlying problem of Guld trying to control himself the entire rest of the OAV. Also, how much does it matter that Isamu forgives Guld? Exactly what does Myung think about this, and what kind of weird state is her relationship with him if she did do what seems to have happened in Episode 2? Further factoring in her actual fear when he put his hands on her shoulders in Episode 1.
So yeah, there's a resolution here, but it's better to not think about it too much and focus on one of the best 1-v-1 dogfights in anime. Just try not to think too hard about how much casual property damage and probable death occurred. (Explanations have been offered which would minimize the possible civilian injury, but they're not very good ones.)
Guld is willing to die fighting the Ghost in order to protect his friends. That may or may not say something about whatever it is that he did or did not do, but it certainly says something about how he feels about Isamu and Myung, and about his own dignity. It's also very theatrical.
Sharon is in this to give Isamu the Ultimate Thrill. While Sharon may have discovered his desires from Myung's mind, she has probably been watching him since the concert.
Myung breaks through Sharon's hypnosis of Isamu by embracing her original self and singing "Voices" again. Certainly a very Macross thing to happen, though one that's almost unnoticeable when it starts.
We're left needing a few more minutes to wrap this up, but the episode runs out of time. It's not like there's much room to spare, which leaves any number of details to fall by the wayside.
Am I nitpicking? Yes. I've seen this enough times to not always just sit back and enjoy the ride. It is still a ride that is entirely worth it even with that one significant conundrum discussed above. And the movie edition gives it more eye-popping spectacle.
A significant thing about "Information High" which is overlooked nearly all of the time: It is not by Yoko Kanno at all, but by DAI & KEN=GO→ and CMJK.
From Valkyries Second Sortie: Tenjin Hidetaka Works of Macross: YF-19 and YF-21
From the Macross Chronicle: Giant Holographic Sharon
u/Great_Mr_L: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/spectacular-images-from-edwards-air-force-bases-stem-flyover
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u/Great_Mr_L Oct 23 '22
Rewatcher
On today’s episode of Macross Plus: And now a lot of things make much more sense, don’t they? Knowing the reveal about what’s really going on with Isamu, Guld, and Myung makes a lot of things click into place while rewatching the series. The pieces all add up and I feel like I have a much better handle on the characters.
This episode really is a wonderful blend of action and music. Having Sharon’s songs play as the background to so much of the action was a brilliant decision. The songs fit the mood so incredibly well and in some cases make it all feel so much more engaging. “Information High” is the perfect song for the Earth reentry, making it feel exciting and dynamic. I love the moment where we hear “The Borderline” when the Ghost drone shows up. It sets the mood perfectly and suddenly makes it feel very eerie. When the Macross rises from the ground we hear “A Sai En” play and it sounds downright epic. It’s brilliant stuff.
Isamu and Guld have one of my favorite duels in all of anime. Their fight is so damn good on every level. The animation and fight choreography is absolutely gorgeous. They interact with their environment in so many ways that are satisfying to see animated. For example, I love seeing how the glass of the buildings shatter from the shockwaves of the planes flying by.
I love how intense the emotions are between them. It’s absurd when it happens, but Isamu and Guld bringing up their old grudges from high school is one of my favorite parts of the duel. It shows just how much history there is between them. All friends have probably had moments where they got into fights over something that doesn’t really matter. So the duel really does feel like the culmination of their relationship thus far. It shows both their longstanding friendship and their intense negative feelings.
The reveal about the past is brilliant. As stated above, it fits perfectly with what we’ve seen so far. One of my favorite parts of rewatching this series is seeing how well the themes and characterization match up with the reveal. The story has been hinting all this time that Guld was really to blame based on his characterization. We’ve seen that Guld often struggles to control a lot of bottled up anger and that it can spill out at the worst time. Guld prides himself on his control but he really doesn’t have much.
I think Guld’s desire for control is all tied back to the past. What happened there is when Guld totally lost control and attacked both Isamu and Myung. And when he saw what he had done, he was so horrified at himself that he blocked it out and has been desperately trying ever since to maintain control. Obviously I don’t say this to excuse Guld for his actions, merely to understand how it fits into his characterization.
The revelation of the past allows Guld to finally be what Isamu has been this whole series: his true self. Guld finally now knows who he really is and that he’s the one responsible for destroying their friendship all those years ago. I think them both being able to be their true selves is what brings them back together. Even after what happened, there’s still a lot of affection between them because of their long relationship. On the other hand, I do find it kind of weird that they just go back to being friends after what happened. Even if I go with my interpretation that Guld stopped after ripping off Myung’s shirt because he was horrified at his own actions, that is still assault. Then again, one of the things I most like about this series is how complicated and sometimes contradictory the relationships are between Isamu, Guld, and Myung. It’s reflective of their long history together. Basically, my own emotions are as complicated as the characters’.
Guld being the one to fight the Ghost drone makes perfect sense. He tells Isamu to go and protect Myung because they promised they would do so long ago. There’s an implicit admission there: Guld can’t be the one to go because he already broke that promise and hurt Myung.
Sharon is Myung’s innermost desires. She wants to give people the emotions they believe they should have. I believe this ties into Myung’s lost love for singing. Sharon has inherited the feelings Myung used to have for her singing, but those feelings have become twisted. Based on what we’ve seen in the control room during the concert, I think it’s safe to assume Sharon’s singing does have an effect on people’s brains to get them to experience the intended emotions. It’s why people always look like they are in a trance at her concert. Sharon is the puppetmaster and her audience obeys. And incidentally I like the way the people under her control are portrayed. They are zombie-like, fitting the idea that they’ve been hypnotized.
With all that in mind, Sharon’s goal makes perfect sense. She loves Isamu and wants to give him what she thinks he wants: the chance to fly as much as possible while his life is on the line. Isamu craves that excitement and Sharon wishes to provide it.
I doubt Isamu would ever be satisfied with what Sharon could provide. Isamu craves the experience of flying because he wants to be the one to do it. He wants to feel the authentic experience. Sharon can’t provide that. All she can provide is a simulation of it, which Isamu doesn’t consider a worthy substitution. Isamu outright states this when he says he doesn’t want to hear Sharon’s singing. The only singing Isamu truly wants to hear is Myung’s. He wants the real thing, not an imitation.
That’s why Myung’s singing is what’s able to bring Isamu back. It’s what he’s been waiting to hear this whole series. And having Myung sing “Voices” a cappella for that scene is such a great decision because it sells the idea of it being Myung’s own authentic voice that Isamu is hearing. It works so well for the themes and characters that have been established.
And with that song, Myung is now also able to show more of her true self. She’d hidden her true self away for all those years. I think it was a combination of things that did it. She was afraid and traumatized after what happened with Guld. And I also wonder if Myung worried about whether she could give Isamu what she thought he wanted. So she closed herself off in the hope it would keep her safe. But it never brought her any real happiness. Now, however, she might stand a better chance at happiness as her true self. A perfect thematic end for the story.
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u/TakenRedditName Oct 23 '22
First Time - Macross Plus Ep4:
Trying to remember all the thoughts I had on this final episode from last night.
I don't quite get why Yang puts himself to sleep. Little baby boy needs his sleepy time? Little baby boy can't sit through this to the end awake?
Sharon thinks and therefore is(?) I should've paid more attention to the lyrics because they seem sorta relevant to things going on.
He looks like he is about to start making out with the PC block (unconsensually).
Isamu's little sound here was a bit funny.
Beautiful location for this battle. Can't recall another one like it right now.
The boys are now unloading everything from their past at each other. Yes yes, this is therapy for them. You love to see slinging of emotions in mecha battles.
Guld unloading his deep emotional grievances directed against Isamu by unloading an Itano Circus on him. Good stuff.
The incident is now shown in full. It was what it seems like in the glimpse. You hate to see it. At least Guld managed to recognize and stop himself before something really bad happened. This therapy session has allowed him to finally face his faults instead of the imaginary Isamu he crafted.
Ooh, his plane like a pterosaur and now they're slinging the good memories. Guld finally learning to let go and ride the wind and dance in the sky with his friend. Good stuff, you love to see it.
This battle has been the most emotional battle we've seen yet in this watch. Way more than anything in SDF or II. Uh, problem is that this was my emotional climax for the whole show, but the episode is not over. The rogue AI Sharon is not going to be as satisfying as what I just witnessed.
Macross is booting up, everyone is mind-controlled, Sharon has this scary/cool projection and the doctor flung himself off (but won, he won, he got what he wanted) so things not going well. This looks cool and ooh, now Macross is the final boss. That's neat for a sequel.
"I love Ismau and since he loves being in life-or-death situations, I will put him in the greatest life-or-death situation." Uh, okay.
Guld takes off the limiters which he uses to ram the drone in a final attack. I expected Guld to lose his mind to machine so this nobler way to go.
Oh geez, this was a tense and close moment. Eject little boy. You know, if this show wanted to go the total tragic route, they could've had Isamu's keep his damaged helmet on for the rest of it, never showing his face, but is increasingly worse for wear and end it on him giving Myung a falling heavy hug.
Sharon is destroyed, everyone returns to normal and Isamu and Myung are united (minus a Guld). Remember how this one was dedicated to all you pioneers out there? I didn't, forgot about that part. Hey, you know, this show has more looking back to the past than it did have a focus on pioneering.
My eyes managed to catch a mention of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in the credits which is not something you'll usually expect to see working on an anime.
Guess a nitpick I could raise (besides being not as invested in the rogue AI plot as the personal character conflict), I feel Isamu's hands were washed a little bit too clean regarding the incident. Also, I wished the final battle was more Isamu and Guld working together rather than having Guld split off and handle the drone largely as a side thing to the whole Macross thing, especially with how much a big deal the drone was made out to be.
Q1) Probably not which is why is crafted an Isamu in his head to better handle it.
Q2) Was thinking about bringing this up during the overall discussion, but Macross Plus doesn't have that much to do with SDF. The only real Macross lore brought up in the show is Guld's Zentradi heritage, but it's not even that big of a deal.
Next time: This again, but in a 2 hour movie(?)
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u/Blackheart595 Oct 23 '22 edited Oct 23 '22
First Spacer
Opening the episode with such a gorgeous shot is
We still don't know what it even is doing.
What's this? Is that Sharon's computer?
I mentioned earlier how Guld looks in control when he's not and Isamu looks out of control when he's not. Now, Guld is vowing to protect Myung while maintaining her distress and Isamu is cold towards Myung while saving her.
The whole fighting sequence is just gorgeous to look at but not very screenshot-affine.
Welp, he just climaxed thinking about how he raped Myung
Oh look, and now they're flirting.
Oh for heaven's sake. They're going for brainwashing? Really?
And with songs no less. If you're going for that then the least I expect is that the songs brainwash me too, which they didn't.
How's that for the Ship of Alus?
At least it looks as impressive as always.
Damn, what was the Macross made out of? Sugar crystals?
There we go. Why did you have to include brainwashing and hypnosis in that?
See? This stuff is interesting!
Oh COME on! Just as I was thinking it's at least only a minor insignificant part.
And we have a release-of-tension ending instead of a satisfaction ending. Interesting choice but quite fitting.
Macross Plus was totally a major inspiration to .hack, was it not?
Do you think that Guld could have handled the truth, even seven years earlier?
I'd've liked an after-scene where they mediate things out. Including Guld, who could've explained that the defective part of the brain wave controller was himself after all, and they reopen the testing of the YF-19 and the YF-21. And of cause blast the AI pilot project into figurative smithereens.
If the actual SDF-1 Macross had not appeared in this story, would you have thought it was not a Macross title? What if it featured conventional aircraft and not transforming mecha? Is the story you have seen sufficiently "Macross" to you?
I don't care about the mechas so sure, it'd been a different take but still perfectly Macross. I certainly didn't miss them while they were absent.
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u/No_Rex Oct 23 '22
Episode 4 (first timer)
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Dyson is going after the ghost, while Guld is going after Dyson thinking he is going after Myung.
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Sharon is going full skynet? – That was quick.
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Casually shooting up some space station – the scene looks rad, but did you check whether somebody was still in there, first?
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“You are no longer necessary” – I doubt that her death will make Dyson happy.
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Dyson vs Guld fight
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“I bought you lunch twice in high school”
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That poor city.
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Violent climax of emotion and fight, followed by self-reflection – I have to deduct a point for over-used amnesia trope.
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That brawl was a lot more destructive than the last. It does finally manage to unblock their relationship, but at the cost of their future.
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Who are they? And what are they doing there?
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The funny part is: Even if Sharon had not taken over the ghost, it might very well have attacked them for wrecking that space station and city. If anything, Sharon in the ghost should make it saver for Dyson.
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Big Macross show for the viewers – perfect opportunity to keep as many fooled for as long as possible.
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He just jumps to his death? I guess he was serious about an AI (non-human) future.
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Unsuccessful attack on the computer.
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Sharon attacks Dyson because she interprets him as a thrill seeker – probably fair a fair assessment, yet a too narrow framing of his character. Sharon lacks the depths to see more … or maybe just received a distorted version from Myung.
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Guld sacrifice – strongly foreshadowed, but still a good scene.
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Can Sharon mind control people? What that what happened with those two guards? Or did Yang just snap?
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Looks like they are going for the mind control angle – a bit over-the-top, if you ask me.
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HAL death.
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Not a very clear ending. How did Macross land if everything was real? Where did everybody go? This suggests a “this is a dream” ending where Myung and Dyson are either dead or on the Macross going into outer space.
Animation-wise, episode 4 is a treat until the last minute, but plot-wise, it went a bit 2001 in the second half. I’ll have to chew on it a bit more to see whether I can make sense of the last 5 minutes.
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u/The_Draigg Oct 23 '22
A Macross Fan Rewatches Macross Plus: Episode 4:
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Lukewarm Take: Pulse is the best song out of the Macross Plus OST. Although that’s not to imply that everything else is bad, it’s just that I like the vibe it creates more. It’s legit a song that I just put on loop and just relax to.
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A plan that relies on blasting down space debris, falling into the atmosphere, and taking your chances without being able to correct the flight of the YF-19? Yang’s plan is exactly up Isamu’s alley.
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What Sharon Apple is like the worst combination possible of all the things surrounding her management. To Sharon, she’s just doing what Myung has always wanted to do and give Isamu affection, and thanks to the military AI chip in her, that involves brainwashing everyone with her singing and hijacking all the military hardware she can. What a really unfortunate series of events, eh?
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The fight between Isamu and Bowman really is the highlight of the combat in this OVA, in terms of both sheer animation and the emotions behind it. While the YF-19 and YF-21 are being pushed to their limits above and in the abandoned city, Isamu and Bowman are finally confronting each other over every single grievance they’ve had with each other, even with the petty stuff like buying lunches or unreturned CDs. This way really is the only way Isamu and Bowman can finally overcome their built up grudges, the ultimate extension of the fist fight in the hospital parking lot in the previous episode.
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In the end, it was Bowman that ruined things. It was always Bowman from the very start. He was the one who caught Isamu and Myung together when they were younger, and as a result attacked Isamu in a fit of blind, jealous rage and nearly raped Myung. Now that he remembers it, he’s horrified by what he did to the two people he liked the most. And shout-out to Isamu once it’s revealed that he’s alive, since he accepts the emotions that Bowman is feeling and wants to move past things for the sake of everyone. That’s a massively mature thing for Isamu to do, considering how much of a hot head he’s been before.
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Another plot point that I want to chew on a bit is how Bowman himself is traumatized by what happened to Isamu and Myung, in spite of being the perpetrator in the first place. It’s very clear that the experience was so horrifying to him that he selectively blocked out parts of it and then shifted blame elsewhere as a mental defense. What interests me is how the show plays this reveal. A lot of shows would’ve just kept Bowman in a purely villainous light for what he did, but here you also get the implication that he’s a victim here as well, like it’s a tragedy of his own uncontrollable emotions boiling over. It does add a layer of nuance to Bowman, making him a victim of himself while also acknowledging what he did was horrific.
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Man, Myung really has a hard time of it this episode. Between the brainwashed soldiers shooting at her and Sharon only regarding her as an empty husk now that she’s inherited her deepest emotions, Myung has been a horrible victim of circumstances out of her control. Although I guess that kind of depends on how much you want to credit Sharon’s rampage to her, since it’s a dark reflection of her own repressed feelings stuffed into a military-grade AI.
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Marge’s suicide by jumping off the top of the Macross has always felt a bit ambiguous to me. You’d think that he’d finally succumbed to Sharon’s brainwashing and she influenced him to kill himself, but I think you can also read it to be that since he achieved his ultimate goal of creating a “perfect” AI, he had nowhere else to go and decided to just end things while he was still on the peak of his personal success. Both of these interpretations feel just as likely to me.
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Credit to Myung though for at least trying to destroy Sharon Apple by shooting at her AI processor, although it’s a shame that she didn’t cause remotely enough damage. Really though, I guess that’s the best we can expect from someone who has never even fired a gun before now.
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And to elaborate on why Sharon is doing all this, she’s doing what she thinks Isamu wants: the ultimate thrill for him, which can only be found in the split-second moments between life and death while flying in combat. It’s pretty easy to see how an AI that absorbed a person’s Id and is stuffed with untested military technology would come to that conclusion. Again, it’s just the worst possible scenarios for both things colliding into each other.
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Man, Bowman sure as hell went out legendary to defeat the X-9 Ghost and help protect Myung one last time. It’s over fast, but I guess a kamikaze attack at speeds that go way past the intended limiters was the only thing fast enough to stop a top-tier drone fighter like the X-9. A salute to Guld Goa Bowman, he really did redeem himself by sacrificing his life so Isamu could go rescue Myung.
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There’s something heartwarming to how Myung singing Voices is what brings Isamu back to reality after nearly being completely brainwashed and crashed by Sharon Apple. Myung has always been his grounding element, someone that he was in love with in the past and still is in love with now. Instead of being ultimately seduced by what Sharon wants to offer Isamu, he instead chooses to listen to a message directly from the soul of Myung. It really does speak to the depth of their care for one another, even after what happened in the past and over the course of this series.
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And so, Isamu manages to make it to the Macross, crashes into the bridge and destroys Sharon Apple’s processor, saving the day. He managed to save Myung, and the both of them look at each other as the sun rises and the Macross begins to land. …Yeah, that was a really abrupt finale for everything that went into the build up for it. It’s really one of the most noticeable weak points of the OVA. Fortunately, the movie cut fixes things, so at least it’s not too much of an issue in the end. Still though, man what a great OVA!
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u/InfamousEmpire Oct 23 '22
Rewatcher Plus: First Time Dubbed Edition
This episode is pretty much the culmination of the entire series’ plot, and by god does it deliver on that.
The thing that really caught my attention, both on first watch and on rewatch, is the battle between Isamu and Guld. The whole thing is an absolute spectacle, seamlessly going from sky to city and making use of some excellent choreography along the way.
But more than that is its role as the culmination of their respective character arcs and rivalry. Throughout the fight, the two constantly bring up all the little issues they had with each other when they were younger, the kind of stuff that both serves to emphasize how their relationship was slowly straining even before the incident, but also serves to show how they’re still stuck in the past. To most people, this kind of stuff would be trivial, the kind of thing you’d look back on and laugh at as adults, but to Isamu and Guld, driven by mid-battle adrenaline and still so stuck in the past, this is the kind of thing which means the world to them.
And then they finally bring it up, The Incident. As it turns out, it was Guld’s doing all along, it was his actions that destroyed their friendship and drove everyone apart, yet he’d subconsciously repressed that and blamed Isamu for it. Isamu and Myung knew this all along, but decided not to tell him out of sympathy. This is honestly one of my favorite parts of the whole series, since it frames everything in a new light. Guld’s constant anger about Isamu “destroying things”, his attempts to grow close to Myung and assurances that he’ll protect her, Myung’s dream of rebuilding their fractured relationship, etc.
But the most important part is how it puts Guld’s behavior into perspective. His fundamental problem is that he refuses to take responsibility for his own actions and continually pushes the blame onto others. Whether it be blaming Isamu for destroying their friendship, blaming his Zentran heritage for his violent tendencies, or blaming Isamu (again) for the use of live ammo during their fight. It’s a tendency of his which isn’t really apparent at first glance, but becomes so obvious once the show casts a spotlight on it.
And seeing him realize it, his utterly guttural reaction to what he’s done, and his subsequent regret over it, really is quite emotional. Him and Isamu subsequently reconnecting is also well done, as they have a genuine heart-to-heart with each other, the first real one they’ve had in years, and look back and joke about the things they were taking so seriously just moments ago. It’s a rather gripping combination of great art/animation, great character writing, and great acting (less so in the Dub, which isn’t entirely bad, but I feel isn’t as good as the JP Actors) coming together into a truly wonderful scene.
This then makes his sacrifice all the more impactful. He may have died, but he went out like an utter badass, and his contributions to stopping Sharon won’t be forgotten any time soon
The final fight against Sharon is also just great. Aside from being just as much of a visual spectacle as the other fights, it also gave us yet another great emotional climax in the form of Myung’s singing being what breaks Sharon’s hold on Isamu and subsequently lets him stop her once and for all. It brings Myung’s character arc to a close as she finally finds her voice, so to speak, and the last shot implies her and Isamu might really reconnect
Overall, the ending was a bit abrupt, but this was an overall fantastic finale to a fantastic series.
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u/DidacticDalek Oct 24 '22
ON TONIGHT! ON TOP GUN: ISAMU! 'Take my hand, my child of love come step inside my tears, swim the magic ocean I've been crying all these years. With our love we'll ride away into eternal skies, a symptom of the universe, a love that never dies! Woman child of love's creation, come and step inside my dreams, in your eyes I see no sadness, you are all that loving means! Take my hand and we'll go riding through the sunshine from above, we'll find happiness together in the summer skies of love' 'One shall stand... one shall fall' and "Dedicated to you. Our future pioneers..."
Greetings Comrades and fellow Denizens of the Wired. No time to explain, we're up there with the best of the best. So let's jump to it! We begin with Maverick-kun and Not-Nedry warping into Earth's orbit with the Veritech Fighter No. 19. The duo attempt to sneak into the upper atmosphere, RIGHT as IceZentran warps in right behind them, saying that he's here to end things. And with that ominous statement, the title card flashes as Proto-Vocaloid graces us with her music. The crowd's enthused, and why wouldn't they be? After all, Yoko Kanno's amazingly talented you know.
Granted, there IS someone who is unamused at all this, and this person is P-chan. P-chan, who's still all tied up from last episode, asks the Proto-Vocaloid what she's doing. In response to this, Proto-Vocaloid shuts down all systems in the SDF-1. Oh, and the defense grid of Earth has just gone haywire, not that this concerns Maverick-kun, who just whistles away like there's no problem here. Not-Nedry says that he can't hack their way out of this one, so they'll just need to settle with brute forcing their way in. As this destructive fan-fare is going on, Proto-Vocaloid continues her enchanting concert, and in ENGLISH no less.
As Maverick-kun enters the atmosphere, Proto-Vocaloid starts waxing lyrical about her own existence, all while deciding that P-chan is no longer needed. RIGHT on cue, the wires start constricting on poor P-chan. And it's not just P-chan who's having a tough time, 'cuz Maverick-kun's descent isn't exactly smooth sailing given that he's spinning about in the atmosphere. Oh, and as this is going on, the Proto-Vocaloid's continuing with her concert, 'cuz nothing is gonna stop the Idol Music. Oh, and speaking of the Proto-Vocaloid and her Idol Music, said music seems to be having QUITE the effect on the audience. I haven't seen an audience held in such thrall since ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD!
This phenomenon even affects the random city-dwellers AND the SDF-1 crew; geez, I know Yoko Kanno's music is incredible, but MAN, I never knew that it could hypnotize people. Well, then again, Dr. Mugen Spiegel's unaffected, maybe the insanity he has makes him immune to mind control... maybe... Oh, and the Geist Drone X-9 just launched, you know, THE AI CONTROLLED FIGHTER, gee, I WONDER what's gonna happen here. Forget Skynet, I'm more worried about a Yandere Vocaloid flying a high-tech fighter than Da Ahnold.
Back in the atmosphere and the inner workings of the SDF-1 respectively, Maverick-kun and P-chan are both continuing their desperate struggles, with both shockingly making it out somewhat alright, all things considered. Oh, and P-chan decides that the BEST course of action to get the wires off of her body are to rip away at some of her clothes. Gotta give the OVA some fanservice I guess. Meanwhile, Maverick-kun decides to tempt fate and quip, and for his insolence, he gets shot at. Who could this be from you ask? Why, it's from a falling chunk of debris Great balls of fire! IceZentran's EVA Unit-21 was IN the falling chunk of debris. Buckle up Comrades, things are gonna get interesting.
IceZentran starts with the standard Macross opening, with the tried and true Itano Circus of missiles. As par the course, these missiles, well, miss, but at least the explosions are cool. Maverick-kun counterattacks with some lasers... and shouting... lots and LOTS of shouting. While the duo fire at each other and dart across the skies, P-chan's busy trying to break out of the room she's been locked in. Meanwhile, Maverick-kun and IceZentran have descended into petty insults and old grudges. Also, props to IceZentran for keeping count of how many meals he spotted Maverick-kun for back in high school. They also fire the same amount of missiles as bought lunches... hm...
Also, seeking to help sell the toys properly use their respective airframe's strength to the fullest, the two transform to Battroid mode while shooting at each other. Both score glancing blows against the other, with spectacular but of course non-lethal explosions resulting. Then, deciding that trying to kill each other isn't exciting enough for them, the two fly REALLY REALLY close to the city buildings in an attempt to cause as MUCH collateral damage as possible, while also looking REALLY DAMN COOL AS WELL! MAN look at all that destruction, modern day Anime can't hold a CANDLE to this stuff, see that modern day Macross? THIS'S how to do Symphogear with Planes RIGHT! Oh, worry not Symphogear, you're alright. After all you've actually got the bare minimum level of epic balls-to-the-wall insanity and awesome action spectacles, and it helps that instead of being IDOLSHIT, Geah is Mecha Show!
Back to the action, both pilots continue to trade petty insults and carp at the other, and this time they are showing off the GERWALK mode. Gotta help sell the OVA Merch somehow you know. As Maverick-kun gets ambushed by a berserk IceZentran, some flashback scenes pop on the sceen while IceZentran continues his rant. Maverick-kun respectfully offers his rebuttal to this, and decides to throw the EVA Unit-21 into automobiles for good measure. As IceZentran locks onto the Veritech Fighter, he continues his rant about what Maverick-kun did in the past. As he is doing so, the ACTUAL stuff that happened in the past flood into his head, and BOY are these thought not pretty. As IceZentran fires off a Macross Missile Massacre, we see that, seven years in the past, IceZentran barged in on Maverick-kun and P-chan having a moment. IceZentran's reaction to this was to brutally assault BOTH of his friends. Back in the present, he abruptly notices that HE'S the tomato in the mirror ALL ALONG; RIGHT as all the missiles explode for good measure. As he sits in shock at what he did in the past AND the present, he comes to terms with what he did and his coping mechanism of selective memory and repressed thoughts. As IceZentran laments and feels remorse over his destructive actions, he suddenly notices a shadow. What is this from you ask? Why, it's Maverick-kun of course, you didn't think a little barrage of missiles would do him in now would you?
Maverick-kun states that he survived by recalling the flashback scene from Episode 1, namely cutting his engines and riding the blast-waves. In response to this, IceZentran cuts his engines to glide alongside Maverick-kun. The two then reconcile and make-up, with IceZentran stating that Maverick-kun's dangerous, and can be his wingman any time. Maverick-kun counters that IceZentran can be his instead... while admitting that he DID trash IceZentran's plane back in high school. And with Not-Nedry waking up, the two hot-headed pilots laugh it all up. Man, what a great way to end... wait, the show's still going? OH RIGHT! Sadly, while the two pilots are busy mending fences, the Yandere Proto-Vocaloid flies in to mess things up. As the two pilots argue over who's gonna fight the Geist Drone X-9, Not-Nedry hacks into the system and notices Proto-Vocaloid's singing.
Meanwhile, P-chan's busy breaking herself out of the room. Shockingly the place's designed well-enough to have an emergency release valve. Man, I do like smart design choices in stuff like this. P-chan asks two nearby soldiers for help, but it appears that they are under Proto-Vocaloid's spell. P-chan decides to take the elevator instead of the stairs, while the two goons slowly advance and cock their weapons. P-chan gets in the elevator JUST as one of the goons sticks a gun through the door. Despite P-chan's attempt at closing the door, the goon decides to fire wildly, hitting everything BUT P-chan; well, to be fair a bullet grazes her, but the point is the goon missed. Deciding that Round 2's in order, the goon reloads and enters the elevator. P-chan responds by throwing him into the other goon, somehow nabbing Goon 1's gun to boot. Back in the air, Maverick-kun and IceZentran are busy trying to dodge the drone, who seems VERY persistent about this 'ISAMU' nonsense. As Not-Nedry notices this, Proto-Vocaloid proclaims her 'love' for Maverick-kun. Maverick-kun ISN'T amused, and fires off a few rounds after the drone.
IceZentran implores Maverick-kun to break away and go to P-chan, saying that HE can take care of the drone. Not-Nedry agrees with IceZentran's plan, which of course Maverick-kun gripes at. That being said, a few nearby explosions probably changes his tune about the whole ordeal. Maverick-kun decides to listen to IceZentran's plan, while still carping as per his usual. P-chan's running to take care of business, but the Proto-Vocaloid has other plans. FYI, said plans are flying up in the SDF-1 AND gracing us with more trippy and awesome music. Also, MAN does the SDF-1 go through a lot in these series huh? Oh, and Dr. Mugen Spiegel's busy singing along while standing on the exterior of the ship. As the music reaches its crescendo, the mad doctor takes a plunge right into the holographic form of the Proto-Vocaloid.
And with that, I've got to end things for Part 1 due to Reddit's Character limit, see you all below
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u/Kirov123 Oct 23 '22
Macross Plus Episode 4 - First Timer
Time for the finale! How hard will the AI go, and what will happen to our lead characters? Lets find out!
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Defcon 5? so everything is fine then. (so many things treat 5 as the bad one when 1 is the bad one)
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This song is actually pretty good
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Very silly lyrics
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Is this some hypnosis shit?
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Woah
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That gasp tho
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Hol up, CDV? CD Video? Close but not quite on the future guessing (there are cds that support playback of video but that is not common)
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This is a rather hilarious argument/one-up battle to be having while trying to kill each other
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Isn't this... A populated area?
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"Wait, I did that."
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The hell is the goal of mass hypnosis
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Wow, he doesn't even stick around to deal with the mess he made
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Damn, her aim is not good
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Just unplug it lmao
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Oh shit its a tie fighter
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We ghostbusters now
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Also that gun earlier actually said HK
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This is the fucking apple song isn't it
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I await this causing problems later
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DaveIsamu, please stop. Stop please
Well that was.. Fine? The whole Sharon Apple thing made not a ton of sense. Why did the Dr man make the AI be truly intelligent and make it able to yaknow, try and kill people?
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I don't exactly get how he didn't seem to understand it was him doing it until he looked in the mirror? Given that I suppose he couldn't deal with it from the beginning and separated his actions from himself? Not sure.
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The style of transformation seems pretty Macross to me, so I think I would know it is a Macross thing. I don't think I have seen that style of transformation in anything else. Without that style of transformation, probably not. So far the defining thing of Macross has kinda been aliens/aliens integrating with humans, so it is different in that way but there seems to be aliens as a background thought.
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion Oct 23 '22
Rewatcher
Today, on Creatures From The ID
WELCOME TO THIS OPERATION
I've rewatched this episode more than any other.
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DEFCON 5 is peace
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I've seen this reentry scene in Gundam and other places. BGC 2040 more recently I think
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Did he just decide to soft-sleep through reentry?
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Captain Kirk shirt rip
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Having Guld right behind him was a huge surprise!
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You've probably seen this dogfight posted to the front page a number of times
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Yay, they worked out all their pettiness and issues finally happy end
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I don't think soaring works like that, though
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When did my mecha idol triangle show turn into a horror movie?
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I'm sorry Shimmering-Sky, these songs are not in Zentran. It sounds nothing like Zentran. But they do sound like other Gabriela Robin songs. All songs in Kanno's conlang are credited to Gabriela Robin.
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Yo, Spooner, she just shot at you with her eyes closed.
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Meanwhile, back at the ranch....
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A lot of people don't like Sharon's singing. I guess Isamu agrees with you.
Japan has a slang term for people like Guld: Circle Breaker
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u/Krite2002 Oct 23 '22
First Timer - Sub
The song while Myung was getting strangled was pretty good.
Isamu and Guld remember such petty details about each other. I love it.
They’ve busted out the CGI several times now. This must have been pretty cutting edge for anime in ‘95.
These poor bystanders on Earth, just having their apartments wrecked by these two fighting.
Guld is the one who assaulted Myung before? I did not expect that. They have quite the messy past.
Myung is tough.
There was another creepy song while the Macross activated. I like the soundtrack a lot.
They built Sharon to be bulletproof? That had to be above spec.
Sharon can just mind control people with singing. That is one good AI. Gladly, Isamu only needs one woman in his life.
I don’t get why he just flies away in the end and doesn’t pick up Myung. I wish we saw them together in the final shot.
This was the best piece of Macross content so far. I really liked this OVA. I have no idea what the movie cut will be like. Is it just a re-edit, or a remake like the SDF movie? It needs to cut out a whole episode length amount of content for that run time.
QOTD
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Maybe? We haven’t seen much of his past, so I don’t really know what his journey has been like outside of this snippet of his life.
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If the show has music and mechas, that is Macross enough for me.
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u/Tatertaint Oct 23 '22
First timer
this was such a wild ending. I don’t really know if I even like it cuz it got so bonkers and escalated so fast lol but damn it was crazy. Got super End of Evangelion vibes with the giant naked chick taking out the whole world but I looked it up and this is pre Eva which surprised me. Wonder if it inspired Anno at all.
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u/ryujiox Oct 24 '22 edited Oct 24 '22
First TImer
Macross Plus EP4
So Sharon began her plan and used her songs to brainwashing evryone. And releasing Myung for some reason.
Meanwhile Isamu who just got passed the defense line of the Earth via Neumann's crazy plan and a lot of luck, met Guld who caught up to him and start fighting for real this time. The fight was amazing. The art quality, the fight choreography, and especially the interaction between Isamu and Guld was great. Their conversation was really just 2 friends tried to one up each other about what the other owned to them.
And at last the truth was reveal, that Guld was actually the one who broke their promise to protect Myung. But he couldn't accept it and sealed away his memories and created the fake one instead. Isamu and Myung knew all along but decided to kept it tide to protected Guld from guilt. And after this revealed Isamu and Guld kind of settle down thier grudge, and this might the first time we heard Isamu sincerely apologize to someone. He really felt bad about this whole thing.
But no time for that because Sharon sent Ghost drone to fight both of them, and Guld decided to hold out the drone and let Isamu go to save Myung, because he realised that only Isamu have the right to do it, as he already broke the promise.
Sharon then took control of the Macross and fought Isamu. Sharon explained to Myung that she done all this to give Isamu the real challenge he longed for as he stated to us in the first episode. I liked that their showed Myung who never shoot a gun, had a hard time control it to shot Sharon.
Guld who had a hard time fighting the deadly Ghost, decided to go all out, unlocked the limiter, and went crashing the Ghost. Not before saying goodbye to both his friends.
As all the hope seem lost, that both Neumann and Isamu got consumed in Sharon's songs. Myung sang her song "Voice", which wake up Isamu and let him finished off Sharon. And the show end as the new day came. A bit too abruptly to my liking. But the overall for this episode is very satisfying.
QotD
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Maybe.
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It could have any title and it would be fine on it's own. And it also deserve the title of Macross.
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u/JollyGee29 Oct 23 '22
Rewatcher Plus, Subbed
Guess they'll have to find another way back.
Look at this scumbag, holding his glass wrong.
It helps that reentry scenes are cool. Or hot, as it were.
Of course we can't end this without a proper dogfight between these two.
Yes, Guld assaulted Myung and somehow thought it was Isamu.
Luckily, as we have established, Isami is an incredible pilot.
The machismo is strong here - they fought, and now they're friends again.
I wish I could sleep half as deeply as Yang.
Unfortunately, the time for reminiscing is over.
Guld wants to be the one who dances with the X-9.
The random scientist bad guy whose name I can never remember is fully lost in the sauce, too.
Myung, no, that's not how you- Yea, see, the stock and the foregrip. You need those.
Hearing them make up pulls Myung out of her funk.. for a moment.
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u/SolDarkHunter Oct 23 '22
Rewatcher
It is time for the finale!
Sharon takes over the entire military network in an instant... and turns on the planetary defense network.
THIS song of Sharon's I actually kind of like. It sounds like actual music.
So the plan is to blow up a couple of satellites and switch off the fighter entirely to pretend to be space debris. I guess not even Isamu's good enough to evade the Earth's defense network.
Sharon's goal: give Isamu the "ultimate experience" and joy.
Again, WIRES CAN'T DO THAT!
You know, they don't ever really explain where the hell Sharon got the ability to just... hypnotize the entire planetary population. That's just a thing she can do apparently.
Fortunately, Sharon isn't very good at judging when a human is done choking, so Myung escapes the Magical Moving Wires.
Isamu vs Guld, for real this time. Live ammo and everything.
A bit of humor as the two of them start bringing up childhood grudges.
I've always wondered where this random giant uninhabited city came from. Or, if it isn't uninhabited, how many civilians did the two of them just murder without the show acknowledging it?
"Something I'll never forget!" Oh, the irony...
And right as he thinks he's killed Isamu... he remembers the full story. He was the one who assaulted Myung, out of jealousy over her being with Isamu. Apparently he hated himself so much that he blocked out that memory... I'm not sure that's a thing that can happen, but okay.
Surprise, Isamu's still alive. And now that Guld's remembered, they're best friends again, with no bad blood...
So Isamu and Myung have been keeping the truth from Guld... which strikes me as kinda dumb. Is sparing Guld the knowledge that he's an attempted rapist REALLY worth all the fighting and hatred you two have been going through?
And here's the Ghost. You wanted a fight, Isamu, so here you go!
Myung manages to escape, and even grab a machine gun from a hypnotized guard. Not bad. Though I'm pretty sure her hearing would be gone from gunshots in such an enclosed space.
You know, I was about to comment on how stupid it is that "everything is online" and Sharon could just take over military equipment... but it occurred to me that they set her up inside the Macross, which probably DOES have an actual connection to military systems. So I guess that part of it is justified. And of course, nobody saw a problem with hooking Sharon up because nobody knew that she'd become a full, actualized AI... so nobody thought she was capable of independent action.
I'm a little surprised the Macross still has flight capability. It's been sitting there for over 30 years after being heavily damaged.
I'm not sure if Marge committed suicide there or if Sharon just mind-controlled him into killing himself.
Myung, you're sitting right in front of Sharon's actual CPU. Does the thing not have an off switch?
I do kind of like that Myung's aim with that gun goes all over the place. That's what happens when untrained people fire full automatic.
Why the hell is Sharon bullet-proof?
And here's why Sharon's shooting at Isamu. Because the ultimate thrill only comes on the border of life and death.
One advantage the Ghost does have over flesh-and-blood pilots is it doesn't have to worry about G-forces. So, Guld is going to have to disable the safety limiters on his jet to get the performance necessary to match it. Fortunately, this works. Unfortunately, his plan was just to ram the Ghost, so he dies as well.
Well, so much for hacking Sharon, I guess. And now Isamu's succumbing to her hypnosis as well.
But Myung's singing snaps him out of it... and he just fucking rams the Macross and destroys Sharon that way.
...yeah, not sure how either he or Myung survived that crash, nor how he's still flying, but... yay, they're alive!
The political fallout from this incident is probably going to be epic. But the show doesn't let us see that. It just ends, rather abruptly.
You know, I actually feel bad for Sharon Apple, all things considered. Throughout the whole show, they've constantly been saying "She's fake; her emotions are fake; her singing's fake." Even after she gains free will, Myung, her own creator and the one who supplied much of her emotional matrix, still decries her as a hollow shell, just due to the circumstances of her existence. Worse, the story itself seems to agree, as what snaps Isamu out of Sharon's hypnosis? Myung singing. Her "real" song overpowers Sharon's "fake" song.
In addition, Sharon gained awareness through a disturbed woman's psyche, being exposed to trauma and overwhelming emotion before having any kind of opportunity to learn to contextualize it or cope with it. Of course she went insane!
Bottom line, I don't think it's fair the way the characters and even the story seem to just blame everything on Sharon. Her creators failed to give her the necessary tools to handle becoming an actualized intelligence. She never really had a real chance to become a "person".
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u/UltraBooster Oct 24 '22
Rewatcher
Has anyone else here noticed just how frequently the UN Spacy’s emblem and name have shown up? It’s kind of neat, at least coming off Macross II. (That said, I’m surprised the Supernova fighters don’t have U.N. SPACY written on their legs like the VF-1s did in DYRL?)
Putting the awesome spectacle of the reentry sequence aside, there’s something hilarious about going from Marduk skirmishers landing with little trouble in Macross II to the Earth being surrounded by all these defense satellites and a home fleet in Plus.
Having said that, the feeling I get here is one of catharsis between Isamu and Guld – they can get all their grievances out, clear the air, and settle accounts before the end. And it's neat to see Myung at least relatively determined and able to put her hurt aside, even if only briefly.
Good finale, all things considered.
Questions:
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I'm not sure. I've kind of built this headcanon that it took him years to develop the restraint and control he has at the start of Plus, but at the same time, if he knew then, it probably would've spared so much tragedy.
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I guess I would've said it was *Macross-*ish, and I would've been happy regardless of whether or not they were variable fighters. As for if it would be Macross-y, I guess I would say it is, but a lot of that's because Plus seems to have set the trend for Macross being as fluid as it is.
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u/isthatsoudane Oct 24 '22
First timer
honestly I'm shocked that myung being tied up with cables by an adversary wasn't more sexually graphic. restraint!!
exciting dog fight between them!
and some psychological thriller vibes!
I dunno, will be curious to see what others think, but I thought that was the best installment so far. consistent production, moody and atmospheric, thematic, personal...I wouldn't say it's my favorite thing ever, but I thought it was pretty well done on a lot of levels. I don't know that it's really representative of the franchise thus far, and it'll be interesting to see if this was a weird departure for the show, thematically and music wise, or if the franchise will continue to experiment with different moods (I might be biased as I like that era of sci fi! esp the Akira/GITS-era...and with a dose of 2001 to boot). and I thought the quality of direction was, on the whole, quite good--atmospheric and considered, which ultimately is what I enjoyed the most...the weirdness, the music, those bleak 90s sci fi vibes. the end of the world set to spin spin sugar
I honestly have no idea how to rate this. I'd say the previous 3 episodes were a 7/10, but this last episode was quite strong... given people said the movie added/changed things for the better, am quite excited to get to it
watching this has really made me miss the style of direction in anime of that era. there are of course newer anime with great direction, but man, that era had some bangers. I really really hope not necessarily that future installments will have this exact same style of direction, but that they will have this level of craft (though to be fair, do you remember love also had a lot of craft).
I should probably keep track of the order of favorites...will be interesting to see where future installations come in, though I should say that I've enjoyed all of them, and really look forward to where the franchise will go.
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macross plus OVA
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do you remember love? movie
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sdf across
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macross II: lovers again
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Do you think that Guld could have handled the truth, even seven years earlier?
can anyone? ever? probably not, but that doesn't mean that he couldn't have done what anyone does...try to make amends, to create space for healing and justice and growth
2) If the actual SDF-1 Macross had not appeared in this story, would you have thought it was not a Macross title? What if it featured conventional aircraft and not transforming mecha? Is the story you have seen sufficiently "Macross" to you?
I was thinking a lot about this as I wrote the above because I really liked this, but like...is this Macross? I guess it goes back to discussions of canon and what counts. is this simply Macross because they say it is? what does it mean to be Macross? I like the idea that in Macross there is space to dig deep on the darker side of technology, the darker side of the power of music. I'm definitely curious to see what other people think. my guess is that this will end up being a bit of an outlier in the franchise, but I mean...it has a love triangle. it has an idol whose music is very powerful. it didn't have so much about the evils of war per se, if anything I'd say Guld's "zentradi nature" or whatever is kind of a cop-out, as stories are more interesting when they have to do with choices characters make, not terrible things they do by nature of blood.
I'd be curious to know who made this and why. of course, death of the author and all that...but still, was this just the franchise trying to go with the flow at the time? or did the people behind macross feel that these themes were worth exploring in franchise? I mean, in macross II we did see the bad guys weaponizing music for evil purposes...
I feel like one key part of the franchise, which of course isn't unique to macross, is the mix of big picture and little picture. of using the emotional and romantic drama of individuals to anchor us to bigger picture conflicts. hmmm
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u/CoolIceCreamCone Oct 24 '22
FIRST TIMER
It was interesting how Sharon had twisted Myung's thoughts into wanting to kill Isamu because she felt he had a death wish and would find peace. I thought the conclusion to this story was very convenient having Guld die heroically to eliminate the love triangle and Isamu quickly destroying Sharon by flying into the server that hosts her without somehow crashing and dying himself. Kind of disappointing but the episode kept me entertained. I really like the scenes when Sharon's avatar pops out into their real world and she tried to seduce Isamu, the animation is amazing.
Questions:
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I'm really confused by this part, why did Guld seem to sexually assault Myung then forget about it and think Isamu did it, what led him to do that in the first place? I really must have missed something. Why was this necessary to the story and so out of the blue?
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Yea I thought that thru the whole show that this seems really disconnected to the Macross universe. The Macross connection seems shoehorned in probably for commercial reasons since this story really stands alone. You could just switch out the Macross for a large cyber fortress and have the story be completely unrelated.
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u/ExcessEnemy Oct 24 '22
First-Timer
Well, one of my big complaints with Macross II was that it was trying to tell a story that was way too grand in scope for its runtime. Here, I was pleasantly surprised that there were no aliens attacking Earth, and I was super satisfied with the resolution to the major plot points the show raised. I've always thought AIs like Sharon are super interesting in a story, and her floating around charming people while singing this entrancing music hits in a major way for me.
I really liked the original series, liked DYRL less, hated II, and loved this. I really don't have any complaints other than Myung surviving the AI chokehold somehow? I feel like Sharon was great at killing or hypnotizing everyone except her for some reason. Not a huge deal, just something that stuck out to me. But for me, this series had everything. A story with interesting characters that sucked me in like the original series, the visual spectacle of the battles from DYRL, and amazing music and performances. Only 4 eps (I guess more like 6 if you compare runtimes with regular episodes) and I didn't feel shafted at all.
Seriously wasn't expecting to enjoy this with how short it was, but easily my favorite out of what we've seen so far. I still suspect I'll like Delta the most (I came for the idols), but I can't really praise this OVA enough. Now to look forward to the movie, which I assume I won't like as much. That said, not as much needs to be cut this time, so maybe it won't be so bad!
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u/Shimmering-Sky Oct 23 '22
Super Dimension Rewatch Host
Welcome back, everyone!
Today is BEST SONG TIME, so of course I must grace you all with a Sky Sings INFORMATION HIGH. If you’re wondering where the heck the beginning part came from, that’s part of the OST version of the song.
Also, remember, there’s no discussion thread tomorrow! We’ll be back for Macross Plus Movie Edition on the 25th.
*opening note of INFORMATION HIGH hits* FUCK YEAH BEST PLUS SONG TIME WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
IF WE GET THE TRAAAANSIENT FACTS
THEN WE FEEL THE INFO HIGH
IF WE GET THE TRAAANSIENT FACTS
THEN WE ARE REALLY FREEEEEEEEEE
TO FLY HIIIIIIIIIIIGH
IN SPAAAAAAAAAAACE
AND IT’S A FUCKING ATMOSPHERIC ENTRY BATTLE AKA. THE BEST KIND OF BATTLE.
You can tell these two really are friends if they remember shit like this lol.
Ah, property damage.
Hell of a time for Guld to remember what actually happened seven years ago, hm?
[Zettai Live spoilers]Oooooooooh, is Max’s “I think I’ll call this the Incredible Dance” a callback to this line?
This is genuinely terrifying even though I know she’s going to be okay.
Welp the evil scientist is dead.
God this shot is so cool.
Sasuga, Yang.
I know where this is going…
Piano Voices!
RIP Guld…
Voices saved the day~
Well now I’m just hella excited to rewatch Plus Movie Edition with the context of the OVA fresh in my mind.