After months of being pusued by the Protodevlin, the
Macross 7 receives official orders from Earth to attack the Protodevlin head
on. Max organizes a mission with little
chance of success or survival and it’s all hands on deck. However, hasty plans and overconfidence leads
to a disastrous battle that could cost the Macross dearly. What happens when Fire Bomber and the
defenders of Macross 7 come face to face with the Protodeviln and discovers the
full scope of their plans for the Spiritia Farm?
Well we’ve made it, well almost made it. We’re in the home stretch of Macross 7 and
still this show refuses to ditch its familiar habits and take the casts current
situation seriously. Oh don’t get me
wrong, there definitely a spark similar to the Battle of Lux (aka the best
episode of this show) sprinkled here and there.
But Macross 7 refuses to grow as a show and instead rely on the same old
tired and done tropes it’s been revisiting since Episode 1. That doesn’t bode well for the Series Finale
but I gave up hope on that well early on into the show. But we’re not at the finish line yet. Let’s see what the penultimate chapter of
this crazy Macross sequel holds.
You know what time it is first: The Basara BS List. Our favorite headliner sure is becoming more
and more God like in his importance to virtually every aspect of this
series. Dr. Chiba has basically centered
all of his musical research around Basara, making him the baseline that
everything should follow. This includes
Basara’s band mates who seemingly are never allowed to match or surpass his
“talents.” I feel so bad for Mylene who
is trying so damn hard and yet gets no credit when its due. When Fire Bomber tries to capture a
Protodevlin, Basara refuses to dial back his skill to support Mylene, forcing
her to improvise, which I did like Mylene doing (more on that later). Seriously, he’s such a spoiled freaking brat. Why does he even have a band in the first
place? But what really got me? The setup for Operation Stargazer was mapped
out well before the mission was initiated.
And yet right as Max is reviewing the details, it suddenly dawns on
Basara that theyre not here to let him simply sing music but to blow up a
planet. Was…was her really not paying
attention when the mission was first announced?
You know what, forget that I even asked that question. At the very least the Protodevlin mute Basara
with voice cancelling restraints, I’ll never not get joy out of seeing someone
shut him the hell up.
The big centerpiece of this set was Operation Stargazer and
while it never reached the same emotion heights of the Battle of Lux, it was
still surprisingly exciting and a little nail-biting. I’ll forgive the fake out of Gamlin seemingly
dying in battle cause dammit I need to love someone on this show and Gamlin is
hands down my favorite person in this show.
Still, his seeming demise did hit a little bit. Like for the first time in a while, stuff
felt very real and way out of Fire Bombers happy go lucky way of going about
this show. Plus we got to see the brief
but nonetheless awesome return of Max to the pilot seat of a Valkyrie. Seeing him tear through Protodevlin forces
was pure classic Macross and something we’ve needed so much more of in this
sorry series. The cherry on top: the
operation fails. And not this isnt a
“well, well, well something didn’t go Fire Bomber’s way” gloat. This is a wow, now they need to start taking
this situation wayyyy more seriously.
The lead up to Operation Stargazer got me in the feels a
little bit. Most of this is because of
the focus on the Jenius family and their separate roles in the mission. Millia accepted Max’s request to captain
Battle 7. Mylene got a nice ring from
Gamlin that could have other implications yet to be revealed. And Max decided that if he didn’t have a choice
but to send men to certain death, he was going to ride shotgun along with
them. Max and Millia’s depictions as
leader figures hasn’t been the greatest but they have had moments where their
classic, Macross franchise defining romance has been allowed to shine again and
assuming everyone reunites next time, maybe their marriage will be in a better
place. As for Mylene, the show needs to
stop forcing her out of danger because Fire Bomber is kind of uselessv without
her. It wasn’t Basara’s music that saved
the day, it was Mylenes and I love that it was a heart to heart with her Dad
that got her to move past Gamlin’s “death” and help the captured pilots escape. STOP UNDERESTIMATING THIS FREAKIGN
GIRL!!!! (Also awwww Milia giving Mylene
her old pilot wings…stop trying to be good this late in the game Macross 7,
you’re not getting a very high score).
Bonus point to the Jenius’ family’s MVP, Gubaba, for skittering around
and helping with the escape himself, atta boy you little tribble you.
It’s strange when Macross 7 decides to act mature for a
change but it’s also Macross 7 and it can never keep that status quo going for
very long. Let’s start with the Battle 7
Military. Werent they gung ho to go into
an all out war with the Protodevlin at the end of the last set? Why are they suddenly shaking in their chairs
when they get official orders to act on that impulse? Did it suddenly dawn on them they cant really
take on the Protodevlin’s themselves with traditional weaponry? They don’t deserve to freak out now, their
beds been made. The Protodevlin
themselves continue to annoy more than actually threaten, mostly because I’m
getting sick and tired of Geppernich talking in riddles about dreams or Gavil needing
to inset the word “beauty” into every sentence without fail (frak was it
satisfying to see Gamlin drain him with a Spirita absorption beam, even if it
was a temporary victory). Lastly, right
before everything goes down with Operation Stargazer there’s one more (and
hopefully the last) filler episode centered around a perverted kid who is
Mylene’s biggest fan (he even has a scary recreation of Gubaba). I wont lie, I skipped the back half of this
episode and went right to the countdown to Operation Stargazer and I missed
nothing and neither will you if you skip it too. Wish I could do that with the bulk of this
series but here we are.
And here we are indeed.
The stage isnt entirely set for a final showdown but I’m sure Macross 7
will rush to get there and try to make it matter somehow. Just how will Basara: Musical Savior of the
Universe solve everything with his music?
I really don’t care, I just want to get this show over with
already. Deep breathes, on Wednesday we
come to it at last, the Series Finale of Macross 7. Buckle up and hold on tight right here at the
Gundam Anime Corner.
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