Jump to content

Mission 16: Birthday Hesitation  

97 members have voted

  1. 1. Rating

    • Positive (Happy Birthday!)
      61
    • Neutral
      17
    • Negative (Great.Yet ANOTHER Macross Birthday episode)
      19


Recommended Posts

Though the ep had a very bittersweet tone to it. The shopping scene highlighted that Hayate doesn't really know much about love or even infatuation. The snow scene did a great job of showing how is affection was growing in a very natural way. Mirage still does an admirable job as best wingman by trying to help Hayate find a gift and in a way sort out his feelings toward Freya. All the while suffering the fact Hayate doesn't understand all the clues she's been throwing at him.

I will say I was looking forward to some arcade duel action in the mall but i suppose that was my Hayate x Mirage ship leaking out.

Back on the bittersweet theme. This is the normal halfway point in a Winderemerian's life. I supposed normally they'd be married and maybe have at least one kid on the way. Hell if we think about it, Freya said she avoided her birthdays cause the mayor would always tell her to get married. That implies at least 2 b days, so it might not be uncommon for them to get married earlier than 12. Some weird decision making by the PC if they really did gene craft the Winderemians life to be shorter but not also give them a faster maturity cycle.

I think the Windermeran race is a perfect creation for a Macross anime.

The target demographic for new series' is adolescents thru to young adults. So having a Windermere in any series provides a character with the same age as one of your target demographics and takes away a lot of the criticism anime gets in the West where teenagers are using equipment designed for trained adults. Windies at 15 are middle aged!

Edited by Zinjo
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It seems to be building up to

Hayate's dad being directly or indirectly responsible for the incident that might have caused the deaths of Freyja's parents (I assume that's what she was talking about when she said they "went with the wind"). I wonder how both Freyja and him will take it when it's revealed.

On a second watch, I paid a bit more attention, and it does seem that the animation/art quality suffered a bit this episode. Specially the 'date' between Mirage and Hayate suffered from some very dodgy looking faces. It seems she did inherit something from her grandma after all

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Who's to say his dad made a horrible desision? It might have been a decision to not shoot a ten year old stealing the bomb. Though it sounds like the official spacey and Windamere stories are wrong and Arad knows the truth.

That's true, I'm mostly saying it was probably a bad decision from the NUNs point of view. The pilot's reaction to knowing Hayate was Wright's son is proof enough that whatever he did probably didn't sit well with other soldiers on the NUNs side.

If he did tell him, would it have changed anything that's happening now?

Spoiler'd cuz this part is speculative until they reveal what happened.

Would Wright have been able to live with himself after that? He had a son roughly the same age Roid and Keith were. Even though Roid and Keith were more mentally matured than a human child, they still looked like children to Wright's eyes.

You're right in that having the full truth probably might not have affected the eps. BUT Hayate asked in earnest about his dad, but Arad chose not to disclose the full truth. It's going to have to come out eventually and probably not in the most ideal situation.

I think the Windermeran race is a perfect creation for a Macross anime.

The target demographic for new series' is adolescents thru to young adults. So having a Windermere in any series provides a character with the same age as one of your target demographics and takes away a lot of the criticism anime gets in the West where teenagers are using equipment designed for trained adults. Windies at 15 are middle aged!

It's more of if the PC crafted Windermerians as having better physical strengths and fold receptor factor (probably for combat purposes) then it wouldn't make sense that it would take 14 years to mature them. That's a LONG time to make a solider. Just look at how they did the zentradi. Clone soliders that are combat ready almost the moment they step out of the tubes.

Throw on top that their life span is 30 years, it makes no sense to produce them in the "natural way". Hell just theorycrafting but it would make more sense if the Winderemere were crafted by the last PC's as a way to produce superior soldiers and potential anima spiritia to fight the protodeviln IF they were combined with the Zentradi cloning process.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was disappointed that the plot was so slow again with no mech action, but the Freyja/Mirage bits were quite nice. If they had written the last three episodes as two, that would've been a good pace. Also really liked the new song at the end, very emotional. Overall, neutral for me.

Edited by aurance
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I recently had a fabulous birthday, so this episode really hit close to home. Everyone should be so lucky as to have as nice a birthday as Freyja's. There is nothing like having all your friends take the time out of their busy and stressful days to celebrate you once a year. But it seems like everyone was overlooking Mirage. It's no fun to be overshadowed by someone who is more outgoing than you, so we should all remember to reach out to the people who quietly keep to themselves, but just as importantly we need to speak up for ourselves when it is our birthday. Your friends want to help, but they won't be able to if you don't tell them what is troubling you! Mirage could do better to speak up with what she is thinking, and the blue haired boy could be more considerate when answering her questions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

... Everyone should be so lucky as to have as nice a birthday as Freyja's. There is nothing like having all your friends take the time out of their busy and stressful days to celebrate you once a year...

+1. Freyja has definitely made a ton of awesome friends. I guess it's about time for Mira-Mira to start shining like a rockstar.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

¿Mechas in Bikini?

Not my fetish but....


+1. Freyja has definitely made a ton of awesome friends. I guess it's about time for Mira-Mira to start shining like a rockstar.
Maybe if someone gives her a Q-Rau to fly... Lady M?
Edited by Gerli
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We better get some mecha action next episode, either that or a beach bikini episode! :p

Well, considering all Mirage has to do is to take off her jacket, and she's half way there, kind of, we can have sports bra and mecha action.

Sports bra and mecha. Too bad she is the only one we can get to do that. in the interim...

Was Bogue actually mouthing off king Heinz, or was just a poor translation?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Freyja's singing seems to be getting too strong for Hayate? Her random song during the episode looked it was doing more harm than good to his head. Overpowering him, maybe.

Her melancholy emotions are sending fold waves and he is receiving. We know from Macross 7 emotion behind the song counts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm willing to learn.

It already exists (and I have a tat to show for it): VF-17S Valkyrie Girl (beer cans and all) on the VF Girls thread somewhere on this site. Nobody's made one in years to my knowledge...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah I was wondering about this as well.

There was a slight bit of sarcasm in his voice. But you know with Bogue, he has that always sounds like he's trying to provoke you. It's just that tone of his voice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bogue has been very pro war to date, but his personal hero is also Hermann, who has been less than excited about Roid's pronouncement. Maybe the older knight is rubbing off on him? Hard to say since we get only such a short sequence.

To me, the biggest significance of this episode is that it seems that we finally have an actual triangle. Hayate appears to have finally noticed Freyja as something other than a friend and doesn't know what to do about that just yet. Meanwhile, everyone else seems to be on team Mirage.

I do like that he's been truly oblivious (even Chuck and Makina call it out) and not just badly written. It's fitting for his character to see things at face value only and be needing more of a push to see the things people aren't saying. Ironic that it's Mirage that gave him that push with Freyja.

Now, back to the action and plot, please.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There was a slight bit of sarcasm in his voice. But you know with Bogue, he has that always sounds like he's trying to provoke you. It's just that tone of his voice.

ha, that's right, Bogue's only true self is about killing the Walkure... probably Freyja and Mikumo in particular. Although I still think either he is a secret fan boy, or he is adamantly opposed to Walkure because he is a fan of Firebombers, or may be even Sheryl and Ranka.

The one part that kind of bothered me about this episode as someone pointed to earlier... what the hell, they were refugees two episodes ago, how long has it been since they are forced off of Ragna, and what have they been doing in between? Because the Barrett city looks more like Island One on Frontier than a dilapidated city where no one has paid much attention. Which begs the question, where the hell are they getting their supplies from if the whole cluster is under occupation.

Don't get me wrong, I like the Triangle, but I'm not thrilled with the development of the main story, too many inconsistencies, way more than the other series I think. And by the way, what was the point of the NUNS guys, they have disappeared again after a few episodes, are they villains or what? Somehow, I feel like the pacing of the story isn't quite right, they slot in character development episodes in place where it just feels awkward, like, let's put the war on pause for this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Let's just say the usual sound of Bogue's tone makes me want to punch him every time he talks. It's either kissing the ground Herman walks on, RAGE!!!, he's trying to pick a fight.

The one part that kind of bothered me about this episode as someone pointed to earlier... what the hell, they were refugees two episodes ago, how long has it been since they are forced off of Ragna, and what have they been doing in between? Because the Barrett city looks more like Island One on Frontier than a dilapidated city where no one has paid much attention. Which begs the question, where the hell are they getting their supplies from if the whole cluster is under occupation.

Didn't the emergency Fold take them out of the cluster? They could be near other minor colonies that sprang up in the wake of the Megaroad fleet passing through.

That's the question I asked on quick-view of this episode. Yeah, I got that Lady M secured a supply line for them, but where did they find the supplies to make jewelry, plush toy, figurines, and that kind of stuff. Shouldn't they be more concerned about food, medical and other survival supplies? Or that this island or city ship is basically running off of Elysion? If Elysion pulls out (pun intended), the city isn't going to last long.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Let's just say the usual sound of Bogue's tone makes me want to punch him every time he talks. It's either kissing the ground Herman walks on, RAGE!!!, he's trying to pick a fight.

That's the question I asked on quick-view of this episode. Yeah, I got that Lady M secured a supply line for them, but where did they find the supplies to make jewelry, plush toy, figurines, and that kind of stuff. Shouldn't they be more concerned about food, medical and other survival supplies? Or that this island or city ship is basically running off of Elysion? If Elysion pulls out (pun intended), the city isn't going to last long.

Thanks, I thought that was you.. but may be all they need to survive is the song of Walkure and misc. stuff you can find in the pawn shop.

Didn't the emergency Fold take them out of the cluster? They could be near other minor colonies that sprang up in the wake of the Megaroad fleet passing through.

As for coming near another colony, then the logical thing to do is to drop off the island cluster and its inhabitants there, becasue there is this war on you know. No need to bring along civilians for that. Parts of this story seem really contrived for that reason. Ok, I get Elysion has to be with the island. But why not just go back to some place where they can drop off the island (some place still controlled by NUNS), and then come back with real reinforcements and such. Unless the cluster is really that far away, but it just doesn't seem like it since a NUNS fleet with fold jammers already on site within two episodes.

So you have to figure they just didn't have the fold jammers laying around somewhere for people to just pick up.

Edited by kalvasflam
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The trinkets are still explainable if, as it certainly appears, Ragna's economy is largely based on tourism. People could visit the new town that was built after the landing, or see how the original colonists lived in the "old town," which looks a helluva lot like a shopping mall (and still different than the rest of Barrette City). We never did see what the interior of the Island Ship looked like during the first 13 episodes.

Most of the bits of random arts and crafts that they're selling shouldn't take up that much room, it's basic gift shop stuff.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

But I do think they are trying to hard to go with the civilians in space feel that is true of every Macross series, this one however is just too shoehorned in.

In the other series, they were logical, two of those were colonists, and the third was a lack of choice. But his one seems just so contrived.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do like that he's been truly oblivious (even Chuck and Makina call it out) and not just badly written. It's fitting for his character to see things at face value only and be needing more of a push to see the things people aren't saying. Ironic that it's Mirage that gave him that push with Freyja.

Well that's the whole principle, "If you love something set it free". So in the similar vein as Misa setting Hikaru free to pursue Minmay; Mirage is doing the same for Hayate and Freyja. I suspect we are seeing a revisit of the SDFM love triangle, but time will tell.

Edited by Zinjo
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I imagine most of the manufacturing systems from her days as a colony ship are intact. The island was probably one of if not the major manufacturing centers of Ragna. Remember it was still a functional city it's just that the power demands of a city are miniscule next to the demands of propulsion or life support or gravity or the fold drive. Then they red lines all those systems at once after no more than idleing them for 30 years. Island 1 is still a functional island class. They just found 30 years of gremlins in a situation that would have stressed them coming strait from the shipyard. Mind a scene or two with maintenance guys talking about getting her back to whatever percent and their progress towards making her indepent of the Elision again would be nice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The trinkets are still explainable if, as it certainly appears, Ragna's economy is largely based on tourism. People could visit the new town that was built after the landing, or see how the original colonists lived in the "old town," which looks a helluva lot like a shopping mall (and still different than the rest of Barrette City). We never did see what the interior of the Island Ship looked like during the first 13 episodes.

Most of the bits of random arts and crafts that they're selling shouldn't take up that much room, it's basic gift shop stuff.

Agreed.

Any real concerns would come from food supplies after a hasty departure from Ragna.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To me, the biggest significance of this episode is that it seems that we finally have an actual triangle. Hayate appears to have finally noticed Freyja as something other than a friend and doesn't know what to do about that just yet. Meanwhile, everyone else seems to be on team Mirage.

I do like that he's been truly oblivious (even Chuck and Makina call it out) and not just badly written. It's fitting for his character to see things at face value only and be needing more of a push to see the things people aren't saying. Ironic that it's Mirage that gave him that push with Freyja.

I've been a little disappointed by how the love triangle has turned out... in spite of all that was said about how Macross Delta was going to mix it up and do things differently, the love story aspect of the series has been by the numbers rote repetition of the original series' romance for the most part.

Although I still think either he is a secret fan boy, or he is adamantly opposed to Walkure because he is a fan of Firebombers, or may be even Sheryl and Ranka.

Hermann's had him pegged as a closet Freyja fanboy ever since they noticed that Walkure had a Windermerean member.

The one part that kind of bothered me about this episode as someone pointed to earlier... what the hell, they were refugees two episodes ago, how long has it been since they are forced off of Ragna, and what have they been doing in between? Because the Barrett city looks more like Island One on Frontier than a dilapidated city where no one has paid much attention. Which begs the question, where the hell are they getting their supplies from if the whole cluster is under occupation.

All indications are that the dome ship was a functioning part of Barette City right up to the point where it was forced to make an emergency liftoff. Smart money says it was probably "the human district" of the city for most purposes and probably saw a fair bit of foot traffic before it was launched again. Its stores may also have benefitted from all of the Ragnan houseboat/shops it had taken aboard prior to fleeting the planet.

The ship's apparent dilapidated state is said to be the result of asking the ship's systems to suddenly run at full power after being tamped down for 2-3 decades. The fold reactors in particular apparently didn't like a cold start after decades of inactivity.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We really only saw the restaurant and the mall. For all we know, the mall / commercial areas of the city could have been properly maintained as such all this time and thus would have little trouble adapting to life in space... Given how much of Japanese life is centered around commercial shopping, it wouldn't surprise me at all that the producers wrote the Island ship with the intent of keeping it like a big destination outlet mall or something, not unlike the equivalent spaces in Japan.

Realistically, I'd guess that between their new sponsors bringing in the life-critical supplies (including stuff to get restaurants running - remember Nyan Nyan has a VERY long history of getting going again after emergency space folds!), and some form of martial law keeping prices on more luxury type items like gifts for Frejya spiraling out of control, they'd have some sense of normalcy once everyone was billeted to the residential areas of the ship. From a morale standpoint, this would be one of the primary things to re-establish.

Obviously they're skipping over a lot of the little things like patching air holes and establishing government (sic), but I think we're not really meant to worry about them. Humanity in Macross is probably a primarily spacefaring race, both culturally and technically. Pretty much everyone should be used to the realities of packing up and moving around the galaxy in giant ships designed to mimic everyday planetary life, even if they haven't literally done so themselves.

Mark

Edited by tout-puissant
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...