Here's my 2 cents worth after looking at the RAW rip without (hopefully) giving away any spoilers.
Story:
Can't really comment much on that as I could only pick out some words, but not full sentences, so i can't really comment on where this was going, but indeed it has become more and more intriguing.
Animation:
2D animation aka characters seemed to be slightly lacklustre.... especially in the earlier part of the show.
However, 3D wise, it was fluid enough to make the 3D animation in the 1st 2 episodes look as if some heavy footed man learning ballet for the very first time.
Voice Acting:
Seiyuus are simply the best. these people who provided the voices ARE simply the characters they portray on screen.
Action:
This is where the the whole episode shines. Loads of action, very big action. Very nicely directed and chereographed. Kawamori et al has clearly outdone themselves theis time. I would benchmark the intensity of the action to the Battle of Helm's Deep in Lord of the Rings: The 2 Towers, as the battle scenes really brought out a sense of all-out battle as well clearly depicting the horrors and sadness that occur during war times.
I would like to talk more about the battlescenes. As far as i'm concerned, the real stars of the show was not the valkyries, but the Destroids. In SDF: Macross, they were mostly just Cannon Fodder, but here, they were clearly more than just that, as they play quite an important defence role and the action that they provided simply makes you go "whoa!!" You can just wipe a tear off your eyes as finally the animators finally gave the destroids their due respect and credit.
As for the variable fighters (they haven't been officially named valkyries yet), The animators actually thought up new maneuvers they haven't thought before. It just makes the Macross 7 valks look as though they just fly into battle and just stay stationary. Obviously this sets a very high standard for the following 2 episodes, and all i can say that if this keeps up, we'll really be in a visual treat.
My only beef with this episode? This episode was really too short (figuratively) and GBP-0S had too little screen time.
All in all, this is a must watch for all Macross lovers, subs or no subs. Get it now, even if you have to spend a week downloading it.
