Macross TV Episode 11: First Contact

“First Contact” is about direct interaction between the Zentradi and our heroes from Earth.

Hikaru fights hand-to-hand with Britai, who overpowers Hikaru's battloid. Hikaru tries to escape by ejecting, but Britai catches him.

Britai and Exsedol discover that the miclones are genetically and physically structured very much like the Zentradi

The Zentadi and miclones can relate to each other because they're genetically similar!

Now we hear Hikaru's chauvinistic attitude towards women.

More chauvinism. In Robotech, Rick just says some missions shouldn't be given to women.

Exsedol suggests that Britai take Hikaru, Misa, and Hayao to their supreme leader, Bodolzaa

Misa reacts to Hikaru's chauvinism

Misa tells Hikaru she can't believe he got promoted

Misa takes out her small video recorder

Back on the SDF-1, because he hasn't heard from Misa in a while, Global considers that she may be dead

We learn from Minmay's gal pals that her debut is in ten days. (This part is omitted in Robotech.)

When Minmay returns to Nyan Nyan Restaurant, Roy is waiting for her. Roy tells her Hikaru hasn't returned from battle.

Minmay can't believe it, and runs to the park.

Minmay's fame grows. She gets photographed for a military recruiting poster.

In a flashback, when HIkaru thinks of Minmay while Britai's ship is in a hyperspace fold jump, we learn that Minmay's debut song is "My Boyfriend Is a Pilot"

Also in the flashback, we learn that Minmay will be singing her debut song on "The Sunday Show"

Britai's battle ship de-folds, and Hikaru, Misa, and Hayao see Bodolzaa's home base

Elsewhere on Britai's ship, Max knocks out a Zentradi soldier and takes his uniform.

On Bodolzaa's base, Bodolzaa summarizes the oddities of the SDF-1: possession of nuclear weapons and a society where men and women are together

Bodolzaa hopes the miclones are not the Protoculture. In Robotech, protoculture is a fuel.

Bodolzaa introduces himself to Hikaru, Hayao, and Misa

Bodolzaa asks how the miclones encountered the Supervision Army, who had the SDF-1

We learn that for the Zentradi, fighting is the only way of life

Max looks for Hikaru, Hayao, and Misa. His Zentradi uniform catches a Zentradi's attention, but not enough for the Zentradi to sound an alarm.

After witnessing how the Zentradi can obliterate an entire planet, Misa stands up to Bodolzaa.

The Zentradi ask how miclones are born

Wow, a birds-and-the-bees discussion!

Bodolzaa demands to see kissing

Misa orders Hikaru to kiss her

Misa admits to Hikaru she'd rather kiss him than Hayao

Misa and Hikaru kiss, the beginning of a wonderful relationship...

Bodolzaa reacts, and realizes the miclones are Protoculture! He orders that the miclones be removed from his sight.

Hayao doesn't like Zentradi's culture.

Bodolzaa gives a Pete Mitchell / Top Gun introduction to what he's about to say

The Protoculture are the Zentradi ancestors, actually, their creators who used genetic engineering

Bodolzaa explained the Protoculture also had men and women living together

And now a warning...

Any Zentradi coming into contact with miclones/Protoculture will lose the will to fight! In Robotech, Dolza explains the secrets of protoculture are aboard the SDF-1.

The three Zentradi soldiers think Bodolzaa's warning has to do with how the Protoculture love each other.

During her debut, Minmay sings her song, "My Boyfriend Is a Pilot". In Robotech, even though Minmay told Rick the title of her debut song ("My Boyfriend Is a Pilot"), Minmay sings "This is my time to be a star".

While Minmay sings, we see that Roy and Claudia are a couple

Next episode:  “Big Escape”!

Macross TV Episode 10: Blind Game

This episode is called “Blind Game” because the SDF-1 loses its radar, and is “flying blind”.

The forces on Earth instruct the crew of the SDF-1 to buy time.

As a result of a skirmish with the Zentradi, Hayao's valkyrie is damaged. Hikaru decides to return to the SDF-1 for repairs, but Misa disagrees. Roy sides with Hikaru. Guess how Misa feels about that...

Meanwhile, the Zentradi plot their next move. Kamjin decides to let an older Zentradi shoot a warning shot at the SDF-1, hoping that the shot hits the SDF-1 instead of missing it.

Kamjin's villainous laugh!

Hikaru waits for Minmay in the park. Shammy asks Hikaru if Minmay is prettier than her, Vanessa, or Kim. Hikaru says Minmay's about the same as them. In Robotech, Rick says, "It's not polite to make comparisons."

Minmay calls Hikaru on a videophone, and says she can't make it because she has a singing lesson.

The Zentradi fire warning shots at the SDF-1, and the lasers cause tremors throughout the SDF-1, like in this coffee/tea house. There sure are a lot of coffee/tea houses...

The Zentradi's warning shots melt the SDF-1's radar.

Kamjin's ship's laser shot hits the radar room directly

All radar room personnel are killed.

Claudia and Misa spot a valkyrie outside the bridge, and the pilot was killed. Misa is reminded of what Hikaru told her, that she's safer on the SDF-1 than the valkyrie pilots are in the vacuum of space.

The Zentradi order the SDF-1 to surrender. Global ignores the transmission.

From what Hikaru said and from the dead pilot she saw, Misa is compelled to go out into space on a recon mission. Hikaru, Max, and Hayao escort her Cat's Eye recon ship. In this screenshot, we see one of the valkyries has missiles on their tail fins. We never see this again...

The Cats Eye bumps into an asteroid, knocking Misa unconscoious and killing the Cats Eye pilot. A Zentradi ship captures the Cats Eye.

Hikaru, Max, and Hayao follow the Cats Eye into the Zentradi battleship. They scare the Zentradi soldiers away with gunfire.

Hikaru uses his battroid to get Misa out of the Cats Eye. He hesitates putting Misa down, and Max and Hayao comment on how Hikaru gets weak in the knees around Misa.

Britai attacks the valkyries, and Max has Hayao fire two missiles at the ceiling. Max then throws Britai out of the ship. The vacuum of space doesn't hurt Britai at all!

Britai returns, and smashes Hayao's battroid!

Next episode:  “First Contact”!

Macross TV Episode 9: Miss Macross

In this episode, Minmay enters the Miss Macross Contest, a beauty contest aired as the first show by the Macross Broadcasting System.

A good profile shot of Minmay. Notice the various shades of her hair. Hikaru and Minmay are meeting in a coffee/tea shop.

A famous movie star, Jamis Merin (Jan Morris in Robotech), is on board the SDF-1, and also enters the Miss Macross contest. Hikaru and Minmay also talk about the artificial sky.

Splash screen for the Miss Macross Contest

Three Zentradi soldiers are sent by Britai in a recon ship to record a clearer signal of the Miss Macross Contest.

Hikaru rides a bicycle to the stadium where the contest is happening

Minmay tells the judges she has no boyfriend!

Minmay says she has lots of male friends, though. Poor Hikaru... she's just not that into you!

We also learn that Minmay was an only child

Hikaru gets paged on the loudspeaker. He goes to a phone booth, and gets reprimanded by Misa, who wonders why he was initially unavailable because he's the on-call contact, and she needs him to go investigate the enemy recon ship. Hikaru lies and says he was eating.

Hikaru boards an armored VF-1J!

The Zentradi aboard the recon ship watch the contest, and are shocked that men and women are together on the SDF-1.

Hikaru watches the contest in his VF-1J, and suddenly, almost crashes into the recon ship. The red blip is his computer warning him of the enemy target.

The three Zentradi are shocked at the skimpy battle armor that Minmay is wearing (chuckle).

Hikaru unleashes all of his armor's missiles, which don't damage the recon ship at all. The recon ship fires back, damaging Hikaru's armor. Hikaru jettisons his armor, then continues attacking.

The Zentradi have to abandon ship!

Hikaru enters the recon ship, and sees the Zentradi's escape pod leave the ship. Then, the recon ship blows up. Luckily, although Hikaru's battroid gets damaged, he's still alive.Meanwhile, back on the SDF-1, after the bridge bunnies observe the recon ship being destroyed, everyone immediately switches to the Miss Macross Contest. No one, not even Misa, bothers to check that Hikaru is okay.

Macross TV Episode 8: Longest Birthday

In this episode, Minmay celebrates her sixteenth birthday.  In Robotech, this episode is called “Sweet Sixteen”, but Macross calls it “Longest Birthday” because Hikaru doesn’t give Minmay her birthday gift until it’s almost too late.

At the beginning of the episode, Hikaru tries to think of what present to give to Minmay.

Hikaru's thoughts are interrupted when he's called for duty. To his surprise, he is awarded a Titanium Medal for rescuing Misa from Mars Base Salla.

Not only does HIkaru receive an award, but Roy promotes him to 2nd Lieutenant.

Roy gives him the pin for being 2nd Lieutenant, and tells him to wear that instead of his Titanium Medal. In Robotech, Roy asks him to wear the pin next to his medal.

Hikaru also gets two direct reports, the first of whom is Hayao Kakizaki.

Hikaru's second direct report is Maximilian Jenius

We meet Max and Hayao (Ben Dixon in Robotech). Max has a much deeper voice in Macross than he does in Robotech.

Hikaru decides to bring Max and Hayao with him to Minmay's birthday party in order to show Minmay his bump in status.

Meanwhile, Misa learns that Hikaru got promoted because of her.

Hikaru doesn't tell Max and Hayao where they're going, so Hayao assumes they're going to a strip club. Of course, this scene was omitted in Robotech.

Hikaru, Max, and Hayao go to Nyan Nyan Restaurant, where we see Minmay wearing a beautiful Chinese dress, and her signature hair buns.

Minmay notices Max's good looks. Uh oh, watch out, Hikaru!

Hikaru doesn't have a gift to give to Minmay. Uh oh.

Minmay suggests that Hikaru should sing as her birthday present. In Robotech, Minmay just suggests that Hikaru sing.

Even the mayor notices that Minmay has taken a liking for Max, and that Hikaru might lose her.

Minmay is just a little too chummy with Max.

Suddenly, all soldiers are called in for duty. They all pile into a taxi.

Hayao thinks Minmay is a hottie.

Kamjin starts his own attack on the SDF-1. After one group acts as a decoy, Kamjin's group goes in, and Hikaru's squadron engages. Here, we see Max's blue/white VF-1A make mince meat of several Regult pods.

Hikaru is impressed with Max's skill.

Hayao wastes ammunition, but Max doesn't!

Hikaru and Kamjin have a gladiator-passing moment. Hikaru's valkyrie's head gets damaged, and he loses his left arm.

Hikaru hits Kamjin's battlepod, which loses its left arm.

Britai recalls Kamjin's forces because Kamjin wasn't ordered to attack. Back on the SDF-1, Hayao calls Max a genius for having destroyed several Regult pods.

After parting with Max and Hayao, Hikaru admits that he doesn't like management.

Hikaru suddenly remembers he needs to give Minmay a birthday gift. He goes over to Nyan Nyan, and Minmay sees him outside her window.

Hikaru gives Minmay his Titanium Medal for her birthday.

Minmay's happy with her gift. She makes her signature scrunchie face.

Giving Minmay his medal was all worth it.

When the episode ends, we learn that the SDF-1 has been in space for 8 months.

Next Episode:  “Miss Macross”!

Macross TV Episode 7: Bye Bye Mars

In this episode, the Zentradi finally come up with a plausible plan to capture the SDF-1.  Kamjin Kravshera (Khyron in Robotech) also makes his first appearance:  although he’s a little crazy, he’s the most worthy, hands-on Zentradi commander, in contrast to Britai and Bodolza, who are managers.  🙂

Even before we meet Kamjin, Exsedol shows us Kamjin is infamous.

We learn Kamjin's nickname, the "Ally Killer". In Robotech, Exadore says Khyron's nickname is "The Backstabber". The bright light on Britai's face is from Kamjin's ships de-folding too close to Britai's.

Kamjin's ships de-fold so close to Britai's ships that they bump into each other.

Finally, we see Kamjin, who we learn bet that he wouldn't hit too many of Britai's ships.

The valkyries have been fighting the Zentradi for three straight days. Here, we see Roy's VF-1S firing all of its missiles.

After the Zentradi fall back, Hikaru meets Minmay in town, and we see a conversation with a very mature theme: the authorities have sugar-coated the truth about enemy and human casualties.

Minmay and Hikaru then go to a tea house, holding hands! We don't see their holding hands in Robotech!

In the tea house, Minmay invites Hikaru to her birthday party next week, on October 10th. We learn that it'll be Minmay's 16th birthday. Wait, is Hikaru robbing the cradle? Digging around the Web, I found that Hikaru is supposed to be 16 in 2009. He sure doesn't look like 16!

Minmay sitting with Hikaru at the teahouse. This is one of Minmay's cuter poses.

Meanwhile, back on the bridge, the SDF-1 is receiving a transmission from Mars. "If mice could swim they would float with the tide and play with the fish down by the seaside. The cats on the shore would quickly agree."

We learn that the transmission is coming from Mars Base Salla. In Robotech, it's Mars Base Sarah.

Mars Base Salla brings back intense memories for Misa. In this shot, Misa looks quite mature.

Misa was in love with Riber (RYE-ber) Fruhling. In Robotech, it's Carl Riber (REE-ber).

We learn that Misa's father helped Riber get a transfer to Mars Base Salla. In Robotech, that's not true: Carl says he wants to keep his transfer a secret from Lisa's father.

Riber admits he doesn't like fighting: he'd rather have a desk job at an observation base.

Desk job for me, please.

Misa decides to join the military so she can be with Riber. How many of you took a class or a job just to be close to someone you were interested in?

Riber kisses Misa on the cheek. Notice the kiss is on the cheek, not on the mouth. Very important distinction. Riber wasn't as interested in Misa to stay with her, but Misa was willing to follow him where he went!

 

Captain Global decides to go to Mars Base Salla to replenish supplies. Once the SDF-1 lands, it deploys Destroid Spartans to guard the supply transport vehicles.

A Konig Monster is also sent out!

We also see the orange VF-1D again.

While Hikaru and Roy guard the transport vehicles, they chat about Minmay's upcoming birthday party. Hikaru learns from Roy that everyone got invites!

The Zentradi's plan to capture the SDF-1 is to activate gravity mines beneath Mars Base Salla. Those mines prevent the SDF-1's anti-gravity systems from functioning properly. Kamjin's troops must wait until the mines are at 100%. One soldier runs out of patience, and Kamjin shoots him. Here, we see the downed soldier in a somewhat comical shot, which was omitted from Robotech.

Gravity mines at 100%!

The SDF-1 is a sitting duck! No, wait! Captain Global remembers a reactor beneath the base, which if they can blow up, will neutralize the gravity mines.

Misa went to the base to look for the source of the transmission, and to find any signs of Riber. After putting the reactor into overload, she finds Riber's room.

With the reactor explosion being imminent, Roy orders Hikaru to rescue Misa. Hikaru smashes the window to the room, and Misa is mad at Hikaru for damaging the room. Ah, what love can do to some people!

Hikaru gets a little pissed off that he's risking himself now while Misa is being unreasonable. He grabs Misa against her will and takes off away from the base as quickly as possible.

The reactor explodes, and the SDF-1 takes off. Kamjin exclaims, "Nan-da?" (What?!) as in "What's happening?", while in Robotech, he says, "They're mad!" Nice psychological difference, there.

Kamjin doesn't give up!

Back on the SDF-1, Misa still longs for Riber. Hikaru doesn't know why Misa is behaving strangely. In Robotech, the narrator says Rick has a growing attraction for Misa. I don't think Hikaru has thought that yet, but Misa has sure made a couple of lasting impressions.

At this point, Macross has some very complex emotions about love going on.  These themes really impressed me when I first observed them.

Next episode:  “Longest Birthday”!

Macross TV Episode 6: Daedalus Attack

In this episode, Misa comes up with a way to destroy Zentradi battleships. In Robotech, this episode is called “Blitzkrieg”, which means a swift attack.

At the beginning of this episode, we see Hikaru doing some military training.

Hikaru trains in a VF-1J!

On his first leave, Hikaru goes shopping with Minmay at a women's clothing store. Misa, Kim, and Shammy (sans Vanessa) come in later, and head for the lingerie section, right next to the fitting room where Minmay is trying on a dress, and Hikaru is fumbling with putting groceries inside a huge paper bag.

You would think that Hikaru has enough common sense not to be on the floor in a lingerie section!

Misa, Kim, and Shammy are shocked to see a guy in the lingerie section. Shammy's expression is priceless.

The fold system energy can be harnessed as some sort of barrier system.

Exsedol doesn't understand why the SDF-1 had to transform

Britai and Exsedol talk about what they're going to do: if the SDF-1 activates electronic countermeasures (ECM) in Saturn's rings, the Zentradi can't track the SDF-1. I'm guessing that the SDF-1 will attempt to create decoys with the rocks in the rings of Saturn.

Since Britai doesn’t want to lose track of the SDF-1, he decides to go attack it.

Meanwhile, back on the SDF-1, after their shopping trip, Minmay and Hikaru go back to the Chinese restaurant. Minmay's aunt feels Hikaru's bicep and comments on how strong she thinks Hikaru looks.

Roy interrupts Hikaru and tells him he's going into battle.

Hikaru is one of five soldiers chosen to go into battle.

Minmay wishes Hikaru good luck. Don't her eyes look like her DYRL-drawn eyes?

Roy and Hikaru walk outside the military barracks. Roy explains to Hikaru he's getting his own room now. He no longer will stay in the communal room.

Misa, Vanessa, Kim, and Shammy are walking in the opposite direction of Roy and Hikaru, and Kim recognizes Hikaru as "Mr. Lingerie", a nickname also used in Robotech.

Misa introduces herself to Hikaru.

Hikaru remembers Misa, the old lady (obaa-san).

Misa lets Hikaru have it. What a lasting first impression each of them has made on one another!

Getting in her shot, Shammy calls Hikaru "ecchi", or a pervert.

A nice shot of the SDF-1 bridge with rocks floating around

Misa activates ECM

Misa states that the Zentradi won't be able to locate them.

The soldiers on the SDF-1 get a battle briefing.

Hikaru and Minmay meet at night before Hikaru goes into battle the next day. Hikaru is so stressed out that he doesn't recognize Minmay is wearing her new dress.

Hikaru and Minmay have their picture taken by a camera robot. That robot must have one good flash--have you tried taking a night-time picture with a bright waterfall in back of your subject?

Minmay says bye, not at all concerned that she may not see Hikaru again

But Hikaru's definitely worried that he may not come back from battle.

Back on the bridge, Captain Global learns that the barrier system will work, and it's called the pinpoint barrier because three circular shielded regions can be moved around the ship using trackballs! Sounds like Missile Command to me!

The next morning, after not much sleep, Hikaru takes off. We learn he's part of Roy's Skull Squadron.

After doing a loop, Hikaru gets scolded by Misa because he may give away his position away to the enemy. Hikaru refers to Misa as an old lady again. Maybe Hikaru likes younger women only?

Claudia also complains about Hikaru's insubordination, but Misa says she doesn't mind. Misa's tough.

Meanwhile, Britai orders Captain Zeril to capture the SDF-1. In Robotech, Captain Zeril has the same name.

The valkyries launch an assault on Captain Zeril's battleship. Exsedol is shocked that the miclones are brave enough to attack.

Captain Zeril fires at the SDF-1. We see women using trackballs to guide the pinpoint barriers.

Ah, the stress of Missile Command: not being able to move the trackball fast enough across the screen to intercept an incoming missile!

Laser intercepted!

Besides the Skull Squadron, all the other squadrons take heavy casualties.

When the SDF-1 can't fire its main gun, Misa thinks of a way to attack with the pinpoint barrier.

Destroids to the front of the Daedalus!

Hikaru gets close to the surface of the enemy battleship in his signature white VF-1J battroid!

Hikaru goes through an airlock and comes face-to-face with a Zentradi soldier, who's so shocked at seeing Hikaru's battroid that he can't act.

Hikaru raises his gunpod at the Zentradi soldier, but he can't fire.

Daedalus attack begins!

The pinpoint barrier protects the front of the Daedalus, which busts through the Zentradi battleship

The Daedalus stops right in front of Captain Zeril's bridge. The Destroids unleash all of their missiles, which destroy the battleship!

Britai and Exsedol are shocked that the SDF-1 destroyed Captain Zeril's ship. Britai calls for re-inforcements. Maybe they just need to try a different strategy for capturing the SDF-1. How about surrounding the SDF-1 with enough ships instead of just attacking with one?

Roy re-assures Hikaru that Roy was also hesitant with the trigger at first. Hikaru has no trouble destroying Zentradi now, but he's getting de-sensitized to war.

There was a lot going on in this episode.  The war between the Zentradi and the miclones rages on, and we see how war affects different people, from the experienced (Roy) to the inexperienced (Hikaru), and the naive (Minmay).

Macross TV Episode 5: Transformation

Episode 5, “Transformation”, gives us the first glimpse at how the SDF-1 transforms.

At the beginning of the episode, Minmay convinces her aunt and uncle to re-open their Chinese restaurant. Minmay's uncle is concerned about having enough food to serve the public, and Minmay suggests that they should be able to get extra food rations, just like they did during the Unification Wars.

Minmay tells the mayor and his wife that they're re-opening their restaurant. Check out those Princess Leia-like hair buns on Minmay!

Minmay says the name of her aunt and uncle's restaurant, Nyan Nyan, which is the same name of the restaurant in Macross Frontier where Ranka works. Nice parallel for two ingenues, huh? This restaurant name is not in Robotech, probably because the editors thought it would sound too much like "nyah nyah"?

The soldiers order ramen. In Robotech, they order chow mein. Strange to have ramen in a Chinese restaurant!

We learn that because the fold system disappeared, the connection between the main reactor and the main guns is gone. In Robotech, the officer is Dr. Lang, but in Macross, he has no name. To fire the main gun, the SDF-1 has to transform.

Hikaru mopes at his racer's condition, and Roy finds him and cheers him up. Roy's comment reminds us that Hikaru is someone who doesn't give up.

Hikaru says his racer is the most important thing to him besides his own life.

Roy shows Hikaru some VF-1A's launching. I really like the tan/white contrast on those cannon-fodder VF-1A's.

Roy explains that the valkyries are powered by a nuclear reactor.

Hikaru asks Roy if a girl (Minmay) can change overnight (from desperate to totally normal)

Roy confirms that Minmay is the type of girl who's fickle

Roy suggests Hikaru better go after Minmay before some other guy does.We learn that the Zentradi call humans "miclones". In Robotech, it's micronians. I guess miclones implies that humans are clones.

Zentradi should avoid any contact with miclones!

Back on the SDF-1, Hikaru is about to knock on Minmay's door, which has a cute rabbit name plate. This close-up was omitted in Robotech.

This is the real reason Minmay ran back to her house from the shelter: it's an audition letter. In Robotech, Minmay said she had to go get her diary. In this scene in Robotech, Rick says Minmay got accepted to the Miss Macross competition, but as we can see, that's just not the case!

Hikaru starts getting down on himself. While a battle rages, Hikaru says Roy is taking care of everything. Minmay tells him he's a great pilot, too.

Hikaru thinks he's not special at all to Minmay--he's just like any soldier who eats at her restaurant. He then wishes the city were destroyed. In Robotech, he wishes they were never rescued.

After the SDF-1 transforms and destroys some Zentradi battleships, Hikaru decides to join the military!

The next episode is “Daedalus Attack”!  In Robotech, it’s “Blitzkrieg”.

Variable Fighter Master File: VF-1 Valkyrie Volume 2

Softbank Creative just released the second volume of the book, “Variable Fighter Master File:  VF-1 Valkyrie”.  This volume features FAST packs, armor, and other things.

I found the diagram of what happens in the cockpit when tranforming from fighter to battroid the most interesting.

Macross TV Episode 4: Lynn Minmay

Episode 4’s title is “Lynn Minmay”, whereas in Robotech, it’s “The Long Wait”.  In this episode, Hikaru and Minmay tough it out in the SDF-1 and are trapped in some unexplored area of the ship.  We learn a lot about both characters’ outlook on life and their life experiences.

First, we learn that Minmay doesn't know what a compass is. She only knows the compass used to draw circles.

Roy wants to look for Hikaru, but Global argues the 50,000 civilians are more important than just one person. In Robotech, it's 70,000 civilians.

Minmay wants to take a shower

Hikaru tries to peek, but Minmay catches him

There's a similar Minmay shower scene in DYRL. On the Robotech Remastered DVD, there's nudity.

Minmay wakes up when she feels something running down her torso, and of course, accuses Hikaru. But it was really a rat. In Robotech, it's a mouse. I guess the Robotech writers thought children would consider mice less nasty than rats?

To track the number of days, Minmay scratches marks on Hikaru's racer. Hikaru gets upset. Maybe Minmay thought the racer was so damaged, some scratches wouldn't matter. But the principle is that you don't damage a guy's vehicle. It's a guy thing. This also shows Minmay's lack of consideration of other people's property.

We learn that Minmay grew up in Yokohama, and her family had a Chinese restaurant.

Hikaru wants to explore outside the ship by going through a giant airlock, which gives him a flashback about the Zentradi soldier he saw. In Robotech, the flashback is omitted, and Minmay mentions she can be home in time for dinner, but how is that possible given that they're in outer space? Anyway, a big tuna outside catches their attention. I had a good giggle when Hikaru and Minmay are thinking of tuna sashimi (raw fish). Sashimi wasn't mentioned in Robotech.

Hikaru retrieves only the tuna's head, and we learn that the tuna's teeth tore Hikaru's flight suit after the airlock closed. In Robotech, Rick just mentions his suit tore because the tuna fell on him.

Hikaru tells Minmay that Roy is such a womanizer. In Robotech, he describes his flying competitions.

We learn that Minmay took singing lessons when she was in middle school. In Robotech, Rick says he was a junior nature scout. In Macross, Hikaru just says he's flown planes all his life.

After being stranded for almost two weeks, Minmay starts getting desperate. She says they will end up as dinner for the rats. It's toned down in Robotech: she just says no one will find them.

The tuna ended up as the rats' dinner, too.

Minmay gets even more desperate. She suggests committing suicide by throwing themselves into space! This was not in Robotech!

Oh, boy.

Hikaru is more positive. He tells Minmay she's lucky to be still alive.

Minmay calls Hikaru a coward for being afraid to die

Minmay’s getting desperate reminded me of Misa’s getting desperate in DYRL:  after Hikaru and her land on Earth, and find it completely destroyed by the Zentradi, Misa gets really down on herself.

Back to Macross, a huge missile head falls through the ceiling.

The mayor sees Minmay! They're saved!

Minmay completely changes her desperate/suicidal attitude to a cheerful one

Misa announces that a skirmish with the Zentradi is over, but in Robotech, Lisa talks about a construction accident, referring to the missile head.

The narrator challenges the audience, just what kind of person is Minmay? She has psychological issues! Or another way to look at it, people behave differently when faced with the possibility of death.

Next Episode:  “Transformation”!

Macross TV Episode 3: Space Fold

Episode 3, “Space Fold”, is about the SDF-1 doing a hyperspace fold jump from the Earth to somewhere near Pluto.

The episode begins with Roy detaching Hikaru's cockpit and attaching it under his arm.

Just as Roy finishes docking Hikaru's cockpit, a Regult suddenly appears and shoots at Roy's VF-1S. Technical error: the cockpit is still there on the VT-102.

VT-102 explodes! This explosion happens so quickly that I missed it when I saw Robotech.

As more Regults attack, Roy drops his gunpod and flees.

Technical error: after dropping his gunpod, Roy still has it!

We learn the third bridge bunny's name when Global asks Vanessa a question

Vanessa answers Captain Global's question.

Roy flies back to the SDF-1, and Hikaru calls Misa an old lady, actually "obaasan", which means grandmother. In Robotech, Rick calls Lisa an "old sourpuss"

Misa is astonished at Hikaru's comment

Once Roy is back on the SDF-1, Hikaru asks Roy a question about war. This scene was reduced in Robotech, in which Roy merely says he has something for Rick and swerves the jeep.

Roy answers that casualties is part of the nature of war.

Roy says even Hikaru participated in the fighting by shooting at the Regult

Hikaru remembers the Zentradi soldier that climbed out of the Regult pod

Minmay asks Hikaru what he's referring to, but Roy helps Hikaru to avoid the question by quickly swerving the jeep

After the SDF-1 suffers losses of smaller spacecraft it was trying to rendezvous with, Captain Global wants to try a space fold, even though the fold system hasn't been tested.

Back in Macross City, in the shelter, the mayor wonders what's happening. We don't see the mayor in Robotech; we see only Jason and his family, and Minmay's aunt and uncle.

Captain Global descends back to Earth near South Atalia Island, and executes the fold jump. The fold transports not only the SDF-1, but a huge surrounding area, including South Atalia Island.

Before the fold jump, Hikaru took Minmay outside the SDF-1 in his fan racer, to try to return to South Atalia Island. They find themselves in outer space, then luckily get back inside the SDF-1 through a hole made from an explosion caused by a crashing Regult

After the fold, Captain Global gets a phone call (caller is not mentioned) that the fold system has disappeared. In Robotech, the call is from Officer Lang.

Next episode is “Lynn Minmay”.