Fire Bomber flies out of City 7 in a van, and Mylene gloats over landing the lead part in the Lynn Minmay Story TV special. Basara thinks she’s acting annoying, and Mylene says there’s nothing wrong with being happy all the time. She then criticizes Basara and says the job is a big chance because Fire Bomber music will be played. The van arrives at the entertainment ship Hollywood, and Mylene makes fun of Basara by saying that he must be embarrassed about having to be sensitive to play the role of Hikaru Ichijyo. At the TV studio, Basara says he doesn’t want to play Hikaru, but Mylene thinks he does because he’d usually be more disinterested. At a staff party they meet two full-sized Zentradi named Suren Langu and Rolei Shuman, who have been selected to play Britai Kridanik and Kamjin Kravshera. Looking at the two Zentradi, Mylene wonders if Milia was that big, and Ray recalls that she was a Meltrandi. The video’s producer, Jakal Chan, introduces a special guest: Milia. Mylene asks Milia what she’s doing there, and Milia explains that she’ll be working on the special. Chan explains that the main focus of the special will be Lynn Minmay, who used her singing to help end the fighting between Earth and the Zentradi in Space War I. However, a subplot will focus on the interspecies romance between Max and Milia. Max arrives as the second special guest and is greeted by applause. Later, Basara decides to withdraw from the project because he sees it as propaganda to recruit for the city and military. He begins to argue again with Mylene, but Ray steps in and points out that the special is a big opportunity for Fire Bomber. Basara says he’s out and leaves the room. Milia gives Max a list of citizens’ complaints and says people are scared for their lives because they haven’t apprehended a single vampire or found a cure for their victims. She asks what the military is doing, and Max explains that all they know is that the enemy mecha closely resemble fighters that were sent by U.N. Spacy to the fourth planet of the Varauta system. Milia asks Max if he even understands why she agreed to be in the video, and he says it’s the same reasons as his. He says he has a bad feeling about the project and thinks something bad is going to happen. On the Varauta flagship, Geperuniti says that the time of the Spiritia Farm Project is fast approaching. On the Hollywood, Max records voiceovers for the special. Mylene comments that Milia must be a monster to look so good after having seven kids and wonders why Max would break up with a beauty like her. Milia insists that they haven’t broken up and are both busy with a lot of things. Bobby, the actor chosen to replace Basara as Hikaru, asks Mylene to join him for cake.
As they drive through the city, Bobby promises to introduce Mylene to several music producers. Bobby takes a highway ramp to another exit and says he wants to drive around a bit. An annoyed Basara follows at Ray’s urging, but he ends up taking a different highway ramp. Bobby drives to a red light district filled with love hotels, and Mylene is clearly annoyed. Bobby tells her she shouldn’t pout and says he’s taking her to a place where lots of famous people are. Basara roughs up a clerk and finds out that Bobby is staying at the Hotel Plito. Bobby pulls into the hotel’s parking garage and grabs Mylene by the arm when she gets out of the car. He tells her she won’t be a child forever, and she slaps him because she hates being called a child. He says he loves that kind of stuff and pulls her back into the car. Just then, a vampire appears and saps Bobby’s Spiritia. The vampire fires Spiritia-sucking beams at Mylene, but Basara pulls up and knocks the vampire over. Mylene tells him about Bobby, so he puts Bobby in the car and they escape the vampires. He tells her to be more careful because there are all sorts of bloodsuckers out at night. The next morning, Ray tells Basara he’ll have to play Hikaru because Bobby can’t do it now. Basara says he doesn’t want to be a military recruiter, and Ray explains that the fleet needs good publicity because of the unrest caused by the vampires. Later, Basara’s Excalibur is equipped with a military FAST Pack, and he’s dressed up in an old style pilot suit with Mylene in costume as Minmay and singing “My Boyfriend is a Pilot.” Filming begins in space of the Zentradi battle scene, but it’s interrupted when a large number of Elgersolns arrive. Basara ejects the FAST Pack and begins singing “Planet Dance.” Battle 7 deploys its Thunderbolts and the Diamond Force. Watching Basara, Mylene thinks of Minmay and begins to sing with him. Gamlin attacks an Elgersoln and hears Mylene singing with Basara. Milia is worried about having to trust a guy like Basara with Mylene’s life, and the director is thrilled to be filming something so amazing. Eventually, the Varauta retreat to their ship and fold in. Basara is annoyed that they left again without hearing the whole song. Mylene says that she thinks she understands the real story of Minmay, which has been forgotten over time.
This episode is rather interesting for a couple of reasons. Although it generally follows the same formula as previous episodes, it’s also a rather amusing nod at the original Macross series. This time, a TV special is being filmed about Minmay, and Basara and Mylene end up cast in the lead roles as Hikaru and Minmay. The thought of Basara playing Hikaru is amusing, because they’re both pretty different characters. Mylene goes all out as Minmay, and several full-size Zentradi are cast as Britai and Kamjin. Even Max and Milia get pulled in to play themselves, and we see through their interactions how strained their relationship is. This episode is also a tribute in another way, as Hikaru’s fill-in actor Bobby is voiced by the late Arihiro Hase, who played Hikaru in the original series. Some video game work aside, this was probably his last involvement with a Macross anime production before he died by suicide.
Original Review: May 13, 2000
Macross 7 Info
Director:
Tetsuro Amino
Writer(s):
Sukehiro Tomita
Minto Hajime
Mechanical Designer(s):
Shoji Kawamori
Kazutaka Miyatake
Hiroshi Ogawa
Munehori Nawa
Meijo Maeda
Character Designer:
Haruhiko Mikimoto
Musical Composer:
Fire Bomber
Format:
49 episodes
Airdates:
Japan 10.16.1994 – 09.24.1995
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