Macross 7 Ep. 16: The Music Box on the Battlefield

At the Varauta main fleet, Gigile’s battle group folds out to find City 7 without orders, but Geperuniti lets them go. Mylene tests out Basara’s Excalibur and transforms it to GERWALK mode, but she angers Basara because doing so breaks his clothes line and causes his laundry to fall into the dirt. Basara tells her not to touch his stuff, and she accuses him of being stingy. She thinks she should know how to use it in case there’s an attack, but he doesn’t think it suits her. She asks him how he’ll protect people, and he says nothing will come from shooting at each other. Milia visits the area where the Varauta pilot is being held, and they tell her there’s been no change. A technician tells Milia that his helmet has a transmitter that sends signals on a particular wavelength to brainwash the pilot and control him. On Battle 7, Gamlin hopes that Mylene is safe and runs into Physica. Physica shows him a toy music box that he made as a present for his child’s birthday. Gamlin recalls that Physica’s wife and child are on City 7, and he reassures him that they’ll find the ship. Later, several doctors inform Milia that the prisoner escaped during transport to the hospital and had a violent reaction as if to some past trauma. The pilot wanders through the park and comes across Basara’s fangirl, who is playing Fire Bomber on her radio. The pilot falls to his knees and grabs the radio, and the police arrive. Elsewhere, Gigile’s battle group folds out ahead of the Macross 7 fleet and opens fire. As the first shots come in, Max tells Miho to ignore it because it’s only meant to frighten them. Gigile sees that the fleet has a brave commander and wonders how long that’ll last. Exsedol notes that the Varauta’s movements seem strange today, and Max orders the fleet to open fire. A doctor shows Milia that the captured pilot normally has no reaction, but he responds to Fire Bomber music. The doctor doesn’t know what’s going on, and Milia tells him she’s going to ask the band for help. Milia thinks she understands what’s happening and reminds the doctor that she was one of the Zentradi who experienced a culture shock because of a song. She calls Mylene and asks the band to play a show for a VIP, but Basara complains about having to work for her again. In the middle of enemy fire, Diamond Force launches and heads to the battle zone.

Mylene is surprised that the “VIP” Milia wants them to play for is the enemy pilot. She doesn’t understand why they have to perform for an enemy, and Basara tells her they’ll play for him because he’s an enemy. The band begins performing “Planet Dance,” and the captured pilot begins singing along. In the battle, Elgersolns engage the Thunderbolts and suck Spiritia out of the pilots. As the battle continues, Max orders a transformation for Battle 7. Battle 7 separates its main gun and begins to transform, so Gigile orders his forces to cease attack. Gamlin destroys an Elgersoln near Physica and tells him to keep his guard up. Kinryu tells them that they’ll cover Battle 7 until it finishes its transformation to attack mode. As Fire Bomber continues its performance, the pilot sings along with them. Max wants to fire the Macross Cannon immediately, but Sally reports it’ll take 400 seconds to charge energy, so he tells her to fire in half that time. Gigile opens fire on a ship and begins sucking Spiritia from pilots as they’re pulled out into space. Several Elgersolns break into ships and begin sucking Spiritia from residents. Battle 7 completes its transformation and begins charging energy for the Macross Cannon. The Elgersolns begin to fall back, and Kinryu tells them to clear out of the Macross Cannon’s firing path. Physica thinks to himself that he’ll soon be reunited with his family, but his Nightmare is suddenly blasted through the torso by an enemy attack and explodes. Mylene watches as Basara sings, and the captured pilot suddenly begins screaming. With its energy charged, Max gives orders to fire the Macross Cannon at the spot where enemy will shoot. Gamlin is in the way as he fights Gigile, and Kinryu attempts to contact him. Max tells them to continue the countdown because Gamlin will get out of the way. The Macross Cannon then fires, destroying a line of Elgersolns and a third of Gigile’s fleet. The enemy pilot continues to scream and passes out. He then wakes up and asks where he is, so Milia tells him he’s with City 7. The pilot introduces himself as Ensign Irane Hayakawa. Mylene doesn’t understand, and Basara tells her there’s more than just defeating the enemy. Gamlin floats near the wreckage of Physica’s Nightmare and spots the music box that Physica had made for his child.