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Macross 7 Ep. 22: Men of Burning Passion

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Summary

Basara wakes up and notices how hot it is. Milia’s aide informs her that City 7‘s thermal resistance is about 6,000 degrees Celsius, which she thinks is cutting it close. She wants to keep things away from the media, and the aid tells her that she seems to be enjoying it. In a control room, Milia is informed that City 7 will be pulled into a red star within 12 hours, due to a magnetic field affecting their navigation systems. Milia wants to fold away from the area, but she’s told that the fold system isn’t fully operational. Mylene complains about the heat and having to record in Basara’s apartment, but he tells her if they’re going to rock, it has to be hot. Inside, the two argue as Ray and Veffidas set up the equipment. Ray comments to Akiko that she doesn’t seem as energetic as usual, and she asks if he’s worried about her. He says they have to depend on her, and she asks him that’s all there is to it while making suggestive poses to show off her breasts. On Battle 7, Chiba explains the effect of music to other U.N. Spacy commanders during a video conference. He’s created a song energy detector, and Max cuts in and explains that they can use it to find Fire Bomber and City 7. Milia asks for an update on the fold system, and a technician explains that it’s being affected by the red star. He estimates it’ll take six hours to charge enough fold energy, but they only have eight hours before being pulled in. As Fire Bomber begins to sing “Holy Lonely Light,” Akiko becomes visibly agitated and demands that a technician raise Basara’s voice level. She then calms down and leaves the room. Chiba activates his song energy detector, but Exsedol doesn’t expect any great results. Chiba almost immediately picks up a signal, but he loses it. Milia is informed that they’ll be able to fold in two hours. The technicians want to perform a shell down to cut some of the heat, and Milia agrees. Just then, a Varauta fleet de-folds in orbit of the star near them. Gigile doesn’t care if Geperuniti’s project doesn’t work, as he only wants to get Sivil back. Basara’s fangirl walks through the street, and she’s surprised to see his Excalibur fly overhead. Basara wonders if they’ll be pulled into the red star, and Milia tells him and Gamlin that it’s their job to make sure that doesn’t happen. Gamlin falls back to protect City 7’s power system, and Basara fires out speaker pods to sing “Planet Dance.”

Gigile tells the other Elgersoln pilots to ignore Basara and head for City 7. Basara chases after them, and in the city Sivil abandons Akiko’s body. Mylene wonders if they’ll be ok, and Ray explains that they’ll be fine if they go into the city. Gamlin chases after several Elgersolns that are attacking City 7’s power system, but they manage to fire off several missiles and cause damage. With his work done, Gigile pulls back to wait for Sivil. Technicians inform Milia that not only has the attack stalled the fold energy at 80 percent, but it’s also accelerated their rate of descent, giving them only 50 minutes. Milia orders Gamlin to fix the power system because she can’t send any technicians out into the heat. Gamlin begins repairs, and Basara dodges fire while singing. Elsewhere, Chiba picks up Basara’s singing, as well as City 7’s coordinates. Sally reports that City 7 is being pulled into a red star, so Max orders an immediate fold. Mylene asks Ray what’s going on, and he tells her that Gamlin is making repairs to the power system, but it’s a race against time before they get pulled into the star. He suddenly stops the van when he spots Akiko lying in the road. Battle 7 folds, and Milia asks Basara to help Gamlin with the repairs, but he ignores her and keeps singing. Battle 7 de-folds next to the star, and Gigile’s fleet opens fire. Max orders a transformation, and Gigile’s ships press their attack to stop its transformation. Battle 7 completes its transformation and fires its Macross Cannon, but Gigile’s battleship folds just before the rest of the fleet is destroyed. With only 10 minutes left, Battle 7 begins pushing City 7 out of the sun’s gravity well. Milia tells Max that they have to fold immediately because parts of City 7 are melting, but he answers that it’ll take 60 minutes to recharge the energy they just used on the Macross Cannon. Basara cuts into the conversation and says that they’re working on the power system. Milia then comes up with the idea of connecting Battle 7 to City 7 to use City 7’s fold energy. Gamlin complains about the heat, and Basara says that singing will make him feel better. Sivil approaches Basara, and Gamlin tries to lock on, but Milia urges him to proceed with connecting the pipe. As Basara sings “My Soul For You,” Sivil is overwhelmed and retreats again. Gamlin is shocked and wonders if Basara’s singing scared Sivil away. With repairs finished, both ships fold out and return to the fleet.

Commentary

This episode concludes the arc of City 7’s separation from the rest of the fleet. As the episode begins, they’re certainly in the worst position possible, seeing as how they’re being pulled into a star. We see more of Akiko acting strange around everyone, and Sivil finally leaves her body. Gigile uses this opportunity to attack and get Sivil back, but luckily Max intervenes with Battle 7 and manages to destroy most of Gigile’s ships. It’s pretty clear that Gigile doesn’t agree with Geperuniti’s plans, so there’s a clear divide in what both of them are doing. Gamlin still doesn’t approve of Basara’s singing during battle, but he finally sees evidence that Basara’s singing is effective against Sivil. It’s taken a while, but it looks like he’s coming around.

Original Review: May 17, 2000

Overall Rating
3.5/5

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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