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Macross FB7: Listen to My Song!

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Summary

On the Macross Frontier, Ozma Lee drives with Bobby Margot while listening to Fire Bomber on the radio. Ozma feels as though Fire Bomber never went away, and Bobby wonders what happened to Basara Nekki. They argue about whether Basara’s exploits are legend or not, and Ozma thinks the band is the best even without new music. Ozma swerves to avoid being hit by a large bird creature, which Bobby thinks might be a Vajra. After smashing into their car, the bird creature shouts “beauty” and leaves behind an old VHS tape. Bobby goes to an old electronics store to get help, and later on Luca Angeloni and a deliveryman bring an old CRT TV and VCR to Ozma’s apartment. Luca hooks up the VCR, and Ozma pops in the tape, which shows Fire Bomber performing “My Friends” aboard the Macross 7. Luca asks where they bought the tape from, and Bobby tells him Mr. Bird. The tape shows Fire Bomber’s performance being interrupted by the first Protodeviln attack. After the tape ends, Ozma asks Luca to look up the seventh fleet and find whatever he can about Sound Force. There’s a knock on the window, and the bird drops off the next tape, showcasing battles with the Varauta and their stealing of Spiritia from U.N. Spacy pilots. Ranka Lee comes home while they’re watching the tape and learns that Sheryl Nome’s catchphrase actually came from Basara. Ozma thinks that Basara’s desire to sing is probably what led to the creation of Sound Force. The video then ends, but the tape keeps running and shows that Fire Bomber’s music clears up the minds of brainwashed enemies. After the tape ends, Ozma wonders why Basara ended up helping the military if he didn’t like them. Later, Ozma returns home and finds that the viewing party has grown to include Michael Blanc and Klan Klang, who were invited by Luca. Luca tells Ozma that he couldn’t find any records of the seventh fleet before the creation of Sound Force.

Further tapes show the continuing battles against the Protodeviln in orbit of and on the planet Lux. Luca continues his research and discovers some information about Dr. Chiba’s Sound Boosters, which were developed to fight the Protodeviln. The tape outlines Protodeviln leader Geperuniti’s plans, which included destroying the Macross 5 fleet. It also details the Protodeviln Gigile and his personal reasons for waking up Sivil. Ranka accidentally trips on one of the cables and tells everyone that Sheryl is coming over to watch the tape. The tape ends after the creation of Sound Force, and Ranka offers to make food for Bobby. Klan shakes Michael around and demands the next tape. Sheryl arrives and is told that the tape is already over for the day, but she has the next tape from the bird. Basara’s singing power creates Anima Spiritia that awakens Sivil. After the tape ends, Ranka asks Sheryl what the phrase “Listen to my song” means. Later, Ozma returns home and finds that the viewing group has grown yet again to include fellow SMS pilot Canaria Bernstein. In the tape, Geperuniti sends the Protodeviln Gavil to kill Gigile and Sivil, but Basara intervenes to help them. Gigile starts singing and awakens his Protodeviln body, which destroys Lux just as the Macross 7 fleet escapes. Ranka is amazed by how Basara tried to help even the Protodeviln. In the next tape, an avatar of the Protoculture explains that the Protodeviln are extra dimensional beings who cannot exist without Spiritia and possessed their Evil soldiers. Sound Force continues to fight the Protodeviln, and Sivil returns to help Basara in a battle against Gavil. Ozma watches and takes note of Gavil’s constant shouting of ‘beauty.” As the tape continues, U.N. Spacy headquarters orders the fleet to conduct a raid on the Protodeviln base in the Varauta system. The crew discover that Geperuniti is using the captured citizens of the Macross 5 for his Spiritia Farm, but the mission ends in failure. After the tape ends, Luca notes that there are no military records of this. Ozma thinks that he’s learned the truth about the bird.

The fight against the Protodeviln continues in the next tape, and Basara sings to restore Sivil after she’s wounded by the Protodeviln, which causes his heart to stop. Sivil attacks Geperuniti, but he sucks up her Spiritia and awakens his Protodeviln body. Ranka wonders if Basara died, but Sheryl thinks he might still be singing somewhere. The next day, everyone shows up to keep watching tapes, but Ozma tells them that Basara is dead, just like the rest of the Macross 7 fleet. Luca notes that according to the records, Sound Force repelled the Protodeviln, but Ozma thinks that’s just a legend. Mr. Bird suddenly appears and drops the next tape on the street, and Ozma climbs up to the roof to see him. He says he knows what’s going on and asks Mr. Bird if he’s going to destroy the Frontier fleet, but he answers that it’s the ultimate beauty. The new tape shows the final battle against the Protodeviln and the destruction of Battle 7, along with Max and Milia Jenius fighting in their Sturmvogel II fighters. Everyone starts singing to revive Basara, who is in a coma and on life support. The revived Basara takes off one last time to sing to the Protodeviln. Geperuniti’s body has gone out of control and is threatening to consume all the Spiritia in the galaxy. However, Basara and Sivil get through to him and prove that the Protodeviln are capable of creating Anima Spiritia on their own rather than stealing it from others. Geperuniti and the rest of the Protodeviln leave the galaxy, and Sivil tells Basara that she’ll never forget his song. With the final tape over, Ozma declares he was right about Fire Bomber not having any new songs. Luca tells Ozma that the Protodeviln can control Zentradi, so they might have to watch out if one tries anything with Klan. Ozma asks everyone to help clean up the mess. Ranka and Sheryl sing Fire Bomber songs on the roof, which draws a large crowd. Mr. Bird transforms into Gavil and flies away from the fleet.

Commentary

It’s been a tradition for Macross to mark anniversary years with new productions, as evidenced by Flashback 2012, Macross II, Dynamite 7, Zero and Frontier. Macross FB7 has the distinction of being the 30th anniversary production – and it completely blows it. One of Frontier‘s neat connections to the past was that Ozma grew up with Fire Bomber’s music and is a huge fan of the band. So you might think a 30th anniversary OVA would be a crossover for the two shows, but you’d be wrong. FB7 is nothing more than a Macross 7 compilation movie, and its Japanese release coincided with the remastered TV show being released on Blu-ray. In essence, this is nothing but a glorified Blu-ray commercial. Sure, the old Macross 7 footage has been cleaned up, but it’s also been cropped from its original 4:3 aspect ratio to 16:9, creating a fake widescreen image. There’s no reason given why Gavil appears as a bird to randomly give tapes to Ozma with the Macross 7 story. Also strangely missing is Frontier star Alto Saotome, even though almost every other character has a cameo. This OVA represents a wasted opportunity to show what happened to the fleet after Dynamite 7, and that’s a shame. Unless you’re desperate to see some new footage with Frontier‘s cast, don’t watch this. Even then, just watch the movies instead. This poor release is best avoided.

Overall Rating
0.5/5
Macross FB7 Info


Director:
Tetsuro Amino

Writer:
Tetsuro Amino

Mechanical Designer:
Shoji Kawamori

Character Designer(s):
Risa Ebata
Yuichi Takahashi
Haruhiko Mikimoto (Macross 7)

Musical Composer:
Fire Bomber

Format:
1 episode

Video Release:
Japan 10.20.2012

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