MacrossReviews

Macross Ep. 13: Blue Wind

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Summary

On the bridge of the Macross, an operator wonders when they will ever reach Earth, and Claudia tells her she should ask the Zentradi fleet that is blocking them. In the bowels of the ship, Loli, Conda and Warera explore the area and realize they need to change their outfits to blend in. Vanessa, Kim and Shammy walk by after getting off duty and decide to head to the disco. They go into a nearby locker room to change clothes, and the spies realize they can get new outfits there. After the girls leave, the three spies go into the locker room and pry open all the lockers to get some clothes. Loli and Conda manage to find decent outfits, but Warera doesn’t realize that he’s put on a blouse and a skirt. In a briefing room, Misa, Hikaru, Max and Kakizaki give their report to Global, Colonel Maistrov and other members of the senior staff. With the exception of Global, none of the others believe the story about Zentradi history and Protoculture. An analyst gives an estimate to Global that the Zentradi main fleet consists of roughly four to five million ships. Global thinks that the idea of Protoculture explains why the Zentradi have ignored Earth and have performed strange attacks on the Macross. Global wants to get the information to Earth, and Maistrov wants to prepare a coded message to send to U.N. Spacy. Global tells him they won’t be sending a message because he plans to break past the Zentradi fleet and head for Earth, which is only two days away. While no one is really happy that their story wasn’t believed, Kakizaki is glad they all got promotions. The spies enter the city and are shocked when they see men and women closely interacting. Conda accidentally grabs a woman’s breast and gets slapped, and Loli thinks the close interaction is perverse. Two skateboards skate by and cause Warera to fall down, which attracts attention. Loli and Conda realize that Warera is wearing women’s clothes and run away. Warera runs into the women’s restroom and gets beaten up. Elsewhere, a ceremony is held to congratulate Hikaru and the others for their return. Minmay gives everyone bouquets, and she kisses Hikaru and tells him that now they’re both famous. She then performs her new single “My Boyfriend is a Pilot”, and the spies are amazed by how the crowd is getting into the song. They feel strange and find that they like the song too.

Misa returns to the bridge and is welcomed back by Claudia and the bridge crew. Claudia asks Misa why she is on the bridge when she has special leave from Global, and Misa explains that she’s most comfortable on the bridge. Vanessa, Kim and Shammy come up to the bridge and run over to Misa and hug her. Elsewhere, as Roy drives around in a jeep he spots Hikaru, Max and Kakizaki in another jeep and asks what they are doing. Hikaru says they are heading for the hangar since all the pilots were ordered to duty, and Roy tells him that doesn’t apply to them since they have leave. Hikaru says it’s an emergency, and Roy orders them to stop before he has them put in the brig. On her flagship, an officer asks Laplamiz what she intends to do about the Macross, and Laplamiz says she can’t do anything because Boddole Zer hasn’t given any orders. On his ship, Kamjin doesn’t want the disgrace of allowing the Macross to escape, so he decides to attack. Global has the ship begin transformation, and the three spies get knocked around as the city transforms. As Kamjin’s forces approach, Global has the Valkyrie squads launch and fires the main gun. The main gun damages several Zentradi ships, and Global has it fire again. The Zentradi ships begin firing, and the pinpoint barrier is deployed to protect the ship. Laplamiz is outraged that Kamjin is attacking on his own, and she has her fleet move to intercept his. Her ships block his line of fire and allow the Macross to slip through. Laplamiz orders Kamjin to stand down or prepare to fight her. Misa wonders what the Zentradi are doing, and Global tells her to worry about that later. With the Zentradi distracted, the Macross begins atmospheric re-entry. After safely entering the atmosphere, the ship touches down in the waters of the Pacific Ocean. External doors are opened to allow the citizens to go outside and see the sky. Hikaru, Max and Kakizaki go outside, and Hikaru feels like he’s in a dream. Overhead, the Valkyrie squadrons fly by.

Commentary

After a long journey, the Macross has finally returned to Earth. However, they may not have a very warm reception since U.N. Spacy wants them to stay away and act as a decoy. Hikaru and the others give their report on the Zentradi, but the fools of the senior staff don’t believe them. They’ll soon realize how wrong they are. We also get some comedy bits thanks to the misadventures of Loli, Conda and Warera. Wearing a dress is a classic example of how the Zentradi have no concept of human culture. They also don’t seem to understand Minmay’s performance. There’s also a brief battle near the end, and attentive viewers will spot a glaring animation mistake. When Kamjin fires back at the Macross, we see that it’s in ship mode, but this occurs after it had already transformed and fired the main gun. Looks like the animators were trying to slip in some stock footage despite the obvious continuity error.

Original Review: May 1, 2000

Overall Rating
4/5
Macross Info


Director:
Noboru Ishiguro

Writer(s):
Hiroshi Ohnogi
Shoji Kawamori
Noboru Ishiguro
Sukehiro Tomita
Kenichi Matsuzaki

Mechanical Designer(s):
Shoji Kawamori
Kazutaka Miyatake

Character Designer:
Haruhiko Mikimoto

Musical Composer:
Kentaroh Haneda

Format:
36 episodes

Airdates:
Japan 10.03.1982 – 06.26.1983

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