MacrossReviews

Macross Ep. 16: Kung Fu Dandy

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Summary

On the bridge of the Macross, the crew isn’t too happy to hear about the decision from High Command. Vanessa, Kim and Shammy ask Global what he intends to do, and he tells them to just stick to their duties. They decide to go into town to relax. In the city, Kaifun enters the Nyan-Nyan, and his mother Feichun is shocked to see him. She runs over to hug him, but his father Shaochin stays in the kitchen and cries as he washes dishes. Nearby, the three spies stand outside a Japanese restaurant and stare at a bowl of tempura because they’re starving. Loli breaks the glass display and starts biting into the tempura, but it’s actually made of wax. The owner comes out and tells them to come inside because they must be starving if they’re trying to eat wax food. Around the corner, Misa, Max, Vanessa, Kim and Shammy enter the Nyan-Nyan and find it packed with people. As they look for a table, they see that Hikaru is sitting at a large table by himself. They ask what’s going on, and he explains that a homecoming party is being held for Kaifun since he ran away from home earlier. Vanessa and Kim think Kaifun is cute, and Misa is shocked by how much he resembles Riber. They mayor has Kaifun comes over and tells him that even though he hates the military it has cute girls. Everyone is surprised by this, and Kaifun says he hates fighting because all war ever leads to is destruction. Hikaru and the others agree that they didn’t join the military because they like to destroy things. MBS interrupts Minmay’s show with the announcement that the citizens won’t be allowed to leave the ship. All the people in the restaurant become very angry and demand that Hikaru and the others explain. He says he doesn’t know anything, and Misa asks everyone to calm down. The mob decides to take them hostage as a way to get off the ship, and Max punches someone when they grab Misa. The situation degenerates into an all-out brawl as men attack Hikaru and Max. Kaifun is attacked as well, but he uses defensive Kung Fu moves and defeats everyone without using a single attack. Misa offers him a handkerchief because he’s bleeding, but he refuses to accept it since she’s a soldier.

Kamjin decides to attack the Macross and heads for Earth in a small ship. Laplamiz is informed of Kamjin’s unauthorized sortie and decides to punish him. Global orders the Valkyrie squadrons to launch and has Misa recalled to the bridge. After arriving, Misa stares into nothing and Claudia asks if she’s found a boyfriend to daydream about. A U.N. Spacy base picks up the ship entering the atmosphere and fires interceptor missiles at it. The interceptor missiles hit the ship but cause little damage. The ship flies over the Macross, and Kamjin launches in his Glaug, followed by a large force of Regults and Gnerls. Global orders the Destroid Spartans to be deployed on the carrier decks to fight off the Regults. As Vermillion Squadron prepares for launch, Hikaru yells at Misa and asks if they have to shoot down a hundred thousand or a million more to stop the Zentradi. She’s distracted and doesn’t pay attention, and he’s surprised she didn’t chew him out for what he said. Hikaru, Max and Kakizaki manage to launch, but several Valkyries behind them are destroyed before they can take off. As they fight on the surface of the ship, a squad of Queadluun-Raus led by Milia approaches. Laplamiz’s orders are to stop Kamjin and not attack the humans, but Milia disobeys the order and begins destroying Valkyries. Max and Kakizaki stay on the carrier decks to fight off the Regults while Hikaru fights in the air. Laplamiz gives Kamjin a direct order to withdraw, and Kamjin tells Gerao to make sure the “present” is delivered. Another ship appears and begins a kamikaze run, and Global orders a Daedalus Attack. When the time comes for the attack, Misa is distracted and performs the attack late. The Daedalus punches through the ship and fires missiles, which hit Hikaru’s Valkyrie. Kamjin retreats in shame, and Global orders Misa to take immediate leave in her quarters. Misa cries in her room and realizes that Kaifun isn’t Riber. At sea, rescuers find an unconscious Hikaru floating in the water. He is taken to a hospital aboard the ship and into the operating room.

Commentary

After a clip show and character development episode, the Zentradi make their return here. Kamjin again disobeys orders, and no one seems to be able to keep him under control. I’m sure Britai probably regrets ever calling him in for assistance. The citizens get pretty out of line in this episode, and Kaifun swiftly defeats them without laying a hand on any of them. You have to wonder exactly why a pacifist knows Kung Fu. Misa notices his resemblance to Riber, which distracts her for the rest of the episode and ends up nearly costing Hikaru his life.

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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