MospeadaReviews

Mospeada Ep. 3: Midday Duel Concert

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Summary

Singer Yellow Belmont performs inside the Mebiko House club to a small audience, including Bartley rider Houquet et Rose. A Grab patrols the skies outside of the rundown town and spots Stick, Ray and Mint. Ray comments on how dirty the town is, and Stick is surprised that a place is so rundown and wonders if this is an effect of the Inbit. Ray tells him that people just lack morale and that not everything is the fault of the Inbit. Mint says she doesn’t want to live in such a dirty town and wonders what she would do if someone proposed. Inside Mebiko House, Yellow finishes her song and Houquet says to herself that it was depressing. A loudmouthed guy with sunglasses asks Yellow who told her she could sing in the town. She says the guests invited her, and the man rushes the stage to punch Yellow, but she easily dodges. Yellow then slaps him and tells his fellow ruffians to leave. The sunglasses guy rushes at her again, but she pushes him away. The manager asks them not to fight, so a punk throws a knife at him. Houquet tells them not fight and says it isn’t cute. The sunglasses guy rushes at her, so she elbows him in the neck. Stick and the others walk into the bar, and he recognizes Houquet as the Bartley rider who saved them earlier. Ray wants to help Houquet fight the punk with the knife, but Stick stops him and says she’ll be fine. Houquet kicks the punk and knocks him into a table. Another man grabs her from behind, and Ray throws several glasses at the punks. Stick pulls out his gun, and the punks leave the bar. Houquet says she didn’t need their help and leaves. Yellow comes over to thank them, and Ray asks for an autograph on a handkerchief. Stick asks who those guys were, and the manager explains they’re the local bullies. Stick thinks people have become too timid because of the Inbit. Outside, the punks chase after a Jeep and shoot at it. Jim Warston and Kent are forced to run on foot, but the motorcycle punks grab Kent and take him away. They chase Jim to the bar, where Stick uses his rifle to scare them off. The sunglasses guy tells Jim that if he wants to see Kent alive again, he’ll come to the KO Corral. Stick asks Jim what happened, but Jim tells him it’s none of his business and walks off. One of Jim’s comrades asks him if he’s going to leave Kent to die, and Stick comments that such an attitude is fitting for a rundown town like this. Stick puts on his ride armor and asks where the KO Corral is, but the manager tells him the punks have a bazooka. Stick, Houquet and Ray then drive off, and Jim asks for a bike so he can save Kent. Mint introduces herself and jumps into Yellow’s Jeep. They drive to the KO Corral and find the bikers there with Kent tied to a tree.

Jim tells his comrade to rescue Kent while he fights the bikers because he’s tired of running away. Ray tells Houquet she should leave before she gets hurt, but she answers that she can’t stand annoying guys like the bikers. Stick cautions Ray against firing his MOSPEADA‘s missiles at the bikers because it will kill them. Ray comments that the tension reminds him of an old Western movie he saw as a kid. The sunglasses guy calls out Jim as a coward and says he knows Jim was a soldier in the First Liberation Force. Jim asks them to let Kent go, and he says he’ll deal with them himself instead of handing them to the Inbit. The bikers charge forward and suddenly come under fire from Grabs in the air. Stick, Ray and Houquet transform to Ride mode to fight the Inbit, which leaves Jim shocked. Ray says to himself that Houquet doesn’t look like a soldier, so he wonders how she can fight so well. Houquet is hit in the air by a Grab and crashes into the forest. Stick and Ray take on two other Grabs and chase them off. Ray asks Stick if he’s a soldier and knows how to fly a fighter. Houquet tells Ray that he’s a slowpoke, and he says he doesn’t want to fight the Inbit. Jim’s comrade rescues Kent, and the bikers hide inside the barn, filled with fear. Mint asks Yellow why she isn’t afraid, and she asks Mint if her friends are the ones with the bikes. Jim leads Stick to a silo where he’s been hiding an Eta Legioss he repaired. Stick hops into the cockpit just as three Grabs approach. Houquet and Ray arrive and attack the Grabs while Stick takes off. He smashes out of the silo and is chased by the Inbit. Stick transforms to Armo-Soldier mode and fires missiles at the Grabs, destroying them completely. Mint hugs Jim and says they should live in town together, but Jim says she’s leaving with Stick. He’s tired of hiding the fact that he’s a soldier and wants to fight the Inbit head on. Yellow wants to come along, but Stick says he won’t take women with him. Yellow says she’ll become a man and takes off her clothes and makeup, revealing that she’s a man. Yellow introduces himself and asks to come along to Reflex Point, crushing Ray’s dreams of his idol singer.

Commentary

The third episode rounds out the main cast by introducing us to Jim Warston and Yellow Belmont. Mospeada takes another Macross mainstay, the idol singer, and puts an interesting spin on it by making the idol a cross dresser. Yellow makes a very convincing woman, enough to fool fans like Ray. On the other hand, Jim stands out as a big man with a reputation for being a coward. When his back is against the wall, he finally decides to take action and stops hiding. The rundown town featured in this episode shows another effect that the Inbit occupation has had on humanity: they’re so fearful of everything that they can’t even muster up the will to fight some mediocre motorcycle gang. We see that those guys were lightweights, as they all cowered inside a barn once the Inbit attacked. While Ray and Stick were able to fight pretty well with their MOSPEADAs, having extra people and an Eta Legioss certainly helps even out the odds. Now that the team is assembled, it’s time to begin the very long journey to Reflex Point.

Overall Rating
3.5/5
Mospeada Info


Director:
Katsuhisa Yamada

Writer(s):
Sukehiro Tomita
Kenji Terada
Ryo Yasumura
Satoshi Namiki

Mechanical Designer(s):
Shinji Aramaki
Hideki Kakinuma

Character Designer:
Yoshitaka Amano

Musical Composer(s):
Joe Hisaishi
Hiroshi Ogasawara

Format:
25 episodes; 1 compilation OVA

Airdates:
Japan 10.02.1983 – 03.25.1984

OVA Release:
Japan 09.21.1985

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