Roger is woken up by Dorothy’s frantic piano playing. Dorothy tells Roger that it is already past noon and she intends to do this whenever he sleeps too late. Roger takes Dorothy with him to see an old friend. They arrive at a rundown part of town and Roger activates the shield on his car. Roger brings Dorothy into a bar called Amadeus. Before stepping inside Dorothy hears the sound of piano playing inside. Roger says that while the player isn’t following the sheet music as tightly as she does, his playing has more heart. They head inside where the player is revealed to be a robot. The bar patrons relax and listen to the music. Once he has finished playing, the piano player, R. Instro, comes over to the bar and Roger introduces him to Dorothy. Instro says that his ‘father’, Amadeus, owned the bar and left the piano to him when he passed away. Instro says that nothing made his father happier than listening to him play the piano. Dorothy thinks of when she was singing before her ‘grandfather,’ Timothy Waynewright. Roger asks Instro to teach Dorothy how to play the song he just played. Later, when the bar is closed, Instro instructs Dorothy on his piano. Instro tells Roger that Dorothy is an accomplished pianist that doesn’t need his help, but Roger asks him to help her with the way she approaches the piano. An elderly man, Geesang, comes in clapping and is surprised to see Roger and Dorothy there, and that Dorothy was the one playing the piano. Geesang asks Instro if he is still not interested in accomplishing his father’s legacy. Instro declines at the moment, with Roger and Dorothy there, and Geesang leaves, saying he’ll return later. Roger asks Instro who Geesang is but Instro ignores the question and returns to helping Dorothy with the piano. Later, Roger goes to see Dastun to ask him if he has ever heard of Geesang, wondering if he is Instro’s guardian. Dorothy plays the piano at Roger’s mansion and comments on it not being as finely tuned as Instro’s. Dastun tells Roger that Geesang was Amadeus’ research partner and was present when Amadeus perished in a lab accident. Dastun says that after the accident Paradigm, the entity that was bankrolling their research, cut off the funding. At that moment, Geesang approaches the Amadeus bar and activates a circular object on his cane.
Roger and Dorothy return to the Amadeus bar on a later date to find it closed. Roger is about to use a device to break the lock but Dorothy simply knocks the door over by pushing it instead. They find the bar in ruins, as if a shockwave hit the place. Roger flashes back to his conversation with Dastun, where Dastun reveals that Amadeus and Geesang were working with sound waves and half of Amadeus’ home was blown away. Dorothy tells Roger he must bring Instro back safely. Roger is surprised to hear Dorothy say that. She says she is not finished yet and Roger’s payment for his services will be her improved piano playing. Roger drives towards the ruins of Amadeus’ home, shooting his way through the barriers on the road. Roger and Dorothy arrive at the ruins of Amadeus’ home and head inside. Suddenly, a large Mega Deus, Constance, rises from the ground. Roger believes Instro to be inside. Roger chases after Constance. Instro lowers Constance’s head and opens it up, revealing himself to be its pilot. Instro says his father built Constance and he was never a pianist, built to be his father’s instrument for the Mega Deus. Geesang arrives, asking Instro what he is doing. Instro says his father was abandoned by Paradigm and he built Constance to get revenge, so he was killed. Roger claims it was Geesang who was abandoned by Paradigm and that he was responsible for ending Amadeus’ life. Geesang claims Roger is lying and aims his staff at him. Instro tells Geesang to put down the staff and that he’ll carry out his and Amadeus’s wishes. Constance gets up and walks away. Roger yells out to Instro that he wouldn’t have been made so human if that was Amadeus’ true intent. Instro shuts off the communication and fires at Roger, knocking him over. Roger calls out for Big O to arrive. Big O appears out of the ground seconds later. Constance backs off as Big O approaches then starts spinning its arms, creating a photo-sonic attack. Instro tells Roger he doesn’t want to fight him and only seeks to destroy Paradigm. Big O fires its lasers at Constance with no success and starts being damaged by the attack. Geesang orders Instro to finish off Big O. Suddenly Dorothy starts playing the piano in the remains of Amadeus’ home. Hearing her playing, Instro stops Constance’s attack. Big O fires at Constance with its missiles, destroying it. Geesang aims his staff at Dorothy but one of Constance’s severed arms falls on top of him, crushing him. Instro says all he wants to do is play the piano. Roger approaches Constance in Big O and asks Instro to leave it. Instro says he is saddened by the fact that his late father’s legacy is a weapon. Roger says Instro is his father’s legacy. Instro says that changes nothing and pulls his arms out of Constance’s control unit, severing both his hands. Instro says he’ll never return to the piano again but Dorothy arrives and says he must so they can finish her lessons. A number of days later, Roger sleeps in his bed while Instro teaches Dorothy on the piano. Roger says that only Amadeus could fix the circuitry in Instro’s fingers, but Instro having the memories of a pianist was all that was needed. Instro says his playing at the piano was his father’s true legacy. The clock strikes 1:00 PM. Suddenly, Dorothy starts playing frantically at the piano again, angering Roger.
This is one of the show’s stronger stand alone episodes, featuring a sympathetic guest character in Instro. With Dorothy really being the only android character in the show to this point, it was interesting to bring another one into the fold, even if it was just for one episode. After the previous episode barely featured Dorothy at all, this is one that features a lot of key development for her. Her relationship with Roger continues to be an interesting one and her attitude towards Roger sleeping in is a funny one. The episode features some strong music, including some externally sourced music from well-known composer Frederick Chopin. The one flaw is that Geesang comes off as too much of a cliche mad scientist type character.
Director:
Kazuyoshi Katayama
Writer(s):
Chiaki J. Konaka
Kazuyoshi Katayama
Keiichi Hasegawa
Masanao Akahoshi
Shin Yoshida
Mechanical Designer:
Keiichi Satou
Character Designer:
Keiichi Satou
Musical Composer:
Toshihiko Sahashi
Format:
26 episodes
Airdates:
Japan 10.13.1999 – 01.19.2000 (S1); 01.02.2003 – 03.23.2003 (S2)
U.S. 04.02.2001 – 04.18.2001 (S1); 08.03.2003 – 11.02.2003 (S2)
MAHQ is now officially on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mahqdotnet.bsky.social.
Our future on this cursed app is unclear, but expect more posts over there.
Cutaway diagram of the VF-1J Valkyrie Fighter Mode from “This is Animation Special: Macross Plus”(1995). Larger versions on my DA profile:
https://www.deviantart.com/marchly/art/Macross-VF-1J-Valkyrie-Cutaway-Diagram-detailed-973372931
https://www.deviantart.com/marchly/art/Macross-VF-1J-Valkyrie-Cutaway-Diagram-clean-973371729
Art by Kiyomi Tanaka. Original concept by unknown Macross fan. Image built by me
#Gundamn278; Next Episode! With our special guest, Sophia, we finally tackle the second half of the latest chapter of the #Gundam Franchise; #WitchFromMercury! Join us live on 07/20/2023 @ 10:15 p EDT! #MAHQ #Mecha #Anime #Podcast #G_Witch
Live Stream: https://youtube.com/live/fqw4pnuOYF4?feature=share
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