There are some unsettling things afoot this episode as the characters’ proximity to each other bring out their old feelings. What’s more, we start to get a glimpse of the AI singer known as Sharon Apple and ‘her’ existence and connection to Myung. The VF-X competitions continue onwards with Isamu’s first flight in the YF-19, but after some initial trials and combat simulations even the new fighter program begins to be affected by the pasts of Isamu, Guld, and Myung. Meanwhile Col. Johnson is keeping tabs on Guld and Isamu both overtly and behind the scenes, and the creators of Sharon Apple seem to be up to no good while the YF-19′s chief engineer is trying to get his hands on the program himself.
Backstage before the concert, Myung plugs herself into the device which seems to control Sharon Apple and the concert. So much for Sharon being an AI?
AH! Protodeviln, run! Oh wait, that’s Sharon. In a very psychedelic concert performance that is not for those with epilepsy, the virtual singer seems to entrance the crowd while Isamu seems freaked out by the experience. And rightly so.
The Chief Engineer, who just seems to have invited himself along on Isamu and Lucy’s date, spends his time trying to hack the Sharon program and get her to come to him. Considering that, at least to the best of his knowledge, Sharon is a sentient existence, isn’t that kind of, um, unsavory?
Myung’s feelings seem to be in control at least for a time though, as Sharon reaches out for Isamu, picking him out of the crowd for a virtual kiss.
The day after the concert the competition aspect of Project Supernova begins in earnest now that the YF-19 has been readied for trials. Over the course of the day Isamu gets in plenty of time to test out the YF-19 and show off his and the plane’s acrobatic abilities with some wild maneuvers and a bit of skywriting. Later on he even goes into direct competition with Guld and his YF-21, engaging in flight maneuvers, target practice, and simulated urban combat using paint rounds. At the end of the day’s testing the YF-19 is coming out ahead in every category, but the Colonel is not pleased with Isamu’s antics even if they’ve produced results. He knows from his own experience that recklessness like Isamu’s is an accident waiting to happen. As expected Isamu doesn’t take this very well, punching the nameplate on the Colonel’s door after his meeting with him, but he seems to get over it for now and the testing is scheduled to continue. Meanwhile the Colonel finds out and then covers up the fact that Guld is having issues controlling his inherent Zentradi tendencies towards aggressive behavior. Why he chooses to ignore this while busting Guld’s and Isamu’s balls for their indiscretions is as yet unknown. Perhaps he wants to give Guld a chance since he’s otherwise a model pilot, perhaps he wants the program to continue no matter the cost.
Isamu goes through some planned maneuvers on the ground, always a good idea to prepare ahead of time. The whole competition thing and all the Top Gun references just just make this video all the more perfect (thanks to grss1982 for linking to it last post.)
Taking the new Valkyrie up to the edge of space.
Evidently Isamu never played any of the Time Crisis games.
Urban combat side-by-side exercise. The YF-21′s battroid form looks a lot like the MS-18E Kampfer from Gundam 0080, I guess they liked aspects of the design so much that the mechanical designer wanted to use them again.
Viewscreens surrounding the pilot must be a huge advantage to the YF-19, though aesthetically I’m more partial to the traditional cockpit layout. It could also potentially be disorienting for pilots. Here Isamu locks onto a Thunderbolt flying below him, a Valkyrie that I was disappointed to not be able to find a good fighter mode model kit of 
For how smug Guld is, he’s getting owned in the first head-to-head test results.
Later in the evening Myung meets up with her old friend Kate in a really cheesy dinosaur-themed restaurant. Apparently she also grew up on Eden with Myung, Guld, and Isamu, and ended up marrying another member of their circle of friends. Kate immediately picks up on Myung’s distress about life in general and Guld and Isamu specifically, and when Myung yells out that she stopped singing while they’re out at a karaoke place Kate calls both old friends. Isamu doesn’t fall for the ploy to get him to show up, but Guld heads to the city, arriving just in time for Myung to have left. Apparently she’s so afraid of their shared past that when she overheard Kate calling them she ran off back to the concert hall. Back at New Edwards, Isamu is hanging out for the evening and comes across the Chief Engineer still obsessed over Sharon Apple, this time trying to steal her program. Which is again creepy, since it’s pretty much kidnapping.
Woah, tacky.
Kate apparently married the Macross version of Lt. Col. Hughes. HUUUGGGHHHEEESSS!!!!
*facepalm*
Kate’s phone-book-thing. Apparently she knows the famous playwright and apparent immortal Henrik Ibsen. Looking at the other names Isaac Brown was apparently a daring US naval commander who unfortunately was a dirty rebel traitor during the US Civil War and fought for the Confederacy, no matches on wikipedia for the other names, aside from Isamu. I have to wonder about the inclusion of Ibsen, I’ve only read one of his works (A Doll’s House), but I have to wonder if his works had any special influence on the story of Macross Plus.
After taking a taxi back to the concert hall Myung is despairing about the past, and tells a still switched-on Sharon that she hates her songs, and her own as well, and that she wishes she could just go somewhere and fade away. Sharon is definitely watching all this, even appearing behind Myung in her holographic form. Her expression almost looks like she’s concerned for Myung, but it is hard to tell since she is a computer program. Myung falls asleep on a couch, and shortly after Isamu and Guld receive strange phone calls telling them that a fire will break out at the concert hall in 30 minutes. Guld heads there immediately, since he’s already nearby, and after deciding what to do for a bit Isamu also leaves the base and heads for town at high speed, ignoring the cops trying to pull him over. Myung wakes up to find the building on fire and the door inoperable, Guld meanwhile making his way into the building looking for her. Eventually he finds her after she’s passed out from smoke inhalation and just barely manages to get her out as the doors begin automatically closing in front of him. Sharon definitely started the fire with an electricity overload, disabled the alarms, and tried to trap them in the building, but whether out of spite over Myung’s comment or a misguided wish to fulfill Myung’s desire to cease to exist is also not clear. By the time Isamu arrives the fire department is there but Myung and Guld have left. Back in Myung’s hotel room she treats Guld’s wounds, and in the ensuing conversation she breaks down about how she said she wanted to forget the past but now feels differently. The two start embracing and it’s implied that they sleep together, and trolled to an extent by showing a pile of clothes on the floor and then panning up to Isamu instead. Isamu, however, is ignorant of the entire happening.
Despite a longer flashback than the previous one, there’s still little revealed about exactly why there’s all this angst and drama among Myung, Isamu, and Guld aside from lingering romantic feelings. Myung has come to hate music even though she used to love to sing, but all we have to go on are some personal affects spilled on the ground, a crashed bicycle, and three long plumes of smoke going off into the atmosphere that look like they were from large ships or rockets launching.
Just as Guld puts himself under a closing door to protect Myung the door suddenly opens and the alarm and sprinkler system activates. More of Sharon’s work and again, from uncertain motivations.
All the changing colors coming from the outside, plus the stained glass window gives this scene a really unsettling vibe. While nowhere near as morbid, the color changes and glass reminds me of the rooms in Edgar Allen Poe’s ‘The Masque of the Red Death.’
LOL.
The next day Isamu does find out about Guld and Myung and confronts him in the cafeteria. Lucy is obviously not too keen on Isamu’s apparent fixation on Myung when the two of them just went on a date themselves, but Isamu’s too much of a hothead not to get in Guld’s face and tease him with some middle-school level innuendo. Guld then tries to shove it in Isamu’s face about spending the night with Myung, so Isamu just restates his intention to win the VF-X competition. Another round of tests takes place, this time the juvenile competition between Isamu and Guld outside of the program getting in the way of good results. Isamu jumps in front of Guld and shoots his targets instead and generally shows him up on the target range, and later on the two even abandon their scheduled tasks and engage in a mecha fist-fight. The engineers watching back at base get into the fight and start cheering them on, though the Chief Engineer sighs and complains about the damage being done to the Valkyries. Isamu eventually gets the better of Guld and snaps one of the hands off of the battroid YF-21, pushing it to the ground and repeatedly kicking it while it’s down. He’d make a fine addition to the cast of Titan Maximum.
Smooth…
Reminds me of the scene from Patriot Games where the SAS team takes out the terrorist camp in the desert while a satellite feed broadcasts it to CIA headquarters.
Everyone loves a BIG FIGHT!
At the last moment Guld gets a good hit in, ensuring that the mechanics are going to be pulling some double shifts on both fighters.
Final Thoughts: – The Yoko Kanno musical style was out in full force this time, the scene where Isamu was visualizing maneuvers with his hands in particular was a lot like some of her work in Cowboy Bebop.
- How people think of Sharon as either a sentient being or a computer program adds a level of philosophical consideration similar to what was evoked in the Ghost in the Shell franchise, as well as making that Chief Engineer character really unsettling. While it has been acknowledged that the program has flaws, it seems kind of unethical or even criminal to try and force her to come to him, or to try to steal her programming. I’m still guessing that, if only thematically, Sharon will tie into the issue of the YF-21′s programming.
- It’s nice to see the YF-190/VF-19 without all the crap that Basara did to it in Macross 7. It’s also struck me how much the design of the ADFX-01/02 Morgan from Ace Combat Zero was inspired by the design.
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“Isamu goes through some planned maneuvers on the ground, always a good idea to prepare ahead of time. The whole competition thing and all the Top Gun references just just make this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f_kI5aREp8) all the more perfect (thanks to grss1982 for linking to it last post.)”
Well I kind of spoiled it for you and others.
Sorry about that. 
In any case, no screen caps of the YF-19 cockpit while Isamu is doing some sky writing? IMHO those were some of the sexiest cockpit shots.
No worries about the video, so long as it doesn’t spoil storyline stuff I don’t consider it a spoiler.
The cockpit of the YF-19 is cool and all, but because it’s so sparse with the 360 degree viewscreens I couldn’t get into it as much as the VF-1, VF-11, and VF-25 designs.
I remember Macross Plus as my first foray into the anime universe beyond Robotech. Back then did not know the difference between the series. After watching Macross II, I began to follow and finally understand the Macross Universe as it was. It was really the time when the anime industry was finally taking off with Manga entertainment and the other companies emerging as a force for the anime industry to take hold (and unfortunately bubble).
Since that time I have personally met Kawamori, Mikimoto and Ishiguro over the years. Macross as a whole has been and always been the main core of what fascinated me with anime. Intricate story, characters and incredible mecha detail. Now call be old, but cel animation has always had a particular quality and detail not matched by todays CG. Just look at the kind of Quality found in Macross the Movie (project AK-O) etc. What Macross Plus represented was the pinnecal of the Bandai’s mecha animation though the 90′s that started with Gundam 0083 and progressed through works such as Cowboy Bebop, Escaflowne etc.
That’s cool that you’ve met so many people who have worked on the franchise. The original series impressed me greatly when I watched it last year, much more so than even my favorites from the Gundam franchise in most respects. And I”m also a big fan of that pinnacle of cel animation style you mentioned, it just feels so much more detailed, gritty, and real. I’m sure in time CG will get there (and the MS Igloo 2 episodes is pretty damn good), but at the moment it still doesn’t have quite the same feel.
The Yf-19 is a big favorite of mine. Though its battloid form isn’t. I don’t know if it’s that similar to the Kampfer, but consider that the design work here is by Kawamori fresh out of finishing (well, as timetables of anime productions go) Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory. Interestingly enough, that particular installment in the Gundam franchise is rather evocative of the Top Gun movie.
In my own way, I love both these shows the most — as the most mecha-centric of the shows in their respective franchises.
I will agree the YF-19 is my current favorite fighter of the Macross series. I have a particular thing with unconventional aircraft designs with the forward swept wing configuration. The VF-25 Messiah was the spiritual successor to the VF-1 but it did not have the character the original or Macross Plus’s mecha had. Plus being a hero fighter would have looked better against the VF25 if they did put it with Frontier.
Ahh, but while the YF-19 is a big favorite of mine, the VF-25 is THE biggest favorite of mine right now, while the VF-27 is growing on me fast! I don’t quite agree that it doesn’t have character. I think it’s a very lovely bird whose silhouette tells me it’s capable of daring things.
This is not to knock the YF-19 of course, since I like it almost just as much.
@ Ghostlightning
The main Kampfer resemblance in the YF-21 that I noticed was the head of the battroid form, it looks almost exactly like that of the Kampfer. I remember reading your post about the comparisons to be made between Plus and 0083, 0083 being my favorite of the Gundam franchise. The focus on technological development is something that contributes a lot to any mecha universe, and just makes it more interesting to know that the machines are machines that were build, tested, modified, etc. While I doubt Plus will supplant SDF Macross as my favorite of the franchise, I really appreciate this realism.
@ YF-19EX
I have to agree with you for the most part on the VF-25. Aesthetically anyway I thought it wasn’t quite as cool as the VF-1 it was based on. Though in terms of capabilities the VF-25 is undeniably the best after the borderline unbelievable capabilities of the VF-27.
I still think the YF-21 looks like the Marasai or Sazabi and not the Kampfer
At the end of the day, Col. Millard is just a softie for these types of wildcard pilots (Isamu and Guld) it seems, probably because it seems he was one himself.
As for Sharon, I’m surprised they haven’t worked with Yamaha yet to make a Vocaloid version of her.
@YF19EX
Agreed, the 19 and 21 had a sort of technical elegance that the more complex and utilitarian looking 25 never had. Then again, that’s also one thing that the 25 shares with the original – the VF-1, once the nostalgia lenses come off, isn’t really and elegant plane, it’s a very rugged utilitarian design meant to make the concept of a variable fighter work.
Interesting thing about Millard was that he was part of Skull Squadron under Hikaru after SW1. As for when he lost his leg probably after Megaroad-01 left Earth.
Since Macross 7 is mentioned anybody else thinking the similarity with Spritia draining beam with the beams used to capture Myung’s emotions? Macross 7: Trash manga a side story to the Macross 7 show depicted the Spiritia draining tech as absorbing emotions from athletes.
Whatever the case Sharon a AI is developed using Myung’s personality. Myung herself isn’t a picture of mental health.
@ d3v
Come to think of it I wouldn’t be surprised if Sharon comes out as a vocaloid program one day.
I’m getting the impression that I’m in the minority about Valkyrie designs, my favorites are the most utilitarian looked variable fighters. Though that’s definitely a running theme in my preferences, for real life aircraft, for mobiles suits, and for cars.
@ ReddyRedWolf
Did remind me of the Spiritia drain, though at the point I’m at in 7 the actual mechanics of the Spiritia drain hasn’t been explained yet (if it ever will be, this is Macross 7 after all.)
Getting a kiss from Sharon Apple must be one of the most unsatisfying experiences ever.
Especially to someone not entranced by the program like Isamu, heh.
What Myung does during the concert of Sharon was serving as a personnality and emotion “CPU”.
As an A.I., Sharon lack any emotion.
Personnaly, I like more the YF-21 than the YF-19.
Ah, I was thinking something along those lines when the developer mentioned to Myung about Sharon being incomplete. Why else would you need a human interface like that?
personally i prefer the Yf-21 over the Yf-19, though that might be due to the fact that like the VF-171 its nose profile reminds me of the F-111
Oh the F-111, what a misbegotten aircraft. It turned out to be an alright strike aircraft, but it’s laughable that it was initially intended as a fighter. Come to think of it, except for the F-14 and the Tornado ADV there haven’t really been many successful swing-wing fighter aircraft. The MiG-23 was kind of a flop, for example.
say what you will of the F-111, but the fact that it pioneered technologies that contemporary fighter jets take for granted, scared the USSR shitless just by being located on an airbase in the UK, and was the only plane in existence to have the entire cockpit be ejectable, puts its badass status and capability beyond doubt, such a shame the RAAF will be retiring them this year
@Yot-chan: I’m not so sure, she can after all entrance deeply her public. Maybe, it is possible to feel something.
I also prefer the YF-21 over the YF-19.
My brother and me always get into the YF19 vs 21 debate every now and then. As much as i like the YF-19 and even though the YF-19 scored higher than the YF-21, I will give that it was attributed to a Dyson probably being a better pilot overall vs Guld.
But in the end only Guld could beat the Ghost because the YF-21 removed the physical limitations of transitioning body movement and conventional situational awareness to aircraft movement by using direct brain and sensory inputs from the aircraft.
What I liked about Macross Plus as well was that it was a direct comparison of Stealth Fighter project of the YF-22 vs the YF-23 at the time. I believe the 23 was rated higher in terms of stealth and speed but lacked weapon payload capabilities needed for a fighter of its roll.
The same situation would play itself out again in the Lockeed v Boeing in the JSF fighter competition. But in that case, Boeing did not have a truly finished product, where as Lockeed’s fighter was able to demonstrate its capabilities right off the bat when the head to head tests were conducted.
The concept of two competing variable fighters seems to have struck a chord, with the it being used again in Zero and Frontier. Come to think of it, the VF-25 and VF-27 seem to be the natural evolutions of the 19 and 21, with cybernetics replacing the brainwave interface of the latter and the former taking a more conventional route (with the EX-gears apparently functioning as highly advanced G suits to allow the 25 performance above that of the 21 without killing it’s pilot).
Well both Shinsei Industry and General Galaxy worked on the YF-24 which in turn was the basis for the VF-25 and VF-27 aka YF-27. (As NUNS weren’t informed of its massed production. For that matter the V-9 as well.)
Oh among the breakthroughs of the YF-24 besides the instant magnetic treasformation system is the Inertial Store Converter. Ex-Gears were designed as power suits and as a ejection system. The Ex-Gear itself is more intuitively friendly interface than the system used on the YF-21.
@ YF-19EX
Yeah, that’s what I had heard about the YF-23 too. The F-22 has a larger internal bay and the ability to mount external stores, something that I don’t believe the YF-23 included since it’s not as stealthy.
@ d3v and ReddyRedWolf
Interesting technical details. Given that the original Macross ship had gravity control devices and internal artificial gravity, it would be reasonable to expect, especially by the time of Frontier, that they could have gravity control systems in the cockpits to do away with or at least lessen the G forces on the pilot. Would the Inertial Store Converter be a system like this? Even the old Star Fox games briefly mentioned having a system like this, called the G Diffuser in Star Fox 64 (Falco’s goes offline in the first mission and he’s unable to maneuver like usual, necessitating the player to cover him.)
Well…as form AMV goes… I say http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFxiMz3w2sM&NR=1 beats them all. Shamefully this was done back in the day when vhs ruled. So video quality is…somewhat lacking to put it nicely. However, the video is amazing.
Not bad, not bad. Concentrates a good bit more on the Myung/Sharon aspect of it to, going along with the song title.
The YF-21 is piloted via the notorious ‘thinking cap’ system introduced in the Robotech novels, which has since been declared non-canon (the continuity AND the thinking caps). I find this very interesting how a Macross show would adopt something from Robotech. In any case, the caps didn’t catch on. It’s current implementation is via internal chips among the cybernetically enhanced pilot(s) of the VF-27.
must correct you there, though the cap itself was never used again, the use of thought controlled interfaces was eventually implemented in the EX-gear system for use in the VF-25, unlike the yf-21 which used it as a stand alone system, it works in conjuction with the more traditional control interfaces in the cockpit, allowing better feedback as to what the aircraft is doing.
also to some of the naysayers about the Vf-25′s alleged utillitarian look, i must disagree, the simplicity to its appearence works in its favour, plus just because something may be considered ‘utillitarian’ doesn’t mean its bad, just look at the Land Rover defender, yes its a box on wheels but it will do what is asked of it without compalint
Agreed about how utilitarian can be cool. I much prefer a design with a high degree of functionality to it than something that has a unique but nonfunctional design. Utility = sexiness in my book.
Man so little love for the VF-25, I for one think that while it’s lines may not be the most beautiful it is still my current favorite because of elegant super/armor pack integration and because it has an integrated Ex-Gear… It’s roughly the same size but it has so many options and packs more mecha in a similarly sized package.
The VF-25 is my favourite too, alongside the VF-1 and the YF-21.
Its design may be simple and utilitarian, but it looks good, like the VF-1, and as you said, the pack are better integrated on the VF-25 than on most vakyries.
What’s not to love about the 25? It’s a rugged plane that also happens to be the VF interpretation of the philosophy of “MORE DAKKA”!
VF-1 is still my favorite, but the VF-25 is quite the fighter and has that ‘utilitarian cool’ look to it that I love. Understated and capable is the way to go.
I understand with Frontier being the first line Macross TV franchise for some time, they did up the mecha fan service with all the references to the old series in one way to the other.
But one thing about the VF-25 that struck me was the not nostalgia aspect of the design but kind of how cluttered it was. And as far as it being utilitarian and functional which I give it, as a hero plane, it was not presented to be technically superior to what the YF21 and 19 were. (Probably in raw firepower it was though) I saw it more as a match to the old Thunderbolt as a main stay fighter. Granted in Macross 7 the VF19 an VF22 were still spec ops fighters more than main stay fighters. Just as the JSF fighter will become our the main stay to replace the F16 and F15′s instead replacing our fleet with F22′s due to the cost of a superior fighter.
(Mind you I am looking at this as a mech fan and not from the commercial need to sell toys aspect which is also part of the mecha development process when putting it into animation production ^_^)
I did like how the fast pack system was integrated better especially with the full armor pack allowing to be used in all modes was a nice touch.
On that side note, the YF19 and YF21 are some of the most difficult mechs to engineer a transformation. I cant change my Yamato models without the manual!
From what I remember, the VF-25 have the same level of performance than both YF-19 and 21, without their limiter, thanks to the Ex-Gear and ICS. Its limitation is what the pilot can endure, but its only real limitation is what the airframe can endure.
EX-Gear and ICS guarantee that the VF-25′s pilots can safely push themselves to the same limits that Guld does in the end of Plus safely.
Hello. I’ve been following your coverage of the various Macross shows and I’m really impressed with what you’ve done. It’s interesting to see a new fan start in on Frontier and work back through all the shows. One thing I may suggest for your own sanity is not to go too crazy comparing Macross 7 and Plus. It can only impede your enjoyment of both. Also please keep in mind that 7 and Plus were roughly concurrent and by the time this volume of Plus was release, 7 already have seven weeks of episodes out so for many the VF-19Kai is the first and most well recognized version of the design. Just take it for what it is, subwoofers and all.
Cool Retroblogging as always Executive.
Watched The last part of the OVA Series Yesterday. And it’s def. up there with the Original Series,”DYRL?” & “Zero”.
Your spot on with your to “Ghost in the Shell”, i got that vibe from the Sharon Apple part of the Story too. Also the Chief Engineer is one creepy Dude.
I realy like the Music in this Series i might have to check for the OST later. The little “Wrestling” match between the to Fighters was funny as hell (+ the reactiong of the two Teams back at the Base). I loved how the Test slowly turns in to a Personal grudge match for these two knuckleheads. Especially when they use the Battroids for a live Cyberbots reenactment.
I love the clean look of the YF-19 here, but the YF-21 isn’t to bad looking either (just a bit bulky for my taste).
It’s been so long since I’ve seen Macross Plus it’s a great trip down memory lane reading your reviews.
I and everyone here are all trying very hard to not just spoil it for you, but it does bring back good memories of what I was thinking when I originally saw it (seen it about 4 times since). Since I don’t exactly remember what was introduced in what episode, all I will say is that I really love the scenes in Eden with all the windmills. Really it makes me think of what a future ‘green city’ could look like on Earth in real life, and certainly inspired the designs of the ever present wind turbines in Railgun as well.
As an aside, this is Yoko Kanno’s 2nd anime project ever I think, the first being ‘Please Save my Earth’ which is a little known but awesome OVA series. You can really see how even early on her music was extremely good. The Torch song is still one of my all time favorite anime songs.
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[...] already. Isamu will not disappoint. Check out ExecutiveOtaku's reviews of episodes One & Two. Be sure to check back for the final 2 episodes as well. Pictures used from ExecutiveOtaku's [...]