I am a bit mixed on how I feel about Macross Delta. On one hand, I was foaming at the mouth with glee at watching Macross again. I like Hayate and Freyja does not annoy me too much. Seeing Valkyries in all their glory and the (useless as usual) ground defense mechs were a plus as well. Watching the Zentradi integrated into society (A fleet admiral is a full blooded zentradi!? Amazing!) was a natural progression of where the society of the original Macross would have evolved. Most the old battle pods were shown on the zentran side and there was even a meltran battle pod being piloted by a… zentran?
The fight scenes were, uggggggg, amazing. Macross missiles (tm) just never disappoint and never get old. The speed, the fluidity, and the gracefulness of ship to ship combat was a sight to behold. No one can do it like Macorss. Unparalleled.
As I was watching the first episode I kept thinking, “This is Macross! THIS is Macross!” What is Macross exactly? Macross is music saving the world. Did Macross Delta have music save the world? Yup! Crazy mind-warped zentradi being calmed by music is what the core of what Macross is. When that one magical girl techno-mind pushed music into the brain of that the berserk zertradi to calm him down and the zentradi goes ,"Oh! deculture!" YES! THIS IS MACROSS! I was really glad that Delta got it right where some of the other Macross series didn’t. Music is not just a part of what makes Macross what it is. It is not there to be used in the background as dramatic score. It is not something to be used as a prop. Macorss uses music as mankind’s most powerful weapon. Delta, indeed, got it right.
Did anyone else notice the parallel between the first episodes of Macross and Macross Delta? In the first episode of Macross an untrained Valkyrie pilot is forced into a Valkyrie and winds up saving a girl from certain death who will soon become an idol and mankind’s most powerful weapon. In the first episode of Macross Delta an untrained Valkyrie pilot commandeers a Valkyrie to save a girl who from certain death who is soon to become a magical girl idol and mankind’s most powerful weapon. What a throwback to the original series. I am digging where things are going.
And then we get to Walküre. So I am watching the episode and all is going swimmingly until there is a magical girl sequence. "WHAT - THE - HELL - IS - THIS?!?!" I thought. By the end of the episode I was kind of getting on board with the whole thing. What would the logical progression from Minmay be? Sharon Apple? That didn't work out so well. So why not a whole group of decultrue idols? The whole transforming thing I could live with out but I liked how they took the deculture to the battlefield and beat the zentradi over the head with it. Pared with their support Valkyries they make a pretty effective zentradi calming team. Again, music is a weapon, not a prop.
Overall I give the first episode a 9/10. I have watched the second half of the episode four times now and I like it more each time I see it. I might just be a Macross fanboy but I am proudly a Macross fanboy.
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