I enjoyed the show. It wasn't perfect, but Delta still proved entertaining. The production values of Delta were high, and animation remained consistent throughout. There were certainly discrepancies, but few and far in between. Certainly not the ones we experienced in Frontier. The highlight was the combat, but its a Macross series, so I expected no less.
The OST unfortunately, is no Yoko (OH NO!!
). The Walkure songs are largely forgettable. Although Mikumo is the center and poster-girl for Walkure, she lacks the vocal strength befitting of her character. If you listen closely, she sometimes sounded as if she was straining her voice. If I am to compare Mikumo's voice to a stream of river, then May'n's vocals are more akin to a tidal wave (and May'n is petite).
Plot-wise, its just got too many characters and lacks focus. Though I have accepted early on that it would be the events & setting that tell the story. As for writing, Delta is too ambitious for its own good. Ambition is not necessarily a bad thing, but I feel the writing would have been better adapted to a longer series. Delta's story veered off course early on, and failed to consolidate all the while introducing even more new elements to the audience. At the end, it made a messy U-turn to conclude its story, leaving us with even more questions and cliffhangers.
The story revolving the Kingdom of Windermere is particularly hit by bad writing. Winderemerian characters are bland and empty. For example, Fart-kun was a jerk from start to finish with little to no redeeming qualities. I have to admit, I fantasized about Mikumo stepping through his asshole with very high & sharp heels. I really did
not like Fart-kun. Herman on the other hand, had no personality, none whatsoever. Roid started as a reasonable authority figure who I actually rooted for, then suddenly back-stabbed the King and turned heel. It was unclear why Roid suddenly decided to take over the galaxy when all he wanted in the first half was to negotiate with the NUN. Jailbait Ketchup-boy OTOH, was much like Herman and had no personality aside from being Roid's personal puppet. The only character, Cassim, was remotely likable, but they killed him... bastards.
Winderemerian actions were even worse from a practical point of view. Basically this was a faction in medieval stasis, possessed no industry, no manufacturing capabilities and relied mostly on Epsilon for everything it needed to combat the NUN. Fortunately, Macross ships did not require fuel, or the Winderemerians could kiss their chivalric-ass goodbye for all the good it did. Moreover, their victories were achieved pretty much through plot-armor and sheer, dumb luck. The Winderemerian's entire military asset for most part of the series consisted of six fighters, one Protoculture ship and a dozen frigates as escort. Yet Windermerians managed to score victory after victory against fleets usually 100 times its size. The Windermerians also managed to conveniently discover one ruin after another. Then comes the kicker, when Mikumo just so happened to conveniently land on Roid's lap, who was conveniently, also the revived
Star Singer.
Talk about suspension of belief!
At the end, there was a victor in the war. Epsilon, also implied to be the remnants of the anti-UN organization from Macross Zero.
But we are left with a lot of unanswered questions.
As of Episode 26, Windermerians are screwed, very screwed. What are they going to do now?
Freya wanted to sing, and she got it. What about Hayate? Has he found his goal in life? That is to fly and protect Freya?
What about Mirage, who, despite being billed as a main character, had pretty much no development aside from gradually warming up to Hayate. What was her goal? What did she want? Why did she join Delta squadron? To protect the Walkure? To fly alongside them? To be part of their team? What?
What was the unequal treaty about?
Then there is the mysterious Lady M. If what Berger stated is true, then she could be one of three characters, imo.
Lynn
Minmei
Hayase
Misa
Ichijo
Miku
I am ruling out Lynn Minmei because she just doesn't have what it takes.
Hayase Misa is more likely because she is an actual military officer and an avid researcher of Protoculture ruins.
Or, perhaps, possibly, it could be Ichijo Miku, Misa & Hikaru's daughter.
Well, the series did confirm one suspicion I had. Var syndrome came from the Vajra, and the last mission was Operation Ragnarok... HA!
And with Freya dying... well, Mirage...
Oh yeah, then there was the
ENDGAME to Delta, which is exactly the same
ENDGAME to Frontier.
Vajra Queen/Protoculture Ruins controlled by Grace/Roid. Kidnapped Ranka/Mikumo forced to activate it while performing a creepy rendition of DYRL. The objective being an attempt to link human conscious into one being. The heroes must brave enemy defenses and destroy Grace/Roid in order to save the Galaxy from certain ruin. Hmm... yeah. Same gig, different year.
- Tak