「限界 アンコントロール」 (Genkai Ankontororu)
“Limit of Control”

As Messer continues to deal with symptoms of Var Syndrome, Mirage and Hayate attempt to keep his affliction under wraps—only to realize that it’s far from the secret they thought it was. Granted, it was still far from public knowledge, but the fact remains that this wasn’t the first time he’s manifested symptoms, and he could very well have been infected since the day he was brought into the Delta Platoon. The questionable nature of his acceptance aside (Arad clearly likes taking his fair share of risk to get the people he wants), it turns out his ability to combat the Syndrome and its symptoms are intricately linked to Kaname, and it’s an interesting realization when you realize that the reason he seems to have feelings for her stems at least partially from a desire to repay a debt of gratitude.

It remains to be seen if that’s since developed into a full blown desire from a romantic perspective, but combined with the revelations about Kaname’s past and how she’s been overtaken by Mikumo (and now also Freyja), we have a great explanation as to why their interactions are the way they are, and one wonders if Kaname might ultimately be harboring some sort of feelings of her own. The fact that she takes the time to call Messer and express her own gratitude for all the times he’s protected her certainly plays into this line of thought, and her reaction to Messer’s condition only adds to the fire. One wonders she’s just keeping her distance on purpose for her own reasons—she’s had her own things to deal with as a member of Walkure—and it could very well be that the coming episode serves as the one into with Kaname rises into her own and out of the shadow of Mikumo and Freyja. The AXIA episode title is but one such indication, and when you consider how the other members of the Walkure have all gotten their time in the limelight except her, it’d be a fitting culmination to the events of these past few episodes.

In the meanwhile though, Hayate and Mirage’s attempt to keep Messer’s condition a secret also leads to a fair share of misconceptions, and what we get are an assortment of reactions from Freyja that end up even more hilarious than any of the ones we’ve had before. At this point it’s clear that she’s started developing and realizing her own feelings for Hayate, with Mirage following behind as someone who now trusts and is willing to confide in the latter. Of course, Hayate’s more oblivious than anything at this point—interesting considering how he has fold receptors of his own like the Walkure—and I guess for now, this image is probably the most telling in regards to the relationships between Hayate, Mirage, and Freyja respectively, especially if you consider them representative of the people to which they belong.

And so, for the most part, this week brings us a episode focused almost entirely on Messer and Kaname. The weekly appearance of the Aerial Knights only played further into the development of Messer’s character, and perhaps the thing to get here is how utterly dominant Messer can be when he’s on top of his game. There’s always the risk of him relapsing and falling under the influence of the Var, but his abilities make him worth considering regardless, especially when you consider how he can fight off three other pilots from the Platoon without breaking a sweat and give the Windermere’s White Knight a run for his money as well. I could’ve used a little less of Bogue’s childish antics when it was all said and done, but I gotta say, his whole epic entrance thing this week was pretty darn hilarious in hindsight, and it did at least progress the story by serving as the backdrop to their secret investigation of the ruins near the Platoon main base.

The fact that it’s still active and capable of being used hints at a future engagement to be had, and it’s equally telling how not every ruin seems to react to Walkure and their songs. Perhaps the most important thing however, is the revealation that all the ruins have links to their respective planet’s cores, and count me in as someone who wouldn’t be surprised if the ruins could be used to send the Windermere’s song throughout the galaxy via planetary amplification or something of the sort. Guess we’ll see what the future holds! Until next week.

 

Preview

40 Comments

  1. Is it me or there is a whole lot of nothing going on? It’s like sure I get it but there still alot of nothing. Like very little substance and I am surprise every time the show end. I guess you can say very light plot but even less char development really. Nothing really stands out.

    Yet them dog fights scenes pretty good.

    Hayate already cost the lives of several NUNS soldiers because I saw Bouge killing them.

    As for Messer, I think he’s the Roy Fokker or Micheal of this series. Just a gut feeling.

    Duzz
    1. I would dsagree just a tad bit. yea i agree that things arent moving at a breath’s pace but stories dont always have to get something accomplished plot-wise. Plus i think there’s credence to the character’s being fleshed out. The characters may have not developed a whole lot with these past 9 eps but they have definitely been fleshed out and that’s also important for any future character developments we may have. I think one of the few things i like about these series is how 1. it embraces its ridiculous premise and 2. there is a lot of behind the scenes character fleshing that happens within each ep; things that you have to be paying attention to in order to get. I saw the developments in this ep coming because small traces of it had been littered throughout other eps. To me, this is a light hearted show that does more right than it does wrong and it makes for an enjoyable watch

      sonicsenryaku
    2. I rather think the overall pace is slowed WAY down to flesh out the side characters.

      Since the only thing that’s notable that got tossed to the side of this episode review was that the ruins seems to only start to react with the ‘wind singer’ artifact on planet Windermere. (proven the second time during the battle, note that one of the six knights got the free time and the instrumentation to measure any reactions.)

      info600
    3. I think it’s kind of refreshing not to get a large info-dump and to let the story progress at its own pace. They could have explained how Walkure’s singing cures the Var syndrome or how Windermere and Ragna were uplifted as early as episode 1. Even Messer’s condition was revealed across multiple episodes. Keeping things mysterious gets the audience speculating and guessing.
      Sure, some things such as Hayate and Freyja opting to remain in their teams despite meaning getting involved in a war are predictable, but I think the payback has been fine so far.

      Karutaku
  2. continuing (or stealing 😮 ) the caption streak:

    https://randomc.net/image/Macross%20Delta/Macross%20Delta%20-%2009%20-%20Large%2013.jpg
    Welp, even the phones are afraid of mercats.

    https://randomc.net/image/Macross%20Delta/Macross%20Delta%20-%2009%20-%20Large%2020.jpg
    Also, Var-Messer bested a 3 on 1. Welp.

    https://randomc.net/image/Macross%20Delta/Macross%20Delta%20-%2009%20-%20Large%2012.jpg
    https://randomc.net/image/Macross%20Delta/Macross%20Delta%20-%2009%20-%20Large%2021.jpg
    and the funny faces continues (we never have a week without one, did we?)

    And finally:
    https://randomc.net/image/Macross%20Delta/Macross%20Delta%20-%2009%20-%20Large%2016.jpg
    The mysteries of Mikumo-san continues, with her helmet/hair exemption.
    …Really?

    info600
  3. It´s true that this siries has taken his time to develop its characters and I really like but this episode not only gives some light to Messer and Kaname, Freyjas´s reaction and Mirage´s worries are the real start of the love triangle I´ve been waiting since the start; as someone said in a comment above, it´s little things that really matter in this story, for examble just watch Mirage´s reaction when Hayate said they have Freyja to preotect them from the Var, for a second Mirage didn´t look too happy about he mention her specifically and she responded they indeed “Walkure”, not Freyja in particular but Walkure. Cannot to see how the relationship of those three is about to change now that love has enter the stage officially.

    haseo0408
      1. Just the Walkure:
        -The Blackburn Buccaneer a plane designed to counter a specific threat, but ended up serving for a long time even when the replacements went into service, kinda reminds me of Kaname
        -The Grumman EA-6B Prowler was the main electronic warfare aircraft of the US Navy. One of its functions is jamming enemy air defence.
        -The Nakajima aircraft factory was one of Japans leading aircraft manufacturer, the remnants now create a multitude of equipment from manufacturing tools to cars. They mostly dwell on hardware.
        -Georges Guynemer, a famous World War I Ace who was looked up to by the French people.

        Appropriate last names if you look it up, really matches with the individual members. But who or what is Freyja?

        theirs
      2. @theirs: You missed quite a few.

        Hayate Immelmann = The Japanese Ki-84 Hayate and WWI German ace Max Immelmann
        Mirage Farina Jenius = Dassault Mirage series
        Chuck Mustang = WWII ace Chuck Yeager and the P-51 Mustang
        Messer Ihlefeld = WWII German ace Herbert Ihlefeld and the Messerschmitt aircraft company
        Arad Mölders = WWII German ace Werner Mölders and the Arado aircraft company

        ET
  4. Probably safe to assume they’re gonna use the ruins to push Messer to the edge next week. When the Var syndrome starts to manifests, his flying starts to suffer. You can see it from the flight movements in his duel. He actually initiated scissors, when it is usually something that is forced between two pilots. I wonder if Kieth knows about this? He did transmit his IFF code to them and he does have more knowledge about the Var Syndrome than Delta. Maybe he was trying to instigate it while having a fun duel?

    This episode probably shows the biggest advantage the Knights have towards Delta (besides numbers), knowledge of the ruins. They’ve got a scientist who works on them, while Delta only has access to information about the physical structure of the ruins. Wonder how much info from those earthen Protoculture scientists actually gets spread around the galaxy. Oh yeah, Lady M is Mikumo right? Starting to really think she’s related to a certain scientist who was researching Protoculture Ruins. The vibe wasn’t this strong before.

    PS. Is it just me, or does it seem like Bouge will burst an artery before the Var Syndrome will do any real physical harm on Messer? Man, he really needs to check his blood pressure. Don’t they have regular checkups in Windermere?

    theirs
    1. Mikumo isn’t Lady M. There were a scene where Arad, Kaname, and Ernest were talking about Lady M in front of Mikumo and referred to her in the third person.

      Bystander
    2. M huh?

      Could be Mao Nome, oh wait, she dead. Don’t know if Milla’s still kickin it, maybe Mylene? Heck maybe even Misa? But Misa would be like around the same age as Max, or perhaps not. Minmay? Speaking of which, whatever happened to Minmay?

      Nishizawa Mihashi
      1. Bad news on that front I’m afraid. Current story has it that Minmay, Misa and Hikaru went missing a long time ago. After the war they left Earth with the SDF2 to find a new world to colonize. The entire Megaroad-1 colonization fleet went missing a few years after launch. Max and Millia should still be around.

        NegaDeath
      2. Woah really? Dang, how in the heck did that happen? D: They just went up and disappeared? No wonder characters from Macross 7 till Delta have been going on about wanting to find and see Minmay again.

        Nishizawa Mihashi
    1. Mirage reminds me of Idolmaster’s Chihaya for some reason. Maybe it’s the rather low-key, melancholic aura she gives off. Even in the OP she’s just playing with her mercat.
      I just hope she gets past whatever is holding her back from her potential and gets her chance to shine soon.

      Karutaku
  5. Am starting to think that Winderemere had more than 1 protot-cultture ruin and the one where the Crater is was once a ruin? Feels Like master of Orion all over again XD

    Devastator001
  6. Shahir
  7. I really, reaaaaaalllllly want Winderemeres knights to get a well placed missile to take out everyone in Walkure besides Frejya and Mikumo.

    I’m sure this won’t be a popular opinion, but Walkure are dragging this show down. Most of the members except Mikumo and Frejya aren’t notable in the slightest. Mikumo + Frejya can do the same job without the other members.

    Lyfe
    1. Well, they are support characters. One can hack and the other is an analyse pro. Sure they are not on the same step like Mikumo and Freya, but these steps are still connected with the same podium of these two.

      Worldwidedepp
      1. Sure, but if they vanished from the series entirely, it wouldn’t make the slightest bit of difference to the plot beyond the whole “Walkure members died..” thing that would be big news on local planets. I just feel they need to move away from this and really explore some of the more important characters and push forward with this war stuff.

        Lyfe
  8. Until now hayate in VF who is not the ace compare to keith/messer is most capable against the AK. Messer who tends to show be the delta’s ace didn’t lay one touch, the rest of detla : same result. If hayate shoot down one AK by meeting, the show would not last long in that basic logic, fortunaly he is not a born killer. The knights says last ep “this is war” like they are in a rush to win but judging how they flight fight against delta it’s a shame play here(I really hope next ep the AK will use really another scale of strategy or simply ANOTHER).

    The skilled Messer/keith make me think of macross zero where the 2 best skilled pilots died killed by misfortune and suicide raid way against the birdman, any “good guy pilot main chara” could not shoot them down. Will it be the same path for Messer and Keith? In a present way Messer is misfortuned var-ed. Could keith ending be enough hotblood to finally do a danger stupid act for himself? I am looking forward it so just let the show continue.

    On contrary i really appreciate hayate way of flight fighting alongside with mirage and thinking teamworking this time. Hope to see Mira-mira just relax and make a tango with Haya-haya in battroid mode (i imagine Bogue face). Quite strange first, but a new footstep in human copy behaviour by battroid like the scene where Klan is slapping michael blanc VF head in M-Frontier.

    i robot
  9. Hayate’s strength is that they revealed that he also has the fold receptors. As it was hinted early on that he could sync his with Freyja and boost each other. Sort of like Basara & Mylene when singing duets produces the highest sound wave that can counter the Protodevlin’s powers.

    As for Messer I don’t think he’ll die because he’s the opposite to Keith. Without Messer, they cannot protect Walkure.

    Vision33r

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