「極限 ブレイブ」 (Kyokugen Bureibu)
“Limit of Bravery”

And so, the cast runs full circle as they return to the planet where they originally met Messer, and their arrival signals the start of the series’ final chapter. Utilizing the bio-waves generated from Mikumo and Freyja (after an epic slap to get things on course), the Protoculture ruins are used against the Windermeres instead, creating a fold gate that allows our cast to successfully infiltrate Windermere. A final fight with Cassim ensues, ultimately resulting in his death.

Following a multitude of exposition heavy episodes, it could be said that this was a return to the norm for a series that’s patented itself on Valkyrie combat, singing, and triangles, and this was a more straight forward affair as a result. Given the lack of remaining time and the need to get a move on however, it’s a welcome change that takes us back to a show, not tell approach—something that also made the events of this episode easier to stomach and appreciate despite ended up more or less as one expected.

Cassim’s death in particular ends up an example of the latter, and it’s a notable send-off that emphasizes how through it all, he still managed to stay true to himself and his beliefs. Ultimately, he was someone who fought to protect more than for revenge, and the fact that he saved his best flying for his homeland’s defense while serving as the final obstacle to our cast’s infiltration couldn’t have been more fitting in this regard. More importantly, he embodied everything Keith talked about this week, and it’s in stark contrast to the many Windermereans and the Aerial Knights who are merely following Roid blindly at this point (whether they realize it or not), choosing to believe in someone else rather than thinking for themselves and standing up for their own “true wind.”

Heinz turns out especially guilty in this regard, but the fact that Keith took the time to reiterate his allegiances to him personally—rather than to Roid or the Windermere people in general—makes you realize there’s still time for him to turn things around before it gets too late, and Roid’s rapidly losing time to realize his plans with every passing episode. As it is, the likely scenario seems to be that Heinz will likely realize the path he needs to take isn’t the same as the one Roid’s leading them on now, and it’d be a fitting ending to see him sacrifice himself in order to fix a situation he played a large part in creating. The question is whether or not Roid even needs him now that Mikumo’s secret origins are out, and depending on how many cards the former has left to play, it could very well drag in more than just Heinz.

Either way, the end is suddenly in sight, and I’m not sure how to feel about it. However nice it is to see Mirage serving as the balance between our dynamic duo, I can’t shake the feeling that the series has suffered due to its two-cour nature, with arguments to be for both less and more episodes respectively. The way it is now, the entrance into Δ’s final arc packs far less of a punch than its previous iteration in Frontier, a pity given the series’ potential and the hopes that it would build upon the success of the latter. Don’t get me wrong, Δ’s been a solid iteration regardless, but just not as great as one had hoped it would be. Alas, I suppose we’ll just have to see how things work out.

 

ED10 Sequence

ED10: 「風は予告なく吹く」 Kaze wa Yokoku Naku Fuku by Walkure

Preview

34 Comments

  1. I think the show probably would have benefited by having two lots of 13 episodes airing with a break between them, preferably at least 3-4 months. From a narrative point of view, this time probably could have allowed them to steady the ship a bit.

    I mean, I would have loved to have seen a major climax in the story around Episode 13, then a break, then the show coming back with that final arc feel months later and building to the finale.

    Lyfe
      1. I found some of the earlier episodes irritating to watch because nothing was really happening in the plot, they were basically just wasting episodes, you know, lacking direction.

        Lyfe
    1. With four episodes currently remaining I’m really intrigued as to how this so called “triangle” will develop. Sure, Hayate and Freyja have had, moderate development at best, but I feel at this point if they squeeze one or two episodes to fit Mirage’s influence on things, I fear it will be a rather rushed or sloppy ending. Let’s hope I’m wrong. :/

      1. If you have seen any other Macross before you should have realized by know who will win the triangle.

        Shipping aside, Macross is pretty obvious at setting who will win. Mirage won’t be getting any development in the romantic front, she has already given up on it. If she gets any development it would be regarding her issues regarding her skills.

        Kamui
      2. Yeah, I’ve seen other Macross. Not that I don’t realize who will win, more that I think its a letdown to my preconceived expectations holding previous series in mind. But alas, we shall see. I agree about Mirage at this point though.

      3. Well, I wouldn’t be so sure… Consider the Windermere life span, and the fact that singing is killing Heinz… There’s a possibility that Freyja Wion won’t survive this, I think…

        Kazakiri
    2. With how short the lifespan of Winders are…. Mirage might stand as a 2nd mother to Hayate and Freyja’s children…..
      There’s not enough for Hayate and Mirage’s development but they could replace it with interaction between Mirage and Freyja…. a budding friendship….

      Blahto
  2. Apart from the off looking designs, especially in the first half of the episode, Cassim’s outcome left me so disappointed.
    It went down as expected, without any surprising developments whatsoever which to me felt like a waste.

    boingman
  3. I loved the shout-out to Macross Frontier by having a NUNS Koenig Monster pull off Canaria’s moves – and it was piloted by Larazabal. Also, glad to see the VF-31 Kairos and VF-171 can win against non-important Winderemere pilots. XD

    Okabe_Rintarou
    1. According to the BD special, that undersuit is made from some sort of “bio-silk”. Provides protection and has the ability to change body shape? (Really not sure about that). Probabbly the reason Mikumo didn’t get killed in the first episode. Anyway, the projectors are actually located on the bra, belt and shoes. Those yellow coloured pieces I think.

      theirs
  4. Hayate said something dangerous there, even had to double check it. Seriously, with my limited knowledge of flying, I can say that crash landing on woodlands is NOT a good idea. Cassim’s last words should’ve been:
    “Kid, what you suggested to me, that’s suicide.”

    Draken IIIs do have ejection seats, Hayate saw one personally too. Sure it didn’t end well, but the chances of surviving are much higher than a crash landing.

    theirs
    1. Hmm the way I saw it, he probably figured he could ejector seat and then have the parachute catch on a tree on the woodlands for future rescue. From that close to the ground it’d be a safer bet than ejecting out over the woodlands, as the parachute otherwise wouldn’t have enough time to deploy and slow him down to the point where he’d survive.

      Either way though, seems like he intended not to go over there regardless, as it seems that the apple trees he was growing were in the vicinity eh.

      Zephyr
      1. Hayate doesn’t mention anything about parachutes or ejector seats. His words are “if he crashes into the woods, he can survive”. Maybe he was counting on the trees slowing the plane in the crash?

        Mistic
      2. I figure what they were going after is that the trees would sort of cushion the crash landing of the plane. We have to remember that these are spaceships and I would assume are built a lot sturdier than your average plane so if it crashes into the woods the force of impact would lessen as the trees would act like crumple zones on a car and absorb the energy.

        Juan
      3. As Mistic mentioned, that’s what Hayate actually says. Just checked it again too. Between snowy plains and woods, I’ll choose the snowy plains too crash land any day. Less things can go wrong. Even reinforced, there is still a possibility of the cockpit getting crushed by a tree. Either from crashing on to it or from flipping over.

        Ironically, considering he is using a variable fighter, there are actually a few other options to lessen the impact. Like converting to gerwalk mode and use thrust vectoring to lessen the impact. Or how about converting to batteroid mode and land like a stuntman?

        theirs
    2. Marcrossverse planes are toughter than tanks, so I guess using trees to cushion the impact is safer than direct crash landing…to the pilot. The plane will be alright regardless.

      SMinstrel
      1. Considering he still has his wings intact, I think the force from hitting a tree would be a lot higher than the impact to the ground. Even if you take into consideration ground effect and the trees getting unrooted by the plane.

        Though Cassim did make it worse for himself by increasing the angle of descent.

        theirs
  5. I felt it was a bit silly how Hayate went after the “I was going to kill you 5 seconds ago” Cassim. I get it, respect, honour and all that jazz but it was a bit naive considering their situation.

    Freyja’s control over Hayate has been so confusing. First she boosted him like hell, then she Var’d him, and this episode she Var’d him AND (along with Mirage’s Hayate!s) she also brought him back.

    I don’t know if her control over him will keep being a thing (I honestly wanted more development in how he resolved this rather than what happened, even Messer needed his song therapy), but after all the build up if just because he promises (again) that he won’t get affected and that ~trust on him~ will save him, then meh.

    I liked this episode though, many things happened. I can see Heinz playing that part and I’ll be fine with it, but I seriously want Mikumo and Keith to have a big part in how things are solved.

    South
  6. Finally Hayate is free to fight with the battroid and gerwalk, and the air combat in general improves 100%. Mikumo making use of the Bright Slap (TM) was funny, since this series feels more like Gundam (while IBO doesn’t at all). Damn good to see Larrazabal and the aces of the NUNS doing something that’s not being cannon fodder, still Satelight, shame on you by reusing Frontier’s animation. :p
    I don’t know why but Delta feels more like a prologue for a more extensive series. S2 in the cards?

    SeedStriker
  7. There are just too many characters and too few episodes to fully develop them. Even the part where Freyja got a grip on herself to sing properly was done so haphazardly. The part where Cassim avoided the woods lacks punch that I thought he wasn’t going to die.

    With regards to the triangle, I doubt there will be a clear resolution. The part today where the both of them were required to get Hayate back to his sense pretty much gives us a huge clue as to who will win. In this day and age, romantic conclusions are no longer in vogue. Instead, they like to keep us guessing and at the same time try to prolong the franchise by including a movie adaptation in a few years’ time.

    fomite
  8. Calling Delta a “solid iteration” sounds a bit generous, to put it lightly. It not only loses in comparison with Frontier, which came before this one, but on his own the writing is a mess.

    The triangle doesn’t go anywhere, too many characters don’t enjoy development, the villains are Imperial Japanese Nazi Mary Sues which the authors love to push on the viewers (in this episode, the main cast is suddenly more worried about an enemy pilot whose only saving grace in their case was letting them go once than about all the previous civilian and allied deaths barring Messer’s) and the military strategies basically consist on “MacGuffin singers sing near the Protoculture MacGuffin and stuff happens while there are shots and explosions around”. Every single time.

    As a Macross fan, I can only hope the end delivers something. A good ending can make for a bad journey.

    Mistic
  9. If Mirage loses, I will be upset, because she never stood a chance and was a background character.

    If Mirage wins, I will be upset, because it will be a complete ass-pull for a character that got no focus.

    I will be upset.

    Tarage
  10. So having two women that care/love you is all it takes to cure being Var’d, huh? I kind of feel bad about Messer now…

    Anyway, did we just witness a very small glimpse of Mirage’s ability to ride the wind when she chose to embrace Hayate instead if shooting him or am I probably seeing something that not there. By the way, does anyone have an idea on the name of the first song that Walkure sings?

  11. Surely this is no example of stellar writing but daman, I grew attached to the Windermere pals. I had a lot of fun with Delta and I’m gonna miss Freya and Mikumo’s voices. Here’s to the Super Robot Wars games featuring this show in the future.

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