Posted by  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
「切望 シークレット」 (Setsubo shikuretto)
“Yearning Secret”
Given our recent history lesson involving the franchise as a whole, it’s only fitting that Walkure’s imprisonment serves as a foundation for another one, and while its exposition heavy nature may be off-putting for some—you have to admit that they’re doing a good job utilizing those recollections as driving forces for character and plot development.
This time around, the focus lies with the paths taken by Walkure’s respective members to get where they are today, and it’s a recollection that makes you realize how easy it is to dismiss their backgrounds given the upbeat nature of their songs and performances, and to think that they’ve just naturally acclimated to the roles they were given. As it turns out, the way they are now—proficient, capable of swooping in to save the day when needed, and able to overcome failure—was earned through hard work and the overcoming of various trials and tribulations. Not only that, but just because they’re good at what they do doesn’t mean they don’t have moments of uncertainty regardless, and their failed rescue of Mikumo ultimately illustrates a more human side of characters that were seemingly larger than life for much of the series’ first half.
In this way, it’s a great demonstration that talent by itself doesn’t necessarily mean anything, and at times, even hard work in combination with innate talent doesn’t guarantee success. Sometimes you’ll need a little push from someone else to get you that extra mile, and interestingly enough, the aforementioned are things you could apply to our main trio of Hayate, Freyja, and Mirage as well. After all, Hayate was clearly skilled at a variety of tasks to begin with, but never found the appropriate means to apply himself until he became a pilot. Even then, his natural skill couldn’t initially compensate for his arrogant attitude and inability to work with others, and he ultimately finds himself relying on the other two to reach greater heights. Likewise, Freyja’s innate Windermere-driven abilities are now reliant on the former to maintain its strength, and Mirage herself ends up a textbook case of talent being stifled by comparisons to her famous lineage—a stumbling block that prevented her from reaping the benefits of her hard work until Hayate and Freyja came along.
With that said, the revelation that there were other singers in Walkure before and the brief show of Kaname and Messer’s first meeting were nice touches that really added to things, as does the revelation that Mikumo’s brief melody from last week was also the same as the one she sang when she joined Walkure in the first place. The questions now is if it signifies a new start for everyone now that everyone knows about Mikumo’s past, and one wonders if she’s even the same person they’ve known all this time.
Either way, it looks like we’ll find out sooner rather than later, as it doesn’t look like the Windermeres will sit idly by as our cast regains their respective wings. Roid in particular seems close to his apparent goal of connecting everyone’s thoughts together via the Song of the Wind, and the cat’s out of the bag in regards to him being directly responsible for Gramia’s death as well. The fact I didn’t see that coming aside, it’s becoming clearer that Roid’s had his own agenda since the very beginning, and while it’s overall intent doesn’t seem to differ from Gramia’s apparent desire for peace, his actual methods for achieving the goal likely weren’t what Gramia had in mind. With Keith threatening to kill him if he betrays the Windermeres and Heinz unlikely to last much longer, Roid’s running out of time to implement his master plan either way, and it looks like we’ll have a drastic escalation to bring things to their final conclusion—especially with Chaos on their way to Alfheim as a way to infiltrate Windermere.
Here’s looking to a epic final arc to finish things off.
Preview
 |
 |
the WHAM! epiosde…
Show Spoiler ▼
Show Spoiler ▼
Not sure Clai-clai will ever comeback, her reason for quitting seem to be psychological trauma. Probably from over exposure to the battlefield. I agree with Kaname’s assessment that she was accepted because she’s been exposed to the horrors of war. Can’t have the team leader/manager breakdown, can we? It’s actually quite amazing that Makina stayed around and hasn’t broken down too.
Wow that preview. I don’t think we’ve ever seen Hayatea and Mikumo speak together have we?
Yeahhh, I was thinking the same thing.
They are attempting to pull off an unprecedented Mikumo x Hayate!
In any case, I realized that there isn’t any specific development on Mirage yet. So I am guessing Mirage could be developed in the final few episodes. Does this mean that she stands a chance in the triangle?
Roid is wondering who the hell is Mikumo ans why she can do what she does. It’s really undermining his Windermereans as Protoculture heirs theory really. The Protoculture provides the answer with a mural of the Star Singer. Mikumo could be a clone of a Protoculture Star Singer and like Mayans and Zentradi she has some genetic memory in her. I get the feelng if Heinz can’t do what Roid wants he’ll try to kidnap Mikumo for his plan.
Kaname’s home planet of Divide, who the hell names their colony that way, is under civil war. It is something mentioned along the lines of the background like in Macross Pus wherever Isamu goes before he got transferred to New Edwards Air Force Base he is n the middle of a war or in Macross the Ride where the home planet of a supporting character Takeru whose planet Kesshobu is under civil war split between the Pro-Lactence Earth supremacist old UN Spacy and the New UN Spacy. Mirage herself relates her time as a NUNS pilot she had to shoot down for the first time when Anti-UN elements tried to hijack an island ship.
If episode 19 (ie. “the ultimate Macross history canon just got written”) has shown us is true The women (protoculture?) the holograms were projecting might be related to Mikumo.
Too bad that little theory of mine didn’t stand up well with this imprinting that showed up post-ED…
side note: Walkure definitely had my respects now that its (rough) start was shown. (Literally moving like a tactical unit? No advanced holograms??)
ps. VF-31s’ been in production for a while…
it is also my speculation, that Mirage could be some sort of an Protocultur Guardian. Perhaps some Lady M Company forced it
I’m gonna be honest, I am finding it harder and harder to give a fuck. I don’t understand the incredibly odd pacing of this series. This episode should have been in the middle, not now. Devoting an entire episode to “Oh wow, Warukrye kinda sucked before Mikumo” was pointless. When was the last episode where we had Hayate dancing in his robot and being cool? When was the last episode Mirage got any sort of character development. At this point I’m willing to bet that Kaname has had more lines than her.
Am I the only one who feels this way?
Oh and I forgot to mention how horribly one dimensional the villains are. If this is somehow going to turn into a “we need to team up and work together to save the world” sort of thing, I’m going to have a real hard time not wanting all of the Windermeerian pilots to die, because other than that one guy, they’re all just assholes. Not to mention their entire plan is Nazi-esque.
Indiana Jones – Raiders of the lost Ark vibes here
@Tarage
You’re right. However, one of the problems with this series is that it’s been trying to portray them as complex and sympathetic.
In this very episode, we are shown that Windermere’s terrorist attacks harmed several planets for years before they declared war. The episode also starts with a biological experiment on civilians that leaves 85% of them comatose. Still, the reaction to the news from the main cast is almost tame compared to their reaction when they learned the NUNS brought a nuke to Windermere during their independence war.
The irony? Bringing or even using a nuke (under certain circumstances) is not a war crime according to current international law. False flag attacks, enslaving enemy soldiers and doing experiments on civilians? They are among the most serious violations of Geneva conventions.
No, you’re not. This series’ writing is bad at best.
That surprise revelation about Mikumo actually raised more questions than answers. For example, who is her original? That question also leaves the possibility that she is actually Lady M, though not the one that is currently running things. There’s also the possibility that she might not last as long as Freyja, accelerated aging has never been known for longevity.
Roid’s scheming seriously baffles me. Wouldn’t attaining world peace through mind control require Heinz to be in good health. Sure he’s looking up on Mikumo, but there’s just no definitive way in getting her to play along. Is this the Windermerean recklessness they’re talking about?
So, will Roid eventually be a candidate for the “Just as Planned” award?
.. dunno. I would not be surprised if he done this all because he is afraid of die to young. Perhaps he hopes to find a way to find a “cure” of this curse. a old human dream, become immortal
well lets see, this is just an idea
Is it bad to think that Walkure’s previous incarnation was narratively far superior to the current one?
Imagine it: a Macross Delta where Walkure’s effectiveness and goal is still in doubt. Where the singers are hit hard by the horrors of Windermere’s terrorist attacks. Where their tactics (holograms, flashy dresses, pilot support, etc) are introduced little by little with clear explanation of their necessity. Where Reira sings only because she can avoid prison and she and Makina clash with obvious UST. Where the arrival of the Mysterious Lady gives new energies mid-season and provides an enigma to solve. Where the love triangle has Kaname in the center and the experienced captain and the young ace as her love interests.
No.I’ve long held that Delta might have been better served as 52 episode or a 26/26 episode split season series. You just described what most of the first 26 episodes/season should have been like. Heck, it would likely solve a lot of problems with the series if they could spread things out more.
I agree. Macross Delta feels too much like a 4-cour show that was squeezed into a 2-cour format.
I’m not sure. The problem is the pacing, I think: sometimes it feels as if they lack time to make progress with some developments, yet other times it feels as if they’re wasting valuable screentime on things that are secondary at best.
It doesn’t help that the cast doesn’t feel very tight and that they’re all over the place. So either less characters or better direction would be needed. I’m not sure more time would help if they make the same mistakes.
I can’t imagine them doing another season of Delta after this one. Delta was nowhere near as popular as Frontier in terms of Blu Ray/DVD sales, infact it sold significantly less. The music sales have been excellent to date though. If anything I wouldn’t mind a movie or something.
Wouldn’t mind watching that actually. Even if it’s just a five episode OVA like Zero. At least it should end in a more positive note. Though I don’t know how they have to handle that triangle since we already know how it’ll end. The overall mood of that would most likely be like one of the post Macross Robotech series.
Mmm, while re watching this Episode, i got some vibes at the end (after the ED).
Show Spoiler ▼
note: This is my Speculation
possible ending goal of Roid (my speculation):
Show Spoiler ▼
This is just an spark i had, your have the Body, Arm and Legs to bring it into “motion”. So it’s a win-win situation
If anything, if the show ends up with a rushed ending, that’s the fault of the writing more than anything. We’ve had episodes where nothing really happens, the plot just stalls. And then we’ve had episodes that move things forward nicely. They haven’t really got the right mix of these episodes and have wasted some.
Realistically it only needs about two episodes for a final battle scenario, so things don’t look too dire yet on the conclusion front.