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「潜入 エネミーライン」 (Sennyu Enemirain)
“Behind Enemy Lines”
This week on Metal Gear Solid Macross, the crew infiltrates enemy lines (with the help of some Ghost in the Shell-isque hacking montages) to unveil the nefarious plot on Shadow Moses Vordor. As expected, things aren’t all sunshine and rainbows on the Windermere side either, and a thorough investigation reveals an intricate web of Windermere deception—they used a banned Dimensional Weapon seven years ago that devastated friend and foe alike, and have told their people that it was the UN that did it. It just goes to show that when it comes to war, the truth is far from black and white, and the question that remains is how much of the Windermere population—Heinz especially—knows what truly happened that fateful night.
Put in the grand scheme of things, it’s easy to look at the Windermeres as the stereotypical bad guys given their sinister turn, but it’s clear at this point that it’s anything but that simple. Their use of bio-terrorism (via water and apples no less) aside, their presence does provide the native population with jobs and other benefits, even if it could be a mere smokescreen to ensure they won’t have to fight enemies on multiple fronts. Either way, the jury’s out until the remaining side of the story comes out, and it’ll be interesting as well to see what exactly the Windermeres are trying to do on the various planets they’re taking over—especially when you consider how planets like Vordor have been said to possess nothing in particular significance in regards to providing a concrete combat advantage.
Looking forward though, our fab-three have more pressing things at hand having been caught behind enemy lines, and things should develop rapidly from here as the sides actually meet each other face-to-face for the first time. Given what the main cast now knows about the Windermeres and their past deployment of dimensional weapons, I wouldn’t be surprised if this “trap” ends up backfiring on the latter when Hayate and Co. inevitably let the truth slip, and the resulting doubt could lead to help from an unlikely source.
That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if Mikumo ends up being the actual key to rescuing them though, and she’s certainly one mystery that gets larger and larger as the series goes on. I mean, who IS she really? For all her quirks and oddities, she knows almost exactly what to say and do no matter the situation, she’s immensely skilled in everything from infiltration to utilizing her song to single-handedly fight off Var Syndrome infections, and she seems more attuned to songs and fold-waves than any of her counterparts. Despite Freyja’s origins as a Windermere and the natural abilities that bestows upon her, she—and really, most of the cast—doesn’t hold a candle to her in terms of the overall package and ability to really push characters and the story along, and it could very well be that the mysteries surrounding her are the ones we should be focusing on instead of the current intrigue regarding the Windermeres.
Aside from that, perhaps the most notable thing from this series so far is how focused they are on identifying and going into detail about the other cultures/species that have descended from the Protoculture. It’s certainly a refreshing change actually seeing these many species being acknowledged and revealed, and it adds a new dynamic to the politics and engagements every time we encounter a new one. If anything, it gives a new definition to the term “we’re not alone,” and it makes you wonder not only how many other species we’ll see before we’re all said and done, and what major role they could potentially play in the grand scheme. Until next week.
Preview
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So Windermere IS basically Space North Korea. They’ve basically nuked there own planet then blamed it on the NUNs while simultaneously brainwashing there population as to be victims. This makes there reason as to why go to war even more sketchy
Well, here’s something to consider. What if they DIDN’T nuke their planet? We merely took Mirage word at face value that Windermere did it themselves. However, WE ALL know how Shady U.N Spacy could be. Look no further than the Galaxy- Frontier War, and even what happened with Sharon Apple. Heck in even U.NSpacy top command staged a coup and had to be reformed to NUNS.
The official line from NUNS could be that the Windermere did it themselves, but what if it was the original NUNS government of Windermere that unleashed it and not the native of Winderemere.People. So to the people of Ragna and NUNS, they didn’t do it.
However because the old government was affiliated with NUNS, the Windermere people rightly blame NUNS.
That’s my theory at least. I am beginning to believe more and more that Miku is actually a proto devlin. She could hear the Proto Culture being one. Her ability during combat when they all got jammed seem to be another. Her fold wave resonance look like anima spirita.
Problem with the thoery that NUNs was behund nuking Windermere with a Dimensional weapon is wouldn’t that meant they got the upperhand then? (ie you nuked the enemy forces so that means you’ve suddenly destroyed a significant amount of there fighting capabilities, making claiming victory easier).
Also factor in what the Cat-cheif said along the lines of “Windermere have a tendency of destroying their allies along with their foes” proably as a passing swipe at the rumor that Windermere was the one who deployed the Dimensional weapon and Roid didn’t deny that.
I’ll echo that at the moment we’re a few puzzle pieces short of the whole picture. Whether or not the Windermeres shot the dimensional weapon or not, it’s not exclusive of them having at least some sort of justification for fighting against the Spacy in the first place.
The thing it does do though, is make it difficult for everyone to continue supporting the Aerial Knights and Gramia as a united front if it turns out they were twisting the truth. Could be a game changer in the grand scheme if this gets revealed to the general public, or even just a few key members of the Aerial Knights, especially given Roid’s reluctance as is to utilize Heinz as is.
It is unlikely that the NUNS bombed Windermere as they already placed restrictions on Dimension Eaters like with Reaction Weapons.
Macross Chronicle Technology 13A: Dimension Weapons (Translation by Sketchley)
The Operation And Restrictions Of Dimension Weapons
“Its thought that the first combat that used an especially large quantity of MDE Dimension Weapons was the large-scale battle of 2059 between the Macross Frontier Fleet and the Vajra (the Macross Galaxy Fleet). In this battle, the tremendous pressure of Dimension Weapons was displayed, as the VF squadrons of the New Unified Forces, who escorted the fleet, and the civilian military provider S.M.S. were equipped with MDE – in order to oppose the Vajra, who had acquired a resistance to reaction weapons -, and used them to crush the Vajra.
Due to their power, usage restrictions similar to those for reaction weapons were established for Dimension Weapons – especially DE and MDE -, by the New Unified Government. Also, severe restrictions were imposed on the harvesting, distribution, and possession of fold quartz, which was indispensable for the production of Dimension Weapons.”
Here is what I think happened. With the advent of Fold Quartz based technology Windermere was probably thinking like Leon Mishima those who have monopoly on Fold Quartz would become an economic and military super power. Meanwhile at the core region Grace blew up Gaul 4 and Frontier started to make their own MDE. When the NUNG finally got details and survived a Vajra invasion they put a restrictions on distribution and sale of Fold Quartz.
Windermere sees it as an Unequal Treaty as restrictions on Fold Quartz puts a kibosh on their ambitions. Their only other export is well apples.
So they had a temper tantrum with a revolution and just to prove their point as they are horrendously outgunned used a Mini-Dimension Eater on Carlisle.
Now their planet is dying. They are looking at an extinction event. All the good planets in the cluster is already occupied so they come up with a mind control scheme using Protoculture ruins.
@All the good planets in the cluster is already occupied
That’s not really an excuse to go to war though. If your planet is dying, construct colony class ships and think more long term when you venture out into the galaxy. Heck, you could probably ask for assistance and see if any planets out there would settle some civilians. It’s not like every square inch of worlds with life are settled. They could probably find an island or two to resettle people if they negotiate it for example.
Didn’t the Blue haired twin die last week. I could’ve sworn Hayate killed him to save Mirage, right?
… RIGHT?
That wasn’t one of the twins, that was just a nameless newb.
The guy Hayate killed was only introduced last episode so he could die. I believe his name was Ensign Red Shirt.
Actually, I’m thinking Windermere of being more like Imperial Japan prior to WW2. Plus, the occupation of Vordor reminds me of Imperial Japan’s occupation of Korea. Maybe they seized those planets because of the ruins? I believe they used the water in the ruins together with their apples for the Var Syndrome to work, right?
The ruins were definitely a major reason from what we’ve seen. The question is whether or not it’s the primary reason and if the water has to come from those ruins, or it just so happens that they used that because it was also near the ruins.
I’m not sure what it is about delta, but it just doesn’t feel as well constructed as frontier. I’m not exactly sure why I find it as off-putting but I do. Some of what they do almost feels antic-like, rather than part of a larger purpose of subtle hints building up to something, and everything they do do is like hitting you over the head with an anvil.
And I know the macross universe is oftentimes ridiculous, but I don’t even feel their roles are particularly cohesive to the job they’re trying to do here. Maybe it’s just a time and place thing, Macross usually takes combat situations somewhat seriously but it often feels like here they’re taking time to do crazy things behind enemy lines with the girl’s flourishes. Seems out of place for a covert op I guess.
eh, the way i see it, delta is a more of a mix of the light-hearted and dark natures of macross. You could argue that frontier was a darker tale (for macross standards anyways) but Delta celebrates the sort of silly concept behind the macross franchise while simultaneously making it known to the audience that the characters and the world matters in this series, and in my opinion, it makes for a pretty decent watch. Frontier had its issues as well so it’s not like that series was perfectly constructed, But i can see where you’re coming from. Again, my take on this is that delta is a sort of middle-ground series meant to embody the “fluffier” aspects of this franchise. If anything, the focus of the story stays on the cast and that’s a positive in my book. And ive been meaning to point this out for a while, since ep 2 or 3 actually, but if my guess is true, then i applaud this show for being subtle about the nature of our hacker-duo’s relationship. I get that they could just be really good friends, but at the same time, it’s almost as if their relationship goes beyond that (which is kinda of a crime in the idol scene…or any dating for that matter) and if that’s the case then again, i really applaud the show for not fetish-sizing their relationship. Yet another reason why this iteration of macross is pretty ok
I get what you mean, since I really liked Frontier too.
Delta is not bad by any stretch and I’m enjoying it every week, but right now I’m still waiting for it to completely win me over like Frontier did.
The characters are all very interesting, just that the execution could use a little work.
But Frontier was a real mess in last third. It’s obvious that they rewrote the script in haste and only fixed it in movies.
Frontiers TV series would have been better with the movie ending. Sure, it wouldn’t have been a happy ending, but it would have wrapped it up better.
Though I’m kinda confused as to where on earth Alto went? He vanished with the Vajra queen and they never say where :/
OMG
tooso many Nekos!Got to love how this episode subscribes to the old sci-fi cliches including “Hacking is fun graphical depiction and not boring coding” and the tried and true “Send the most important and valuable personnel on risky away missions”.
Still the more its revealed about the Aerial Knights goals the more I find them truly villainous. So far they are guilty of biological warfare, desecrating of sacred cultural sites of other races to make said biological weapons and enslavement of sentient beings. Not to mention they have engaged on cultural crackdowns and propaganda on their own people.
Even if they weren’t guilty of the dimensional crater on their planet (the story is still iffy whether they or NUNS was responsible for it) that is a huge list of a-hole behavior already. So far their only justification is the arrogant presumption that they are the “True heirs of Protoculture because REASONS!”. The last time we had that in our own history it was from a nutjob with a toothbrush mustache and had people march under a flag with a bent X. They are going to be hard pressed to win any sympathy points from me.
At least the only difference between our royal knights and the mustachio would be all those weapon/artifacts that the royal knights have at their disposable that were left behind by the Protoculture.
ie. they have the probable reasons that they are the heirs.
Otherwise, propaganda machines galore.
I’ll say, your mention of the “Send the most important and valuable personnel on risky away missions” part really makes me miss having Star Trek on TV now that I realize how long it’s been since Enterprise went off the air.
No mention of Makina and Reina? Those two actually stole the episode for me, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of them.
https://randomc.net/image/Macross%20Delta/Macross%20Delta%20-%2007%20-%20Large%2027.jpg
https://randomc.net/image/Macross%20Delta/Macross%20Delta%20-%2007%20-%20Large%2028.jpg
They are so different but so alike. One is tall, busty, and hyperactive, while the other is short, petite, and reserved. Yet the two are in perfect sync with and complement each other at all times, in both singing, dancing, and technology.
“They are so different but so alike. One is tall, busty, and hyperactive, while the other is short, petite, and reserved. Yet the two are in perfect sync with and complement each other at all times, in both singing, dancing, and technology.”
It was mentioned within the episode that the first time Makina and Reina met, they were like oil and water and argued a lot (which reminded me of THE iDOLM@STER: Cinderella Girls‘ Miku Maekawa and Riina Tada), to the point that some of their concerts had to be cancelled.
While that backstory (and how they eventually got along) would be entertaining to watch (or read as a manga), we’ll just have to make do with the flashbacks and take Kaname’s word for it.
Anyway… Man, I can’t believe they missed the opportunity to make a cat girl variation of Freyja’s catch phrase…
“Hoi nya!”
Also, correct me if I’m wrong, but, weren’t Dimension Bombs also used by the NUNS against the Vajra in Frontier?
Dimensional bombs most probably were banned just after the war with Varjra.
all the cat puns in the “feline cosplay makeup” scene….
Hmmm binary chemical weapon smuggled in the basic components of military diet – brilliant!
But, if the Delta platoon escapes with that info, days of easy victories have eneded for Windermere
As for the dimensional “nukes” usage at Windermere, I am not 100% sure Windermerians did it – it is possible some faction at NUNS decided to drop it, or even some third faction is manipulating NUNS and Windermere into all-out war.
The red head Knight Irks me alot for some reason. Probably his hot-blooded Smugness 😕
Y’know, I have noticed that in every single iteration of Macross, there’s always that one character who’s a pain in the ass and irritating as fuck. In the first Macross, there’s Kaifun. In Macross Zero, it’s the female pilot on the anti-U.N faction, and to some extent Sara Nome. In Macross Plus, it’s arguable that almost the whole cast is mildly irritating. In Macross 7, almost every important character is irritating as mother-flying-fuck, and in Frontier, there’s the antagonists and some on the NUN/SMS side who are also pretty damned irritating. And now in Delta, it’s motherfucking Mirage and Mohawk Kouki Uchiyama plus the Aerial Knights.
I don’t know what in fuck’s name is up with this entire franchise and it’s stock addiction for irritating motherfuckers but it’s just gotta stop, like seriously.
And yes, I’ve finally caught up with the majority of Macross and I’m halfway through Macross 7. So far, it’s been equal parts dopamine-releasing and cortisol-hijacking, but I can definitely see why people like the concept of Macross.
Also on another note, does anybody here think that the ED theme is strikingly reminiscent of that song ‘September’ by Earth, Wind and Fire? I just found it pretty cool and the song’s nice too 😀
I’m waiting for the episode where he realizes how that he’s been believing in the wrong things and then ends up rescuing Freyja or something.
My thoughts
Show Spoiler ▼
The Songs have life and soul, but the action aside them do feel cold for me…
edit: i was lazy, and just copy & pasted my reddit comment
oh forgotten:
Show Spoiler ▼
So, Windermere turned to be Ace Combat’s Belka. Problem with Wind’s plan is that is plain stupid. Aside the use of bio-terrorism, if Heinz dies or stop singing (which will eventually happen), battle plan goes kek! That and if the so-called knighthood their Air Knight supposely has don’t come into gear when the truth comes to light, then there’s something that’s not quite right in this picture.
On the Chaos camp, Makina and Reina full cute and Snake, and Mikumo turned full Protoculture this week. As for the captured triangle, Hayate can start playing mind games with Bougue, aka the second coming of Gundam Seed’s Yzak Joule.
They’re definitely relying on things that won’t give them any luxury in regards to long-term viability, that’s for sure.
The Walkure seem to be spec ops turned idol than the other way round. There’s the leader (Kaname), software specialist (Reina), hardware specialist (Makina) and the general purpose jack of all trades master of all (Mikumo). They were doing reconnaissance/infiltration mission in the first episode too. That short back-story about Makina and Reina really makes one wonder what was the purpose behind the units creation. Really interested in reading/watching about the creation of the group.
Speaking about Mikumo, did someone or something lured her to sing? It seemed to have helped in getting our trio into their current predicament. An indication of someone else helping or masterminding the Windermeres? The red haired guy’s words seem to indicate that. Though it could just be bad luck that helped the trap to actually work.
I’m not sure which I find less realistic… That galacticly renound idols can go completely under cover by slapping on a pair of cat ears or that all of windamere’s ace Knights are just hanging around in a cave so they can all be present when the good guys happen to get caught.
their presence does provide the native population with jobs and other benefits
Er, no, actually, that comment by the Voldorian elder was about the NUG. Lord Roid dismissed it as their way of “buying locals”. Not only that, we know from the vendor that occupation isn’t good for local agriculture.
The jury may still be out, but at this point Windermere has a very big “guilty” label on them:
-Terror attacks under no flag before the formal declaration of war.
-Enslaving enemy soldiers, forcing them to fight their own people.
-Using dormant biochemical weapons on war prisoners and civilians.
-Espousing an ideology that bases its claims on racial superiority and some sort of Greater
East AsiaBrisingr Cluster Co-Prosperity Sphere.That’s without adding the new development here: WMDs were used in Windermere. The locals blame the NUNS, but now we know that the opposite side has a different story to tell too.
Freyja continues to be a loveable derp.
Gotta love those faces.
Wow this week we got lots of great insert songs. And they kinda sound abit Vocaloid-ish to me. Anyone felt similarly?
i well forrr all this informauion an than
Roid’s Brisingr cluster races being the favored chosen inheritors conveniently leave out Terrans, Zentradi and Zolans. In Macross Frontier episode 8 prologue it is said the Protoculture created humanity in the midst of conflict in hopes to preserve peace and culture. Humanity refers not only on Terrans but all Children of the Protoculture. This is a Terran belief backed by what happened with the Bird Human and the Messenger AI on Rax giving access due to Mylene being of mixed blood.
According to the Newtype article when Terrans came to their world 40 years ago Windermereans started asking questions about themselves. It wasn’t strange that they lived for 30 years until Terrans came who were more technologically advanced than they are yet physically weaker and do not have runes. They got confused why they have to die so early compared to the rest.
So Roid makes this paper supposing that Brisingr races are the true heirs of the Protoculture as they were the last ones to be created. At least according to him. He makes it a status when it isn’t. In their descendants lie the Protoculture’s hopes and dreams. They certainly didn’t want the type of war Windermere is waging on other Children.
Windermere like to think they are superior because if they don’t they’ll think they are inferior.
Can’t believe the amount of youtube vids posted people trolling about how bad the series turned out. I think the series is going to do even better than Macross F because I never really get the triangle between Sheryl Ranka and Alto. Alto seems to care more about himself than anybody and Sheryl sometimes the same way she doesn’t need any guy. So far it seems Hayate is more of a carefree guy and less conceited than Alto. I think if Walkure performs well in person, they’re gonna have a good career. Macross always helps launch careers of unknown artists.
@Can’t believe the amount of youtube vids posted people trolling
I wouldn’t pay much attention to those. People most likely are jumping on a bandwagon and do that to get more views/subscribers to their channel.
You just know Mikumos significance will increase soon.