Akadot - Review: Robotech: Volume 2, "Transformation" page 1


Akadot Retail - Pop Japan Mercantile

by Dan Borses

Episode 7 "Bye-Bye Mars"

Frustrated with his lack of success in recapturing the battle fortress, the Zentradi Lord Breetai assigns the maverick warlord Khyron to oversee the offensive against SDF-1. Following Breetai's order, Khyron lays a trap for the ship underneath the abandoned Sara Base on Mars. When Lisa Hayes hears about the signals emanating from the base, she remembers her lost fiancé, the pacifistic Karl Riber who had traveled to Sara Base to escape the global civil war. Lisa becomes entangled in memories of her former life with Riber, spurring Rick to rescue her before the Robotech Defense forces blow up the base and escape Khyron's trap.

Episode 8 "Sweet Sixteen"

For his successful rescue of First Officer Lisa Hayes from Sara Base, Rick receives a medal and a promotion for his heroism. Assigned to his command are two new recruits: the haughty but mediocre Ben Dixon and the modest but exceptional Maximilian Sterling. Rick's new duties keep him away from Minmei on her sixteenth birthday, accelerating his growing alienation from the girl he thought he loved.

Episode 9 "Miss Macross"

To raise morale, the civilians aboard the SDF-1 hold the first beauty contest in space. Minmei immediately signs up for the contest to pursue her dreams of stardom. Meanwhile, Rick's duties to the Robotech Defense Force prevent him from attending this milestone in Minmei's life, as he battles Zentradi spies Rico, Bron and Konda who have been sent by Breetai to investigate the vagaries of Micronian (Human) culture. As Minmei receives her crown, the barely victorious Rick Hunter drifts in space in a disabled Battloid, yearning for the woman who now seems forever beyond his grasp.

Episode 10 "Blind Game"

Intrigued by their intercepted broadcast of the Miss Macross pageant, the Zentradi enact a plan to capture some Micronians for further study. With their radar newly disabled by the Zentradi attack, the SDF-1 relies upon a reconnaissance flight led by Lisa Hayes and protected by Rick Hunter's Vermillion Squadron. Despite their best efforts, Rick, Lisa and Vermillion Squadron find themselves in a precarious position aboard Breetai's ship.

Episode 11 "First Contact"

The captured Rick, Lisa and Ben stand before Dolza, the Supreme Commander of the Zentradi, who questions them about Protoculture, the essence of Robotechnology. But the captive Micronians are unsure about what Protoculture actually is. Curious about human procreation, Dolza and Breetai force Lisa and Rick Hunter to kiss, but witnessing the event causes all the Zentradi to react with innate disgust. Meanwhile, Max Sterling, separated from Lisa and his squadron, explores the Zentradi ship in his Battloid, noting that the Zentradi society consists entirely of warriors, and that women and men serve on separate ships.

Episode 12 "The Big Escape"

Intent on trying to escape from their Zentradi captors, Rick and Lisa decide to use the confusion caused by their kiss to get past the guards. Despite their plan, it is Max Sterling, his Battloid disguised as a Zentradi, who liberates Rick, Lisa and Ben. In the meantime, the Zentradi decide to shrink Bron, Rico and Konda to human size and place them on SDF-1 to spy on the Micronians and investigate their knowledge of Protoculture. The Robotech defenders stow away aboard a Zentradi ship now led by the female warlord Azonia who is on its way to the battle fortress. Unbeknownst to the escapees, Azonia's first officer, the ace pilot Myria, delivers the micronized Zentradi spies to the battle fortress.

The second set of episodes in ADV's re-released "Macross Saga" exhibits some of the best character development in the series. The increased isolation of Rick Hunter from Lynn Minmei is both logical and tragic, especially in light of his growing professional attachment to First Officer Lisa Hayes. In addition, the Zentradi Warlord Khyron ranks as one of the most colorful villains in animation history, an unorthodox alien anti-hero. Also in this volume, the writers make a significant break from the original plotline of "Super Dimension Fortress Macross" and create "Robotech's" central mystery: the true nature of Protoculture.

From the moment of their rescue, Rick realizes that the closeness he felt for Minmei while they were trapped below decks in "The Long Wait" could never be recreated. Part of Rick's attraction to her stemmed from his need to protect her, a role that Rick was able to fulfill when trapped in the bowels of the SDF-1, but not once the two of them return to Macross City. In that world, depicted so well in this second DVD, Rick finds himself just another in a series of caretakers who wants to help Minmei because of her beauty. As Minmei grows as a celebrity, Rick's relationship with her remains stuck in the past - the civilians aboard SDF-1 come to appreciate Minmei for her talent; Rick still only loves her for her beauty. Further complicating matters, Rick's duties to the Robotech Defense Force keep him away from Minmei during crucial moments in her life such as being crowned Miss Macross and her debut as a professional singer.

Rick first meets Lisa Hayes, a far less helpless woman, on the view screen of his borrowed Veritech, where he offhandedly offends her by calling her a sourpuss. However, when Lisa appears vulnerable, first at Mars Base Sara and then aboard the Zentradi command ship, Rick starts to visualize a role for himself in her life. Yet even Lisa is in a state of flux. Her longing for her lost fiancé Karl Riber echoes the passion of her youth, a passion that she's recommitted to her career just like so many of her family members before her. She hates Rick because of his apparent apathy toward the defense forces, but as Rick rises to the occasion in various tests of valor, Lisa begins to appreciate Rick as a worthy comrade. By the end of "The Big Escape," the two characters have exorcised their personal demons and found mutual respect, a foundation for their own relationship.

"Robotech's" storyline progresses apace as the Zentradi search for the missing secrets of Protoculture takes center stage, and reveal the war-obsessed nature of Zentradi culture. "Robotech's" re-conceptualization of the original "Macross'" Protoculture constitutes the most staggering change enacted by Harmony Gold. In the source material, Protoculture is the Zentradi word for the vagaries of Micronian culture, including their physical affection that results in the creation of new human life. In "Robotech," where it is redefined as the essence of Robotechnology, Protoculture becomes the glue that links three disparate anime titles across eighty-five episodes, assuring that Robotechnology becomes just another one of the colorful characters decorating the saga of "Robotech."

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