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The year is 2008 and the Unification Wars continue to rage between the U.N. and Anti-U.N. forces. In the face of evidence of advanced alien lifeforms in the form of the crashed ship that would one day become the SDF Macross, a movement to unite the Earth under one government begins so that humanity can be prepared for what may come. But there are many on the wrong side of history, who would rather fight to defend their petty interests even in the face of interplanetary warfare, and war has been ongoing for nearly eight years. And now, both sides are deploying a revolutionary new fighter, capable of transforming from fighter to intermediate to humanoid forms. In the middle of this conflict, Shin Kudo, a U.N. carrier fighter pilot, is shot down by one of these new aircraft and washes up on an island where the people worship strangely colored statues called ‘birdmen’. Here we are at the earliest series in the Macross saga, a prequel that predates the original series events by a year and promises to reveal much about the background of Protoculture involvement in Earth’s history, the development of the first Valkyries, and something of the past of characters, their relations, and ancestors of those aboard the future human colony ships. So here comes retroblogging project #3, venturing further into the Macross saga by starting at its chronological beginning. Veterans, newbies, and fellow newly minted fans, join me for another journey into the Macross universe!

A young Shin, as the Macross crashes to Earth on South Ataria island. The way they used a bunch of still images at for the start of the war, and the young protagonist looking out at the water as an explosion happens, reminded me a lot of the first narrative video in Ace Combat 4. Maybe they borrowed from it a little (AC4 was first by a year.)

Shin explains his motivations for becoming a pilot as the Unification Wars engulf the world.

Shin’s opening monologue is set against flashes of his F-14Kai preparing to launch.

The OVA series opens up with a mix of three (technically four) different visual styles, which if I had only read that last statement would’ve sounded like it could confuse the audience. But each served a purpose in that they differentiated the kinds of events going on. The first thing we see is the regular animation/CG style, a photograph of Shin’s family stuck to the controls in the cockpit of his F-14 Tomcat. The personal experiences of his youth flash back as he narrates them, in simpler lines and soft, watercolor tones and still images. And many of the images of the wars use real photographs to give a gritty edge to them. As opening sequences go, it certainly had style and worked to set the tone for Shin’s view of events. The way that a lot of still images were used also helped to  give a sense of how Shin wandered through events hurried and confused, with only his desire to bring an end to it as his guiding principle.

After launching, Shin’s flight encounters a flight of enemy MiG-29 Fulcrums somewhere over the Pacific. The Tomcats have a slight numerical advantage, but the MiGs certainly have the edge in maneuverability (unless the fictitious ’Kai’ version of the F-14 somehow greatly improved the big fighter’s dogfighting abilities.) However Shin is a masterful pilot, and manages to outfly the more agile MiGs, downing all three and earning enough kills to add to his previous 8 and a half and make him a double ace. But just as his flight reenters formation, they’re attacked out of nowhere by a new model fighter, painted a bright purple and looking something like a Sukhoi Su-37 Flanker. But in the dogfight it changes forms, revealing itself as a Veritech fighter, downing Shin’s comrades. For a moment Shin almost manages to outfly the vastly superior craft, but even his skills are not enough when it surprises him by entering humanoid form and downing his Tomcat.

I remain impressed with Macross’s use of cockpit points of view, though I still think the original series did them the best.

Shin’s RIO, Edgar LaSalle. Related to Claudia LaSalle?

Thus begins (at least in in-universe chronology) the tradition of the nemesis in the bright purple, Flanker-esque fighter.

It’s a testament to Shin’s skill that he managed to get this close to getting a shot at the enemy Veritech.

Seems like Zeon is supplying the Anti-U.N. forces, judging from the head and machine gun. Along with Celestial Being, the three form the mecha Axis of Evil and must be dealt with preemptively.

With a gasp, Shin wakes up in some kind of wooden building built above water, with a sharpened wooden stick sitting next to him. He quickly remembers ejecting from his F-14, but he has no idea where he is or what happened to Edgar. Taking the sharpened stick he leaves the house, and eventually finds an old man and demands to know where he is. Then, out of the edge of the jungle, a woman appears with several people behind her. She’s not happy with his presence on the island, fearing that he can summon something called a Kaifun Kadun to her home. Things are confrontational until her younger sister intervenes on behalf of Shin and calms things down. He finds out that Edgar did not survive their fighter being shot down, and wreckage of his carrier washes up on shore, and in his sorrow the younger sister, Mao Nome, convinces her older sister, Sara, to let him stay. Elsewhere, on the U.N. carrier Asuka II, a briefing is being given concerning the island, an ancient alien artifact having been located in its vicinity. As Doctor Aries concludes her briefing and leaves, she runs into her old friend and ours, Roy Focker.

Shin awakes, apparently cared for by the locals while he was unconscious.

Funnier in hindsight.

Hi there Hare, I mean, Mao.

From humbles beginnings on an undeveloped island in the Pacific, the Nome bloodline would one day produce a descendant that would use her song to save a fleet and send thousands of followers of the Great Traitor, Ranka Lee, to the depths of despair at her final victory!

The Protoculture just leaves all kinds of trash lying around, doesn’t it?

Since it’s the second Asuka, I had assumed the first was an actual aircraft carrier, but after checking it seems Japan never had a CV by that name.

Roy Focker: the legend begins.

Marooned on the island with no communication available, Shin recovers and starts learning more about the place and its customs from Mao. The residents believe that the island, Mayan, was the place where the birdmen came down from the sky, turned the ‘fishmen’ into humans, and are still worshiped. Sara is their priestess, and interprets the winds and seas to determine what is to come. The sharpened stick that Shin used is apparently a symbol used for declaring one’s affection, in effect a love letter. Shin has a good laugh after he’s informed of this, having previously threatened Sara and the old man with a love letter, and he and Mao are both pleasantly surprised to see him laughing for once. Though why a stick was left next to him while he was unconscious is uncertain, since it would be a little quick for someone on the island to declare their love for him when he hadn’t yet said a word to anyone. During that time Shin also notices a communications antenna, though he is informed that the generator is broken and anyone who knew how to fix it left for the war. To repay Mao for her kindness he gets to work on fixing it, the system being his only way of contacting the U.N. forces as well. Back aboard the Asuka, Roy speaks to engineer Nakajima about new fighters that have arrived: the U.N.’s own Veritech fighters. Incorporating the most advanced systems available including a particle/energy reinforced armor system, the ability to transform, and the latest weapons, they are top of the line, however were rushed to the front without their intended reactor engines, instead replaced by highly tuned, fuel guzzling standard type engines. Soon, Roy’s team will make its first sortie, intending to intercept a patrol of enemy Veritech fighters.

Ehh, I’m not so sure about this place.

The ’secret midnight date’ is not very secret if everyone on the island knows that the sticks mean. Also, this item-based courtship reminds me a bit of the blue feather in the Harvest Moon games. Were love so easy…

The insight into the technical aspects of the Valkyrie predecessors was really cool, though my biggest question is how did the anti-U.N. forces get their hands on the same technology.

Engineer Nakajima, possibly a reference to the Nakajima Aircraft Company that produced, among others, the ‘Kate’ torpedo bomber. It wouldn’t be the first time a WWII aircraft reference was made in anime (Kai Shiden from the original Gundam.)

On the island Shin finds Sara carving the love letter sticks underneath one of the houses, and starts teasing her about having so many, first for having received so many, then switching to implying that she wanted to give out a bunch of them. And switching attacks yet again, he goes on to suggest that she’s making them to sell for a profit, as if she wasn’t tsun-tsun towards him enough! Though after he sits down and starts carving one, the two have a non-confrontational conversation for the first time as she explains to him how to carve one using the wind and sea as inspiration. But just as things are going well she cries out and seems to have a vision of both U.N. forces bringing fighting to the island and of something that looks like one of the birdmen statues flying over the island and bombing it. And not moments after this vision ends it part of it comes to pass. Roy’s flight of VF prototypes swoops in over the island in pursuit of their targets. The combat is a fierce back-and-forth, but Roy eventually proves the worth of the prototype he pilots and downs his first enemy VF. On the ground Shin runs off to bring Mao to safety while Sara goes to move the townspeople out of harm’s way, a prophecy of destruction spoken to herself as she watches the fighting.

Living on this island must suck if what you do for fun is carve sharpened sticks. No wonder Mao wants no part of its traditions.

Roy earns his daredevil reputation early on, this time nearly crashing into the ground as he chases an enemy fighter.

The new HUD has a nice way of displaying depth with those curving altitude indicators.

The new, all-digital instrument panel is a nice improvement as well. With all the complicated, multipurpose aspects of a transforming fighter I’m sure you’d need something that you can change on the fly.

Prototype Valkyrie in humanoid form for the first time. The transformation sequence was very cool, it even halfway convinced me that the way that the location of the cockpit changing could really work. Almost. The CG for the mecha is most impressive too, I think I like the style even  more than what was used in Frontier.

Just as in Sara’s vision, Roy downs and enemy over the island before jetting off to help out his teammates.

Where have I heard similar phrases to this before?

Final Thoughts: - Even with the greater historical detail in Do You Remember Love there was still a lot unanswered about the recent and distant past. Which is why I’m glad that both are being dealt with in Macross Zero, even if not everything is being explained at the moment.

- The CG is just beautiful, and the dogfights are very fluid and nicely done. The regular animation is very nice too, and as mentioned the use of various visual styles in the opening scene was very effective at establishing the mood and character of Shin.

- I’m having an interesting experience having watched Frontier first, then the original series and DYRL. Details, people, events, and technologies from the most recent series are starting to make more sense now. The pieces are starting to fall into place for me, and it’s a fun way to watch things so far. It almost feels like I’m someone from the Frontier time period, learning about history. And I love history, real and in fictitious universes.

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SENSITIVE INTELLIGENCE REPORT – RESTRICTED DISSEMINATION

SUBJECT: 1. ATTEMPTED FALSE FLAG OPERATION BY KURUMI.

……………2. COVERT INTERCEPT OF KURUMI BY AYANE.

DATE: LATE DECEMBER 2009 TO EARLY JANUARY 2010.

1. OTHER EFFORTS HAVING BEEN FRUSTRATED, KURUMI UME ATTEMPTED TO ENGAGE IN AN ELABORATE FALSE FLAG OPERATION INVOLVING KURONUMA SAWAKO, SANADA RYUU, AND KAZEHAYA SHOTA. CENTRAL TO THIS OPERATION WAS A NOTE, FALSELY ATTRIBUTED TO SAWAKO AND LEFT IN RYUU’S SHOEBOX. WHILE THIS PART OF THE PLAN WAS LEFT TO WORK ITSELF OUT, KURUMI BEGAN FEEDING FALSE INTELLIGENCE TO KAZEHAYA WHILE ALLIED ASSETS WERE SEPARATED FOLLOWING THE SPORTS EVENTS. HOWEVER ALLIED ASSETS ENDED UP DISREGARDING BOTH THE FALSE FLAG LETTER AND DISINFORMATION, WITH KAZEHAYA PERHAPS SLIGHTLY SHAKEN BUT ULTIMATELY UNAFFECTED.

2. PRIOR TO INITIATING THE FALSE FLAG OPERATION, KURUMI WAS SPOTTED AND CONFRONTED BY ALLIED AGENT AYANE. USING A CONTROLLED LEAK OF ACTUAL INTEL, AYANE PUT KURUMI AND HER ORGANIZATION ON NOTICE REGARDING HOW WELL WE HAVE BEEN INVESTIGATING THEM. KURUMI APPEARED VISIBLY SHOCKED THAT HER PAST AND CURRENT ACTIONS WERE SEEN THROUGH SO EASILY, THOUGH THE METHODS OF OUR UPCOMING COUNTERATTACKS WERE LEFT OUT. THIS AMBIGUITY SHOULD SERVE TO DETER SOME FUTURE ATTACKS.

The ‘Sports Festival Incident’ came to a close in this most recent episode with Kurumi’s most promising plan of attack thus far being thwarted by the forces of True Love and Friendship. Starting out just where the previous episode left off, Kurumi Wormtongue was still attempting to work her mind poison into Sawako after Ryuu caught the stray ball headed for her. And in the process of trying to convince Sawako that Kurumi’s unworthy obsession is somehow love, she has continued an increasing trend of poor OPSEC, going so far as to disclose her orchestration of a plan to keep Kazehaya from happiness for her own selfish ends. And barely even thought to try and cover it up! However Sawako would rather watch Kazehaya in the baseball game, and to Kurumi’s continuing frustration most of this goes right past Sawako, the rest being countered by Sawako’s Innocence-Field (I-Field for short.) The game ends in victory for Kazehaya and Ryuu’s team, but with Sawako looking at Ryuu as she tries to get up the courage to talk to someone new, Kazehaya gets a pang of jealousy. As insecure as he is though, at least he talks to Ryuu directly about it, preventing another of the misunderstandings that Kurumi feeds off. Evil does not rest, however, and Kurumi enters Pin’s classroom intent on getting access to the student schedule to better plan her upcoming false flag operation against Ryuu and Sawako, as well as her interception of Kazehaya. Surrounded by GN Pixy Dust particles, she calls on the dark deus ex machina powers of fellow terrorist organization Celestial Being to confuse Pin long enough to get what she needs and then books it before he can figure out what just happened.

All this plotting to undermine True Love and Friendship does not go unopposed however, and now Ayane makes her first intentionally visible move against Kurumi. This was the scene of the episode for me, Ayane came up on Vichy-tan and just shut her down with her analysis and deductive reasoning. Demonstrating complete control of the conversation to a shocked and dismayed Kurumi, Ayane came at her like Sherlock Holmes, linking together all the facts, motives, and actors with impeccable logic. She wants Kurumi to know that she knows and that she’s coming for her, but left the how up to Kurumi’s imagination. Such psychological warfare was beautiful to behold. Kurumi is eventually let go by Ayane, and proceeds to plant the false note in Ryuu’s locker, but Ayane is busy as well, plotting her next move even as the allies celebrate their volleyball victory. Ryuu gets the note, claiming to be from Sawako, and goes to the arranged meeting place to take his usual nap there and wait. Kurumi’s plan is going as envisioned as she directs Sawako to meet Ryuu and then goes off to find Kazehaya, but all is undone before long. Sawako asks Ryuu what love feels like, and although even a smooth guy like Ryuu has trouble explaining the concept he does impress Sawako by revealing that he’s in love with Chizu. The two are having a nice time discussing this when Kurumi directs Kazehaya to them, hoping to make him believe her lies and deceptions once more. But this too backfires on her, as Kazehaya goes right to Sawako and pulls a modified Nomiya Maneuver and runs off with her. Next time we’ll see where this walk leads, and I’m expecting good things. Hopefully a nice open talk between the two, brought up by this moment of action on Kazehaya’s part, will help them realize how the other feels. I also am greatly looking forward to Ayane’s plans, now in motion, to go after Kurumi. I’m sure they will be subtle yet devastating.

Crusader’s Record of Kazehaya War

Hey someone had to try and slap the shit out of you for all that crap you did in middle school Ume…

So this is how this Ume operates, certainly her would be supporters must be bowing their heads in shame for having faith in this lowly stalker that is bereft of any inclination ofYandere prowess. As I had feared Ume the Ugly has identified the weakest target in her continuing war on true love. I did enjoy Ume’s desperate attempt to present her case for true love, but all I see is an insatiable desire to claim Kazehaya as some sort of chattel. Her girlfriend denial operation back in middle school has left her tainted beyond redemption and Zeus will ensure that her love life will be consistently SMASHED INTO ATOMS. Having seen how Sanada was a superior example of manly virtue she tries to start a ship of Sawako and Sanada. While admittedly Sanada is a great guy his destiny is with his beloved Chizu and the spirit of Patrick keeps him on the straight and narrow. Sawako still benefits greatly from her naivete which further frustrates Ume whose tactics and strategies are overturned easily, for negative feelings are as alien to Sawako as decency is to Ume. With the useless Spikey Sensei being a retard Ume gets the information she needs to create a “misunderstanding” that she hopes to use in her favor. It was to be expected for Spiky-kuns are natural enemies of true love. Ayane sees Ume for the treacherous little bitch that Ume is and makes it clear that even without proof Ume is being watched and that Ume trickery will not avail her against Ayane. Still having to maintain a public facade impedes Ume from conforming to the Colasour manual of courtship for she is an out and out coward and son-of-a-bitch. While Ume was most certainly to trying to create false love Sawako is interested in Sanada as a friend and once and future husband of Chizuru. Ume thinks her plan is going well until Kazehaya doesn’t cower at the mere sight of Sawako and Ryu being together. Suffice to say Ume’s plans have been gloriously derailed by Kazehaya who finally acted with a sense of urgency and got off his ass to risk his heart.
I like how Ryu was offering Sawako sagely advice on this complicated thing we call true love, so good to see that they get along so well though if only Kazehaya had more faith in his friends. Speaking of freindship the number of friends Sawako has is expanding despite Ume’s pathetic efforts at disinformation. Hopefully soon having failed with all of her foul stratagems Ume will be revealed as the worthless enemy of true love we all know her to be. It would be most righteous if Kazehaya were to find out that Ume was the one behind all of Sawako’s problems, but I wonder if the boy has even the slightest inkling that Ume has been poisoning him from the start. While this post maybe late this wait for episode 13 has been most difficult

If only she lost a limb or two from frostbite…

Too bad she wasted her energy and efforts on such a foolish endeavor.

Eyes growing pale, staring at a flame
The time has come to resign all you had
Rights to remember, rights to grieve
All denied, we fight on and on
Even if all our lives burn out today
Even then, do humans dream for tomorrow
Even if it be our fate
I WANNA GET A CHANCE

Wai Wai the number of friends grows.

Seeing as how Ume never worked a day in her life I wonder just what does she know about work.

Ume gets outmanuevered.

Ume’s OPSEC is so poor the dolt better figure it out at some point…

Hey get it when you can.

Keep it quiet but do make a mess of things…

De-nile will be formed from her Fake Tears.

Oh Sawako, she can’t even imagine herself as the target of identity theft.

Let me tell you about my best friend.

To level up to Patrick-Class try telling that to Chizuru.

Yes it’s certainly wonderful that Ryu feels that way.

Is that fear I sense Ume?

Love doesn’t always follow logic, for better or worse.

…

Hey watch it now have faith in your friend…

DAAAAAWWWWWWW…

Go get’em.

You’ve miscalculated, Ume…

ExecutiveOtaku’s Unadulterated Adoration of Sawako and Current Intelligence Report

First up, cool new episode title background. I do love the look of Ginko leaves in the fall, even if their fruit smells horrid.

Go peddle your mamoru-ism somewhere else!

I wish this had turned into…

…THIS!

No, not creepy at all Kurumi.

It may of been a blizzard, but she certainly didn’t shine in the storm.

Despicable. Just despicable.

I-Field ACTIVE!

EO’s DAAAAWWWWW of the Week.

The forces of True Love and Friendship excel in all they do.

More new friends of Sawako’s, it’s so nice to see her sincerity winning over so many, so quickly.

He is as wise as he is smooth.

Not so great at remembering names though.

Ryuu is just about as straightforward and to the point as Sawako sometimes. All the better to prevent misunderstandings.

Awkward, but better to get it over with than to let Kurumi’s falsehoods persist. Kazehaya’s moments of jealousy are unwarranted and maybe a little paranoid, but in a way they’re kind of cute in a ‘mixed up kid’ kind of way. He’s not going overboard with it, so I’m sure he’ll learn to be more secure in the future.

Pin definitely realized something was up, but was a bit too slow to do anything about it. This use of GN Pixy Dust by Kurumi points to material links between Kurumi and FTO Celestial Being.

I loved Ayane’s intimidation talk this episode. We know you started the rumors, Kurumi. We’ve got Yuuka’s testimony and an eyeball witness. Confess and maybe the prosecutor can cut you a deal!

Wouldn’t you agree, Kurumi?

Ayane has Sherlock Holmes’ deductive abilities, and you’re no Moriarty, Kurumi.

LEVERAGE!

“You up in here all tight with it, waiting for your pay lawyer, thinkin’ you all wise, ain’t you. No, see. That work when you some kind of criminal mastermind. When you ain’t been seen running from the deed.”

Trash from trash.

I don’t know why, but I loved the ‘very red’ comment.

“Even in light, shadows must fall.” It’s time to get all Oberstein on Kurumi’s ass.

Recharging for his intense shonen baseball training later.

LAID-BACK, with his mind on his Chizu and his Chizu on his mind.

I hereby declare Ryuu my Male Character of the Season. Cool as ice, but genuinely nice and caring and a master of his profession. He’s like the shoujo-series version of Max from SDF Macross.

“An evil soul producing holy witness
Is like a villain with a smiling cheek,
A goodly apple rotten at the heart:
O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!“

An excellent shot, I loved the surrounding darkness of the inside of the classroom illustrating her dark intent.

OH, SHUT DOWN!

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I am curious as to what “this and that” entail…

After watching Kuroko be awesome and showing her prowess that marks her as and heir of Alphard and Liang Qi it was time to try and get back into the swing of things since training has tapered down somewhat, still I’ll try and keep it short. As alwaysKuroko is just delightful when she operates as a one woman army to confront all the level uppers. It was rather sad to see Saten open Pandora’s Box on her pals but she knew of the dangers, sadly she wanted powers that she had yet to earn. Nevertheless I liked how they have foreshadowed it for some time. I cannot help but admireUiharu’s attempts to console Saten and applaud her not passing judgment when Saten was in need of someone to listen to her. Nugi-onna also had a sad story to tell and certainly I find the idea of human experimentation to be quite distasteful, but for me at least it didn’t feel too tacked on one since she wasn’t harping about it too hard.Biribiri had a fine boss battle, and certainly Nugi-onna was a worthy foe. I felt kind of sad for Nugi-onna as she had it pretty rough as a teacher, I admit I smiled here and there when she was picking at her food and was being mocked for her modest bust. The funniest part was when that kid was trying to make a pass at through various degrees. The Anti-Skills were rather laughable as police force, me thinks theLAPD is a bit better equipped… Still next episode promises one ugly looking boss with tentacles…

But still no match for Kuroko’s Might.

Yeah take that OLDFAG.

Someday Kuroko will also be able to take on a platoon.

…

Worry not Kuroko for one day you will look like Alphard and Liang Qi, they were loli too once…

NOW THAT is a distraction.

That’s not proper greeting attire…

True Tears.

May her love for childish things eclipse her hetero confusion…

This is as good as a confession of love in my book.

I was hoping for her to say OVER 9000…

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The dream that will come true someday
(Becomes) a mere unheard whisper
That is lost within the light  shone by the night
Soon enough, her eyes will open  if it is fate
At least  yes, only now…

So with this year about to conclude it is worth mentioning what a glorious year of Yuri it was and how it was a decent year for a few select heterosexual couples. While there are cretins who chafe about the lack of quality series their numbers are few and they are stupid for having such narrow tastes. It gloriously began with Mariaholic with Kanako concocting glorious fantasies of a Yuri world and ruined Shizu for marriage though her final victory was thwarted by a most dangerous and skilled trap. Despite the lack of Best End for Kanako I do hope that one day she will mature into a powerful master of the Yuri and claim the yuri harem that her loli angel had prepared for her. Sadly it was also a winter of despair as the hateful Saji and those CB terrorists brought ruin upon Soma and Louise and forced them into tyrannous hetero pairings with loser animu males. Skip Beat! had Kyoko confess her undying love for Moko despite persistent speculation that Kyoko has even a drop of affection for Shotaro.

Spring brought K-On with Mugi-chan giving Ritsu ample opportunity to claim Mio and ruin her for marriage. But the best was yet to come as summer introduced us to a paragon of Yuri Virtue in the form of Alphardonee-sama . Even now her prowess has yet to be matched and she remains one of the more unforgettable heroines that have wielded the Yuri. Such was he grace that she has become the Gold Standard against which all heroines will be measured by. Riding along Alphard onee-sama’s side was the redoubtable Liang Qi whose yuri love for Alphard was truely great though sadly it was not to be reciprocated fully. However the union of Alphard and Liang Qi produced a glorious daughter they named Kuroko who inherited many of their best traits and combat prowess. While not as powerful or great Marin and Kanon were a delightful pair whose yuri love was sadly unconsummated because of silly rules and Kanon being bi. Also of note was the yuri baiting series Kampfer which I found to be a riot for it delivered consistent yuri despite the presence of a male whose loyalty would have been most praiseworthy had he not been so misguided. There was also Aoi Hana, Saki, Taishou Yakyuu Musume, and Sasameki but we didn’t cover them nearly as much this year though I might manage considering the horrid lack of yuri this winter. So comrades let us toast to this glorious year that will be long remembered and possibly sorely missed as 2010 reaches every corner of the globe.

Calawain’s- Traps, Nopan, and an Unstable Teleporting Lesbian

I’m a rather devout fan of yuri, giving every show with it at least a shot, and wow, there were a glut of shows with yuri content in them in 2009. One of the most anticipated yuri titles in awhile was Sasameki Koto, which was a decent enough adaptation. I found that Kazama’s seiyuu and character were pretty weak and heavy on the emo, but Murasame’s voice was perfect, and I felt that they really nailed her deadpan side as well as the delusional one. Also, can’t forget the awesomeness that was Akemiya the trap, above. They also managed to insert a heap of humor throughout, and didn’t get bogged down in Aoi Hana-like melodrama.

Railgun managed to definitely snag the best comedy yuri title of the year, with the impassioned Kuroko wholeheartedly stealing the show with her antics of Biribiri love and abuse. I came for the Biribiri, but stayed for the Kuroko. Now if only they could come up with a plot that isn’t total trash. Oh, and ditch the other two “protagonists,” Uiharu and Saten, what a glut of boredom those two manage to inspire.

By far the best yuri title of the year in my mind is Saki, whose yuri antics (among other things) I covered previously. The show featured a rather large collection of yuri pairings, and everyone had their favorite (shamefully, I’ll take the often overexposed Saki and Nodotits). What was fascinating is that even though people had their favorites, there was rarely any hate for other pairings, just an appreciation for the deliciousness of it all. My image folder for Saki is filled with more than just two characters thanks to /a/. What began, ostensibly, as a show about mahjong certainly ended up being about yuri and a lack of panties. Saying that Saki is about mahjong is kind of like saying FLCL is about robots and aliens, right?

ExecutiveOtaku’s ‘The Sound and the Yuri’

While I do not worship at the Temple of Yuri as my comrade Crusader does (i.e. I don’t specifically enjoy yuri just for the yuri), this past year has delivered a number of great shows that had high yuri content. Maria Holic was a great comedy. Evil trap roommate, Kanako’s angel song, nearly Hosaka-level daydreams, oh-so-SHAFT animation and humor elements, and that great ending song/animation. Maria Holic was definitely in my favorite comedies of the year, probably second after the newest Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, and it had plenty of competition this year. Plus it had the amazing Matsurika, deadpan abusive maid commentator extraordinaire. K-On, while not explicitly yuri, definitely brought the lulz with it’s yuri undertones in several scenes. Tsumugi quickly became my favorite for her elegance and feigned ignorance while she secretly shipped her friend together. Behind those oddly cute eyebrows lurks a sharp and devious intelligence.

Moving on to action, Canaan was not my favorite show ever, but it had some great moments in it. Alphard was an amazing antagonist, at times a master of frontal assault, at others a deliciously cunning trickster. Backed up by her crazy, obsessive, failed yuri-love Liang Qi (GET SOME GET SOME), it made for some great action scenes and was a decent if not amazing show. Finally, on to more dramatic things, Aoi Hana, which I’m still working on finishing, brought us some lovely yuri romance and equally lovely visual style. As my love for Honey and Clover and Kimi ni Todoke shows, I’m a sucker for those watercolor landscape and location shots, and Aoi Hana knew just where to hook me by setting the story in Kamakura, one of my favorite places I’ve ever been to. Despite a little too much of the waterworks early on, I’m looking forward to a satisfying ending to what is so far a very nice yuri love story.

Additionally, all these series had some pretty good music. K-On centered around it, giving viewers a lot to listen to. Maria Holic’s wonderful ‘Kimi ni Mune Kyun (Kyun!)‘ ending theme was catchy and nicely executed in 16-bit style, both visually and in its audio.  Aoi Hana’s OP, Aoi Hana by Kukikodan,  started off as slow and kind of sad, but moved to a more upbeat tone, and seeing Akira and Fumi dancing around together was both cute and beautifully animated. Canaan had quite the badass OP right from the first electric guitar notes, Mind as Judgement. And that countdown featuring all the main characters was one of my favorite elements in an OP this year.

Crusader’s The Fighter, The Dreamer, and The Lover

While it was a glorious year overall I have to make special mention for Mariaholic, Canaan, and Railgun. I have never wavered in advocating love between otome as the state of animu males is generally lacking, but Mariaholic brought a good number of glorious Kanako fantasies that just SMASHED REALITY INTO ATOMS IN THE NAME OF SHINING ZEUS while poor Kanako never had a night of forever and ever with the harem that was rightfully hers it was most fun to bear witness to her flights of fancy. Having now ruined Shizu for marriage I hope that Kanako will become the mistress of yuri that we all know that she is capable of being. Alphard onee-sama simply out shone every yuri heroine of the year as she is indeed an heir of Chikane’s legacy as Alphard is indeed an ojou-sama from a distinguished family that has been continued for a thousand years, skilled in both literary and military arts, with wit and beauty, the intensity of summer, the grace of autumn, the pride of winter, and the gentleness of spring. Such is her greatness that she can outfight most of the boys that marred this season, save perhaps Prince Ali himself (it’d be a draw really since they come from the same school of CQC) and of course ALMIGHTY ZEUS (really I’d like to see someone other than Hades try, could use another instance of AWESOME TYPE ROCKET PUNCH). Alphard consummated her yuri love with Canaan producing a daughter maned Misaki who inherited the latter’s super powers and she also raised a wondrous daughter named Kuroko with Liang Qi. Thoughtful, loving, and mighty Alphard was everything that any one should aspire to be, sure she made a few mistakes, but at least she strove to correct them while liberating Canaan Mk II from the shadow of Siam. Final mention goes to Kuroko whose love of her onee-sama is almost as intense as her mother Liang Qi’s and whose martial prowess makes Alphard smile with pride. All in all it was a good year with many heroines worthy of praise, a year like this might not come again for quite some time. For the fans of yuri at least for this year anime was worth watching despite the cries of decline from the hordes of hetero harem animu infidels. So IN THE NAME OF SHINING ZEUS HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Alphard Onee-sama was most willing to pull punches when it came to women.

Poor Liang Qi did not live to see Kuroko grow up and find yuri love.

Kanako is equivalent to an Ez8 for she will marry Aina.

Also Kanako is part of the 8th Yuri Team.

I approve of public displays of Yuri Affection, religious and cultural considerations be damned!

Best Customs declaration EVAR.

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Ain’t teamwork a beautiful thing?

It has been a while since I last posted about this series, so this pretty much a catch up for me after Calawain lamented the failings of Natsuru Boy-type. While Boy-type is clearly inferior in every way it was wonderful to see how Shizuku and Akane operated though I am glad that Akane is making a little headway. Sakura is much more delicious when she is evil with her White Kampfer harem in tow, the only worthy contribution she has made was bash Natsuru Boy-type in front of Natsuru Girl-type. The final battle was kind of meh, but it did provide for the harem end, or rather the anyone but Sakura end that I had wished for. As the saying goes be careful what you wish for because it might come true…and in this case a total Dark Sakura victory with her as mistress of a Red, White, and Blue Kampfer harem would have been preferable, but it just was not to be. I suppose that while the premise has been done to death the characters have made it much more fun than I would have otherwise expected.Shizuku has won my respect as the greatest, but my sympathies remain with poor Akane who has tried ever so hard and was willing to kiss Shizuku again. Mikoto was a late addition, but I liked her well enough seeing as how she actually watched Macross 7. The last power up was pretty much Women’s Armor taken a few steps overboard but I confess that I was grinning through it all, mostly out of disbelief that they actually went that far. In the end I suppose all is well since Shizuku is willing to kiss girls, and Akane and Mikoto are willing to go for Natsuru Girl-type and jump at opportunities to do so. Also Dark Sakura is still out there with her White Kampfer yuri harem, so her total victory might one day come. I look forward to the bonus episode, and hope to have some time to help Calawain with the last post and final thoughts.

Calawain’s Crossdressing Corner

Aside from hearing Shizuku’s moans of pleasure, episode 10 was again pretty retarded. He looked like he was in so much pain seducing Shizuku, and I raged. She’s definitely too much woman for him. But lord that scene was quite arousing at times. The yuri masochistic devotion to Sakura was also kinda hot, but also rather disturbing. I liked the last scene where Sakura taunted Shizuku from behind like that, reminded me of a certain well-meme’d scene from Code Geass R2. Onii-sama?

And in episode 11 again we get Shizuku and Natsuru-boy-type having a bit of a makeout session and foreplay. She is so far ahead of the other girls, and Natsuru definitely needs an aggressive girl to keep him from pussyfooting about everything. Of course Natsuru went wagging his tails back to yandere evil mistress Sakura, and got his lame ass hypnotized again.

The battle scene was hilariously bad, as the white’s lasted all of 2 seconds and got summarily one-rounded. Battle music was pretty decent though, Nomad has done a pretty solid job on the music front throughout. Then we had some rather eye-rolling dialogue as Sakura explained how she got Natsuru and was going to get rid of them all. The worst and thus most hilarious part was them getting sprung and becoming infected with clothes eating disease and then fighting to Christmas music. Natsuru grows a tiny bit of sack at the very end, but it was short lived. Then he seems to be in great pain while being forced to feel up three hot girls. Fuck you man.

I want to see Y first…

To reconsider the value of having Shizuku, Akane, and Mikoto as something other than enemies…I would like it if you were all to GET FRIENDLY.

Well at least in the end they GOT FRIENDLY.

YES COME TO THE YURI SIDE IT IS THE ONLY WAY!

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I hope everyone enjoyed the Christmas holiday, and after my week off (and the site undergoing work), it’s time for the Macross movie, Do You Remember Love. In it the series has been altered (in ways that change the story and aren’t canon) and shortened into movie format. The familiar characters and mecha have gotten a pretty impressive visual makeover too, even by today’s standards. There’s only so much you can pack into the short span of a movie, but even so DYRL was a lot of fun to watch. While I enjoyed the series much more because it included more background, character development, battles and the post-war situation, DYRL was definitely enhanced my viewing of the series as well as being sweet, sweet mecha eyecandy. Some parts of the story were very different, and some things changed a lot. For one, I actually liked DYRL Minmay through almost the entire film. Shocking, I know. Many things are different, but at it’s core it’s still the same Macross, so let’s remember love and take a look at the SDF Macross movie adaptation. Warning: this was a two hour long movie with a lot packed into that time, so there are a lot of images in this post.

Additionally, I’ve followed through on the idea I had back at near the start of blogging the series about making a Macross Meal. So after the recap/commentary on the movie, a short feature showing my culinary tribute to Macross. HAVE SOME PINEAPPLE SALAD!!!

Ugh, those are some ugly Zentradi. Have to say, I DID NOT WANT the messy, cancerous, deformed organic look for them and their ships.

The Zentradi aren’t the only ones to get a visual re-do. The Macross and it’s Valkyries are now redone in the hyper-detailed style that was popular in the 1980’s and early 1990’s. Eventually I liked it, but at first it was quite a shock and hard to adjust to.

As the movie opens, Minmay is making her debut before a huge crowd onboard the Macross.

While Roy, Hikaru, Max, and Kakizaki are out on patrol in their Super Valkyries. I liked how they showed them using their smaller thrusters to change orientation.

While the cinematography is not as interesting or innovative as in the series, the movie does do a lot of cool point-of-view cockpit shots.

Max showing off right from the start.

The movie starts off with Britai and Exedol on the bridge of their command ship, speculating about what could be onboard the Macross that’s giving their forces so much trouble. Cut to the Macross where life is going on as normal for the population inside. Minmay is making her debut, but given the crowd that’s jammed into the huge stadium, she’s already much more of a superstar than she was in the series. As it has been told to me by the elder Macross fans, she’s more like a predecessor to Sheryl Nome at this point, and she acts that way too. More confident, more forward, and less arbitrary and confused than her series self. Outside Skull Squadron is on patrol and is directed towards a group of enemy battlepods inside Saturn’s system of moons. Misa calls out their location, while the four Valkyries head out, fire off a barrage of missiles, and then engage the remaining enemies. In one of many nods to the original series, they even throw in Kakizaki calling Max a genius during the fight, despite his last name or the term never being mentioned otherwise. They quickly deal with the battlepods, only to find out that they were a distraction as a Zentradi capital ship defolds and begins attacking the Macross. As the main battle commences, a few Zentradi manage to get inside the Macross and Hikaru disobeys orders and follows them in. The three enemies are dealt with, but as the Macross undergoes transformation and deals with battle damage, Hikaru spots Minmay falling down the length of the ship. Pursuing her, he manages to grab her, only to crash his Valkyrie right into the isolated engine compartment.

The Destroids get their due in the sweet new animation, and my favorite Valkyrie returns for a few shots, the Armored Valkyrie. It seems to be used only for defense, which is wise because while it has a lot of firepower, it’s probably not very maneuverable.

Hikaru disobeys Misa’s order and chases the three enemies inside. But from this confrontational beginning, great things arise.

Three Zentradi battlepods entering the Macross. Travelling down the tunnel like this and having it open to the ’sky’ of the interior was definitely a nod to the opening scene of the original Gundam.

The first YAKK DECULCCHA! I finally understand! In the movie version, the Zentradi are even more horrified and puzzled by men and women living together, because instead of just being segregated they’re at war with each other.

The classic ‘girl falling caught by Valkyrie’ scene.

Stuck inside the engine section of the ship, Hikaru and Minmay are in a similar situation to that in the series, only much more fun, lighthearted, and NOT CRAZY. Minmay is actually really likable from the get-go, her and Hikaru enjoy their time in the mostly zero-g environment and things are going pretty well. Hikaru is really shy around the pop idol he just rescued, but Minmay takes to him pretty quickly. They scavenge for food, fulfill their Coca-Cola product placement obligations, talk, and wait for someone to find them. Eventually Hikaru asks Minmay about whether Kaifun is her boyfriend, since their on-screen romance seemed so real to him, but she tells him it’s all show. And to demonstrate she starts telling Hikaru that she loves him, and eventually he either plays along or suddenly expresses his feelings, Minmay purposefully leaving him in doubt as she kisses him. The ‘just acting’ setup was definitely a Sheryl-like move, and it was both funny and odd to see Hikaru so flustered by it and Minmay so comfortable being that forward. Just as they’re kissing one of the walls opens up and a bunch of reporters have come to photograph Minmay now that she’s been found. Minmay and Hikaru are all over the tabloids afterwards, leaving Misa furious at one of her pilots making the front page in such a manner. The members of Skull Squadron are disappointed in Hikaru only for the fact that he didn’t do more with Minmay while they were trapped for a few days. Well, except for Max who actually did sound disappointed in him for starting a scandal.

Space Tuna shows another nod to the original series and those who watched it, though there was no shot of them cooking the head over a campfire. The can of soda rocketing off into the distance was a neat idea, but likely a lot messier in real life.

The famous improvised shower is back too, though this time the viewer is the one peeking in, not Hikaru.

DYRL Minmay: trolling for love.

Conduct unbecoming an officer. Misa does not approve.

Skull Squadron in their new digs. I’m loving Roy’s Titans-esque dark blue with red trim flightsuit, but I’m not so keen on the Dragon Ball Z shoulders design, especially the larger ones on the spacesuits.

Woah, Roy, woah. Your question is a little TMI.

The bridge bunnies are back! Sharing the latest gossip about Minmay and Hikaru, and teasing Shammy. Always. Though I think they looked a little better in the series.

Definitely a ‘nobody home inside’ face. Don’t worry, I still love you Shammy, even if you’re a little dense.

Later on in the evening Roy, Claudia, and Misa are having some drinks when Hikaru shows up to turn in a report. Roy insists that he stay for a drink, and even when Misa gets uncomfortable having the pilot who just caused her a bunch of problems there, he makes both of them sit down. Then he starts lecturing the both of them to be more feminine and masculine, respectively, though in the stereotyped, not-so-progressive kind of feminine/masculine (hello 1980’s Japan!). But it seems to work for him, as he demonstrates by starting to make out with Claudia in front of the two. Hikaru is spared further embarrassment when a phone-robot arrives with a call for him. He claims that a family member is sick and runs off, but in fact it was Minmay who called. They meet in a park, where a not very well disguised Minmay asks Hikaru to go out on the town for the night. One of the places they visit has holographic projectors that allow those inside to literally jump into different outfits and costumes, culminating in a moment where the two are dressed for a wedding, another reference to the original series, though in a much more lighthearted sense. After their date, Minmay says that she’d love to go outside and see some of the universe outside the ship, and Hikaru obliges her by taking out a trainer Valkyrie (without permission) and giving her a ride around the rings of Saturn. Misa and Kaifun eventually track them down in a shuttle, but before they can return home a ground of Zentradi show up intent on capturing a human for questioning. Roy shows up, drunk, to assist them, but even he’s not enough and after diving through a ship’s hatch in pursuit he ends up captured along with Hikaru, Minmay, Misa, and Kaifun.

Don’t change, Misa.

My thoughts exactly Claudia.

Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to stop ‘making culture’ inside the club.

DYRL Hikaru is apparently an idol otaku.

Very similar to Minmay’s (CRAZY) fantasy from an early episode of the series.

Making the two seater Valkyrie a trainer makes more sense than the arbitrary seating arrangements in the series.

I’m here to rescue….oh.

Inside the ship they are questioned by Britai and Exedol, who are still shocked at the concept of men and women cooperating. Misa correctly surmises that the two genders are actively hostile to each other among the Zentradi, and when their captors demand a kiss they are further shocked. Kaifun and Minmay have a short, awkward kiss, before the Zentradi get spooked and have the group taken to different cells. But as Misa, Hikaru, and Roy are being taken to their cell, an attack led by Millia rattles the ship and allows the three to escape. They find their way to the hangar, and are almost caught except that Roy tells Hikaru to kiss Misa and shock them into retreat. At first Hikaru is intent on rescuing Minmay and Kaifun, but the attack makes that increasingly difficult. Finally Roy pays the ultimate price buying them time to escape, catching a Qeadaluun Rae in his Valkyrie’s arms and shooting into it, but also into himself. Just as Hikaru and Misa’s Valkyrie is close to Minmay and Kaifun’s cell, the ships starts folding and the two in the cell are left behind while the VF-1 gets tossed back to the devastated Earth.

The Zentradi certainly brought in a good haul.

I’m not really so fond of the men and women fighting each other approach in DYRL. I though the separation was a better idea, with the Supervision Army and whatever else might be lurking out there as the Zentradi’s main enemies.

Awkward kiss is awkward. Also, I’m not sure if not enough Kaifun to hate is a good or bad thing.

Sound advice, even if it got Hikaru slapped.

Elsewhere Millia is making short work of the defending male Zentradi.

Not quite as GAR as in the series, but he had a good run given his short time in the movie. Nice Kamjin cameo as the pilot who he takes with him.

At first Hikaru and Misa don’t know what planet they’re on when they defold, and they wander a cratered desert until they come upon the wreck of the Prometheus after Misa takes momentary control of the VF-1 and crashes it rather than sit and wait as Hikaru wanted.  After raiding it for what canned food remains, Misa has Hikaru fly around to various places looking for any survivors, but they find none. Hikaru is a bit of a jerk for a moment when he sarcastically suggests going all over the world when it’s clear that nothing remains, but he chills out pretty quickly as the two find a place to set up a tent. At night the two talk, and Misa confesses that she feels powerless in her situation ever since the Earth was effectively destroyed. Both of them take some comfort from talking with the other, but Misa is momentarily shocked to see Hikaru’s handkerchief is signed by Minmay. Still, both of them manage to get themselves together a bit and get some sleep.

More cool cockpit shots, this time panning across the ruined landscape.

Ugh, I don’t blame her for refusing to eat it at first. Hikaru mentions that it’s safe to eat since it’s been through a radiation neutralizer. This was the first point that I started to see the undercurrent of anti-nuclear messages in the movie. The series never mentioned any radiation from the Zentradi weapons. Personally, I think stuff like this is kind of preachy since it wasn’t an integral part of the material, but I’ll let it slide since the movie was made during the last decade of the Cold War when nuclear weapons were still a probable threat.

Though of less consequence than the scarf in the series, Minmay’s name on something may as well be the Mark of the Beast.

The next day Hikaru and Misa are out scouting around when they notice an odd tower sticking out of the ocean. Landing on it, they find inside an ancient-looking set of computer consoles, designed for miclones. The computer starts relaying a message to them, and Misa knows enough of the Zentradi language to figure out some of what it’s saying. Apparently it was part of a colony ship that came to Earth and built a city thousands of years ago. But before she can get more answers it diverts its remaining power to raising the city. From out of the water come a huge city, built by the Protoculture. While exploring the city Misa gets a little crazy and starts playing house with the plates and cups left in one of the ruined homes. It’s very odd, but then she snaps out of it and starts crying, but is comforted by Hikaru and the two kiss. To be honest, as much as I prefer Misa to Minmay in personality, both in the series and DYRL, the way the relationship between Misa and Hikaru started felt lacking to me. If I had only ever seen the movie, I might have felt that it didn’t make sense for them to get so close without much in the way of relationship development. Some time later, in the morning, they hear a rumbling and find the Macross descending on the city. Once they’re back aboard, they make their report to Capt. Global, and inform Claudia about Roy. While I understand the writer/director’s reasons for it, I did miss Claudia in the movie and this is one of the few scenes that she’s in.

That’s a lot of time, something which, if canon, I hope is expanded upon in later series.

I need no reason to include more Misa images!

What a sight to come home to! If only it wasn’t caused by a momentary lapse in sanity.

Cute, but kind of lacked for development leading up to it. Still, MISA FOREVER!!!

Misa coming out of their shelter while zipping up her shirt? Bow chicka wow wow! Hikaru, you ladykiller you.

The battle-worn Macross descends on the ruined city. Wonder if the writers were trying to work in the Atlantis myth into the Macross universe.

EO’s ‘Daaawwww of the week movie.’

Global didn’t have much screentime in the movie version, but there was this cool camera angle when Misa and Hikaru were giving their report.

Even with few lines, Claudia managed to have presence in DYRL.

There isn’t much time to rest back onboard the Macross though. A female Zentradi cruiser defolds near the ship and launches battlepods, prompting the Macross to launch its own fightercraft. Skull Squadron leads the way for the humans, with Millia in command of the opposing forces. Kakizaki gets shot down in the opening moments of the fight, while Max engages in an amazing bit of ace combat against Millia, fighting her in the air and chasing her back to her mothership, continuing the fight as a brutal, close quarters slugfest. HELL YEAH! This is exactly the kind of epic fighter/mecha duel I was hoping for in the series. While Max had his share of great battles, none were really all that satisfying to me. This, on the other hand, was just what I was looking for. After pursuing Millia into the ship it folds as a male Zentradi fleet approaches, huge fortress in tow. The male Zentradi ask to start peace negotiations, though this is just a ruse to try and complete an old Protoculture song for use against the female Zentradi.

Another cool cockpit shot. They may not have been as creative as the series was visually, but they certainly did a good job making you feel like you were there inside a Valkyrie.

Poor guy, taken out by a stray shot, though not all deaths are glorious.

What a fight! The constantly turning and anticipating each other’s moves in the air, then the desperate close quarters fighting inside the ship, it was perfect!

Max’s first face to face meeting with his future wife, as the two emerge from their battered mecha after their duel.

The Genshiken Team makes an appearance, though bald this time.

Yes, series Minmay would know all about saying things she doesn’t mean…only to regret it later.

Now that the male Zentradi fleet is feigning peace with the Macross, Minmay and Kaifun are released back to their home. A reunion ceremony is held for her, and Hikaru and Misa are the special guests. She had apparently requested to see them after they were separated during the fold, but it turns into something other than what she expected. In the meanwhile Misa and Hikaru have become a couple, and despite past feelings Hikaru now turns towards Misa when Minmay hugs him. It’s a big shock to her, though I have to compliment DYRL Hikaru for not wavering once he made up his mind. Later on, Hikaru is visited by Minmay when he was just about to take down his Minmay poster (again, it’s a nice touch referencing all these series elements), and she hugs him from behind while he’s pouring coffee, just in time for Misa to come in having translated the lyrics for the old Protoculture song. There’s a moment that would have resulted in several episodes of confusion and hurt feelings had this been the series, but Hikaru quickly explains the misunderstanding to Misa. Minmay is understandably heartbroken to finally confront Hikaru’s feelings, and runs off. When Hikaru and Misa are alone, he explains to her that he knew as soon as he got back to the Macross and saw Minmay’s videos playing that he knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, not Minmay. He more or less proposes to her, and she starts crying True Tears of happiness before embracing him. The series had to stretch the conflict out, but I really liked the quick, clear resolution to the love triangle in DYRL. It felt more real to me, and both Hikaru telling Misa how he felt and her reaction were sweet in a believable way.

The thing is, I actually feel bad for Minmay in DYRL. My allegiance to Misa is forever, but Minmay is so much more likable and a much better person in the movie version.

You put up a much better effort in DYRL, but even that pales before the power of Misa.

Misa with a surprised, but somewhat K-ON looking facial expression.

You gave it your best shot Minmay.

Though I prefer the series in most respects, DYRL really did this scene well. It also helps that it was late enough in the movie that I didn’t have to worry about Hikaru getting wishy-washy unlike the last few episodes of the series.

As before, happiness is quickly interrupted as a female Zentradi fleet with its own fortress defolds in Earth orbit and the male Zentradi decide to engage them and the Macross since the Song of Ultimate Power is still incomplete. All Valkyries are scrambled, but Hikaru must first get the lyrics to Minmay so the Zentradi can LISTEN TO HER SONG and allow the Macross to carry the day. With the battle raging outside, Hikaru runs as fast as he can with the lyrics, finding Minmay at a bench near an observation window, a place they had previously spent time together. She’s still distraught and doesn’t want to sing something translated by her victorious rival, though Hikaru tries to convince her otherwise. She does descend, briefly, into something more like series Minmay or, dare I speak the Great Traitor’s name, Ranka Lee. She starts saying that the fighting has nothing to do with her and wishes that everyone but her and Hikaru would die. So Hikaru gives her a Bright Slap to shake her of such disgustingly selfish thoughts and after recovering she comes to her senses and resolves to sing. If it were just DYRL Minmay, I’d feel bad for her put acknowledge the necessity of it during a moment of imminent danger. But knowing what Minmay was like in the series made The Superdimensional Slap enjoyable.

Girl pilot running with toast in mouth.

Female Zentradi main force, possibly reinforced by Zeon aces.

I would put the mushroom clouds up to just the size of the impacts, but given the other hints at ‘nukes are bad’ in the movie I think this was in line with the writer or director’s message. Man, I’m glad I was only alive for the last few years of the Cold War. Except for where they intersect terrorism, the threat of nuclear weapons seems almost fictional now.

So you can live to mope about it?

The world should just break, right Minmay? Wish Mirai would have gotten slapped too, oh wait, something worse and karmic happened to her!

Thank you online animated gif maker!

Post-return to sanity, Minmay decides to sing that famous song for the first time in centuries.

The fight moves to Earth orbit as the two fleets slug it out and the Macross gets caught in the middle. Bodollza even fires his fortress’ main cannon through his own fleet to attack his enemies, killing Laplamiz and destroying her fortress. But the tide turns when Minmay starts singing, with Britai the first to move to the defense of Protoculture culture. More ships join the Macross in attacking the remaining fortress, some beaching themselves on its exterior to fire point blank at it. Even Millia joins the attack, with Max in another Queadluun Rae beside her, apparently macronized to be able to pilot the craft. Both sides are taking heavy damage, but the Macross and its allied fleet presses onwards and loses no momentum as it advances. Luckily for them, the fortress’ main canon was only able to fire once due to damage it had taken earlier.

The Macross, with its main cannon disabled, heads towards the remaining fortress. Not quite the ‘last flight of the SDF Macross’ from the series, but pretty cool nonetheless.

Minmay at her finest.

Still not liking that deformed look for some of the Zentradi, but Britai remains as cool as ever.

Love and teamwork!

Pretty sweet reflection shot as Hikaru suppresses the fortress’ external defenses.

Minmay continues singing ‘Ai Oboetemasu ka’ as the preparations are completed for the final strike. Hikaru launches in a specially equipped Super Valkyrie for the heart of the fortress: Bodollza, who is hardwired directly into it. Hikaru makes a high speed run for the interior of the structure, dodging enemy fire along the way. In the central chamber, he appears before the huge screen showing Minmay’s singing, in one of those definitively Macross moments. I could definitely see the echoes of it in the last episode of Frontier, now that I’ve seen the original. Bodollza and the fortress meet a quick end once Hikaru gets to the central chamber, and as the fortress starts disintegrating Hikaru returns to the Macross, the humans and allied Zentradi victorious. On the bridge, Minmay finishes her singing and exchanges some knowing glances and nods with Misa. The bridge bunnies immediately start taking a deserved break, and Claudia asks Misa about the song. Apparently it was just an ordinary love song to the Protoculture, but its power was clearly shown, and the power of song in the Macross universe is reinforced by the last shots in the movie, of Minmay on stage preparing to sing.

I liked how they contrasted the similar shot at the beginning where the two were arguing, to this shot right as Hikaru leaves for the final mission.

There were some neat visuals near the end here, like this one showing the pilot and the singer working together.

Another cool one, this one rapidly alternating between the two characters before finally centering on Hikaru during his attack run.

Combination of boom headshot and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

War’s over, time for a nap.

Another war has come to a close. Both (at least in the movie) were worthy, but there can be only one!

In the Macross universe, songs aren’t just songs.

Final Thoughts: – What struck me the most about changes in the movie was in how the love triangle was done. Minmay was actually a likable person and didn’t act so indecisive and selfish, apart from one moment. And Misa seemed to not have been given enough time to show the audience why she should have won, just that she was also a nice, likable person. It almost seemed like the writers felt bad for making Minmay so easy to hate in the original series and wanted to rewrite her to make her a sympathetic character.

- The visual style was really great in some ways, though really not my style in others. The very detailed mecha and human characters were very nice to look at. But the mutated organic style for the Zentradi (apart from Millia) and their ships was not a good choice in my view. While I know that that was a popular style/design theme in the 1980’s and early 1990’s, they’re Zentradi not Supermutants! If the Protoculture was so good at genetic engineering they could have made it so that such abnormalities didn’t occur.

- Lots of nods to the original series was definitely welcome for someone who has watched it. The poster, the tuna, Kakizaki calling Max a genius, I really appreciated all those little bit of detail.

- All in all, it was a fun movie, and I enjoyed it as part of the Macross experience. I prefer the series by far, but DYRL did a few things even better. Max’s duel with Millia and Hikaru’s confession of his feelings to Misa were superbly done.

Special: The Macross Meal – Dishes from or inspired by Macross

Some time ago, when I was still early on in my viewing and blogging of Macross, I though about eventually making a Macross Meal to celebrate the end of the series given the amount of significant foods. Supplied with a list of popular Nyan Nyan dishes listed in My Fair Minmay by Yot-chan, I set out to make a multi-course meal worthy of the series. So here’s six dishes from or inspired by the show. Recipes can be provided upon request, just email me at executiveotaku AT yahoo DOT com. Since the Nyan Nyan dishes are Chinese style food, which I have little experience with, I had fun trying out some new things. Some of it wasn’t too different from Japanese food (indeed, Nyan Nyan is a very Japanese-style Chinese restaurant), so I used what I know from that kind of cooking as a base.

The meal (all but one dish that I forgot to put on the table before the eating started.)

Tuna sushi, for the giant frozen, floating Space Tuna. Bought this one, I don’t trust myself enough with raw stuff.

As per My Fair Minmay, Shooting Star Pork Fried Rice. Pretty much regular pork fried rice, but with a shooting  star of Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce on top.

Another My Fair Minmay listed dish, Dynamite Ramen. I couldn’t think of anything that looked like a stick of dynamite and would work with ramen, so I made it extra spicy to earn the name. Toppings were fried beef (pork would work too), enoki mushrooms, and chopped scallions. Primary spices were garlic, ground cayenne pepper, goma rayu (hot sesame chili oil), and a little Sriracha sauce.

The final Nyan Nyan dish that I made, the Five Ingredient Parfait (though technically I have nine if you count the toppings, I just counted the layers.) From the bottom layer up I had: crushed chocolate cookies, vanilla ice cream, blueberries, more vanilla ice cream, lingonberries, and strawberry ice cream. Then topped it with a few strawberries, a cookie straw, a little dark chocolate syrup, and a chocolate covered cherry.

Kakizaki’s last meal, teppanyaki Pepper Lunch-style sirloin steak. Ever since seeing Kakizaki’s last meal before his tragic death, I’ve been on something of a personal quest to replicate the Pepper Lunch meals that I loved so much when I lived in Tokyo. I went out and bought the cast iron pan and began looking for ways to recreate the honey brown sauce and their distinct blend of pepper. Eventually I managed to get it right. I used two kinds of pepper on the meat and vegetables, and for the sauce I mixed worchester sauce, honey, and a little bit of soy sauce.

Speaking of tragic, I saved the best for last: the infamous Pineapple Salad! Very easy to make, and you can add whatever kind of fruit you want to it. Drizzle some honey over top if you want it extra sweet. Just don’t let your significant other make it for you, especially if you’re a pilot.

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(NOTE: Meant to get this published while I was out of town last week, but site issues kept me from accessing the draft to publish it. But it’s still technically the holidays, and it’s in before the year is over, at least going by US EST) In accordance with Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei vol. 4, this holiday season I have decided to celebrate Kurushimimasu in place of Christmas. While many out there in the blogging community have posted their best moments and the things from the past year in anime that have made them thankful, in the spirit of Kurushimimasu here’s my listing of anime-related things that made me suffer and/or despair. So, it’s time to hang my disappointments and frustrations from the Kurushimimasu Tree and indulge in some bitterness and you are all welcome to join me in the comments section with your own contributions to celebrate the holiday. It’s the things that I’ve been irked by from the past year and had to endure hearing about or watching, and while it may seem harsh try to remember that it’s all in fun. Merry Kurushimimasu!

Vocaloids

Why is this popular exactly?

Hate me if you want, but this vocaloid shit is ridiculous. The concept itself is kind of cool, being able to make vocals with just a computer program. But people have gone freaking nuts with it. I just do not understand the god damn obsession with Hatsune Miku and the others that has gripped much of the fandom. They’re not even actual characters that have a backstory or development or anything, other than a few traits thrown in for some of them in descriptions. No vocaloid sounds half as good as a real human singing, hate to break that to you fans. Really, I think the obsession people have originates from deep in the hearts of the most twisted nerd/otaku souls: the ‘singer’ isn’t a real person so the crazed fan never has to think of them in any way other than they mental image they have in their head. A vocaloid will never contradict a fan’s obsessed thoughts about them like a real singer would. A vocaloid will never have a relationship with someone, so the obsessed fan can always hold out hope/lift them up as a pure idol. If you think that last comment is too cynical or disparaging, just look at that shitstorm that happened when the author of Kannagi revealed that Nagi had a boyfriend in her past.

The Lack of Mecha This Year

I feel like something’s missing here…

Despite the PURE WIN that was MS Igloo 2, there were only those three episodes plus season 2 of Gundam 00 (which was a poor substitute for a true mecha series) for us mecha fans this past year. You could include Shin Mazinger Z, but I wouldn’t since that’s a Super Robot show and mecha has pretty much come to mean Real Robot shows. And the upcoming winter season is continuing this starvation for mecha fans. I feel like we need to make one of those Save the Children commercials except for mecha fans. Set it to some sad music and have a montage of mecha fans going through withdrawal. Please anime studios, for less than it costs to make yet another harem anime you can feed the thousands of mecha fans in their time of need. To show how your contribution is helping, you’ll receive quarterly earnings reports detailing how your series is selling thousands of model kits and other merchandise. Please, think of the fanboys and fangirls.

Turning Graham Acre into Bushido Bob

Observe how Gundam 00’s writers turned one of their few good characters into crap.

Speaking of. There was a lot to hate about Gundam 00. A lot. The weak, oversimplified, pretentious, uniformed attempts at using real geopolitics and suggesting how to change the world. The insufferable main characters who I wished long and painful deaths upon every moment that I watched the show. The endless deus ex machina that allowed the forces of terror and instability (Celestial Being) to escape the justice that they deserved. There are many examples. But the reason I kept watching the show was because there were a few things that were done well: the ‘bad guys’ who fought against Celestial Being. The people who actually had the best interests of humanity in mind, who bravely faced down the evil that was Celestial Being. And my favorite among them from the first season (alongside Prince Ali al Sarshes) was Graham Acre. He fought the enemy with both professionalism and suave. He was a leader of men, and repeatedly led his squadron of Flag mobile suits (my favorite MS from the series) out in defense of Union. The Flag Fighters worked as a team, and he also had the guts to stand by his men and to get them the very best equipment.

Well, that was in season 1. After his death that no one ever believed for a second was his death at the end of the first season, he reappeared in the form of Bushido Bob, a weaboo solo fighter who imitated Japanese swordsmanship and martial code while not following orders and generally disgracing his former reputation. I should have known that Gundam 00 would ruin one of the few good things about it. Same deal with how Louise actually became a decent, self-confident, and impressive individual, only to be turned back into a docile doll who couldn’t think for herself and had to hang on Saji’s arm all the time. Fuck, at least they didn’t ruin Patrick and Kati by the end.

People Obsessing Over A Few Animation Glitches in Minami Ke: Okaeri

Your disproportionate complaints make Chiaki cry. Is that what you wanted?! Huh?!

While I understand pointing out issues with quality control and whatnot, I was really, really surprised by how much people made a big fuss out of some problems with the animation in Minmi Ke: Okaeri. It went beyond just pointing them out, people just attacked the show for them. And to be honest I barely noticed most of them. Did they affect the quality of the jokes? No. Did they ruin the comedic atmosphere? No. The shut the fuck up and enjoy the comedy. Without Okaeri, we wouldn’t have has such great moments as the Curry no Yousei scene.

The Continuing Degradation of the Once Great Adult Swim

If you’re lucky.

Plenty can be said of the they’re-not-even-trying-anymore, stoner-oriented content that is half of what is aired on Adult Swim these days, but this is an anime blog so I’m going to concentrate on my beef with Adult Swim’s anime series, or should I say the lack thereof anymore. Perhaps I am old and bitter when it comes to AS. I’ve watched it ever since it started back when I was in late elementary or early middle school, and I watched the Toonami Midnight Run eventually turn into AS. Eventually it became an every night thing, showing all different anime series and later on added some original comedy series on Sunday nights. Today it’s 6 days a week comedy, at least half of it anymore being absolute crap (Superjail, Squidbillies, Xavier, etc) though there are some great series as well (Robot Chicken, Titan Maximum, The Boondocks.) But there is only one night of anime anymore, and it’s only ever the big name series like Bleach and Code Geass. Adding insult to injury, in the past year (on one of the few occasions I watched it) the ‘bumps’ during the breaks sometimes even actively made fun of their anime show and the fans of them. What a way to treat the fanbase that got you started.

Back in my day, we walked fifteen miles in the snow…I mean, AS introduced me and so many others to great anime every night, with the premiers on Saturday and Sunday nights. The AS that I knew and loved introduced me to Gundam 0083, Cowboy Bebop, Inuyasha, and Outlaw Star. And it even showed less well known/popular series like Milk-chan and Paranoia Agent. Even if they didn’t go almost completely over to the low budget comedy side of things, I couldn’t imagine AS today taking a chance on the more obscure shows like they did. Granted, this slide towards suck didn’t just occur this year, it just continued along a path it’s been on for a few years now. And it’s not like it’s exactly necessary anymore with the proliferation of high speed connections and fansubbing groups. But it still pisses me off every time I flip past Cartoon Network at night, so I’m writing about it here.

Inuyasha Kanketsuhen Killing Off Two of My Favorite Characters

Kikiyooooo!!! Kaguraaaa!!!

I’m really pleased with the final season of Inuyasha, with the exception of a few leveling up episodes early on, and I’m excited to see the story finally get its conclusion. While I know that deaths are inevitable near the end of the saga, and while I don’t disagree with the need for this, no Kurushimimasu list would be complete without the suffering inflicted on this fanboy by the deaths of both Kagura and Kikiyo, two of my three favorite characters from the show. Both deaths were handled well and the characters got to go out on something of a high note, getting to be with their loves at the end and Kikiyo even getting a final kiss. But god damn if they weren’t upsetting, both in and of themselves and because I liked the characters so much. And their deaths make my two OTPs impossible! I might have to go and make myself taller if anything happens to Sesshomaru, the last remaining member of my fanboy triumvirate. Inuyasha Kanketsuhen has left me in despair!

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With the balance of power shifting with the new era of peace it seems the Thieves that stole the bald lady have been using them gold bricks they also nabbed to get high positions in the local police. The Boone family is out hunting escapees so that they can’t finger them in court since their corrupt union with the cops has come to an end. Chirico finds himself with three aspiring managers for the battling circuit, its good to see that Chirico is already finding employment rather than going into a breadline or causing trouble. Unfortunately the Boone Family has Chirico as the last person on their hit list. Despite being out numbered Chirico and his new pals fix up a Scopedog for to face the Boone Family, and while Vanilla lacked faith the Scopedog made a glorious slaughter of biker malcontents though the police showed up for some crime fightan. The battle was brief but plenty of criminal scum were killed though the Police helicopters actually contributed a lot to the burning corpse count. Despite having minimal damage the heat seemed to be a greater hazard than in most mecha with Chrico getting roasted alive in the inferno, thankfully Rochina sends a team to put out the fires. Gotho seems to be rather surprised though since Uoodo doesn’t have a fire department, but makes no further inquiries. i really like how despite the fact that Chirico took no damage that he still felt the heat from the fires around him, it’s rare to see that even with no damage there are other ways of killing the pilot. I confess I am loving this gritty feel, even if Chirico is super human this is still very much real robot and has a more hard sci-fi feel to it than most.

Of the three new people in his life, Gotho the oldest seems to have a glimmer of wisdom when he laments how during the war they gave kids guns and only gave them skills relating to killing and now that there is peace they cut loose all the veterans to fend for themselves. I like how they are making a point to discuss the problems of the post war from time to time as Chirico is 18 and has only ever known fighting, but at least now he has an underground sport to participate in. Sadly this sport is pretty much gladiatorial combat though not every fight ends up with someone dead. I think it really says something when the spectators get all excited when one of the stands gets blown to pieces. Chirico really seems to have trouble making friends it seems the only guy who has come close so far was Carson from Roots of Ambition, though perhaps now he can have a friend in Coccona, Gotho, or Vanilla. Being poor and all with unemployment through the roof I can’t really fault them for worrying about money. Gotho seems to be ahead of the curve as he sees some inate talent in Chirico but has doubts that Chirico can take on the established VOTOMS jockeys. Chirico’s instincts seem to have sharpened enough for him to be able to detect that the he was going to fight Conin and not his original opponent. I am surprised though that even these veterans still cling to thier old rank structure and actually defer to Conin despite the fact that none of them are in the military any more. Conin put up a good fight but in the end Chirico only received a glancing blow while Coning got a BIG BANG PUNCH to the face. I have to say that it was much more satisfying than if it had been a projectile kill. Also it seems that the Bald Lady has a local name as well, but I am not sure what the Phantom Lady’s role is in all this given how she has only been rolling around in an armored limo through fire fights. I guess we shall see in good time though.

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Meet the vile traitors of the series, thank goodness none of them are bishie.

So with a little down time due to lack of training M1151s that the Army was willing to let us use I decided to start retroblogging Armored Trooper Votoms after having seen Roots of Ambition and Pailsen Files. I hope to blog it in chronological order instead of order of release just to see how it pans out as a whole. With the end of the 100 Year War at hand and the huge expenditure of men and machines at the end of Pailsen Files the war comes to a negotiated end, but there seems to be a few malcontents who are keen on making it big with peace on the horizon. The stealing of gold I could understand but I wonder what was special about that bald lady, though I have been spoiled as to what Chirico is I am sure that what Bald Lady is will provide enough of a mystery.  So far it seems the thieves are the being set up to be the primary antagonists with Captian Rochina playing a sort of Javert in his pursuit of Chirico. So far with Rochina he seems to pursuing the Bald Lady and the thieves through Chirico rather than simply wanting to beat the information out of him. I have to give Rochina credit for rebounding from his grand fuck up of letting Chirico escape right off the bat. I wonder how long Rochina is going to play guardian angel for Chirico, but I suppose that for now Chirico has a very efficient protector during his stay in Uoodo.

Speaking of Uoodo It is pretty much hell on earth as IKnight had described I am sure ExecutiveOtaku would have delighted in seeing a post war scenario where domestic issues come to a head when the crooks and crooked cops have to deal with the fact that it is harder to hide their crimes when the war is over. Uoodo has acid rain, biker gangs, street vendors who sell interesting sources of protien, and cops who are all in on the cut from the biker gangs. I like how that its very 1980s in that bikers are the cancer that is killing society, it reminds me of GI Joe when Zartan was rolling with a biker gang, but I digress. So far Chirico shows how much of an unnatural survivor he is by wiping out a platoon of guards, though to be fair many of them were caught completely by surprise and Chirico is a Red Shoulder after all… So far the action is plenty good and I like how Chirico is not completely useless out side of his Scopedog but at the same time is only killing off 2-3 guys at a time at most and not whole platoons like these newfangled mecha pilots. I did have a laugh or two when the Boone Family showed up, man they were some hurt ass fat mother fuckers and I could not help but cheer when Chirico turned them into a bloody mess. Despite Chirico being super human I like how he does come close to death but is saved from it by Rochina and his sniper teams. I hope that they continue to show that while Chirico is super human that he is still a mere mortal and needs someone to save his ass from time to time. Also his Unnatural Survivor ability doesn’t tangibly help him in combat, it just makes him insanely lucky like Patrick Colasour though piloting skills and personalities differ greatly. I wonder if the head of the Boone Family was a nod to LOGH since those robes reminded me of the Terraism Cult. All in all I am pretty pumped to be continuing to watch this show, it might not be as pretty and grand as Pailsen Files right now, but I like the post war scenario they have built up here. If nothing else it sure beats “everything ends at peace” theme that is more common these days, hopefully they will make good on showing how the post war period can be just as shitty as the war which preceded it if not worse.

Damn team killers…

Seems Purple Scopedogs lose out to Green Scopedogs, who in turn lose to Green Scopedogs with Red Shoulders…

Chirico smelled something rotten from the start, making him smarter than most of these n00bs who pilot Gundams.

I wonder if Chirico is going to pwn his ass later.

I guess they were keen on getting CASH FOR GOLD.

AHHHHHHH RUN FOR THE HILLS THAT BALD MAN HAS BOSOMS! WHAT HAS SCIENCE DONE?!

Man what a mess.

Chirico only lied because he was too embarrassed to admit he likes bald women.

Best part it was that it was a suppository.

OH SHI- its the Earth Cult from LOGH…

LOL putting your money where your mouth is, did he have a jijirium grill to go with that?

BOOM, headshot…

Nothing surpasses the bond between Chirico and his Scopedog.

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SENSITIVE INTELLIGENCE REPORT – RESTRICTED DISSEMINATION

SUBJECT: 1. TOTAL SHOUJO SUPERIORITY ATTAINED IN OPENING HOURS OF CONFLICT.

……………2. ENEMY CHANGING TO ASYMMETRIC TACTICS, FIRST ATTACK BY NEW MEANS.

DATE: MID DECEMBER 2009

1. DESPITE BEING CAUGHT UNAWARE SAWAKO QUICKLY AND COMPLETELY NEUTRALIZED ALL INITIAL ATTACKS UNDERTAKEN BY KURUMI. VARIOUS METHODS INCLUDING FALSE FRIENDSHIP, APPEALS TO ASSIST, SYMPATHY/GUILT, AND CONVENTIONAL ANGER WERE ALL THWARTED WITHIN SECONDS OF THE START OF OPERATIONS. ENEMY RETREATED IN SHOCK AND DISARRAY AMID HEAVY LOSSES AND IS CURRENTLY NO LONGER IN A POSITION TO CARRY ON WITH CONVENTIONAL COMBAT. EXCELLENT WORK.

2. WHILE APPEARING RECEPTIVE TO PEACE NEGOTIATIONS, KURUMI IS IN FACT IMPLEMENTING AN ASYMMETRIC STRATEGY NOW THAT CONVENTIONAL MEANS HAVE BEEN NEUTRALIZED. INITIAL DISINFORMATION OPERATION WITH THE AIM OF DIVERTING SAWAKO ATTENTION TO CURRENTLY NEUTRAL PARTY RYUU IS LIKELY THE FIRST PHASE IN A RENEWED EFFORT TO ACQUIRE ACCESS TO KAZEHAYA AND/OR CONDUCT ASYMMETRIC ATTACKS ON SAWAKO.

With all the worrying that everyone, myself included, had about Sawako acting like a doormat at first and actually helping Kurumi until later in the story, it was fracking spectacular to see Sawako neutralize and frustrate every effort by Vichy-tan in rapid succession. When Kurumi asked for help, Sawako replied without hesitation that she couldn’t help her due to her own feelings for Kazehaya. When she tried to guilt her by saying that Sawako was the only one who could help her, Sawako stood firm in her feelings. Then she tried eliciting sympathy by playing up how much she likes Kazehaya and wondering aloud if she should give up. And Sawako came right back with a firm but understanding and gentle reply that she understands but still cannot help. And when Ume revealed her true colors and went into full on anger, Sawako stood her ground not shaken in the slightest, and frustrated her rival further by not believing that such harsh words were coming from the girl in front of her. It was a beautiful sight to behold. Not since the Six Day War has there been such rapid and total domination of the enemy. I cheered, I clapped, I pumped my fist at the screen as I watched. It was perhaps one of the best moments out of any show so far this season.

After the two had done battle, the sports festival is about to begin and the class is preparing for the games. Chizu, in her three times faster red shirt, leads the girls soccer team to the field for the game, and before everyone heads out Kazehaya wishes Sawako luck and gives her a terrorist fist jab. Not only is this a cute moment between the two, but it also starts the ‘Zashiki Warashi Effect’ and everyone competing in the games that day seeks Sawako’s blessing of their quest for victory. First up is the girls soccer game and the game is a near run thing. It comes down each team needing one final goal, and at the critical moment when a gap appears in their lines Sawako uses her Kuroko teleportation activities (desu wa), stops the ball, and boots it back down field. And just to make things better, one of Sawako’s shoes flies off as she kicks the ball. Unbeknownst to her, Kurumi is downfield walking towards Kazehaya and expecting to talk to him when the shoe lands right.on.her.head. (STATION CONGRATULATES TARGET DESIGNATION TEAM ON SUCCESSFUL PGM STRIKE) Back in the game, the ball is now passed to Chizu whose unstoppable charge sends the ball smoking right into the back of the net, winning the game.

Kurumi holds on to the shoe, and once again Sawako takes her for being nicer than she really is, despite Kurumi not even trying to hide her true nature much anymore, and even invites her to come along and cheer on the boys softball match. Ayane tells her not to lose before she departs to get ready for the girls’ volleyball match, the comment passing over Sawako’s head, but probably understood on some level. Ayane is a sharp and devious one, and in service to True Love and Friendship she will serve Sawako well. At the boys’ game Sawako and Kurumi sit on the sidelines, Kurumi trying a few more attacks and failing miserably once more. She even tries to take credit for Kazehaya’s wave that was meant for Sawako, but it was clear to anyone who’s not a self-delusional yandere who he was waving at. Out on the field the boys team gets together and recounts the Legend of Sawako and how she helped win the game, when Ryuu corrects the other boys about her name being Sawako and not Sadako. Kazehaya seems to feel a temporary bit of undue jealousy, but Ryuu has no ulterior motives, he was simply the victim subject of Chizu’s name memory training. Vichy-tan meanwhile is still at it, trying to undermine Sawako’s confidence indirectly by saying that she would feel the same way talking to any boy. When a stray ball heads for Sawako and Ryuu catches it right before it hits her in the face, Kurumi seizes on what she sees as a potential opening. Her new attack takes place at the sports festival, as predicted, but I doubt it will be very effective. Ryuu is clearly more interested in Chizu (not that she recognizes this yet), and Sawako isn’t as simple as her adversary thinks. At most this will be a temporary distraction, though all must be on guard lest Kurumi find some way to take advantage of the temporary confusion.

.

Crusader’s Record of Kazehaya War

What new villainy is this?

After having put Sawako in the hot seat to help her seize Kazehaya, her ploy falls flat and Ume the Useless cries about how hard it is to be pretty and popular. Her false tears do not help her though as Sawako’s gut reaction was to signal her inability to help. Despite all her plotting Ume did not count on Sawako’s Zeus given purity of purpose and innocent intent, and thus Ume was vanquished before the spat had even begun. Sawako has become superior in soccer and was able to use her after image technique and it was nothing short of fate that had Sawako’s shoe fall on top of Ume’s head. According to Johnny Arab this is a grievous insult and I shall treat it as such for Ume is very much beneath Sawako. Having failed to destroy Sawako’s self esteem, Ume identifies a weaker target, Kazehaya. While Kazehaya is a respectable lad he has issues of his own, and his faith is sorely lacking. Long have we borne witness to Kazehaya’s moments of occasional jealousy, but now Ume has identified a weakness that seems all too exploitable. Ume now seeks to expand her war on true love and has schemes to not only counter SawakoxKazehaya, but also ChizuxRyuu. Kazehaya’s jealousy is a much softer target that Sawako or Ryuu, even the smallest praise of Sawako by other boys sends him into a panic. Patrick is very disappointed in how Kazehaya already began to fear that Ryuu had captured Sawako’s heart, silly as though it may sound to us Kazehaya is still a mere boy, but I fear that he may be far more susceptible to Ume’s trickery. Next week is when we see Kazehaya show his quality in whether or not he can see through Vichy-tan’s indefensible plot.

The longer this goes on the more hateful Ume the Ugly is, I rejoiced at her initial failure and hollow threats, but this latest ploy seems much more easy to pull off given Kazehaya’s jealousy and fear that Sawako may yet fall for another. I like how this series is keeping me on the edge of my seat and I cannot wait to see how Kazehaya will react and if Ryuu can defeat this ploy in one swift stroke. Still Swako is delightful as ever as she deftly avoids Ume’s incessant attacks and infantile tricks. Thankfully for now it seems that Ume has to worry about public opinion, how delisciously ironic that the greatest evil in this series has to worry about approval ratings.

Zeus threw Sawako’s shoe at her…

Zeus thanks you for lending it to him.

I already know who will be THE WINNER.

That THIS is the real you…

ExecutiveOtaku’s Unadulterated Adoration of Sawako and Current Intelligence Report

Or so she thinks.

Sawako physically and figuratively stops Kurumi.

HELL YEAH! Stand your ground Sawako! You’ve exceeded even my expectations.

Get on that, you Bitch in Sheep’s Clothing.

Don’t be too proud of this ball of lies you’ve constructed. The ability to lie with a straight face is insignificant next to the power of The Sawayakyaaa.

Now she drops all her pretenses and attacks directly, still to no effect.

Kurumi’s frustration at Sawako’s innocence is just the icing on the cake.

Yes, you have it so hard Kurumi. Spoiled brat can’t always get what she wants, boo hoo.

The Red Comet, Chizuru Yoshida.

Kazehaya wearing his TTGL adult Simon cosplay jacket.

Innocent good luck sign or terrorist fist jab? Ume News lets you decide.

Does this mean she gets a Dendrobium or Meteor Pack?

Getting a little more comfortable with close interaction with Kazehaya. Speechless is an improvement over nervous.

Show em your war face!

A girl after my own heart, she even plays defense like I used to.

The ball is back on the other side of the field, with the added plus of launching a Kurumi-seeking missile.

United in her triumph. How cute.

Missing something.

If only she were wearing cleats like she was supposed to. But hilarious nonetheless.

It’s the shoes shirt!

Worthy of some epic victory music. LIKE A STREAM TO THE PEAK sekai ichiban!

I never get tired of frustrated Kurumi face.

To the victor goes the Kazehaya.

Much like Claudia from Macross, Ayane watches over the love of her best friend, ensuring it will move along smoothly.

Nothing like making your enemy feel completely nonthreatening.

Laying it on, and not even realizing how effective it is.

Kurumi is still trying to keep up the facade for the bystanders though.

…and back to bitch mode.

Well you did tell her to stop calling you Kurumi-chan.

Pffff, you Light wannabe. Probably bought it at Hot Topic (which is not punk rock).

INNOCENCE COUNTER!

You lost. And the strong do what they will while the weak suffer what they must.

EO’s DAAWWWW of the Week: double daaawwww edition.

Ryuu is obviously the professional of the group. Just look at that mofo playing it cool.

Sure he did Kurumi, sure he did (get the tranquilizers and the straight jacket!)

Sawako’s Jetstream Attack.

Recently released from Chairwoman Chizu’s Name Reeducation Camps.

Oh don’t worry your pretty little love interest head over it.

Give it up Kurumi.

Seems that someone else can teleport too.

Your tricks won’t work Kurumi, especially not with Ryuu.

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