Macross 7: Not at All Fun and Games

A week ago I started watching Macross 7. It is a very quirky show, even by Macross standards. The characters are all amusing without being overly annoying, and I dig the Fire Bomber music.

(Warning: spoilers ahead)

However, 16 episodes in, the show smacked me senseless with Physica’s death. It was set up in the beginning, when he talked about returning to his family (hello death flag), and he gets unceremoniously shot out of nowhere.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

Of course this is anime, so his most important personal effect is relatively unscathed (i.e. not vaporized).

Ominous foreshadowing ahead

In the next episode, the problem now fell into Kinryu’s hands, being the leader of the Diamond Force. He was supposed to inform Physica’s family of his death, as well as return the poor guy’s precious keepsake. But more bad stuff got in the way–Sivil rapes Kinryu and Gamlin is left as the only active pilot in his squad.

So it was now Gamlin’s responsibility to meet Physica’s family and pass on the grief. However, something totally unexpected came up:

When you see it... FFFFFFFFFFF

That’s right. In the end, Physica’s death didn’t matter. His family had found a new father, someone whom Physica’s child recognized as his “papa”. The sad thing is that Physica doesn’t realize this (he’s already dead, duh), but the shock and pain smites Gamlin with the fist of an angry god.

A true man's promise

No training could have prepared him for this sort of grief. Combined with the apt usage of a Fire Bomber song, it was a very emotional scene for me. I was expecting a standard BAAAAAW moment where Physica’s wife dissolves into a puddle of tears, the child curiously stares at his mother, and Gamlin hanging his head in shame. But no, I didn’t see that coming. Worse of all, it was perfectly plausible.

This sort of drama makes me wont to hate Basara. He might be flying around chasing his dream of music, but knowing that UN Spacy pilots get killed left and right while doing their job spoils my respect and admiration for him. He’s got it all lucky, while his counterpart experiences all the shitty stuff.

Of course, while the show isn’t at all fun and games, it returns to the usual light mood in the next episode, with Gamlin becoming a one-man counter-terrorist team.

Now if you excuse me, for I must treat myself to some Rex titties in episode 20 (A Lady’s Temptation).

What a hussy!