junior

I don't know where you get this idea. The only Vajra that Brera destroyed were shot up before Altoh entered the Vajra ship. And Brera didn't help Altoh at all. He hid until Altoh started to act to free Luca, and then destroyed the gunpod that Altoh was using. Brera didn't do a single thing to help Altoh or Luca, and the scene suggests that he actually acted to keep Altoh and Luca from escaping. "Not shooting Altoh while Altoh fights the Vajra" does not equal "Helped Altoh". We don't know why the two ships left the Galaxy fleet. It's too early to start threatening horrible punishments since we don't know why they were on their own. It's entirely possible that the Galaxy fleet realized that a message would have trouble getting through due to the fold distortion (Grace mentions that she's surprised that Frontier is able to keep a real time link to the battle in episode 7, which suggests that its comm gear is better than Galaxy's; and if Frontier had trouble getting the message from Galaxy, then it's possible that Galaxy doesn't think that the distress call was received), and ordered the two ships to go for help. It's also possible that the command crew was killed in the fighting. Leon mentions that it was odd that the Dulfim left at the start of the fight, which suggests that he doesn't know why it departed. That's the sort of answer that the Captain should be able to answer. It's possible that crew casualties included the command crew of the ship, and command devolved to a lower ranking officer working from an auxiliary control station. My thought was that Leon just wanted an excuse to keep the crew of the Dulfim sequestered and unavailable for anyone who might have questions for them. It's clear that Leon's slimy and in up to his eyeballs in whatever is going on. If he thinks that there's a possibility that a member of the Dulfim's crew knows something critical, then it would be in his best interests to keep the crew away from anyone and everyone who could interfere with whatever he's doing. So until he knows for certain, the Dulfim will stay quarantined. And if anyone DOES know anything, then that individual will just happen to end up flagged as infected... That doesn't mean that there isn't actually an infection threat, of course.

I hate to call anything in this episode "pure"... On a more serious note,

Given how short Macross Plus was, though, there wouldn't have really been any reason to include them if there were some on New Eden. You don't really want full-size zentraedi mixing with miclones except in very controlled circumstances (like the mall in Frontier episode 5, which has special areas for miclone-sized visitors). Otherwise you risk unfortunate accidents ("Oops! I didn't see you there!"). So unless you want a short thirty second sequence where Isamu takes Lucy on a date to the Zentraedi mall, you're probably not going to see them.

Yet another theory to throw out there regarding why the VF-27 shot Luca's gunpod - maybe he was after Luca's sensor data? Bear with me... And there's going to be a healthy dose of speculative guesses here... The Vajra capital ship shows up specifically to kill Kaitos as it's about to reach the edge of the Fold Distortion. If Kaitos had crossed out of the distortion, then it would have been able to jump clear. For whatever reason, the Vajra really wanted to kill that ship, and presumeably its fellow Galaxy ship as well (i.e. the one that the Frontier forces saved). It would have been fairly easy for the capital ship to show up at the start of the fight and blow up both of the Galaxy ships, but for whatever reason the big Vajra ship didn't show up until Kaitos was nearly clear. Further, some of the comments by the Frontier leadership when the big Vajra ship shows up suggests that they've never seen such a ship before (although they've no doubt speculated that these ships exist). So presumeably there's some special occasion for the ship to show up, and it appears to be to keep Kaitos from escaping the fold distortion. Given that the Vajra were freely attacking the Kaitos but the big ship didn't show up until literally just as it was needed, it's possible that the big ships haven't been attacking Galaxy. Instead they've been held in reserve to deal with fleeing ships that get close to the edge of the fold distortion (I don't know why the Vajra wouldn't commit at least some of them to attacking Galaxy; but as I said this theory does wander a bit far into speculation). If Galaxy for some reason wanted data on the big ships, then the easiest way to get that would be to do something that would cause the big ship to appear, and then have units on hand to scan for data. The two Galaxy ships are therefore ordered to make a run for it when the Vajra attack the fleet, presumeably with the stated goal of reaching Frontier. Unbeknownst to the Kaitos and its fellow ship, a flight of VF-27s is dispatched to secretly watch the result. If a Vajra capital ship appears, then the VF-27s are to scan the ship and collect as much data as they can before folding back to the Galaxy fleet (or other base that they're operating from). The VF-27s are to leave the two fleeing Galaxy ships to their fate, provided that the VF-27s can get the sensor data. So the Galaxy ships make a run for it. And then they blunder into Frontier's forward recon team and Frontier dispatches a relief force to retrieve the two ships. The SMS Skull team deploys its VF-25 Catseye unit, which just happens to be in position when the Vajra ship comes out of fold and blows up Kaitos. With its better sensor suite, Luca's VF-25 would be able to get much more information on the Vajra ship. Further, the Vajra capture Luca, and place him directly in the center of the ship with his sensor suite still intact. (note the quick glance at Luca's sensor pod when Altoh locates him) It literally CANNOT get better than that as far as sensor scans are concerned. So Brera Sterne heads into the Vajra ship not to help Luca, but instead to recover his sensor data. Then Altoh shows up, and Brera hides to see what happens. Altoh loses his plane but it looks as if he'll be able to blast Luca's plane free with the gunpod, so Brera blasts the gunpod without damaging the fighter itself (which houses the all-important sensor data). Before Brera can do anything else, however, the Macross Quarter arrives and Brera is forced to give up on his plan. There's enough guesswork in there that any number of facts introduced into the series in the next few episodes could easily overturn the whole thing. But it does make sense, after a fashion... (aside from the question of why the Vajra wouldn't have committed their capital ships directly to the attack on the Galaxy Fleet, why Brera wouldn't just ask Frontier for the scan data, and why Galaxy would think it worth sacrificing multiple ships of its escort fleet in the hopes that Brera could get a scan of a Vajra capital ship).

Maybe, maybe not. According to Sheryl, Galaxy doesn't have any full-size Zentraedi. The reason for this is never explained. It's possible that it's a size issue (i.e. there aren't any wide open spaces like the ones that Frontier has, so they don't want any full-size Zentraedi). It could be a prejudice issue. Or it could be something else entirely.

I think they all say either 'Frontier' or 'Galaxy'. So most likely these are sample logos intended for the two colony fleets. Though it's a bit hard to read the word on the lower-left logo on the first sheet of paper.

I can never seem to get my 360 to play mp4s. >.< Drives me nuts.

From a non-story perspective, it makes it easier to tell who's on screen. If you're watching a VF-1J in Macross dodging incoming fire, then if it's blue you instantly realize that Max is piloting it without needing a close-up of the pilot. Conversely, if the VF-1J is red then you know that it's Millia.

From what I've heard, though, Kawamori decided that the Megaroad-1 fleet disappeared before Hase died.

It could be that the president is chosen from the heads of the various fleets and/or colonies (including Earth in the latter, though it's technically not a colony). We need to know more about the workings of the NUN, and what exactly prompted the switch from the UN.

iirc, the government official with Gloval in episode one of Macross was a senator. That's the only one I can think of, though. All of the other officials that we see are high ranking members of the military.

That's my issue with it. imo, it's still not completely clear what those circle things are. For all we know, it could be fuel tank caps (just to throw out something at random). And there does appear to be some sort of insignia on the nose that I'm pretty sure isn't the NUNS insignia. That doesn't mean that the plane isn't NUNS - that nose insignia could mean anything from a unit badge to a personal insignia (though I don't think we've seen the latter so far in Macross). It just means that the possible NUNS insignias aren't sharp enough to be certain that's what they are.

There is a resemblence there, but... - The "thing" isn't sharply defined in the image, which makes it difficult to be certain what it is, and - That's an odd location for a logo identifiying who the fighter is affiliated with. It's not exactly easy to spot, and it doesn't make much sense to virtually hide the logo there while not including it in much more visible locations (such as the forward fusilage of the plane, which is always a popular spot for this sort of thing in Macross). If there's a logo on the wing, then I would expect it to be more centered then that is.

Sheryl is also, as of the time of Altoh's lie to Ranka, going home tomorrow (the announcement is a few minutes afterwards). Because of that, a relationship with her probably wouldn't work for Altoh (at least not until after the emergency announcement). In fact, when Sheryl asked Altoh how he liked Frontier in this episode, the first thing that popped into my head was, "She's sounding him out to see if he'd move to Galaxy." Also, while I think that Altoh and Sheryl do appear to be a good fit, they're still in the process of determining that. They still barely know each other, and will need to spend more time together to figure out their feelings. I'm wondering about that favor. We never heard anything further on it, and it's possible that Leon (and not the president) is the reason that Cathy was on the ship. Oh, and Leon is slimy. He may or may not be a bad guy in the series, but he's definitely slimy. A few things with that scene. First is that it's been mentioned in the series that the NUNS military has problems. Morale is low, and there's a ton of red tape involved in just about anything and everything. I wouldn't be surprised if many of the pilots are poorly trained. And if morale is low, then discipline is probably bad as well. Second, I agree that the scout deployment had problems. There should have been some armed escorts accompanying the recon team. At least a couple of fighters per recon craft to help cover them. Third, the recon team made a major error. The moment that they saw an unknown fold signal, they should have instantly turned and fled - not necessarily jumped out, but at least get enough room that the thing doesn't come out close enough that you can almost reach out and touch it. And maybe get enough room to safely fold out before it can swat you. Both Sheryl and Altoh are proud, as well. For both, at least part of that pride is probably based off of their isolation from any sort of family (Sheryl as an apparent orphan; Altoh's father won't acknowledge him) and a recognition that they are very good at what they do. This works somewhat to Altoh's advantage, since it means that he doesn't engage in the fan-worship of Sheryl that presumeably 99% of the males his age would. To him, Sheryl's human. And she admits in episode 5 that she likes that about him. In contrast, Ranka has more of an adoration of both of them. They're her inspirations to work harder and better to achieve her dream. I suspect that she worships both of them just a bit too much, and as a result doesn't necessarily see them as the flawed people that they are.

Maybe... Max was macronized in DYRL. Is it ever stated in anything else that it can't be done to humans?

One Vajra captured Gilliam... but only very briefly. Another thought - the Ghosts have some similiarities with the Vajra. According to Louise, the Vajra are essentially remotely operated weapons. This is essentially what the Ghosts are as well. Just a thought.

There was still a lot of fighting going on in the background when Quarter blew up the Vajra ship. There's one of the ever popular "cloud of blinking lights" effects going on throughout the episode, including just before Quarter blows up the Vajra ship. And if you listen carefully when the Quarter charges, you can hear faint battle sounds (similar to ones that you could hear when the Frontier fleet folded in). What we saw appears to have only been a small part of the battle, and I'm confident that if there were more Galaxy ships present, then most of them survived. Given that the Quarter was one of several ships that folded in, most likely the SMS was assigned to cover those two specific ships only, and the regular NUNS forces from Frontier were assigned to support the other Galaxy fleet forces present.

I suggested earlier that he only wanted to keep Altoh from interfering with his departure. By the time Harmonica shot Skull-3's gunpod, Altoh had already used the gunpod to clear enough tentacles that Skull-3 was able to easily escape under its own power. My thoughts on this - It seems that the Vajra are looking for something, based on their actions in earlier episodes. They might have grabbed Skull-3 because they thought that the pilot might be able to provide information on what they want. Harmonica may have wanted to deny Skull-3 to the Vajra as a potential information source (either by blowing up Skull-3 or freeing the fighter himself), but Altoh entered the ship before Harmonica could carry out his plan. So Harmonica hid to see what Altoh would do. Once Altoh successfully freed Skull-3 (or got rid of enough tentacles to easily fly away), Harmonica shot the gunpod to keep Altoh from interfering with Harmonica's departure. I doubt that Altoh would have actually tried to keep Harmonica from leaving, but Harmonica may not have thought that he could take the chance (particularly if he's directly or indirectly working against Frontier's interests). My own thought is that if she's descended from anyone in Macross Zero, then it's Shin and Sara. She could be either a daughter or a granddaughter. How she got from them to Galaxy is anyone's guess, but we really don't know anything about her past. It's somewhat odd that a child would grow up not knowing anyone. I would have assumed that Sherryl's parents had friends that would have been willing to adopt Sherryl as their own, but that doesn't appear to have been the case. In any case, I don't think that there's really enough to work with there. It's an interesting idea, though.

Regarding Klan Klan's apparent comment... Minor spoiler regarding a plot point in an upcoming episode (based on the brief episode summaries at wiki)

It occured to me that the reason that the VF-27 pilot shot Lucas's gunpod was to keep Altoh from interfering with the VF-27's escape. The VF-27 pilot seems to have waited until the tentacles holding Skull-3 in place were reduced enough that Altoh was able to easily escape them just by activating the thrusters. Since no one seems to have known who the VF-27s were, it's possible that the pilot was concerned that the local military forces might try to interfere with their departure. And since Altoh and Lucas were the only two pilots really in position to interfere with that, shooting the gunpod made sense if that was a possible issue. But obviously that's pure speculation.

1.) Yeah, but the writers could have left her over by the escalator if they just wanted to show her "around". Instead, she spends several minutes staring at Sherryl writing on Zentraedi undergarments without doing anything more than saying, "Huh?" 2.) I thought Mikhael looked the other way as soon as he saw her, and asked Ranka if she wanted some ice cream?

I was wondering about that, so I doublechecked the scene. The camera's zoomed back far enough that his entire VF-25 is in the shot, so it's impossible to tell whether he stopped to grab the earring or not. Though imo, he shouldn't have forgotten it since it was making noise just a few seconds earlier.

I've a sneaking suspicion that at some point Altoh will either be MIA or injured (as happened to Hikaru in Macross). Given that Klan Klan knows that Altoh and Sherryl are friendly, it will fall to her to tell Sherryl the bad news. Or in other words, sort of like the way that Roy informed Minmei about Hikaru in Macross - except possibly expanded somewhat. Ozma can't really do it (since he's Ranka's older brother), and Micheal would probably do something that'd get him smacked. So it'll fall to Klan Klan. I base that on the problem that the only rationale I can think of for her appearence in the panty scene in episode 5 (other than to look good standing there, of course ) is that she'll end up being involved in a plot point between Altoh and Sherryl in the future.

I'd hazard a guess that the writers are playing fast and loose with the continuity again. You might hear about the Knight Sabers, and maybe even meet a few characters (Leon is mentioned by name in one section, so he's a possibility), and they might even look like the original characters drawn in a newer animation style, but the setting itself seems to have a few key differences. 1.) It mentions that "Dr. Quincy" is the one who invented the bioroids. afaik, in both old and new BGC, bioroids were invented by Dr. Stingray, and even if credit for the invention were stolen (which may have happened in the original series), I don't think it was ever claimed that Quincy himself invented them. Nor did he have a "Dr." attached to his name. It doesn't mean it isn't possible. Its just that there's never been a suggestion of it to date. 2.) The information on the site seems to suggest at least some bioroids have managed to achieve full integration into human society in a manner similar to the Thirds in Armitage, and that the powers that be (dunno about the public in general, though) are aware of this integration, and have constructed a police unit specifically to deal with crimes committed by these types of bioroids. iirc, the 5th and 6th episodes of BGC strongly suggest that this is not the situation in that series. Of course, due to translational issues, its possible that "problems" are merely the result of a bad translation. Particularly with #2, I can see a few key areas that would provide for a meaning more in line with BGC 2032 if phrased slightly differently.