Robotech (TV Series) To the Stars (1985) User Reviews

Love Song

[hellraiser7 · 10/10 · 31 August 2016]

Warning do not read unless seen episode.

It's been a long time coming and that time has final came, the moment of truth. We've all known that it was always supposed to be Misa and Hikaru, and we we're all correct both of them are just right for each other. This is one of my favorite episodes in general but it's also one of my favorite finales in TV. To me it's one of the prime examples of a finale to TV done right by actually meeting every ones expectations and paying off from a long build up.

In the first moments we see both Misa and Hikaru apart from each other. It's really suspenseful because we're just waiting for both of them to come together again but we don't know when. You really feel for both of them as we see both are apart from each other and in sort of a bad place. From Hikaru whom has taken time away from his career but you can tell from his eyes already those days and minutes feel like an eternity. It sort of reminds me of what Elias from "Unbreakable" said "You know that sad feeling, it's because your not doing what your suppose to be doing." At that point we already know that giving up flying would be a mistake for Hikaru.

Misa we see is in a deep depression and anguish thinking she's lost Hikaru forever and we see she is about to make a mistake as well by quitting one of the things that she loves and does best in life the Military. This also goes with another saying from Dicky Fox from "Jerry Maguire" whom said "If this is empty (points at heart) this doesn't matter (points at head)." There is truth to this, when your heart is broken nothing not even career matters, a career alone can't mend a broken heart because it knows no love. Seeing that I was thinking "No Misa, it's not too late Hikaru isn't lost yet!" We then see that life and fate are starting to make each of their lives come to a turning point for Hikaru we see him have a talk with Minmei on where their lives are going. Minmei of course recklessly suggest that both of them get married. This of course makes Hikaru's dilemma even bigger because marriage of course is a sacred vow of love and here Hikaru needs to decide not just what he really wants out of life but love as well.

Misa she has received a promotion to command her own star ship to go to the stars to communicate and spread the positive culture they have to offer to other worlds which will mean years away from Earth possibly never coming back.

It then comes down to the final moments, when Misa comes to his door to give Hikaru the news and to say good bye. But of course also to say one more thing to Hikaru, Misa then says, "I will love you forever Hikaru." I'll admit my heart just skipped a beat from that moment and I just couldn't help but cheer from that moment as she finally said what needed to be said.

The moment gets even better once she leaves Hikaru chases after her, as the bombs in the city drop not caring about what's happening just to be with her. Misa is slightly weak from the blast as she tries to get back to the ship she almost faints but Hikaru he catches her and says something to her and you know at that moment he confessed his love for her also. I really like the use of the color of fire in that scene it reflects the love for each other, just like the fire their feeling for one another are blazing and not wanting to stop. I also cheered at that moment because it just felt so right, both truly we're right for one another because despite some differences both had some commonalities, they both were closer to each other, but most importantly both give each other what they need in love and life.

There is a bittersweet moment at the end where we see Minmei does what's right for herself. The trouble I always felt with Minmei was despite singing songs about love she's never really known what love really is, it wasn't until her time with Hikaru she learned a little of that lesson. But she's also learned another lesson about love and that is sometimes when you love someone you have to let them go. She really did love Hikaru but it just wasn't in the cards for both of them, both are just going different directions, they want different things, that's just how it goes in love and life. Minmei then says goodbye to both Hikaru and Misa and goes back to doing what she does best in life. You then see as she waves at both of them there is a slight look of sadness in her and then she turns and walks away. At that point you know that Minmei is no longer in the picture but also it made me personally hope that though the times for her to come that she will find true love.

It then comes down to a beautiful shot in the end when we see both Hikaru and Misa holding each other in the warn torn enviorment. It just goes to show that despite everything that has happened, both have each other, love will survive.

Both Misa and Hikaru hear a song at the end, they think it's Minmei singing again. But what they were hearing was their love song and our own. So long, Hikaru and Misa just like any great love song your love for one another will never be forgotten.

Rating: 4 stars

"The Good Guys Always Win... Even in the Eighties!"--Ace Hunter

[GaryPeterson67 · 6/10 · 10 January 2024]

Lo, there shall be an ending! Well, to the Macross saga, anyway. Was it a satisfying finish?

Before I answer, I have to say recent episodes have forced me to adjust my initial expectations. ROBOTECH is not a sci-fi Japanimation show featuring transforming robots warding off an alien threat--it's a love story. I resisted admitting that for over three-quarters of the Macross saga, frustrated when all the mushy melodrama kept intruding on the Earth vs. Zentraedi intergalactic battle plot. But after the recent string of all-angst episodes "Broken Heart," "A Rainy Night," "Private Time," and most of "Season's Greetings," I had to give up and admit I was a fool to deny it: The Rick-Lisa-Minmei love triangle was always the central plot; the space battles were secondary and oftentimes just window dressing.

So YES, the conclusion was satisfying in that the lunkhead hot dog Rick finally figured out that Lisa is the girl for him, not that brainless one-song warbler Minmei. I despised Minmei from the moment she went running back to retrieve her dumb diary. Minmei is a character that evoked surprisingly strong emotions from me--virtually all of which were of abject loathing! When she disappeared from the playground, running away from Rico and friends, I thought good riddance. But nooo... she turns up emoting outside Rick's door. I was so enraged when that door opened I wanted to chuck the DVD case at the TV screen (mind you, I'm watching the broadcast versions housed in the c. 2001 Zentreadi-sized ADV bricks!).

I credit the original Macross creators and the late, great Carl Macek for writing animated characters so believable that I became thoroughly invested in their outcomes. I didn't like Lisa in the beginning, but as her origin story was revealed I came to sympathize with her and finally to cheer her on. She learned humility over the course of these 36 episodes, going from hardshelled sourpuss to humbled and vulnerable, but nonetheless confident in her considerable abilities. I was glad she received the promotion--she earned it.

My favorite characters were all Zentraedi. Exidor and Breetai, the defectors Rico, Bron, and Konda. Towards the end, I even grew to like Khyron and Azonia, villians you love to hate. They had a semblance of love between them, and the hand-on-hand gesture they made before dying in the kamikaze attack parallelled that of Max and Miriya when they weren't sure they'd return from battle.

My least favorite/most hated characters list has Minmei scrawled at the top in a madman's scribble! What an insufferable spoiled brat who never grew up or developed, besides taking a liking to liquor. I also intensely disliked Kyle too, as we were no doubt intended to. He's another character who drank too much. Add to the AA recruitment roll Claudia ("Hi, Claudia"), who was seen drinking alone and admitted to Lisa booze was her crutch after Roy's death.

I was never won over by the "bridge bunnies," who were usually annoying as heck but were necessary for exposition dumps and light comic relief. I wanted to write a review for an earlier episode and title it "Gloval's Report: I Folded to Pluto with an All-Girl Crew." Maybe I will yet when I rewatch the series on the remastered blurays.

Of course the Zentraedi were defeated even before Khyron's last-ditch Hail Mary attack on the SDF-1. No surprise the good guys won in the end, though it admittedly came at a steep cost.

Among the loose ends that weren't tied up tightly is what about all the giant-sized Zentraedi "malcontents" running around and wreaking havoc? Exidore warned that the Zentraedi were genetically engineered for war, so many can be expected to revert to type (and all the Minmei songs in the world--I think there are only two, right?--won't pacify them!).

Thirty-six episodes in and I'm still not exactly sure what Protoculture is. Khyron needed it to power his ship, but in "Viva, Miriya" it was implied Protoculture has something to do with s-e-x and reproducing naturally versus test-tube babies. Remember Miriya going all Lion King with baby Dana and shouting, "It is love that is the basis of Protoculture! You cannot conquer love! Observe the power of Protoculture! Observe the power of love!" Okay, okay, Miriya, but how does that power a starship?

Onward to ROBOTECH: THE MASTERS, where I am eager to finally find out about that bobbed blonde that has fired her weapon directly at me in 36 opening credit sequences!