MACROSS MEGA MARATHON | EPISODE 25: VIRGIN ROAD

Iconic Scene: Ya think ya got enough cake there?

Quotable Quotes: Our love is strong enough to conquer all that!!

Best Character: Global for his speech that starts out sounding like a blistering indictment against aliens... and then becomes a call for peace so much better than Kaifun's bawling.

Best Death: Nobody notable

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The various problems with this episode have been elaborated on at length by Richard Clark, so I'll just say that I really am not surprised Max and Milia have problems in their marriage in Macross 7 considering how "whirlwind" their romance is here. Seriously, it goes from attempted murder to matrimony in like five minutes.

MACROSS MEGA MARATHON | INTERLUDE THE SECOND

And so the second third of the series ends.

This is where the series really came into its own with a unique story that took the real robot concepts made famous by Mobile Suit Gundam and puts their own twist on it. The only negative would be the appearance of Kaifun. As I said before, if he was designed to be hated, they succeeded in SPADES.

MACROSS MEGA MARATHON | EPISODE 24: GOOD-BYE GIRL

Iconic Scene: Not a duck.

Quotable Quotes: Shammy! Launch the Booby Duck!

Best Character: Hikaru because not only does he fly the Super Valkyrie but he seems to finally be getting it that he and Misa have something much more tangible than emotional stress after being trapped for two weeks.

Best Death: Again, the poor Zentradi that messed with Max and his new VF-1J

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The beloved Super Valkyrie makes its debut and Hikaru now has another woman walk out of his life, sort of. At least he sort of seems to be getting that he has a thing with Misa.

MACROSS MEGA MARATHON | EPISODE 23: DROP OUT

Iconic Scene: Hikaru and Misa have a moment in the Nyan Nyan Cafe.

Quotable Quotes: Who knows? War is the only thing our enemy knows, right? But we'll put an end to it someday.

Best Character: Misa, for just being awesome this time around.

Best Death: Nobody notable.

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There's hope now in the form of the Zentradi defectors... and that Misa has FINALLY given up on that douche-nozzle Kaifun... even though she already did that back in episode 16... whatever.

MACROSS MEGA MARATHON | EPISODE 22: LOVE CONCERT

Iconic Scene: Did she have some head trauma? Nope, just animation trauma.

Quotable Quotes: There he is! No doubt about it, that's the ace who beat me!

Best Character: Kaifun for getting konked on the head by a stage light. Pity it didn't kill him.

Best Death: All the poor buggers that likely get killed as the Zentradi start blowing up the city.

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The thing that stood out to me the most about this episode was that this was the first of many, many stupid things that Kaifun will do. Since we're talking fiction I have no compunctions against saying that I kinda hope lots of people got their stupid selves killed listening to him. Oh who am I kidding, he'd just blame it on the military.

Actually no, the first stupid thing that Kaifun did was open his big, fat gob and start talking.

MACROSS MEGA MARATHON | EPISODE 21: MICRO-COSMOS

Iconic Scene: THIS IS THE LEGENDARY POWER!!

Quotable Quotes: Did you guys do stuff like that [kissing] with Minmay?!

Best Character: Hard to call in this one, Nobody really stands out. Maybe I'll say it's the three spies again, for blatantly lying about making out with Minmay.

Best Death: Again, no actual deaths except for maybe the death of the imaginary relationship Hikaru had with Minmay.

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Another link in the chain leading to what would have been the finale. Minmay and Kaifun's movie Shao-Pai-Long premieres... and somehow Britai and Exedol are able to watch it? What the heck? Last I checked, movies, especially in the 1980s, weren't broadcast. Maybe they are doing it on this occasion so all the crew of the Macross can see the premiere even if they're not actually there? Hikaru can't stomach the sight of Kaifun getting his incest on and runs into Misa (literally) and they get to have another moment. Given that Macross The First retconned in references to the Vajra, I'm actually not surprised that Britai and Exedol can believe that the miclones have the power supposedly demonstrated in the movie. They'll pass this along to Bodolza and it'll lead to his decision to attack Earth.
Incidentally, Shao Pai Long is my least favorite Minmay song, initially because it simply had something to do with Kaifun but now... I dunno I can't really point to anything specific, I just don't like it as much as some of her other songs like Silver Moon, Red Moon and My Boyfriend is a Pilot.

ADDENDUM: Concerning the crack I made in this post about Kaifun and Minmay getting their incest on, it's been brought to my attention that I missed a line of Hikaru in one episode that, combined with other evidence, very possibly means that Kaifun is not the son of Minmay's aunt and uncle but the son of her uncle from a previous marriage. This means that they are not blood cousins. This would make their romance not literally incestual but... it's still kinda squicky anyhow. And I still hate Kaifun.