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.

MACROSS MEGA MARATHON | EPISODE 20: PARADISE LOST

Iconic Scene: What is this? A rummage sale for ANTS?!

Quotable Quotes: I guess we're Macrossians now?

Best Character: Loli, Conda and Warera for being the secret purveyors of culture. :)

Best Death: None in this episode, as I recall

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And another good build to the plot here. After the last episode where the characters are beat down with the hopelessness of their situation, it begins to spread to the civilians as well but they take a more optimistic view of it. With the Zentradi, Loli, Conda and Warera have begun their tenure as the Heralds of Culture, spreading it amongst the fleet.

Global has to break the news to the Macross's civilian population and his heartfelt speech helps to deflect some of the anger that might come his way and the way of the military crew as well as Minmay's speech and song, probably more on Minmay's part more than Global. Incidentally, the scene where Kaifun pats Global on the back... considering his attitude before now, after and during the after war arc makes me consider this action to be wholly out of character. Must have been a hiccup on the part of the writers' minds or somesuch.
Also, I wonder what the different colored stripes on the three spies' uniforms mean? Likely nothing as you can see more than a dozen and a half variations on the UN Spacy uniform on just the Macross.

MACROSS MEGA MARATHON | EPISODE 19: BURST POINT

I  think they must have blurred this out for the BD release.

I remember it being much more... graphic in the ADV dub.

Iconic Scene: So long, Kakizaki.

Quotable Quotes: The barrier is going to overload!

Best Character: Hard to say in this one but I think we can award this one to Kakizaki's widow, 20 oz. Porterhouse. :3

Best Death: Kakizaki is going away this time, although his death here is not nearly as gruesome as it will be in DYRL.

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Now THIS is a twist. Hot on the heels of Roy's death comes the death of Kakizaki and not JUST that but the final dashing of the hopes of getting the Macross's civilian population off the ship. This was a good place for this as we're nearing the end of the second third of the show and Macross was originally supposed to end eight episodes from now. It's time that the characters got kicked down and kicked again before they can rise back up. Hikaru has now lost not just his squadron leader but his sempai and now his wingman. Misa is depressed over various things, Minmay is being driven into exhaustion and generally there is an air of hopelessness. Certainly doesn't help that the UN Spacy brass has decided that a ship full of both thousands of their soldiers and thousands of civilians needs to be their sacrificial lamb.

MACROSS MEGA MARATHON | EPISODE 18: PINEAPPLE SALAD

Iconic Scene: The deadliest thing in the universe, an anti-plot armor equation.

Quotable Quotes: Hikaru's lucky, he's got a real ace on his team...

Best Character: C'mon, it's Roy. This is his going-away party and it's great.

Best Death: Do I even need to say?

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What else can be said about this episode except that it likely had a bigger impact here in the west than it did back in Japan. Sempai characters dying is not something new to anime (just looks at Ryu Jose from Gundam) and indeed the trope of mentor characters dying so the hero can stand on his own feet is about as old as stories themselves.
The one thing I do have to wonder about this episode is, why did Roy do what he did? Why go to Claudia's instead of the hospital? My theory is that he figured he was bad enough off that there was as much a chance of dying on the operating table as surviving and if this was his time to go, might as well spend it with his lady love than being cut open by the docs.