Macross the First

#1 booby trap

It may or may not come as a surprise that a couple of weeks ago, Haruhiko Mikimoto’s comic, Super Dimension Fortress Macross the First, was “rebooted” on the online manga site Cycomi. I’ll be honest, I certainly wasn’t expecting this. It seemed to me that, as much as I enjoyed Macross the First, it was dead, sentenced to remain unfinished forever.

But no, it’s back. And unlike when it first went from print to online, you don’t have to switch the site’s settings to Japanese in order to see it.

However, there’s a catch: it’s starting over from the beginning, meaning it’ll be about eight or nine months before it catches up to where we left off, nearly two years ago.

The catch, however, has its own catch: a substantial portion of the comic has been redrawn, and the whole thing has been reorganized, with new scenes, dropped scenes, things taking place in a different order. It’s the most thoroughgoing revamp of an already-printed manga that I’ve seen since Five Star Stories (although Osamu Tezuka also did stuff like this a lot).

Anyway, the comic has a new chapter every Sunday, and I implore you to check it out (and if you REALLY want to see it continue, I’d suggest that you take a couple of minutes to create a Cycomi account (it’s nothing difficult, just your email, a password, and a username) so that you can press the “LIKE” button every week). And of course, buy any collected books that come out.

Anyway, since there ARE new scenes (and unlike the previous version of The First, much of the dialogue is NOT taken from the TV show), I figured it wouldn’t be a bad thing to explain what’s going on. So my intention is, whenever a “chapter” finishes (in this case, the first three installments), I’ll give a synopsis. It’s not as good as a scanlation, I know, but considering how low the sales have been for The First (it’s been canceled FOUR TIMES already… the fact that it’s still around AT ALL is pretty amazing), I strenuously urge every Macross fan to SUPPORT it. The art alone is EASILY worth the price of admission, and if every Macross fan in the world bought the books, it would be a massive hit.

(Of course, the enormous question that’s hanging over the whole project is… will Mikimoto actually follow through and tell the whole story? He sort of addresses this in the post-script for the latest section (#1 booby trap(3)), and simply says that he doesn’t know if he can stick to the deadlines. Which, I admit, is not comforting.)

Anyway, let’s focus on the present for now… and so…

THE SYNOPSIS

#1 booby trap (1)

Pages 1-4

Well, there’s a lot of English here, although some of it is illegible. Anyway, it’s Minmay from Flashback 2012, going through her snapshots and then leaving on the Megaroad. You probably already know this.

Pages 5-13

The Macross crashing, plus the Unification Wars that follow. This should be obvious to any Macross fan, and I feel a little silly explaining it, but for those who said, “I’m not gonna buy a book I can’t read!!” I feel like I have to. One added bit makes the Nostradamus connection that the staff had in mind when choosing July 1999 (“The year 1999, the seventh month / From the sky will come a great king of terror.“) as the date for the Macross’s fall explicit (p.6, bottom caption).

Pages 14-19

It’s 2009, and the Macross is ready to launch. A reporter in a helicopter oohs and ash about how big it is, and (foreshadowing? What’s that?) points out the Daedalus and Prometheus. There’s a launch ceremony festival, and the Unified Forces ambassador (later named “Hyman Gwent”) arrives in a limo with Global. He tells Global to wave at the crowd. Global does. In a departure from both the TV show and the earlier version of the manga, Gwent doesn’t suggest that Global has a hangover.

Pages 20-21

Misa arrives as the emcee, and introduces the VF-1 Valkyrie. In a bit of new dialogue, she says that it’s 20% smaller and 20% better than the VF-0 prototype.

Pages 22-24

Okay, this bit (new for this edition of the comic) needs some explanation. The Bridge Bunnies are watching Misa’s performance, and Shammy is gushing over how awesome and wonderful Misa is. Vanessa points out that the Macross is completely untested and that humanity doesn’t even completely understand how it works, so it seems strange that such an elite officer (top of her class, with an admiral for a father) would end up getting assigned to such a dangerous, unpredictable ship. This admittedly intriguing idea is cut short when Claudia shows up and tells them all to stop gossiping.

Pages 25-31

This section also needs explanation. Shammy is horrified to see Minmay posing for photos on the display grounds, because she (Minmay) was meant to be delivering take-out to the bridge. Indeed, the Bridge Crew see their delivery waiting for them (and reminisces about what they ordered), on the ground near Minmay.

As in the first version of the comic, Minmay gets upset because the photographers seem to be trying to get pictures of her crotch. She chides them for it, and they point out that she’s the one who climbed up high enough so that kind of photo could be taken. Minmay protests that she’s just trying to show off her legs.

On Page 31, Shammy rants that girls like Minmay, since they’re cute, are always coddled by the men around them, and will come to a bad end.

Pages 32-39

Vanessa talks to Hikaru, who’s arriving because Focker invited him. Vanessa tells him that his current course is dangerous, since some Valkyries (led by Roy) are doing an aerobatics show. Hikaru buzzes them anyway, and manages not to get killed. Misa is relieved.

Pages 40-45

As in the TV show, Roy teases Hikaru about aways tagging along behind him, so Hikaru has to show him and his pilots up. He does so.

Pages 46-49

Misa calls out to Hikaru, which gets Minmay’s attention. Misa dresses the guy down, but Minmay is thinking, “Hikaru… Ichijo…”

MIKIMOTO’S POSTSCRIPT:

“Time for a fresh start on a new serialization!

We’re working hard to make this comic enjoyable even for those who haven’t seen the anime or have never heard of it, so welcome!!”

#1 booby trap(2)

Page 1

The announcer is announcing that you can actually CHECK OUT a REAL Valkyrie cockpit, and that Hyman Gwent and Bruno J. Global will be giving an introductory speech later.

Pages 2-6

Some wind comes by and Minmay’s skirt flies up, causing the dirty-minded photographers to take tons of snapshots. Hikaru and Roy have a conversation over a couple of colas, about how Roy never came back to the aerobatic group, and how things are different since he started flying fighters. Roy also waves at Minmay, which is probably a step up from just staring at her ass.

Pages 6-9

Misa comes back from her emcee job, annoyed that she even had to do it. She and Claudia (just like in the TV show) get into an argument about how Claudia spent the night with Focker. An alarm interrupts the argument.

Pages 10-14

The Zentradi arrive. Unlike in the original version of the comic, we don’t meet Britai and Exsedol at all here.

Pages 15-22

The main cannon fires and destroys some Zentradi ships.

Pages 23-28

The bridge crew gathers information. Global shows up and says that it was a booby trap. Roy tells Hikaru he’ll check it all out. Global explains what a booby trap is. (Again, do I really need to explain this? I’ve come across a good number of people who out-and-out REFUSE to buy Macross the First until it’s in English, because otherwise, they can’t understand it. I think it’s just an excuse not to BUY it, because this all pretty clear if you’ve seen the show…)

Pages 28-30

The Unified Space Forces fare poorly, and Global says (as he did in the TV show) that the Unified Earth Government had decided that if they were to encounter any alien race, they would not initiate hostilities. “How ironic… Launch all fighters!”

MIKIMOTO’S POSTSCRIPT:

“It’s strange, but at the same time I started this serialization, everything started falling apart. My refrigerator’s busted, my PC crashed, my car broke down on the road… even work is having some issues. At least I’ve got about ten years… no, maybe twenty… before my body starts falling apart, too! (*Rueful laugh*)”

#1 booby trap(3)

Page 1-8

The Zentradi fire beams at the city while the Macross is trying to get its fighters launched. Misa ends up focusing of VT-102, in which Hikaru is sitting, and he launches (just like in the TV show. Same dialogue and everything). He calls her an “old lady.” She gets upset and calls him a chauvinist. Then he launches.

Pages 9-11

Just like in the show, he’s shocked by the reality of combat. He gets hit.

Pages 11-13

He has a vision (memory?) of flying in biplanes with Focker. Unlike the original version of the comic, the Macross doesn’t crash in the middle of their flight.

Pages 13-18

Hikaru is spiraling out of control. Misa tells him he’s heading right for the SDF-1. He doesn’t know what to do, so she tells him to (DYRL-style) turn the throttle up to turn to battroid. He does this, and is astonished that his fighter is changing.

MIKIMOTO’S POSTSCRIPT:

“Right now, I’m in the middle of revising the comic. Previously, being a contrary person, I had a bad habit of making puzzle-like panel layouts. But this time, we’re working on making it easier to read, and making the characters (and the staff the mecha scenes) more proficient overall. And the work continues on… I don’t know if we’ll be able to meet the deadlines, but please enjoy the comic!”