The Robotech Holiday Special will be rewatched after these messages.
If you’re at that slightly exhausted, sleepy & mildly nauseous period that hits after Christmas festivities – or just at this end of the year, frankly – then this is the Robotech episode for you.
Episode 35 – Seasons Greetings
It’s a very Robotech Christmas! Don’t you love the way I manipulated the reviews to make sure we got this episode this week?
So, Khyron and his amazing friends are hanging out in the Amazon rainforest, because it’s one of the first places to have recovered and therefore there are some trees to hide behind.
Khyron is still crazysauce, in case you were wondering.
It’s Christmas at New Macross City!
Rick’s plan to make Lisa not hate him any more is to ask her out for coffee. It’s devastating in its brilliant simplicity. Sadly, she’s not at work, which throws him for a loop.
Konda, Rico and Bron have had more casual jobs than Buffy the Vampire Slayer at this point – they’re selling toys out of a stall, which isn’t going that well for them.
Minmei sits on her sad swing at the playground near her aunt and uncle’s latest restaurant, feeling miserable in the snow. The Zentraedi boys spot her and call out happily but as soon as she sees them, she flees. They wonder what they said
She turns up on Rick’s doorstep, sad and snow-flecked, and he welcomes her in as a friend. She sobs on his shirt.
As Minmei complains about her life, Rick points out that she sounds kind of self-pitying, which is a glorious revelation because it’s the first time Rick has ever said anything critical about her ever.
At one point she says ‘my life is a song’ and he resorts to sarcasm. It’s awesome.
But – of course, Lisa has decided Christmas is the time to forgive Rick, just in time to hear Minmei begging him to let her stay. Lisa does some awesome angry running, and then cries in the snow against a pretty lamp post.
Claudia, also sad in the snow, drops into a bar to drink a toast to Roy, only to find a drunken Lisa singing ‘Stage Fright’ into her empty glass. Oh, Lisa, how the mighty have fallen. And also, this is my favourite use of the song ‘Stage Fright’ in all of Robotech.
The next day, Lisa finds out that the bridge crew are having a Christmas party and only just thought to invite her. (I find it very unlikely that any party involving this lot would ever happen without Lisa being in charge of it, involving spreadsheets and pie charts) Kim suggest she invites Rick, and Lisa brushes off the idea with a sarcastic remark about him being at home with a miserable… cold.
Nice one, Lisa.
Khyron invades New Macross City because Merry fucking Christmas everyone! Rick is outraged when he hears about it, because he hasn’t been called into work.
Casualties are very high in the battle, which Minmei learns about while shopping for pineapples. I’m not even kidding about the pineapples. There is a slow pan of her dropping a pineapple in the shop while watching the news. What did the pineapples do to you, Minmei?
“Attention Micronians, this is Khyron the Destroyer. I want to wish all the people of Earth a merry Christmas, and I send you a special greeting from Santa Claus. May all your foolish holidays be as bright as this one.”
BEST CHRISTMAS MESSAGE EVER.
Rick gives Lisa a serve for pretending he was sick, and she replies coldly that she knows all about Minmei staying with him.
The SDF1 is lit up like a Christmas tree, and there are carols. Rick comes home to find a tearful Minmei who has passive aggressively cooked him a full Christmas dinner. I’m not entirely sure how she was going to use the pineapples.
Also, why is it that Minmei’s only two relationship settings are ‘aloof, mostly ignoring you’ and ‘stalkery housewife’?
There’s kissing. Team Lisa (which is to say, me and my family) are most displeased.
This weekly rewatch of classic animated space opera Robotech is brought to you as bonus content for the Musketeer Space project. Thanks to everyone who has linked, commented, and especially to my paid patrons. You can support Musketeer Space at Patreon.