Hikaru Ichijyo


 * This article is about the character from The Super Dimension Fortress Macross. See Rick Hunter for the derived character in Robotech''.

Hikaru Ichijyo (一条 輝 Ichijō Hikaru) is one of the main fictional characters of the Macross Japanese anime series. His voice actor was Arihiro Hase in the Original Japanese version and Vic Mignogna in the English dub by ADV Films in January 2006. After the death of Arihiro Hase in 1996, he was played by Kenji Nojima in the PlayStation 2 Macross video game from 2003.

The original animation and the distributors Bandai Visual and Victor Entertainment romanizes his name as Hikaru Ichijyo, while AnimEigo and ADV Films also use Hikaru Ichijo and Hikaro Ichijo.

Background
According to the fictional continuity of Macross, Hikaru Ichijo is japanese. Hikaru grew up with his father as a talented aerobatic flier, having won seven amateur flying contests by the age of 16 in 2009. When his "senpai" Roy Focker invited him to the launch ceremony of the SDF-1 Macross he found himself pulled into a galactic war against an alien race called the Zentradi. He later joins the UN Spacy after a talk with Focker and Lynn Minmay. Shortly after joining, he gains a reputation as a skilled pilot and leader, and he is promoted to second lieutenant and later first lieutenant. He pilots the VF-1S Valkyrie "Skull One" after the death of Focker, and is eventually promoted to captain at the end of the series.



Hikaru is an atypical anime sci-fi hero. Despite some early personality clashes with his female superior officer Misa Hayase, Hikaru is a rather humble and jovial type of person, in contrast to the usual hot-headed type of heroes of other mecha series. He displays leadership abilities early on and has a deep sense of responsibility and duty. However, unlike most lead characters, he concedes that his subordinate, Maximilian Jenius, is the best in battle, which makes him a prized wingman in Hikaru's squadron. His personal feelings tend toward two women: his friend-turned-idol Japanese-Chinese girl Lynn Minmay, and Misa. Being a shy person, he seems incapable of defining what he really feels for each of them, creating a tense love triangle that became as interesting and essential to the Macross story as the mecha battles and action sequences amid the alien-human apocalyptic war.

Captain Ichijyo became test pilot for one of the first prototypes of the VF-4 Lightning III variable fighter set to replace the VF-1 Valkyrie.

After the war Hikaru eventually wed Misa Hayase and together with Lynn Minmay boarded the SDF-2 Megaroad-01 in 2012 to leave on a stellar exploration and colonization mission. Hikaru and Misa had a daughter in 2013 which they named Miku Ichijyo. Hikaru Ichijyo was also in command of the new VF-4 Lightning III Skull Squadron assigned as defense of the Megaroad-01 fleet, which disappeared 4 years later in 2016 A.D. near the center of the galaxy with him, Misa, Miku and Minmay onboard.

Legacy
Hikaru Ichijyo's legacy within the ongoing future history of the Macross series has been a palpable presence. The new Macross Frontier anime TV series contains numerous references to Ichijyo's career on the SDF-1.
 * In Macross 7 as well, the Macross 7 fleet make a play entitled "Do you remember love?", which retells the events of Macross: Do you remember love?, and Basara Nekki, the main character of Macross 7 plays the role of Hikaru Ichijyo in the film.
 * The Mihoshi Academy onboard the Macross Frontier has a VF-1 Valkyrie fighter atop the roof. It is not just any VF-1, however - it is Ichijyo's first mount as leader of the Vermilion Squad of Skull Squadron.
 * Alto Saotome, as most junior pilot of Skull Squadron (a position shared with Ichijyo), has his VF-25 Messiah fighter decorated in the same colors.