Macross Dynamite 7

Macross Dynamite 7 (マクロスダイナマイト7) is an anime OVA set one year after the events in Macross 7. Released in 1997 in celebration of Macross' 15th anniversary, Macross Dynamite 7 was a four episode OVA that continued the Macross 7 series' story.

Synopsis
One year after the final battle between Geppernich and the Macross 7 fleet in 2046 ended in a victory for the Macross 7, the fleet continues its journey into deep space whilst undergoing major repair work. During that time, Firebomber had held what was to be their largest, and final concert, before Basara Nekki left Macross 7 and the band behind, with his guitar as a constant companion, on a journey around the galaxy leaving behind nothing more than a letter for the band. (At this point, his Fire Valkyrie had been destroyed after the previous battle.)

During his journey, he stops on a planet named "Zola", which is inhabited by a race of humanoid marsupials called the Zolan. While staying there, he becomes involved in a battle between galactic space whale poachers and the Zola Patrol (Zola's equivalent of a police force). After being injured, he is taken into the care of a young Zolan girl named Elma Hollie, who has a sister, Liza, that works for the Zola Patrol. Her father, Graham Hollie, is also a whale poacher. Graham and his wife Maria Hollie, a very popular singer on Zola, would go hunting whales in their Valkyrie, and Maria would also sing to the whales while they hunted. However, Maria lost her life and Graham lost an arm after encountering the legendary Great White Galactic Whale. After the event, Graham swore revenge on the Great White Whale for taking his wife and his arm and underwent Macronization to become large enough to take it on.

Back on Macross 7, Mylene Jenius is left as the lead singer of Firebomber and is also concentrating on a solo career. She still has unresolved feelings for Basara, and her relationship with Gamlin Kizaki hasn't advanced any further beyond a close friendship. The people around Mylene clearly see that it is interfering with her performances and Gamlin soon decides to search for Basara's Song Energy in the hopes of bringing him back.

Production notes
Macross Dynamite 7 contains some allegorical references to Moby-Dick. For instance, Graham Hoilie, who vows to kill the Great White Galactic Whale, is likened to Captain Ahab, especially since both had lost a limb due to the creature they were pursuing (Ahab lost a leg, whereas Graham lost an arm).

Mylene Beat
The story of the manga Mylene Beat is a companion piece to the events of the Dynamite 7 OVA. It consists of 5 chapters, with chapters 2 - 4 titled after the first 3 episodes of the OVA. However the story of Chapter 1 titled DIAMOND CALLING actually starts before the OVA's story, which features the last performance of Firebomber with Basara as the lead singer. It is in Chapter 3 titled SANCTUARY where the story links in with the OVA where Episode 1 (WONDER) starts with Mylene finding the note that Basara left behind.

The manga expands further on Mylene's story, introducing the producer that she eventually works for (who is seen in Episode 2 of the OVA), and also the beginning of her new singing career as the lead singer of the Jamming Angels, featuring the female members of the former Jammingbirds. Mylene's parents Max and Millia, Akiko Houjoh, and Dr. Chiba also return in the manga, whereas those characters never featured in the OVA. Perhaps the most notable (or notorious) scene that is expanded from the OVA is the scene where Mylene becomes the victim of an attempted lesbian-rape by her producer. It was never shown in detail what had happened in the OVA, but the manga shows that Mylene reacts strongly to the presence of a large dragon-like creature about to attack the colony, influencing her Zentradi insticts and ends up fighting off her attacker. It is then Ray and Veffidas break in to save Mylene.

The manga concludes with Mylene reuniting with the remaining members of Firebomber to fend off the attacking creature, only to reach out to it with their singing, and guiding it on its way. The events of this story essentially influence Mylene to leave Macross 7 to search for Basara herself.

Opening and ending animation
Although the main animation of the OVA was done through Ashi Productions, the opening animation was created by Gonzo. The opening animation for all four episodes differ slightly. The first opening compared to the other three openings is the most different. Although there are certain sections of the other three openings used, this version of the opening mainly consists of Basara's various travels after leaving Macross 7 behind, hitching rides on various spacecraft and other forms of transportation, all the while singing along the way, until he eventually arrives at Zola.

The other three openings consist mainly of concert footage of Firebomber during their last performance together. These three openings differ slightly as each one builds upon the last. One notable example is the audience. At the beginning you don't see any audience members, but as the OVA progresses, the concert gets larger and you see the audience members gradually filling up the venue. Also the way the characters are animted differs in that the first time you see them, they are only static images, whereas later on they are actually animated. Other differences include holographic text displayed during the concert, and the way that the hologram of Basara's Valkyrie is animated. The song for all four openings is "Dynamite Explosion" sung by Yoshiki Fukuyama.

The closing animation continues a theme used in the original Macross series and also in Macross 7, but also adds onto it as well. In Macross and Macross 7, photos were taken of actual locations and characters (Minmay from Macross and Mylene from Macross 7) were superimposed onto the photos. Macross Dynamite 7 expands on the idea by superimposing an animated Basara into video footage that Shoji Kawamori had taken during trips to India and the U.S. Shots include a street in San Francisco with Basara singing in front of a cable car (although given that the look of the city in Macross Frontier is based somewhat on San Francisco, it can be assumed in retrospect that Basara had at one point visited the Macross Frontier), and a pan shot in India where Basara is momentarily seen standing in a river. The animators also have Basara animated to interact with the environment. In two examples, Basara is animated rowing a boat in India and is also seen trying to travel in a violent storm, only to be blown back by the strong wind. The song for all four endings is "Parade" sung by Yoshiki Fukuyama.

Each episode ends with a preview of the next. They follow in the same vein as the episode previews of the TV series in that it's usually a conversation between Basara and Mylene, only in this case the conversation is over a voice communication link like a telephone call, remembering of course that through the entire OVA, both the characters are separated. The songs for the episode previews were instrumental versions of "Feel Universe," "Mizu no you na Ai no you na," and "Angel Voice."

Audio
Tracks from the OVA were released in the ''DYNAMITE FIRE!! and RADIO FIRE!! albums.