Among the many alarming scenes I spotted while reading White Reminiscences, I flagged one as particularly puzzling, as it’s completely at odds with the hyper-competent, determined, workaholic officer we see in the TV series; in a conversation she has with Riber, he asks her what she wants to be when she grows up – a rather simple question for most children, who generally respond readily and, in most cases, enthusiastically and proudly. Any child growing up in a normal household has some sort of dream for their future: some want to become doctors, others want to become pilots, teachers, nurses, and so on.

Daddy’s Little Girl – No-Dreams Misa

Misa, however, is caught by surprise – and so was I, the reader. She has no dreams for her future in the drawers of her mind, so she scrambles to improvise an answer and comes up with a false narrative about hoping to become the captain of a small ship one day. The truth is that Misa is portrayed as having only one dream: to remain “daddy’s little girl” forever, but she knows it’s impossible.

Materially and socially, Misa shouldn’t be so deprived in this department. She comes from an obviously upper-class family and is given upper-class education (White Reminiscences specifically tells us she went to Toyo Eiwa, a prestigious all-girls private school); her father’s social circle – please note the absence of evidence of her mother’s social circle – are high-ranking officers, dignitaries, diplomats, and politicians, and their children. Obviously, this is a social circle of people who are, ostensibly, well-educated and worldly. In a circle like this, a child’s brain ought to be literally bombarded with aspirational stimuli – not to mention the fact that children themselves have a tendency to come up with their “possible selves”, i.e. the cognitive representations of who the child might become, hopes to become, or even fears becoming (Markus & Nurius 1986; Oyserman, Bybee & Terry 2006).

I remember very well that, back when I was in Misa’s age bracket as given in White Reminiscences (that period was 1988-1993), my friends and I often talked about our vocational dreams among ourselves and with our parents and teachers. Of course, a school of Toyo Eiwa’s caliber couldn’t be accused of not providing its students with stimuli and incentives for developing their vocational dreams. Yet, Misa has no vocational aspirations for her future. This, to me, is a scathing indictment of the Hayase family.

Any parent worth their salt seeks to inspire their child to aspire to become something and someone in the future – to enable the child to construct their “possible selves”. These “possible selves” serve as the motivational bridge from the child’s current self to their future behavior (Markus & Nurius 1986; Oyserman, Bybee & Terry 2006). A single, isolated conversation with the child about their potential career in the future isn’t enough to form these “possible selves”. This formation happens over time and through a combination of daily influences: hearing their parents talk about their day at work while having dinner together; seeing and interacting with a variety of adult role models (real and fictional); being encouraged by parents, relatives, teachers and even peers, e.g. during play, to imagine and even rehearse different futures; discussing expectancies and values, i.e. the parents’ belief that the child can succeed at a given path and that this path is worth pursuing (Eccles 1987; Eccles & Wigfield 2020).

But what spark does the Hayase household give Misa to set her imagination alight? Her father’s a complete bore: in White Reminiscences, he’s explicitly portrayed as being obsessed with two things – his career and the preservation of the decades-long Hayase military legacy. He’s extremely proud of both, as his conduct amply demonstrates. The novel portrays him as a man who only ever discusses matters pertaining to his job and diverts every conversation to military affairs. His conversation universe is the war, and he’s the only adult professional model in Misa’s everyday life. The material doesn’t even show him to have any kind of hobby – not even a cliché like watching football (soccer for the American audience).

Staying on the vocational aspiration front, Ōnogi doesn’t give us a shred of evidence that there’s ever been even a single conversation between Takashi and Misa – or Sakiko and Misa, for that matter – about what she might do in her future, as an autonomous person with her own vocation. Until after the conversation with Riber, we don’t see her tell her father – or her mother, but we’ll discuss her later – “I want to be this when I grow up.” The “captain of a small ship” aspiration she improvises is a response to Riber, not her father. As for Misa’s true dream, to remain “daddy’s little girl” forever, there’s only one conclusion I can reasonably reach: the Hayase household is barren and has only ever rewarded her for occupying one role: “daddy’s little girl.” And she knows it has an expiry date.

But why does she know she can’t be “daddy’s little girl” forever? What has she been shown by her father about what she is to him? In the eyes of any actually loving, doting, and protective father who has a healthy relationship with his daughter – and especially his only daughter, as is the case with Misa – she’ll always be his little girl. Of course, their relationship will evolve as she grows up from baby to toddler to preteen to adolescent to adult and he gets older, but the unconditional affection and love always remain. So, why does Misa know she can’t have that and is looking for something new?

Although Ōnogi doesn’t tell us why Misa can’t have her wish regarding her relationship with her father, my hypothesis, which I believe is given decent support by the canonical material, is that his warmth, validation, and affection aren’t entirely unconditional. It seems that there’s a conditional or, if we’re to be less lenient to him, transactional element: if Misa wants warmth, validation, and affection, then she must conform to a certain model and a certain set of expectations. Therefore, I believe that this “something new” she’s looking for at this stage of her life is a path that’ll enable her to live up to the standard her father represents in her eyes, to his expectations of what she must be, and thus win his continued affection and validation.

What are Takashi’s expectations, though? Macross Chronicle claims that he assesses her more as a fellow officer than as a daughter (DeAgostini Japan 2013). This claim frames him as a man who sees his daughter mostly as a professional. However, his conduct in White Reminiscences and in SDFM greatly diminishes the plausibility of this claim. I already established that, during Misa’s preteen years, he didn’t equip her with the inspiration to build her “possible selves”. In later parts of this analysis, more evidence will emerge – again from canonical material like White Reminiscences and the series itself – that discredits Chronicle’s claim of viewing her as a competent professional.

Additionally, his presence in her adult life, as portrayed both in White Reminiscences and SDFM, does little to serve Chronicle’s narrative: his private dialogues with her never include any mention of her professional capacity as the Macross’ Air Group Chief Tactical Officer (or, in US Air Force terms, Chief Air Battle Manager) or her career. Instead, he focuses on either making arrangements so she’ll be able to leave the Macross, which he throws to the wolves, and thus abandon her comrades and friends, or on whether there’s a man in her life.

Bibliography

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2. DeAgostini Japan (2013). ‘Hayase Takashi’ [早瀬隆司], in Weekly Macross Chronicle [週刊マクロス・クロニクル] / New Edition, Character Sheet M-Sheet 09A: ‘People of the United Nations Military’ [地球統合軍の人々]. Tokyo: DeAgostini Japan (In Japanese.)
3. Eccles, J.S. (1987). Gender roles and women’s achievement-related decisions. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 11(2), pp. 135–172.
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8. Oyserman, D., Bybee, D. and Terry, K. (2006). Possible selves and academic outcomes: how and when possible selves impel action. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(1), pp. 188–204.
9. Tomita, S. (prose) and Akane, A. (lyrics) (1983). Chōjikū Yōsai Makurosu Vol. IV: Harukanaru Omoi [超時空要塞マクロス Vol. IV 遥かなる想い; The Super Dimension Fortress Macross Vol. IV: Distantly Fading Memories] (audio drama). Tokyo: Victor Musical Industries. (In Japanese.)