Final Impression
If I had to choose one word to describe this series, I would choose: Disappointment.
It was such a letdown. It was about half way through the series I realized that we were not going to get a neat and tidy ending. It is incredibly disappointing it wounded up this way because this series had a lot of potential. But with the poor choices made in regards of pacing, lack of character development and spending way too much time on the Love Triangle between Freyja x Hayate x Mirage, it ended up as a hot mess. 
I think one of the most frustrating parts about this series is the lack of screen time and development for Walkure as a group as well as individually for their members early on in the series. It’s something I expected more of, especially since Freyja had just joined the group. Instead, they hardly showed us anything, leaving Mikumo’s mysteries until the final quarter of the series and we never got to see Freyja become truly involved with the group, which is a joke in itself really. You’d think the new member would be more involved don’t you think? But nope, instead we see her hanging out with Mirage and Hayate and that was pretty much the focus, the love triangle among the three of them. I think this is also one of the contributing factors of the Walkure girls lacking the much needed screen time and development they needed. Let’s look at Reina, what do we know about her?
Nothing. It’s the end of the series, but we know nothing about her beyond the fact she’s a hacker and been recruited into Walkure and because of that she was spared of arrest. And Makina, what else do we know about her besides the fact it was her dream to be an idol, and this wasn’t quite what she signed up for, but pursued it anyways. Kaname and Freyja are probably the only ones with some form of development, but even Freyja as the main character hardly got anything beyond the fact she needed to dig deep into her heart and figure out the true reason why she sings. Then we have Mikumo, who is the more complicated character of the group. It is an understatement for her mystery to be unraveled so late into the game, but did it really have to wait out foreshadowing it until after they passed the half way point of the series? I think this is one of the biggest mistakes which resulted the consequences of having a rushed ending. Furthermore, we still know nothing about the Chaos Organization, who is responsible for reviving Mikumo in the first place, and that frustrates me. I suppose the only positive outcome of this is that Mikumo’s character is a total badass and that’s what made people love her. It is a real shame we will never get to see Mikumo learn to forged her own path and identity, because once she is given the freedom to explore, she is not just a badass but a very charming and adorable girl.
And let’s not forget about Heinz. He is the one character that did not get any character development whatsoever. The worst part about this is the fact he was one of few characters who desperately needed it. It infuriated me to see him receive crucial advice from Keith, (at right time too) but never acted on it. Instead Heinz wounded up as merely a puppet for Roid to use to pursue his lifelong goals. It was only within the final episode Heinz realized Roid had betrayed them and was trying to pursue his own goals and only then Heinz ordered the Aerial Knights to form a temporary alliance with Walkure/Delta Platoon to take out Roid.
Among all the characters, Hayate and Mirage were probably the only ones who had any form of decent character development. Hayate had to learn to obey orders and stop being such an immature brat as a pilot of the Delta Platoon, and slowly but surely adapted to his role appropriately after undergoing some very cruel moments of reality-checks. As for Mirage- well, I was going to say Mirage had to overcome the expectations from her peers because of her family’s history as pilots, but now that I think of it, it was kind of slipped under the rug now wasn’t it? Her development seemed to have shifted its focus to bearing the burden of the one-sided crush. Needless to say though it is because of that is what makes Mirage probably one of the best characters of the series. Though she knew it was futile, she never acted immaturely about it, she always treated Freyja as a fair rival, and ultimately stepped up to the plate to give her the nudge she needed to confess her feelings. Mirage is hands down the most selfless character of the series, and that alone makes her a lovable character.
Finally, we have Roid and Keith. It goes without saying the tense relationship created an interesting dynamic. Their interactions and differences made it very clear how the rift was forming between them, and one was always went when would it be the breaking point. Keith and his keen eyes were sharp enough to catch onto Roid’s suspicious behavior, and began to question his intentions and trust. It is why he tried to encourage Heinz to start thinking for himself and not simply going along with the advice he has been given.
Roid on the other-hand was blinded by his ambitions. His ultimate goal was to create the Star Singer, which he had at one point thought King Heinz would be the one who play that role, that is until he discovered the truth behind Mikumo’s identity. Once that was out, he was long gone and immediately pledged loyalty to the true Star Singer. Roid’s development as the villain was probably the most consistent part of the story. They foreshadowed it very early on, making it so the audience can begin to draw suspicions towards him, but it is a shame how his ultimate plan didn’t last for long since it only went online within the very final episode.But the end of their days was a crappy one to say the least. Keith jumps off and stabs Roid so fast I intially didn’t know what had happened, and then the next thing we know, the entire place is blown up and the two of them die, just like that.What the fuck?
Keith really did not deserve to be killed off in such fashion, so that ticked me off.
I could go on about the crappy treatment many other characters had received, as well as how poorly paced the storyline was (the ending was so rushed, it made everything corny and stupid), but I think you get my point.
It is sad to say Macross Delta had a sloppy finale, I couldn’t find it in me to enjoy it even a little. They didn’t kill everyone off, but they might had well because what a lackluster ending this was. Many of the events that took place today were the events I was hoping to see sooner, at least three episodes before the finale because I knew it was going to wound up as a train-wreck. A part of me had hoped there was maybe going to be second season, that’s how bad the pacing was. But alas nope, it appears that may have never been an option.
Macross Delta could have been an amazing series. They had a lot of Easter Eggs and references for veteran fans who had watched the previous successors of the Macross series, the music (though many were worried in the beginning) / original soundtrack was awesome, and the characters had so much potential, but at the end of the day, it all of that went down the drain. As result I don’t think I have it in me to recommend this series to anyone. If you are not terribly invested in it, maybe you will be fine watching it, but don’t expect anything amazing besides the music (it is literally the only redeeming quality of this series). The lackluster ending and final quarter may make you feel like you had wasted your time. So tread with caution, because this is not something everyone will necessarily enjoy.
Final Grade: 6/10
I thought Mirage had the worst character development, especially since she is supposed to be a MC, she always felt like 2nd even to Walkure. Her whole arc was looking sadly at HayaFre, and even in the end it came to that. IA she was selfless and such a good person, but for a character alone, I’m sad for her the most that she just became a push for HayaFre…which was sailing properly anyway. Like her last shot is her looking at HayaFre. =/
Then yeah, IA everyone deserved a push regarding development Freyja was the one best developed, and I like Hayate as well but he lacked a bit of hero part as a whole. But the villains were along with MIrage the most meh regarding motives and all to me. I never felt the threat, the damnnn the galaxy oh noes. The space battles were lackluster, couldn’t care less about the pilots, it was all about listening to Mirage saying delta 4 and someone catching a Walkure.
Anyway I really like the series though, complaints and all. From 17 onwards the plot became messy and when we were in 23 you just knew they wouldn’t make a proper plot line lol.
But since I like Freyja, Hayate, HayaFre and the Walkure girls (they deserved more development but I felt their love idk), and the songs were amazing, I enjoyed this plenty. Very messy ending though, Keith didn’t deserve that (I think he is alive and a movie is coming, but I’m probably asking for too much), battles were pointless and everyone was smiling toooo damn much for the type of battle it was lol.
You know what, now that you mention it: you’re absolutely right about how Mirage had the worst development. I think I was caught up or had gotten too caught up with the flow of how she had been reduced to the unrequited love status and all I could think of is, “Mirage is so selfless” when really she received absolutely no love from anyone- not even the writers.
Eh maybe the movie will be better. I did like Macross Frontier’s movie better than the series too.
Worst Macross since II. This is basically what happens when you let Japanese Wehraboo’s write a Mecha anime(The Wind stus being Japan expies. Though not-Zeon deserved to be nuked. At least they had characters who were well written and executed). The only time you throw out tradition is if you can produce something that is actually good. It’s basically Gundam Age of Macross. In fact a member of Macross world said “The Macross Delta series is a really poorly-executed riff on the plot of Macross 30: Voices Across the Galaxy.” Which says to me that we would have been better off getting an animated adaption of Macross 30 instead.
The plot threads would have not have been total asspulls if they were introduced before the second half. However 2010 era anime has the trend pulling crap at the last second, something real writers would never do. Do this in a comic or movie and people would be right to call your story garbage.