Dana Sterling - Deleted Scene Featuring Baby Dana

Deleted Scene Featuring Baby Dana

In episode 30 of the original Japanese The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, entitled Viva Maria, (or Viva Miriya in the English Robotech), a scene occurs onboard Breetai's ship in which Hikaru Ichijyo/Rick Hunter, Misa Hayase/Lisa Hayes and Claudia LaSalle/Claudia Grant are sitting for drinks in Maximilian Jenius/Max Sterling and Milia Fallyna Jenius/Miriya Parina Sterling's room. As everyone happily watches, Milia feeds baby Komilia/Dana her bottle.

Afterward, Milia smiles as she holds Komilia in her arms and gently tickles her; in response, Komilia laughs and coos as she playfully wiggles while reaching for Milia's face. Misa, after watching enviously, asks Milia if she could hold Komilia for a bit. Initially, Milia refuses and tells Misa "If you want to hold a baby, why not make one of your own? I made this one." to which Misa responds with a shocked expression. Max then tells Milia that she shouldn't talk like that and to let Misa hold Komilia. Milia then agrees and, to the shock of everyone (except Max), yells "Catch!" and throws Komilla across the table to Misa, who barely manages to catch her in time. Max, who is completely unfazed by what Milia has done, says not to worry since Komilia has "a strong skeleton."

As Misa harsly criticizes Milia (who states with little emotion that she can protect her own child) for throwing Komilia and taking her along at all on such a dangerous mission, Komilia playfully grabs a lock of Misa's hair, to which Misa, after an initial shock, smiles and laughs in response. Misa and Claudia then shift all their attention to Komilia, admiring her, arguing over who should hold her and making her laugh. Both find Komilia adorable and are amazed that she isn't shy at all around them. Misa in particular is overjoyed as she holds Komilia in her arms and lifts her up in the air. Meanwhile, Max whispers to Hikaru Ichijyo that Misa looks so happy holding Komilia and that she really loves babies. Max then suggests that Misa would be even happier if it was her own baby. He then adds, suggestively glancing at Ichijyo, that "Wouldn't you like to see her with a baby of her own? Right captain Ichijyo?" to which Ichiyo responds "Don't look at me like that."

By the end of the scene, everyone is laughing and nobody seems to show any further concern about Milia's actions (or Max's lack of concern) - or the serious danger that Komilia could be in due to Milia's severe misconceptions on how to handle a baby.

Later, Claudia tells Misa that "Seeing you holding Komilia...It suited you" to which Misa responds with a surprised expression. When Claudia is alone, she reflects on the death of her lover, Roy Focker/Roy Fokker, and says to herself, "Roy...I never got a chance to hold your baby."

This scene was almost completely deleted when the series was edited into the Robotech saga, except for brief shots showing Dana sleeping in Miriya's arms and Max cleaning up some dishes. Tellingly, the apron which Max is seen wearing reads Max and Millia as opposed to the English version names Max and Miriya. The only dialogue in reference to this scene involves Lisa stating that she held Dana for the entire afternoon and that she didn't cry at all the entire time and Claudia stating that she envies the Sterlings for having such a beautiful little girl.

In book six of the Jack McKinney Robotech Novels, "Doomsday", there is a brief reference to this scene. As Rick, Lisa and Claudia are walking back from the party, Claudia says to Lisa "I don't think Miriya should have thrown Dana to you. She has to learn to be more careful!" Lisa then replies that "it's an adjustment for her. After all, her role model was probably the neighboring test tube" (a reference to the fact that Miriya is a Zentraedi who was artificially grown).

When ADV Films released an unedited English dub of the original Macross series in 2006, this scene was not deleted. However, Max's dialogue is changed slightly - instead of stating that Komilia has "a strong skeleton," he states that Komilia has "an amazingly strong skeleton."

This scene has become a topic of intense discussion and debate among Robotech fans as to why it was deleted and whether or not Milia/Miriya's actions were as dangerous to Komilia/Dana as they appear. Some fans believe the scene was deleted simply to allow for a clip of the Robotech Masters command triumvirate discussing their low protoculture levels in order to help lead into the Second Robotech saga (which in the original Japanese version, is a completely unrelated series). Other fans believe the scene was deleted because it could potentially give the impression to children that throwing a baby is far less dangerous than it is in real life.