Hikaru Ichijyo

Infobox animanga character
name = Hikaru Ichijyo
series = Macross


caption =
first = Episode 1 - "Boobytrap"
last = Episode 36 - "Yasashisa Sayonara"
creator =
voiced by = Arihiro Hase
oaux* name =
oaux* =
nickname =
alias =
age = 17 (in episode 1)
gender = Male
species = Human
born = November 4, 1992
death =
nationality =
class =
occupation =
title =
relatives = Misa Hayase "(Wife)" (2012-Present)
Takashi Hayase "(Father in law)"
paux* name =
paux* =
divider =
aux* name =
aux* =

Hikaru Ichijyo (一条 輝 "Ichijō Hikaru") is the protagonist and central character of the anime series "Macross". He is known as Rick Hunter in the "Robotech" adaptation. His voice actor was Arihiro Hase in the Original Japanese version and Vic Mignogna in the English dub by ADV Films in January 2006. Since the death of Arihiro Hase in 1996, he has been played by Kenji Nojima in the Playstation 2 video game.

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

Background

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. 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.

After the war, Hikaru weds Misa, and they board the SDF-2 Megaroad-01 in 2012 to leave on a stellar exploration and colonization mission and they also have a daughter in 2013 named Miku Ichijyo. The Megaroad-01 disappears in 2016 without a trace near the center of the galaxy with all them onboard.