Macross Frontier ep 6
Okay, in two weeks, I have gone from Tokyo to Kuala Lumpur to Layang Layang (East Malaysia) to Penang (West Malaysia) to Kuala Lumpur to Tokyo to Toronto. Me is tired. And jet lagged. The things I do for friends and family…
To cut a long story short, I loved ep 6 of Macross Frontier. It had all the elements that I look forward to in anime - great art, great direction, and great sense of storytelling with both humour and plot advancement. Lots of little touches here and there that show off the scriptwriter’s experience. A bit old style perhaps, but just the way I liked it. Not that I thought ep 5 was horrible or anything; dating antics are a necessary part of the Macross universe, and it was really fun to see the Zentradi suburb with all the giant cow-hippoes and panties ^^. But that felt like the creators kinda goofing off and inserting fan service (valid of course) under the guise of character and relationship development.
Summary and Thoughts
This episode starts with an explanation of the fold system. I like this gimmick of beginning each episode with new bits of Macross background, which helps both newcomers and old fans by setting common ground. Then, before the opening, the story picks up with Ranka’s storyline. The hippy Zentradi from the previous episode is a small producer convinced Ranka’s voice is the best thing since, well, Minmay. And so he goes to “receive” Ranka from Ozma in a hilarious parallel to asking for a girl’s hand in marriage. And Ozma, with probably on of the funniest constipated expressions, agrees. Then we see a scene of Sheryl rehearsing for her farewell concert. Sheryl! <3
After the opening, we have Alto and co. Alto has found Sheryl’s earring (thank god, I was afraid this plot point would amount to nothing more than a reason for Sheryl to be thrown together with Alto). Alto’s little date with Sheryl is now common knowledge thanks to Michel’s rather public teasing. Alto, in the grand tradition of anime males tying their own nooses, tells Ranka that he was alone in Zentradi town when he saw her singing. Way to go, Alto. Plus, you gave her a ticket to Sheryl’s concert, strike two. BTW, I thought this was a really nicely done scene with nice writing and pacing.
In the meantime, the governor of Frontier has decided to tell the public of the Vajra, due to overwhelming evidence and the fact that Galaxy may have gotten wiped, and Frontier has to help. Sheryl, too, has received word of the attack on Galaxy, and is understandably upset.
The announcement of the Vajra attack is made immediately, and SMS are scrambled. Ranka, watching the news alone in her apartment, realizes that Ozma let her join the agency because he knows he has to go fight and can’t righteously deny Ranka her will while blatantly breaking his own promise to her.
Alto is being his usual moping self, but when he sees Sheryl television interview, in which she expresses her gratitude for Frontier’s decision to help Galaxy (elegantly shooting down a reporter who suggests that it may be detrimental to Frontier to attract the attention of the Vajra by doing so) and then vehemently asserts her conviction to perform and return home to Galaxy, Alto acts.
He runs to her the concert hall and forces his way backstage, where Sheryl is feeling nerves before her concert. He’s rather cute in his embarrassment as he hands Sheryl’s lost earring back. This proceeds to a quiet moment between the two, as Sheryl opens up and explains that the earring is a memory of her mother, a mother whose face she can’t remember. She asks Alto if he likes this ship, and he answers that he hates it, because it has no sky. Their conversation is interrupted by a call from Michel to Alto telling him to get the hell back to base for their coming battle. Alto tries to hand the earring over, but Sheryl tells him to keep it - it is a good luck charm. She then confesses that she hates Galaxy and gets depressed, but then Alto breaks the mood by telling her he can’t deal with her in that mood, then runs off by saying he’ll take her lucky charm. “I’m just lending it! You’d better be back to return it!” shouts Sheryl after him.
While this is happening, the SMS battleship launches, with Cathy aboard. She has been assigned to be the military liaison on this mission. Hmm, shades of Misa, anyone? The scouting team detects multiple defolds - the Galaxy fleet with some rather undesirable hitchhikers…
Thus we enter the final sequence of the episode, which really put the finishing touches on the whole build-up. As the soldiers get ready of war, Sheryl begins her concert, and sings her song of good-bye in a send-off of love. It’s cheezy and cliche and the art and animation were a little wonky with Sheryl, but maybe because I love this song “Diamond Crevasse”, I was soooo into this last part. Especially when it blended right into the ED. This is what makes me love anime, year after year, decade after decade.
More thoughts
I loved Sheryl in this episode. Her strength is moving, and more so now that we have a glimpse of her back story. And I like Alto and everything he does, despite his little faux pas in hiding his date with Sheryl from Ranka. He’s a good guy with good intentions and he’s not an annoying brat, thank god.
After rewatching, I realized I love Sheryl’s voice. This is not the same as her singing, which is done by someone else. I like her voice itself, it’s kinda hard to explain but it’s grown up and very attractive. On the other hand, I’m not much for Ranka’s voice acting, but I think she’s got a great singing voice.
Based upon the previous episode, one could conjecture that a Sheryl-Ranka rivalry is a-brewing. I say, based on the opening, that they will join to form the ultimate song of triumph ^^
Time to put Sheryl single of repeat again. Woo!
