Wow, this episode gave me a lot to think about. Once again the series does the action/nonaction flip, and yes the art and animation are subpar, but I ended the episode liking and being interested in our main characters a lot more. I felt as if a whole lot more happened in this episode than the last three put together. BTW, all I know about Macross Zero I read in Wiki, so I just took those parts at face value.
First let’s get through the bad parts, of which there were quite a few. Case in point, the fight scene with the monster; I can see what they were trying to achieve with speed lines and angles and stuff, but this was just horribly executed. Note to ye ol’ studio: don’t do action scenes unless they are CG. Next, the monster itself was a really awful cartoony design. I also felt that the setup was very hard to swallow because it takes almost a year to make a movie even if you rush it, and of course that’s not the sense of time you get here.
On the other hand, personally those weren’t fatal problems. The art and animation I can forgive because a badly done action sequence doesn’t detract from all the character exposition that was brought in in this episode. The unrealistic nature of this plotline I just have to waive as a necessary evil.
So taking into account all that, well, I think I really liked this episode. Why? Because the characters are no longer 2-dimensional (it would be cruel to call them 1-dimensional as we did get some back story).
Alto isn’t a total ass or a whipping boy or the butt of jokes… He’s a decent guy who helps Ranka out, with some prodding and a bit of wriggling to save his pride (but, landing himself in even hotter water!).
Ranka’s been rather pathetic as of late, but here she gets a chance to show us that charisma and good nature that made us cheer for her in the first couple eps of the series. Spunky, bright, really cute when embarrassed, and a great singer when no one is looking, this is the heroine we want.
And Sheryl, finally Sheryl gets a chance to shine again. I’ve hated her childish-mixed-with-diva antics in the last few episodes and I was losing a large part of my interest in this show. Luckily we are treated to a fascinatingly complex character in these 24 minutes. Well, other people my see different, but that’s what she was to me. Her teasing of Alto is of course her natural way of showing interest and having fun, but her kiss with Alto reveals that 1) she actually does like Alto a lot, and 2) she is willing to sacrifice herself to push Ranka along.
I love the tug-of-war of desires in Sheryl that we are suddenly shown. Of the three, Sheryl is the one who probably thinks the deepest and widest, and hence is the most conflicted. That kiss was definitely no whimsical snatch of fun - that was absolute calculation to jerk Alto’s strings and also drive Ranka into a more aggressive stance concerning her career. Unfortunately, it had the unwanted, unexpected result of affecting Sheryl herself. Until now Alto’s been a game, a good fun game, easy to tease and get a rise out. This kiss changed that, and Sheryl can’t deceive herself anymore. The question is whether or not she can cope with managing her personal feelings for Alto while trying to keep Ranka’s interests in priority.
I’m not going to speculate on the Vajra or on the mysterious informant or on Brera. All that is just plot details and will be revealed in due time. So no wasting my brain CPU cycles on it ^^ Although I would take a guess and say that Brera is a survivor of a Vajra attack who’s been cyborg’d up. And Mao is now Doctor Mao who’s someone important. And Sheryl’s earrings are some kinda amplifier so she’s related?! Uh… wait, on second thought, scratch speculation :P
I will give kudos though to the creative episode formats. I like how they incorporate the ED here and there, and this time’s was also a very nice. It’s gimmicky but it shows that the studio and creators care about the show and want to do something special to make it memorable.
This was an excellent episode. Is it just me or have the last few eps been coming as bad-good pairs? For every episode with good art and writing, you have a farmed-out-to-foreign-substudio one. Watching this show on a weekly basis with other stuff in between (and being only casually into the show itself in the first place) probably lessens the dichotomy, but I can see this being really annoying if one were to marathon it. I think I can just wait for the US release for this series… not worth plonking down for the R2s. Unless it comes with a massive poster of Sheryl.
I liked this episode being it focused on a sub-character, namely Michel (Mikhail? what’s the real pronunciation? I guess it’s Michel to his “close friends”, and Mikhail to, um, his other friends, like Alto). Michel’s secret is a little undramatic compared to all the other stuff that’s been happening in this show; his sister was a sniper, and she killed herself after a fatal friendly fire incident. Michel’s been living in that shadow since, and I guess we can attribute some of his suave playboy persona to this personal demon.
We also find out a bit more about his relationship with Kulan. To be honest, I really like these two together, and that has nothing to do with Kulan’s loli form. Kulan’s a childhood friend and they have a long history. It shows up in their interactions which aren’t flirtatious but definitely far more familiar than friendship. That’s a real nice change compared to the Sheryl/Ranka/Alto new love triangle dynamic, or the highschool friends dynamic. And heck, Kulan’s interesting because she’s awesome in Zentradi form, and actually passably tolerable in Micron form :P
The best, but slightly weird part, is Michel talking to Kulan in his VF - that thing just moved so much like a human it was bizarre. Even held its head when Kulan (completely justifiably) slapped him. And you control those things with pedals and joysticks, ya know…
On a non-Michel note, Grace is moving up my books too. Anyone with cybernetic implants who can hack into military systems without batting an eye, and is voiced by cool-voice Inoue Kikuko rocks! Heheh.
So, what I want to know, and the episode hasn’t answered, is:-
1) Is Michel Zentradi? He’s got the ears for it, but he was Micron-sized when playing with Kulan. This doesn’t discount the possibility that he is a permanently Micronized Zentradi.
2) Where does the “Michel” pronunciation come from, since “Mi-ha-el” is the official?
3) Why on earth does Kulan still have her hair band on in the Micron chamber?! Geh -_-
I think where this episode succeeded was that it had a good amount of action thrown in with character development. I guess this one was meant to deal with “people’s reasons for fighting”, and offers Michel as the central character while touching upon Alto and Sheryl, emphasizing that everyone “has their own circumstances”. Ideally I would prefer this sort of thing to be covered slowly across a few episodes instead of crammed into one, but Macross F is a highly episodic format so I guess they are constrained to going through their checklist of plot points one at a time.
Ok, erm, someone’s stolen my MacF and replaced it with some Jump highschool hijinks anime. It’s like I’m watching a crossover between Ranma and Eva, where Happosai’s small and green and Asuka has pink hair. Excuse me while I go scrub my eyes and ears clean.
Well, I guess it would be hypocritical if I didn’t admit to laughing through a lot of the scenes. I mean, yeah it was kinda whack slapstick. But really, almost one whole episode devoted to Sheryl being a first-class pampered bitch? A little too much, even for a fan as me. BTW, I really didn’t like Sheryl in this episode.
Granted this episode had some important plot points. First and foremost it reveals that the mysterious pilot from ep 7 is now on Frontier, and Mr Sleazeball aide has some slimy connection to him. Next, it tries to set up Ranka as the underdog in both idol- and Alto-dom. It’s this part which I found contrived and clumsy. I mean, geez, can you get anymore obvious about how put down Ranka feels compared to the high flying Sheryl? Beat me on the head with a stick again, will ya?
I don’t mind that Ranka is supposed to be the underdog. I do take issue with badly written teen drama. Of course, compared to oldies such as KOR this isn’t bad at all, but just because something was okay 20 years ago doesn’t mean that I will stop having hopes and expectations for anime to show more mature storytelling.
To top it off, the whole setup where Sheryl comes to school and joins everyone is just so… cliche anime. Would the biggest star in the galaxy suddenly start going to school, just because she feels like it? Well, perhaps, but it still feels like a terrible thing to do to a character that started with quite a bit of potential. She was smart, strong-willed, stubborn but practical. A girl who grew up too fast, but still a kind girl at heart nonetheless. Now she’s just pig-headed and idiotic. I guess it was too good to expect that we’d escape the annoying-idol syndrome this time around.
At least next episode looks to be good. We find out something about Max ^H^H^H Michel, whom I am interested in, and we have some fight sequences to whet our appetite.
Oh my god, Sheryl is… is… a magical girl! AARGH!! *brain explodes*
Thoughts
Okay, this episode was so over the top I had to get this down on (electronic) paper right away. The battle was outrageous, Alto went Newtype all of a sudden, formerly invulnerable Vajra are now rather handily disposed of, Sheryl had recycled footage and absolutely no one to help her change and touch up makeup during her encore, and apparently earrings allow song to travel millions of miles… but it was all right, it was all right.
Normally I would deride the whackness of such an episode. But damn, I just have to give the writers credit for their sheer enthusiasm. No holds barred, this is what the anime genre stood for, and this is what Macross Frontier has once again reminded us of. Damn that Destroid was too freakin’ awesome!
Yeah yeah, I know the Macross finally transformed, and totally kicked ass. Then there was some soul-bonding between Sheryl and Ranka. And we get introduced to some mysterious new character who knows Ranka’s song (*dun dun dun*). But I tell ya, nothing beats that Destroid scene!
Extra points for the new ending.
Oh, and if they sell MacF goods, I so totally want Sheryl’s earrings. Speaking of which, is the one with Alto now floating somewhere in space?! That’s gonna be hell to find, for sure.
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 ^^
I type this post up as I’m listening to the Sheryl Nome single. God, Diamond Crevasse is such an amazing song… A great and deep feeling wells up in my heart as I hear the first lines. In comparison, I think the full version of Don’t Be Late suffers, but mainly because it has no visual of Sheryl to accompany the music >8-) No, I am harsh, I like this song too. But it is Diamond Crevasse which makes me sit and close my eyes and let the song wash over.
Okay, enough of Sheryl. Ep 4 focused on Ranka and Alto, which is to be expected as this showcases how they take on the new challenges they set their minds to in the last ep. No summary this time as I’m behind and want to get my thoughts on this ep down pronto so I can proceed with watching ep 5.
Thoughts
I liked this ep well enough. On the minus side, there were some throwbacks to the original Macross, such as the scene of Alto in the VF, rising up and launching just like the OP of Macross, which made me cringe in their blatantness. Also some of the art and animation in the with Ranka and the other contestants getting ready for the pageant were just absolutely horrid. And to be honest, I really didn’t like chibi Kulan Kulan >_<
On the plus side, Alto’s training fight was really cool. I loved the way Kulan Kulan shot the Vajra, and Alto grabbed the gun and shot it again; nice choreography on the sequence. I liked the humour too - I laughed at the boobies joke, at Alto getting razzed by Michel, at the victory pose. I thought how Ranka and Sheryl interacted was great, when Sheryl found Ranka depressed before the competition.
Of course, I was also very glad that Ranka did not win. It would’ve been too much of a deus ex machina if she did. Rather, having Ranka lose gives her more room to grow as a character and allows us to look forward to what sort of role she will play as the Vajra invasion unfolds. Oh, and the fact that her song wasn’t “Ai Oboeteimasu Ka” nor the old Zentradi song was key as well. I was afraid they would waste all the good stuff at the beginning, but really, the writers do show a decent maturity.
And dudes… finally… Zentradi! Too bad she has defective genes ^^;;;;;;
So all in all, not bad. Without Sheryl, I’d have to vote on the good fight sequences in this one :D
Wow! I never expected to, but I find myself liking Macross Frontier more and more with each episode. I really enjoyed this week’s - it was funny and well-paced and made our main characters even more likable. While it paid homage to several plot points in the original Macross, it didn’t follow them (as I had been dreading). The action remained cool, and the music was great. I laughed through the whole first half, and I grinned a lot through the second, then placed the ED theme on repeat, so I guess that means I’m officially a fan now :)
Summary
The episode opens with a new title sequence explaining that humans had expanded into the galaxy as part of the Human Space Emigration Project, thanks to fold technology. I was glad for this new edit, because it would have been rather painful to see footage of Breetai grabbing Minmei for another 25 eps.
So after the OP (the chorus of which is slowly growing on me), we return to our favourite three musketeers. The Vajra have returned from their little nap under one of the colony ships and a red one, flying through space, has homed in on Ranka. Or Sheryl. Or maybe the two of them together >:) Ozma is there, though, and engages in a little hand to hand. Unfortunately for Ozma, SMS can’t send him backup because they haven’t received launch permission from the running-around-like-a-headless-chicken President. It’s up to Michel and Luca to help out. Luca can’t get a clear shot on the grappling twosome, but Michel, god that he is, launches an anchoring rope to a ship surface, clamps himself on, and fires a perfect blast from his godly pulse rifle right through the head of the baddie woo!!
Alto notices Michel though, and starts getting all childish male pride about how Michel is so good and he’s so useless in his current state. In the meantime, Ozma has relaxed… but in fact the Vajra hasn’t been finished! It whaps him a good one and fires a bunch of rounds. Ozma is hit and his cockpit sparks up, glass flies, and blood flows. In my head, I chant, “Don’t Fokker me now, I’ll kill the writers if they cheese us with a goddamn Fokker!”
The Vajra then bashes the glass canopy of the colony, and to Alto’s shock and Sheryl’s dismay it starts cracking. Alto, smart boy, spots an emergency shelter, grabs Ranka, breaks the hatch and jumps in with Sheryl close behind. I like how Sheryl tugs down her skirt before taking the plunge with a shriek ^^
While Ozma and co. are in pursuit of the Vajra, Alto and co. find themselves sealed in in the shelter. Alto angsts that Michel saved them. Ranka finds that her hands just won’t let go of Alto’s shirt. He gets pissed. But Ranka screws up her willpower, goes “Yosh!” and finally lets go. BTW, this part really made me like Ranka; she’s a strong little one, she is! Sheryl watches all this with a critical eye and tells off Alto’s attitude with a, “Can’t you even tell a couple of terrified girls ‘I’ll take care of you!’”
This off course makes Princess Alto huff and puff more. “Shuddup! If I could I would!” He bangs the wall in frustration, making Ranka jump. (This was a cute touch too! Nice details!) Sheryl’s expression is like, jeez what a loser, and she says they should just get out of the shelter, for everyone’s mental sanity. (heh!)
But it turns out they can’t, because it’s a fully sealed shelter. As the battle rages outside, with the NUNs finally getting into the fray, it starts getting hot in the shelter. Sheryl takes off her coat, but right at that moment a blast jolts the colony and Sheryl falls onto Alto as the lights go out. Sheryl gets off of Alto, but then the lights come on to reveal with a shot of Sheryl’s back… that Sheryl’s top has fallen down and the girl ain’t wearing no bra! ^o^ Ranka gets a brilliant eyeful which she’s decent enough to be embarassed about, but poor Alto with Sheryl’s chest right in front of his face, the dude has sheer terror in his eyes! (This is one guy with a great sense for when he’s about to die a painful death!)
Sheryl grins wickedly, then decks him with a 4 megaton slap! Woo!
“You saw me naked, so count yourself as getting off cheap!”
Alto, in indignant anger, fires back, “Whatever, you show off a whole lot on stage too!”, to which Sheryl looks adorably embarrassed.
“That’s different! Being in private isn’t like in public! Don’t give me that pervy look! Hentai!”
The two start arguing and calling each other names. Ranka tries to interrupt them by asking if they are hungry, and offers her Nyan-nyan delivery of delicious tuna buns. Which, when she pops open her box, just happen to look a lot like a pair of breasts! Poor Ranka! The girl gets no relief and it’s obvious she’s wishing she could just die right there, but then Sheryl and Alto start laughing and the tension is broken. Sheryl smiles at Ranka’s crestfallen face and tells her she’s adorable.
Scene cuts to Grace and Cathy. Sheryl’s gone out alone and in this mess there isn’t any manpower to do a search. Luckily, Grace has way to track Sheryl with (illegal!) implant technology.
Back in to shelter, Alto’s attempts to open the lock aren’t successful. Sheryl remarks that she gets restless if she has to depend on others for her own destiny. Ranka is worried for the safety of the SMS people, which sets Alto off thinking about piloting and his helplessness. (This guy has some serious self-esteem issues.) Back to Sheryl, she notices that the air is getting stuffy, and a wailing siren confirms that air circulation has been cut off. They only have 15 minutes left! Sheryl tells Alto to do something about it, but he says it’s easier said than done - he would have done something by now if he could have!
This only prompts Sheryl to take matters into her own hands. Alto tells her to stop, because it’s a vacuum outside. Sheryl replies, “So you think we should just give up and wait for suffocation? Sorry but I’m not giving up. Everyone says I’m a lucky woman. I think I’ve worked to deserve that luck. That’s the reason why I can be Sheryl Nome.” She starts climbing up the ladder to open the hatch while adding, “That’s how you grab hold of your fate!”
To which a voice outside replies, “That’s correct!” and the hatch opens to reveal Grace and the rescue team. :)
So the trio make it out, and Sheryl prepares to get into her ride to leave, but not before she warns Alto not to broadcast that visual data over the net. “If you do, I’ll socially and physically massacre you myself.”
She stops, then turns around with a little smile. “Well, just for tonight, you can have it as a memory to do with as you like.”
Alto and Ranka blush prolifically at this insinuation, and Sheryl continues with, “Baaka, do you really think I’d let you?”
Alto begins to fire back, but Sheryl cuts him off by talking to Ranka. “Ranka-chan, do you like singing? If you do, you should be more forward with your feelings.” She pulls her closer and whispers in her ear, “Your chance is right in front of you.” Then she bids her farewell by saying, as she did when she sang with Ranka, “I don’t do this for people very often.”
Okay, that’s it for my favourite part. The rest of the episode focuses on the aftermath of Ranka finding out that Ozma has been piloting in secret. Ozma has been hurt but not fatally, and in the hospital hetells Alto that Ranka is an orphan with no memory of her past due to trauma when her family was killed. The end shows our two protagonists making a decision for their own fates - Alto makes up his mind to join SMS when he hears Ranka’s singing, and Ranka decides to make a try for a singing career when Alto, in his rather indirect show of support, tells Ranka she’d never make it as long as she remained negative. Our other protagonist, Sheryl, curses when she realizes she has to see Saotome Alto, again, to get back her earring! :D
Thoughts
I really liked Ranka’s song. Her VA is a good singer and the song itself is haunting and emotional. Sheryl is turning out to be really nice and authentic in her support of Ranka, and I hope their relationship continues. I think I’d stop watching if the writers threw in a twist where Sheryl starts resenting Ranka because they fight over Alto or because their careers clash.
I also looked up the character designer for the series, and it turns out to be (a) a woman, and (b) someone who’s done mostly only ero-game up till now. That’s kinda interesting, because these designs are old-school without being old-fashioned. I think the Sheryl design is one of my favourites in recent years. The hair is great! And I love the blue of her eyes…
Before I post my comments on ep 2, I’d just like to get this off my chest please.
Sheryl!
Okay, now that that’s outta the way…
I liked this episode quite a bit. It was well done, pacing and story-wise, the characters managed to stay likable, and for the old-timers like me there were plenty of Macross references, maybe too much as I thought the Captain Gloval lookalike was a bit too heavy-handed. But that would be a nitpick because the rest of the tributes were really fun in and of themselves.
The first part where Alto saves Ranka was really nice choreography and direction. Coolness points for leap-into-space bit, where I was literally holding my own breath! I was mildly amused that Alto did the Hikaru accidental-chest-grab, and I thought Michel as a sniper was brilliant. The guy looks so much better in a helmet… I yelled “Prog Knife!” at the screen when Ozma jumped into action. And I thought Ranka was cute when she said she was quarter Zentradi, so help me -_-
Won’t get into the point but suffice to say Sheryl and Ranka together seem to generate some kinda Vajra attraction field. Blood testing might be a Zero tie-up, but I’m not really that interested in speculating.
Ah hell, fine. I admit it! The only reason I’m watching this anime is because of Her! I’m even starting to love her voice, especially when she’s looking for her earring, and when she tells grace she’s gone out. Aishiteiru♪
The parts where she interacts with Ranka are great. Ranka is cute, and Sheryl turns out to be pretty nice after all by complimenting her, and then joining her in the song. Ah, that was my favourite part of the episode! I gotta say, I can’t wait to see more Sheryl in episode 3.
BTW, Ranka’s VA has really improved in this ep. And I like her singing better than Sheryl’s too, a cappella anyway. Or was that part done by Sheryl’s VA and not the actual singer May’n?
So, I’ve seen episode 2 of Macross Frontier. And it was good. But before writing my thoughts, I’d love to take a little trip down memory lane…
After the Deculture Edition, I absolutely had to see the original Ai, Oboeteimasu ka. Luckily YouTube hosts about a gadzillion versions. Although I’ve only seen the movie like twice (though once was on a huge projection with great speakers), it still struck me right in my chest like a glimpse of a long gone precious love. This sequence was so epic I had tears in my eyes at the end. “I love you so…”
Then I decided to look at some Macross Plus. Although it was a huge deal when it first came out, with great animation and awesome songs and stunning creativity, I just never got into it. I found the Guld/Isamu rivalry distasteful; Guld was the most sympathetic character and it was just too pitiful and painful to watch him. So I hardly remember the ending.
But I wanted to see Sharon Apple again, and that’s how I stumbled on this music video. It’s an edit of the entire series with Information High, and it could be the best AMV I’ve seen! I didn’t cry at the end of this one, but it left me in awe, far deeper than the original. Guld!! You were the best man ever.
Okay, I’m officially on the obsession train for Sheryl. Got that song in my head, ooh!
I really like the song, and Sheryl is too way cool! I mean, her mike is a whip handle, heheh.
And I love her hair! It’s any colour she wants it to be!
Ka, kawaii O_o
I just watched the Deculture Edition, and while it skimps on Sheryl/Alto, it is IMHO the superior cut of the two. The battle scenes are better, more coherent, and I liked the nice touch at the beginning with the boys as they did a tribute to the opening of Macross Plus.
Hmm, funny with all the good anime I’ve been watching recently, like Shion no Ou and Baccano!, that I would feel the urge to write up on the first episode of something I didn’t really like that much.
Macross… I can’t believe it’s been 25 years. I saw the original on Thai TV when I was a wee kid (that particular ep had Khyron, I think), bought the metal die-cast VF with the green booster pack armour plate stuff, collected illustrations off the Thai comic books, got head over heels again several years later with Robotech… It was soap opera, it was epic struggle, it was death and rebirth and falling in love and out of love. I may never have loved an anime as much as I loved Robotech. I had the entire Macross arc on tape minus two eps which were victim of power failure, and oh how I cried when I missed them. I watched each episode over and over; my only focus in life was speeding time up so the next broadcast would arrive sooner.
Would it be a surprise to say I cared little for Macross Plus? And that I dismissed Macross 7 as soon as I saw the flying guitars in space? And that Macross Zero was but a tiny blip on my subconscious? You see, Macross was great because it was the story of humanity against the worst of odds, everything hinging on efforts of heroes who were flawed but utterly heroic. At the age of 11, it captured my heart like no other story. 6 years later, the story was grown up but the characters sucked. A few years after that, the story was probably epic, but it was too kiddish for the me of that time.
Which brings us to Macross Frontier. I had just heard of it when I was surfing blogs for new Spring anime to watch. I grabbed it because hashihime said it was enjoyable, and I stopped watching after the OP, because it was too happy j-pop and felt like highschool hijinks in space.
Then Cinnamon Ass wrote that the OP was by Kanno/Maaya. And so I decided I had to rewatch, since I musta missed someone special there in some time warp of insanity.
So… the verdict is…
Nope, still don’t like the OP. The rest of the ep was okay. Too much CG in everyday anime scenes, making the whole thing feel like a throwback to the old days of unnatural crappy looking anime-when-they-just-started-using-CG. I did think the CG for the mechs was cool, but unfortunately it was a bit too many fast fast cuts to actually feel like good action direction. Main female character Lanca was ho-hum, not too annoying but not too interesting, and honestly how can it come to the point when you are grateful that the heroine isn’t as irritating as you feared she would be?! Main male character Altoh looks kinda cool but he reminds me of hmmm twenty-odd other slightly dour male leads, eh?
So, this brings me to the personal highlight of this series so far, Sheryl. Oh yes, she’s a first-class bitch. But boy is she a really good looking first-class bitch ^_- Who whips ass with her professional “the show must go on, even when the fuckup fucks up” attitude. And, I really like her songs and costumes. In fact, I give the writers kudos for pretty creative futuristic concert as far as these things go in anime. Sheryl! Sheryl! That hair rocks man.
Oh, and the new VF-25s were sweet. I sooo miss these planes. I only wish we got more decent action, longer shots of the mechs and stuff. And gimme the Zentran! Where are they!!
You know what would make this series like double its value in my book? If they had kept the Ai Oboeteimasu Ka remix from the preview ep for the actual series ED. I checked it out just now on YouTube and it gave me the shivers, it did.
