Okay. To start things off: I find it very strange that, like Magnus pointed, Ranka starts out much more outgoing than what's shown at the later portions of the series. Also, I still strongly dislike how Sheryl acts here (sorry, Magnus, I'm on Cathy's side on this), outside of her professionalism, as shown during her "rescue" - that's always been a high point, for me.

As for the Vajra being manipulated and a good-natured species... Well, I guess you can always use the "they didn't understand individualism" theory, but that doesn't really fly, with me. Still don't like the little (?) bugs.

Other than that, I still can't get used to how pretty everything looks. This kind of thing really is what Blu-Ray was made for, I think. Let's see what else you guys bring up!

It's not even Saturday here yet :p. Won't be watching the episode for another 9+ hours. :heh:

Yeah, it's 01:00 a.m. here in Germany, I wanted to make sure I was the one starting out the discussion, at least for the first week. My typical luck, of course, that it happens to be the last post on page two. :-/

Anyway, I am going to bed and am going to actively participate in the discussion when I wake up in 9 hours. :)

Saturday, GMT is fair I think.

And damn Magnuskn, do you have a pad with you as you watch? :heh:

You're watching it with the actual BDs?

Well I will be since the details are most amazing in BDs per experience with them whether the real BDs or RIPs.

I wish I could understand the Japanese. They STILL haven't licensed it outside of Japan. They jump on series like Highschool of the Dead but leave the greats alone. *sigh*

One question I always had: How's the detour that Ranka took to the concert hall a shortcut? The whole thing seems to be an artificial construct to get Ranka to meet Alto.

A "plot" shortcut. :)

I first want to express how much will power and self control it took, not to watch episode two. :heh:

I remember this part!
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/3674/mf11t.th.jpg

Mmmm....animated GIF worthy.
http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/5302/mf12.th.jpg

Amazing technology, truly.
http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/3555/mf13.th.jpg

Lastly, I'm afraid I might be the party pooper here. Sheryl was the first one to leave the stadium, right? Then why is that by the time Ranka is long gone, she is just getting into a limo?

I noticed more of what I missed last time as well. I really hope they tell us more in the future.

Quote:

09:40 - Heh, I still wonder why they portrayed Sheryl to be so aloof and snooty in the first episode, contrasting with every other portrayal we got of her later on. It’s as if they wanted for people to initially dislike her. Not that her behavior is really all that bad, she’s self-admittedly jet-lagged and fold-sick. Although that already may have passed, since it’s obviously quite some time later.

I don't think they portrayed her as such - she is that. What's great about Sheryl's character is that we see how much she grows.

Quote:

10:16 - Cathy is a bit too harsh on Sheryl, though, calling her a bitch. Sheryl is a self-admitted perfectionist, and seeing things in her concert being not perfect visibly sets her off.

Nah. Cathy was right.

Quote:

18:55 – Hm, maybe I am being blind, but that accident isn’t even Altos fault, he is flying level at this point and the dude beside him suddenly loses control, colliding with Alto.

Well...he shouldn't have been doing it in the first place... ;)

Well, she didn't know where she was going so she was looking for a shortcut. Just because you look for one, doesn't mean you'll find one, right?

That sounds reasonable. This does tell us something about Ranka's personality - She's somewhat impulsive and jump into situations without thinking it thru first.

And this bears out in future epi..., er, I mean I wonder if she will get into similar situations in the future.

Request done! :D Keep them coming! Yeah!
Reduced due to size=>
http://i620.photobucket.com/albums/t...4/f3657df7.gif
Original
http://i620.photobucket.com/albums/t...4/2fccb687.gif
I got covered on a GIF of this one=>
http://i620.photobucket.com/albums/t...4/5e403a0a.gif

Oh, it's definitely not nice and snooty, as I pointed out in my write-up. But more important to me is how that depiction was the very only one in the whole series which ended up showing her in such a bad light. Especially the "Everybody will be watching me, anyway! <hairswish>" part.

Yup, same here. Maybe if they had been shown to have a medium stage between "Maim, kill!" and "Ooops, sorry!", I'd been more sympathetic. Say about the Protodevlin what you will, but they had their own story-arc.

Oh, it's definitely beautiful. Animation quality drops after episode three, but it's still really good. :)

That all depends on what I have to do on Saturdays, which varies from week to week.

Nah, I paused and wrote down the notes in a document, then put time-marks to them afterwards, when I noticed that otherwise they appeared too haphazard.

The way was blocked due to the crowd in front of her. Youthful impetus made her assume that she'd be late and would find a faster way to get to the concert hall. Or something like that. :D

Timing by the production crew to have Alto meet up with her.

Well, she started growing mightily just one episode afterwards, in that case.

Still doesn't explain why the the guy besides Alto suddenly lost control and collided with Alto. Delayed awe about the corkscrew?

That was enjoying to re-watch. Some memorable scenes and lots of Sheryl eye-candy.

One thing I noticed about the stage is that it was "segmented" and had a somewhat high altitude yet when the visual effects were off, we could see that the stage floor is whole and it even isn't that high. How could Sheryl fall off such a thing!

Also why did they treat Sheryl like a very important princess of some country that if she dies it would start a war. I mean come on, she has guards which are fully equipped for war complete with armored escort vehicles.

Seeing how her stage suit can emulate and project almost any kind of costume (and looking at the crystal ball: seemingly work independently of the stage), I wonder if Sheryl basically wears that throughout the entire series. And all the outfits (or lack thereof) we see her wearing are all projections.

If so, are some of her outraged scenes an act?

I was wondering if anyone wanted more GIFs of something memorable they would like to keep from this episode 1? Anything is fine.....I think the Sheryl breasts bounce is nicely done unless it should be quicker but then it's no fun.....anything else anyone could think of that would let's say EPIC to do for this episode. Not forcing or anything just trying to get ideas from others.

GIFs suggestions:

Alto-hime sparkle when Ranka first laid eyes on him.
Ranka's Nyan-nyan dance.
Some of the mecha transformation scenes?

Holographic imaging, I guess. ^^

I guess they don't get many visits from people with galaxy-wide fame. :p

Hm, I don't think so. Unless the suit really transforms into the clothing, a lot other scenes wouldn't make much sense. It's clearly a stage-only outfit, IMO.

She still fell at a considerable height though.

I think we can safely handwave this away as "plot requirement". :p

Might i say, it sure is a great pleasure being able to watch this show again. The first episode does such a bang on job of setting us up for what's to come in terms of story development, along with the little preview of the character interaction. Plus with how damn beautiful the first episode looks (especially the second half), i could rewatch it over and over again.

Unlike BetoJR, i don't truly dislike the attitude Sheryl has, though i don't like it that much. It's understandable that such a strong minded musician would have that type of personality, so i can let it slide. Plus it's a great way to hide just what we'll see of her in just a few episodes. :3

& there we have our first two Yoko Kanno BGM's that were never released on CD :p. The piece used when the UN Fighters attacks the Vajra, and the next one following straight after with Alto and Ranka's conversation while her clothes are drying.

Well it was quite a few people actually. :p

Well there's a solid reason as to why we'll never see Macross Frontier licensed. :(

Keep up the screenshots guys. Can't take them on the PS3, though i'd love to make a collection. :3