[ani_d]

Originally Posted by C.A.

I don't see how Ranka has no backbone. She's working hard towards her goals and she's doing it with her own efforts. You don't see singers selling vegetables or giving out their music on the streets like that, no one would or dare to do such. No one would want to be placed in such embarrassing situations.

You just described her as a hardworker. She's optimistic and hardworking. That's what Ranka is, and I totally am for it. When I said I wanted her to have a backbone, I meant for her to be more assertive in dealing with people. Just like in episode 6 when Alto deliberately lied to her and she didn't say anything. Or when she was pushed around by those contestants from Ms. Macross. When she gets aggravated, she should speak up and not put on a puppy dog face. It's not like I hate what she is right now. I'm just waiting for her character to evolve.

And why is she in such a pathetic situation? Producer's fault? lol

He mentioned himself that he already tried the internet and everything about Ranka was hacked and deleted immediately. Have you forgotten that Leon is observing Ranka?

Just last episode he ordered a cancelling of Ranka's performance on tv. He doesn't want Ranka to be famous, he suspects Ranka's song or even herself to be the reason why Vajra is attacking Frontier. Leon has surveilance keeping an eye on her progress and is actively going against her. That is why his producer has been giving her pathetic jobs, not that he doesn't know what he is doing. All the interviews, performances, internet promotions and other efforts have been put to waste by Leon. Probably another reason for people to hate Leon more.

Well, her little stage is just what you get from small event organisers. It doesn't look too bad to me.

Well, it's not for certain if Leon has anything to do with the hacking. It's also not confirmed that Leon was behind the cancelling of Ranka's performance. I thought she just had bad luck because Sheryl's show was in her field. As for her not winning Macross because of Leon, it's not really clear if it was really Leon. The possibility IS high, but it doesn't mean that it's really Leon's fault. He could've been whispering other things to the judges when Cathy gave him the evil eye. Plus, Ranka clearly messed up. How can that make her win the contest? The others must have sucked terribly. :|

And yes the mini-stage Sucked. A lot. Period. Why would Bobby, an agent of beauty lol, look so unhappy watching Ranka? He is clearly not seeing any beauty in it. So was I. The only positive thing about it is that, Ranka's will to get famous is admirable. So what if they got hacked? There are more appealing alternatives to promote her other than what the manager made her do. I'm starting to think the manager is the only staff member in his talent agency. Ranka was just standing there on her own. Any help distributing flyers from his nonexistent staff would be nice. He could've helped too instead of watching from the sideline. That was the lousiest debut ever. Poor poor Ranka.

Originally Posted by C.A.

Not to her, but to Frontier itself.

He probably doesn't care about Ranka's safety, he would be thinking of something like this instead:

Send Ranka to an uninhabited planet, lure away as many Vajra as possible. So that Frontier can take out the weakened remaining forces and maybe reaction bomb away the Vajra along with the uninhabited planet. (cookies to whoever can guess the exact anime I got this inspiration from)

Or he would be thinking of using Ranka's voice as a weapon or a device to manipulate the Vajra.

I agree. She's more likely to be a bait material, honestly, but with Brera in the mix, everything becomes complex.

Oh yeah, I'm in the "Brera&Grace are not in cahoots" camp. First, the woman who gave orders to Brera sounded nothing like Grace. Second, if Grace really were after Ranka, then why is she always with Sheryl? She even came from Galaxy. Unless Sheryl and Ranka are half sisters separated from birth and she's just keeping an eye for any dormant abilities from Sheryl, I don't see enough reason why Grace would be involved with the Vajra. She prolly has other objectives in mind.