[LoveMeKags]

Ah, I'm late... hope you don't mind.

Spoiler for my response:

Originally Posted by magnuskn

As I said, the series would have benefitted from one or two additional episodes.

My look was that Frontier should've been like it's salute: 36 episodes. It could have benefited from it, given there was a lot of plot they could cover and some twists they could add. And Kawamori could've gotten the ending he wanted in the series. But since there was talk of the movie long before the series ended, it's possible he did the series like this on purpose. But that's just my view.

I guess our differences in our perception stem from that.

I guess so.

I'm an only child by standards but my father had a wife beforehand and so I have one half-sister (whom lives nowhere near me and doesn't seem to care about me) and one half-brother (whom is R.I.P. from diabetes complications). So I'm kinda estranged when it comes to siblings.

Yasaburo already was a part of the ensemble before Alto left, IIRC.

I guess that's up in the air. They never actually specified now that I recall. They only state that since Alto left the household, Yasaburou was the successor. However, they do show scenes of Yasaburou performing with Alto but it is when he's almost the same age as now. So I assume that soon after that time, Alto left. However, it is possible that after Alto left, Ranzou adopted him as a son to carry on his name. After all, Alto makes it very clear that Yasaburou doesn't know much about him, only what he's seen.

I wouldn't say Yasaburou was "adopted" when Alto was in the household, rather he referred to him as "Nii-san" as a respectful term to someone whom is older than him and his mentor/senior. I believe Yasaburou was adopted after Alto left. Otherwise, it doesn't make sense whom Ranzou wanted as a successor of the Saotome name upon his death. If Alto was still around to succeed the name, then why adopt Yasaburou? Do you see where I'm coming from here?

Up until Alto left, there was no logical reason to adopt Yasaburou as a successor.

Sure, we can discuss this in more detail then.

Thanks for understanding.

I have my living details below my avatar at the left side of this post. ^^

I wasn't singling you out, so that wasn't directed at you only. A lot of people just put "Location: Heaven" or some stupid place. And then it leaves you wondering how you should address people on here.

Well, I of course disagree strongly that episodes 22 and 23 were the only "proof" of the romance between Sheryl and Alto. It was the consumation of all the build-up, which is more than any Ranka and Alto romantic relationship got.

I meant it this way "the only proof of them building their relationship" as in living together, much like Hikaru and Misa did on Earth in DYRL. It was the only two consecutive episodes in which they got any actual growth towards what one would consider a "relationship." And sadly, by that point, they had too many demons going on to actually commit to the relationship like real adults. That's not to disregard that their romance built or nothing, but given the timeframe, it really was rushed in context of plot.

However, I disagree on the Alto and Ranka part. I think they got plenty of screen time to build romance on either side. And considering Alto's torn up cry for Ranka leaving, it holds water that there was some romantic attachment. We could argue how deep it was but that would just start a ship war.

As for Alto, I disagree that he didn't fix his flaws. The point where we diverge in our perception is where we see flaws and their fixes. For me, Altos lack of inquisitiveness wasn't a flaw per se. However, his volatile personality and tendency to push away his friends was one and he did fix that in the series, by overcoming a lot of his family and self-worth issues.

However, we didn't see Alto fix those family issues. He never approached Ranzou and reconciled with him. Instead, Yasaburou took Ranzou closer to the screen so he could see his son fight. That isn't reconciliation.

He still pushed friends away even when they possibly needed him. The only person whom he spent the most time with in the end besides Sheryl was Luca. He only visited Nanase once and barely talked to Klan. Instead of going to his friends when they needed him, he distanced himself from them.

Now, it is possible to assume this is because they would remind him of those he'd lost: Michael and Ranka. When he visits Nanase, he does think of Ranka. When he visits Klan for the first time after Michael's death, he thinks of Michael. So it is possible to believe he avoids them because it reminds him of those he's lost and it hurts him to think about it.

However, his flaws are what made him human in the series. But that doesn't mean we can't expect more from our hero. I expected him to overcome these flaws by the end. However, he left quite a few open. I won't name them today, because I have to go to a doctor's appointment in a few hours, but if you need to know them, I will give them.

Alto in the movie had different issues, which was a given, since the writers removed his family issues almost altogether. Also, he didn't question so much his self-worth as his masculinity... a change I very much disagreed with.

Which I found was irritating. They removed part of what made Alto himself. They basically made him OOC in the movie by removing those demons. I disagreed very much with his movie self having those traits taken away or avoided all together.

However, they did begin to address it in the first movie and then reconciled it in the second movie. But the problem I found with it is that Alto's hatred of his acting career in the series seemed genuine, as if he was more attached to his mother than his father (which is common for boys that are an only child), and he resented the idea of returning to the stage. Even with Sheryl (or Ranka) to become his supporting roles and possibly return him to male roles, he wouldn't have accepted acting again. However, in the movie, this is drowned out. Alto immediately in the end accepts to perform a kabuki act in the middle of the battlefield (as Michael addresses) and hasn't reached any form of reconciliation over the past. His father wasn't even shown in the movie as watching him.

In the movie, they left much to be desired out of his character and almost made him OOC in a few parts of the movie. Not to say I don't like/dislike the changes, but you go into a movie that's supposed to be a rewritten plot of the series, you expect the same characters with their same traits, not a butcher.