[Elazul]

Spoiler for My thoughts about the ending...:

My main criticism about the TV series’ end was the sudden change of mood in the last episode, because the atmosphere got really dark in the second-half but in the end we got nothing but cheese. Now, I really think that the movie ending fits perfectly Macross Frontier, it’s one of these endings that I was hoping for the tv series' end. They are in a war after all, many people are expected to die, but we still got rather lucky in the end, because there are high chances that Sheryl and Alto will be reunited, even if it will take months, or years.

In Macross series, the romance aspect is done in a very especial manner. It doesn’t matter if the couple will live the rest of their lives happily, or just disappear in the middle of space. The lovers are mean to be together, even if their bodies are separated, their souls will always be side by side, and I do believe the movie’s end follows this trend, based on all the spoilers that I’ve heard.
It seems that Sheryl fell into a coma a few moments after Alto disappeared (or maybe killed), I couldn’t help but think that the producers intention is to show us how Alto and Sheryl are linked. Its sounds like Alto become Sheryl's reason d’être, a life is only worth living if they have one another. It’s easily one of the most romantic endings that I’ve heard of.
I remember that in a recent interview Kamaori said that we have to pay attention the after-credits scene, and now we know that in that scene Ranka said she hope that Sheryl will wake up when Alto returns (please, someone correct if I'm wrong). If the producers really wanted to kill Alto or make him disappear forever, they wouldn’t give us an ending so full of hope, probably.

And now we have this new info about the earring's reaction (thanks Yot-chan, for clarifying all the questions). In the first movie, they emphasized the earring's importance of conveying one's feelings even more, the scene when Alto "incorporated" Sheryl was really strong and meaningful. I like to see the earrings as the symbol of their bond, it shows how much intertwined their feelings are. I still have to see the movie with my own eyes, but for now, I will see the earring's reaction as a proof that Alto is alive or maybe his feelings are being transmitted as least.

Of course everything that I’ve wrote is nothing but speculation. But I prefer to see things in an optimistic way. I sincerely believe that Kawamaori & Co ended the series like this to give us hope. I really don’t see much sadness in it. The triangle was finally solved and Macross Frontier ended in a way that actually made sense, so it seems. Now, I, for one, can look forward for the next Macross’ installment with no regrets.