[Hollowgolem]

Originally Posted by Darthtabby

Wasn't it strongly indicated that Sheryl was lying in an attempt to piss Alto off and drive him away when she said that stuff about having already accomplished everything she wanted in terms of singing?

Oh, almost certainly. She seemed to genuinely care about Alto's well-being, and preventing him from growing attached to her before what she was sure was going to happen.

I can see Sheryl writing some new songs after she decided to do those charity concerts for the people of Frontier. Yousei gives the impression of being something new. Granted Northern Cross doesn't really give this impression so much.

It's possible, and, like I said, I'm certainly willing to accept it when evidence is presented (hell, where'd the title for Wings of Goodbye come from again? Oh, right, a new song.). It just don't see the distinction as "a song written before but used here because it fits the drama of the scene" or "a song written because of Sheryl's experiences on Frontier" mattering. That's a level of minutia about which I just can't care.

I can see where you're coming from. Heck, I didn't really see the references to the Northern Star as referring to Ranka either. But the lines about what the Northern Star is doing seem to fit her so well. Otherwise why was the line about the Northern Star crying included? I can see the burning part, but why crying?

It's a common device to personify inanimate objects in art. The North Star crying could refer to the poetic idea of stardust, or of transferring feelings from Sheryl to the now-personified star. Maybe, as a link between the two of them (something both the titular character of the song and her sailor/pilot lover can look up and see) it also shares their feelings. Also remember that, like most songwriters, I think it'd be safe to say that not every single song Sheryl sings is 100% about her. Many probably have a persona she's taking on to tell a story. Some kernel of them is, of course, personal, but some of them would be considered just trying to tell a compelling story via song.

Originally Posted by LoveMeKags

<snip; holy wall of text, Batman!>

And, if you really thing about it, Macross Frontier has a lot of iconic scenes that lead me to believe that the TV series was meant to mirror SDF-1 and DYRL's ending with Hikaru/Misa by putting Alto/Ranka in due to the fact that most AruRan scenes were similar to that of Hikaru/Misa from SDF-1. In the movies, Kawamori breaks the cycle of the dynamic trio from SDF-1 by having a Hikaru/Minmei ending with Alto/Sheryl, thus ending ending his obsession with Minmei. But that's only if you look at the fact that Alto and Sheryl get 90% more Hikaru/Misa scenes in the movies than they ever did in the series.

Precedent in earlier Macross series is irrelevant anyway, since Frontier makes it pretty clear that it's trying to subvert the expectations of those who get all the references. Especially the Ozma stuff, but it's all over.

On the other hand, the "Hikaru/Misa" scenes tend to be more mature in nature, more deep in their treatment of the relationship, than the Hikaru/Minmei ones. In some superficial ways, there are a few similar scenes (at Alto's house, the "kiss by demonstration") between Alto/Sheryl, and since Sheryl seems to be the less-immature Minmei, especially early on in the series, this is somewhat expected, but also, I think just another attempted subversion of expectations by the plot.

On the OTHER other hand (I have THREE!), the way the two of them, Ranka and Sheryl, develop, it's pretty clear that Ranka is on a Minmei trajectory, while Sheryl is on a Misa trajectory, as far as where they, as individual characters, are growing.

Which means, of course, that I'm perfectly okay with Alto/Sheryl being canon, because it's the more mature, sound, and, frankly, sweet relationship. Ranka can't seem to get out of her Moe mold, no matter how hard she tries. Sheryl seems to be a whole person on her own, and thus capable of being in a stable, fulfilling, healthy relationship.