[4Tran]

I've just had a chance to rewatch this episode, and I have to say that if the quality keeps up to the end, Macross Frontier is the first show in years to have a chance of getting in my top ten. There are just so many bits that I feel it gets just right I can't help but admire. I'm especially impressed with the the enormous amount of attention to little details in Macross Frontier in general, but this episode in particular. That little military song at the beginning while Alto was doing his punishment was quite wonderful; right up there with that preparation music before the eyecatch. Another slightly unusually well done bit was the superb use of justaposition connecting otherwise unrelated events.

- The shifts in direction, orientation and movement vectors make for one of the more authentic-feeling space combat scenes of any anime in a long time. When mecha are supposed to use mobility as their main defense against enemy attack, then I expect to see a lot of movement, and that's exactly what we got.

A closer rewatch reversed some of my initial disappointment in the use of melee/point-blank combat for two reasons: Alto's foolish knife attack was shown to be a terribly useless mistake, and the subsquent attacks were made because the Vajra was proof against longer-ranged weapons. I don't know that there was anything especially powerful about the Zentradi gun Alto used - he simply fired it at the same spot that Klein Klan weakened with her main cannon. He even said that he was going for that target.

- More combat notes: the new Queadluun-Rau seems quite similar to the old one, so it'd mean that Pixie squadron wasn't using their main weapons in the field exercise. Their main offensive punch is found within their large arsenal of missiles and perhaps that new cannon. While the VF-25s mount significant missile weapons, their main armament is still that gunpod. It goes a fair ways towards showing how much Alto has to improve before he's up to Klein Klan's level. Moreover, the Queadluun-Rau seems to have lasted an extremely long time as an effective combat platform, even discounting however many centuries it may have already been in use.

- While Klein Klan's two forms might seem too unserious, please keep in mind that it's completely in line with SDF Macross' original Zentradi trio: Warera, Loli, Conda! Aside from that, I think that her character(s) add an interesting touch to the show. Note that her rank is Tai-i, so she's a squadron leader, presumably the same rank as Ozma, and outranking Michael.

- Michael doesn't just like teasing Alto; he likes to tease anyone who shows themselves to be a target. He only teases Alto as much as he does because of how strongly Alto reacts to it; luckily for him, Klein Klan reacts even stronger.

- Luca's bit of sneaking away to let Alto and Ranka have their moment is another one of those interesting details I was talking about. It also shows how perceptive he is, and acts as silent encouragement for their relationship.

- It was the Twelfth Miss Macross pageant, so assuming that they had one per year since the launch, Macross Frontier was launched in 2047, and their voyage is already in its twelfth year.

Originally Posted by SuperKnuckles

As for SMS, I suppose they can explain why they have a very capable military force in that the morale in the actual military force isn't very high (which sorta doesn't make sense by itself...) but I guess that'll do for now. I sort of don't buy that a capitalistic one-up-manship of private military contractors is even POSSIBLE for a small colony ship (even with millions on board). That seems too small a scale for major military projects to prop up, but then again, the original Macross had inexplicable capabilities even in a relatively tiny 1km ship.

The Macross colony fleets have an enormous industrial potential; with dedicated factory ships and the like. They're designed to house enough infrastructure to rebuild the entire human race if need be, and the advantages and automations conferred by Overtechnology allows them to accomplish this. It's also necessary given how long these fleets are supposed to travel for. Moreover, each of the fleets might be run a little differently.

Originally Posted by Onizuka-GTO

the spelling of pixie squadron zentradi captain is getting on my nerves now.

not zentradi enough.

I prefer the Klein Klan spelling because it's not just the same name said twice (and klein is such a nice play on words). Besides, Milia's name wasn't all that alien sounding either.