Macross Frontier - Overall Series Impressions & Total Series Rating

[TwilightHack]

Originally Posted by Teletha

Still raging.

And that right there is the general consensus of a lot of forum reg's who can't even bring themselves to discuss MF due to the ending.

*sigh*

Imo, even if the animation was inconsistent at times.. I still thought the good moments outweighed the bad by far.

[BetoJR]

Originally Posted by Isondil

Musicwise Yoko Kanno you have done it again!

Yes. To me, at least, practically every anime she's involved with comes out very pleasant, at least music-wise. That must be some kinda record.

@TwilightHack: About the animation... my feelings exactly, like I have stated previously.

[lars18th]

Originally Posted by 4Tran

What can I say, Macross Frontier is my favorite anime TV show of the last few years, and there's a lot of competition there. As a matter of fact, there's only two non-Macross TV shows that I prefer over it.

When I first heard the announcement of the Macross 25th Anniversary show, I felt a fair bit of trepidation. I didn't like Macross Zero all that much when it was released, and I thought that Kawamori's other recent works (Arjuna, Aquarion) were a bit underwhelming. I didn't think that he'd be able to recapture the old magic, and I'm very pleased to be proven completely wrong. Just about everything in the show worked for me: the characters, the mecha, the universe and settings, the combat choreography, the music; there just was so much to like. There were a few weaker moments in the show, but I don't think they detracted from the whole all that much. Heck, the weakest episode was probably episode 9: the Michel character episode, and even it had its strong points.

Now where's the English-subtitled Blu-Rays? I'd happily pay lots of money for those. (I was going to sit out Blu-Ray altogether, but Macross Frontier would change my mind on that score)

I know its a bit lame to say this but I agree with exactly everything you said there.
Also I wanna point that while i found a few flaws with the story I would mostly blame them on lack of time towards the end of the series and those are easily overshadowed by the awesomeness of the musics, animation, CG integration and pace displayed troughout the show. They got SO MANY things right, so much art together (musical, visual, technical, storytelling etc...) and they brought back something that was lacking since the golden age of anime: New ideas, quality animation and a controversial ending.

I can't give it anything below 10

[beppu]

It's been a long while since I watched anime, but when I found out there was a new Macross, I was intrigued. After I downloaded the 1st episode, I was hooked. I even felt compelled to make an account on this site and voice an opinion or 2. I gave it a 9/10.

[Westlo]

Originally Posted by Teletha

I need more time to answer this question. Still raging.

quoting for truth.

[Shaggy kun]

Voice Acting-9/10

Script-9/10

Editing-9/10

Overall, I gave it a 9/10.

[forgottendiary]

Originally Posted by Teletha

I need more time to answer this question. Still raging. Though 10/10 for music, 10/10 for Sheryl and I dunno... 5/10 for animation quality? When it's good it's amazing when it's bad it's pretty damn bad.

Pretty much sums up my thoughts.

[KiNA]

3rding Teletha and Westlo.. ep 25 turned the series from a confirmed buy into I'll wait for the movie.. even then, it still an unconfirmed buy.. they better not screw up my Sheryl's end (read: give her her Alto dammit) >.>

Artwise, there's several episode leave lots to desire, at least Sherylcentric wasnt hit that hard, the battle scene are fine (I can even stomach GSDisaster, so these little use of reused scene are not a bother for me)

Music are top notch, again.. ep 25 prevent a single cent from me until I'm satisfied.. Thats how rage I am with that stupid cop out.

Overall: Still not gonna open my wallet like 99% of other series out there (blame it on the last few minutes of it) .. I'm getting both Blassreiter and Sekirei anyway.

[abynormal]

Unlike some people, I've gotten over my rage and reconciled myself to the ending.

I give it a solid 9/10. Unresolved and rushed elements in the plot keep it from getting a perfect score from me, but going by how much pure enjoyment I've had from this series, I can't rank it any lower than one of my top ten favorites.

The animation is for the most part excellent. There are times when it takes a dive, but I've seen much, much worse. Even so, when you see the mecha orgy that is episode 25, you'll understand why they cut corners a few times. Doing otherwise would have made the finale that much less spectacular. Miminal use of recycled footage and still pan shots earned the animation team a lot of kudos from me.

I know I'm fanboying, but given that this is the first time I've ever done so, I'm giving myself a pardon for it. No series has ever hooked me this hard and made me so attached to the characters. Sheryl is the most interesting female character I've seen in a long time. She's so well developed, it's a shame the same can't be said of Ranka. Grace turned out to be one hell of a villan, and pretty much all of the characters have something to like about them. Even mushroom head!

The development of Sheryl and Alto's relationship I thought was phenomenal. So what if they never said the three magic words? Actions speak louder than words. While I enjoyed the show well enough to begin with, it was their chemistry that turned me into a rabid fanboy and kept me waiting impatiently for each Saturday when the first subs were released.

Definitely one of the best anime of the year. It's kind of sad that I don't have anything else to get this excited about this year! Actually, I'm not really sad. I'll just go back and watch the series again because it deserves a second viewing.

[risingstar3110]

In my scale it's not a perfect 10, but when round up, it is.

Another reason is: because in some certain categories (e.g. music,) it surpassed my 10 mark, so it's deserved a 10 from me for animesuki

PS: i would rate it higher if they stick more with the original Ep1 and if they do not recycle some screens

[Natsuki Hyuga]

Not yet... Until the movie is aired, I think I will hold out my overall impression for the series, but for the General Score though...

Music : 10/10. I'm only not fond of some BGM, but overall, everything does

Animation : 9/10. Consistency, consistency... Awesome CGed Mecha Battles does increase the score

Script/Story : 8/10. Much like the others have said, LT resolution (or lack thereof) kills some points. Add that LT overshadows all aspect/plot for Frontier with it being the main focus of most of the viewer. Vajra plot is interesting enough, but Grace and Galaxy plotline can be improved though....

Voice Actors : 9/10.

Overall Score for the TV Series : 9.5/10. Even if the ending really feels botched due to the lack of resolution for LT, I can't deny that this is one of the good series that capture my heart. Mech Pronz, Music and Characters (Sheryl and to some degree, Alto. Ranka was botched near the end.. :/) all have warmed my heart. Now the long wait for the movie...

[stormy001_M1A2]

Good stuff:

Impressive technical skills, good camera angles, suitable voice acting, good soundtrack, many homages to old Macross for Macross diehards, aesthetically pleasing mecha designs, good charaters designs.

Bad stuff:

Patchy character building. some interesting characters got little air time, not enough deaths amongst main lineup, recycled CGs for action sequences, no tactics and strategy, some confusing scientific aspects, a way too predicable ending, shark jumping plot.

Sad thing is this series could be great but inconsistent character exposition hurts the integrity of the anime. It also suffers from rushed ending and jump the shark plot (how easy Sheryl got cured of her disease that supposedly her character defining pain).

Overall it is good but just misses few notches to be great mecha sci fi anime series.

[zalem]

Overall I'll give it a 9/10. It was one of the more interesting releases in the past year. Though it wasn't without problems.

Animation: Very lovely sometimes, but at other times it could have been better. It was never terrible though at least. There was way too much use of stock footage in the mecha fight scenes though.

Characters: To be honest, the only character I REALLY liked was Sheryl. I liked Klan and Michel well enough, but I didn't adore them. Alto was one of the main characters but was absolutely boring and cliche to me. Ranka was a moe-loli blob that I just didn't care one way or another about.

Voice acting: Excellent. I loved all the VAs.

Music: Superb. Yoko Kanno just did a fabulous job (well, with the exception of Triangler).

Story: Could have been better. It had the potential to be something special, but they spent way too much time on the love triangle instead of developing the more interesting Galaxy and Vajra plotlines. I really would have liked much more action and intrigue and less school life/love triangle. The pacing was messed up so they ended up shoving a lot into the last episode, which was a huge disservice to the galaxy plot in particular.

Hmmm...maybe 9/10 is too high now that I think on it. Maybe it's more of an 8/10? But I did have fun with it and that's what counts the most so I'll just give it the 9.

[Joachim]

gotta give it solid 9

Even though kawamori did punch my guts and make me puke from his trolling in eps 25, i just can't let my personal feeling get the best of me, its just one episode,and one single thing that didn't get resolved (one BIG DAMN THING for me)

But looking back, i did enjoy my ride from episode 1 to 25, not a dull moment during that time, nice cg, good animation (well good, aside of those inconsistent animation, etc, but it is still quite good), nice story, character development? well kinda. Romance, yes romance, i love romance as much as i love mecha action, good thing is macross supply me both of it, but the romance side was kinda going stronger than the mecha side, but still i get my mecha porn at episode 25 but my romance was torn apart so bad that all that left is bitter taste without any slight of sweetness

anyway Good stuff, recommended to be watched, but please be warned, don't get too serious in shipping, or you'll end up raging like some of us (me included) well until the movie airs then.. CHA

[Tak]

Well, all I know is that I've been on my toes waiting every week for the new episodes to air. Looking back, I am glad its over. Yes, there is the movie, but at least I can exercise a little bit of patience over it.

This is probably the only show where I watched through moment by moment, never skipping and sometimes repeating scenes for clarity. And I cannot believe I actually sunk my head into this entire shipping affair. I wish I will never have to do that again.

- Tak

[Joachim]

i know how you feel tak

oh and i seriously forgot to comment about the music, as usual macross's music was godly, diamond crevasse, seikan hikou, what bout my star, triangular, don't be late, infinity, northern cross, ahh yess every single piece of song is just there to satisfy me, i will miss the excitement of when a full song being played in an episode (either in a battle, or certain someone's death)

who don't get emotional when diamond crevasse was played during someone's "death".. its just damn good.

now im feeling mellow again.. give me more sheryl musiccc

[DonQuigleone]

I'd give it a 10, but as Mecha Pilots go Alto has to be one of the more forgettable out there, sure he had a few hotblooded moments, but overall he spent the entire series hanging around, and not really resolving on everything. He didn't even evolve much either. He started as a dude with a love of flying, and ended as pretty much the same guy. When you compare that to how Sheryl changed over the series it's really quite poor, even Lucca and Mikhail got more evolution. A cool pilot is really what completes a series, and Macross F never quite got that element down right. They had Ozma Lee and Mikhail, but neither of them could ever approach the levels of coolness that is Maximilian Jenius, or even Roy Focker.

Everything else was pretty much perfect. The plot was good, though perhaps could have had been better paced at the end, but it had the best Mecha Pr0n ever. I mean there's never been anything at quite this level ever, not even Gurren Lagann, or Gundam 00(perish the thought) come close. They've really raised the bar on CGI Mecha battles. Gonzo take note.

[Lockgar]

Animation Quality: 8
Voice Actors: 10????
Script: 6-7
Editing: 6
Music: 10

8/10

I enjoyed this series. I say episodes 1-15 where great, but the series started going down hill after 15, however that last episode alone makes it go above the 6-7 mark.

Animation Quality: several of the fights where great, but several of them where boring. I don't find Alien bugs fun to watch in flight combat. At time they even seemed silly. They just seemed really stiff to me, rather then living creatures. Jet-bots however, looked great.

Voice Acting: Since my native language isn't Japanese, nor am I even fluent, nor can I really speak it, its very hard to comment if their lines where believable. Did they hit their marks? Yes the did.

Script: I did not like many of the characters in this series. Alto was a cookie cutter angst teenage pilot. Many of the other characters seemed more interesting, but lacked screen time. Ranka's laser guide amnesia became a source of disbelieve. Not to mention done to death .

I did not like Sheryl herself, but I liked how her character progressed, but the Big Bad was kind of, yeah...

Spoiler for Macross Frontier:

How does a phd in bioengineering or what ever she was, help her become a manager, a hacker, ect....

They really make you want to hate those bugs, but from episode one, thought to myself, are those the bugs from starship troopers? and from then on i really couldn't hate them,

Spoiler for Macross Frontier:

You then later find out that, like in star shiptroopers, the humans provoked them first.

It was at the end I thought to myself.

Spoiler for Macross Frontier:

OOOO they're the bugs from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.

Also, just how the series progressed with Alto and his love triangle "I could careless about love triangle, but it wouldn't be macross with out one.", he must really have the worst timing in the world. Someone always seemed to be able to barge in, or turn her head at just the "right" time. Seemed a bit forced.

Music: great!

[Tak]

So, it would seem that most people (around the world) have pretty much similar reactions as we do toward Macross Frontier overall:

There are three things people found unforgettable:

1. The character development that is Sheryl Nome (I think we are pretty fanatic here about her, but wait until you see some East Asian fans... Ranka gets 0 love, period)

2. The music composition throughout the show

3. The unprecedented, epic and most unbelievable battle choreography up-to-date. No new shows this year will top it, and I suspect it won't be topped for years to come

Although I personally would add Grace as being one of the finest villains yet.

Everything else? Meh...

- Tak (Now crossing fingers for the movie...)

[Lockgar]

Are we using spoiler tags in here?

Originally Posted by Tak

So, it would seem that most people (around the world) have pretty much similar reactions as we do toward Macross Frontier overall:

There are three things people found unforgettable:

1. The character development that is Sheryl Nome (I think we are pretty fanatic here about her, but wait until you see some East Asian fans... Ranka gets 0 love, period)


Although I personally would add Grace as being one of the finest villains yet.

Everything else? Meh...

- Tak (Now crossing fingers for the movie...)

Indeed, Sheryl's was good, because

Spoiler for Macross Frontier:

she hits rock bottom, everyone loves to see a beloved star with their face in the ground "Which she literally at one point does" just look at Britney "I never liked her, but you get the point", and after she gets "replaced" in more ways then one she was pretty much told "You have cancer". I think it would have made more of an exclamation point if she stayed ill,

but o well.

I found Ranka's character far more likable then Sheryl "You can like a character and hate their story, and vice versa, why not?", but the only thing she had going was the done to death, inconvenient, convenient, amnesia. "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WHAT EVER YOU DO, DON'T DO THIS, THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN EVER REMEMBER, SO FOR GOD SAKE DON'T DO IT. So she forgets.

Grace to me, got a bit annoying since she KNEW EVERYTHING, I WAS PLANNING IT FROM THE START FOOL! Like why Ben in Lost starts losing all appeal. Still had several good Kick the dog moments.