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Originally Posted by Aqua Knight
which other parts?
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Well. Alto from the series was a far more reserved character up until the end. Outside of his battle rage ( immortalized with such epic utterings as "Gyaaaah!" and "Aarrgggh!" ) it was very difficult for most people to get much of an emotional reaction out of him. The only ways seemed to be to question his manlyness and... being Sheryl.
A consequence of that was that many people missed how his character growth developed. There were very few instances of his friends simply asking him what made him tick and he didn't offer that important information by himself, so much of what he went through had to be inferred simpy by his actions.
The most important aspect of his character development in the series was not, as in the movie, that he stopped things by half-measure... that simply happened after a certain point and wasn't even mentioned by the other characters. The most important thing for Alto of the series was to realize how much he really loved his home, his people and his friends and to assume the duty and responsibility to protect them. While he at first had to find an excuse to enter into the fight ( i.e. "protecting Ranka" ), he later on fully embraced his duties and therefore achieved character growth... he turned into an adult.
There is also the aspect of his reconciliation with his family and that he sacrificed some of his convictions ( like never returning to his home ) to help out Sheryl when she needed him most. In a sense, series!Altos story is also a tale of giving up misplaced convictions, to make room for a more informed and adult take on things.
In comparison, my analysis of Alto from the movies will seem somewhat anemic, since it has been only a few days since I've seen the second movie and months since my last perusal of the first one. But the aspects which I mentioned for Alto from the TV series are largely absent in the movie. His conflict with his family disappeared almost completely and his dislike for living in the confines of Frontier also was vastly de-emphasized. Therefore, the journey he took in the series could not happen in the movies, so a different tack was adopted for the character.
The point I made about his being not very open with his feelings was something which many fans criticised about the character, so the writers decided on him getting asked more about what made him tick. I will not say that Alto from the series would have reacted differently from movie Altos open confessions of his inner state, because nobody ever questioned him so deeply in the series, not even Ranka in that scene at Griffith Memorial. So, Alto
appeared to be much more outgoing in the movies, as the writers made scenes happen where he was actually asked about himself.
The focus on his inner struggles abandoned the question of duty and responsibility to home, friends and family and put it squarely on an aspect which was mentioned in the series, but which vanished under the narrative they chose to go with there. In the movies, people constantly question if Alto is doing things my half-measure, never really committing to something fully. It is only resolved when Sheryl seems to die in the second movie, in a pretty epically emotional scene of friendship and companionship between Alto and Michael ( sometimes it just takes the right body language).
There is another focus on Altos gender identity issues in the first movie, but this was largely abandoned in movie two. Which was for the best, outside of him getting really angry about being called "princess", I did not see that aspect at all in the portrayal of the character in the TV series.
All in all, I vastly prefer the characterization advancement of the TV series character. He had more flaws, he seemed more human and his character arc resonated more with me. Things like assuming duty and responsibility are more interesting to me than resolving to do things at full measure... something which Alto from the series did do anyway later on, without having a public resolution to do so.
I would have liked Alto from the series to be more open with his feelings and declare his love for Sheryl clearly and openly. But the first didn't happen because nobody was tasked by the writers to ask him about how he felt and the second, well, I think that things after the roll of the final credits went very much my way. The second movie kinda vindicates me on that.
Now, if only Michael had survived the series and the meeting of chibi-Sheryl and chibi-Alto were canon in the series, I could give the clear edge to the series over the movies, but those two factors weigh heavily on my mind...
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