Macross Frontier - Overall Series Impressions & Total Series Rating

[4Tran]

This thread is to be used for discussing the entire 25 episodes of Macross Frontier... your thoughts about the show, overall impressions, etc., etc…

A few subjects you might want to ramble on about:

• General impression of the series.
• Opinions on the overall story, writing & plot devices.
• Thoughts about the animation quality.
• Will there be additional DVD only episodes and what will they contain.
• Characters/Character Design
• What the show meant to you.
• What could the creators/animators/writers could have done better.

And so on.

The poll represents your total series rating. In other words, how you would rate all the episodes combined (1-10)? If you'd rather rate the whole series by technical/artistic merits, you can do so. An example:

Animation Quality: 1-10
Voice Actors: 1-10
Script: 1-10
Editing: 1-10

Average = Total Series Rating

Or a combination of the two. Or your general gut feeling.
If you want to speculate about the Frontier Movie, please post that in the proper thread.

[Tak]

Well, the show is not perfect, so I can't give it a perfect.

EDIT: Ohh, I misread that.

- Tak

[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)

[Tak]

Originally Posted by 4Tran

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)

Did you know I purchased a projector and corresponding screen just so I can watch Frontier on wide?

Shoot, I feel its worth every penny. Seriously, you must watch some of the concerts and dogfights on wide screen.

- Tak

[Darial]

Originally Posted by Tak

Did you know I purchased a projector and corresponding screen just so I can watch Frontier on wide?

Tak,

That's not as note worthy as some of your other purchases related to MacrossF.

However, on a more serious note, MacrossF is probably my favorite anime in the last couple years. Heck, the last time I was such a big fanboi for a female anime character was back during the original KOR TV series <lol>.

In fact, I was so fascinated by the show and its music I ended up doing 12 AMVs for it. Which is kinda scary considering I never felt the urge to do AMVs before this show, and I bought the software and learned how to do it because Sheryl's songs were just that inspiring.

So even though MacrossF had its shortcomings (cough unresolved triangle ending cough), I still had to give it a 10 just for the fact of it bringing Sheryl into the Macross universe.

[Tak]

Originally Posted by Darial

Tak,

That's not as note worthy as some of your other purchases related to MacrossF.

And of course you are going to keep double-quiet about it?

- Tak

[LC]

Animation Quality-6/10 I really didn't care about the action animation quality too much, and the animation quality for the characters was too inconsistent. Compare ep. 24 to ep. 8 regarding character's faces.

Voice Acting-9/10

Script-8/10

Editing-What's this?

Overall, I gave it a 7/10. It lost a point because of the ending.

[Tak]

You gave animation quality a six?

...
...

*gasp*

BLASPHEMY!

- Tak

[TwilightHack]

Animation Quality: 10 (Sheryl-sama and Mecha pr0nz)
Voice Actors: 10 (All star cast!)
Script: 9 (Genius but troll ending made it suffer)
Editing: 10 (Brilliant!)

I truly wanted to give this a 10... but the ending sadly took it down a point.

[stray]

Originally Posted by Tak

And of course you are going to keep double-quiet about it?

- Tak

Rub it proud, Tak!

Anyway. I want the last 5 months of my life back!!! Well, aside from all the cool peoples I met along the way. Respect.

In all reality I still probably give Frontier a 9, as episode for episode it's one of the best series I've seen, but for as character driven as it was there just seemed to be no real follow through in the end. Regardless of the triangle. Definitely going to buy it on BD, (not to mention OST2, Ace Frontier, Sheryl PVC, etc.) but I think I'm going to keep it on the shelf and watch it again down the line when I can be more objective.

[justavisitor]

Hi all

Well, the main focus on Macross is always about Mecha + Song + Love Triangle...Let me talk a bit on those three elements

1) Mecha: The battle scene is great....but it has some reuse scene tho...I don't know if I am asking too much, but for a 25-episodes-series, reuse scene should be kept to minimum..The ending battle is just perfect...even tho it's just like the ending of DYRL

2) Song: I guess many ppl already got the songs from somewhere ? XD Both girls sing really well. A perfect 10 for song...enough said.

3) Love Triangle: I think Alto has stronger feeling/emotion towards Ranka but Sheryl has a bit more development with Alto (She just keeps chasing him since episode 5 and continue using her special status to lure Alto into her side.....). In the end, Alto treats them equally, probably because polygamy exists in Frontier?? Both girls are lovable, and they deserve to get the happy end. Well, if they want Alto that bad, then polygamy all the way!!!! (I completely agree with Kawamori on this one XD)

Overall, I give this series a perfect 10. Why? Because it lets us believe in Macross TV Series again...can't wait to watch other Macross TV Series in the future.

[Tabris]

Certain plot elements drifted after episode 18 or so. I still enjoyed it a lot though, being a Macrossfanboy and all that.

Just a few niggling faults that no amount of fanboyism can overlook.

[Tak]

Originally Posted by justavisitor

3) Love Triangle: I think Alto has stronger feeling/emotion towards Ranka but Sheryl has a bit more development with Alto (She just keeps chasing him since episode 5 and continue using her special status to lure Alto into her side.....)

And guess what did Alto do? He voluntarily and sometimes all too happily complied to the point where he simply sought out Sheryl himself.

Although as anticipated, you intentionally left out the fact that Ranka begin aggressively chasing him beginning from episode 12, to the point of obsession. By then, Sheryl already stopped luring Alto given her disease, its just that Alto sought her out, and not Ranka.

Yeah, Ranka had a shot, but she lost it when she not only wanted to lure Alto but to entangle him in her little prison bubble. Never mind that Alto and Ranka were never in sync, do not share, have terribly little understanding of one-another, and did absolutely nothing couples would. Based on these facts, I really don't see how anyone would assume Alto had stronger feelings towards Ranka.

- Tak

[justavisitor]

Dear Tak:

1) I said both girls deserve a good ending....just relax a bit man, I didn't forget your Sheryl XD
2) I did not intentionally leave out anything..by the same logic, I could say you intentionally left out my part on "both girls deserve a happy ending" in order to create chaos...but I won't go that far

3) I do think Alto has more emotions attached to Ranka...they both are frequently willing to sacrifice their lives in order to save the other one. The scene when Ranka and Alto are alone is, from my point of view, more harmonic than the one with Sheryl. They do have to separate like Hikaru and Minmay in DYRL, but unlike Hikaru, Alto didn't ditch Ranka because the feeling is still there. From my point of view, I am not sure Alto would do the same thing...he might ditch Sheryl if Sheryl got in Ranka's situation and got separated from Alto.

I could go on lol, but this is not the right thread XD. I am simply expressing my view on the series. Our views don't have to be exact and there is no right or wrong in this issue.

Take it easy

[Dansen]

I gave Frontier an 8. It's very good, but it didn't really awe me at all. Besides, I consider the original a 9/10, and Frontier is definitely below the original IMO. I however, am very grateful to Frontier for giving me such awesome songs

[tzia_n]

i gave Macross Frontier a 7. it was nice and all, but there were several things i would have liked to be better. like for example, i would have wanted alto to be less "lost" and spineless. majority of the series he's just following orders and such. also, i would have wanted a more serious ending, i just found it a bit too feel-good for this genre. but it was nice and i'd rathe focus on the things that i liked. this is the first anime that i really liked the sound track

[BetoJR]

Like some of you, I was a bit underwhelmed when I heard about this series. Macross Zero just didn't click for me - maybe the loooooooooong wait between episodes had something to do with it? And, to be honest, the original series is probably my favorite series, ever. The Do You Remember Love movie is one of my favorite movies, period, as well.
So, big competition, eh?
But then, the first leaked episode just about blew me away. Great animation, some interesting characters, wonderful music - hey, I even liked Ranka back then, and absolutely loathed Sheryl (the part where Cathy took her away from the concert stage and Alto confronted them as they were leaving was just great, IMHO). What a reversal in preferences, after 25 episodes, eh?

When the actual episodes took their sweet time to come out, I kinda forgot about the series, somewhat. Then, when it actually started, I watched up to episode 4 and stopped. I hadn't accompanied an ongoing anime series in a long time (always preferred to have my series complete and finished), and real life kinda got in the way.
Some time later, I caught up and watched episodes 5 to 20 in about two or three days. Yes, that's how much this series managed to captivate me. I work full-time, am married and have a two year-old daughter. And this didn't happen over a holiday or a weekend.
Needless to say, that's when I started really coming here and share my thoughts on all the discussions. I've registered for this these forums since 2004 and never had this much desire to express my impressions and feelings about any anime series before.
And I NEVER got so much emotions invested in a single animated character like I do for Sheryl Nome. I did a complete 180º turn, from loathing the character, to mildly finding her amusing, to outright love and care. And that's probably what elevates this series above the rest for me.

The animation, for the most part is just great - sure there are some lulls, but that's expected over this many episodes. The mecha pr0n in several of 'em just feels like icing on the cake. But the character animation was just as great, for the most part. Just watch episode one in Blu-Ray and tell me that's not just note perfect. 10/10 from me, even if it did have some inconsistencies - they didn't detract from the overall awesomeness, IMHO.
The story was interesting enough, even if some things did feel rushed. The characters felt fresh, even if they were a hodge-podge mishmash of past ones, with obvious homages mixed in for good measure. You can never with all certainty point your finger and say: this character is the sole embodiment of that one. There are always bits and pieces of them spread out over lots of 'em. And Sheryl just happened to be the freshest and most interesting character in an anime series, for me, in a long time. I haven't been this captivated ever since first watching Tenchi Muyo and falling in love with Ryoko, when I was about ten or twelve. And even then, it wasn't like this. So, 10/10 from me.
The music... Well, let's just say Diamond Crevasse is standing toe-to-toe with Fly Me to the Moon as my favorite song. Ever. And I don't like the latter because of Evangelion (in fact, I loathe almost every cover they did for it, even if I praise their taste in trying too use it in their series), and it's been in that position for as long as I can remember - probably heard good old Frank Sinatra unload it on me when I was a wee toddler (my parents love Frank) and it stuck in my head ever since. So, you can see how that's something to be considered. Other songs made an impact, as well: love Northern Cross and Yousei; my daughter, of all people, simply adores Triangular, Lion, Welcome to My Fanclub's Nights and What 'Bout My Star; and the reimaginings of past greats like Do You Remember Love and My Boyfriend is a Pilot worked just great. Even liked Anata no Oto and Ao no Ether. So, obviously, a 10/10 from me. If I could give it more, I would.
The only thing that left me wanting (more) was the ending. But even then, it didn't detract all that much from my overall enjoyment of the show. Just left me wanting more, like any self-respecting series should.

That's it from me, in true tl;dr fashion. SEE YA on the funny pages.

[wolfboy]

Music: 7.5/10. I would've preferred some less cheesy songs. Most the ones I liked were from the first half of the series. The music really went downhill during and after the Ranka attack episode. That whole time she saved everyone with Seikan Hikou, I groaned quietly going "My god, how is she saving everyone with this stupid song! I sure hope they have better ones." Then later in that same episode, the failboat continued to sail in when they played Neko Niki </facepalm>. From that point on, the gift of disappointment just kept on giving until Blue Ether and Empty Diamond Crevasse.

Love Triangle: 3/10. Shitty triangle is shitty. You know you're doing something wrong when 80% of the fans root for one side. You know you're doing something wrong when you completely stop building up anything romantically for one of your leads. What really sucks is they started Ranka off likeable as a girl following her dreams of singing...then they said "Just kidding! It's all for Alto lulz" I was really waiting til the very end for them to redeem her and bring back that charm from ep1-10, but nope. Come to think of it, her character really started getting crappy once she became famous. No complaints about Sheryl, solid from beginning to end. Alto suffered from a similar problem as Ranka, likable in the beginning, dumbass in the middle, so-so in the end.

Mecha and Animation: 7/10. first couple of episodes really drew me in wanting more. They did a good job creating an atmosphere and a feel for the city. Battles were awesome, especially episodes 1 and 2. Somewhere in the middle, everything started to blend in and battles started looking the same. Couple more episodes in and the animation quality dropped greatly, lackluster mecha fights, etc. but it was expected.

Overall: 7/10, that's being generous.
Summary: Series started off very engaging, series got lame in the middle when they gave up developing a certain character, series ended leaving me feeling lukewarm.

[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.

[Isondil]

9 out of 10 for me, due to some unresolved issues. particularly the LT.
Musicwise Yoko Kanno you have done it again!

But hot damn, Sheryl is awesome!