Macross Frontier - Episode 07 Discussion / Poll

[Wesley84]

Originally Posted by SymphonicRain

Right on the spot. Thus far the only series I am aware of that manage to capture such scenes would be Legend of the Galactic Heroes.

For an anime series that is only 25 episodes long, its hard to balance between character developments and focusing on strategic level perspectives without losing much story progression grounds as a result

It wouldn't be impossible, especially since Macross is already an established universe. The portrayal of the UN Spacy and the Frontier Government is making it look more and more unlikely though. How they seem more interested in what the Vajra have to offer, rather than the threat they represent.

At the thought of that, I would prefer MF to simply focus on character relationships and how the war develop their respective characters than the war itself. As much as I would love to see Macross for the first time expand its focus on tactics, strategy, the finer details of the war, it isn't what Macross is all about in the end.

To sum up what Macross is all about, I'll just insert 4Tran's recent quote that hits the mark:

A factor that every Macross series I am aware of begins with and ends with.

The tactical level is really easy to portray. All they have to do is make the fighting less about screaming at the top of their lungs, more about chasing after one another in a true dogfighting fashion, force everyone to fly the same type of plane every now and then, and never transform again.

You know, just like the first episode when it first aired in December.

Though if we could avoid battles altogether and just stick with singing and character developement, I'd be happy.

[Sinestra]

Im in good spirits after this episode it was well worth the wait for subs since there was a lot of dialog. Needless to the space battle was intense and just damn beautiful. Id have to say my favorite part was seeing Konig Monster come down and open fire like a WWII battleship sieging a pacific island. The capt asking her to be gentle on the haul was pretty amusing but she did give fair warning "If you dont want to die get out of my sight". This was probably one of the best large scale battles iv seen this season although Code Geass has not gotten their yet. Ozma's missile scene was cool but its been scene a billion times and like others mention Roy did before Seed and without a guidance computer, but it was still kick ass to see all those missiles i mean who doesnt like missiles? hopefully they didnt use their entire budget on this one battle

Macross Quarter was quite impressive very agile and petite but packs one hell of a punch. The flight deck being retracted before the main gun fired was impressive but what really impressed me is that damn thing actually gets piloted. To pilot something that huge has got to take some skill god i wanna try it.

The combination of the battle and Sheryl's singing was a great combo. The action kept you glued to the screen but her singing got you emotionally involved. Im glad they decided to use the song from the first episode ago i love that damn song its just catchy. Sheryl did 2 things that surprised me something honestly i didnt think she would do. The first was having her manager hack the system so she peek in and see how the battle was going she played it off like she was worried about galaxy which im sure she was but Alot was the other reason which she denied. The second was when she started crying on stage that was just emotional and Ranka helped her continue on-wards and Sheryl sang for the people she cared about. But Ranka finally understand what exactly Sheryl was feeling at that point was a win its obvious to us the audience how Sheryl feels about Alto' growing attraction for her is obvious. Now we just have to figure out if he managed to snag her moms earrings before his plane went boom.

The red plane pilot i wonder if hes some type of bioroid or android. But when he started to play the same song Ranka always sings my eyes got 5 times bigger this series has so much potential. Next episode Ranka enters Alto's school and from the looks of it Sheryl does too.

[jonli]

You know what.......I think I'm just being bias against CG in anime. I'm just really kind of unimpressed and bothered most of the time when an anime mixes 3D with 2D. I can't quite point out what it is, but cg in anime lacks something that plain 2-D anime don't have. = |

I agree, and it isn't just that. I actually like some 3D CGs in anime, for example Macross Zero pulled it off really well. Mainly because of the art direction, the shading of the VFs are more realistic, and they're all covered in dust and dirt. The CGs in frontier, however, are less detailed. They're just typical cel-shaded CGs, and that reduces their awesomeness in my book.

[SymphonicRain]

Originally Posted by Sinestra

The first was having her manager hack the system so she peek in and see how the battle was going she played it off like she was worried about galaxy which im sure she was but Alot was the other reason which she denied.

The second was when she started crying on stage that was just emotional and Ranka helped her continue on-wards and Sheryl sang for the people she cared about. But Ranka finally understand what exactly Sheryl was feeling at that point was a win its obvious to us the audience how Sheryl feels about Alto' growing attraction for her is obvious. Now we just have to figure out if he managed to snag her moms earrings before his plane went boom.

Actually, Sheryl didn't ask Grace to hack it. But Grace done it anyway since I believe she knew Sheryl was concern for the Galaxy as well as Alto despite the singer strongly denying it. This itself shows how much Grace, despite their formal relationship, understood Sheryl and may had been the only one all along in her career before meeting Alto and co.

As for Sheryl breaking down during her performance, I too enjoyed knowing the fact that Sheryl has a softer side: Capable of being stressed and break down emotionally. Even though she proclaimed to Grace in a steely manner that she only cares about her singing and performance, her break down during the performance shows otherwise. I suppose when one is too exhausted, it can be difficult to continue masking her suppressed emotions.

Some nice subtle touches made I enjoyed watching was when Sheryl telling her audience that she wished to dedicate the last song to the Princess, her hand unconsciously touches her left earlobe without needing to say his name. And Ranka holding her VF bag close against her chest when the song finally ends made me wonder if she held it close to her all along when she sang.

[SymphonicRain]

Originally Posted by jonli

I agree, and it isn't just that. I actually like some 3D CGs in anime, for example Macross Zero pulled it off really well. Mainly because of the art direction, the shading of the VFs are more realistic, and they're all covered in dust and dirt. The CGs in frontier, however, are less detailed. They're just typical cel-shaded CGs, and that reduces their awesomeness in my book.

Funny you say that because I felt Macross Zero's CG is too refined and realistic looking that I felt it looked out of place. Especially when some scenes involved 3D VFs destroying enemy planes which were animated. The lack of consistency at times annoyed me.

[Wesley84]

Originally Posted by Sinestra

The red plane pilot i wonder if hes some type of bioroid or android. But when he started to play the same song Ranka always sings my eyes got 5 times bigger this series has so much potential. Next episode Ranka enters Alto's school and from the looks of it Sheryl does too.

He's probably a cyborg and as you pointed out, related to Ranka somehow. I say he's her dad acting as a Trojan Horse of sorts. As a pilot, I think he also happens to control two VF-27 drones, making three counting the one he uses for himself. This would mean he's probably able to take on pretty much the entire cast single handiedly.

[Sinestra]

Originally Posted by Wesley84

He's probably a cyborg and as you pointed out, related to Ranka somehow. I say he's her dad acting as a Trojan Horse of sorts. As a pilot, I think he also happens to control two VF-27 drones, making three counting the one he uses for himself. This would mean he's probably able to take on pretty much the entire cast single handiedly.

Yea thats one part of the story i am really interested in and what really happened during the attack where Ranka was the only survivor.

Im just still in amazement watching Konig Monster go to town im going to have get a good screen shot and try to put together a wall or a sig that scene was just too bad ass to ignore.

[greyhawk]

I'm not an quibbling snobbish anti-CG jackass who is idle enough to be so fussy about having everything animated in 2D and MF looking too out of place, nor will I make any useless predictions that will bear little relation to the topic just for the sake of post length so I'll get straight to the point :
Ep 7 was so awesome that I had to give it a 10.

[squaresphere]

Originally Posted by Westlo

This weeks rating is 1.8% down from 2.0% last week.

Episode 7: 1.8%
Episode 6: 2.0%
Episode 5: 1.9%
Episode 4: 2.6%
Episode 3: 2.3%
Episode 2: 2.7%
Episode 1: 1.1%

WTF i can understand a dip in ratings for a lead up ep to a battle ep. But the battle ep should have great ratings. Especially since ep 4, that last battle ep had much better ratings.

[Woland]

Originally Posted by squaresphere

WTF i can understand a dip in ratings for a lead up ep to a battle ep. But the battle ep should have great ratings. Especially since ep 4, that last battle ep had much better ratings.

Maybe they prefer other show...

*4.1% (*2.7%) 05/17 (Sat) *1:23am-*1:53am TV Tokyo Golgo 13

U_U

[Deckker]

The Most Values and irreplaceable item of the fighter is the pilot.

This is war, damage and loses will be high, but the pilots can't be replaced.

I love Quarter, it feels like a Cap ship built to fight up close!!

[Elandyll]

Originally Posted by Wesley84

I know what you're saying. I'm just saying you're wrong.

And I think you're misunderstanding me when I mention scope. I don't mean a bigger, all your eggs in one basket mecha. I mean, a pair of fleets engaging eachother where even a transforming 300,000 ton carrier won't make much of a difference and is as much fodder as everyone else.

I want a war. Not wanky heroic bits of mecha action.

Not a diss Wes, but for your own sake, you better move on. A "War" on a galatic level is just not gonna happen, it's 99.9% chance going to be Frontier Fleet vs Vajra, discovering some ancient secrets, maybe unlikely allies, and SMS pilots saving the day with the love triangle of Alto-Sheryl-Ranka in the forefront.

So rather than see you go more and more negative each week, for your sake and ours, it probably would be best you move on

NOW, the episode:

Made of pure win imo.
Exactly what we all wait and love from a Macross series, Frontier is shaping up to be the worthy successor of Macross Plus and an awesome update of the Macross universe in the 21st century

Hopefully they can keep up the pace, or maybe, heck, even improve on it

[Blaat]

Ranka and Sheryl are newtypes?

Anyway a very good episode, the fight scene didn't impress me there's something about CGI, especially the movement, which just kills the experience for me although I really enjoyed the WWII feel to the battles.

[Errantkael]

This episode was so awesome! The music and action blended well together to get the right "feel", and I believe that the use of it in earlier episodes helped to enhance it even further.

However i'm thinking there will be a reduction in the amount of songs for a few episodes, otherwise they might run out/get over used .

Ep8 should be some light hearted fun to set up the next major "thing".

[squaresphere]

... M7 had no problem abusing songs like Planet Dance at least once if not twice every ep :P

[Wesley84]

Originally Posted by Elandyll

Not a diss Wes, but for your own sake, you better move on. A "War" on a galatic level is just not gonna happen, it's 99.9% chance going to be SMS vs Vajra, discovering some ancient secrets, maybe unlikely allies, and SMS pilots saving the day with the love triangle of Alto-Sheryl-Ranka in the forefront.

So rather than see you go more and more negative each week, for your sake and ours, it probably would be best you move on

Fixed it for you. Case in point, there wasn't a single VF-17 in the last episode. The other ships sat there while Quarter single-handiedly not only drew the mothership's attention away from the Galaxy ship, but then blew it away with it's Quantum Rainbow Gun.

Plus how useless and suspect the UN Spacy has been portrayed as. There might be a Frontier Fleet, but they won't be doing anything with themselves. At best, they'll be background explosions when the time comes.

Oh, who knows. Certainly I've enjoyed series where it mostly followed around one ship. Quarter doesn't seem so bad while it's in carrier-mode and the hairdresser isn't cussing and screaming at the top of his lungs. Maybe the Spacy will do us the favor of sending them on repeated suicide missions without any support? Maybe they can actually earn their pay that way and we can get some nice drama and battle scenarios out of it.

[Tabris]

Originally Posted by Wesley84

He's probably a cyborg and as you pointed out, related to Ranka somehow. I say he's her dad acting as a Trojan Horse of sorts. As a pilot, I think he also happens to control two VF-27 drones, making three counting the one he uses for himself. This would mean he's probably able to take on pretty much the entire cast single handiedly.

It'd just end up being a strategy game between him and Luca.

[ani_d]

Originally Posted by Westlo

This weeks rating is 1.8% down from 2.0% last week.

Episode 7: 1.8%
Episode 6: 2.0%
Episode 5: 1.9%
Episode 4: 2.6%
Episode 3: 2.3%
Episode 2: 2.7%
Episode 1: 1.1%

Wow, is this really the nationwide rating in Japan? Or maybe in just one region? =/ The rating took a nosedive on episode 5 and couldn't come back up lol Seems like the battle scenes aren't the case cuz the action is much better in this episode than in episode 4 imo. Weird. =/

Originally Posted by Sinestra

The red plane pilot i wonder if hes some type of bioroid or android. But when he started to play the same song Ranka always sings my eyes got 5 times bigger this series has so much potential. Next episode Ranka enters Alto's school and from the looks of it Sheryl does too.

The red plane pilot playing Ranka's song was one of the best thing that happened in this episode lol I wouldn't go so far as to call him Ranka's 'dad', if it turns out they're related, I'm going to have to say they're siblings. My bet is that Ranka may have something he's searching for and he needs her for it.

I can't wait for next episode. Hopefully, the ratings don't get any worse.

[SymphonicRain]

Originally Posted by squaresphere

WTF i can understand a dip in ratings for a lead up ep to a battle ep. But the battle ep should have great ratings. Especially since ep 4, that last battle ep had much better ratings.

Wut?!?

I guess there aren't enough dynamic bouncing boobies in episode 7 compared to 4.

[Wesley84]

Originally Posted by ani_d

Wow, is this really the nationwide rating in Japan? Or maybe in just one region? =/ The rating took a nosedive on episode 5 and couldn't come back up lol Seems like the battle scenes aren't the case cuz the action is much better in this episode than in episode 4 imo. Weird. =/

Maybe people didn't like Klein? Or Ranka maybe? Come to think of it, the animation took a bit of a hit in four...

The red plane pilot playing Ranka's song was one of the best thing that happened in this episode lol I wouldn't go so far as to call him Ranka's 'dad', if it turns out they're related, I'm going to have to say they're siblings. My bet is that Ranka may have something he's searching for and he needs her for it.

See, the reason I suspect father is because I first thought sibling or brother when a connection was apparent, but since he appears to be part Zentradi he wouldn't really age all that much. It's a nice little twist they could toss in there to confuse people who don't know any better.

I can't wait for next episode. Hopefully, the ratings don't get any worse.

What do people want?