Macross Frontier Character Discussion - Ranka Lee

[BanishingBook]

-I did not bother to read the previous posts.

And I make this declaration in the same language of a Ranka Lee fan: Love!

AI rabu ranka rii desu yo neee!!

*prepares for the worst Sheryl rampage
>.>
<.<

/give me your best shot!

>.>
<.<*

[BetoJR]

So, your point is? The trolling wars are over, aren't they?

[BanishingBook]

Bummer and I thought I could defend her name... I heard from a friend that Animesuki's the only place where Ranka has been berated as though she were even a real being. There maybe other similar places but animesuki is the place to be.

Well now that you mentioned it, I might as well enjoy my time imagining positive fantasies about Ranka, and mind you not of the dirty kind.

Lust can not compare to love at all. Oh Ranka dear. <3

[BetoJR]

Well, you haven't really been to or heard of 2chan, have you? Namely, this wasn't the only place where Ranka had it hard...

[Natsuki Hyuga]

Yes, 2chan's trolling was bad-way worse than AS forums bashing. I couldn't say anything but just... Worse.

[BanishingBook]

I see, is there an existing translated link? I would like to review it.

Or can anybody tell me the popular reason why they poked fun at the sweet green-haired girl.

[Tak]

Originally Posted by BanishingBook

Bummer and I thought I could defend her name... I heard from a friend that Animesuki's the only place where Ranka has been berated as though she were even a real being. There maybe other similar places but animesuki is the place to be.

Slight correction: Animesuki and Macrossworld. They are mentioned because they are also the largest ENGLISH SPEAKING forums regarding the subject matter where Ranka is getting berated.

East Asian sites are actually worse than both of them combined.

The Chinese forums, for example, are fanatic in their berating of Ranka, and their insanity is second only to 2chan itself.

Originally Posted by BanishingBook

Or can anybody tell me the popular reason why they poked fun at the sweet green-haired girl.

You really want us to do that? It would take 10 pages and we still won't be finished.

- Tak

[ickem]

Originally Posted by BanishingBook

I see, is there an existing translated link? I would like to review it.

Or can anybody tell me the popular reason why they poked fun at the sweet green-haired girl.

Ok I'll bite, although Ranka's faults are brought up every few pages in this thread as new Ranka fans start posting so you can go back about ten pages and read on to see other people's views of her.

The first thing that struck at me was her character design. Basically she looks like a little girl whatever her claimed age is. Still, her design wouldn't really have mattered if the writers didn't leave her virtually stagnant for the entire series (and I place the blame squarely on Kawamori for this). Her childishness at the beginning of the series was understandable if they were planning to show her growth as the story progressed, but the episodes slowly passed us by without any signs of her maturing. In episode 21 she tells Alto that she has to find out about her past even if it's painful and that she won't run away, but what happens when Grace tells her about her past? She runs away into her cocoon because the truth hurt. From many of the interviews that I've read, it is apparent that Ranka was Kawamori's golden girl and he clung to her "innocence" and "purity" like Tak clinging to his Sheryl dress. The problem is that he seemed to equate innocence with being ignorant and oblivious. He seemed unable to understand that one can have knowledge and understanding about the world around them and still see it through innocent eyes. This was Ranka's downfall as a main character. Every time she threatened to gain knowledge of the world, the writers (I'm thinking at the behest of Kawamori) reined her in and denied her any growth resulting from said knowledge. She was forced to remain in her insulated bubble as all the other significant characters passed her by.

As has been brought up many times before, Ranka is almost pathological in her inability to empathize with others and to see situations through their eyes. She seems to believe that what is best for her is intrinsically best for everyone else. This is something that everyone suffers from as children, but we usually learn empathy before puberty and definitely before we are Ranka's supposed age. As late as episode 21, she still showed signs of this as was evidenced by her confrontation with Atlo. Let us ignore everything else wrong with that scene and just focus on the fact that she brought Ai-kun with her. Her decision to bring Ai-kun along with her to ask Alto to take ET home left me dumbfounded. It was like she had forgotten that things that looked exactly like Ai-kun had impaled his best friend right in front of him as well as killing hundreds, if not thousands of other Frontier inhabitants. She did not even think to leave Ai-kun at home so that she could prepare Alto for the shock of seeing her furry green friend. In her mind Ai-kun was a fried that comforted her when she ran from the funeral and was therefore a everyone else's friend as well.

Well these at just some of the reasons why I have no liking for this psychopath. I can't even appreciate her as a character because she's just written so poorly.

P.S. Variations "Alto-kun, tasukete" in a whiny voice is Frontier's answer to Gundam 00's Setsuna saying "Ore wa Gundam da!" in his comically intense voice.

[forgottendiary]

holy mother of---another one?

[4Tran]

Originally Posted by BanishingBook

I see, is there an existing translated link? I would like to review it. Or can anybody tell me the popular reason why they poked fun at the sweet green-haired girl.

I don't think that you're very familiar with 2chan. The way it works is that a thread is closed up after 1000 posts, and a new one is started. Macross Frontier was one of the more popular shows to discuss there, so there are literally dozens of these 1000 post threads there. Just about every argument you can imagine would be there, and probably many that you can't as well. If you're really curious, you can just poke around the threads here, but please don't try to provoke a fight.

I tend to be fairly picky about this kind of thing myself, but I sort of liked Ranka's character. I don't think that she was quite capable of pulling off what the creators had originally planned for her, but I think that she was fairly successful in the long run.

[forgottendiary]

fairly successful in failing?

I kid, I kid.

More than half kidding, anyway. XDDD

[4Tran]

Originally Posted by forgottendiary

fairly successful in failing?

I kid, I kid.

More than half kidding, anyway. XDDD

I wouldn't quite put it in those terms, but you're sort of correct. Much of what Ranka decided to do in the latter half of the show were mistakes. The thing is, I don't mind it if characters make mistakes as long as the show itself understands that those were mistakes.

[magnuskn]

Originally Posted by ickem

Ok I'll bite, although Ranka's faults are brought up every few pages in this thread as new Ranka fans start posting so you can go back about ten pages and read on to see other people's views of her.

The first thing that struck at me was her character design. Basically she looks like a little girl whatever her claimed age is. Still, her design wouldn't really have mattered if the writers didn't leave her virtually stagnant for the entire series (and I place the blame squarely on Kawamori for this). Her childishness at the beginning of the series was understandable if they were planning to show her growth as the story progressed, but the episodes slowly passed us by without any signs of her maturing. In episode 21 she tells Alto that she has to find out about her past even if it's painful and that she won't run away, but what happens when Grace tells her about her past? She runs away into her cocoon because the truth hurt. From many of the interviews that I've read, it is apparent that Ranka was Kawamori's golden girl and he clung to her "innocence" and "purity" like Tak clinging to his Sheryl dress. The problem is that he seemed to equate innocence with being ignorant and oblivious. He seemed unable to understand that one can have knowledge and understanding about the world around them and still see it through innocent eyes. This was Ranka's downfall as a main character. Every time she threatened to gain knowledge of the world, the writers (I'm thinking at the behest of Kawamori) reined her in and denied her any growth resulting from said knowledge. She was forced to remain in her insulated bubble as all the other significant characters passed her by.

As has been brought up many times before, Ranka is almost pathological in her inability to empathize with others and to see situations through their eyes. She seems to believe that what is best for her is intrinsically best for everyone else. This is something that everyone suffers from as children, but we usually learn empathy before puberty and definitely before we are Ranka's supposed age. As late as episode 21, she still showed signs of this as was evidenced by her confrontation with Atlo. Let us ignore everything else wrong with that scene and just focus on the fact that she brought Ai-kun with her. Her decision to bring Ai-kun along with her to ask Alto to take ET home left me dumbfounded. It was like she had forgotten that things that looked exactly like Ai-kun had impaled his best friend right in front of him as well as killing hundreds, if not thousands of other Frontier inhabitants. She did not even think to leave Ai-kun at home so that she could prepare Alto for the shock of seeing her furry green friend. In her mind Ai-kun was a fried that comforted her when she ran from the funeral and was therefore a everyone else's friend as well.

Well these at just some of the reasons why I have no liking for this psychopath. I can't even appreciate her as a character because she's just written so poorly.

P.S. Variations "Alto-kun, tasukete" in a whiny voice is Frontier's answer to Gundam 00's Setsuna saying "Ore wa Gundam da!" in his comically intense voice.

Wonderfully said.

[BetoJR]

Originally Posted by 4Tran

I wouldn't quite put it in those terms, but you're sort of correct. Much of what Ranka decided to do in the latter half of the show were mistakes. The thing is, I don't mind it if characters make mistakes as long as the show itself understands that those were mistakes.

The main concern I have, however, is that the show didn't acknowledge her actions as mistakes.

[raile]

Originally Posted by BetoJR

The main concern I have, however, is that the show didn't acknowledge her actions as mistakes.

She is Kawamori's spoiled little brat.

[Fishfood1]

Originally Posted by 4Tran

Much of what Ranka decided to do in the latter half of the show were mistakes.

hmm... if you're saying that Ranka made a mistake by betraying humanity and left to bring AI-kun back to its homeworld...

well it probably is a mistake, but they kinda have to do it, because if she didn't betray everyone to bring AI-kun back, then the Frontier convoy would never have found the verja homeworld. so if ranka didn't betray everyone, then i think the Frontier gov. would have asked for help from Earth(or whom ever have greater authority).

also if she didn't betray, then grace o'connor wouldn't have gotten too far.

so ya... that's my take/opinion.

but if you meant something else she did wrong, then i'm terribly sorry. which then just ignore what i just said

[raile]

Originally Posted by Fishfood1

hmm... if you're saying that Ranka made a mistake by betraying humanity and left to bring AI-kun back to its homeworld...

well it probably is a mistake, but they kinda have to do it, because if she didn't betray everyone to bring AI-kun back, then the Frontier convoy would never have found the verja homeworld. so if ranka didn't betray everyone, then i think the Frontier gov. would have asked for help from Earth(or whom ever have greater authority).

also if she didn't betray, then grace o'connor wouldn't have gotten too far.

so ya... that's my take/opinion.

but if you meant something else she did wrong, then i'm terribly sorry. which then just ignore what i just said

So basically we just have to blame fate?

[4Tran]

Originally Posted by BetoJR

The main concern I have, however, is that the show didn't acknowledge her actions as mistakes.

Sure it did. There was that whole "did exactly as I planned" bit from Grace, the usage of Ranka's image as the big enemy, and Alto's "I'll kill her if I have to". The only thing that she was given a pass for was slapping Sheryl, and that's the only issue I have.

[incorrupts]

Originally Posted by BetoJR

The main concern I have, however, is that the show didn't acknowledge her actions as mistakes.

And this is exactly the reason, why a lot of people rageeee when it comes to her. {myself included, i won't hide it |DD;}
It is like "hate the game, not the player", except in this occasion, the player is like...ugh, i feel like i was trolled by some of her actions. :x

[Fishfood1]

Originally Posted by raile

So basically we just have to blame fate?

you can say that... or script writing, which ever suits better