2011-04-06, 08:24 | Link #1044 |
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Progress implies a direction. A step backwards is just as easily a step forwards, depending on which direction you're looking in. I'm not saying that I was particularly impressed with what Ranka ended up becoming in the TV series, but there certainly was a change of a sort.
To be fair, I place much less stock in her ideology than I do in how she arrived at the idea. Her moment of "self-revelation" just didn't strike me as awe-inspiring... or anything-inspiring, for that matter. I was just left with a feeling of: "Oh, so you're popping off for a bit of a saunter. Will you be back in time for tea?" By the way, the picture of the V-virus labeled as "bacteria" is always good for a bit of a laugh. Fictitious science indeed. Would the phrase "deus ex machina" suffice? |
2011-04-06, 08:40 | Link #1045 | |
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And maybe I am just too focused on seeing a character progress forward. It certainly happened in a positive way with Sheryl and Alto, so seeing how Ranka reached a certain level of maturity and then regressed into a worse version than her starting position ( on some levels, not all levels ) was a disappointment. But it certainly did seem deliberate on part of the writers.
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2011-04-06, 08:59 | Link #1046 |
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Magic haxx sounds stupid. Especially because it is not a magical source how she interacts with the Vajra. It's all about communication. Otherwise should we move on and argue that Sheryl is also magically haxxed when she tries to communicate with the Vajra?
Alto and a positive progress? Sorry but on this stage he starts to crumble. I felt more dissappointed of Alto because now starts to recognize that he failed to make decisions what he truly wants or desires and even expected of him. And that at a point where he is about to lose friends and comrades.
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2011-04-06, 09:02 | Link #1047 | ||
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2011-04-06, 09:20 | Link #1049 | |
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I think it was pretty clear that he chose Sheryl. Not his fault as a character that the show just... ended. An episode 26 would have been immensely helpful to finish off all character arcs, but the trend where he was going with his feelings was made almost crystal clear in the episodes preceding the final episode.
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*edit* Wait, belay that, it actually drove his character progression forward, because he recognized that he could not just focus on protecting Ranka, because there was someone else who was doing it better. So it drove him to look for a better meaning for his life, which he found in protecting all of Frontier. So, still not seeing how that was not positive progress. Anyway, I'm off to college for a late-afternoon seminar.
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2011-04-06, 17:11 | Link #1050 | |
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On another note, Klan Klan busting Vajra with BFG is awesome... |
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2011-04-07, 03:20 | Link #1052 | |
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It was pretty obvious he isn't feeling something romantic for Ranka (he's even "surprised" at her confession). This was a big chance to show it before the Ai kun fiasco. Instead their interaction was all platonic from his side (and the first question Alto asked to Ranka when he met her is about why won't she sing). This is Ranka in despair episode. She's hitting rock bottom. Did Alto embrace her, make love to her and wipe out her tears away, promising to be at her side? Being unable to do that and unwilling to follow her is proof enough he's just not that into her. You make sacrifices for the one you love.
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2011-04-07, 05:19 | Link #1053 | ||
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@Magnus. You are correct that from here on Alto makes a progress. But only because all factors where he has to decide are taken away or left him. It's like changing from hardmode to easymode in a videogame.
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2011-04-07, 09:45 | Link #1056 | ||
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Alto shouldn't have to tell Ranka that him saving her life (even though in retrospect he never done that alone) doesn't mean that he loves her. Alto shouldn't have to tell her that a staged kiss on a movie set doesn't mean that he wants to kiss her, and he shouldn't have to tell her that a staged flight performance for his clients at her concert is not a love confession. The things that Ranka mistook for Alto's interest in her were things that a normal girl would not take as meaning that someone likes them, especially the last one. In fact the last one would have been hilarious if was someone else, and Alto was the one writing the K. Alto has never lead on Ranka, Ranka came to conclusion that he liked her on her own accord. He snuck into Ranka's room to give her advice it wasn't at all romantic, he did it because of his friendship with her. How can Alto know what Ranka is going through when she doesn't tell him? The boy isn't psychic. Your giving him responsibility to something that he has no reason to think is a problem, and why should he? It helps to protect Frontier's people, that's all he knows as Ranka hadn't told him anything else. The situation on the rooftop was wholly Ranka's fault for blatantly putting her hopes into something that didn't mean anything, and on that in hindsight was pretty stupid of her. There was no logical explanation for why Ranka would even think that, which is why I say that it'd be funny if Alto was the one writing the K. Quote:
I think your main problem is that you basically try to absolve Ranka of anything that she may have done wrong, while blaming everyone else around her, even when there is no one to blame, but Ranka. Like her situation with Alto, which was in part caused her her own inaction. Heck after episode 11 Nanase stops pushing Alto with Ranka, followed by the rest of their mutual friends, and I can't blame them either. If anything it was Ranka who took Alto for granted as she always expected him to be there for her unfailingly. Last edited by wisteria233; 2011-04-08 at 06:29. |
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2011-04-07, 09:49 | Link #1057 | |
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*edit* Curses, I cannot give cookies to Wisteria yet again. Quick, more awesome comments by more people! Preferably ones I haven't given cookies to lately.
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Last edited by magnuskn; 2011-04-07 at 12:16. |
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2011-04-07, 14:21 | Link #1058 | |
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We're talking about someone who gets all blushy after Sheryl kisses him the first time, so even kisses are a big deal to him. The thing is that BEFORE the last minute decision, not "solving" the triangle. The official statement was Alto will move in a "big way" for the girl he loves (circa episode 16-17+). Although one might think that, inside the Franchise, Sheryl/Alto was always the choice since conception. He made no move towards Ranka. Not a single kiss, not a real understanding or sacrifice from her part. As for Sheryl, we know he broke his very oath and returned home for her sake. What else happens, it's in next episode re-watch!
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2011-04-08, 17:12 | Link #1059 | ||
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Before the next analys comes here are my final words for this episode. Had to do some private stuff, so apologize for letting you wait for a reply.
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Spoiler for Next ep spoiler tag:
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He had nowhere else to go. Michel, dead. Klan in grief. He lost Ranka (from a friendly term) to Brera and they flew away. Ozma and part of the SMS are also gone. Where do you think he could go? To his father? To Leon or Luca? There was not much choice because he is stranded on Frontier along with Sheryl (hello Hikaru and Misa!!!). At a point you are correct. Their relationship starts from here. From a heros tale. Well, at least at this point he really can start to become Frontiers hero.
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2011-04-08, 17:37 | Link #1060 | |
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Uh, no. When she kissed on the cheek (the FIRST one). He blushed like mad, then he was longingly glancing at her back while she walked away, hand still on his cheek and finally made a faint smile. The lingering hand and longing gaze indicates he was smitten.
He got upset when she dismissed the kiss she gave him on episode 10 as "acting." Quote:
I think their story began since day one, only displayed in an antagonistic way (like Hikaru and Misa, like Sara and Shin, like Sylvie and Hibiki - traditional!). It's not about the circumstances, as the movie spoilers shows it (you can switch them and still... they won't favor Ranka Lee). But we're talking about episode 21. If Alto had strong romantic feelings for Ranka, this was the very episode it'll be glimpsed. There was little romantic intimacy from his side or connection to Ranka's pain and mindset (yet he easily notices there's something wrong with Sheryl as much as she attempts to hide it and push him away). Mind you, unlike most here, I don't put the blame only on Ranka, but Alto too. A relationship (platonic or romantic) goes two sides. And the first thing he asks her when they met again wasn't about her well being but... why she wouldn't sing for Frontier. It's understandable, of course. But not romantic concern.
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macross frontier, re-watch |
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