After allowing the latest episode to sink in, these are my thoughts as the triangle stands now.
This last episode was hard to watch. I think it strengthened the Sheryl/Alto ship, but it's sort of like the last few episodes of the original Macross where you feel like you're on an emotional roller coaster. Pretty soon, you don't really care if it
crashes as long as it finally
ends.
So, why do I think this episode
strengthens Alto/Sheryl? Well, let's look at it from a narrative perspective.
For one, let's look at how this last episode has
defined Ranka and Sheryl in their relationship to Alto. Ranka didn't really spend much time thinking about Alto this episode. Granted, that is slightly difficult considering the situation she's in, but were they setting up a
romantic link between the two, this should have been the episode where their feelings were in sync, even though they're far away from one another. We should have had a quiet moment of Ranka longing for Alto's warmth despite herself, to go along with Alto's ruminations of the nature of his and Ranka's relationship.
On the contrary, this episode sets them up for further separation. The most important thing to me about Alto's talk with Klan concerning Ranka was a sense of sort of bittersweet wistfulness. As I said in the last thread, Ranka was playing the role of Hikaru. In this episode, it's Alto who finally steps into Hikaru's shoes (meaning he "grows up") and realizes that, in his immaturity, he feigned blindness to Ranka's feelings in order to continue a relationship that made
himself feel good. Whether or not Ranka needed his protection isn't really the point, it's that Alto felt like he needed to protect
someone, and he chose Ranka to project those feelings upon as an escape from his own emotions and duties.
Alto, allowing himself to acknowledge that he might have to kill Ranka, is also letting go of her as an image. Is that the right choice? I can't say, but it
is a choice Alto made after looking at all the facts at his disposal, and looking at what he felt was the most important thing at the time. This is
exactly the same thing Ozma and Ranka did. Their choices might turn out poorly too--perhaps the people SMS left behind will die a painful death at the hands of the Vajra, and this episode proved that just because Ranka
wants peace doesn't mean it's going to come to her for the price of a simple song--but the point is that people
have to make these choices. They have to do what they think is best instead of closing their eyes to the world and pretending everything will work out the way they want it to regardless.
Now, looking at Sheryl in this episode, there are a few things. The big points about Sheryl at this moment in time are her death and her relationship with Alto. This episode almost beats you to death with the idea that Sheryl's "dreams" are actually quite "small". While right now, Ranka might be wishing for peace with all her might, deep down, what Sheryl wants most is love. That is why an ending where she "dies a hero" doesn't work, and "lives and sings" doesn't work either.
Alto is being set up as what would make Sheryl happier than anything else in the world. The tension comes from the fact that Alto isn't an object you can just "hand" over to Sheryl to make her content--there has to be genuine emotion on Alto's part as well.
You see, if Sheryl is the ultimate loser of the triangle, there is really no need to beat her up so hard. Most of the time, losers are allowed to retain some dignity, whereas right now, Macross F seems to be mostly interested in emotionally flagellating Sheryl to the point where it's painful to watch as a
viewer. And, this can't really be compared to Minmay's subplot near the end of Macross in the slightest. Minmay was being punished because of her own inability to grow up, whereas
all Sheryl's punishments are due to a fate beyond her control. Sheryl's role is more like Misa--who was not responsible for any of the suffering she went through (aside from choosing a wishy-washy guy in the first place.
)
So basically, the anime is systematically closing off all other routes to Sheryl's happiness, except Alto. It doesn't make sense to have Sheryl go through all that emotional pain only to have Alto end up with Ranka after they've both mutually moved
beyond one another, and, a little bit closer to Sheryl's own maturity.
Artist
Is it because she already is acting as a woman while Ranka is still a teenager, meaning Ranka wouldn't able to climb herself out of hell (in the producers' eyes) if she was thrown into half of the problems Sheryl is having?
