[Haesslich]

Originally Posted by Swampstorm

In episode three, there are two lines that strike me as important:
First, after being rescued by Michael and dropping into the shelter:
"I was saved by him again."
The second, when Sheryl tells Alto that he should try to be supportive to Ranka when they are trapped inside:
"Shut up! If I could, I'd say it as many times as you want! But as I am now..."
These lines are spoken even before Alto learns about Ranka's past. Both convey a his feelings of helplessness at dealing with the circumstances around him. Based on this, I suspect that retaking control of his life could be the driving factor in his decision to pilot.

As a later example, when he learns about how Ozma kept his piloting a secret from Ranka, he becomes furious, but curiously, the line that he delivers is:
"I would have wanted to know everything."
His choice of words give his response an oddly personal twist. Again, his intense dislike of being left in the dark links back to the control issue; with knowledge comes the freedom to make your own decisions. It could have a more specific meaning as well, but for that we'll have to wait and see.

It's quite possible these are control issues regarding his family and his future - or rather, lack of control given that he's the heir to a tradition, and has been conditioned since birth to accept a certain role. He's internalized a lot of what his father's taught him... but at the same time, he hasn't HAD a happy family relationship with his Dad, which may in turn be why he rejects Kabuki - it's important to his father, and doing so means he's putting a distance between himself and Pa, which is part of why he was angry at himself after hanging up in Episode 10... when he'd realized he sounded just like Dad and given Ranka the exact same advice he probably had once been given. Except Ranzo may have delivered a sharp blow to the head before replying to the question.

Ranka similiarly has a control issue with regards to her own fate - at some level she remembers that she lost her family, but blanks it out of her day-to-day thoughts. The issue with wanting to be heard is that she doesn't want to die unrecognized, and completely forgotten the way her family has been except as anonymous victims of the Vajra. She wants to be heard, to be remembered... and the fear that she never will be, or that nobody will pay attention to her, is why she's always going "if only I was good enough". Ozma hasn't exactly been the most supportive of her in this regard, which is why she immediately glomped onto Alto as a new pillar of support after Episode 3's speech with its "If you keep saying that, then you're right - you don't deserve it" sentiment.

Originally Posted by Swampstorm

The statement regarding 'a chance' is meant to show Ranka that the SMS's offer had a similar meaning to himself as the Miss Macross competition did to Ranka (that's why he follows up with "Which is why you shouldn't give up either.") It represents a chance to break free of his past life and gain control over his life.

It's practically impossible to figure out what Alto's motives are for certain based on what little information we have, but this is my weak attempt to piece what we have together. Hopefully next episode will give us more of Alto's back story, so that we can have something a little more solid to work with.

Part of it has to do with choices - Sheryl's the one who insisted that she controlled her own fate, and that she CHOSE to do things, rather than just sit back and wait for chance to rain the gifts of fame and fortune upon her. That's why she took issue with Alto's "we'll wait for rescue, there's nothing we can do" statement, even if she herself acknowledged that there probably wasn't too much to be done at that point. Choice isn't necessarily control (you can be helpless to avoid things, but still choose to defy the seemingly inevitable), but it's something. He chooses, in the end, to fly - and chose to protect those who he cares about in the process, later on (post Episode 5).

Originally Posted by Swampstorm

This is good, but I wonder at the distinction between flying and combat. They could very well be the same thing in Alto's mind, but I'm not sure what to make of it.

Then again, though, Sheryl uses the term "fly" to imply combat in episode six, so perhaps that distinction hasn't really been explored.

Flying doesn't necessarily mean combat - given that the NUNS didn't REALLY expect to find much out there, and most of the major Zentradi fleets have been either met and destroyed, or else at least well out towards the galactic arms as the center of the galaxy was avoided by the Zentradi, per Exedol's advice. Of the only three fleets to have gone this way, two have now vanished.

Fighting is in the end a deliberate choice as well - one can choose to fly away from the fight, rather than charge into the middle of it. Alto chose, perhaps stupidly, to charge into battle without a weapon rather than fall back and wait for support in Episode 4 during the Vajra attack. He also chose to fight in Episode 1, by jumping into Graham's craft, and then again made the decision to go into combat by joining SMS in the first place while being aware that the Vajra existed and that units like the SMS were formed specifically to fight them (episode 3 made this revelation).

Alto may not have made the distinction, though.

Originally Posted by Swampstorm

Also, based on episode three, I think that he feels too keenly his own helplessness. So perhaps his aloofness (to both girls and guys) has something to do with the fact that he doesn't see himself as dependable? Just a thought.

That was beat into him by his Dad. It's why he ran, rather than confront him. And why Mikhail objected to Alto wanting to join - his past behavior was to run from confrontations. I think his attack on the Vajra was as much sympathy for Ranka's plight (feeling helpless) and father issues (repressed aggression) as much as the 'oh, cute if weird girl in mortal danger'.

Originally Posted by Swampstorm

More than not loving, I'm not sure that Alto is in a position where he's ready for a romantic relationship, yet. As Sheryl points out in episode ten, his past is quite a delicate issue, and he doesn't seem ready to share it, yet. It's difficult to be in a serious relationship when you're always holding a part of yourself back. I think he'll need to resolve some of his own issues first, before he starts thinking about whom he wants to kiss.

No, Alto's not even thinking about romance. RANKA may be starting to feel that way, or at least trying to sort out her feelings for Alto (which now include jealousy), but Alto's not even in the country yet. As I said, I suspect that's partly due to upbringing, as well as his inability to really commit to anything yet. The decision to join SMS was his biggest commitment to date, and one that he's still coming to terms with.

Sheryl's confronted many of her demons, so may be ready to start something.. once she gets past the whole vulnerability phobia she seems to have. Ranka needs to get past the "if only I was good enough to" thing... and Alto needs to discover that he doesn't have to run away from everything, and that he has to choose to do things FOR himself, rather than in defiance of something else.

Originally Posted by Herbert

Now, I can see you argue Alto is still escaping. I don't disagree with you on that part but it still doesn't make Alto in same line of Ranka. Deep down in bones, Alto is the same kind animal of Sheryl who would go after whatever they want. The only difference between them is that Sheryl knows what she wants but Alto is confused and doesn't exactly konw what he wants. It's understandable. Despite his love of flying is pure and sincere, he doesn't know what flying means to him @coughStarDatecough@. His passion only tells he must fly but doesn't tell how to fly and where to fly. His hesitation comes from not understanding and confusion. But Ranka's is from low self-esteem.

Once Alto fully understands what he wants, he would go to take it in a way similiarly to Sheryl. On the other hand, Ranka knows from beginning she wants to be sb like Sheryl and find her wanting to be heard in ep 3, but she never goes straightforward to her wantings. Even in ep 10, she need Sheryl to ask her to respond those who is calling for her.

In short, even though they both hesitate in choosing their own paths, they do for different reasons. Alto asks himself if this is really what he wants while Ranka asks if this is sth she can do. I don't think Ranka and Alto are same in core.

If that was strictly true, then he'd either have gone into flying wholeheartedly because he wanted to... but didn't, and needed Sheryl and Klein to put any feelings he had on the matter into words he could use to explain them to himself. And even then, he has to be given a bit of a push - we don't really see him fight, and fight well, until something urges him to - like needing to protect Ranka, watching Luca get taken, etc. Once he gets the 'reason', he becomes an utter monster in the cockpit, and can accomplish what needs to be done. Until then, he's a rank newbie who keeps doubting himself... again, at least until Sheryl and Klein helped him over his 'why' thing.

In that way, he's much like Ranka, who also needed a push (usually the plane, or else Sheryl's kiss) to move into action without regrets or thoughts of doubt to sabotage her. Once this happens, she's also similarly a juggernaut... and in doing so landed an agent, then a major supporting role in a movie. Which, in turn, seems to be driving her towards Minmay-style 'lonely at the top' superstardom.

Incidentally, Grace is the reason Sheryl has much more intel on Alto than Ranka. Major Grace O'Connor seems to have a gift for being nosy...