Macross Frontier Character Discussion - Ranka Lee

[raile]

What bugged me the most with Ranka in the series was basically the fact that everything was dismissed so easily. After killing off a few islands, I'd have expected some balance that would be demanded from her character. But no. The series spoiled her. Even in the ending. Everything became magically okay.
Intentionally or not, she brought a lot of crap to a lot of people, and by people I mean a whole fleet (and hell! People died!). Naturally, I'd want to see her feel the sting of her actions just as Minmay did. But sigh....all was forgiven. Too damn easily.
Kinda tells you how moeblobs get away with everything. =_=
The fact that Ranka still remained a loli-moeblob-still-vying-for-a-chance-in-the-already-ended-Alto-love-game didn't help things either.

@magnuskn: *Pat pat* We've faced characters worse than this, haven't we?

[kujoe]

Originally Posted by DeX-kun

The reason I say it does interfere is for the fact that most people seem to have a problem with that part of the series the most, all the focus seems to be there instead of what happened before. Now before she left, Ranka had been working on establishing her singing career which was going well until they found that her singing in a sense, tamed the Vajra. Although Ranka did have most of the screen time, the only thing developing before she left was her career and not exactly her character which also worked against her because she was leaving after that.

Her character required a lot of time and it just didn't work out. I was talking about the screen time by the way.

I disagree here. Her choosing a career and working towards it, realizing feelings for another and becoming involved in a war is all, put together, a growing experience for her. There's no way one cannot change from that, nor retain the innocence of inexperience. Again, it's very similar to what Minmay goes through. And as we know, just like her the series does focus on her a lot, rightfully so considering what her character is dealing with.

Originally Posted by raile

Intentionally or not, she brought a lot of crap to a lot of people, and by people I mean a whole fleet (and hell! People died!). Naturally, I'd want to see her feel the sting of her actions just as Minmay did. But sigh....all was forgiven. Too damn easily.

I remember that scene in DYRL where Hikaru slaps Minmay for thinking of running away from everything. Having lost her love, she feels that nothing else matters, even when a war is being waged right in front of them. She cannot sing, especially a song that was written by the other woman, and she wants it to all stop and get away. While it's harsh that Hikaru slaps her, she begins to realize what has to be done and she begins to face all of the crap that has been dealt to her. This reminds me of the predicament Ranka goes through.

[justinstrife]

Originally Posted by vision33r

Sheryl? She lost her self-esteem, her popularity, and nearly quit music.

Don't forget she was dying, and the only other friend she had ever had other than Alto had sold her out.

Originally Posted by vision33r

Altoh's romance with Sheryl is at best, platonic, hardly even close to Basara + Mylene which is a one sided relationship but atleast there are some moments..

Is it that hard to make a fair comparison, which character changed the most?

Stick to your employee reviews. Romance and relationships seems to not be your strong suit.

[justavisitor]

@justinfire

This is a Ranka Lee thread lol...of course it's okay to bring other character to compare with Ranka, but your previous post has nothing to do with Ranka...you only talk about Sheryl XD...perhaps move the discussion to romance thread would be a better choice ?

[Westlo]

Originally Posted by kujoe

The thought that Sheryl's development as a character conflicts with Ranka is absurd.

Yeah the thought is rather laughable considering Ranka had more than enough screen time to get developed. Character development has never really been a strong suit in the Macross Franchise but Ranka's was just handled terribly with the amount of screen time she got. When ever her character took a step forward in development she took 2 back shortly afterwards. I couldn't believe her reaction to Alto in episode... 16 I think, the one in her room.

[BetoJR]

Westlo, couldn't agree more. Wasted potential, all the way...

[wisteria233]

Originally Posted by DeX-kun

The reason I say it does interfere is for the fact that most people seem to have a problem with that part of the series the most, all the focus seems to be there instead of what happened before. Now before she left, Ranka had been working on establishing her singing career which was going well until they found that her singing in a sense, tamed the Vajra. Although Ranka did have most of the screen time, the only thing developing before she left was her career and not exactly her character which also worked against her because she was leaving after that.
Her character required a lot of time and it just didn't work out. I was talking about the screen time by the way.

Ranka already had the most screen time, if the gave her anymore then they would just detract from the other characters who all developed more than she did. Screen time has nothing to do with it, and neither do the other characters development. Ranka was just underdeveloped, there is just not way around it.

Originally Posted by DeX-kun

I see what you mean now, this is what they failed to do with her character and the major flaw that Kawamori left to her. She never faced her actions fully and it's the only thing that I didn't quite enjoy but it still doesn't make her a bad character, just wasted potential. (I've seen much worse and I know you didn't say she was a bad character lol) You've made your point and I pretty much agree with you on this.

The problem is not just she never faced the consequences of her actions at all, its the fact that everyone does. When Ranka decides to betray Frontier who ended up with the the lower end of the stick? when Ranka decided to break down because Alto didn't like her who ended up paying the price? Ranka never once felt any backlash from her decisions and because of that never grew and instead regressed back to herself at the beginning of the series, a naiive immature 16 year old girl.

[Urei]

Sometimes I wonder how many times we shall go through all of this. It's not that something or someone will be able to change the objective opinion about how Ranka behaved. I mean, there ARE things that have the potential for a debate but this...

[justavisitor]

Well, Ranka already said "it was because of me" when she got controlled by Grace. I know she was refering to the tragedy when she was young. And Frontier fleets got heavy damage when Ranka got controlled. But when Ranka got free, what do you expect Ranka to do? Self-blaming for half of the episode before she goes to save Frontier?? If Ranka did this, then there will be more criticism from Sheryl Fans XD....

Her action to save Frontier immediately could be a sign that she has learnt the importance of putting her power into the good use. She also embraces her responsiblity, knowing that it's her duty to not allow the tragedy in the past to happen again in the future.

Basically, Ranka has changed a lot throughout the series, from a normal teenage girl, to realize that she has the power to "tame" Vajra, to understand that tragedy can happen and ppl could be gone, to know that human and Vajra have to coexist (her adventure with her brother to the Vajra planet), to remember the tragedy, self-blaming herself before got controlled from Grace, to act immediately after freeing from Grace's control in order to save Frontier and realize that it's her duty to not allow past tragedy to happen again. I would say that Ranka does change a lot. Of course, her love with Alto hasn't changed at all. But romance and experience don't have to conflict with each other. Ranka can learn from her experience and love Alto at the same time. Ranka doesn't have to leave from the love triangle to prove that she has changed XD

The last thing I want to say is, Ranka is a special character in the series. Because she is the only one who has that "magic power", so she experiences lots of things that other will never encounter. Throughout the series, she has been trying her best to put her power into good use. She witnesses and remembers that tragedy can happen right before her eyes and at the end she acts bravely to save Frontier immediately.

Like I said in the last post, some audiences want to see Ranka suffer before allowing her to move forward, but in my opinion, Ranka has decided to move forward in episode 25. Ranka's mind has changed during the period she got controlled by Grace. We see a stronger-willed Ranka after she got free. She realizes the importance to act immediately, that maybe the reason why we didn't see she say "It was because of me" again when she said that sentence before Ranka got herself controlled by Grace.

Like Urei said, probably nothnig can change each other's opinion, so leave this Ranka tread to Ranka fans plz XD (so Ranka fan can have place to gather besides that fansclub....Ranka fans need to expand the territory somewhat )

[BetoJR]

You assume too much, justavisitor. I, for one, don't want to see Ranka suffer - but the fact she had zero accountability for her (in)action(s) does grate me. That's the problem I see. One scene of "it was because of me" is just too little. And you don't seem to remember what we hold against her character from even before she left the fleet...

And no matter how much you want it to, she didn't change her personality - that of an immature, spunky, somewhat shy and oblivious wannabe songstress. You simply listed what happened to her throughout the series, but these events did not really change her - she was the same person when the series started and when it ended. Nothing, at all, changed. Her character progression from episode 21 to 24 was practically scrapped when episode 25 rolled out.

Lastly, no, we shouldn't leave this thread only to Ranka fans. Everyone's welcome here, on these forums. Stop trying to dictate what we can or can't do, please.

[Tak]

Originally Posted by justavisitor

Basically, Ranka has changed a lot throughout the series, from a normal teenage girl, to realize that she has the power to "tame" Vajra, to understand that tragedy can happen and ppl could be gone

Really?

You do understand this statement is full of holes only waiting to be exploited?

- Tak

[justavisitor]

Well Tak, and other forum members, before we get into any debate again, It's a little early, but I want to say "merry christmas" to all of you!!! Best wishes to every single one of you for the upcoming year!!!

Tak, I am not a lawyer, and I bound to make not up to standard comment in my post (especially my previous post is long), so thanks for giving the warning before hand, if you want to exploit it please do XD. We have exploited each other's post already before....

BetoJR, the reason why I suggest leave the Ranka thread to Ranka fans is because I see many deleted thread from Sheryl fans in here (especially in the last two pages). And the reason it got deleted was because it was too personal...(monir listed the reason in the deleted thread), so I think, is it necessary for Sheryl fans to have personal attack to other non-Sheryl fans in the non-Sheryl thread?? Well I am not trying to dictate anything...ppl please feel free to comment (sans personal attack)...I just think of something and have some suggestion...and happy christmas to you too, BetoJR!!

[BetoJR]

Merry Christmas to you, too. I'm sure I'll still pop up around these boards at least until the 24th, tho... afterwards, it's anyone's guess.

And I'm sure you'll notice that NONE of my posts contain offensive remarks, in this thread or any others, so it's a safe bet that not all Sheryl fans behave as badly as that.

[justinstrife]

Originally Posted by justavisitor

@justinfire

This is a Ranka Lee thread lol...of course it's okay to bring other character to compare with Ranka, but your previous post has nothing to do with Ranka...you only talk about Sheryl XD...perhaps move the discussion to romance thread would be a better choice ?

So I'm not allowed to respond to contents in someone's post? Ooookkkk...

[raile]

I wonder when all of this will end. We always seem to go around in circles, not that it doesn't make it any less fun. LOL

To those out there who think Ranka had some sort of deep, profound and dare I say it, meaningful change in character, wait for the movie.

If Ranka seems to have drastically changed in the movie (like DYRL Minmay different) then it can only mean one thing...they fixed her up! 8D

Let's see how Ranka 2.0 in the movie will be...anyone wanna make bets?

[forgottendiary]

Originally Posted by raile

Let's see how Ranka 2.0 in the movie will be...anyone wanna make bets?

How bout this, a spunky less loli version:

Ranka 2.0: Onii-chan I'm going to join Miss Macross
Ozma: What?! No! I forbid you!
Ranka 2.0: *throws things* You f*****g s*n o* a b***h!!!! *throws more things* You think I'm just going to stay here and listen to all the m***** f*****g things you tell me? You don't g** d**n own me b*****d!!!!

[Urei]

Originally Posted by forgottendiary

How bout this, a spunky less loli version:

Ranka 2.0: Onii-chan I'm going to join Miss Macross
Ozma: What?! No! I forbid you!
Ranka 2.0: *throws things* You f*****g s*n o* a b***h!!!! *throws more things* You think I'm just going to stay here and listen to all the m***** f*****g things you tell me? You don't g** d**n own me b*****d!!!!

Whoa, didn't expect that from you fdiary

PS. Or should it be Mistress fdiary

[Father Hentai]

Originally Posted by Urei

Whoa, didn't expect that from you fdiary

Well, I did. And it's getting a bit annoying every time I watch the forums. :/ Character flame wars is making panda very sad

no personnel offense against fd, I' m just concerned about the anti ranka situation around here.

[forgottendiary]

Originally Posted by Urei

Whoa, didn't expect that from you fdiary

PS. Or should it be Mistress fdiary

That was my bored and ebil alter ego talking

Originally Posted by Father Hentai

Well, I did. And it's getting a bit annoying every time I watch the forums. :/ Character flame wars is making panda very sad

Oh chillax, I wasn't even being serious anymore. You are not the only one annoyed, although I'm waaay over that now. So instead of getting annoyed with all the delusion over and over again, I went to sniff on something to block off my ailing receptors.

[BetoJR]

Oh, I sure as heck expect it from forgottendiary-sama. She's eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeebil. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeebil, I say...