Romance in Macross

[cerrian]

As far as I'm concerned, I don't see the Ranka+Alto pair happening so long as Alto looks down on Ranka and does not see her as an equal to whom he can confide and relate to.

The producers have 15 eps to grow and develop Ranka to point where she is an equal to Alto whom he can open up to. The only other path the producers have for a Ranka+Alto pair is to show during the next 15 episodes that Alto is more attracted to weaker, 'need to be protected' type of girls (moe-lolis). I highly doubt the producers are going to choose the latter path because it'll break the triangle in such a way that everyone will start wondering why they even bothered to introduce a Sheryl type of character into the triangle in the first place.

edit - I guess there's a 3rd path available, they could break Alto and reduce him to a Kira Yamato or Shinn Asuka....yeah, I don't see them taking this route either.

[ani_d]

Originally Posted by Wesley84

He seemed annoyed when she was introduced to his class. That bitterness continued all the way up til the moment Sheryl drove up with Co-eds splattered on the windshield.

Alto was a jerk 98% of the time in episode 8 lol The only times he was civil was when he was talking one on one with Ranka on the phone and the 5 second apology he made to Sheryl about her lost earring.

Originally Posted by lone_wolf

I've also been keeping up with some of Ranka's blog post (actually the more recent ones) but in all honesty, they are a bit petty and shallow. Of course, it's still too early to see if this will be consistent or not but so far some of Sheryl's blog posts are a bit deeper and more heartfelt....well...from what I've read so far. I still need to back track for the earlier entries but once I get around to do that maybe I can post some summaries of each blog....or maybe Ickem and I can take turns? *shrugs*....I guess whoever gets to them first I suppose.

That would be awesome. I would love to see translation on any Macross F blogs.

[Terra]

Originally Posted by lone_wolf

Yes, they really do help with understanding the characters better. I was hoping for an Alto blog but I don't see that one appearing anytime soon.


I've also been keeping up with some of Ranka's blog post (actually the more recent ones) but in all honesty, they are a bit petty and shallow. Of course, it's still too early to see if this will be consistent or not but so far some of Sheryl's blog posts are a bit deeper and more heartfelt....well...from what I've read so far. I still need to back track for the earlier entries but once I get around to do that maybe I can post some summaries of each blog....or maybe Ickem and I can take turns? *shrugs*....I guess whoever gets to them first I suppose.


--Lone Wolf
一匹狼

It would be much appreaciated, thank you.

[ickem]

Originally Posted by lone_wolf

Yes, they really do help with understanding the characters better. I was hoping for an Alto blog but I don't see that one appearing anytime soon.


I've also been keeping up with some of Ranka's blog post (actually the more recent ones) but in all honesty, they are a bit petty and shallow. Of course, it's still too early to see if this will be consistent or not but so far some of Sheryl's blog posts are a bit deeper and more heartfelt....well...from what I've read so far. I still need to back track for the earlier entries but once I get around to do that maybe I can post some summaries of each blog....or maybe Ickem and I can take turns? *shrugs*....I guess whoever gets to them first I suppose.


--Lone Wolf
一匹狼

I've only read two of the recent Ranka blogs and they don't really add to any sort of understanding of the show to me either. Petty and shallow are good words to describe them...Yeah, I can participate in some of the summaries since they aren't that long and shouldn't take too much time to do, although I missed some of the early ones and haven't gotten a chance to look at them either. Some of the kanji are getting mangled by unicode so I can't make out some of it though.

[ickem]

Here are the 6 earliest blog entries. I'll translate the titles, but the actually blog entries will be simple summaries.

2008-04-24
April 7, 2059

Title: Hehehe

Sheryl's invented a game in which they gather all the staff members' cell phones and stack them into a tower. Then they start calling each phone and whoever owns the phone that causes the tower to collapse loses. The punishments are kept secret because "it is more scary that way."


2008-04-26
January 18, 2059

Title: A profile?

(I'll just translate this since it's only 2 lines)

Such a thing doesn't exist.

The Sheryl that you feel is all there is.


2008-04-28
December ??, 2058

Title: Boring Interview

She starts off by wondering why such things exist then goes off on a tangent about food. It turns out that she can cook and makes a comment about how the stereotype that pretty girls can't cook are only true about girls from years old anime. "Who the hell do you think I am? I'm Sheryl Nome!" It ends with her wondering what she was first trying to say.


2008-04-30
March ??, 2059

Title: Right now...

She says she's staying on Frontier and how it's a really beautiful place. It was unfortunate that her concert was interupted, but she tells people not to be sad since she'll sing towards the sky so that everyone can hear it no matter where they are. For those that don't believe this, she swears on Sheryl Nome's name that it will happen so they should be good boys and girls and just wait.


2008-05-01
October ??, 2058

Title: Lately

This one seems to be directed towards a certain person and goes on to say that there's no need for feedback comments since Sheryl is herself and the other person is the other person. She suggests that the person should let her know about what he is feeling if they should ever meet. She's also not very hotheaded when discussing her opinion (according to her).
(I didn't really get this one. I guess someone left her a less than flattering message about something.)


2008-05-03
?? 18, 2059

Title: Somehow...

(Again, this is so short that I'll just translate it.)

My body's been feeling heavy since yesterday.

Is it a space cold? Did I eat and drink too much? Is it stress?
I don't know what the cause is, but....this is it for today.

Sorry. I'll be more energetic tomorrow.

[lone_wolf]

Thanks ickem! Well now heres some of the earlier entries from....


....Ranka's blog

Actually ickem is better at translation but regardless here they are the crummy summaries...this should at least give you a gist of what goes through Ranka's mind....a few of her entries are weird but I'll keep reading the rest later on. Gotta get back to work

=============================
5/20 (rank's first blog entry)
２０５８年１２月１日

This post is basically Ranka mentioning that this is her first blog post and she continues on by saying hi to everyone in the galaxy (she sounds very excited).

She introduces herself, "I am Ranka Lee and I'm 15 years old. I'm from the 25th Macross Fleet ship, Frontier"

She continues with her stats saying that she likes cooking and music. She's still trying to learn how to cook one particular dish. Apparently she also likes Tuna (LOL)

(NOTE: Her talking about food was rather boring but I guess it's one of her hobbies LOL)

She talks about Sheryl and her new song.

She concludes by mentioning she'll continue her story (life situations?) here from now on and she gives her regards.



5/21 (This post was weird but a bit funny)
２０５９年１月２３日



This one perhaps can be counted as her 'deep side' I guess...well actually she shares her feelings of having met someone.

Then she talks about a floating creature and questions if it is a bug hahaha!


5/23 (LOL LOL)
２０５９年４月２２日


Ranka interjects with "HOW????!!!!!"


The compounds were a bit weird for me in this one so I'm interpreting that her skirt fell down and she's really embarrassed.

She said something about it falling down like a shooting star XD

(NOTE: I may have to reread this one over again but I keep laughing when I do XD.)



5/24
２０５９年４月３日


Ranka is in shock. She asking if anyone had seen Sheryl's blog the other day. On the blog is Sheryl's signature with Ranka's name on it and she's feeling pretty excited and touched over it....however she's also speculating the authenticity of it.

==================================

PS: I'll concentrate better on translating when I'm out of work.


--Lone Wolf
一匹狼

[ickem]

Here's the summaries/tl for the next 9 entries from Sheryl's blog.

2008-05-04

This was just a repeat of the 2008-04-26 entry.


2008-05-04

Title: This time...

She talks about how she's been chosen as a judge for Frontier's Miss Macross pageant and how it'll be interesting. She tells the people who have foolish worries about failure to come. The girls participating in the pageant will serve as guideposts for them. Also since it's an invitation from Sheryl herself, they can't really refuse, can they?


2008-05-07
Decenmber 7, 2058

Title: You know what?

She starts of by saying something really shitty happened and brings up an old saying about how a girl's heart, and face become ugly when she is complaining. Of course her beauty is such that a little complaining will not harm it It seems one of her staff members lost a pair of her favorite shoes so she says she fired them and forced them to walk home naked. Of course she's kidding since that would be excessive even for her, but it's troublesome since she has to punish them somehow. She compares it to how a dog would bewildered if its owner doesn't punish it when it does something wrong. She only buys shoes from the finest cobbler on Galaxy since she has very delicate feet. If the shoes don't fit perfectly it is easy for her feet to get injured. She doesn't want that to happen when she's on stage since she wants to only concentrate on singing.



2008-05-08
November ??, 2058

Title: Of course

She starts off by asking if people have gotten her latest single yet since it'll allow them to listen to her songs whenever they want. She then tells the story of how the single was recorded. It was recorded at Q-Dream-St, which is located on the highest place on Galaxy. The ceiling is transparent so you can "sing while feeling the power of the sky". There are also pictures being taken of the "Three Shone" (no idea what this is) in the studio by Ryu, a photographer. These wonderful pictures help to stimulate her voice's imagination. She specifically asked for Ryu and gave him a copy of the single, but he already had five of them. It seems that even someone as untalkative as him was impressed with her singing. She ends by asking if there is anyone still reading the blog and says that if they had so much free time they should listen to her song already!


2008-05-10
April ??, 2049

Title: This long tour is...

This long tour is finally nearing its end.

Prepare yourself, Frontier.
I'll love you to death.


2008-05-12
April 20, 2059

Title: How was it?

She talks about the Miss Macross pageant and how fun it was. She then comments how she was very careful about not compromising on "quality." She lso asks if anyone has ever chosen "love" because they were fooled into thinking it was real simply due to the fact that it was fun or because the timing was right. Of course she never has and uses the analogy of bad wine being always left in the wine cellar. "If you have a problem, use your hands and crawl up here!! Don't wait to be chosen, choose for yourself."


2008-05-14
November ??, 2058

Title: I have...

No interest in school.

But...Thank you everyone.


2008-05-16
May 21, 2059

Title: Time off

That was a close call!!!!

Time off on Frontier!
I met Zentradi...was inspired by Folmo shopping mall and the space size scale.

Now that I think about it, I haven't gotten any time off throughout my tour.
I've just been going back and forth between the concert halls and the hotels.
Really, I'm been such an idiot.

I never knew that the thing called time off was this stimulating.

It was really fun, kisses-thank you.


2008-05-16
May 3, 2059

Title: Enough already.

In this world, there are many living things, and there are just as many ways of thoughts and opinions, but slanderous rumors that make your ears bleed upon hearing them should just disappear into space.

Buuuuuut, that's no good, even in space it would be troublesome if such a thing were to be disseminated

I'll say it however many times I need to. Excise it from your idiot brain.
I'll definitely return to Galaxy.

[Westlo]

Thanks for the translations ickem and lone_wolf!

Originally Posted by ani_d

So this one scene where Alto became warm to Sheryl for once is supposed to be a lot stronger than Alto's consistent warm treatment of Ranka from the get go.

For once? So he was acting like a jerk to Sheryl all throughout Star Date was he? On a side note watch Code Geass, I'm completely stumped in that one due to the shoddy writing. The character who's getting pushed the entire second season had her development completely dropped in the second half of the first. I need your masterful deductions that were only wrong for True Tears!

[herbert]

Originally Posted by Slick_rick

She asks him a few straightforward question but when he lies to her she doesn't call him on it.

You mean Alto has lied to Ranka more than once? Sorry, I only remember the one I just mentioned? Please educate me about others, but at this moment, I'll pretend there is the only one.

Originally Posted by Slick_rick

Ranka has never lied to him or forced him to lie she just doesn't tell him that he seen him with Sheryl or heard Sheryl in the background etc. In the same breath though I have to wonder why he lies to her sometimes. Is he trying not to hurt her feeling? I don't know if I truly get his reasoning yet.

I wonder if deliberately feed misleading info. is not a equivalent of lying, what is it? Also, if you read her words carefully, isn't it just another way of saying that "oh, you were there? I didn't see you."

On the other hand, I see Alto has no reason to tell truth but many to lie in this case(as I said before, I don't remember other cases so I'm sorry I must stick with this one for now). First of all, this is not Ranka's business from his point of view; second, it's not only Alto's secret but also Sheryl's. As a ex-actor, Alto certainly knows this is not something you can tell anyone, especially...see third; third, wrong timing and place. Nanase is around. Alto must know Nanase has no brain and does anything for Ranka. I bet she'll go all out to broadcast it if she believes she can destroy Sheryl so Ranka can reach the top much easier.

Originally Posted by Slick_rick

I got it the first time. Swampstorm initial observation that the scene on the beach was only to give insight of Mao's character to Ranka. He said if it wasn't for understanding Mao then it was for getting even with Sheryl for the kiss and this would be a negative character development. This is why I try to state that she said she had two problems with taking the role. The fact of not understanding Mao and the kissing. I saying that it can be for both reasons why she took the role. If she understood Mao's role from the beginning and only had a problem with the kissing I still don't see what is negative about wanting to kiss him after she Sheryl kiss him. If you like someone and then find out someone else is after them and that motivates you to make you move then I say more fucking power to you!

Sorry to say, but you still don't get it. We made an assumption that the two problems are both getting kicked out of her mind by jealousy. We assumed that Ranka forget the movie is a chance to stardom and her initial shyness but only a mean to her end = Alto's lips. To put it short, we assumed that jealousy gets better of her. If she overcome her fear and shyness not through courage but pure jealousy, one day she may throw knife at someone (Sheryl or Alto) again and next time won't be made only for comedy relief.

[Tsuchiro]

Originally Posted by herbert

Sorry to say, but you still don't get it. We made an assumption that the two problems are both getting kicked out of her mind by jealousy. We assumed that Ranka forget the movie is a chance to stardom and her initial shyness but only a mean to her end = Alto's lips. To put it short, we assumed that jealousy gets better of her. If she overcome her fear and shyness not through courage but pure jealousy, one day she may throw knife at someone (Sheryl or Alto) again and next time won't be made only for comedy relief.

Nice boat?

[Slick_rick]

Originally Posted by herbert

You mean Alto has lied to Ranka more than once? Sorry, I only remember the one I just mentioned? Please educate me about others, but at this moment, I'll pretend there is the only one.

Ok I stand correct is was one lie but he did mislead her other times.

I wonder if deliberately feed misleading info. is not a equivalent of lying, what is it? Also, if you read her words carefully, isn't it just another way of saying that "oh, you were there? I didn't see you."

On the other hand, I see Alto has no reason to tell truth but many to lie in this case(as I said before, I don't remember other cases so I'm sorry I must stick with this one for now). First of all, this is not Ranka's business from his point of view; second, it's not only Alto's secret but also Sheryl's. As a ex-actor, Alto certainly knows this is not something you can tell anyone, especially...see third; third, wrong timing and place. Nanase is around. Alto must know Nanase has no brain and does anything for Ranka. I bet she'll go all out to broadcast it if she believes she can destroy Sheryl so Ranka can reach the top much easier.

You can't have it both ways. You can't say a mislead is the same as lying for Ranka but not for Alto. And she only mislead him because she was too shy to ask him if he was going out with her. She was building up to the question until she asked him straight out if he was alone and he lied.

Michael and Luca already knew and even the girls in the back heard about it. People even recognized Sheryl when she was with him running to the train. It wasn't a national secret. Sheryl certainly didn't tell him to lie about it. So I don't see the reason as him protecting her.

Sorry to say, but you still don't get it. We made an assumption that the two problems are both getting kicked out of her mind by jealousy. We assumed that Ranka forget the movie is a chance to stardom and her initial shyness but only a mean to her end = Alto's lips. To put it short, we assumed that jealousy gets better of her. If she overcome her fear and shyness not through courage but pure jealousy, one day she may throw knife at someone (Sheryl or Alto) again and next time won't be made only for comedy relief.

Even if we were to throw out all her other reasons and make jealousy only/primary reason she took the part, which of course it wasn't, I don't see it being a negative character development. Can jealously lead to bad things? Hell yes it can. Can it lead to good things? You bet. If jealously gave her a measure of courage to pursue her goals then their nothing wrong with it. Can love cause you to do bad things? Yep it can. No emotion is good or bad. Its what you do with those emotions thats define you. You hate criminals so you become a cop. Bad thing? Would it have better if she didn't overcome her fear and shyness? Maybe a positive character development would have been if another paper airplane inspired her.

[herbert]

I just saw a post in a chinese forum about an evidence why Ranka can't get Alto.

In ep 5, Ranka emotionally relies on Alto' paper airplane to be able to sing, but the airplane is not made by Alto. She doesn't get Alto because she always takes Alto as sth he is not.

Sorry, 'imageshack' fails me at this point of time, but you guys can go to check episode 5 to see the paper airplane Ranka sees is not same one Alto folds.

[Tsuchiro]

Originally Posted by herbert

I just saw a post in a chinese forum about an evidence why Ranka can't get Alto.

In ep 5, Ranka emotionally relies on Alto' paper airplane to be able to sing, but the airplane is not made by Alto. She doesn't get Alto because she always takes Alto as sth he is not.

Sorry, 'imageshack' fails me at this point of time, but you guys can go to check episode 5 to see the paper airplane Ranka sees is not same one Alto folds.

[cheesie]

Tsuchiro: It's probably just the angle. The wing on the other paper plane is hidden away.

[Tak]

Originally Posted by herbert

I just saw a post in a chinese forum about an evidence why Ranka can't get Alto.

In ep 5, Ranka emotionally relies on Alto' paper airplane to be able to sing, but the airplane is not made by Alto. She doesn't get Alto because she always takes Alto as sth he is not.

Sorry, 'imageshack' fails me at this point of time, but you guys can go to check episode 5 to see the paper airplane Ranka sees is not same one Alto folds.

You know I love Sheryl and Alto. You know I cannot stand seeing Ranka getting Alto, you know there is no completeness if Sheryl isn't with Alto...

Still...

That was a relatively weak supporting evidence...

- Tak

[cerrian]

Ugh...please tell me they weren't serious about the paper airplane argument.

[Tsuchiro]

lol.. it's pretty obvious they weren't

[Dingo]

Wow @ this whole thread

[cerrian]

Originally Posted by Tsuchiro

lol.. it's pretty obvious they weren't

Having seen other shipping wars, you got to wonder sometimes.

[squaresphere]

Using the given animation in MF is a bad basis for an argument. The style changes radically from week to week that there's inconsistencies all over the place.