Let's Re-Watch Macross Frontier (TV) Together!

[magnuskn]

It seems I am tabbed out for time this week, so I cannot watch the episode. So just some quick things from my memory:

- This clearly was the highpoint of Rankas chances in the series of getting together with Alto. After that, it's all downhill.

- I know that it's necessary for exposition, but Alto two times in this episode could simply have dodged to get out of Breras gunsights.

- Again, too bad that they didn't went with "Sheryl the pilot". It would have made for an awesome character conversion. OTOH, Ranka could just as well then have packed up and gone home, instead of just becoming ineffectual in the romance.

- Great visuals throughout the whole episode. The dimension eater effect... wow, I remember being really really impressed with the whole concept and execution.

- Also: Evil Cyborg Grace is sexy!

- To finish: Sheryl getting better so fast and immediately re-asserting herself is good. Her being this spunky is something we saw far too little off in the episodes to come, but it's understandable, as we are entering now the serious drama part of the show. With exceptions, like ep 17, of course.

[moncikoma]

just try and make some fake JAPANESE account via PSN home, and find out they airing episode 5 of macross F
my nick name...is...cute..huh? XD :

Spoiler:

it looks like there is gonna be some event starting on this february...maybe some 3d concert i dunno...for now..i can only find macross frontier trailer [sayonara tsubasa]n PSP TRIANGLE FRONTIER CM,and rewatching some episode [episode 5] on the virtual theater

[DragoZERO]

Tell me... why did they wait 14 episodes to close the dome!? I know, it didn't help that much, but still.

When Alto saves Sheryl and Luca
Alto: "This is the coolest, I will ever look."

It's amazing, even if Alto mentions another woman, when talking to one, it doesn't mean anything. Ah, the privileges of being a protagonist.

I wish they had a military adviser for this. What I like about series like Galactica is it's sound military. Alto is no novice now, right? But he shot all four of his nukes at once. And the formations and strategies. Plus shooting all of those missiles in such close quarters, so much that he is blown out. Am I expecting too much??

And was that big vajra her mother or something??

[magnuskn]

Originally Posted by DragoZERO

Tell me... why did they wait 14 episodes to close the dome!? I know, it didn't help that much, but still.

Because no large-scale attack happened besides episode one. And even then it was just a few fighters. Although those were presented as much more of a threat then.

Originally Posted by DragoZERO

When Alto saves Sheryl and Luca
Alto: "This is the coolest, I will ever look."

I disagree.

Originally Posted by DragoZERO

It's amazing, even if Alto mentions another woman, when talking to one, it doesn't mean anything. Ah, the privileges of being a protagonist.

Which scene are you talking about specifically?

Originally Posted by DragoZERO

I wish they had a military adviser for this. What I like about series like Galactica is it's sound military. Alto is no novice now, right? But he shot all four of his nukes at once. And the formations and strategies. Plus shooting all of those missiles in such close quarters, so much that he is blown out. Am I expecting too much??

Reactive weapons: He had to make a hole through the Vajra formation. As you could see, the direct spread radius of the reactive warheads wasn't all that large, so I think it was a good tactic to fire all four simultaneously. Also, he needed the maneuverability for dogfighting afterwards.

As for shooting his missiles at close-quarter: He was in a confined room and had to kill the queen ASAP... what else was he supposed to do? Wait until she called for reinforcements?

Originally Posted by DragoZERO

And was that big vajra her mother or something??

No, the queen projected an image of Ranshe, who was Rankas mother. Since Ranshe had had contact with the Vajra before, I guess they kept her in their collective memory. How that squares with the Vajra attacking the 117th I do not know, but that aspect was kept unclear by the writers at the end.


My own impressions later in the day!

[Darthtabby]

I had no problem with Alto firing off his reaction warheads in one salvo. He was dealing with a significant number of targets over a wide area, so it made sense. The firing missiles in a confined space part does bother me a bit, but more because he should have been concerned about Ranka (who didn't have the benefit of being in a battroid). I don't think he was expecting the Vajra sub Queen to produce an explosion of that magnitude. Keep in mind thought that he was in a pretty complicated situation when you consider the threat posed by the sub Queen and the fact that Ranka's other rescuer was someone who had previously proved very hostile.

I'm probably more bothered by Alto blowing off the borrowed Super Pack after saving Sheryl and Luca though. I know it looked cool but some of that equipment was still useful. (Ditto the Armour Pack's beam gun equipped boosters.)

Anyway, comments:

This was a pretty awesome episode with the first really large scale attack on the fleet. It was nice to see a bit of focus on Luca and Canaria and the things they're motivated to protect. I think Canaria is a pretty awesome character. Luca seriously needs to work on his combat skills though. I realise he's more of a reconaissance/electronic warfare specialist than a direct combatant, but his combat record is just embarassing.

I noticed pizza showing up a couple times in this episode. I find the fact that Frontier was sponsored by Pizza Hut kind of ironic. Seems like a Chinese restaurant chain would have been more appropriate.

Am I the only person who find some of the scenes between Wilder and Monica in this series to be kind of awkward?

I like how the writer wasn't afraid to make the main character get caught up in war fervor and take an "us or them" attitude that's totally at odds with the series end message.

Even when Sheryl is failing horribly she's still awesome. :lol:

Poor Laramia. She never really got any character development.

[magnuskn]

<sigh> Seems that I don't have time for a review this week either... it's the last two weeks of the semester and I am tapped out. So just some general stuff:

- This was truly Bobbies finest hour, giving Ozma a good talking-to and being generally awesome.

- A great battle, with, IMO, some of the best visuals of the series. One has to ask though: Did the Frontier guys only have ammunition for one salvo of absolute destruction?

- At least Monika got her dream guy in the end.

- I wonder if Sheryl would have gotten the plane under control if she wouldn't have been shot down. Ah, how things could have been different if only the writers would have let her make the full transition from songstress to pilotess...

- When Sheryl comes to tell Alto that he cannot die on her, it was a.) a truly emotional moment, which Alto did completely miss <grumble> and b.) a scene with some great visuals. The true scale of the VF-25 was really visible in it.

- Poor Raramia. At least she got a few added seconds of screentime in the BR version.

[Foreshadow]

I really need to set aside some time to go through the rest of the thread.. But sadly, I'm too lazy right now .

Can anybody enlighten me what episode we're on? My semester just ended and I plan on jumping into the action .

[Darthtabby]

Episode 14. There's also a schedule in the first post of the thread if you ever lose track again.

[magnuskn]

My post for ep 15 will have to wait until tomorrow or Monday, I am feeling a bit under the weather ( no wonder, since it has been raining the last two days here in Hamburg ).

[Darthtabby]

In many respects Episode 15 is pretty good for a recap episode. There's actually some new material mixed in with the recap and the commentary from the baddies gives new perspective on previous events so that the episode adds something new in addition to refreshing the audience's memories.

That being said, some of the new footage in this episode didn't look particularly good. And due to the nature of the episode it got shown in close proximity to some particularly good looking footage from earlier in the series.

Nitpick: Why is Sheryl not suspicious of Brera? Did she not get a good look at his fighter over Gallia IV? Or does that fact that he saved Ranka (and judging from the dialogue, supposedly Grace as well) over rule that?

Cathy is starting to get suspicious of Leon.

The big question this episode raises though is what the heck the Galaxy conspiracy's original plan was. I realise they changed things pretty heavily after the discovery of Ranka, but why? And what did they originally intend to do? What purpose did trying to kill Sheryl at Gallia IV serve when they hadn't broken the Vajra communications protocols yet?

[DragoZERO]

Sweet episode. I was thinking of skipping since it was a recap, but I didn't remember how much new stuff is in it. Oh, and the duet at the mall. Alto's reactions were funny too. I have to say, I wouldn't know how to react to that, at all. But when they are side by side singing like that, hhhnnggghhh.

They did great with the recap footage, by throwing in some new Sheryl concert footage and not putting the same sequences in. It didn't feel like I watched it before, that much. Plus I think they cut a scene with Michael and Klan from the the broadcast on the BDs.

Notables, you can see Sheryl is starting to feel the pressure from Ranka. With her career and with Alto. Plus her feelings are becoming more and more obvious, what with her fixing her hair and all. What's funny is, Ranka isn't doing anything to target Sheryl specifically. You have to wonder what would happen if she a more aggressive person. But Sheryl doesn't give up! Go Sheryl!

Mr. Birler has interesting tastes.

I said a lot more than I had planned to.

Screenshots courtesy: http://randomc.net/2008/07/17/macross-frontier-15 & http://anime.fansub.tv/pictures.php/...ross_Frontier/

Originally Posted by Darthtabby

Nitpick: Why is Sheryl not suspicious of Brera? Did she not get a good look at his fighter over Gallia IV? Or does that fact that he saved Ranka (and judging from the dialogue, supposedly Grace as well) over rule that?

How about Grace. How was she the only survivor from that? No one else got off that planet in time. With regards to Brera, I don't think she remembers or realizes who is was. Plus she was so happy to find someone from Galaxy that she wasn't focusing on anything else.

The big question this episode raises though is what the heck the Galaxy conspiracy's original plan was. I realise they changed things pretty heavily after the discovery of Ranka, but why? And what did they originally intend to do? What purpose did trying to kill Sheryl at Gallia IV serve when they hadn't broken the Vajra communications protocols yet?

They sure did drop Sheryl fast after discovering Ranka, haha.

[Father Hentai]

Originally Posted by Darthtabby

The big question this episode raises though is what the heck the Galaxy conspiracy's original plan was. I realise they changed things pretty heavily after the discovery of Ranka, but why? And what did they originally intend to do? What purpose did trying to kill Sheryl at Gallia IV serve when they hadn't broken the Vajra communications protocols yet?

The answer is quite simple from a scientific view: the results with Sheryl were not as successfull compared to the potential Ranka has shown in a short time.

While both have the bacteria connection, the results with Ranka was that what Grace was looking for and this fits with their goal to establish a communication to the Vajra network.

[BetoJR]

Yeah, the simple answer is usually the correct one.

[Yot-chan]

Originally Posted by DragoZERO

How about Grace. How was she the only survivor from that? No one else got off that planet in time.

She didn't get off the planet. Her body was destroyed. Her consciousness, however, is stored elsewhere.

[DragoZERO]

Originally Posted by Yot-chan

She didn't get off the planet. Her body was destroyed. Her consciousness, however, is stored elsewhere.

I know that. But does Sheryl know that?

[Yot-chan]

Originally Posted by DragoZERO

I know that. But does Sheryl know that?

Oh, okay. I see what you're saying now. Sorry.

I dunno, really, but I can see two possible excuses here: first, that Sheryl was too preoccupied with being really sick to note anything about Grace's whereabouts; and second, that she was so happy that her beloved manager wasn't dead that she never stopped to think about why.

[Darthtabby]

Originally Posted by Father Hentai

The answer is quite simple from a scientific view: the results with Sheryl were not as successfull compared to the potential Ranka has shown in a short time.

While both have the bacteria connection, the results with Ranka was that what Grace was looking for and this fits with their goal to establish a communication to the Vajra network.

The part that bothers me is that Grace's words to Brera while they were on Gallia IV basically said that Ranka's potential was unconfirmed and that she wasn't a priority. It seemed like she was trying to get rid of Sheryl without having another candidate ready to take her place.

Actually I just find the Galaxy plot in general pretty nebulous. What purpose did trying to blow up Gallia IV along with Sheryl serve? Why bother starting a war between Frontier and the Vajra? What was the reason why later in the series she couldn't afford to lose Frontier quite yet?

[DragoZERO]

And I had to take some screenshots, I think I almost died here.

[magnuskn]

Well, not that much to say for this episode, as much of it is recap.

- It still introduced "Welcome to my fanclubs night S.O.S", which is the most high-energy song of the series, IMO.

- Ranka trying to jump on Alto like a puppy was... weird.

- Once again, it'd be interesting to get some backstory to what happened to Fairies 1 through 8. Surely not pretty stories, but they would maybe help to fill out what Grace and the cabal were really up to.

- Hm, I wonder if there exists a VF-26. ^^

- And of course there is the epic song and dance number at the end... once again one has to ask what would have happened if there hadn't been an inconvenient interruption at the end.

- Oh, and it is basically here where Rankas streak of closing the gap ends. At this point, she has a legitimate shot at Alto choosing her, because now he really had no excuse anymore of not knowing how both girls felt about him. But, as we'll see in the next two episodes, perplexingly the writers chose to go another route entirely.

Now, on to the discussion from this week!

Originally Posted by Darthtabby

That being said, some of the new footage in this episode didn't look particularly good. And due to the nature of the episode it got shown in close proximity to some particularly good looking footage from earlier in the series.

I guess they once again tapped out their budget for the episode from one week before and had to source out some work, like with episode eight.

Originally Posted by Darthtabby

Nitpick: Why is Sheryl not suspicious of Brera? Did she not get a good look at his fighter over Gallia IV? Or does that fact that he saved Ranka (and judging from the dialogue, supposedly Grace as well) over rule that?

There's a lot of handwaving to accomodate Breras inclusion in the cast. Some of it can be explained by Leon exerting pressure to keep his attacks on SMS a secret, but, yeah, it really doesn't make much sense that nobody mentions his blatant attempts to kill Alto from just two days before.

Originally Posted by Darthtabby

The big question this episode raises though is what the heck the Galaxy conspiracy's original plan was. I realise they changed things pretty heavily after the discovery of Ranka, but why? And what did they originally intend to do? What purpose did trying to kill Sheryl at Gallia IV serve when they hadn't broken the Vajra communications protocols yet?

Plan: 1.) Get Vajra to attack Frontier 2.) ??? 3.) Profit.

Seriously, though, I guess they tried to awaken Sheryls potential to affect foldwaves, but when Ranka came along they tossed Sheryl aside for the better prospect. Yeah, in retrospect the original plan kinda seems half-baked.

[Father Hentai]

It's part of an experiment. Think about Gallia IV like a big ant colony or a bee hive. I believe the purpose behind blowing up the planet is to make them aggressive.

Ranka became an interesting factor because she was sending out fold waves, which I believe Grace is continously tracking. Grace just tested her more better and the results on Gallia as well as the battle between Frontier and Vajra were far more than the expecations. There was no need to continue "project fairy". So, if Sheryl would die on the planet - by disease or just disintegrated -, then it's just a cheap and clean way to erase all tracks of scientific research (disposed blood sample).