Macross Frontier - Overall Series Impressions & Total Series Rating

[Rag]

Animation Quality: 8
Voice Actors: 9
Script: 9
Soundtrack: 9.5
Editing: 7
Enjoyment: 9.5
Emotional Involvement: 9.0

Average = 9.0

One thing I can say for certain, the Macross staff does melodrama pretty darn well (something the Gundam 00 staff should learn more...)

[moncikoma]

Originally Posted by Rag

One thing I can say for certain, the Macross staff does melodrama pretty darn well (something the Gundam 00 staff should learn more...)

so true....gundam ending on the movie is such a waste..
i hope alto doesnt end up like setsuna...

[Tak]

Originally Posted by moncikoma

so true....gundam ending on the movie is such a waste..
i hope alto doesnt end up like setsuna...

Personally, I can care less about Setsuna. He and Marina were just so... boring... with the latter bordering worthless.

- Tak

[moncikoma]

in tv series...he is GUNDAM...
on movie..he is...what is that??? FLOWERDAM?

[Tak]

Originally Posted by moncikoma

in tv series...he is GUNDAM...
on movie..he is...what is that??? FLOWERDAM?

Whatever DAM he is, his ending with Marina was significatly better than the fate suffered by Alto & Sheryl.

- Tak

[Se7en Sabers]

Originally Posted by Tak

Whatever DAM he is, his ending with Marina was significatly better than the fate suffered by Alto & Sheryl.

- Tak

Spoiler for Tak:

Don't forget the spoiler tag

[Thess]

Originally Posted by Sanger Zonvolt

Frontier movie was pretty awesome.

Reminded me of DYRL in that they made Sheryl not bitchy and jealous at all, much like they changed Minmay to being more likable.

They didn't make Sheryl different. Sheryl became like that by the series progression. They just glossed over the development that led the audience discover the "first impression isn't always right". Since she's already an established character.

Alto's gender issues and love/hate with Kabuki were also hidden layers present in his character TV series wise that decided to make more palpable in the movie.

Some other characters, though (Ranka, for one. Grace and Leon, too) got a complete make over.

[magnuskn]

Originally Posted by Thess

Alto's gender issues and love/hate with Kabuki were also hidden layers present in his character TV series wise that decided to make more palpable in the movie.

The TV version is better.

[Thess]

Originally Posted by magnuskn

The TV version is better.

I don't think he changed? They chopped the arc-of-coming-back-home, but it's time constrain one. They left his basic characterization intact. Gotta say...

Spoiler for movie spoilers:

I'm glad that he, LIKE HIKARU IN DYRL WITH MISA, spelled it aloud to Sheryl, instead of being ambiguous.

Besides, he dresses like a gothic lolita with lipstick for Sheryl's sake. Now that's love.

[Yot-chan]

Originally Posted by Thess

I don't think he changed? They chopped the arc-of-coming-back-home, but it's time constrain one. They left his basic characterization intact. Gotta say...

Spoiler for movie spoilers:

I'm glad that he, LIKE HIKARU IN DYRL WITH MISA, spelled it aloud to Sheryl, instead of being ambiguous.

Besides, he dresses like a gothic lolita with lipstick for Sheryl's sake. Now that's love.

Spoiler for movie spoiler:

You mean he ALMOST spelled it out to Sheryl...

[Thess]

Originally Posted by Yot-chan

Spoiler for movie spoiler:

You mean he ALMOST spelled it out to Sheryl...

Spoiler for spoilers:

WELL he tried and was stopped by cannons and folded vajyra, but at least he tried.

[SamuraiX]

So I've just finished watching the last episode of Macross Frontier and I don't know where to start. The fighting was excellent, I really liked the Vajra as enemies

Spoiler for Character Death:

though I could have done with some more main character deaths looking at you Osma

but all in all it was a good show.

Though I kind of hated whats his face guy with Pink hair who I still believe served no purpose in a Air Craft at all and ran on about Nanase for like 5 episodes. I thought he was going to pull a Shinji from Neon Genesis Evangelion in the Hospital though.

The confusing part was apparently

Spoiler for Last Episode:

When Sheryll died and then was brought back to life by the power of Song. Grace as a tentacle Cyborg who had about 10 spare bodies just lying around. And a Giant camouflaged Ranka battleship.

[magnuskn]

Originally Posted by Thess

I don't think he changed? They chopped the arc-of-coming-back-home, but it's time constrain one. They left his basic characterization intact.

His "getting lost in acting" issues were not present in the TV series. I liked it better that the characters problem with acting was related to his family and his gender issue, instead of him feeling that he was losing her own personality.

It also felt to me that he was getting dragged into SMS, rather than going for it as his own motivation. That made his motivations feel a little less noble.

And all in all he got much more characterization in the series, and I loved most of what they did with him there, because he was one of most noble and dutiful anime protagonists I had seen in a long while, very different from all the man-childs running around in other shows.

[sa547]

10/10. Why is it so?

It took a magazine cover (Cut Magazine, June 2011 issue) and Megumi Nakajima's Filipino roots to convince me, along with periodic visits to Ghostlightning's blog, to go see this show (and the last time I ever saw an episode of SDF Macross was back in 1986-87, but my memory of the storyline is murky at this point).

After watching all 25 episodes, suffice to say that, despite some issues with cases of scene recycling, character design, loose ends (and other itty-bitty issues that would otherwise turn off a perfectionist), I ended up enjoying the experience of watching what is my definition of a proper anime epic, with all the necessary elements balanced and mixed in.

The visuals? My mileage might vary on this, but I like how they kept some things up to date (fashion, gadgets, communications, food, etc.) and then boosted with some CG, things absent in the older series, but doesn't try to go overboard.

Although there's the requisite love triangle and some science involved, the story doesn't become cloying, or delve into head-hurting mindscrewing, or go to the point of excess melodrama with floods of tears and Kleenex (there's this other series that overdoes this years ago, which forced me to drop it completely), but instead it coherently goes straight to the point and does what it should be doing: entertaining its audience and at the same time help introduce new fans to the older classics that defined the franchise, notably SDF, DYRL and Zero.

Frontier does not fail to provide variety, though: it has fanservice, moe, comedy, drama, action, suspense, mystery, ecchi, and a triangular romance (the last time there was a show that has some of these elements, it's Code Geass).

I love watching the characters (in my view they feel like real people) develop over time as they slowly discover their self-worth, and what their true purpose and destinies, and what it takes to survive the brutal realities of war, showbiz, love and betrayal. This is helped with seiyuus that have been matched all right to the characters, a few of them even playing against type, and they did well in bringing the characters alive.

The story is given a boost with the soundtrack that helps accentuate and even enhance the watching experience; it ain't Macross if it doesn't have the musical score and the songs, and in this case the music pack emotional wallop unlike anything else I heard in years (and I collect movie soundtracks since 1998); they can either set your heart beating faster like strapped down in the seat of a Messiah, or make you dance and sing like a Zentraedi Marine turned into an love-enraptured little boy, or feel teary-eyed.

Overall, Frontier deserves being placed on the top shelf, and for anyone who enjoyed watching it the first time, it's worth replaying again to experience the ride.

My life's never the same again. Yakh Deculture.

[Paperplane]

Having watched Macross Frontier quite a while back, I can probably say I enjoyed this series, even if it isn't my favourite in the Macross Saga. (Macross Zero is my favourite)

To start off, the story was overall pretty good in direction, leaving a good impression even if it was quite ridiculous and inconsistent at certain points. It is ridiculous in story considering the war between the Vajra/aliens and Humans/Macross Team with singing as a supportive plot device. Not to mention, I felt the direction or flow of the story was inconsistent sometimes considering it mostly kept good progression of the show but left plot holes one after another and answered them far too late in the series. While it was good to see that the story did pace well enough to retain interest in story unfolding events, I sort of feel that such late answers on plot holes really made for a lack of understanding and followthrough with the story, which hurts it quite a bit. The ending was pretty satisfactory in that it ties everything together but for those hoping for a good romance in this series, it comes off being a bit far fetched in certain points of development and lack of closure for such a theme. Overall, the story still leaves a good impression in whats to come in conflict and supportive development moments to keep on progressing the story.

To add to that, what really carried this series was the awesome visuals, animation and overall presentation that really carried the show's story from the whole technological look of the world, planet visits and environments, the space colony to the fast action dog fights with the macross valkyries (Mechas in the series in general). If I were to nitpick, I would say that I didn't like so much the colorful and neon CG look of the jet valkyries in action as they look too plastic and toy-like. As much as I prefer the 3D CG looks of Macross Zero's valkyrie jets, I did enjoy all the pew pew lasers and missiles of frontier in which the valkyries came into action with the Vajra or aliens or whatever xD.

The sound or score itself is indeed great in bring immersion and really lightens up to suit each particular scene of the story, not much to say there. The songs in particular of which Ranka and Sheryl or the singing voice actresses themselves sang did a great job in putting up catchy and soothing pop songs for certain scenes, especially the valkyries in action, characterization and plot development. Although there are certainly flaws. Despite the songs being excellent, I did feel that certain songs got repetitive especially "Aimo" as that was very much overused towards the end for plot as well as tedium sort of set in for it as well. Overall, the soundtrack and songs are good and well fitting for the story.

Characters themselves are quite memorable in the way they're well presented, making them interesting cosmetically and in personality. They are all pretty much 2-faced in the way they are excused in background and change dramatically over the course of unfolding events in the story. The villains in particular were nicely portrayed considering the themes of deception, ideals and motivations to be had within the story. There are certainly some ridiculous and cringe worthy moments to be had with some in dramatic development to roles in the story. Otherwise, characters are all interesting none the less and carry the story pretty well.

Overall, Macross Frontier is a great show in it's top notch visuals and presentation of it's technological world and atmosphere along with a good, if quite ridiculous story to boot to excuse all the eye candy of it's space jet war action around. Lots of nicely choreographed pew pew lasers and flying missiles between jets and vajra/aliens or whatever to keep you on the edge of your seat xD. Despite being a bit repetitive, the show offers an excellent soundtrack and songs to suit the mood of each moment of the story and flying action along with decent characterization to help promote and carry the story through nicely. I must say it's well worth watching for the top end visuals and in flight/space mecha action scenes alone and even if you're not a fan of the macross series or space action in concept, chances are likely that you'll have a good time with this one. Romance wise, it isn't perfect considering certain points of development feel a bit far-fetched at times. However, there is enough emphasis on the theme to arouse more interest and development to the story and characters. As such, the romance comes off more as added spice and part interest to the storytelling given that the theme expressed isn't really a whole major focus across the series. In the end, for a mix of good sci-fi space action with certain hints of romance, Macross Frontier is good enough to fill the role here. [8]

SUGGESTIONS

Macross Zero - Great 3D presentation of in flight mecha action with jets and a more surreal story presentation than Frontier.

Eureka Seven - Unique mecha action on boards and a good war and romantic story to boot.

Gundam 00 or Seed - More emphasis on humanoid mechas and also entertaining in it's sci-fi action. Story is a hit or miss though.

[magnuskn]

Originally Posted by Paperplane

Romance wise, you may want to look somewhere else since there really isn't much emphasis on the theme but for a mix of good sci-fi space action with certain hints of romance, Macross Frontier is good enough to fill the role here.

What.

[Tak]

Originally Posted by magnuskn

What.

My reaction exactly. If he was here a couple years ago...

Oh boy...

- Tak

[Paperplane]

Edited. Thanks for the feedback and I'm not one to argue much anyway. Just my opinion after all.

[karice67]

Originally Posted by Paperplane

Edited. Thanks for the feedback and I'm not one to argue much anyway. Just my opinion after all.

You know...I kind of agreed with your original statement. When I think 'romance', I think Romeo x Juliet or Kimi ni Todoke where it is the most important feature of the relationships in question. In Frontier, it comes across more as one part of the relationships, an important part, certainly, but not the be-all and end-all.

After all, we're all entitled to our own opinions.

[Paperplane]

Originally Posted by karice67

You know...I kind of agreed with your original statement. When I think 'romance', I think Romeo x Juliet or Kimi ni Todoke where it is the most important feature of the relationships in question. In Frontier, it comes across more as one part of the relationships, an important part, certainly, but not the be-all and end-all.

After all, we're all entitled to our own opinions.

Edited it again and indeed that was my point originally above. I tried to make it more understandable this time around but sometimes, I do sort of get criticised on for having a different viewpoint of certain things than others. Thanks again