New Macross (Macross Frontier) - Talkback

Ep 2 is up and about now, I'v seen it (without subs) and let me just say this show is moving at a nice pace. Oh yeah.....
BOrabER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I was hoping
for a Fire Boraber reference at some point, but wow ep 2 brings us Totsugeki Love Heart on the radio. Ozma FTW!!@!@!
 
Just Watched ep 10 and yay for Macross Zero goodness

I rewatched MZ a week ago so it was fresh in my mind. Ranka really fits to be playing Mao although I was wrong and Sheryl wasn't Sara, the girl who won Miss Macross was playing Sara.

Seems like Sheryl was there because they were going to use one of her songs in the film although ultimately I'm not sure they did since the director used that song Ranka is always singing for the film.

I'm really pulling for Sheryl/Alto. I just love those two together. It's funny how Sheryl is kind of going the opposite of Minmay. Minmay started off a regular girl and grew famous and and couldn't spend time with Hikaru. It looks like Ranka is filling that role come the next episode, but Sheryl is famous and is finding time to try and be a normal girl and seems to like Alto.

I don't really understand why they have those monster creatures in the wooRAB, but these are the same people who grow giant cows. Maybe the Hydra is a giant Zentraedi's pet... lol

We found out the mysterious veritech pilot is named Brera and is some type of cyborg if not full-on robot. Is he related to Ranka's family who were presumably killed in her flasrabroadacks? hmm...

Although I think the most interesting tidbit in this episode for me was something of a throw-away. Ozama is reading the program for Ranka's film and says something like "It must be destiny Ranka... You playing *DOCTOR* Mao".

So Mao survived the Zentraedi attack on the earth and apparently became a Doctor who was well known enough that Ozama knew of her. Don't know how or why this would tie into Ranka, but with a Sheryl "Nome" being in the fleet we had been saying it probably meant Mao lived.
 
Whoa. Nice.

I'll probably say more tomorrow when worRAB aren't busy failing me. But man, the CG is downright pretty, and that's saying a lot because Japanese cartoons aren't exactly known for superb CG.
 
The culture shock angle works fine. You have giant humanoiRAB, genetically similar to humans but living in a vastly different culture. They have no idea what music is and it comes to represent what is good with human culture and bad with theirs; the new freedom and creativity they could have.
However, beyond that Macross seems to have tried to capture this same idea and instead spun it off into music (specifically pop songs) being this incredibly powerful force. Forget the battleships, mecha and trained soldiers. It's karaoke that will save the day. If you can't understand why I see that as being vastly different to just about every other mecha show, I'm honestly suprised.
 
Personally, I don't care about any of the pairing possibilities. Initially, the love-triangle came on as forced to me. I understood Sheryl's interest in Alto (he didn't fawn over her like every other guy did) and I understood Ranka's interest. However, Alto never really grabbed me as the lead character and so while I initially liked Ranka more than Sheryl, I didn't ultimately care whom he ended up with. After all, the writers keep tossing things back and forth in an attempt to make Ranka the liked one, then Sheryl the liked one.

This anime has too many cliches for my tastes. Plus, it seems like they are trying to give noRAB to every previous Macross incarnation (which I understand) but in doing so, at times I feel it is a burden on the series.

Anyway, my own episode review (with more bloviating).
 
Yeah, but a long running franchise such as this one is usually above such fanboy pitfalls as that. This franchise, at its height, has been above that sort of cheap fanboy grab. Therefore, to be reduced to including loli content is kinda sad.

It's like someone making a VOTOMS remake and then including a loli character for fanboy attention. It's not right.
 
basically what BD said. If you can't accept the music part of Macross then yea you're not going to be a fan of the series.

Clearly it does resonate with a lot of fans though which is why it's the 25th anniversary of the original show and we have a new series in Frontier, with a Macross 7 tv series, OVA's, and movies sprinkled in the gap.

The original's premise was mainly that the song awoke the desire and need to have a 'culture' and identity apart from mindless soldiers in the Zentraedi. It wasn't so much that the music had some special power, but the feelings it unlocked in the Zentraedi.

However since then music has evolved and depending on the series did have powers (Macross 7). I think Frontier has toned it down while also offering an actual explanation for the power of song in this. Ranka while singing is able to draw on some type of alien ability within her that causes fold distortions.

Basically she's got a natural ECM type ability that comes out with her singing and it jams up the enemy Vajra who have fold crystals in them and presumably use those frequencies to communicate.


BTW did anyone notice how in this episode the Vajra were basically Borgified?

They are now said to share information when one meraber is attacked with the entire 'collective' and adapt themselves so that the weapons gradually become less effective. Pretty standard Borg practice from Star Trek.
 
I heard some of the CG comments but looking at it I was pretty impressed. The new transformaiton of a the next(next-next?) gen Veritech is a lil different with how the torso comes together.

Looks very cool and I can't wait to watch it.
 
Just caught Ep 10 and wow. l love how they worked the shows credits into the episode (I almost thought they did credits for the movie untill I saw the thanks to the Macross zero staff). I too thought about the Dr. Moa thing. Could there be a link between the events of Zero and Frontier? Does this put the Macross 7 movie epiosde to shame?

Who knows to the first and hell yes to the second.
 
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