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Summary:
To prevent the Vajra from hitting the colony ship, Ozma engages it in battle with his VF-25 and gets Mikhail and Luca as backup. Though Luca is unable to isolate the Vajra as a target because it is grappling with Ozma’s variable fighter, Mikhail uses his rifle and nails a shot right through the Vajra’s head. Unfortunately, the Vajra is still alive and manages to catch Ozma off-guard, dealing him and his variable fighter a significant amount of damage in the process. The Vajra then turns its attention back to the colony ship and smashes a hole in the glass dome. Thinking quickly, Alto spots a hatch leading to an emergency shelter nearby, so he directs Sheryl and carries Ranka there before all the air gets sucked out of the dome. Once inside, all Alto can think of is how Mikhail saved him again and how he can’t do anything himself. Ranka meanwhile is too scared to let go of his shirt, and Sheryl wants to get out of there quickly, but it turns out that they’re stuck there and can’t get in touch with anyone.
Sheryl eventually unbuttons her jacket because it’s hot, but when an explosion from the battle in space causes her to lose her footing, she falls onto Alto and her dress falls down in the process. This exposes her chest to Alto, and Sheryl slaps him and calls him a pervert. Ranka tries to diffuse the situation by offering up two specialty dim sum buns that she has with her, and though Sheryl and Alto end up laughing at this, it succeeds at getting them to stop arguing. What they aren’t aware of is that evacuation orders have already been given to the rest of the ship, and Cathy is having difficulties trying to track Sheryl down, so Sheryl’s manager Grace reveals that she has a necklace implant that can help. While the three wait, Ranka wonders if the S.M.S. people are okay and tells Alto how her brother has a desk job there.
When things get worse because the circulation system inside the emergency shelter room stops working, Sheryl refuses to give up and decides to attempt leaving. She explains that everyone considers her lucky, but she makes an effort to match that, and that’s how she can be Sheryl Nome. For her, fate is something that is grabbed and taken. Fortunately, right as Sheryl is about to head up the ladder, the hatch opens because Cathy and Grace have found her. The hole has been fixed and there is a car waiting for Sheryl, but before she goes, she warns Alto to forget what he saw earlier. However, she’ll permit him to “use it” as a memory that night. Sheryl also tells Ranka that if she likes to sing, there’s a chance right in front of her. After Sheryl leaves, Cathy gets a call informing her that Ozma was hurt in the battle, and this is accentuated by Mikhail and Luca’s variable fighters bringing back Ozma in bad condition. Ranka is devastated to find this out because she had thought that her brother had quit as a pilot, and she doesn’t want him to die. She faints soon after mentioning having kept a certain something secret while questioning why he did this.
Sometime later, Ozma regains consciousness in the hospital, and when he learns how Ranka found out his secret, he explains to Alto and the others that she reacts that way when someone close to her gets hurt or dies. Ozma’s comrade Kanaria then comes in to explain that Ranka has dissociative amnesia which makes recalling particular personal experiences impossible. However, if those experiences are recalled, the person feels extreme discomfort and fear. As for what those experiences are for Ranka, Ozma reveals that she lost all of her family a long time ago. He is actually not her real brother and is instead a self-described incompetent pilot who couldn’t protect her family 11 years ago. Alto gets angry at Ozma for wanting to protect Ranka by being a pilot because he hid it from her, and when Ozma argues back, his wounds reopen. Not backing off, Alto declares that if it were him, he’d want to know everything and would never leave his fate to others. He then questions what the Vajra are again, but instead of answering him immediately, Ozma gives Alto 24 hours to think about what he wants to do and what he’s fighting for. During the elevator ride down, Mikhail accuses Alto of running away again and makes him realize that in the current situation, sooner or later they’ll die or kill someone.
Later that night, Cathy presents Chief of Staff Leon Mishima with a report of the people who came in contact with the Vajra. When Leon recognizes Ranka, Cathy asks him about it but accidentally refers to him informally by his first name. She tries to correct herself, however Leon is fine with it because their working hours just ended. He then kisses her and pushes her onto his desk. Sheryl meanwhile is watching a TV shopping channel while in the bathtub and is reminded that her earring is still missing, meaning that she has to see Alto again. As for him, he spends the next day thinking things over – particularly what Mikhail had said about him running away from his father and his home – and ends up on the hill overlooking the city. There, he hears Ranka singing and finds her behind a nearby monument. When he compliments on her on song, she admits that it’s the only thing that she remembers from her childhood.
Ranka comes to this hill to sing sometimes because no one will hear her here, and that was okay for her up until now. But when she was stuck earlier, she had been afraid that she would die without anyone knowing her and without having done anything. She wants to tell as many people as she can that she’s there, and she ends up having Alto listen to her song. Making up his mind, Alto visits the nearby cemetery where the S.M.S. members are having a private ceremony for Gilliam. Ozma tells him that S.M.S. members who die aren’t officially considered to be killed in action. They are instead treated as accidental deaths and do not get a tombstone with the other military deaths, nor are their loved ones told the truth. When Alto considers this ideal because he wants to live by his own strength and die by himself, Ozma orders him to report in the next morning. Ranka meanwhile has gone to try out for the Miss Macross Frontier contest.
Preview
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I think the odds of Ozma dying sometime during this series are pretty damn good, but it wasn’t yet his time to go. He’s probably still got a lot of mentoring to do for Alto, plus he’s the one who knows all about Ranka’s past. On a related note, I didn’t think they’d give Ranka an actual scientific explanation for her condition – I thought it was just trauma. I assume there’s more about her past that we still haven’t been told yet – perhaps the key to why the Vajra seem to respond to her – and that amnesia is a way for that to be revealed later on. There’s also the question of what Leon knows about her. Speaking of which, this was probably more detailed than I cared to see.
Compared to the first two episodes, there was a noticeable drop in animation quality (particularly in the first half) this week. Macross still looks really good, just not quite as good. I really liked the cemetery scene at the end though: it had the perfect mix of a sad song with memorial scene. As for what happens now, it seems that Ranka’s trying out for the Miss Macross Frontier contest, and that’ll probably be her claim to fame, but I still don’t know how they’re going to handle having two songstresses share the spotlight. That is, unless one of them dies or something, however I don’t think that’ll happen anytime soon.
https://randomc.net/image/Macross/Macross%20Frontier%20-%2003%20-%20Large%2020.jpg
DO NOT WANT DX
https://randomc.net/image/Macross/Macross%20Frontier%20-%2003%20-%20Large%2008.jpg
blowjob incoming
Oppai:
https://randomc.net/image/Macross/Macross%20Frontier%20-%2003%20-%20Large%2009.jpg
Lunch:
https://randomc.net/image/Macross/Macross%20Frontier%20-%2003%20-%20Large%2010.jpg
Hmm..
Wait! oh shi–
Drop in animation quality?! D:
Even if there is a slight drop in animation, I don’t really mind. This is still feels like the first true successor to the Superdimensional & Macross Plus spirit.
Love the manjuu.
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The fact that this show is so good and it keeps the viewer entertained in all instances,not only battles,is awesome.
They even make the so called “boring” talk scenes excelent and full of character development.
Another great episode..10/10 xD
Sadmask: “Drop in animation quality?! D:”
Why are people making such a big deal out of a drop in animation quality? There’s /always/ a drop in animation quality in a TV series at certain points. This has been a fact of Japanese animation for years and years and years. Please don’t turn it into a huge issue.
Just glad we get to see more action. The “more than I cared to see” Omni refers to can be overlooked so long as I get more explosions.
https://randomc.net/image/Macross/Macross%20Frontier%20-%2003%20-%20Large%2024.jpg
I’m assuming that’s Gilliam’s funeral?
wtf…
I don’t even know why people think this series has great animation quality. It just uses lots of CG (and the CG quality itself is pretty mediocre). Everything that is not CG doesn’t look impressive at all.
An example of a series with impressive animation quality would be Soul Eater, this doesn’t even compare.
Somuch..have you seen the way that the people move,the way that their faces are expresive,the art behind it all?
How can you say this doesn’t have great animation? :/
@ Ciupy
Dont bother mate, he probably wont bend his views because we think so. Still im dying for the raw … it’s been a while since an anime gripepd me as much as this one. This exactly my type of show, the story, the looks, the fighters/mecha … awsome!
somuch:
You have no idea what you’re talking about. There’s a huge difference between fluidly animating fast-framed action scenes with extremely simple cel character designs (Soul Eater) and the far more detailed cel designs on Macross Frontier. The fact is, Macross Frontier has a high-framerate, consistent designs even in the action scenes, lots of motion, detailed animation in the background scenes, and all this with high-detailed art.
For example, compare: https://randomc.net/image/Macross/Macross%20Frontier%20-%2003%20-%20Large%2008.jpg
with: https://randomc.net/image/SOUL%20EATER/SOUL%20EATER%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2010.jpg
Each keyframe is way faster and easier to draw for Soul Eater.
NOOOOOOOO Cathy!!!! WWRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!?!?!?!
What the hell is that losers job anyways? Anyone know?
bigger one always better :p
I payed attention to it Clupy, and that’s exactly what’s not impressive. It’s just standard. Watch kurenai, that is much more impressive than this.
Lol, tits in a bread basket.
>.I payed attention to it Clupy, and that’s exactly what’s not impressive. It’s just standard. Watch kurenai, that is much more impressive than this.
Oh God, just stop. Didn’t I just tell you you had no clue what you’re going on about? Don’t further cement your ignorance.
Washi, the only reason this anime has high frame rate, it’s because action scenes relies heavily on computer graphics. When it’s not CG, the frame rate is not impressive at all. Soul eater is much more impressive because no CG is involved in the action scenes, and they look awesome even so.
I’m talking about the scenes that don’t use CG. Soul Eater and Macross F have a vastly different style. The former dumbs dain its cel detail in order to achieve fast and fluid action scenes with cel animation. The latter pours goegeous detail into the background and forground, including the designs for the cel animation. For a show with such detail, to also feature so much movement (not even including the CG), consistency and vibrancy to uts animation is an achievement. Calling it ‘standard’ or ‘average’ is outright wrong. You find me another series of comparable detail and degree of motion/activity as Macross F (post digicel introduction (so >1999).
I confirm there is a drop in quality, it’s noticeable but really minor, nothing to worry about 😉
Somuch..even if this hasn’t hand made animation in the battle scenes,the non-battle scenes have great animation and art..you can’t deny that.
Plus..this anime is far,far more than the sum of it’s parts.
When combined,sound,animation and direction place this anime easely in the top 3 of this year,hands down.
Who the hell kisses like that? Disgusting.
– I’m talking about the scenes that don’t use CG
Then go back and watch the action/battle scenes again, because it’s ALL CG. The alien invasor is CG, the spaceships are CG, the mech/planes the good guys use are CG, even the backgrounds are often CG. Does it look good? It does, but don’t call it impressive animation, because it’s just CG.
It would be my bet that Ranka’s brother will die somewhat midway through the series probably similar to how Roy Folker died.I wonder if Alto ends up with Ranka if she becomes Miss Macross since Minmei didn’t end up with Hikaru.Well I have the notion that they are somewhat adapting the original story but giving it a twist.Hopefully it’ll be a good one.
Sigh, Do we have to pinpoint every sh!t there is?
“Compared to the first two episodes, there was a noticeable drop in animation quality (particularly in the first half) this week. Macross still looks really good, just not quite as good.”
So? Still looks excellent. You cannot expect movie quality each episode, that’d be complete nonsense production wise. They wanna make profit too 😉
Wow *sigh* if your going to make an argument somuch, then try to have proper grammar and spelling. Its just so hard to take you seriously with those mistakes cropping around your “argument”. Or are you just making a joke?
-Izaak, Lord of the Lotus Clan.
Being CG doesn’t make something any less ‘animated’ than traditional cels. I really like Soul Eater personally and yes it has great animation in its action scenes although I don’t think its non-action scenes have any higher framerate than normal anime in their non-action scenes (Macross Frontier included). Your definition of ‘animation’ is really way too limited somuch.
Because a person who calls himself “Lord of the Lotus Clan” should be taken seriously. Right.
Of course it’s still animated Achen. But I refuse to call cheap CG “impressive animation”.
Honestly even if there’s a slight drop in animation quality I’m still willing to bet it’s one of if not the best animated series I’ve ever seen.
@Somuch: CG doesn’t automatically make something less well animated you know. Arguably it’s even more of a feather in the animators cap as it’s harder to do CG really well then to say, do what Kyoto Animation does often, which is to use a lot of lighting effects to disguise flaws in a sequence. I don’t think I’ve seen any of that in Macross Frontier. When you see a good looking scene in Macross it’s there in it’s entirety without any touch up techniques/tricks, lens flares and tricky colouring playing a part. It’s just plain astounding.
Well for a start CG isn’t neccesarily cheap. Furthermore, why are you determined to think that the definition of animation is “action scenes”. You’re just talking rubbish, basically. Macross F does NOT have standard animation, it has VERY GOOD animation. I’m telling you this not subjectively as a fan, but as an objective truth. All your misguided nitpickery cannot justify your crusade to the contrary.
>>But I refuse to call cheap CG “impressive animation”.
No one ever said you should. The whole damn show isn’t in CG you bloody moron. But enough of this nonsense, I’ll just have to listen to people who have even a basic grasp of both animation AND how to have a discussion.
Somuch: I suppose that’s your opinion, although I personally think you are being pretty close-minded and biased about it. I don’t find anything about the CG cheap in Macross Frontier, unless you are just calling CG cheap in general and that’s a blanket statement I really can’t get behind personally. Anyway, not gonna try to force that idea though since you seem pretty dead set, and honestly it’s your opinion so there’s nothing really wrong with that. Stating your opinion is fine but writing it in such an antagonistic way isn’t the best way to go about it unless you are just looking for responses. That’s all I have to say on the matter.
somuch: go die in a fire.
Not only does this show have traditional sexy animation in non-battle segments, the CG is both high quality and well directed. The action is amazing. Calling Macross F’s CG mediocre is a fairly dumb thing to say, for it handles it extremely well.
If you have that silly “CG = Fail” mentality, get the fuck back to /a/.
Was anyone else tempted, when they saw the lunch box shot beside that of Sheryl grabbing herself, to say ‘my god, those two things have a lot in common – they’re both manmade’?
Or am I just the dirtiest-minded person here?
… and we even get a Miss Macross competition entry from Ranka, or so I’m guessing from that last set of shots. Another
ripo–homage to the original Macross? I’m almost starting to feel like I’m watching SEED, but with a better story.The first pilot episode (pun intended) was excellent. Now, the new first episode and the following have disappointed me.
@Haesslich
Every episode in Macross F so far has had an homage to the original in some way. Ep1 with Ranka working at a Chinese restaurant ala Minmei, same dress and all.
Alto getting into a VF to save Ranka, aka Hikaru in the original saving Minmei in a borrowed VF.
Alto grabbing Ranka with the VFs hand to run away, just like Hikaru with Minmei.
Alto saving Ranka in the air after losing the VFs hand, just like Hikaru saving Minmei again, though with enough differences.
Basically, at this point, if you’ve seen the original series you’ll notice lots of similarities between the two. But with enough changes in MacF to make it new.
Hell even this part of ep3 with Alto, Ranka and Sheryl trapped inside part of the ship. Pretty close to the originals where Hikaru and Minmei were trapped in part of the Macross. Only difference is that in the original they were trapped for a week.
GP:
Supporting your statements,
Isn’t the beginning of Sheryl’s song at the concert have many of the same…musical elements (I’m not musically educated or skilled) as the title sequence in Macross Plus. They sound very similar. The theater lights center in on her in the exact same manner as well.
I noticed a lot of other things from Plus as well, but they may also be in the first series.
The flying hand gesture at the top of the school in the first episode. Used by Isamu in Plus.
etc
“I don’t even know why people think this series has great animation quality. It just uses lots of CG (and the CG quality itself is pretty mediocre). Everything that is not CG doesn’t look impressive at all.”
You’re an idiot Somuch, the Ranka moving through the forest scene in episode 1 is near movie quality.
Eye candy’s nice… CG and great quality animation is always appreciated. But those things alone do not make a great anime. I do believe most animes lose quality as the season progresses. But really, who cares as long as the plot’s decent, explosions are present, and they’re using relatively good animation?
Lots of elements from the original indeed. But it’s been a while since I watched the original so this is good 😀
lol Oppai bread!
Well folks there you have it now if Macross Frontier ever comes to North America it will get rated R, cuz of soccer moms.
@Melchior
Yeah you’re right, it’s got parts from Plus also. I forgot about those though haha. But anyways, for fans of the older macross shows you’ll notice all of these in Macross F I’m sure.
GP: I’m thinking the SECOND time that Hikaru was trapped in a part of the ship, but that time with Misa. That’s what this reminds me of… which again makes it a tribute or almost a retelling of some of the original Macross series, since I don’t recall any of the others recycling so many concepts outside of idol singers and the power of song. Here, quite a few plot elements are being pulled out… right down to the amateur escaping with the civilian while Skull Leader held off the enemy, and then dodging enemy fire, losing the Valkyrie’s hand, and then doing a flying rescue.
The only really new elements in my books are that Skull Squadron aren’t part of the military, the Focker-alike (Ozma) has a more abrasive relationship with the Misa-alike (Glass), and that they moved the Minmei-alike into a little sister relationship with Focker instead of giving that to Hikaru/Alto. Even the Vajra being aliens the military knew about but kept quiet on is reminiscent of how Hikaru didn’t seem to know a thing about the Zentradi of the original series. Or at least that’s how I remember it.
It’s interesting to see how much the animation techniques have evolved over the years when you compare the two series.
You’re right, Some of the characters do fit well, like Ozma as a Fokker type. But the show can’t have them be perfect clones/copies. So even if we have some minor similarities to the original cast, there are enough differences to make this it’s own series that you can enjoy without having seen the original or Mac+ etc.
So far i’m liking it a lot, I’m waiting to see how they’ll work out the relationship between Alto and the two main girls. Unlike the original they’re both more or less the same type of character, though Sheryl being an idol already makes her a bit more selfish and bitchy, but she’s a tsundere like Misa was towards Hikaru for most of the series until close to the end. And if Ranka wins Miss Macross than she’ll also turn into an Idol following the Minmei path.
With them both like that, it doesn’t put the same sorta pressure on the guy to make a choice between the two since if they’re both idol singers his life wouldn’t change all that much, if at all.
The original had the two females at opposite ends, with Minmei being the fames one and outside of the military while Misa was the average, normal military by the book one who didn’t care about herself but just what was best for people etc. Picking one over the other would change Hikarus life alot.
I just hope macross F can work this out well. I’m more of a Sheryl fan at this point, not that I hate Ranka, but… heh I’m bias towards the tsundere female characters in any show.
Can ya please write a more detialed review of the episode like ya did to the previous two????
For a character development driven episode it was handled quite well.
Those screencaps of Skull Leader gave me quite a scare. I can’t lose another this soon.
Ok, its probably a little late for me to even get into the discussion but I could care less…
@Somuch
Lets start with you knocking down the action scenes with Macross, the ONLY thing you have used to support this is soul eater… Not only this but you’re just trying to start a flame war (I know I’m giving into it but I haven’t posted in a while), you’re only posting simple biased arguments while only upholding your own personal beliefs about a show, not only this but the only show you’re using to compare macross is simply another show being blogged on this site. There’s nothing wrong with trying to support your opinions but when people like you who are biased and simple minded post ignorant crap (excuse the language) with absolutely no interest in other people’s opinions just to raise an argument, then you should have no right to even post… To further support this, when people have posted contradictions to your statement about how macross is not all cg and there’s more to the animation, you basically go back to the action scenes in which there is CG and practically ignore what the person was trying to say to you… You’re honestly just another flamer who just wants to start an argument and piss people off because you only talk about the cg even when its not even the main subject and can only use another series that is also being blogged on this site as a comparison… Not only that but you have no right what so ever to complain about cg since it flows really well with the series, and since you only seem to watch shows that are blogged on this site, I’ll give you a show of which will fit your bitching of the use of CG in a show just fine, go and watch dragonaut… Then you can have your fill of bitching that cg is cheap and doesn’t fit in the show…
@Tony
Obviously you’re knew, if you read the info about the site then you’d know that Omni is just starting his overview, simple way to tell that he’s still working on the overview is (If you read the info section you’d know this)that he will leave a ‘tag’ to show that he’s not finished at the bottom of the review, and no I’m not going to tell you because should read ‘about this site’ section in order to find out for yourself
To be honest, the CG is only “cheap” if it was used/looked at as a stand-alone. I mean like, hey, it’s no Square-enix or even Lucas Film Production quality, thats for sure.
But if there’s one thing that the CG in MF managed to achieve, it would be the smooth integration of itself together with the 2D scenes. Soul Eater’s CG (The school) by comparison, is “cheap” as well, but like the CG used in MF, it manages to fit in nicely.
“It would be my bet that Ranka’s brother will die somewhat midway through the series probably similar to how Roy Folker died.”
Agreed. Ozma since episodes 1 has screamed Roy Focker to me. He’s definitely doomed to eat it sooner or later and like with Roy, man-tears will be shed by many.
“I wonder if Alto ends up with Ranka if she becomes Miss Macross since Minmei didn’t end up with Hikaru”
It seems obvious those two and Sheryl will be the mandated love triangle that Macross is known for, but you pose a good question. The difference here though is that both Minmei and Misa had their redeeming personality points- Sheryl so far, at least to me, is far from likable and has kinda been shown to be more of a stuck up bitch than anything else. Ranka’s kinda annoying too, but it’s because of her bubbly yet still kinda lovable demeanor. Of course, it’s still far too early in the series to be predicting, both girls are definitely in for a lot more growth. But if I had to assess now, I’d say Ranka’s going to be the one the narrative will favor in the end and Sheryl exists to serve as some form of antithesis to the type of pop idol Ranka will become after this contest.
Well Dammit by the end of year I’ll be having all the Macross (Robotech)DVD series by end of this year.
I never liked CG in the first place because I’m old school, but then since now this anime shows why I loved science fiction and one’s of the anime franchise that started to grow up and made me watch anime in the first place. Anyway I have no problem over CG, this anime has my eye on to that.
“there was a noticeable drop in animation quality”
That is because it wasn’t supported by Pizza Hut.
Well not much on the anime DVD’s of Macross but I need to see that movie and plus meant that I have not problems over the CG, because frantically I’m not CG fan at all but to my terms it still give me my satisfy.
The snakeman is ere!
XD!!!!!!!!!!!!!
https://randomc.net/image/Macross/Macross%20Frontier%20-%2003%20-%20Large%2020.jpg
LOLz at those buns.
Still excellent, but I felt like this episode was a little weaker than the first two. Not because of the “visual decline” — that looked pretty negligible to me — but because I’m disappointed with the development of Alto’s character. At first he seemed like he’d be… I dunno, more emotionally together and calmer… than your typical hotshot pilot hero, but this episode sort of backpedaled in that department. He was just so damn angry about the way he did a lot of things.
…But he’s still a far sight better than most other characters of the archetype, and given the stressful situations, I suppose much of his emotional demeanor can be forgiven, so I still have high hopes. And the show generally still kicks ass even if this episode just didn’t feel as engaging as the first 2 did.
@pinoy78: Nope, not anytime soon, from what I read from the Macross F manga …
Also from the manga:
Show Spoiler ▼
A slowdown, and then a bad omen, if you tell me …
Man… i cant wait to see it..! *patiently waiting for the fansubbed to be available =D
@pinoy78: Nope, not anytime soon, from what I read from the Macross F manga …
Also from the manga:
1. Ranka joins … and loses the Miss Macross pageant (must be due to her figure) 😛
2. Alto undergoes training (courtesy of Mikhail and Luca) to join the SMS. Includes a VF-25 vs. Q-Rau battle for the final exams.
3. Ranka transfers to the school where Alto and gang studied. Horror for Alto as Sheryl went looking for him at school.
4. Macross Galaxy fleet under attack by the Vajra …
I think Sheryl will win the love triangle.
#1 She’s listed second under Alto on the cast list order even though Ranka has had more screen time in the first 3 episodes by quite a bit.
#2 If Ranka is playing the “Minmei” role what’s left for Sheryl?
#3 Sheryl and Alto have awesome chemistry.
I really don’t know which of the two will win the triangle, and saying Ranka has more screen time is true for the most part.
But going back to episode one, for those who remember the original Pilot episode 1 that aired back in December, that had way more Ranka time and centered on her more. Now the redone episode 1 we got back at the start of April had less Ranka and MORE Sheryl, with 2 new scenes that give her more emphasis this time. So it’s up in the air really. If Ranka joins the miss macross competition and loses it unlike Minmei in the original THEN any sorta idol comparisons with Minmei end right there.
Her going to the same school with Alto and co helps her again though, but then I don’t know how Sheryl will come into the mix. At this point though Alto hasn’t shown any romantic interest in one over the other from the looks of it.
history + naze nani Macross :
1. did anyone know, the term Otaku sprouted frm common use during and after 1982 Macross ?
reason being at its peak, 36% viewership was achieved for its otherwise viewerless time slot [Sunday afternoon].
2. the Macross team was determined to not make a serious show, beginning from episode 1+2 with Hikaru calling Misa ‘Obasan’. (if calling the alien ship ASS-1 counts as well, then that too)
3. That’s Tanaka Rie on the bridge saying as Poni(wow, as if the GallForce girls are coming back) at least Kyon is enjoying himself (past office hours) but with the President’s daughter…
addendum;
i trust all you guys counted how many seconds Aruto was staring… ( ano yaro- )
Suddenly I fall in love with this series after I read this ep review. Haven’t really watched it, though. But I think it’s great!
I vote for Sheryl. Ranka… I don’t know, it’s rather unfair if she can get everything, right!?
fanboy fight.
I dono, Alto might have more control on his emotions due to the fact that he WAS a trained ‘actor’…yet he’s still human (looking @ ep1a – Alto daring to have a go @ Mikhail…twice)
heh heh alright
It’s hard to pick one of the two girls at this point, it’s very early in the show. If he interacts with Ranka at school, then we’ll have to see how he keeps meeting and interacting with Sheryl since she’s a big time idol and goes all over the galaxy from the looks of it.
We should have a better idea up around episode 10 in my opinion.
GP: I find that, of my early Real Robot-series heroes, I preferred Hikaru to Amuro Rey because the former seemed far more realistic as a character than the Mary Sue-style Amuro was (being a Newtype, having no training but being an expert pilot, then eventually becoming a major figure in the U.C. timeline). Hikaru was a trained pilot, which explained how he could actually fly the Valkyrie in the first place, and even he was bad at it until Focker explained how to use it… and then he went and got real training. Also, you saw how Hikaru reacted to the trauma when he confronted his first Zentradi – he had a bit of a catatonic episode until Minmay took his attention away from the big humanoid outside his mecha.
Alto’s a lot better so far as a character than his equivalent/counterpart in SEED or SEED Destiny – although he is training to be a pilot, he’s still obviously not superhuman, and only does ‘okay’ with his Valkyrie because he’s unfamiliar with the systems. Ranka and Sheryl do remind me more of Minmay and Misa from the original series, due to their differing personalities as well as their places in life – Sheryl’s very much a diva, and obviously has something of a temper… while Ranka’s more childish, yet sweet and down to earth. Sheryl’s very much from a separate world as far as everyone’s concerned – she’s used to having privileges, and she moves in social spheres well above the others, although Alto at least has experience being in the entertainment world himself due to his own family background and early training.
Mind you, I look forward to more Ozma/Focker manhandling/beating up on Alto/Hikaru. I highly approve of it. 😉
I love this episode. Ranka and Alto ftw ^___^
The wait for subs is PAINFUL.
More groups need to pick this up.
Most of the scene and characters in Frontier similar to the original macross series, therefore when you say ozma going to die probably, it reminds me of roy. How Alto save Ranka remind me of how Hikaru save minmei (movie). Lots of similiarity, even the 3 girls on the bridge is similiar on how the 3 girls on the bridge in the original series look. And i hope its just a coincidence.. but who knows.. anyway Ranka is going to be like minmei too, a normal girl which will become a celebrity. As for sheryl, she is originaly from Galaxy fleet, therefore 2 songstress share the spotlight isnt an issue.
@pinoy78
I agree, very painful. I think it’s mostly due to the singing maybe? I dunno why it’s taking so long for episode 3 subs. I also blame all the Code Geass bandwagon jumpers with like, 4 or 5 groups subbing that when it’s not needed. 2 per series is fine. There are quite a few new shows out there that haven’t been subbed or are behind that could use the help.
Well, those bread buns were… questionable, but never the less, in the love triangle, one will win… Mikhal. Because everyone knows Alto is gay right? lol
Quite a bit of fan-service … not complaining… Delicious buns! ^_^
Omg, we’re talking about the love triangle again? Is this even a remake of 1983 Macross Frontier? Why are we having all these comparisons?
Thanks for the summary. Waiting for the subs IS painful. -_-
I have noticed that when you want more realistic fluidity for moving characters, you need to draw them with less details. So for this ep03, the quality is as good and dynamic as the 2 previous ep. And the teamwork needs to go on for the serie. So if some people want each frame to be beautiful, just buy artbook.
So funny, so sexy and a little bit more of xxx for Cathy would be extra.
I actually read the whole first three pages of comments with somuch’s stupid babbling about how he just redefined the term animation to refer only to traditional non action sequences (he totally wiped out pixar and all the computer ANIMATION people in the industry), but it was funny how people tried to make him have some sense, lol. Some people just don’t understand reason.
About this 3rd episode, I still have the opinion they are remaking the first Macross instead of creating a true sequel, but I still like it. The fan service was fun, but I really wanted a little bit of more story in the episode. I mean it was interesting to know a little bit of Ranka’s mysterious background, but still I feel like they get rid of the Vajra too easily, as if when it is story wise convenient that they go away they just stop attacking miraculously. It’s kind of frustrating that so far they haven’t really stopped a single one of them, is more like the whole human fleet gets lucky and they suddenly leave by their own.
I don’t like Ranka very much, is like they are trying so hard to create a cute japanese teen, but somehow it feels forced. I can’t really explain what it is, but I just don’t like her much. Sheryl used to be my personal favorite character during the first 2 episodes, but now suddenly she turned from being a true rockstar with attitude into being a goody good lady that encourages an unknown girl to be her competition. I don’t know, I just don’t feel it believable that she went from selfish and arrogant to a maternal woman in just two episodes.
For the 4th episode I expect at least that they reveal the secret of the Vajra and that the Vajra show some sign of intelligence or something, else is not so much fun. I would hate to end up with a series that is just about Ranka’s and Altoh’s struggle to become some important figure in the Galaxy and the baddies are just mindless drones thrown into the series to have an excuse for fight sequences.
heh, sergio, if you put what happened in Macross Zero, Macross(1982-1983), Macross Plus, Macross-7 in a line , you will see clear evidence that the humans were always lucky.
in Zero, the Alien life-form left on its own , carrying Sara Nome with it.
in Macross, the Zentradi rigid following of Standard Operating Procedures regarding loss of their Command Base led to their retreating after Dolza was killed, despite Earth having no life left (survivors on Macross + Apollo Base and misc put humanity at abt 1 million). yes the humans were lucky, Earth was not.
in Plus, working Fold units for minor craft was successfully implimented, evidenced by the rescue of Macross City during the Sharon Apple Incident…
in Macross-7 , we witness the maturing of the 1st generation of micron-zentradi offspring – ala Ko-Miriya & Millene and find out abt the Proto-Deviln (on the side we find out abt the fate of Megaroad-01) [ there remains the American rendition of the Megaroad-01 story as can be found on Macross Compendium (gamers would know); this should not be for it follows on the Macross II timeline, itself a continuation of ‘…Do You Remember Love’, a movie of 2031 ]
the New United Nations Spacy [ N.U.N.S ] at this moment is most mindful of the Alien being or beings frm Earth’s past (see ‘Zero’) and the thousands of Grand Fleets still out there. but now we have the Vajra… hmmm
at SUNRISE, we have Otome, in Macross, we have N.U.N.S …. (sigh) you have to be extremely lucky to survive anything [ imagine, nuns with guns ]
we haven’t got past the icing yet. (^-^)
Is it me or is the storyline is an exact carbon copy of the original super dimensional macross, with modified/different setting and characters? hmm… aliens attack colony, main character pulled into the shit, becomes hero, save damsel in distress… also with ranka aspiring to be miss macross, isn’t it so?
So … Why did Sheryl want to see Ohime-sama ? In the end I don’t think we know, ain’t it right ?
@ Haesslich
Oh good I thought I was the only one who saw the Sheryl/Hayase connection. Sheryl’s pretty much Hayase as a pop idol in the mold of Sharon Apple. Just like with Hikaru and Hayase you can already see the sparks flying between Alto and Sheryl.
Westio: I thought the comparison was obvious myself, especially with Ranka as Minmay. Sheryl comes off initially as arrogant, high-handed, and bitchy just as Misa did during the first few radio communications between Hikaru and her, but does turn out to be a basically decent human being with poor social skills outside of her own circle of the military. Yet Sheryl also got Minmay’s petulant and childish side, which I’d why I’ve also described the two (Ranka and Sheryl) as being Minmay split into the diva and the sweet innocent.
If this is a remake or homage, it probably will lead to a love triangle as suggested by the OP name and images.
I thought that Kathy the Misa lookalike being attached to Sheryl was a little nod in that Sheryl is the Hayase of this series. It will definitely be a triangle since that’s a Macross tradition like mecha and music. I just hope we don’t get another Kaifun to interrupt this triangle. I wonder if her earrings are connected to her “Riber”.
those tuna buns were just…nasty.. lol the song at the end has now just become my favorite song…even though macross is a REALLY good series…its not my favorite for this season…
Westlo: Given the OP is ‘Triangler’.. I’m afraid it’s almost inevitable, especially with those graphics in the opening. Kathy Glass is an obvious Misa-alike, but only in appearance – her rank appears to be lower than Misa’s was, and she’s involved (obviously) with someone else whereas Misa… wasn’t. And look at how Sheryl isn’t (apparently) involved with anyone at the moment. Those earrings COULD be from her own Riber, but we’ve yet to dig into that part of her background.
I’m hoping the Kaifun will go after Sheryl, to be honest, if this happens. I’m still thinking, when I see the shots of the buns and of Sheryl right after that those have a lot in common (manmade, presented in pairs).
One other thing about Misa that Sheryl shares – both were considered privileged, but both indicated they worked hard to reach their current positions. Interesting to see how those two parallel each other, neh?
Tonbo, that’s a very interesting thought, actually you are right, they are always lucky, never military capable of causing any damage to the enemy. But at least in past battles they where able to cause some damage to the aliens (they had more or less the same destructive power as the Zentradi, only thing is that they where outnumbered by much).
Do you think there is a relation between the undersea alien in Zero and the Vajra? Could Sara Nome still be somehow alive? (maybe as a conscience within the aliens even though not physically, or something like that) It would be awesome if they give some continuity to Zero in that way.
“-This [https://randomc.net/image/Macross/Macross%20Frontier%20-%2003%20-%20Large%2020.jpg] was probably more detailed than I cared to see.”
I therefore nominate Random Curiosity for “BEST SCREEN SHOT OF AN ANIME” LOLZ
While this particular episode had a slight dip in animation quailty, it still managed to keep me pretty interested. I’ll be curious to see if Alto’s strained relationship with his father plays any role in the overall story (did anyone else see him? I assume he’s the one one the poster Alto stares at before he goes off and meets Ranka).
heh, Sergio, the only major difference between the undersea ‘Alien’ and the Vajra at this point is its form (shape)… both can fire energy bolts and remain very much alive even after losing large portions of their bodies… explains why they can’t just leave the Vajra remains lying around (it might just crawl back up) [in Zero, the ancient life-form literally came back together again] ~ the SDF-1 itself is kinda alive… detecting the encrouching enemy recon units and firing at them without being told…
Ranka’s lastname ‘Lee’ may not be her real family name… so how much Sheryl, Ranka and the Nome sisters from ‘Zero’ have in common is really up in the air right now. and yes, this is the official continuity from ‘Zero’ , except Zero was also an attempt to look into human origins frm a mythical stand point but also hinting to us that the world’s governing authorities know alot more than they would have us believe (very true to the present). try to remember those floating stones with those fancy inscriptions as Sara was singing; look abit like what we see on the Vajra… let’s see how things go from ep. 4
btw, did you know Edgar, Shin’s Radar-operator on th F-14, is actually Claudia’s brother?
anyhow, this is some 30 years since the 1st New-Macross class vessel was built, launched and commissioned into service(Frontier is the 25th ship, so that makes it the 55th Fleet, if it launched in serial order). tho the basic layout remains the same, we should expect many variations in the general outfitting of each vessel due in part to great strides in ship building technology advancement and innovations in arms development in those 30 years… but Colony plus N.U.N.S* composite battle fleets are still no match for the thousands of Grand fleets supposedly still out there (what to do without a regular dose of Deculture).
*N.ew U.nited N.ations S.pacy – N.U.N.S. nuns with guns… Kawamori and gang are always at it with their in-jokes. but this one prolly came along by accident.
– addendum –
part of the reason for a drop in visual quality is the encoding… see GundamSEED or LAST EXILE for examples of high frame rate encoding – the result is crisper brighter visuals instead of just rapid blurs(part of the reason why things seem dull) ; what i see now is 24fps when we should be going at 30fps (on average 29.7fps)… this is speaking frm an ex-subber view point – so in the end we find ourselves sacrificing quality for low file size, or risk overstuffing our drives with oversized files of single episodes; or it could well be the sources’ oversight… then again, how many of us are in actual anime business??
and though it might be a coincidence, it look like the vajra is somewhat
seems to “respond” to Ranka? i mean Ozma able to kill a vajra in eps 2,
because it stop and trying to search for something, is it because of
ranka’s scream? (EP2 07:11/24:06) lol might not.. but after that, when ranka is singing
before sheryl stop her, the vajra comes out of its hiding as if its
responding to ranka’s singing (EP 2 16:54/24:06). And Ranka’s family all died in an attack
of vajra, do they try to finish off their “job” since ranka survive?
or they try to catch ranka because she somewhat maybe a “key” character?
the Vajra “Do” appears in such convenient place where Ranka also present (Ep 1 22:18/24:06, EP 2 EP 3 02:13/2406).
I do have the “feel” that Ranka is somewhat going to be an important
character in frontier.
About cathy, i think she has some thing going on with ozma in the past 🙂
and Sheryl has the same last name “nome”
Ozma-Catherine, hmm…prolly not. she is in charge of the SMS group in some capacity tho. ah yes, as Frontier’s Chief Operator. she din know if he’d live thru this one.
until today, we still don’t know who fathered Arika (Yumemiya), tho we’re close… now we have the same team (close enuf) on Macross F – makes for good space opera… but imho, lets just sit back and watch like the young kids we once were [but like young kids , we always go ‘why why why…’]
not only do they bring back the Nome family line, they have Endo Aya voice Sheryl.
she also voiced Sara Nome back in Zero.[+ Miyuki/Lucky*Star, Rhea Searrs/Mai-ZHiME Sifr]
but its over 50 yrs chronologically since Zero(pre-2009) to Macross F(2059)
@Somuch:
As far as I Know, CG it’s also animation.
Im not any hardcore fan and I also dislike CG but this anime it’s so damn good…
Copied everything!
http://raymond.santosestrella.com/reviews/14-anime/63-macross-frontier-episode-3-on-your-marks.html