First Impressions / Macross

Summary:

While Sheryl is holding her goodbye concert, the Macross Frontier fleet arrives on the battlefield with the mission of rescuing the surviving ships and collecting data on the Vajra. The SMS pilots quickly launch into battle, and despite Ozma wanting him to stay back, Alto is ready to engage. As the pilots split up, Kuran Kuran jokingly tells Mikhail not to cry again if he doesn’t see her, and Mikhail gets angry that she’s bringing up things from their childhood again. Nevertheless, he takes his VF-25 into a sniper position behind an asteroid and starts calmly picking off the incoming Vajra. Ozma meanwhile unleashes a volley of missiles, and Kanaria lands on the deck of one of the ships in her König Monster’s GERWALK mode and opens fire with all cannons. Back on the Macross Frontier, Sheryl heads backstage to change outfits between songs and gets an update on the battle from Grace. As Sheryl watches the video feed, Grace comments on how Sheryl’s favorite pilot is doing his best too. This causes Sheryl to blush and assert that she was actually worried about the Macross Galaxy. She also believes that if it’s a pilot’s job to fight, then it’s her job to sing. By now, Ranka has made her way into the concert hall and finds Alto’s seat empty. Right as she’s wondering where he is, she gets a message from her brother saying that he can’t come home today because he has work. She realizes that this means he’s out flying in battle and that Alto is too.

As the fight rages on, a huge Vajra ship suddenly defolds and opens fire with its main cannon, annihilating one of the human ships. Luca tries to get closer so that he can analyze it, but he gets caught in the process by a Vajra, and his VF-25 is thrown into the mouth of the giant ship. The concert meanwhile nears its end, and Sheryl addresses the crowd to talk about how she’ll remember this. She then starts crying and is at a loss of words until she hears Ranka call out to her. After seeing Ranka in the crowd, Sheryl decides to tell the audience that she wants to sing her last song for the people who are risking their lives in a far away place right now. This makes Ranka realize that Sheryl knows what’s going on, and she feels like Sheryl is talking directly to her when Sheryl says that she wants to sing together. Ranka thus sings along as Sheryl begins her final song, Infinity. Back at the battle, Alto charges towards the Vajra ship to try to save Luca and manages to enter it through a hole he blew in the ship’s armor. He makes his way down a tunnel and eventually finds Luca’s VF-25 being held in a tangle of tentacles. Before he can do anything though, Alto is attacked by two smaller Vajra, and though he manages to destroy one, the other grabs onto his Valkyrie’s cockpit. During the ensuing struggle, Alto suddenly starts to hear Sheryl and Ranka’s singing, and this motivates him to push forward and destroy the Vajra, though he loses his VF-25 in the process.

Before his Valkyrie explodes, Alto ejects in his EX-Gear and connects it to Luca’s VF-25 so that he can remotely control it. He attempts to free it from the tentacles holding it, but he’s stopped by a rifle shot from a mysterious magenta-colored Valkyrie that was also inside the Vajra ship. Moments later, the mouth of the ship opens up, and the transforming Macross Quarter rushes towards it. The Macross Quarter holds the mouth open long enough for Alto and Luca to escape, and it then charges up and fires the Macross Cannon directly into the Vajra ship. This succeeds in completely destroying the enemy and effectively ends the battle. In the aftermath, Alto thinks about the magenta-colored Valkyrie and how it had quickly flown away before the Macross Cannon was fired. At that moment, that very Valkyrie is traveling via space fold, and its pilot begins playing Aimo on his harmonica.

Preview

An entire episode filled with music accompanying a major battle was like sensory overload for me. Granted, they did use reuse some concert footage in the beginning when Sheryl was singing Iteza☆Gogo Kuji Don’t be late, but that didn’t keep the rest of the episode from being amazing. I loved the entire latter part with Ranka and Sheryl singing (the new song) Infinity together while the Macross Quarter transformed and kicked some ass with the Macross Cannon. Infinity actually sounds really familiar to me, but I can’t quite put my finger on what it reminds me of.

On the topic of that song, the new character (Brera Stern according to the credits) seemed to react to it, and though that isn’t really a shocker given how music plays such an integral part in Macross, I was a little surprised that he wasn’t a bad guy since his character design makes him look like he could be. Or rather, I should say that it’s still hard to say what his intentions were. When Alto was trying to free Luca, Brera’s Valkyrie appeared to shoot Luca’s Valkyrie’s rifle, and though I’ve rewatched the scene several times now, I still can’t tell whether that was to help free them or for some other reason. The fact that he also knows Aimo means that he’s likely linked to Ranka’s past, and that just makes him even more suspicious to me.

What really surprised me though is the fact that Alto has already lost his VF-25, and maybe the earring with it. The earring seems too key to disappear after just one major outing, but I didn’t see any indication that Alto grabbed it when he ejected. I imagine neither Sheryl nor Ozma are gonna be happy with him come next week. Speaking of which, the preview hints that next week will be about Ranka transferring in to Alto’s school, and it looks like Sheryl will show up too. The character designs look off in the preview, but since they probably spent a good part of the budget making this week’s episode great, I can understand why there’d be a dip in quality.

144 Comments

  4. Once again nice Sheryl fanservice and SMS totally kicks ass. Even the Medic. Except for Michel, because he’s a lame camper and everyone hates a camper.

    oh and a big wtf @ that preview. Did they change the animation crew or what? After an entire episode of animation so polished it glittered that preview looked so rough as if it was a completely different show

    bearzerger
    Reply

  11. I’m guessing Alto picked up the earring before he left his VF-25.

    Amazing episode. I can’t even imagine what the finale is going to be if episode 7 looks and sounds like this.

    aya
    Reply

  13. Agree w/ tsuchiro, budget blown for the next couple of episodes. The quality drop looks worst than ep3. And apparently, singing+earing is like some kind of nitro boost for Alto’s VF-25. Too bad he can’t do it again if he lost the earing (possibly b/c Sheryl would have killed him).

    Jounin
    Reply

  14. This episode is now officially my number one favorite anime episode of all time (I mean it and i’ve watched quite a lot of anime 🙂

    The amazing mix of music + fighting from episode 1 is back and wow, it lasted the entire episode, from the very first minute till the very last there was action and art combined :D. The animation was extraordinary.

    I gotto say when “infinity” started I kind of didn’t like it, but after a small while it completely blew me away, what an awsome song. That combined with the action packed final of this episode (aka m25 going 1337 mode) … i’m sold

    ..Can you marry to a series?

    Whispo
    Reply

  19. it will be interesting if they bring marduk (if i remember correctly marduk controled by song to fight, this Vajra react to ranka voice)to this series to have all the races known in macross. would be strange if the protodeviln make appearance thou.

    were
    Reply

  21. … holy ****ing crap! So, instead of having music decide things, they give us a battle and music. And Sheryl’s jump-starting Ranka’s career with this, at least so it appears, by putting them both on stage together. That should help her agent out a bit… since now she’s associated with THE Sheryl.

    Brera Stern’s… well, it looks like the rival for Alto’s arrived, both in interference with the relationships, as well as possibly being an antagonist later on. The Aimo thing connects him to Ranka, since that’s a song she remembered from her childhood. Ozma’s going to start chewing Alto out for losing a VF-25… again… after the last two times he’s practically trashed his unit. He’s already nearing Hikaru’s record of two trashed VF’s (the VF-1D trainer on Macross island, the second VF was blown up around him during the Miss Macross contest, with only the shootdown before Focker’s death left to go).

    And please don’t tell me the other studio got that last shot of Sheryl with EX-Gear on… as I fear they did.

    Haesslich
    Reply

  32. Say no to the Filipino animation team for episode 8…. anyway that episode was stunning, nothing more needs to be said.. also I’m sure Alto grabbed the earring since he was looking at it right before he went nuts.

    Westlo
    Reply

  37. Amazing episode. At the beginning I was kinda angry that they recycled footage from Episode 1 concert – they better make some new footage for the DVD/BD release. But then my anger was quickly calmed because the episode was totally awesome. Amazing battle and Infinity in the background playing – best part: MACROSS CANNON, HASSHA!!!!!!!!

    From the previews looks like next week we’re back to low-budget outsourced animation. But like said before, amidst all the drops in animation quality, Macross Frontier continues to be a treat.

    <3 Sheryl

    W-General
    Reply

  40. I don’t think the new guy was helping Alto and Luca. It looks like the red, very customized VF-25 shot at Luca’s gunpod and was ready to shoot them before the Macross Quarter came by. It is also strange that the red VF-25 was being escorted by what looks like 2 other VF-25s while it was in fold space at the end.

    The whole Ranka an Sheryl scene also looks too cheesy.

    Jounin
    Reply

  43. Please stop pointing out animation quality every other episode. >.> Fact of life: A studio doesn’t have the budget to keep up awesome quality animation for /every single scene/ of /every single episode/, even Kyoto Animation. (yes, there were parts of Suzumiya Haruhi that were /not/ fluidly animated) Most studios have to deal with /entire episodes/ of not-awesome animation, so just live with it. You can complain all you want, but unlike the quality of filler arcs/episodes and such in shows like Bleach, there’s absolutely /nothing/ anybody can do about budget limits, which makes it stupid to complain about. >.> The only time it makes sense to complain about animation quality drops is when it’s /truly/ bad, which does not seem to be the case with the next episode.

    Shinji103
    Reply

  44. …Awesome!! Amazing! Spectacular! WOW! I am SO impressed.

    Macross F is beating out Code Geass R2 now. Atleast for the latest 2 episodes.

    First reused Don’t be Late kind of disturbed me, more because the song kept dividing my concentration from the battle so I probably missed half of what was going on. Seeing reused material didn’t help either.

    But after that everything worked out so well, I’m still awe struck.

    Random comments
    – YAY!!! Appearance of Brera Sterne! Just when I started getting impatient to see him! Wish granted! Thank you producers!!
    – Brera is one suspicious CUTE guy. And that VF-27 he’s in shouldn’t have been red, I first thought it was Klan who came to save the day.
    – Alto, did you save the earring?!? (Is that earring a telepathic device or something?)
    – Macross Quarter = giant VF = OVERKILL WIN! Gundam 00’s Ptolemy could never compete.

    Yukiruchan
    Reply

  45. Yukiruchan: “- Macross Quarter = giant VF = OVERKILL WIN! Gundam 00’s Ptolemy could never compete.”

    You /do/ realize that the Ptolemy had /no armaments of its own whatsoever/, right? It was deisnged as a /transport/ ship (it says so right in the first episode) for the gundams and act as a command center as well. The Ptolemy was obviously never meant to be used for engaging the enemy, so it’s dumb to compare it to a ship that is not only way bigger, but is /specifically/ designed for engaging and wiping out the enemy.

    Shinji103
    Reply

  48. there is nothing wrong with the animation in either episode. The preview looks fine in motion. Why not worry less about next week and the maybe off character designs and focus on how great this episode was?

    aya
    Reply

  49. In the episode 8 preview Sheryl looks crap, Cathy looks crap, Ranka looks crap and if anyone here reads Macross Worlds forums I’m probably one of the bigger defenders of the animation for the show on it.

    It looks worse than episode 6… at least episode 4 inconsistent designs were a result of the rough sketchy style they used… and the actual animation was just as good and even better in some places than normal.

    Episode 8 is definitely outsorced outside of Satelight just like episode 6 was.

    Westlo
    Reply

  51. This episode is wicked! We finally get to see the whole battleship transforms! Total awesome~! Not to mention that its fast and packs a punch. Take that you smelly insects! And that whole slave system on the VF-25 is pretty decent as well.

    dward
    Reply

  53. no need to be worried because Ranka will end up with ALtoh. If you follow anime history, the girl who’s featured the most in the inro and ending sequence usually ends up with the main character. So u have nothin to worry about on that front. Although I would prefer sheryl over ranka but if we follow anime history, he will end up with Ranka……………

    MoneyM
    Reply

  54. @MoneyM-Right on the money. Unless you are watching Shuffle, my man. Someone will tear your post up later, watch.

    But damn, THIS EPISODE ROCKED HELLUVALOT! This is what I’m talking about! The real action finally came. 20 out of 10!

    Derrick
    Reply

  57. Brera is the one in the pink/red new VF-27 and he wasn’t helping Alto he was shooting at him. He shot Alto’s gun away. So it’s still unclear as to whose side he is on.

    zalem
    Reply

  61. If you follow anime history, the girl who’s featured the most in the inro

    You mean the many shots of Sheryl singing and one shot of Ranka displaying her powers?

    and ending sequence usually ends up with the main character.

    You mean the ending shot with Sheryl standing on stage singing the song she sang for Alto? What about it?

    In most anime series yes that’s the case. In Shoji Kawamori’s works, the woman who displays the most backbone and the one who share the most chemistry with the hero wins. (Case: most Macross series, Escaflowne and Earth girl arjuna.)

    lysianthus
    Reply

  62. @Omni and others
    I agree on the familiarity of the song Infinity. It seems familiar to the beginning of Gundam SEED Destiny’s Kimi wa Boku ni Niteiru by See-Saw. Also I find it interesting that 7 (or 10 if you count Stargazer as well) of the seiyuus in Macross Frontier worked in Gundam SEED as well.

    nycs
    Reply

  64. k… i know there has been a lot of complaining about the whole animation thing, and i hate to add more, yes really like this anime, but why are they switching teams within episodes. i mean yea it wouldn’t matter if the style was some what the same, but shoot for preview for episode 8 it looks like a totally different anime, that looks more than budget problem if you ask me.
    But anyway @westlo.. you’re right they switched to a new animator for episode 6 it was by shanhjie animations instead of the original Nara animations (if i remember the names correctly.)

    Anyways this episode was pretty crazy loved it although there was one part that made me ponder a little and that is how’s that Brera Sterne guy connected with Ranka, and how is Ranka connected to Sheryl (besides the fact that they both sing and they both kinda like Alto.)

    lanabear
    Reply

  66. They switch to save money so they can make episodes like this one. They can go back and fix the small errors in dvd releases. It’s not a big deal. Get over it and enjoy the show.

    aya
    Reply

  67. man, the sms macross figuratively moves as fast as a battroid…that’s a shock. the macross 7 and 13’s movements weren’t that energetic. LOL!

    yeah, alto had better kept sheryl’s earring or else…more locker scenes? haha!

    nugundam93
    Reply

  69. If you compare the damage on both side, I think the bugs kind of win this one. Macross Galaxy was damage pretty badly and a few large ship was destroy, but the bugs side lost only a bunch of bugs and 1 big ship. I think the good guys kind of suffer more damages this battle.

    Tom
    Reply

  70. Well as good as this episode was it just created a whole bunch of new questions.
    – who’s this guy?
    – what’s his connection to Ranka and Sheryll?
    – did Alto really lost Sheryll’s earring? I can’t imagine that, he just could’ve taken with him when he ejected
    – he lost his ship ok, probably he’ll get an even stronger one

    Also when this new guy is entering folding there are other ships with him, probably from Galaxy?

    mutio
    Reply

  71. @ Whispo

    You are welcome. Being a big Gundam SEED fan, I started humming (and singing in my head) along when the music started playing (Kimi no sugata ha boku ni nite iru…), but then it hit me, “Wait, this can’t be THAT song! This is Macross, not Gundam.” That is how I knew. LOL

    nycs
    Reply

  72. So, now I’ve finished the comments. What is that complaining about ep8 already? Be realistic people, they can’t keep up the same good animation quality each episode. Even if next week’s episode should suck in animation it won’t bother me since as they’ll overwork it a bit later for the DVD release. And furthermore I wanna see how the story goes on. Flshy animation is good for episodes like this one, but next one seems to be a rather a light hearted fun episode and/or some story heavny one – and for that I personaly don’t need super animation. Better they cut budget on those episodes than on the battle ones like this.

    mutio
    Reply

  73. That’s it. I’m switching from RankaxAlto to RankaxSterne. Atleast he seems to hold the key to her mysteries unlike Alto lol! j/k j/k

    @mutio-Right at the end of the OP, there was a dark ‘ship’ shown there next to his very first VF. That’s probably it.

    And there’s no way Alto could have saved Sheryl’s earrings. It’s impossible.

    Well, atleast that would explain why Sheryl will go to Alto’s school next ep. Seems like in episode 8, Alto will have to save Sheryl from falling? I can see another mushy AltoxSheryl scene where Alto apologizes for losing her earrings or something. =/

    ani_d
    Reply

  74. Um it looked more like he took out Lucas’ Rifle than actually helping him. As for the “mouth” opening, it was more like they were trying to fire on Macross. Alto got lucky because of that.

    anonymous
    Reply

  76. And finaly BluRay..
    I mean, DVD resolution is sth like 7xx, my 22″ Display has a native resolution of 1680×1050, our Full HD TV even 1920x. DVDs just can’t power such high resolutions anymore. Damn time they bring anime on high definition media.

    mutio
    Reply

  77. Ah, @ani_d
    I think the other plane’s shadow we see is the VF-27 of this Brera Stern (Stern = star in German btw).
    Can’t imagine he’ll get another model than a VF-25. I mean, they future it in the opening after all. But maybe I’m wrong, we’ll hopefuly see next episode although it seems to be rather a relation ship focused one.
    Also don’t be so hasty on Brera Stern being a possible pair for Ranka or Sheryl. Atm he just showed up and we don’t know nothing about him yet – so I’d be careful about him on that topic. My guess is, as someone pointed out already, that he’s either Ranka’s real brother or that he’s in some other way connected. On the other hand he seems to come from Galaxy – Sheryll’s home – so there might be a connection as well.
    Speaking of Galaxy, I wonder what happened to it. The battle seems to be over but no gurantee, that Galaxy wasn’t completely wiped out. I also wonder when Sheryll will leave.

    mutio
    Reply

  81. I dunno.. Infinity at the very beginning, the melody reminded me of “Kimi wa Boku ni Niteiru (You are Similar to Me)” by See-Saw, the 4th Gundam Seed Destiny Ending …

    kimikodatenshi
    Reply

  83. lol I just discovered how to watch my raws on big screen with my ps3 =P
    makes a HUGE difference, just EPIC…

    anyway hope the quality doesn’t continue on with
    what we will most likely see in episode 8

    Xellos
    Reply

  88. “[i]If you follow anime history, the girl who’s featured the most in the inro[/i]

    You mean the many shots of Sheryl singing and one shot of Ranka displaying her powers?

    [i]and ending sequence usually ends up with the main character.[/i]

    You mean the ending shot with Sheryl standing on stage singing the song she sang for Alto? What about it?”

    Haha I was like wtf is he on about when I read that lol

    “In most anime series yes that’s the case. In Shoji Kawamori’s works, the woman who displays the most backbone and the one who share the most chemistry with the hero wins. (Case: most Macross series, Escaflowne and Earth girl arjuna.)”

    Exactly, Sheryl is much more in line with past Kawamori winners than Ranka Lee. Her actual character is more Hayase than Minmei, her relationship to Alto is more similar to Shin and Sara Nome than Shin and Mao Nome.. the latter resembling Alto and Ranka more at this stage… and they will drive this point here home in episode 10

    [spoiler]As Sheryl Nome plays Sara Nome in the movie based on Zero while Ranka Lee fills in for Mao Nome… Also if Alto only starts to get romantically interested in Ranka because of Brera… I’ll call it now Sheryl wins.[/spoiler]

    Westlo
    Reply

  90. Kimi wa Boku ni Niteiru (You ressemble me) by See-Saw for Gundam seed destiny is the song it ressembles.

    Awesome episode. Lot’s of action and the songs were awesome. Loved Sheryl’s human moment during her concert and with Ranka. Also the part where Alto heard the song through the earing, he better have not forgotten it in his second totaled Valkyrie.

    I think that Brera, the harmonica playing bishie at the end, is connected to Ranka through the song but maybe to Sheryl as well. His hairpin, her earings and that Mr Birla’s ring ( creeping looking guys witht the three green eyes on his forehead) seem to be made from the same crystal. Could give us insight on Sheryl’s past since she is an orphan.

    Once again, awesome episode!

    Myako-dono
    Reply

  91. Observation:

    I don’t see the “New Macross” class ship “Macross 21” or its corresponding colony component “City 21” (or “Galaxy” or “Island 1” or whatever they call it).

    We know that both Frontier and Galaxy are the same class of ship, and both have shell-top style city-colony ships affixed to them.

    In this graphic, you see both Frontier and Galaxy being listed as New Macross class ships, and both are using sillouettes of the open-shell colony-ships in their iconical representations (Frontier’s in blue, Galaxy’s in red)
    https://randomc.net/image/Macross/Macross%20Frontier%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2004.jpg

    So, I am wondering…. was Galaxy main colony ship destroyed by the Vajra, since we do not see it anywhere in the fleet that Macross Quarter arrived at?

    Kokoro
    Reply

  92. the Marduk appeared in Macross II (alternative timeline year 2080s-90s). granted Shoji Kawamori san and Studio Nue wasn’t involved in it, it’s not (real) Macross history, and quietly accepted as such. (note just by the chronological sequence, in the Marduk timeline, the Vajra never showed up and ppl were still relying on the MinMay Attack, although in actual Macross timeline, by 2045-47 Macross-7 time the MinMay Attack was no longer judged effective). you have to sift thru layers of info thru the years to find all that… i for one, liked Macross II (in the beginning) but they allowed too much GALLFORCE influence into it. it is official knowledge that Macross II follows on the timeline of ‘…Do You Remember Love?’, itself a Movie production of 2031 in actual Macross timeline, featuring the actual configuration Macross SDF-1 as it now stands in Macross City on Earth (also meaning the characters we saw in ‘…Remember Love?’ are actors, … enuf said… check out Japanese Wiki on Macross series… just so we dun mix up the realities…

    on quality- line work? in-betweening? fore-background? lighting? camera? thin atmosphere, non-atmosphere… there’s alot more involved then just digi-painting and 3D-work. those guys have been in the line for decades, i respect them for what they’ve done… i guess we gotta let the series play its course… judging from the credits i gather its an international production, i can see Thai names amongst the myraid groups of ppls involved even.

    now we got most of our favorite seiyuus appearing on ‘Frontier’. fun fun fun… ‘Zenki, PLANET DANCE!!!’

    tonbo
    Reply

  93. And what about Ranka’s glowing belly? Because it seemed that Sheryl’s earring was actually responding to its glow. So is there some sort of connection between Ranka’s body, the earring and possibly even the hairpin and the ring?Sounds somewhat crazy…

    Btw…awesome episode…even though I didn’t understand almost anything (since my japanese is really poor)…just awesome

    Ardea
    Reply

  97. ‘IslandOne’ refers to Frontier’s Flagship (ala Battle+City 25) but each fleet is composed of hundreds of ships, up to the thousand perhaps, not counting the large platora of classes of escourting warships. so certainly the flagship of the Galaxy fleet goes by some other name, and that while a portion of Galaxy’s fleet got hit hard , the better portion got out okay… or we can guess. dun encourage spoilers tho..

    looking at the initial distress clips, the Uniform on that Captain is from a lesser vessel than that of Battle 21, considering Fleet commanders dress differently from their lesser compatriots. i do still believe the Galaxy flagship is safe. the oddly shaped ships with the yo-yos are what i gather to be the science/chemical/industrial plant vessels the narrator was speaking of (quite literally introducing/explaining what Sheryl meant when she spoke of her dislike of Galaxy[fleet] last week) that were very much burning and disintergrating in the earlier released distress clips… note-‘released’

    Leon/Lyon knew something abt Ranka right from the start… her glowing ‘Belly’? or glowing to her/us only (cuz no commotion occured during the performance/or no one was looking)… she alone survived frm a Vajra attack… out of more than a 1000… or was she deliberately spared… hmmm

    one more thing… the Koenig Monster only has Flight-Destroid mode, tho it looks Gerwalk-ish.

    oh, its never too late to pick up Japanese… beware their many dialects or forms of speech (or Chinese… with their many dialects and forms of tongue-more than 56 tribal/regional tongue & dialects)

    tonbo
    Reply

  98. It’s a bit too soon to be pairing up Brera with Ranka. I find that combo creepy….but then I find anyone with Ranka creepy because she looks like she is 11 years old (I know she is older, but she LOOKS really young). For all we know Brera is a relative of Ranka’s.

    zalem
    Reply

  99. oops, just felt i gotta say>

    the Ranka – Sheryl scene was like so GUNDxM … the NxwType … well, we do have BANDAI funding this one, heh.
    and Kawamori san was involved in designing the Albion (seen in 0083-Stardust Memory)

    tonbo
    Reply

  100. @mutio-It did cross my mind that maybe Sterne is Ranka’s real brother (another onii-chan figure for her lol) cuz he looks like someone who can say, “Ranka I’m here to bring you back” or “You don’t belong here” blah blah blah. Or maybe he’s actually there to kill off Ranka, but by the looks of episode 10, I’m not sure anymore. What I noticed is, if it weren’t for Sheryl’s earring being inside Alto’s cockpit, Ranka’s voice (maybe even Sheryl’s) wouldn’t get to him.

    Onto the shipping war lol! Kidding. This is more like my analysis.

    @lysianthus, westlo- Basing on Anime history and all, they base character relationships (especially LTs) on first impressions plus character image spreads (official arts of the two together etc) and promote it thoroughly in the beginning and intermittently in the story. In SDF Macross, it wasn’t Minmay who made the first impression on the audience, it was Misa. First impression is big. Do not underestimate. I’ve been watching anime since I was 16 and the pairings I root for are always the ones that had a good first impressions on me. They do this on purpose. The author tends to give his audience an ample time to like a certain character so that he can fiddle with their interests (break their hearts, move them etc) throughout the story and keep them glued. If Sheryl started off the way Ranka did, (the deculture edition was mainly about Ranka and Alto) I wouldn’t be this hung up on Ranka and Alto’s PLATONIC bond. It’s because those two already grew on me and it would be sad to just see them drift away like that. I feel like the writer is aware of this especially when Ranka found out that Sheryl KNEW about Alto and the others and she didn’t. Like I’ve always been saying, I’d rather look at the story rather than the parallelisms. If you do that, you’ll see what’s coming.

    On another note, I didn’t know Alto bought ANOTHER ticket for Ranka. I thought the ticket he gave her was the one Sheryl gave her. Nice princess.

    ani_d
    Reply

  101. pls refrain frm spoilers

    Misa ‘the obasan’ was it man, frm SDF Macross ep-01… the tsundere of my dreams…

    Macross is not meant to be a serious,by-the-book, war show… considering its Japan, where WWII and nukes are taboo … where specialised trams are set aside for survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear attacks and where no one mixes with them… still. thus we have reactive weaponry (reflex? weaponry in Robotxch). or at least it was in 1982.

    tonbo
    Reply

  102. ani_d what did you think of Hiromi’s first impression 😉 I wouldn’t exactly say ignoring Shin and continuing to type on a computer is the equivalent of a big first impression 😉

    And even though I loved it (since I’m a massive Misa fan) Hikura and Misa felt tacked on in the original series when it started to happen… I honestly can’t say it felt like she was going to be in a triangle with Minmei and Hikaru… until much later on.. you going into the series knowing that is obviously looking at things differently.

    I really don’t care about any other anime work apart from Shoji Kawamori’s works and Sheryl wins based off that. You mention the story and once again Sheryl will win off that since there’s no way that Kawamori will make Ranka play the key part against the Varja as well as being connected to this 3rd faction (Brera/vf27) and win Princess. There is no balance in that.

    Also you mention official art being an indicator to who pairs up.. I’m pretty sure Minmei and Hikaru official art would have completely dominated everything else back in the day.. as for Frontier the majority of spreads in newtype and other magazines features all 3 characters, just like the dvd covers, or it’s Sheryl and Ranka like the OST cover and the pizza hut box. I hope you’re not confusing fan art with official art :\

    “On another note, I didn’t know Alto bought ANOTHER ticket for Ranka. I thought the ticket he gave her was the one Sheryl gave her. Nice princess.”

    Or maybe Sheryl sent him two tickets… because it would be kind of hard to get a near the front row tciket and than buy the seat next to you the day after in a packed concert.

    Westlo
    Reply

  103. Tonbo: He may not have been on the Galaxy, but he DID say that Island 1/Main Island had been taken by the Vajra… so I think that the main city-ship is gone. The escort frigates or cruisers MAY have survived, but to judge from the shots in Episode 6… they didn’t. Which means that the Galaxy homeship may well be wiped out, or at least has been Borged by the Vajra.

    I think the glowing belly may have perhaps been her phone? Of course, I could be totally delusional… 😀

    Haesslich
    Reply

  104. Btw ani_d you haven’t seen the Deculture version of the first episode have you? I mean after your paragraph about first impressions I wouldn’t think you would have posted that if you saw Deculture and saw that Sheryl was the first to give an impression to the audience.

    https://randomc.net/image/Macross/Macross%20Frontier%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2001.jpg

    Not to mention there’s a massive poster of her in the entire first scene of Ranka…

    https://randomc.net/image/Macross/Macross%20Frontier%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2006.jpg

    The first dvd/blueray will have the Deculture edition as well as the true 32 minute first episode which will have Sheryl shown first.

    What say you now 😉

    Westlo
    Reply

  105. @ani_d,westlo,

    i agree with ani_d abt the first impressions stuffs.i believe that it’s logical for the creators to manipulate the audience’s/our feelings(?) to keep us glued to the show.everyone does that,rite? and i admit that my first impressions are what kept me waving for alto x ranka. now, first impressions are very subjective. different first-things attract different people; so yeah, lets just leave evryone be with what impressed them first and foremost.appearing first on-screen or having a big poster doesnt mean they mean more than having talk to the hero first or got saved by the hero first or what. it’s just how people perceived the scenes rite?^^

    and because most people here (i believe) have prepare themselves with the possibilities that sheryl couldnt possibily be such a b****, or ranka couldnt possibily be such a cute,adorable characters all d time, that’s how we always provide some space for character development and still be able to cheer for them.

    well,maybe alto might turn to be not so hero-ic after all?hehe^^

    so lets go on wth ep8 next week!!i want more action!!more mechaaa!!~~~as long as there is VFs around i’ll be happy!!^^

    audishah
    Reply

  106. “appearing first on-screen or having a big poster doesnt mean they mean more than having talk to the hero first or got saved by the hero first or what. it’s just how people perceived the scenes rite?”

    I agree, I’m using ani_d’s logic for that “first impressions” argument because somehow Misa yelling at Hikaru means more because it’s the first impression as opposed Hikaru saving Minmei in episode 2 and than what happened in episode 3. Best way to defuse someones argument is to use it back at them! Also if you wanted to get technical Alto saved Sheryl first though falling a long distance due to something stupid he did is obviously completely different than getting killed by a Varja.

    Westlo
    Reply

  107. Regarding the glow we saw under Ranka’s dress….

    I think the glow was from an implant inside of Ranka.

    As we are aware, implants are illegal in Frontier. Illegal to have implanted on Frontier, but not illegal to possess if the implantation was done outside of Frontier. (Sheryl’s aid, for example, has an implant.)

    Implants are legal in some other fleets, including Galaxy. We know that Ranka is not a Frontier native, so it is quite possible that she has an implant in her (It would explain her hair).

    My guess is that the Vajra might be reacting to the implants, which is why they are attacking the predominantly implant-bearing Galaxy fleet, as well as seemingly reacting to Ranka.

    Since we know that Macross 7 is canon (and a prequel to Macross Frontier), there has already been established the existance of “Song Energy”. My theory is that perhaps some implants react in a particular way when exposed to Song Energy… in a way that attracts the Vajra. Hence why Galaxy fleet (filled with alot of people with implants, some listening to and singing songs) got swarmed by Vajra. Hence why Vajra seem to react when (in lessor numbers) when Ranka sings.

    Just my theory, anyways.

    Kokoro
    Reply

  108. Oh yeah, and regarding Sheryl’s earrings….

    I guess it is possible that perhaps some of the implant technology in my above theory could also be inside the earrings. Sheryl is from Galaxy fleet, after all, so there is implant tech all around.

    Assuming that the earrings do have some of that implant-tech in it, and that the 2 earrings are a matched set, maybe Sound Energy transmitted from the earring Sheryl was wearing at her concert over to the matching earring in Alto’s cockpit. Hence, why Alto could hear singing. Also why the red valkyrie pilot also heard music…. music transmitted via the earrings.

    Just a thought.

    Kokoro
    Reply

  110. But… I don’t recall other Zentradi being able to do that hair thing. Mylene and Miria never showed that ability.

    Maybe Ranka is really bald and wears a Gubaba on her head?
    (just kidding)

    Actually, having just rewatched episode 7 again, I think the glow under Ranka’s dress was her cellphone, as she did not have the cellphone on her shoulder anymore.

    My guess now is that sparkling of the earring on Sheryl’s right ear was just a sparkle and nothing more.

    As for the singing that Alto heard inside the Vajra ship… I now suspect that the music was playing inside the entire interior of the Vajra ship. Perhaps it was somehow sensing Ranka’s singing, even several light-years away.

    Kokoro
    Reply

  112. @westlo,
    well if u count ‘saving’ is an in saving a girl from falling^^ yes2,alto saves all d girls.it’s the charm that they hv to give him.

    i think i read smwhere that kawamori shoji mentioned sth abt zentradi has some special traits of their body and for ranka it was her hair?that her hair can move on its own or sth.

    after re-watch the ep, i think it must an implant in ranka’s body!that would be a great twist.after this ep i think even sheryl might hv her connection to the vajra.

    audishah
    Reply

  113. lol westlo. So glad you do agree with my first impressions analysis. Yes, I DID watch the Deculture version first without favoring Either girl. I didn’t even expect this mecha show is romance at that time. But I don’t know what happened, it’s weird that somehow I, a neutral viewer, was drawn to Ranka’s character instead of Sheryl. Probably because Ranka’s appearance brightened the mood, had a very natural air around her that average teens can relate, had a very interesting (and funny to boot) encounter with Alto, and basically, she just had more screentime all in all. Both me and Alto found her interesting. All these happened in episode 1–deculture–btw. Misa had a whole episode all to herself before Minmay made her glorious entrance on EPISODE 2. Both Sheryl and Ranka were there on episode 1, but between the two, who did the audience love more? That’s what I meant about making first impressions. Obviously I’m not neutral now, but my point is…I was. 😉

    Also, I’m just going to add. I have a feeling the girl who gets to love Alto more than the other will be the crowned winner. That’s another one of my observations from the so-called anime history haha IF Sheryl can beat Ranka in that department by the end of the show, then I’ll acknowledge her.

    @Kokoro–If Ranka’s cellphone also can do a glow worm mode, then I want it all the more. Ranka’s glowing belly will definitely be answered on the future episodes. I think it’s an implant.

    @audishah- Noone can defuse the power of our first impressions. ^_~ lmao

    ani_d
    Reply

  114. Edit** @westlo- About Hiromi and True Tears. That was too obvious, but I was in denial because I was expecting for more. But now, I can honestly say Ranka has more chances than my poor Noe.

    Lastly, here if you haven’t seen them yet. There’s more but I’m lazy. http://xs.to/xs.php?h=xs126&d=08145&f=scan_6241.jpg
    http://xs.to/xs.php?h=xs226&d=08155&f=scan6178.jpg
    http://xs.to/xs.php?h=xs226&d=08155&f=scan5917.jpg
    I’m preeeetty sure I’m not confusing official arts and doujin arts.

    ani_d
    Reply

  115. Edit** @westlo- About Hiromi and True Tears. That was too obvious, but I was in denial because I was expecting for more. But now, I can honestly say Ranka has more chances than my poor Noe.

    Lastly, here if you haven’t seen them yet. There’re more but I’m lazy. http://xs.to/xs.php?h=xs126&d=08145&f=scan_6241.jpg
    http://xs.to/xs.php?h=xs226&d=08155&f=scan6178.jpg
    http://xs.to/xs.php?h=xs226&d=08155&f=scan5917.jpg
    I’m preeeetty sure I’m not confusing official arts and doujin arts.

    ani_d
    Reply

  116. ani_d: And you get things like this too:

    http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/6086/largeanimepaperscansmacdh3.jpg

    Newtype scans don’t count, if they do, every yaoi pairing in any anime series will be canon.

    What does matter is what are the similarities that the past heroines shared. It’s too early to call who’s the winner, but let’s take a look at the later episodes soon to see which pairing is the “Red herring”.

    Westlo places his money on Sheryl the moment Brera enters the love triangle, I’ll place mine on Sheryl if Ozma ever dies. 🙂

    lysianthus
    Reply

  117. I’m really not trying to pick sides or anything, but don’t you think that the writer wants to surprise his viewers, I mean there’s going to be some twist and turns so you can’t really base the winner of the LT over the opening or the other scripts from the old macross because all writers like to confuse their audience…. like shakespeare, that was what made him a good writer….

    But i’m still going to stick with SherylXALto heh ^-^

    lanabear
    Reply

  118. I’m really not trying to pick sides or anything, but don’t you think that the writer wants to surprise his viewers, I mean there’s going to be some twist and turns so you can’t really base the winner of the LT over the opening or the other scripts from the old macross because all writers like to confuse their audience…. like shakespeare, that was what made him a good writer….

    but yay SherylXALto heh ^-^

    lanabear
    Reply

  120. the magazine pic just means Alto has got more than his handful to deal with.. heh

    if you know Japanese, Macross Quarter’s captain did refer strongly to their mission being one of trying to save as many ships from the Vajira until they can move to clearer space from which to fold to safety, and also to ascertain Galaxy (flagship)’s current condition, not just stand around and watch as Kathy insists… this clearly means that the flagship’s whereabouts is currently …

    me bad, VB-6 does have Battaloid-mode (the memory had been faint)

    tonbo
    Reply

  121. the series was disappointing up to ep3. The fighting is good but not as impressive as macross zero (well, it’s not an ova, so understandable). And story telling is bad. Especially ep3 where we had a not so moving funeral and lots of stupid debate about why they fly etc.(I just couldn’t bear it when the good old fashioned animations and J-dramas start to lecture about purpose of life). Now I have to say that ep7 really wins me back with all the fighting scene and the concert.It is good to see Sheryl becoming more human than a super star as well.

    heruisheng
    Reply

  122. @Kokoro
    I support both your Ranka has an implant and Sheryl’s earrings being connected to eachother theories. ^_^

    It makes much better sense than Ranka’s voice being accidentally influential on Vajra or the magical power of music or something of the sort.

    Yukiruchan
    Reply

  123. Considering how they have talked about implants in practically each episode, including the intro to episode 7, I figure implants have to be an import part of the plot. So, the idea that the Vajra seem to react to said implants makes sense to me. Also would explain why Vajra react to Ranka, if she has implants as well.

    Unless, of course, it is really a red herring. It is possible (though I don’t think it likely) that Ranka does not have implants, and that the Vajra are really attracted to Ranka’s cellphone instead (implant tech inside the phone, perhaps), which she always has with her. And when she sings, or her Sound Energy builds up, the phone starts transmitting…

    Kokoro
    Reply

  125. I just love this . how they seem to flirt with the first series by taking elements from it and also in character design ,feels refreshing now compared to other anime . i would like to see a higher character frame rate though , but well.. it is a series not a movie. hope they will make a movie too:P

    Orandajin
    Reply

  126. hmm,if the singings are transmitted thru the earrings,it only means that alto only heard sheryl’s voice rite? bcoz ranka was just singing along from the seat.i feel like there are still some missing loops here!^^ sheryl’s role is definitely more than just a songstress.so there’s no more ‘the girl who saves the world couldnt possibily get the guy because it’ll be imbalanced’.hehe.at least that’s what i think^^

    audishah
    Reply

  132. So, I have been watching the December 07 version of episode 1 repeatedly for the last hour, especially the CGI graphic of the various Macross colonization fleets departing from Earth. I noticed a few things (I was feeling particularly geeky this morning)…

    1.) There are 2 different type of silhouettes representing each fleet, either a Megaroad shaped silhouette, or a New Macross clam-shell shaped silhouette.

    2.) Fleets that departed Earth are:
    MEGAROAD-01 (SDF-002, Megaroad Class)
    MACROSS01 (NMCV-001, New Macross Class)
    MEGAROAD-02 (SDF-003, Megaroad Class)
    MEGAROAD-04 (SDF-004, Megaroad Class)
    MACROSS03 (NMCV-003, New Macross Class)
    MACROSS05 (NMCV-005, New Macross Class)
    MEGAROAD-06 (SDF-007, Megaroad Class)
    MACROSS07 (NMCV-007, New Macross Class)
    MEGAROAD-09 (SDF-010, Megaroad Class)
    MEGAROAD-13 (SDF-014, Megaroad Class)
    M-FRONTIER (NMCV-025, New Macross Class)

    3.) MEGAROAD-04 colonized the planet Eden (featured in Macross Plus).

    4.) The following colony fleets originated from Eden:
    MACROSS006 (NMCV-006, New Macross Class)
    MACROSS009 (NMCV-009, New Macross Class)
    MACROSS011 (NMCV-011, New Macross Class)
    MACROSS014 (NMCV-014, New Macross Class)
    MACROSS015 (NMCV-015, New Macross Class)
    MACROSS017 (NMCV-017, New Macross Class)
    MACROSS020 (NMCV-020, New Macross Class)
    M-GALAXY (NMCV-021, New Macross Class)
    MACROSS023 (NMCV-023, New Macross Class)

    This may be why implants are illegal on Frontier, but not on Galaxy. Frontier has colonists from Earth, whereas Galaxy has colonists from Eden.

    Perhaps the people who colonized Eden found that they needed the aid of implants in order to better adapt to the conditions of the foreign planet. As I recall, Eden was kind of a deserty, or at least the New Edwards base on Eden was.

    Or, perhaps the whole Sharon Apple incident spooked people too much about implants, fearing that they may make them susceptible to mind control.

    On a separate note…
    Rewatching episode 7 a few more times, the red valkyrie did shoot the Valkyrie rifle Alto was using to free himself. I think the red valkyrie fled due to the arrival of Macross Quarter. Had it now appeared, I suspect the red valkyrie would have finished off Alto.

    I see a few possible scenarios.
    1.) The red valkyrie pilot did not recognize the VF-25, so he decided to disarm him. (Not likely, though in the Macross 7 TV series, we have seen cases where people were mind controlled to fight allied forces, so perhaps the red valkyrie pilot was mindful of this…)

    2.) The red valkyrie pilot is the one being mind controlled, much like the proto-deviln valkyrie pilots were in Macross 7.

    3.) A fleet, or some part there of, that decided to break away from NUNS.

    4.) Some offshoot of the anti-UN forces that we saw in Macross Zero. The red valkyrie’s design sort of reminds me of the anti-UN mechs. Considering that it looks like Macross Frontier is going to pay homage to Macross Zero with the “Legend of Zero” episode, I see this as a possibility… not likely, but possible.

    5.) The Vajra are related to the weird creatures from Macross Zero? Considering that Zero was the first time I think we saw non-humanoid (aka non-human/non-Zentradi) lifeforms before, maybe these Vajra are related to them somehow?

    Kokoro
    Reply

  133. Wow, after all these years, after all this waiting…. Macross is back. And it’s better than ever! Not only is it a fulfilling continuation of the mythos, and an amazing tribute to the original series, it’s a captivating story in it’s own right! Congratulations to everyone involved!

    Juisarian
    Reply

  134. LoL just noticed them but I found a few mistakes in this episode, like 15:16 – 15:19 mikhail’s VF-25 has the gun cut off for a few seconds in the background while ozma calls alto an idiot for rushing in.

    Not being picky with the quality, just like finding the mistakes that will be fixed in the dvds lol

    Xellos
    Reply

  135. I am also wondering were Super Deminsional Aircraft Carrier-21/New macross Carrier-21 is. I know coloy fleets come of all shapes and sizes. New Macross 5 ships were mostly Zentradi or modded to look like Zentradi vessels. For the VF-27, it has to have been made by the UN government for it to have the designation VF-27. If it was made by another faction, anti un, protoculture etc. It would have a different designation. The UN military stuck with Variable Fighter XX, all others had their own unique name or something crazy.

    luke
    Reply

  136. oo ya it really sounds like Kimi wa Boku ni Niteiru at the beginning.. so it wasn’t just me who feel that the song is familiar.. was trying to figure which one it is since i too many gd songs..

    konaha
    Reply

  138. haha will, dont watch it if u think it sucks then!we all here hv some stuffs we arent satisfied wth macross F but we dont think it sucks overall^^ it’s still one of the best anime this season and a great sequel to SDF!!

    audishah
    Reply

  139. man i hope that red valkyrie is a black-ops for the UN

    this macross has downgraded the military a bit too much

    I mean without the military humans would have been extinct

    I hope they produce a military ace this time hope its a real clone of Focker without the salad

    MichJobert
    Reply

  142. The red valkyrie is most likely part of vajra, it launched its missiles toward alto. I think we should all watch macross zero again, because frontier is obviously connected.
    1) the name “Nome” which belongs to “sara nome”
    2) the earrings did somehow give a “charm”-like effect, when it relayed sheryl & ranka’s singing. If you remember, sara nome was a priestess who also had powers.
    3) the maroon valkyrie. the anti-UN forces had the same shade in their valkyries. Of course the design looks familiar, but Macross always has one designer. It’s the color that is distinct.
    4) the harmonica. we all know that came from zero.

    I’m just speculating here, what do you guys think? I believe there’s always a connection between macross series(es). since macross zero was the last one aired, it is mostlikely connected to frontier.

    speng
    Reply

  143. No, the red VF is not part of Vajra, I think. Alto saw him right into the Vajra ship and probably followed his path. When he’s inside the ship, he saw signs of battle before he got there, and that’s probably the red VF doing his work for him. Although I’m not sure why he shot Alto’s guns but he could have aimed at Alto instead. I’m almost certain he’s part of the UN military, but perhaps black-ops or secret division. He maybe there for recon more than anything else. I also have a feeling that the higher-ups in the government knows a lot more about the vajra than they claimed. Remember during the return “fold” trip, there are other VFs in the same folds travelling with the Red VF. He’s not part of Vajra forces, unless the vajra is a human creation.

    avplaya
    Reply

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