Summary:
Elmo nabs Ranka the role of Mayan Girl A in Bird Human (a bio of Shin Kudo). However, when the winged Hydra that Leon brought over eats the girl playing young Dr. Mao Nome, Ranka gets her big break. I think the director was one of those dudes taking tissue packs from Ranka last episode, and he even decides to feature Aimo as the theme song for the movie. Ranka also learns about Alto’s famed past as a kabuki actor, and things get exciting when Alto has to do the underwater kissing scene with Ranka (because the lead actor is unwilling to do the stunt).
During the course of Ranka stealing the show away from lead actress and Miss Macross winner Miranda, we also get some awkwardly placed plot development. Hawaii-shirt-wearing Leon shows up to get some secret data about Brera’s VF and the Vajra, and in return is told to analyze the purple crystal from Sheryl’s missing earring. Also, Brera shows up to rescue Ranka from the Hydra from Eden, and we find out that he has a cyborg arm and a case of amnesia. Ranka’s outburst upon seeing Brera slice the Hydra in half hints that perhaps Brera is actually Ranka’s brother. But if Brera is half machine now, does that mean he is only Ranka’s half-brother?
Reaction:
I was totally reminded of True Tears when Mao stated that Shin[nichiro] had become a bird-human. I liked the setup of having Ranka discovered on the set and having her big break, but the scenes with the Hydra were very odd. I don’t know what Leon is doing, and I wonder if Grace is working for a mysterious fourth group. More and more I think the Vajra were created by humans and represent an experiment gone wrong.
I am confused about Sheryl, too. At times it seems like she has feelings for Alto, but at other times it looks like she is just doing whatever it takes to push Ranka to the next level. Did Sheryl purposely let Ranka see the kiss? I liked how they showed Ranka and Nanase at the premiere of the movie, and the juxtaposition of Nanase’s fangirling and Ranka’s embarrassed horror was fantastic. Next episode looks like it will feature chibi-Alto and goth-loli-model Ranka. Watching Ranka’s kinda crappy idol career take off has been one of the true joys of this series so far.
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19 Comments
Given that Grace is a cyborg as well it would not be too far fetched to suspect that she is “modable.” Though perhaps her intricate systems allow her to control bio-mechanical robots remotely.
I thought Sheryl has the role of that snoopy doctor who was dating Roy. I think Sheryl has every intention of winning the hand of Alto-hime, but she remains committed to grooming Ranka as next big thing. In music the money is producing not getting on stage and singing after all. If Sheryl were keen to start her own label getting Ranka on-board would help immensely.
If the Vajra were an experiment gone wrong then neither Galaxy nor Frontier have access to all the old data files, and perhaps the Vajra are evolving as well.
Right now Ranka is seen as more of a sister than a woman by Alto-hime. Sheryl seems to be making bold moves but is hesitant to risk possible rejection. Alto-hime does have a rep for turning away girls after all, though in all honesty Sheryl wsa probably his first real kiss, that is quite a feat.
I dunnoes, I agree with you that Sheryl likes Alto, and then sometimes she looks like a big sister instead.
BUT WHO CARES! ALTOXRANKA!
Omg, that last caption is so wrong…yet so right!
Huh, I never even thought about the True Tears parallel. It’s a bit forced, but I see it, nice catch.
I’m not sure what to make of Sheryl. On one hand I think that she might be picking a fight with Ranka, but on the other it sometimes seems as if she’s almost mentoring her.
Sheryl just wants them both.
Ah, if only there was another romance anime inbetween True Tears and this one, to soak up all the attempted parallels.
Cannot unsee True Tears reference!!
Agreed on the idol career thing, as from the way I see it, Ranka’s rise to stardom wouldn’t interfere with Sheryl’s since the former seem to cater to the otaku audience with her moe moe style and goth loli outfit, instead of of the mainstream one which Sheryl sings for. Not that it’s a bad thing ( ‘ ‘)b
Crusader: I’m not sure Ranka even rankas as a sister; I think she is only a classmate in Alto’s eyes.
Blissmo: I am really unsure of how this Alto x Ranka thing is going to work out. Everytime they are together, it seems like Ranka is too (mentally) young for Alto. Maybe after too much drinking and smoking as a hot new idol ages her some more, Ranka will be a better match for Alto.
Ender: Three cheers for loose romanization!
Shirukii: I can just imagine this setting up a ’student becomes the master’ scenario… Will Sheryl tell Ranka to keep it all natural?
jacobian: I’m still most intrigued by the Mikhail x Klan Klein match. I really want to know how that will work out. I also think Mikhail will die early, though =(.
Shin: You bring up a good point. I guess there is enough sun for everyone to get a tan. I wonder if Sheryl will have Ranka as an opening act.
I’m rooting for Alto x Mikhail, Ranka x fanbois and Sheryl x me.
I realize that you only see her for a second and she doesn’t really do anything other than look enthralled; but would it have been so much trouble to dress Nanase in something other than her school uniform? It’s a big movie premiere after all and they had Ranka looking stylish enough. Just a minor quibble for me.
Funnily enough, I was so wrapped up in the characters and the Macross Zero nostalgia (man, I need to re-watch that now) that I didn’t pay much attention to the hydra and behind-the-scenes stuff.
I think Cheryl is still coming to terms with her own feelings for Alto – kissing him then hiding her feelings by playing down how serious she was about it (did anyone else notice her blush afterwards?). As for what she’s trying to do for Ranka, I’m not sure. She probably sees a bit of her younger self in her I guess, and wants to help nurture that.
Anyways, an excellent ep after one or two ‘meh’ ones.
Seriously?! You would not believe how that has made my day. Awesome on so many levels… ^_^
How old is Sheryl supposed to be? Anyone?
I thought she seemed more like 20 until she showed up at high school…
As for the Hydra, not only is it silly to have an abandoned island on your interplanetary colony ship, but to load it up with dangerous animals at the same time? Geez
The encyclopedia that shall not be named claims Alto and Sheryl are 17, Ranka is supposed to be 16. Fuck Yeah! I might add.
This made me wish I’d watched Zero, which I haven’t seen. I think the time I spent wincing through part of Macross 7 would have been better spent on that instead.
I agree with Hephador, Nanase really should get to wear something other than her uniform, but Leon should never be allowed to take his off. That shirt…
I guess the team wanted to show that Nanase is not important to the plot. When even Leon gets a change of clothes and you don’t, you know you are even less that just a side-character.
Next up: Nanase moves to Canada…
Otou-san: Don’t worry about it… when it came out Zero was mostly noted for ridiculously good animation. But I’d say that Frontier’s first few episodes were about the same quality… Zero’s story is pretty odd to say the least.
Macross Zero is certainly the best Macross in all regards not just animation. Its animation is clearly unsurpassed by Frontier. Macross 7 is something few will acknowledge it exists at all and Frontier being based on it let me expect the worst. So far it’s very different though.
Chris, I guess I should be a bit more specific. Zero was simply groundbreaking when it was released. But with the newest HD anime such as Frontier’s first 2 episodes and Gundam 00, animation in a weekly TV series has progressed to the point where Zero’s amazing animation is no longer such a ‘big deal’. It’s still awesome but not so special any longer.
My vote for best Macross series has to be Macross Plus without question, followed by DYRL. Plus had the best music, most memorable songs, awesome well written and exciting storyline wrapped up with an top rate ending. Zero’s wacky story really did nothing for me especially the last episode which was a completely letdown.
I can’t relate to your issue with Zero’s plot. I don’t remember any flaws that would have bothered me. I consider it as a stand-alone story, at least it works very well without requiring being familiar with the Macross universe.
It’s probably not fair to compare a high-budget 5 episode OVA with a 26 episodes TV show but in my opinion Zero’s art and animation easily beats the crap out of Frontier’s. First of all, Zero’s use of colour is very pleasing. The backgrounds are exceptionally beautiful – obviously the settings helps a lot. The characters have a rather realistic style, almost un-anime-like.
On the other hand, Frontier looks like bubble-gum colour-wise, the character designs are more unrealisticly anime-like and drawn heavily inconsistent. Also their behaviour is more inline with typical anime characters. Even in Zero you could tell what scenes made use of computer graphics but it was used more cautiously. In Frontier most of the computer graphics stick out like a sore thumb and while it looks okay, I can’t see 6 years of progress in computer animation in there. Granted, especially the first two episodes had some scenes which looked really good and much better than the rest of the show, quality-wise up to par with Zero despite a rather different style. In the end, the best animation doesn’t help if the plot is pretentious or fluff stuff. I wouldn’t apply this to Frontier (yet) but to other shows that may look great but are otherwise just cheap and silly (GEe I’m such an ASS).
The fight scenes in space look rather random and their choreography is nowhere near as impressive and beautiful to watch as those fights in Zero. The classical orchestra BGM for fights in space isn’t my thing either.
Of course, Frontier doesn’t want to be like Zero, it’s based on Macross 7 after all.
Plus would be my second favourite Macross. As it’s from a different era, it takes a bit getting used to but it looks rather excellent for something from the early 1990s. The noses could have been less pointy maybe. Again I like that the character designs are more on the realistic and adult side. Though I found the plot more harder to get into than Zero’s. I admit I’ve never watched the original Macross TV series except for a single episode.
Martin: I was also wraped up in the Macross Zero revisit.
Chris: Plus was one of my favorites too.
If you’re interested I posted some comparison videos of episode 10 and Zero.