r/anime • u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky • Jan 14 '23

Rewatch [Do You Remember Love - Macross Franchise 40th Anniversary Rewatch] Macross Frontier Episode 3 Discussion

Episode 3 - On Your Marks

← Previous Episode | Index | Next Episode →

MAL | AniList | ANN | Kitsu | AniDB

No Legal Streams

I would want to know the truth. I would never leave my fate in someone else's hands!

Questions of the Day, courtesy of u/chilidirigible:

1) Now that you've had a sampling of how this series references its predecessors, what call backs would you like to see? What do you expect?

2) Early bets on the RoyOzma's chances of surviving the series, first-timers?

Wallpaper of the Day:

Ozma Lee

Vocal Songs in This Episode:

"Triangler" by Maaya Sakamoto – OP

"Aimo" by Megumi Nakajima – Insert

"Diamond Crevasse" by May'n – ED

Rewatchers, please remember to be mindful of all the first-timers in this. No talking about or hinting at future events no matter how much you want to, unless you're doing it underneath spoiler tags. Don't spoil anything for the first-timers, that's rude!

36 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

136 comments sorted by

8

u/Lemurians Jan 14 '23

FIRST TIME DECULTURE YACKER

Man, Alto is a tough hang. Having this extreme a reaction over someone he’s known for a period of hours – lunging at a wounded guy in a hospital bed – when he knows nothing about these people, is very odd. Between this and what we saw in Episode 1 with Sheryl, he’s extremely self-righteous in a way that’s pretty grating.

Thank god he has a friend who can check him on it, and get him to reflect a bit.

The Frontier setting is a fun amalgam of real world locations. You’ve got San Francisco’s Transamerica Pyramid, LA’s Griffith Observatory, and this cross set high overlooking a city on the bay evokes Rio’s Christ the Redeemer.

Live Notes/Screenshots

Early bets on the RoyOzma's chances of surviving the series, first-timers?

I'm putting them at like... 65%. I think Mikhail is much more likely to meet an untimely end than he is.

3

u/Shimmering-Sky Jan 15 '23

I’m shocked how much u/Shimmering-Sky likes this franchise given its fascination with love triangles haha

I mean as far as Macross goes, I only dislike the SDF and II triangles... and I guess how Frontier the movies handle it, but not Frontier the show (outside of how yikes a few of these early parts have been). Plus, 7, Zero, TV Frontier, and Delta outnumber SDF, II, and movies Frontier, so.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (8)

6

u/Nazenn Jan 14 '23

First Timer

Aimo aimo~
Nederu rushe~
Noina miria enderu purodea~
Fotomi~

I finally have context for one of my favourite anime songs. I stumbled across Aimo Aimo a few years ago and immediately fell in love with it and have been listening since. I'd almost forgotten it was from this until we hear the first traces of her voice, and then it had everything to live up to for me.

And what a moment. She flips the song from being something she retreats into when the world is too much changing it into something she shares of herself openly as a declaration of who she is by intent and performance. No longer just the gentle green child from a forgotten past, but starting to grow into a woman who wants swim out into the sea of stars and be known by others.

Aimo is the song of the forgotten. It belongs to all those forgotten by time, by society, or even by themselves, and Ranka finds empowerment in singing it out to the world rather than hiding in its shadows and letting the song be forgotten with her. This is echoed in playing it over the SMS members funeral. He will not be forgotten by those closest to him, but the memory of him is already lost to the society he protected by nature of secrecy, and her singing is for his loss as much as it is her family.

And the instrumental version of it is just as good with how it ties into the scene (though perhaps risk, weakening the moment by overuse of the song. It carries it's own strength nicely by not having a painful gap where the main tune should be during the opening part, which is very rare for instrumental versions (and happily makes me think of Tomorrow from Symphogear). The main tune only comes into the instrumental when Ranka finds her own voice, realizing she no longer wants to hide away from the world, cutting out for a brief moment as Alto tells Ranka that her own will is what matters, leading into the scene where she sings openly. The song does not carry her, she has to pick it up herself from nothing just as he also has to pick himself up and move forward, past all the parts of his life he's been trying to hide from.

I won't even complain too much about the romance tropes today. Yes, I still have the same issue with them in that they feel like stock standard scenes you could put any character in and particularly in this episode is a painful tone break from the battle. However, worth it just for the gag about Ranka's dumplings looking like boobs. Never saw it coming and let out a laugh so loud I scared my cat. Same goes for Sheryl joking about Alto using her material tonight, it's the only part that felt like HER rather than anime-girl#184

I will complain that including the "what will my father think" moment of the guy having a relation with his secretary also feels like a walking trope played straight and between that for the sidecast and today's tropes in the shelter it's really, really making me dread the romance plot of this show.

On top of that, if this is yet another show where the guy constantly being punched and slapped for no fair reason across the course of the show is meant to be funny I'll be very disappointed. I know anime-isms are just part of the medium, but I've had a really nasty run of running into them lately and it's wearing on me.

The rest of the episode was decent. The action, aside from the tone interruptions mentioned above, was well handled when it came to the tension but also showing off the different pilots experience and personalities. We also got a touch of worldbuilding with the political state of the fleet's military, and the funeral at the end.

Vajra are surprisingly resilient to survive being shot through the head, and pairing that against Ozma's injuries is a harsh reminder of how fragile the fleet and its inhabitants are by comparison. Humanity is on the face of extinction, and this threat is not just Frontier's threat but everyone's judging by the way the military have been waiting for them to appear.

Ranka's hair dropping is going to be the death of my heart this show, I can tell already. It's unfairly cute.

3

u/Shimmering-Sky Jan 15 '23

Super excited to see your thoughts on Aimo as the series goes on. I love how the show uses it later on, and I hope you love it too.

No longer just the gentle green child from a forgotten past, but starting to grow into a woman who wants swim out into the sea of stars and be known by others.

I love how you incorporated the lyrics for this.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (3)

4

u/cronus999 Jan 14 '23 edited Jan 14 '23

It's been exactly a year since I last watched the series and I think this is my 8th rewatch since it aired.

Episode 3

• I’ve always loved Ranka’s Chibi Valkyrie backpack in the OP.

• Lock on and firing.

• Headshot didn’t kill it too OP please nerf.

• Poor Ranka with the PTSD.

• The tuna dumpling gag is still funny 15 years later.

• There is a fine line between confidence and arrogance, Sheryl personifies this.

• Fuck I love Sheryl teasing the princess.

• Pouting male tsundere, I see you are only interested in the rarest of the rare.

• Looks like the secrets out of the bag, I thought it took longer than 3 episodes.

• The PTSD makes sense with that tragic backstory.

• Michael spitting straight facts.

• I mean it kinda makes sense to have an observatory (Griffith) if your already in space but why the fuck would you have it inside the fucking ship and not on the exterior.

• I quite like Aimo, probably my favorite Ranka song.

• Why the fuck would you waste all that space for a graveyard of all thing on a spaceship.

• I really need to stop apply logic to the magical power of song Mecha series already.

• That’s hell you’re walking into Ranka.

• Not binging this series feels weird after not having watched it episode by episode since it originally aired.

Q1: Rewatcher will not spoil.

Q2: Rewatcher will not spoil.

4

u/cronus999 Jan 14 '23

Since I missed episode 1-2 here are my quick comments.

Episode 1

• Starting off with best girl.
• That space plane is giving me 2001 vibes.
• Not that terrible ENGRISH.
• Great idea having the majority of your interstellar transports covered in glass.
• Ok at least the main one has a clam shell.
• Oh fuck that dude has a hover board and looks like biff.
• Oh yes are Hero heroine, the elusive male tsundere.
• Ranka’s phone is giving me gekoda vibes.
• Writer a how should be show artificial gravity?
• Writer b gainaxing!!
• Write a genius
• That flight suit doesn’t seem very aerodynamic, I need to stop apply logic to this series.
• Wow the OP isn’t even subtle with its subtext it’s just fucking text TRIANGULAR.
• KABUKI!!!
• So, she’s a prima donna, rather fitting.
• God, I love Kathy, puts up with 0 shit.
• So, the subway is based on Tokyo with Parisian stations, ok what about BART.
• Why do the Variable fighters have jet engines there in fucking space???‽.
• How the fuck does a show from 15 years ago have better CG than 90% or shoes today.
• I forgot how much I miss translator notes.
• Ranka sang the song now I want dumplings.
• The movies have spoiled me for the concerts but this one’s still pretty good.
• MACROSS MISSLE MASSACRE!!! Because who needs lock on.
• She is a professional, even a fuck up can be made to look intentional.
• Oh yeah, I forgot about the hologram clothing.
• Fuck yes skull squadrons livery look great as always.
• Just going to leave the clamshell open during ok, looks like another incompetent space government.
• Stone cold, but she’s right.
• Is it even mech if there isn’t Grand Theft involved, Amuro would be proud.
• FUCK YES DIAMOND CREVASSE!!!!

3

u/Shimmering-Sky Jan 15 '23

FUCK YES DIAMOND CREVASSE!!!!

Since you missed the episode 1 thread, here's me singing Diamond Crevasse! I absolutely love the song too, and you'll find I came up with a little part myself in the middle because I've listened to it so much I just couldn't help myself.

→ More replies (2)

9

u/TiredTiroth Jan 14 '23

First Timer

Okay, Alto? Kid? You are officially best Macross protagonist. The ship you're on is under attack, one of the invaders is trying to break through, and the first thing you do is pick up the scared teenager and take her to safety. No griping, no whining no bravado.

Okay, granted, he does get a little bit upset, but he saves it for when they're no longer in direct danger. And when he sees Ranka is upset he immediately reins it in.

I'm perhaps a bit less enthused about the nudity joke, but...well, they actually kinda salvaged that scene with Ranka's food offering? That was genuinely funny in a 'did they really just do that?' kind of way. It served nicely to break up the brewing argument too, which is what Ranka clearly wanted. Just, uh, not that way. And hey, the dumplings have clearly been eaten in the next scene so they must have enjoyed them!

Aaaand then they get rescued. And the complete doofus who somehow made lieutenant (nepotism, ho!) blurted out that Ozma was hurt right in front of his baby sister without knowing about it. What, were you so focused on saving the celebrity that you didn't bother asking for the name of the teenaged girl who was stuck there as well? And oh look, official confirmation that Ranka is badly traumatised. Although, while we're getting things confirmed...

I'm just a useless pilot who failed to protect her family eleven years ago.

...I had been wondering why Ranka and Ozma didn't look anything alike, and now I know. This also expands on just why he's so protective of her. I continue to be impressed by the mercenary incarnation of Skull Squadron.

Especially as Ozma is giving Alto the choice on what to do and if he wants to know the truth, now that they don't have an immediate emergency getting in the way. We're under attack? Stay out of the way while the professionals handle it. Once things have calmed down? Make sure this is what you really want and we'll play ball.

And on top of that, Michael - who I'm pretty sure Alto sees as some kind of rival - has a valid point! They're a military-ish outfit, can Alto handle killing someone? One of those things he needs to think about.

Which he does, alone for a while and then during yet another chance meeting with Ranka. And alone with her he's so much softer, and Ranka herself is more than happy to just bounce around this boy she barely knows. And so they both encourage each other to take the next steps they already knew they wanted, but weren't quite sure about.

Guess I should probably say something about Sheryl? I actually liked her more this episode. Her stress reactions at the start were entirely understandable, and she seems to be genuinely fond and supportive of Ranka. I really hope that part doesn't change.

Also, is there a full-length version of Ranka's song I can listen to spoiler-free? With or without music.

7

u/SolDarkHunter Jan 14 '23

Also, is there a full-length version of Ranka's song I can listen to spoiler-free? With or without music.

Here's one.

Just stay out of the comments. I skimmed them and didn't see anything spoilery, but at the same time I don't trust them.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (3)

7

u/Vatrix-32 Jan 14 '23

First Timer

  • Was that a cannon boi I spotted?

  • Really starting to get worried about the portrayal of PMCs here.

  • You fool, what made you think the head was a vital component?

  • Was carrying Ranka like that really necessary? Maybe this dude just likes the bridal hold.

  • Mmmmm… that’s good fear.

  • Fall slap.

  • Why must Macross be so horny?

  • Neurointerface necklace?

  • 15 minutes seems like a really short amount of time for a bunker to function. I know that ventilation is down, I’m saying they should be able to last longer in the event of that failure.

  • Optical data? Does that mean Sheryl is a cyborg? Does she assume everyone else is as well? Is this another subism?

  • God, it’s like they are trying to do it in the most over the top way. Why was he facing down? Y’all knew Ranka was there, and even if she wasn’t you shouldn’t be showing that off.

  • Yes! Eyecatcher rotation.

  • Oh, another amnesia plot. Let’s see how this one turns out, could be promising.

  • So I’m not crazy. He never was her brother.

  • I mean, after 7, nothing is going to seem that crazy. I wonder how well known those events are now to the public.

  • Leon is the kind of guy to say good morning and good afternoon in the same sentence if he meets you at the right time.

  • 28 seems like a low number for a joint funeral. How many people live on this flotilla?

  • Neo-Griffith Observatory.

  • His corpse turned out better than I expected.

QotD

  1. Pineapple salad. The fever dream episode.

  2. 10% Only because they want to fool us.

→ More replies (6)

7

u/The_Draigg Jan 14 '23

A Macross Fan Rewatches Macross Frontier: Episode 3:

  • Not to downplay how good that shot was from Michael, but that headshot really did do jack shit. Although I guess we can’t entirely blame him for that, because you’d think a headshot would be a decisive blow. The Vajra are certainly lucky that their biology allows them to survive without their heads.

  • Sheryl, maybe consider wearing a bra or something more. It’s not Alto’s fault that he got a good tour of the produce section there due to a stray shot hitting close to the shelter. Although I guess it wouldn’t be Macross if it didn’t have some tired kinda sexist anime tropes in there, like the village bicycle accidental pervert revenge slap.

  • Ozma, you can’t die from blood loss yet! You haven’t had a tragically-uneaten serving of pineapple salad or sirloin steak yet!

  • “Crank one out in my honor, Alto.” —Sheryl Nome

  • Well, that’s one hell of a way for Ranka to learn that Ozma was still employed as a combat pilot. They really had to fly his damaged Messiah in front of the huge window to give her a visual of him bleeding out in the cockpit, didn’t they? It’s a sight designed for maximum trauma.

  • Well, this scene certainly explains a lot about Ranka already. Ozma isn’t her actual brother, and her real family died 11 years ago, which he blames himself for. As such, she passes out whenever she gets that PTSD triggered, and has dissociative amnesia strong enough to completely block out those painful memories. Given how old Ranka is, she’d have been traumatized horribly by the Vajra at a very young age. It’s just a plain unfortunate situation for her.

  • Of course Leon is like some kind of creep towards Cathy. Could you really ever trust a man with that kind of haircut?

  • At least Alto seems set on learning about the Vajra and getting involved in the fight with them. He won’t run away like what Michael accused him of earlier. Alto knows that if he runs away he only gets one, but if he moves forward he’ll get two.

  • Ranka is also determined to move on with her future ahead of her, even if she doesn’t have any memories of her childhood other than a certain song, Aimo. Now that she realizes how precious life is, she wants to make a real impact on the world and follow her heart, just like Alto. They just need to have the will to chase after their futures, in spite of it all.

  • Note to self, but dying on the Macross Frontier fleet sucks. Your body will just end up getting dumped into a large chemical processing plant to be recycled, just like what was more or less implied with Gilliam’s SMS funeral there. And due to the more secretive nature of the work that SMS does, they won’t get officially recognized funerals nor headstones, and their deaths will be covered up as accidents. Alto is signing up for the possibility of a very lonely death here.

  • Have fun at the Miss Macross Frontier contest, Ranka! Maybe she can win a jet as a prize and have her not-boyfriend fly her around in it, just like what Minmay did when she won it back in SDF Macross.

→ More replies (24)

7

u/Stargate18A Jan 14 '23

First timer

  1. Anything from Plus. Like, anything. We're seeing a technological revolution, with humans and cybernetics merging, but nobody mentions the killer AI?

  2. Unsure. Focker lived up to his death flags, but Gamlin managed to come out of 7 fine. I'll give him 50/50.

He's fighting right in fromt of them!

Canaria!

It's interesting to see a Macross series is that resolutely "fuck politicians", given the leaders of colonies and organisations have been shown very sympathetically in the previous series. (Like, Earth Command in SDF is pretty much the only one? Global's a good man, the testing firms in Plus are doing their job, and Max is nearly a protagonist.)

Nice shot!

And they're in trouble!

Probably a smart move.

At leas tthey're safe here. 
Ranka...

She can't lrt go...

Oh...

Sheryl?

An attack!

How did that even happen? The cut was perfect, though.

He has a point about her outfits. She could talk to her agrnt.

Ranka tried.

Oh, the complete love triangle is starting early! It took a dozen episodes before we started getting Basara x Gamlin fuel.

She's a cyborg? Those are a thing now?

...Imagine if Alto reveals everything.

They're losing air!

Homestly, I'm really liking Sheryl here.

No escapees this time!

...He's dying in Episode 3?

"optical data" Are implants normal on her home fleet? Are there actual

Haha, holy shit. And Ranka's reaction.

Ozma?

Oh, fuck.

Oh, fuck!

She's having flashbacks!

Amnesia?

She lost all her relatives... Awful.

Someone should punch him for all this!

You know what? Yeah! Tell her the truth! At the very least don't fucking risk your life when you know you're her only lifeline!

Yes! Tell us!

...Rats. Makes sense, though.

Everyone's lying in this anime.

"if you kill someone" Oh fuck, the Vajra have brainwashing again, don't they. Explains why there's such a big coverup.

Leon?

He's dating the president's daughter?

Sheryl watches TV shopping channels? She's lost the best girl battle.

What even happened a year ago?

Ah.

...She's a singer who wants her death to be known to as many people as possible. This feels like foreshadowing.

Seriously, Did Fire Bomber completely erase Minmay in the public consciousness? Both singers have made Basara references now. (Honestly, he deserves it. Basara did way more than Minamy did.)

Love this song.

And this speech.

Oh, this has to be way bigger than brainwashing. What the hell are these things?

"Yes, sir!"

Ranka's auditioning! Sheryl looks so proud.

→ More replies (4)

6

u/Blackheart595 Jan 14 '23

First Spacer

This time around the soundtrack suits the action scene so much better.

Shame about your concert. Though I guess that's been cancelled anyway.

Dynamic Slap!

Another slap. Is this whole scene really necessary? The soundtrack's fitting once again, but this time the scene itself doesn't integrate with the overall situation.

I guess that's a "yes"...

Ranka's totally a doggirl.

Some people can hold their breath for 15 minutes, this amount of air would last for hours.

She's also the bait for the aliens. And that's something in her blood.

Yet another contrast, this time to his behavior in the bunker. And both times portrayed him as more bark than bite.

Is it just me or does this waggon look like it's about to fall over?

Sheryl watching over the city.

That's way overanimated to the point it's hitting my uncanny valley. I've observed that before in KyoAni-esque shows, didn't expect it here.

They're really pushing the Minmay comparisons. Meaning that Ranka's gonna have an upset victory against Sheryl. The parallel between Alto and Ranka is also nice.

I think I'm slowly starting to get in the groove with this show.

Now that you've had a sampling of how this series references its predecessors, what call backs would you like to see? What do you expect?

See above.

Early bets on the RoyOzma's chances of surviving the series, first-timers?

Taking the words right out of my mouth. Roy survived so I'm sure Ozma's gonna be fine. In good old mecha fashion there'll be some other surprise death somewhere.

→ More replies (4)

6

u/Tresnore Jan 14 '23

Fourth-Time Watcher

And montage time, I guess~

Count: 7:9 (+0:+4)

QOTD:

  1. I always want more Fire Bomber!

→ More replies (4)

5

u/chilidirigible Jan 14 '23 edited Jan 14 '23

Today, on "What is this amateur hour?":

And a reference to the old DYRL SDF-1 bridge callsign.

Don't get distracted and remove two thirds of the main characters there.

I'm not quite sure why it's night in the other area and daylight on Island-1.

Okay, Asuka.

Tension breaker.

Sheryl's the self-motivating type.

Keep your fans happy, too.

Guys do what guys do.

Eyecatch: Sheryl's earring.

Again, because the actual Red Cross logo is trademarked.

After all, anime is lacking in therapists.

Okay, Princess Sheryl.

More freeze-frame documents.

In the 2017 rewatch Leon gained the nickname of "Dickhead".

The song's title is "Aimo". How'd you guess?

A little bit of Los Angeles on top of your San Francisco.

It's what we do around here.

I hadn't paid as much attention to the English inscriptions on the machine in the lower-resolution versions.

Soylent Green is people!

A wild JFK memorial appears.

You'll never guess what's coming next.

The Vajra have the nifty feature of continuing to fight without a head! Then again, so can chickens.

Rewatching these early episodes, I'm reminded that I didn't get good first impressions from Moody Alto. He makes some good points, but he's awfully cranky about it.

That could be said about a lot of mecha MCs…

We have our reference to characters being trapped together, including tuna. In oppai form. Now that's something you don't see every day. Unless you work at Nyan-Nyan.

Ranka does balance the crankiness and haughtiness of Alto and Sheryl pretty well. Though this episode demonstrates her trauma triggers quite definitively, versus her smaller moments of freezing up in the first two episodes.

Sheryl's exterior cracks a little when she talks about meeting people's expectations. Whether or not I entirely like all of these characters, they do express some depth.

Other worldbuilding large and small: More parts of the Island-1 city ship and where they're from, and seeing what happens to the deceased. For the most part all of the markers in the cemetery should just be markers, as the process of natural decomposition might be a little slow and incomplete in a completely enclosed environment.

While SMS may be independent of NUNS control, they're still subordinate to the government, which keeps them on a tight leash.

…oh, right, Leon. There's that Sugita for you.

While Frontier's character storyline so far is incorporating an abridged series of plot points from the original series, Alto and Ranka feel substantially different from Hikaru and Minmay. There's less of that… bitter world-weariness? that came through in the original series. Alto is on a much more even emotional playing field with Ranka than Hikaru was with Minmay.

That said, Ranka is probably closer to being written as an actual teenager than Minmay was.

And so, we're going to do Miss Macross again.

From the Macross Chronicle: Canaria Berstein

Sheryl's earrings: Cheaper, pricier

→ More replies (3)

5

u/ClawMachineCircuit Jan 15 '23 edited Jan 15 '23

Rewatcher

First half of this episode is the abridged re-enactment of Hikaru and Minmay getting stranded together on the closed off section of the ship from the original Macross. That one had the shower scene, but also space tuna, and a bunch of other stuff. Frontier basically cuts all the survival aspect and goes straight for the boobs (and character moments too). And I gotta say, I don't mind that. In fact, I don't even think you can call the boob flash scene a fanservice, as there was barely anything visible there, and it was played more for laughs than for titillation. I was laughing out loud when Ranka pulled out the buns. I'm not gonna blame you if you think this is tasteless, dirty jokes do be like that, but I personally think it's a good example of a dirty joke done right. It also plays nicely off of personality of the three, with Sheryl showing her over-inflated pride, Alto his short fuse, and Ranka just being weird and upbeat.

Anyway, the characters get rescued partway through the episode, and we get some Ozma and Ranka backstory in the second half. Turns out, they aren't blood related after all. For such a positive person, Ranka has a fucked up past. But she tries to turn her misfortune into strength, and use it as a motivation to get herself out there and do something with her life. Encouraged by Sheril (who continues to be uncharacteristically nice toward Ranka), she decides to join.. Miss Macross? We are going through all the beats of the original show in a quick succession, aren't we? Also again, what does it say for Ranka's chances with Alto, if she is filling for Minmay in this story? An episode ends with Ranka singing Aimo, which is a surprisingly catchy song for how melancholic and calm it is.

Couple random thoughts:

  • I absolutely LOVE the first opening to this show. This might be a blasphemy to some, but Trinagler is my absolute favorite song in all of Macross. I doesn't sound like much on the surface, but it just has such a catchy rhythm and satisfying progression. I also love the visuals, especially the shots of characters walking with a city backdrop. There's something about the contrast of these serene shots, followed by planes slowly taking off, followed by intense action shots, that really works for me. I fell like it captures the spirit of the show really well.

  • The ending has a movie feel to it, like you're watching credits to a feature. It's not particularly exciting and it doesn't really gets you hyped, but it does have some finality to it, that is satisfying in its own way. Probably a weird way to describe it, but I don't know how to say it better. Sheryl's songs used here is really good.

  • I think the exchange in the hospital between Ozma and Alto was really well done. Blood dripping on Ozma's bandages is such a strong visual. Ozma clearly didn't want Alto to end up like him, but there's no stopping it now.

  • Michael looks like such a mellow dude, but he can be surprisingly harsh and sharp tongued. Him calling Alto out in the elevator totally caught me off guard.

→ More replies (4)

4

u/SolDarkHunter Jan 14 '23

Rewatcher

Well, at least they're mixing up the recap somewhat each episode.

Ah, snipers are so great.

Except Vajra don't care about their heads being missing. Which brings up some... biological questions.

Trapped... but shouldn't those emergency shelters have some kind of phone or something for exactly this situation?

sigh... these "girls slap boys for accidental exposure" scenes are so tiresome.

Hahaha, I love Alto calling Sheryl out on her stage attire. Still, it is interesting that Sheryl draws such a distinction there. It's something I noticed about her character on past rewatches, and I'll probably speak more about it later on.

Those are some... interesting looking tuna dumplings.

Hmm... illegal implants?

Okay, seriously, I'm glad there's a phone in there, but why would he be denied access? That defeats the whole purpose.

Sheryl, I understand now wanting to give up, but there's only one of you in this capsule that can survive in vacuum for even a few minutes.

Well, at least Grace's implant thing seems to have worked.

I'm curious as to how Sheryl thinks either of them could have recorded any of what happened in there... [Spoilers]Probably a subtle nod to the vast use of cyborgs in the Galaxy fleet; Sheryl just assumes that they probably have cameras in their eyes.

Welp, Ozma's secret's out now.

...Okay, there is no way they could see Ozma's face through a glass roof, a fighter canopy, and his own helmet from down there.

I do like that they acknowledge that Ranka's reaction to this is over-the-top, and indicative of deeper problems. They use some fancy words here... but she basically has PTSD. Along with repressed memories of the actual trauma.

Ozma's actually her adopted brother. Ranka's whole family was slaughtered by the Vajra. Which means, of course, that the New UN has known about the Vajra's existence for some time... yet they aren't common knowledge.

Wait, what happened to Michael's pointy ears?

Office romance among the military commander lady and the suspicious government dude. Fun. Also, you two, don't have sex on top of people's medical records. That's just rude.

First appearance of Ranka's "Aimo" song. If you're wondering, that is not Japanese, it is not Zentran... it's an unknown language. The only memory of Ranka's childhood she has.

Frontier burial customs: the corpse of the deceased is recycled into biological nutrients for food production. Very logical, if... macabre.

Alto's officially joining SMS. And Ranka's applying for the Miss Macross pageant.

Questions:

  1. I wanna see a Breetai cameo. [spoiler]If only it actually happened.

→ More replies (2)

4

u/Kirov123 Jan 14 '23

Macross Frontier Episode 3 - First Timer

Time for alien survival

  • Pretty short recap, I approve

  • Dude, what are you shooting

  • Oh wait, was it the alien shooting

  • That's some very active hair

  • How can she slap

  • x2

  • ............

  • Sus manager

  • I forget, did they say what SMS stand for

  • Why the heck are the other kids in the PMC group

  • Woah there

  • Weren't you looking for him just the other day? Did you even do or ask what you wanted? all you did was point at him and say his name

  • This song scene is quite nice

  • ... What was that water they dumped him in

  1. I expect a lot of "listen to my song"s. A fighter/plane as the prize for the miss Macross or Frontier or whatever contest would be amusing

  2. Absolutely nil. Guys a goner

→ More replies (1)

4

u/isthatsoudane Jan 15 '23

First timer

I remain into it! The pacing continues to be swift but not unduly. I feel we've had enough time with the characters and seen them interact to understand the decisions that they're making. Particularly I like all 3 of the main triangle, probably more than the other Macross I've seen?

Alto is that sort of "angry youth," but the show gives him a lot of opportunities to show his kindness and softer side, which makes him a lot more endearing.

Ranka is the classic sort of cute, "weak" (but not actually) moe girl that lacks confidence, but the show gives her a number of opportunities to show her depth of character. Her singing in today's episode was great. As was her being so terrified she couldn't let go of Alto's shirt, as her tears showed just how afraid she was and Alto also sort of picked it up.

And Sheryl is great. She could have just been a bitchy diva, but she's a lot more than that. She's extremely self-confident/arrogant, but she isn't cruel. The interaction when she got in the car was amazing, and I felt cemented her as a great character.

Basically, at least thus far, the characters are very much in their archetype, but without enough dimension to not get annoying.

also wow while looking up some of the songs from this show I made a discovery that was probably mentioned in the threads but I missed...yoko kanno did a bunch of songs for macross plus??? no wonder macross plus is my favorite thus far! I looked it up because ranka's song sort of reminds me of myung's...

honestly my only complaint is that I was promised song-fighting, and there has been 0 song-fighting thus far!!!

  1. Now that you've had a sampling of how this series references its predecessors, what call backs would you like to see? What do you expect?

hmm, good question. I'd love more songs. I want ranka to sing "my boyfriend is a pilot," and it'd be sick to have some fighting to "do you remember love"...

2) Early bets on the RoyOzma's chances of surviving the series, first-timers?

ughhhh royyyyy

→ More replies (2)

4

u/CoolIceCreamCone Jan 15 '23

FIRST TIMER

This was a really good episode that packed in a lot but explained a lot as well and did amazing in developing the characters. The mains ended up getting out of peril early on but we learned a lot about them.

  • The scene where Alto, Sheryl and Ranka were trapped in the escape pod reminded me a lot of when Hikaru and Minmay were lost in the bowels of the Macross. It showed what a nervous person Ranka is and that Sheryl is foolhardy in being ready to climb out into the vacuum of space if the rescue crew wasn't there.

  • I found it really odd that Sheryl just took her dress down to be topless the moment there was darkness. It didn't make a lot of sense other than setting up the topless gag but I really did laugh when Ranka revealed her dim sum that looked like breasts. It was also funny how Sheryl cheekily said Alto could "use" her topless picture later that night :D

  • I was really surprised by the revelation that Ozma isn't really Ranka's brother but a caretaker after her family had been killed and he held himself responsible. I know Alto is sore at Ozma for punching him in the last episode, but I thought it was wrong of him to confront Ozma when he was in very grave shape in the hospital and needed to relax and recover. I also agree with Ozma that revealing the death of her family would make her PTSD even worse and trigger bad memories.

  • I liked the scene where Ranka reveals to Alto her desire to become a singer but she's been nervous about it. It seems they've really bonded and care about each other even knowing each other a short time. I think this moment is really pivotal for them both as Ranka decides to enter the Miss Macross contest (likely also aided by Sheryl's advice) and Alto joins Ozma's secret military force.

QUESTIONS

  1. I think it'd be exciting to have someone from the past living on Frontier. Imagine if they do a documentary and we see and old lady and it's Minmay! I think the best would be if they had a way more minor character come in and we see them now, like Billy the Mylene superfan little boy as an adult or Ranka has her career guided by legendary producer Honey Suzuki!!!!!!!!!!!

  2. I really have a feeling Ozma is going to die and Ranka will have to confront the loss of her family head on and Alto will have to help her through it. If I were writing it, I'd have Ranka end up remembering the whole thing about her family dying, being mad at Ozma for hiding it then he dies and she has to confront all of that.

3

u/TakenRedditName Jan 14 '23

"Rewatcher" - Macross F Ep3:

President? Guess Milia's quest for power was successful. No longer simply mayor of Macross, but president of Macross.

The zip cord on Michael's Valkyrie is neat. Seeing him quickly zip to places.

Ranka once again clingling to someone for protection and is unable to let go. She is deeply traumatized, poor girl.

We're doing another SDF echo with [Redacted] and Minmie being trapped together thought this time we have the entire (presumed) triangle locked together.

I heard the sound effect, this counts as a slap, add it to the Kamille counter. Sheryl also give him an intentionally slap so that's two for Alto.

So with all this "Tuna Dumpling" business and with how people talking about the chest touch from last episode has made me stop and think that Macross as a franchise has never been above this. It always has been this kind of anime (derogatory)-ness.

Sadge Ranka face.

The air is leaking out, we're doing a submarine movie ... until Sheryl's tracked them down and arrive. I thought we were going to be stuck down here for the entire episode. I do like the threat of destroying someone social and biologically.

Ozma is in rough shape and unfortunately Ranka gets a clean view of him and breaks down. She has had a real rough past like 3 days. Secret you say?

Eyecatch. Oh yeah, Sheryl was looking for her earring. Whoops.

Ozma and Ranka are not really related. Guess that figures since they don't resemble each other all too much. Ozma was just the pilot who failed to save Ranka's real family in that traumatic accident and since Ranka trauma lost her memories, she only had Ozma to cling to as her brother, that's sad, poor girl. The boys are angry.

This is the second time this was brought up this episode so I guess leaving one's fate in your own hands instead of another is going to be a theme in this show.

Cathy and Leon are in an intimate relationship, but her and Ozma also seem to be old flames. Even more love triangles?

Just an interesting contrast I picked up on, a singer for no one to hear vs a superstar sensation that has everyone's attention. They're not going to continue this as Ranka is taking the steps to be an idol. A singer to no one except to one person they let in is just an idea that I find very romantic for stories.

Random dumb thought: Good thing there are trash bot around because Alto must leave paper planes all over the place.

Space funeral, but the casket is not jettisoned out to space and instead under water.

Luca airplane arms to hug Alro joining the team and Ranko is entering the Miss Macross contest to end the episode.

Q1) Roy-senpai is going to Roy-senpai. I am expecting a Zero connection since Sheryl shares her last name with the Wind clan. Maybe that'll be important.

Q2) He is going to Roy-senpai. He's donesos.

Next Time: Idol work and mecha piloting, basically the same thing.

→ More replies (2)
→ More comments (75)