PrinceBrightstar
Oct 8, 2008, 11:29 PM
Having now had a chance to see the finale of Macross Frontier (at least until the just announced movie comes out) via TBS I thought I'd put my thought on this series.
Wow.
Whether it be the music of Yoko Kanno, the voices of May'n (Sheryl Nome) and Nakajima Megumi (Ranka Lee), or the incredible CG work, this is one you'll want to purchase for your blu-ray import library. (since Japan and the US are now in the same region. Also because of the vice-grip Harmony Gold has on all Macross material due to Robotech, it's unlikely this will see release in the US directly.) The series pays tribute to nearly all of the series from the Do you remember Love? Movie to Macross 7 and Zero.
The story centers around Alto Saotome, a former Kabuki actor turned into a pilot at his high school. However his Kabuki days follow him whether when flying or by family relationship. He longs to be able to fly freely in the sky.
However Alto is aboard the Macross Frontier, the 25th ship of it's kind to leave the Earth headed for the Galactic Center. Alto finds the ship confining. The ship focuses on creating a culruting atmosphere for both Earthlings and Zendradi.
Ranka Lee who is a quarter Zentradi currently works at the Nyan Nyan Resturant. However she has aspirations to be a singer. It is not until she meets Sheryl Nome who she idolizes to put her on the path towards singing. Her brother works form the SMS, a private military aboard Frontier.
Sheryl Nome is a singer from a similar ship, Macross Galaxy. She is known as the Galactic Nymph. Sheryl comes to Frontier for a concert tour along with her manager Grace. However shortly after she leaves her home Macross Galaxy comes under attack by the Vajra.
The Vajra are a spare faring insectoid race. Their origins are unknown and the reason they are attacking is unknown. They were encountered 15 years ago when they attacked the 117th survey convoy. and the SMS have trained specially to deal with them.
During their first attack on Frontier, Alto is suddenly thrust into a Valkyrie to defend Ranka after it's original pilot, an SMS member dies. From there he shorly joins the SMS in defense of Frontier.
Anybody who knows Cowboy Bebop will know Yoko Kanno. This is not the first time Yoko has lent her musical talents to the Macross series as she first worked on Macross Plus. However she may have surpassed all of her previous works with this one. If not for the two haunting arrangements of Do You Remember Love from the movie of the same name, then for the various orchestral tracks that lend themselves to the battles against the Vajra.
Personally I felt the love triangle rivals that of the original Macross series, maybe even stronger. For Alto while he had a simple dream, it was nice to see how much trust he was able to put into Ranka and Sheryl. The Nyan Nyan Service Medley also was just an incredible arrangement of practically all of the music from the show
The series lends itself so much to the legends that Macross Zero put out (and the "Making of Macross Zero" episode really threw me for a loop.) not to mention the family relationships that came out and how that kind of put Ranka in the shoes of Sheryl's grandmother.
With how much Alto put in as a character of the series, the wait between episode 24 and 25 was just incredible with Sheryl's scream at the end of 24 when Alto apparently dies. The image itself is almost exactly like that from the triangular opening as well.
I can't wait for the movie and you don't want to miss this anime. Check out the opening "triangular" on youtube.
Wow.
Whether it be the music of Yoko Kanno, the voices of May'n (Sheryl Nome) and Nakajima Megumi (Ranka Lee), or the incredible CG work, this is one you'll want to purchase for your blu-ray import library. (since Japan and the US are now in the same region. Also because of the vice-grip Harmony Gold has on all Macross material due to Robotech, it's unlikely this will see release in the US directly.) The series pays tribute to nearly all of the series from the Do you remember Love? Movie to Macross 7 and Zero.
The story centers around Alto Saotome, a former Kabuki actor turned into a pilot at his high school. However his Kabuki days follow him whether when flying or by family relationship. He longs to be able to fly freely in the sky.
However Alto is aboard the Macross Frontier, the 25th ship of it's kind to leave the Earth headed for the Galactic Center. Alto finds the ship confining. The ship focuses on creating a culruting atmosphere for both Earthlings and Zendradi.
Ranka Lee who is a quarter Zentradi currently works at the Nyan Nyan Resturant. However she has aspirations to be a singer. It is not until she meets Sheryl Nome who she idolizes to put her on the path towards singing. Her brother works form the SMS, a private military aboard Frontier.
Sheryl Nome is a singer from a similar ship, Macross Galaxy. She is known as the Galactic Nymph. Sheryl comes to Frontier for a concert tour along with her manager Grace. However shortly after she leaves her home Macross Galaxy comes under attack by the Vajra.
The Vajra are a spare faring insectoid race. Their origins are unknown and the reason they are attacking is unknown. They were encountered 15 years ago when they attacked the 117th survey convoy. and the SMS have trained specially to deal with them.
During their first attack on Frontier, Alto is suddenly thrust into a Valkyrie to defend Ranka after it's original pilot, an SMS member dies. From there he shorly joins the SMS in defense of Frontier.
Anybody who knows Cowboy Bebop will know Yoko Kanno. This is not the first time Yoko has lent her musical talents to the Macross series as she first worked on Macross Plus. However she may have surpassed all of her previous works with this one. If not for the two haunting arrangements of Do You Remember Love from the movie of the same name, then for the various orchestral tracks that lend themselves to the battles against the Vajra.
Personally I felt the love triangle rivals that of the original Macross series, maybe even stronger. For Alto while he had a simple dream, it was nice to see how much trust he was able to put into Ranka and Sheryl. The Nyan Nyan Service Medley also was just an incredible arrangement of practically all of the music from the show
The series lends itself so much to the legends that Macross Zero put out (and the "Making of Macross Zero" episode really threw me for a loop.) not to mention the family relationships that came out and how that kind of put Ranka in the shoes of Sheryl's grandmother.
With how much Alto put in as a character of the series, the wait between episode 24 and 25 was just incredible with Sheryl's scream at the end of 24 when Alto apparently dies. The image itself is almost exactly like that from the triangular opening as well.
I can't wait for the movie and you don't want to miss this anime. Check out the opening "triangular" on youtube.