Macross Zero in Macross Frontier
The legend of Zero
In episode 10 of Macross Frontier, Ranka and Alto take part in a movie production based on the legendary story of Shin Kudou, Sara Nome and Mao Nome and the events surrounding them that took place over half a century ago on Earth, leading up to the beginning of the first human-alien war.
Here are some comparisons between the adaptation and the original story as told in Macross Zero.
Spoilers ahead.
Format
[ Macross Frontier ]
[ Macross Zero ]
Weak attempts at humour
First meeting
Shin Kudou is a downed UN F-14 pilot who wakes up to find himself in a Mayan island surrounded by villagers who all miraculously speak perfect Japanese. Sara is the village’s priestess and Mao is her sister.
Fifty years later: The dude in the background aged gracefully
Shin wasn’t such a wimpy noob
Sara was way hotter than that bimbo
Mayan mating ritual
She’s admiring his piece
Episode 10 saved billions by reusing all the backgrounds
Mao did not receive as much focus… :(
The Bird Human
The Mayan’s oral tradition speaks of Bird Humans who came down to Earth in ancient times and gave birth to mankind. It turns out that this legend is to be a key component in the war between the United Nations and the Anti-UN, and eventually that between mankind and the Zentradi giants.
Mao > Ranka
I swear I didn’t just post the same picture twice…
Shin > Alto
The final goodbye
The descendants of the Bird Humans possess in their genes a special affinity with nature and alien technology, and their powers can be channelled and manifested through songs.
It’s the exact same footage
A perfection re-enactment…
Poor Mao never got the respect she deserved (though I prefer Sara)
Lazy animators
Or shall I say, reanimators? (That was awful)
The verdict
While Ranka’s AIMO is a pretty good song, I still prefer Sara’s ARKAN. It has a more mythical feel.
Also, Ranka seems to be related to Mao Nome in some way (granddaughter?), judging by Ozma’s reaction in episode 10. Now consider the fact that Sheryl shares her last name with the Nome siblings, perhaps Ranka and Sheryl are in fact related.
And oh, I warned you about spoilers didn’t I?
Awesome
I’m looking forward to more self-referential cost-saving footages in future Macross Frontier episodes. It’s a pity that episode 11 will only air on 19th June.
June 6th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
yay!
June 6th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
Woah the last pic sure was awesome and the picture that was reuse sure was a perfection hehehehe
June 6th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
i thought to myself that i was the first but again im not….
June 6th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
And What Macross zero episode was use may i know coz i haven’t watch any macross series except frontier hehehe
June 7th, 2008 at 12:45 am
Somehow I prefer the character design in Macross Zero, though I like Macross F’s story better.
June 7th, 2008 at 12:54 am
Not only is it cost effective, it’s environmentally friendly too!
June 7th, 2008 at 4:10 am
Oh god environmentally friendly…
Though I’d die if Kawamori pulls an Arjuna reference. Like a can of Appare Genki or something.
June 7th, 2008 at 5:25 am
Well at least we aren’t getting any Macross 7 recycles @_@ oh dear god, okay let’s not ever speak of that again.
June 7th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Well, at least they didn’t waste the background cels… and at the same time, tied the Macross Zero thing more tightly into the rest of the universe, by having it referenced the same way that the original Love Triangle did.
That, and the director is TOTALLY a Kawamori expy/self-insert, Nabeshin-style. Without the afro, but a beard instead.
June 7th, 2008 at 10:09 am
It was better when they did this the first time in Macross 7 (re-enact the original Macross) with Max and Milia playing themselves. That was an ingenious ep….
June 7th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Hahaha, I loled at the reused scenes.
June 7th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Hmmm… cost cutting that’s not so blantant.
June 8th, 2008 at 9:54 am
awesome post.
I’ve yet to watch Macross Frontier, and coming to know of the Macross Frontiers animation team scheme to pass old footage for new has really made my day.
thank you.
p.s. I just heard the link song you put up, but I may say I prefer Ranka’s song best ^^
June 8th, 2008 at 9:55 am
hey, at least I know now that M0 was that good in the CGI department…(ADVERTISEMENT WARNING!*coughcough*)
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AnimeSlice » Blog Archive » Macross Frontier - Episode 10June 8th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
[...] thought it was a bit of a cop-out to literally reuse animation from Macross Zero. Darkmirage has an excellent frame by frame analysis of all of this, and I have to say this was pretty lazy on [...]