Macross Frontier — an ending postponed?
So, Macross Frontier has finally ended. Or has it? I have no idea. But what I do know is that the final episode is the most blatant 24 minutes of fan service I have ever seen, and that’s including that Gundam SEED Destiny episode where Lacus bares it all. Bravo Satelight! This is a new benchmark for all future human endeavours.
I don’t know what to say, really. Episode 25 has brought Macross Frontier to a completely different realm of existence from the unwashed masses of mere anime. It’s not a matter of entertainment value or literary merits; the show is simply in its own plane of being, beyond the limits of mortal comprehension.
Certainly, it’s not a very good episode if we consider the criteria used to judge regular story endings; in fact it’s a pretty bad one. I mean, who but the intellectual Hercules among us could’ve imagined that things would get spectacularly blown up and the day would be saved? But let’s put the predictable cop-out ending aside and appreciate the greatness of ultimate fan gratification.
Hey, that’s Mao Nome the ex-loli at the back!
Satelight really went all out with the homages for this episode. We have Earth’s Macross City, the good old Macross Attack (still as illogical as ever), and everyone’s favourite idol Lynn Minmay, whose classical character design makes her look like a different species from the rest. The only thing that can triumph this potent combination in tearing at the heartstrings of Macross fanboys is an actual sequel to the original series.
Macross Attack: because only humanoid mecha can shoot missiles
I am almost positive that every single piece of music composed for Macross Frontier is used in episode 25. Sheryl and Ranka diligently cover each of their trademark songs —so different in style from one another— in a chaotic cacophony worthy of at least five dozen Grammys. My feeble mind almost explodificated in the process, but it was worth it. I can now die happily knowing that I have experienced the entire human condition distilled into 10 minutes of seizure-inducing musical extravaganza.
Seriously though, what the hell?
That said, in spite of my cynical exterior, deep down I am just a vulnerable fanboy. I tried to steel my resolve against the onslaught of cheap fan baits, but Maaya’s rendition of “AIMO” and the duet performance of “Triangler” at the end of the episode took me by surprise and totally melted my heart. Damn you Sunrise Satelight!
Macross F has suddenly become a yuri series
The ending itself is of course a bit of a letdown. The villains are defeated rather unceremoniously and most of the episode is spent on the familiar formula of “give airtime to everyone who shows up on popularity rankings”.
The crux of the story, the love triangle on which everything rests, is left unresolved. I blame this on the modern anime industry’s “let’s not upset the fans” mentality. The original Macross pulled it off without having to resort to a cop-out, so this is rather disappointing. It’s like when Ozma failed to die and went on to survive the rest of the series as a pointless character.
Apparently a movie release is in the works for Macross Frontier. I hope it’s a love comedy about how Alto and Sheryl get married and Ranka falls into a state of alcoholism, but chances are it’s about some other giant robot that Alto has to go blow up with his infinite supply of missiles.
Still, there is hope.
September 28th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
Ai Ai Alto-hime kun!L0L!^^
September 29th, 2008 at 4:36 am
MECHA PORN!!!!
On a more serious note…
Macross Attack - It actually makes sense given the setting’s basic rules. Using the Quarter’s “arm” to punch a hole in the enemy ship means that you get to shoot up all of the unarmored internal bits as opposed to needing to blow your way through the ship’s armor. Keeping the destroids (the humanoid non-transformable mecha) inside means that you don’t risk damaging them with incoming fire or while punching the hole in the enemy ship. And we saw waaaaaaaaaay back in episode 7 that all of the “anti-mecha” emplacements on Quarter are destroids as opposed to turreted fixtures. On the one hand it’s probably more expensive to set up with than a set of turrets (since turrets don’t have legs). On the other hand, you’ve a little more flexibility moving them around (don’t need to keep them in the arm, for instance, if you’re not going to perform a Macross Attack) and repairing them consists of walking them to the hanger instead of sending out guys in space suits. So there are trade offs.
The triangle - imo, the statement of the two girls at the end means nothing. Ranka was gone during episodes 22 and 23, and so has no idea what happened. Sheryl’s been denying to herself that Alto actually was interested in her (having convinced herself that he’s only being nice in episodes 22 and 23 because he feels sorry for the dying woman) and refused to let him say anything in episode 24. Logically, the triangle is over at this point. The only question is which female Alto actually prefers. If he was “being nice” in episodes 22 and 23, then Alto prefers Ranka but she’s not around then. If Alto was not just being nice, then he prefers Sheryl. You’ll note that Alto himself doesn’t get a chance to contribute to their conversation.
For myself, I’m inclined to believe that Alto’s decision was made clear back at the end of Ranka’s concert moments before the Vajra attacked. When Alto didn’t run after Ranka, that for me pretty much said everything that needed to be said.
Bilrer - neat seeing the picture of Minmei hidden underneath the stone on his ring. imo a lot more could have been done with this character, and he’s probably the most underdeveloped character in the series.
On a side note… as I write this, an advertisement for Robotech: Shadow Chronicles is visible at the top of my screen.
:P
September 29th, 2008 at 6:43 am
and notice too how Alto called Sheryl’s name 2 times to reassure her condition (first when Sheryl almost died being consumed by the virus/bacteriophage and another one when the fold attack by grace happened). plus Sheryl gets the “misa salute” which she returned back as well XD
and the ending credit featuring the macross movie ad clearly shows a sketch of ONLY Sheryl and an ambiguous Alto sketch/figure in the middle
October 6th, 2008 at 11:58 am
Yeah, Macross Frontier’s plot line has always equaled, “Where are you?” I wish the conspiracy was explained more clearly (especially the technical terms; “implant network”?) and more exposure given to the three scientists.
But episode 25 was awesome. Lots of explosions and music overload—oh, yes.
And apparently, I either lacked credits or the epicness totally passed over my head and prevented me from looking at them, because I had no idea that beautiful rendition of AIMO was by Maaya Sakamoto. I will love it forever. (But that makes about five versions of AIMO, now? Talk about exploitation.)
October 16th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
This episode gave me a headache aside from the aimo and triangular that was pointed out by our lovely mirage. The love triangles will never be resolved, such is the plot of every anime that remotely has one in it. There might be a few exceptions but there is never any originality in this, i mean seriously. I wouldn’t have cared if he leaned towards either one of the women, as long as he got ONE of them. It would have made this episode worthwhile for me. D: