Macross Frontier 15: Re-capping Grace-fully

Now, this is a story all about how
My life got flipped-turned upside down
And I liked to take a minute
Just sit right there
I’ll tell you how I became the master of a fleet called Frontier

That was one of the best recap episodes I have ever seen, where the usually route is to just give a run down of the events things were made much more interesting by having Grace and her cabal do all the talking. While the events are the same ones we have all seen, there were a good deal of interesting plot threads presented this time around. Moreover, comrades, we are at the verge of a fully blown love war between Sheryl and Ranka. Alto-hime has finally realized that Sheryl might not be just teasing after all and that he has been in a love triangle since the very beginning. Suffice to say the look of abject terror and confusion was rather sweet, as was the hawt engaging ploys used by both Sheryl and Ranka to snag Alto-hime’s attention.

In Macross Galaxy made and raised
In the glass tube was where I spent most of my days
Chillin’ out maxin’ relaxin’ all cool
And all experiment’en with some space larva outside of the school

When a couple of Vajra
Who were up to no good
Started making trouble in my neighborhood
I got in one little fight and my prince got scared
Brera said ‘We’re movin’ with your Leon and LAI in Frontier’

I whistled for a Ranka and when she came near
The emotional hair said fresh and she had a bow back there
If anything I can say this Q-1 is rare
But I thought ‘Now forget it’ – ‘Yo Brera to Frontier’

I pulled up to the fleet about 7 or 8
And I yelled to Brera ‘Yo homes smell ya later’
I looked at my kingdom
I was finally there
To sit on my throne as the Lord of Frontier

So it seems that Grace is not only a cyborg but some old terror borne from the 117th Research Fleet. She has not been operating alone as a rogue agent and I have my doubts that Leon actually knows that Macross Galaxy is alive and well. Their goal seems to be ultimate mastery over the Vajra which they have lured to Frontier. The supposed attack was an elaborate deception that was probably meant to draw a significant portion of the Frontier fleet away from the colony ship and have the Vajra annihilate it, and possibly use the lone surviving Dulfim to insert support teams to aid Grace. Thankfully while one VF-25 is formidable, but not great the SMS team has them in relative abundance coupled with a superb flagship and excellent support staff. Frontier provided a convenient lure for their operations and as they are non-cybernetic they were considered to be a very vulnerable target for their Vajra weapons tests. The fact that Frontier was designed for creature comforts rather than as a more Spartan military expeditionary and colonial fleet was highlighted by the immense loss of resources and the loss of two Islands after a single engagement. Now the Frontier has found itself surrounded by a tightening noose of Vajra their limited resources and their continued ability to resist more Vajra incursions is in serious doubt. Even with reaction weapons they only have a limited supply and nuclear weapons are rather resource intensive weapons to make even with economies of scale.

Vajira to my center, my right is retreating…

situation excellent, I am attacking. Oh man this is good.

We know we know, he likes his weed…

Yeah and you know Leon’s got some good stuff…

They were aware of Ranka but it was only after her accidental discovery that they gave her top priority. Most disturbing of all is that that Sheryl was their ninth attempt at creating the perfect fairy, which I suppose was an artificial attempt at creating a Vajra Queen. Now that they have seen Sheryl fail Grace has decided to discard Sheryl and use her prestige as a top idol manager to influence Ranka. As Grace was changing blood samples it is highly likely that Sheryl is not all natural, though whether or not she is purely organic is another source of speculation. Now that Galaxy has been revealed to be intact and still boasting a considerable number of escorts ships and more likely more VF-27s. Suffice to say that they pose a significant military threat should they decide to attack Frontier in force. However I wonder what their motivations for mastering the Vajra are. Are their motives for profit or for political reasons? Given that they had massive corporate backing they certainly seem to be lacking in moral niceties given that they are using their fellow humans as bait for the Vajra. I suppose that now with Brera in place as Ranka’s bodyguard that Grace and her buddies can easily make off with their Q-1 if the have to. While they are very good at their game it seems that the owner of SMS Mr. Bilrer might be aware of their activities or at least is a very secretive person, causeing a bit of concern on the part of Grace.

For Klein it will be…

Poor Pilot-hime’s first foray into love might well get hime killed. Tough choice indeed.

We have you surrounded. Wrap your arms around us and pucker your lips. You have the right to remain flustered. Anything you say or do will be held against you in tonight in a room steaming with passion.

Deculture!

I liked how they used the best scenes with some of the more memorable tracks from the series to pull it all off. I guess it was a superbly done AMV coupled with an interesting set of narrators. Adding in the last couple scenes mitigated the recap factor, and added some significant development for both contenders for Alto-hime’s hand, as well as introducing Mr. Briler as a real character. Nevertheless this blow out of Sheryl’s greatest hits will probably the last time until possibly the very end that we will she another Sheryl Concert with such grandiose presentation assuming that Sheryl can even find the heart and venue to sing with the old passion once she realizes that Grace has discarded her. I hope that future Ranka concerts will be just as magnificent now that Grace has defected to team Ranka. The Hospital scene was such a blatant tease to those hoping for some real Ranka fanservice, quite why Alto-hime got a properly fitting hospital gown can only mean that Brera was behind it all given his superb view of Ranka’s daily life. The double whamy of Sheryl and Ranka’s song was a delightful way to declare their new rivalry, it was very well played.

Oh no…Minmay. Cursed was she a loser in love, only blessed in song. Ranka must struggle mightily to avoid such a fate.

What Minmay?!

Ranka did not like being put in the same sentence as Minmay…

Ranka is flying pretty high right now with Sheryl’s career doomed with Grace’s defection and abandonment of Sheryl; Ranka will be the unchallenged idol of the fleet. Her new privileged position however will isolate her from Alto-hime now with Brera as her body guard and Kaifun-class love obstacle. Her new association with Minmay is a dire portent of no confidence, which will have to be dispelled quickly or else she might think of dallying with Brera-nii. Now that Alto-hime is more closely associated with Mr. Briler it seems unlikely that Grace or Brera will allow Ranka to have any alone time with Kabuki-hime. Brera does after all have standing orders to follow Ranka every where and with Grace planning out her schedule school time will be cut down significantly. Suffice to say that Ranka’s chances for Alto-hime time will be suffering immeasurably. However if she does not fall for Brera-nii and give in to her heroic rescuer complex Ranka might just pull it off, I might be wrong about this but the situation looks dire in the case of her desired relationship with Alto-hime. Let’s just hope her hair was only responding to the shock of seeing her three time rescuer and not even slightly tainted with feelings of affection, and that the impending Brera confession falls flat.

Oh I see too tired to take a test but more than able to go on a date are we?

Never far from a mirror.

Can’t aregue with the results though.

Yes that was less than two seconds.

Well enjoy your pride while you can it’s not going to last long…

Sheryl’s career is for all intents and purposes dead, unless she finds a good enough manager to match Grace. This to me seems unlikely and given that she has no support other than Alto-hime on Frontier, I suspect that they will grow closer. When Sheryl finds out the truth of her ancestry she will not be a happy camper and it is possible that her confidence will only be shattered even further given how it is already buckling with the rise of Ranka’s star. I feel sorry for Sheryl on the one hand she worked hard only to be betrayed by Grace and Macross Galaxy. Sheryl is now an exile from the only home she every really knew, though maybe with some time and a little help from Alto-hime she can settle down into the only place that she can live now that travel is all but impossible given the Vajra noose. She only has one real friend in the whole galaxy that seems to be confused and in abject terror from the realization that he is being seriously courted by two people he feels affection for. Looks like Sheryl will have little choice but to be a pilot given that the idol path seems forever closed to her with her loss of Grace and the rise of Ranka. More importantly now that Sheryl has no job and no income where will she stay? Where will she go? It seems that Alto-hime might have to use his slighter larger pay check to help Sheryl through her tough time. I doubt Ranka or Grace would want Sheryl around.

Hey beautiful how you doin’

Sheryl mind tricks…

Pony tails make Sheryl go crazy.

chuuu~

Now, now Sheryl be gentle this is hime’s first time. (Still I kind of giggled at how they inverted the typical kissing scene with Alto-hime taking the role of the kissed rather than the kissser)

Poor Ranka was bold, but Sheryl was daring.

Alto-hime’s reaction to the double assault of hime’s suitor’s was a delight to see. The poor Kabuki-hime was cornered with nowhere to run, and being new to this love thing has no idea what to do, but was keen on trying to keep a middle road. I suspect that given his Meltran ancestry that Alto-hime is familiar with the destructive nature of females fighting. Filled with fear of what might go wrong hime stood very still in the hopes that he could not add flames to the already intense atmosphere. Sadly this time there is no escape from the fact that hime is indeed being openly and actively courted by two every formidable women. Nevertheless it seems Sheryl won a slight victory given how all touchy feely she got with hime. Even worse for Ranka Alto-hime was transfixed by Sheryl’s lips…

Not the best way to address the boss man Alto-hime…

Member #19 of 10 million of Ai Ai Alto-hime. I enjoyed your performance as Sakura-hime.

Do you like my train set?

Given how Bilrer seems keen on adopting Sakura-hime and thus giving the former heir of the Saotome School a secure source of additional funding, Alto-hime will have few worries about money. Though he might have to perform once and a while for his guardian. I have little doubt in my mind that Mr. Bilrer is a devoted fan of Sakura-hime Azuma Bunsho perhaps that will be the basis for pretext in future meetings between Alto-hime and hime’s Big Boss. I think that this Bilrer fellow might prove to be the counterweight to Grace, but in the mean time he does have an awesome train set up. Some how I don’t think that money is what makes Mr. Bilrer tick, who knows maybe he even knows a thing or too about Grace given that his secrecy was effective against Grace’s nearly omnipotent surveillance network. Nevertheless it seems that Grace and her cabal seem a bit wary of the eccentric Zentradi military millionaire. Even Ozma has worries about his employer that or Ozma was certain that Alto-hime would say something that would get hime fired and Ozma a pink slip. Ozma and Cathy seem to be getting chummier these days in their quest to uncover the truth about Brera Stern. I believe however the more deeply they delve the more likely that Grace will take measures to silence them both. Mikhail now imprisoned in a hospital bed is at the mercy of Klein-sama. While Raramia will be missed it seems that Meltrans are like Klingons, they don’t mourn the dead, and Raramia did die like a Meltran in the heat of battle defending her home.