Macross Frontier 20: Vajra won't listen to your song…

Yeah he’s dead for reals…

Ranka catches Alto-hime and Sheryl sharing a tender moment and begins to wallow in her own self pity. Wishing that she were dead and singing with anguish in her heart Queen Ranka of the Vajra served only to prompt Ai-kun and his siblings to realize Ranka’s pain in a more physical manner. While many died Leon and Grace took advantage of chaos and Ranka only could think of herself. I confess I am really ticked off at Ranka after this episode. I can forgive her being ignorant of her own abilities, I can forgive her for being slightly emo after her heart break, but what I cannot forgive is that when shit hit the fan all Ranka could do was cry and be useless to everyone. Here was her chance to grow up take the flight deck and sing her heart out to save the fleet, instead she delivers a massacre and feels nothing for anyone else. I know she is a kid, but it was high time she grew up. Ranka can’t be a kid forever and after this I cannot honestly say I would like to see Alto-hime choose Ranka because that is the heart of the problem she is still a child mentally and utterly incapable of entering a relationship and enduring the highs and lows of it. In a battle you find the true measure of a person, you learn of who they really are, if they are crazy, craven, bold, resolute, or stupid. Ranka showed that she is still that scared little girl from the 117th Fleet 11 years ago.

Once upon a time, there were three very different little girls… who grew up to be`three very different women. But they have three things in common: They’re brilliant, they’re beautiful and they work for me. My name is Bilrer. (courtesy of 4chan)

Emotional Turmoil? The only thing you should be feeling Ranka is recoil from a weapon…

Queen Ranka is heartbroken for not even being able to confess…

Queen Ranka says to kill all humans…

Kill all humans…YES YOUR HIGHNESS!

So the shit hits the fan as Ranka gets teary eyed and suicidal over seeing Alto-hime and Sheryl together. She tries to control the situation but only makes it worse prompting the Vajra to get really mad and start killing everything that moves. Fortunately for Frontier second stage Vajra don’t have immunity to small arms like their final stage counter parts. While Howard Glass dodges the first bullet he later dies in a hail of gunfire from Leon and his coup plotters. Grace believes that no harm will come to Ranka and orders Brera to scramble. Brera it turns out has a sweet uplink to his VF-27. Chaos is not limited to the confines of Frontier and Bobby and his children Monica, Ram, and Mina are desperately trying to keep Vajra space forces from reinforcing the ones inside the colony. Breaking out the guns Luca, Mikhail, and Alto-hime try to fight their way to the SMS armory for some heavier firepower with Klein, Sheryl, Nanase, and Ranka in tow. Sadly a stray shot from a destroid separates Sheryl and Nanase from the others. Alto-hime tries to get to them but Sheryl tells them to go ahead while she stays with Nanase as the local guardsmen escort them to a shelter. Ranka is still dazed and has to be dragged by Alto-hime to a safer location.

Well having you holiday canceled has some benefits…

There there Ram I there will be other ships named Akizuki Gouchin.

It’s GARby time, you Vajra bitches…

Once they get to SMS they find that the Vajra have already swept the place, but Klein rallies the troops and Luca, Mikhail, and Alto-hime grab some Ex-Gears while Klein prepares to enter a Macronization Chamber. Elsewhere Cathy and Ozma escape the clutches of Leon who is surprised to learn that Howard survived the sniper attack and was on his way to Battle Frontier. Seizing the chance to escape Ozma beats the shit out of two lackeys, while Cathy elbows one in the face. They make their way to Battle Frontier only to find the bullet ridden corpse of Howard Glass. Sheryl finds the shelter and starts patching up Nanase who lost an eye to shrapnel. The locals are scared along with Canaria’s husband and son. With periodic after shocks rocking the shelter Sheryl protects Nanase’s comatose body as the rest of the people start raging at Ranka, the government, wondering when salvation will come for not singing, and wondering if Ranka really is the savior of the fleet. Bound by her love of song Sheryl decides to sing Diamond Crevasse to calm the people, as singing is the best thing she can do for all of them after she did everything she could for Nanase.

At least they left behind some good eye catches…

Some very sweet ones as well.

Poor President Glass never saw it coming.

Isurugi Noe deems Cathy’s tears to be true tears.

Klein confesses to Mikhail under fire and kisses her stupid Mikhail before running off at Macross speed to become All Meltran Klein to swat some bugs. Once there three Vajra break in before Klein can exit the chamber. Mikhail defends his beloved Meltran onto death not even letting his own skewering to stop him from killing all three bugs. As he kills his last enemy Mikhail confesses his love to a weeping Klein before getting sucked out of a hull breach. Mikhail earns a manly death, but in doing so has left Klein to live on without him. I have to say it was a fine death and Mikhail will be missed though more acutely by Klein. It was sad and epic at the same time and hopefully Klein-sama will get revenge on the Vajra for killing her stupid Mikhail. Words cannot convey the actions of Mikhail on this day. I will not weep over Mikhail’s death, but shall take solace in knowing that such a man lived. I cannot weep, but I wish to present a poem in Mikhail’s honor:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved, and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.
— John McCrae

Well Ranka has failed me again. I know that she just had her first adventure in love crushed, but having been a grunt for many moons I cannot find her actions this time around to be anything less than disgusting. I know that Ranka is a civilian, I know that she is a little girl who just had her heart stepped on, but damn it people needed her to sing with her all and all Ranka could deliver was more death before wallowing in her own pain and being anything but useful to any one. Emotional turmoil is irrelevant the only thing you should feel when you see Vajra is recoil from a weapon. While there was little Ranka could do since she couldn’t sing, certainly even helping Luca or Klein would have been more productive than hiding behind Alto-hime without passing hime more ammo. Most galling of all is that not only did Ranka weep and cower before her problems, when Alto-hime took her hand she remembered Brera… I am sorry but even if I am obligated to cheer for Ranka as a member of THAT even I have my limits. Ranka has to grow up or at least show that she is growing up in the next ep. I am sure that Ranka will one day be a great woman in her own right some day, but we are running out of time to see this wondrous all woman Ranka.

Umm… what?

Awww so sad that Alto-hime and Sheryl were together…

This is why you don’t run down stairs…

At least Ranka can face plant correctly,,,

No.

Wrong answer!

Great she just invoked Ai-kun for help…

I think Ranka deserved that slap from Sheryl for flaking out when the fleet needed her most. If all Ranka could think of was her own broken heart instead of the millions who were helpless before the Vajra then Ranka could not call herself a pro and even I would question Ranka’s right to be loved by people. Sure Alto-hime might have broken her heart, but what about Nanase? What about Ozma? Why not Alto-hime as well or was it that the only Alto-hime worth saving was the one who loved Ranka? What about all her fans who could not hope to even raise a finger against the Vajra? While it has been plain that Ranka was a loved child for all of her life, she is certainly more spoiled than she is cute. If she could not sing any more for Alto-hime, then why can she not sing for her friends?  Why couldn’t Ranka sing for her brother of many years? If heart break is the worst thing she has ever felt then Ranka has indeed led a charmed life, it would mean that she can no longer recall the pain of losing her family and can only live while she is loved by others. That to me is sickening. If Ranka can only find the strength and will to live so long as she is loved then she deserves no love at all. Right now it seems that Ranka’s most important person is Ranka, she doesn’t love Alto-hime. She barely knows anything about hime. All I can see right now is that Ranka wants his love, that to me isn’t love that is just being an attention whore. When she saw Sheryl there Ranka ran she didn’t even try to say much of anything but simply ran from the pain. If all Ranka can do in love is run then so be it. Love comes not to those who cower in the dirt, while they are afraid of being hurt. It is not for those who cannot risk their hearts for happiness.

Even Alto-hime was begging Ranka to do something…

Noe doesn’t like Ranka’s emo tears they aren’t beautiful, they aren’t worth saving, they are fake tears.

I am calling bullshit, Ranka can speak so she can sing.

It’s not about you any more Ranka…

We would love to stop, but tell that to you Ai-kun and his buddies to stop killing because you are hurt.

Of course not you are their Queen. So be a Queen and stop them.

Yeah and I have had enough you Ranka being a selfish brat for most of this series.

I know I am probably being very harsh on Ranka, but I really wish she would grow up, if this massacre does not change her attitude towards life then she will remain but a child who will never know what it fully means to be love her beloved nor will she ever know what it means to be loved by some one in a romantic fashion. Here was a golden opportunity to prove that Ranka had entered womanhood. I would have accepted if Ranka’s song failed had she tried her best, but before and after she wallowed in defeat, and did little more than hide behind Alto-hime as she day dreamed of Brera. There was plenty of death to make Ranka realize that it is not about her, but no despite the rubble, despite the corpses Ranka only could think of her own pain. For me it wasn’t so much that Ranka did bad things unwittingly, but what angers me the most is that she did the worst thing possible when the chips were down, Ranka did nothing after her song failed, she helped no one, she did nothing of use unless cowering behind Alto-hime some how benefited the fleet. Ranka claims that she is not a tool to fight the Vajra, fine, but if so then she better be ready to accept that in the next fight that she will be doing nothing while her fellow citizens die as she does nothing. Ranka has no sense of duty to her hearth and home that to me is hateful and appalling. I am sure that the Ranka camp will be able to provide a more level assesment of Ranka, but right now crying for the sake of her own pain while the fleet needed her was a Shinji Ikari move, I did not tolerate it from Shinji, I will not tolerate it from Ranka. I confess that my patience and sympathy for Ranka have come to an end if she doesn’t grow up and live fore some one other thna herself then she might as well be Minmay.

Sheryl read my mind…

Get a grip Ranka.

You need heart and soul…

Yes, so start acting like one Ranka.

Listen to Alto-hime.

Alto-hime to his credit at least has changed his attitude towards Sheryl and finally gave her some words of encouragement without the usual snark or tsun tsun attitude. Most interestingly of all hime didn’t even run after Ranka and ditch Sheryl so at least hime might finally have an answer for her. In terms of what hime feels for Ranka this time there was no romance, only hime swinging into action to try and get stuff done and keep Ranka out of trouble. This time none of his words of encouragement had any effect on Ranka and hime’s suggestion that Ranka sing for the good of the fleet. Not much else Ranka-wise other than hime did the right thing and kept Ranka safe for the most part. In terms of his fellings towards Sheryl, at least we know that Alto-hime wanted to jump over a fire for her, and that hime trusts her enough to let her take care of Nanase. It was cute that he promised to come back and save her. I just hope that next time Alto-hime doesn’t take too kind of a line with Ranka because hime is the only person who can really tell Ranka to grow up. As fors Sheryl I hope he was running as fast as hime can to give Sheryl an answer, even if it is a rejection at least we know that Alto-hime cares for her.

Well I guess Alto-hime has given Nanase over to Luca…

Really? Save Sheryl was it?

Oh yes…Sheryl has plans for Nanase.

Oh my gosh, Sheryl is still thinking about others.

Sheryl Nome, in Courage Under Fire, coming this fall.

Sheryl basically shined through this time and has returned with a bang. For the first time she didn’t try and put up a defensive front against Alto-hime and wept in hime’s arms. She even got hime to talk about Kabuki again. While Ranka did interrupt their special moment, it was still special for Sheryl at least. I find it wonderful that the old mean spirited Sheryl from episode one is now more humble and stronger than ever before. If Alto-hime doesn’t choose Sheryl I can rest assured that Sheryl will still go on and hold no grudges and cherish the memory of the Kabuki-hime who for a moment brightened her life and helped her improve it. That is what love should be a shared experience that betters both parties more or less equally. The slapping of Ranka was most fitting, as Sheryl was the only one who could really do it. If it had been Alto-hime Ranka would have called down the entire Vajra fleet to wipe out Frontier. It was good of Sheryl to only slap Ranka for not being a pro and for Sheryl to hold no ill will towards Ranka given how Ranka had hit rock bottom in love.

Well you look better now.

Then again…

So Sheryl falls under real.

There there now that you are in hime’s arms it will be alright.

Ladies and Gentlemen I think we might finally have an answer…

Unlike Ranka Sheryl was doing everything she could for those around her instead of focusing one her imminent death and destroyed career. Nanase was not the kindest person to Sheryl, given their locker room confrontation and how Nanase was the biggest pusher for RankaxAlto-hime. It was glorious to see that after being separated Sheryl was not crying or weeping but tending Nanase’s wounds and protecting Nanase’s comatose body with her own. When the crowd started hating on Ranka Sheryl didn’t feed into and sang her song to diffuse the situation. It was another crowning moment of awesome for Sheryl as she sent off Mikhail with style and calmed the crowd who were on the verge of taking Ranka’s head. It’s hard to believe that this is the same Sheryl Nome who threw out Alto-hime, Luca, and Mikhail from her backstage in episode 1. Sheryl has bounced back from her downward spiral magnificently and hopefully once she and Elmo unite to fight Grace that Sheryl will remain more humble and a bit more caring. With any luck if Sheryl is a good girl it will be Alto-hime who will be running towards her in the next ep. Right now if Kawamori decides to end the triangle here then I confess that I am more fully behind Sheryl than Ranka, it’s not that they only look good together, but for much of the series this has been a learning experience for both of them. They developed more in eachother’s company and have come along way together from the hot headed Kabuki-hime with something to prove and the haughty pop idol.

Sheryl became a better person because of her love for Alto-hime and ended up much more selfless than the prima donna who was kicking out amateurs. Alto-hime found a person who he could talk to about his past, his family, and his dreams. Alto-hime actually met a woman who was not fangirling him every step of the way but helped him find his way when he was occasionally lost. Sheryl’s presence in his life forced him to deal with the past that he thought that he had left behind, and forced him to put a someone else as a higher priority than his pride. Even if Alto-hime will never admit it he’s at least become more humble with Sheryl around mostly because she isn’t put off by his pride. It was a huge step for Alto-hime to go back home and when hime does reconcile with his father he will have Sheryl to thank for being the force that made hime go back home and toss aside his pride.

Woah for a second there I thought Sheryl might Shizuru Nanase in public…

Nanase better thank Sheryl for this one.

I bet Nanase was awake the whole time.

Use the Force, Sheryl.

Let go, Sheryl.

Sheryl, trust me.

Here we go.

Congratulations Kabitzin your wish for a Sheryl -Elmo Alliance to fight Grace has been granted. Now time for you to make offerings to Mr. Kawamori.

So next time Klein will mourn the loss of her beloved idiot and get her revenge on the bugs. Luca will not be happy when he learns that Nanase was injured during the Vajra attack and hopefully that will mean a combat upgrade for Luca. Ranka’s rock bottom was fairly shallow and hopefully next time will finally be the time that Ranka grows up and starts being the woman we all know that she is capable of being. It’s rather disappointing to see how Ranka was so likable during the early eps only for her to just remain as a selfish brat in the last few episodes. Minmay lost because she did not deserve to win at all, right now Ranka has become a less bitchy but whinier version of Minmay. I hope Ranka starts channeling some Misa soon because creation of the Daedalus Attack netted Misa exclusive breeding rights and first priority in husband selection. If Ranka does not improve and grow up well then the Hail Mary needed to get to RankaxAlto-hime will be less than epic simply because Ranka hasn’t undergone that much development and there has been a lack of Alto-himexRanka screen time. We know that Ranka’s love is pure, but so is a lot of puppy love. A real relationship means that you will have highs and lows. I just don’t think that Ranka is ready for that yet.

Ranka…

Well if you must know…

Ugh… here we go again.

Brera strikes again. Fine be that way Ranka go off with Brera then.

Yeah Ranka…

Hooray for Klein even if she can’t fire a gun at least she is contributing…unlike Ranka.

Where are your clothes?

Oh it does…

As do we.

We agree.

From Bright Slap Industries comes Klein Punch.

Go Klein!

Noe finds Sheryl’s tears for others to be very beautiful…

They will be preserved in a star.

Poor Klein…

Make them pay!

Even if Alto-hime forgives you Ranka I have not.

Who will Alto-hime run to? Who will be left behind?

Losers get slapped…

Winners do the slapping.