Macross Frontier 21: Elopement with Brera…? Bye Bye Ranka

88 Comments

1. cheesie
   Posted September 2, 2008 at 12:02 am | Permalink

   I believe the fandom would cut Ranka some slack if she had understood the grave seriousness of her situation and the choices she made that went with it. If she went…

   “I know my decision is going to affect a lot of people, I know it’s the worst time for this to happen, but I have to go, I need to find out about my past.”

   Unfortunately, she didn’t.

   It’s good that she stumbled on the right path, but at what cost? This area is so gray, but if she had shown any awareness of what the consequences might bring to her actions instead of focusing on herself and running away from the responsibility that she chose to accept before as the Songstress of Hope, then perhaps everyone won’t be so frustrated and angry with her one-track mind and inability to see the bigger picture around her.

   Ranka is basically at the situation where Minmei is.

   Reply
2. JustinStrife
   Posted September 2, 2008 at 12:14 am | Permalink

   Well said cheesie. I couldn’t agree with you more. She would have not gotten half the criticism I feel, if she had said or mentioned something of that nature before leaving. Unfortunately, she didn’t. We are left with what the story writers and director have given us, and what we’ve been shown, is nothing OOC for her.

   You had me worried there for a minute when you said you replied after me on here, in the irc chat. Don’t scare me like that.

   Reply
3. D.J
   Posted September 2, 2008 at 2:47 am | Permalink

   I too can understand Ranka wanting to know her past and I don’t think anyone would begrudge her going off and figuring things out once things had calmed down a bit.

   It stumps me that she didn’t seem to care about Ozma being missing at all, although I guess you could surmise from the fact she left him a letter than she thinks he’s alive. But you think she’d want to stick around to confirm that, or stick around to see that Nanase gets well enough to be able to read a damn letter.

   If she’s partially leaving because she’s finally realized she can control the Varja then she could have told hime that!

   I dunno maybe we’re just wanting more from Ranka than she can give because we’re holding her up to Sheryl as an example who comes across as a lot more mature, but then I guess Ranka can’t help it, she’s just drawn that way

   Reply
4. Crusader
   Posted September 2, 2008 at 1:03 pm | Permalink

   @JustinStrife
   Please don’t mention specific names unless you are addressing their comments directly… :/

   It would have been nice if Ranka offered a more detailed explanaition rather than skip over it and rely on the members of the audience to ry an interpret Her actions which come off as exceedingly selfish for the reasons of robbing Frontier of her talent and her attempt to make off with two valuable pilots to return Ai-kun home. I’d like to know how Ranka knows where to look in the first place since if it takes more than a week there is a good chance that he next attack will be de-folding on top of Frontier while Ranka is away.

   @cheesie
   Agreed while Ranka’s actions might benefit the bigger pircture the blithe explanation she gives does not lend credence to the assumption that she eve sees the bigger picture. Thus far it seemed that she only cared about running away, taking Ai-kun with her, letting Brera follow her, and attempted seizure hime’s affection at a time when Alto-hime is feeling the loss of Mikhail. At no point does Ranka try to help Alto-hime deal with this significant loss, but at the drop of a hat she asks that Alto-hime forgive Ai-kun and be Ai-kun’s friend.

   @D.J
   Agreed if Ranka had taken sometime to explain what she was planning or demonstrated that she had thought about this for some time in deatd of forcing us to assume she cares then I for one would have much less frustration. As it is because Ranka snubbed the Fleet with her public rejection of her responsibilities in the space less than 24 hours around 8 at most, Ranka seemed to be more concerned with avoiding the fallout from her decision not to sing.

   It seems to me that if Ranka really cared she would have waited a bit longer and toughed it out until she knew Ozma and Nanase were okay, but the way she went out made it seem like her desire for escape overrode her desire to see them alive and well again. While Ranka finally asked hime the right question she neglected to try and address the loss of Mikhail before asking Alto-hime to forgive Ai-kun and be his friend. Ranka saw Mikhail die but it was silly of her to think that hime could do the same when Mikhail was much more of a friend to Alto-hime. The fact that she didn’t even try makes it seem like Mikhails’s death did not affect her much at all.

   We expected a lot more of Ranka and I think that because Ranka has basically lived up to some of the worst aspects of Minmei that we are not too happy with her. Comparisons with Sheryl don’t really matter, for me it’s mostly because Ranka has lived up to the image of Minmei more than I dared imagine possible. I believed for a time that the humbling experience of trying to make it big the hard way would have made Ranka a better person but while her catapult to fame may have been later it gave the same result that Ranka came off incredibly selfish to the point that not even her good intentions and lack of bitchiness could remove the ugliness of Ranka putting Ranka first with these last two eps. At this point Ranka seems to have crossed the point of no return she may redeem herself, but nothing will ever erase the shame of what has already happened.

   Reply
5. shinz
   Posted September 2, 2008 at 2:06 pm | Permalink

   Crusader !!! you miss the episode 22 don’t you ?!
   This blog will soon welcome all Sheryl’s community…

   Reply
6. cheesie
   Posted September 2, 2008 at 2:50 pm | Permalink

   Someone in 2ch also raised up the suggestion that the last episode title “Anata no Oto” may be Ranka dedicating her song to the Vajras (since all three were sitting down with the humans and looking happy to the dokun dokun dokun.) If that’s the case, then it would make infinite sense that they would close this series with a serenade to the Vajras after everything that has happened.

   Reply
7. skoll
   Posted September 2, 2008 at 3:38 pm | Permalink

   Justin has the right idea. I could care less about Ranka’s preconcieved notions, in fact, her notions are primarily what I am damning her for. My point is not that she is unjustifiably childish, but that she is childish, and I do not respect her for that.

   Also, I believe my case for her fixation is pretty much bulletproof. Ranka nearly went comatose when he was wounded in combat earlier, and now she doesn’t shed a tear at his absence? Terrible person. People are not rungs on some sort of emotional ladder, used to keep yourself up then left behind. Rather, they shouldn’t be.

   Reply
8. Haesslich
   Posted September 2, 2008 at 7:33 pm | Permalink

   Well, if y’all wanted proof that Ranka doesn’t think very far ahead (in an adult way), you’ve got it in spades with this episode.

   1) She’s said she doesn’t want to sing anymore as a tool. That’s perfectly fine and dandy – that’s understandable. However, she’s also running out on Frontier AND HER CAREER, which she thought of as quite important at one point. And in doing so, she’s probably killed what career she had as a singer, because it’s not very important to her [b]at this moment[/b], not caring for what the consequences to it are, or whether she’ll want to return to singing as a livelihood in the future. Even Minmay, who ran out on Kaifun, made a point of returning that evening to do the club show she’d been scheduled for.

   2) She was screaming along with Alto last episode when Mikhail took the tail-spike in the back. This episode, we don’t even see her mope a bit whereas even ever-cheerful Luca is emo. Instead, she’s asking Alto to leave with her and let bygones be bygones with the Vajra. She doesn’t care about the dead, or apparently so – you’d think she’d have made an apology to them and said that she couldn’t sing right now because of how she felt… or tried to pull a Sheryl and done so anyways since this wasn’t singing to lure the Vajra in, but rather a paean for the dead. She could’ve used quite a few justifications for why she didn’t sing… other than ‘I don’t want to’. Guess which one she used? I can feel your sympathy from here… ooops, forgot the sarcasm flag.

   3) She’s always wanted to see Alto at her convenience. She was unhappy about not knowing about his past… and only in Episode 21, eleven episodes after she found out about his past as an actor, does she ask a personal question. She had all that time to get to know him, know about him, know his likes and dislikes. To find out who he really was, beyond that image of the pretty pilot who encouraged her and teased her. To find things she shared in common with him, to use to connect to him beyond the hero-worship she’s always had for him.

   4) At the end, she dumps it all on Alto. At least she’s TOLD him she likes him… which is good. Now what’s not so good is that she’s basically run off with another man, in Alto’s eyes. If he really liked her as more than a little sister, this may have killed any notion of romance. If he didn’t like her as more than a sister, then he’s been humiliated (again) and now either has to regard her as an enemy or as a fool. Which, mind you, will further tear away any shreds of respect he may have had for her up to this point with regards to her opinions or intelligence.

   Good going, Ranka – that’s the way to win a man’s heart; have him humiliated (by your white knight/bodyguard), ignore his feelings regarding his friends, show confusion when he tries to kill an enemy as a soldier despite your protests, and forget the fact that you found him with Ai-kun trying to smother him to death the last time he came to your place. Also, great way to run a career and show off that professionalism that those concert managers and bookers are looking for in a star.

   At least she COULD confess to Alto, and made a decision which wasn’t directly suggested by Grace or someone else. She’s starting to act on her own, for her own… but man, some of the things she’s done this episode are not at all adult, and do little to help her image among anyone but the fans in the audience. Everyone ELSE on Frontier likely finds her confusing, if not disrespectful and rude. At least Sheryl had a professional ethic to fall back on, as well as a public face she used with the media which would’ve helped keep her career intact.

   ani_d: you’re speaking from the view of the audience that the Vajra aren’t the enemy. As far as everyone but Grace and Ranka are concerned… they are. You’re probably right that she’s not cut out to be a professional singer; she’s not cut out to be anything at the moment, since she has a bit more growing up to do. But expecting Alto to suddenly chase after her and forgive everything immediately is foolish, and Ranka-like in its simple-mindnedness. She sure as hell seemed to forget Mikhail was dead along with everyone else when she was talking to Alto, or to Leon. She was worrying more about herself than Ozma, Nanase, or anyone else at this point. Even Alto only matters to her when she feels it’s important that he matters to her… since otherwise, why would she not have bothered to look into him when she had a chance? If she was so upset that she didn’t know him, why not take the opportunities she had as a star to get information on him, or to talk to him? If she could run away from work, she surely had time to get to know him.

   Reply
9. Crusader
   Posted September 2, 2008 at 9:53 pm | Permalink

   @shinz
   Hell no I need Macross like I need coffee, no episode will go unblogged.

   @cheesie
   Macross has always had the two sides reconcile on some level so eventually the bugs will be friends, only it be realy weird this time since Ai-kun is the only emissary…

   @skoll
   Ranka is still very much a kid, and while she did not seem to care about Ozma I thnk that not ending up comatose is going to help her mature a bit in the long run since she will have to come to terms with her loss of family at some point. Whether or not she will again fall victim to same disease of mind that made her want to die remains to be seen.

   @Haesslich
   Agreed Ranka may have had some good reasons but her execution has to date been sloppy. I never thought about having Brera there would have added to he humiliation, but now that I think about it it would be pretty humiliating for a girl to confess to you as they other guy stands there smugly in his superior VF-27 smirking over the fact that he’s been kicking your ass since the day you met, and then proceeds to fly off with said girl. It be real telling if it turns out Alto-hime really does get mad over what happened.

   Hopefully Alto-hime will get back a Brera for this one, after all there is one other girl on Frontier that love hime just as much if not more and hasn’t decided to dally with other men so even if Ranka “dumped” hime at least Alto-hime wil have a chance to love again. I doubt hime will be in pieces over this though, pissed off and angry certainly, but emo… I have my doubts since Sheryl will slap some sense into hime if it comes to it.

   It’s sad how Ranka for the most part wanted to be whisked away by Alto-hime and in the end chose the one who was willing to whisk her away. I guess such is the case when the pivot of the love triangle is a hime who lives up to the very image of Watashi no Kare wa Piloto. Sheryl seems to have had the right idea your rival is not so much the other girl, but that VF-25. Thus Sheryl was willing to keep the VF-25 around. I guess in the quest to make things different from other Macross series and OVAs that for once, the usual guy(s) going after girl dynamic has been reversed. At least there is some justification in that Alto-hime pretty much out girls actual girls.

   More over it seems that in the whole series its the women chasing the men, Klan with Mikhail, Cathy with Ozma, Bobby with Ozma, Monica with Wilder, and Sheryl with Alto-hime. Only Luca has been the traditional one in chasing after Nanase. I guess altering traditional gender dynamics is one way of not being too similar to SDF.

   Reply
10. Haesslich
    Posted September 2, 2008 at 10:24 pm | Permalink

    Crusader: Ranka didn’t dump Alto – she never had a relationship with him to dump in the first place. All she did was dump her feelings on him, indicated that she loved him but ‘now it’s goodbye’ and flew off with her new rescuer/hero. If Ranka thinks she still has a shot with Alto after this… well, the damage is pretty deep. Alto isn’t likely to trust her, her opinions, or respect her intelligence. If she says she still loves him, why should Alto believe Ranka? She went off with her new hero, since the old one (Alto) refused her and didn’t live up to her (built up in her imagination) expectations. Plus he’s been repeatedly beat in ground AND VF combat by Brera, and owes Brera his life in at least one situation. For someone whose ego about piloting was enough that Mikhail had to beat it down to size in Episode 6, this has got to be more galling for him than Guld’s beating Isamu up prior to the YF-19 crash.

    .. maybe that’s why Vital Force sounds like “Break Out” – the Brera/Alto rivalry as pilots may be a tribute to Macross Plus, especially since the VF-27 is both horribly advanced compared to the VF-25 (and both of them are officially in the prototype stage), and the former has a mind-controlled system with acceleration greater than the physical capbilities of an uncyborged human pilot to survive.

    Reply
11. Crusader
    Posted September 2, 2008 at 10:38 pm | Permalink

    @Haesslich
    Yeah Ranka could not have dumped hime in the first place hence the “” probably should have used “/sarcasm”

    I know that when it comes to Alto-hime that he is incredibly thick, hopefully Kawamori won’t let Alto-hime become that forgetful. Though given how hime can hold a grudge like a dwarf I hope that this is one slight that hime will not soon forget. Even if hime has some remaining feelings for Ranka I hope he does the exact opposite of what Ranka wasn’t hime to do and RAGE more at both Brera and the Vajra. Alto-hime may be thick when it comes to love, but at least we know that hime can call upon anger and hate fairly easily when it comes to Brera.

    I am fairly confident that there are other references and homages in Macross Frontier. Kawamori’s been having way too much fun to limit himself to not include Macross Plus. Only this time while the rivalry is there I don’t think Alto-hime was really competing for Ranka. This rivalry is not only deadly this one is professional and personal for reasons of martial pride instead of over a woman. Given how Alto-hime loves piloting more than most things, except saving Sheryl and or getting back at Yasaburo since that was the only time I can recall that hime was mad about having to sortie, I think that hime’s hatred and loathing of Brera is greater than any affection he holds for Ranka.

    Reply
12. Haesslich
    Posted September 3, 2008 at 12:48 am | Permalink

    Where did I say that Alto was competing for Ranka in the above postÉ It`s more that he thinks he`s the best pilot, compared to others in his class.. and that`s why Mikhail had to beat the ego down to a reasonable size during training, lest it get others killed. And Brera`s shown that he is at least as capable, if not more so, than Alto… even without the gross advantages given to him by the neural-link controls and the VF-27`s greater acceleration and performance.

    That`s where the Guld and Isamu reference comes in – Isamu thinks he`s a better pilot than Guld, but the YF-21`s greater performance profile and mind-linked controls helped him outperform the YF-19 in almost all scenarios… and also led to the `accident` which had Isamu in hospital for a while. The only reason Guld resented Isamu was because their childhood friendship was ruined by the near-rape of Myung that Guld blamed Isamu for. Isamu`s beef with Guld was more due to the piloting thing than the near-rape, since he remembered what had happened.

    Remember that Guld was, for the most part, cold and calculating compared to Isamu`s hot-headed and hot-blooded nature… a pair of personality types which find their parallels in Brera and Alto.

    Also forgive the oddness of the posts with regards to the slashes and question marks turning into é and É – Google Chrome apparently has some issues.

    Reply
13. Haesslich
    Posted September 3, 2008 at 12:59 am | Permalink

    Ah… that fixed it. I think? Yeah, it did. Stupid encoding issues. I guess that’s why they call this ‘beta’ software.

    And the ‘mind-linked controls helped Guld outperform Isamu in his YF-19 in almost all situations’ even. Alto doesn’t take kindly to being treated as a ‘lesser’ pilot, which is why he protested against being left behind to guard the rear of the formation in Episode 7, why he tried so hard to rescue Ranka in Episode 14 only to get shown up by Brera, and why he was so eager to show he was ‘top dog’ to Brera later… only to get taken down in two seconds by our favorite white-haired, half-naked cyborg who isn’t Grace, alas. His pride was on the line each time (like Isamu’s), and he kept getting bested. This was only the latest incident, and Brera’s superior smirk couldn’t have helped things any.

    Reply
14. Crusader
    Posted September 3, 2008 at 1:30 am | Permalink

    You never mentioned Alto-hime competing for Ranka, sorry about that it was just an observation that unlike Guld and Ismau that the Brera Vs. Alto-hime rivalry has no romantic subtext. I didn’t intend to put words in your mouth, it was just an observation considering how it served as a major driving force between the two when they locked horns.

    Alto-hime had his share of ego problems, but after being battered and bruised and having a falling out with his wingmates I think hime has at least learned to work as part of a team. I don’t think Alto is that bad of a pilot considering he actually got on Brera’s six on Galia 4. For the most part I think while Alto is about as ill tempered and hot blooded as Isamu that hime knows deep down that he’s not he best he even gets all teary when one of his comrades gets shot down, and in the last clash with Brera Alto was solemnly looking at his damaged VF-25 in episode 16 I think. So I think that unlike Isamu Alto-hime at least came to the conclusion that he was not the best and certainly was inferior to Brera, hime may not like it but I think deep down he knows that he’s not the best.

    Alto can acknowledge superior pilots He did not seem to angry that Ozma could go faster with an armor pack than he could with a super pack. Alto- might want to be counted among the best but I suspect that its more due to the fact Brera kept picking on Alto that really got under his skin if Brera wasn’t shooting at hime all the time and just remained a good pilot then there is little reason for Alto not to show Brera the same respect he has for Ozma, Canaria, and Klein. Alto looked might impressed when he first laid eyes on that VF-27. Only after it became hostile did Alto start getting angry at it. In episode 7 he did not want to be treated as the rookie and was eager to prove himself like most guys who get out of boot are. In episode 14 I don’t think that it was so much as Alto wanted to be top dog, but rather that Brera was stealing his accomplishments, sort of like kill stealing in the old gun fighter days when a superior officer could tell a subordinate to break off so he could get an easy kill. Notice how Alto was not even raging at Brera after he wasted the queen. If any thing Alto was quite satisfied with having killed the biggest bug and went on to kill more bugs. Alto is not above working as a team to get things done hence why he wasn’t raging at Sheryl and Mikhail for offering their help in getting Ranka. Alto is not glory hound, but like many pilots you just don’t steal a man’s kills. Moreover Brera has always gotten a pot shot off him more often than not, and I can understand how Alto is not happy with Brera because while Brera gets a free pass at damaging his precious VF-25 there is nothing Alto can do about it.

    Brera seems to dislike just about every one and he does like to play with his victims a bit too much. Brera’s no Guld but he’s pretty darn close if only due to the ice demeanor and his love for Ranka. If Brera has one fault it’s that he gets cocky, Klein nearly dinged him and Alto blasted off his leg.

    So how is Google Chrome working out overall for you?

    Reply
15. skoll
    Posted September 3, 2008 at 6:33 am | Permalink

    @ Crusader

    I’m not so sure that Ranka’s age is necessarily a justifiable factor in her actions and mindsets, given the apparent maturity of Ranka’s peers. Alto, Michel, and Luca are/were all remarkably mature for their age, possibly given to their military (or should I say ‘security’) careers.

    Reply
16. Haesslich
    Posted September 3, 2008 at 5:46 pm | Permalink

    Chrome is… well, it has issues. Privacy issues, primarily – read the fine print, or see this CNET article about the EULA and the privacy problems. I’m on a backup machine which doesn’t touch my banking data and the Firefox install I imported doesn’t have anything important, data-wise.

    http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10031661-56.html?tag=txt
    http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10030522-56.html

    And why Alto can see that Brera’s a superior pilot, it still irritates him – that expresses itself in his ‘showoff’ nature, first during the final test in Episode 6 as well as the way he re-entered the battle in 14 with an Ozma-like flourish. By the way, the first time he saw the VF-27, it shot at him… so he’s always had some irritation towards that fighter, which wasn’t helped by its pilot alternately saving his ass or beating it on several occasions.

    Guld’s primary beef with Isamu was Myung’s near-rape, while Isamu’s wasn’t about that as much as how their friendship had gone south and they were professional rivals… and the former had the better machine and likely better skills to go with it. That ate at Isamu somewhat, which expressed itself in the fight after his own crash, as well as the way they argued about lunches while shooting missiles at each other.

    This is a great contrast to the cooler-headed Brera, who has his flashes of sentimentality but for the most part is a pilot who is fairly detached in most things… except Ranka. Plus, he does tend to ride everyone because he knows more about the Vajra than they.. which doesn’t help Alto’s attitude any, either.

    Skoll: Crusader, if I’m reading it correctly, was saying what you were – that Ranka’s age isn’t a justification for how she’s acting, given that in a place where coddling is the exception than the rule, children are expected to take on greater duties at an earlier age… especially since the average age of the population REALLY took a dive during the Macross era (Earth’s nuking left only a few old people on the SDF Macross; most everyone else who survived to repopulate were younger people in military or scientific installations off-Earth or were fast-grown clones).

    So, to sum up, she acts much younger than her age and the subsequent traumas of remembering her past, if she doesn’t go catatonic again, will help age her mentally as she learns to cope with it.

    Reply
17. Crusader
    Posted September 3, 2008 at 7:57 pm | Permalink

    Well I am glad I side step trying out Chrome…

    While I agree that Alto was showing off in his final test in episode four given how just about every one including Machida of Diamond Force has been indulging in Valkyrie theatrics I don’t think Alto was showing off as much in 14 when he first got his hands on an armor pack.

    Yeah Ranka acts younger than her age implies and right now every one has to step up in this time of crisis. This is no time to be a kid every one is going have to pitch in and own up if they are going to get through the last Vajra attack. Maturity isn’t about age, but about out look.

    Reply
18. Haesslich
    Posted September 3, 2008 at 10:09 pm | Permalink

    By the way, you may want to look at Anime Blog ga Arimasu again. Just saying.

    Oh, and Google’s backpeddling on owning anything you type. They still own everything searched in the Omnibox though. It also has issues with some pages, when they can’t identify Chrome – they’re blocking me right now, while loading fine in Firefox.

    http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10031703-56.html?tag=newsLeadStoriesArea.0
    http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10032047-56.html?tag=newsLeadStoriesArea.0

    Also, when going to CNet, I had some popups hijack the browser to another page, despite the popup blocker being on.

    And Alto DOES tend to be a bit of a showman when it comes to his fighter, in contrast to the more businesslike Mikhail (RIP) and the ‘goes for the gusto’ Klein. Brera, on the other hand, brings a workmanlike attitude towards his fighting, which is why he ends up being able to talk on and on about the Vajra even as he’s blowing them away with his big cannon.

    As for maturity… like I said earlier, Ranka’s been spoiled. Given that this is a frontier society (put not intended) where things aren’t so civilized that they can coddle children and that young people tend to marry earlier and get jobs/careers that much sooner – and more so during wartime – Ranka’s attitude and behavior to this point have been sub-standard. She’ll be lucky to ever get a gig again, with how she pissed on her public in 20 and 21. As I said, even Minmei went on with the show after having a violent fight with Kaifun that ended with her walking home only to head to the gig the next day in another city.

    But hey – at least Ranka finally ASKED Alto something personal, and then admitted her feelings… even if she was selfish and somewhat unsympathetic to him or everyone else through most of the episode. Going from “MIKHAIL!” in 20 to “I don’t want to sing anymore” and wondering why Alto wanted to shoot a Vajra (he can’t tell Ai-kun from anyone else, and has shown his Vajra-hate before this)… wasn’t so good.

    Reply
19. Crusader
    Posted September 3, 2008 at 10:51 pm | Permalink

    Just got back from there.

    Thanks for the updates on chrome, I’ll probably wait until this things sorts itself out before jumping on the Chrome wagon.

    I don’t think Brera is cool and workmanlike all the time, he has shown a mean streak and seems to damage Alto-hime’s VF-25 just for kicks sometimes. Brera was anything but workmanlike when he was tasked with destroying that nest in episode 9.

    While Frontier was a paradise Ranka’s behavior might have been tolerable but not after these events. Since Ranka put herself on the Brera bus at least she might have a chance to grow up. Worse case scenario she just latches herself onto Brera and by extension Grace. It’s still somewhat hard to believe that it has come to this with Ranka. episode 12 was supposed to be the turning point for Ranka, but it ended up being a lot of smoke and mirrors. I am beginning to believe that perhaps the most accurate allegory for this competition for Alto-hime was between a DYRL Minmei and the SDF Macross Minmei. Still when the adults are gone then kids get drafted into positions of responsibility whether they like it or not.

    While I think that in order to avoid retreading old ground with this love triangle that the only two choices Kawamori really had left was to either make Alto-hime in love with his VF-25 and be dullard at this love thing, or turn Alto-hime into a dithering moron who openly says he cannot decide and drones on about how he loves both of them to varying degrees. Considering how hated most male harem leads are, being what hime is, was preferable to him becoming something like Takayuki from Kimi Nozo.

    I was about to do a post on love triangles a bit later after having watch Peach Girl, perhaps it will be up to snuff, but suffice to say Kawamori could either retread old ground, make Alto-hime what he is, or make Alto’s character more along the lines of the generic harem lead. The problem with having a boy be at the pivot of a love triangle is that he will be getting a lot more flak for his indecision than his ignorance or in Alto’s case love of his pilot bride (VF-25) which will never leave hiim. At least Kawamori gave Alto-hime the perfect excuse for being especially thick when it comes to women, with the oyama schtick. All his life Alto has been playing the idealized role of women without actually having an real experience with them. I bet as far as Alto is concerned his only perception of love is what he has seen in kabuki, and on Frontier it seems that houses of ill-repute are not places where men find their beloveds.

    If nothing else since Alto is thick it served to conceal the resolution of the triangle and really does further differentiate Ranka from Sheryl. Sheryl is actively in pursuit, Ranka wanted to be pursued, thus we have soemthing akin to DYRL Minmei vs SDF Minmei.

    Reply
20. Haesslich
    Posted September 3, 2008 at 11:23 pm | Permalink

    Word to the wise – Chrome is most definitely a beta, and I’ve never been more glad to be a paranoid user until I tried it.

    Here’s hoping whatever memory trauma or whatever other bad experiences she may encounter in the future help Ranka grow up a bit more. At least she can develop as a character. At this stage, Alto’s definitely not playing along with her game… and that’s certainly upset her, since Brera HAS and is actively indulging her (due to brotherly concert or Grace’s orders).

    And didn’t I say something about Alto’s growing up as a girl maybe confusing him?

    Reply
21. Crusader
    Posted September 3, 2008 at 11:50 pm | Permalink

    Fear they say is the beginning of wisdom.

    Grace has been building up Brera as Ranka’s prince I think that Ranka is in serious danger of coming out of this even more spoiled than before since Brera is the only other person who can talk to her. I hope Ranka learns from this, if it takes huge misstep for her to learn then so be it. Sad to see that it had to come to this.

    Indeed you have mentioned that Alto-hime being rasied as girl would cause problmes, however what is more intriguing is that since Alto-hime has only known about love through a kabuki lens the possibilities are shall we say interesting… Think for a moment what most Japanese Romances of the period were, love did not occur between husband and wife and from what I gather since Sakura-hime Azuma Bunsho was hime’s greatest act if that is what Alto-hime thinks is courtship and love then Sheryl is going to be in for a shock. Unless of course Alto-hime falls back on being Sakura-hime in which case it would still be weird.

    Reply
22. Haesslich
    Posted September 4, 2008 at 12:01 am | Permalink

    And I meant it was YOUR turn to reply there, not mine.

    As for Alto? Well, I guess Sheryl getting Alto to act one more time would be a good thing – especially since Yasaburo seems to have dragged her home to help him bring Alto back into the actor’s fold for at least one more performance.

    Reply
23. random hero
    Posted September 4, 2008 at 12:01 am | Permalink

    i’m disapointed in ranka, i thought she had potential and was a altoXranka fan, but it has become clear that she A) doesn’t think, and acts purely on whims and emotions and B) is living in a fantasy world, and C) is very selfish, very apparent where she was having a case of the poor me’s after having a disagreement with her adoptive brother and michael in episode 5, doing the same again in the middle of a battle and then again later on during a funeral, admittedly some of that is ozma’s fault as he gave her a very sheltered upbringing, but she had time to adjust to reality and instead she chose to reject it in favour of living a dream.

    now that i think about it, this first became apparent when she entered the miss macross contest without thinking about any possible rammifications it would have later on, to quote ranka when ozma argues with her about her suspension “i didn’t think of that, i just wanted to sing!” pretty weak excuse considering ozma gave her a roof over her head, food, clothes and was trying to get her the best education possible, on HIS dime, and she practically squandered it, i thought she would grow up a bit, looks like i was wrong

    Reply
24. Crusader
    Posted September 4, 2008 at 12:32 am | Permalink

    @Haesslich
    Righto done.

    I hope Yasaburo’s hard work does not go unrewarded even if it will be Alto’s last time on stage. Besides I don’t think Sheryl is going to waste such an opportunity when it happens.

    Just for the record I think Alto-hime does have some attachments to both Sheryl and Ranka. At the very least hime is willing to put up with thier bullshit. Only Rnaka’s recent bullshit has included Brera beatings, while Sheryl at least is no longer overtly bullying Alto-hime or causing that much of a ruckus. I don’t know for a guy who might not love either of them he certainly is willing to put up with a lot by hanging around them. Though the Brera beatings have been insufferable Alto has eaten humble pie and actually risked his job for Sheryl that one time he brought her to his quarters. Isn’t loving some one also include putting up with them too? If so then I guess we can count Alto’s continual tolerance of Sheryl and Ranka’s antics as a form of attachment.

    @random hero
    I hear that many of us who believed that Ranka would not be the Minmei of this series are just aghast at how Ranka has been acting for the last two eps.

    Reply
25. Shin
    Posted September 4, 2008 at 8:55 am | Permalink

    The only thing I enjoyed about this episode was the new insert song; the confession came too late and the damage has already been done. I guess I can only hope to look forward to that space comedy spinoff involving the trio that Kabitzin mentioned.

    Reply
26. Crusader
    Posted September 4, 2008 at 12:11 pm | Permalink

    @Shin
    Indeed it seems a little late for Ranka to start developing again, but better late than never I suppose. The insert song was still great.

    Reply
27. Haesslich
    Posted September 4, 2008 at 7:43 pm | Permalink

    Ep 22 is out. I’m starting to feel like it’s Gundam SEED Destiny all over again… and that my prediction that Alto’s more likely to shoot AT Ranka than rescue her is going to be coming true, given what happened.

    Enjoy things while they last, Chairman Dullindal. Oh, and my favorite cyborg’s being… well, you’ll see.

    Reply
28. Crusader
    Posted September 4, 2008 at 8:48 pm | Permalink

    Aww give Kawamori more credit…
    Show ▼

    Valkyrie pilot Grace is smexy. :3

    That alone makes it better than GSD. Also because they didn’t go shopping.

    Reply
29. Haesslich
    Posted September 4, 2008 at 9:14 pm | Permalink

    Yeah, I know what you mean.

    Show ▼

    Valkyrie-pilot Grace is sexy-evil, especially when she fondles her breasts in that tight, tight pilot suit. And she has a GOLD VF-27, as well. Yes, the lady travels in style. Besides, this series already had Bobby dragging Cathy and the girls out shopping during that pre-fold sale.

    Sheryl’s breasts bring hope and dreams; Grace’s augmented cyborg bust brings peace… through POWER!

    I still want to see if Leon orders Alto to shoot Ranka down or not – just to see if Alto struggles with his Vajra hate, or goes the Shinn route and says ‘screw you, bitch, you’re going down’. Or if he’ll shoot at Brera and/or the Vajra with the MDE.

    Because, at this point, Alto’s apparently made his choice with regards to whether he should chase after Ranka to rescue her or not.

    Reply
30. Crusader
    Posted September 4, 2008 at 9:32 pm | Permalink

    I for one welcome this development.

    Show ▼

    Maybe my raw is shitty but it could still be one of those brown ones Brera was dragging along. Gold would be fabulous though, even more so if Grace can kick some real ass with it. As evil as Grace is being I just love her, she far superior to that Harry Ord clone, Leon. Grace, making the impossible possible, good gawd I can’t believe the milquetoast manager turned out to be one of my favorite villains this year. Great job Ranka you just gave the big bad everything she wanted…

    My current theory is that both Luca and Alto stayed for their loves since snatching Sheryl and Nanase in their current state might end up doing more harm than help. Since Klan has stayed behind too, probably to look after Mikhail’s buddies that Alto won’t go Shinn. Hime might just snatch Sheryl and go back to Quarter, besides I am sure Richard Bilrer has a few plans for his kabuki employee, so does Klein. I have faith in Klein and Kawamori’s troll-fu I bet the crazy old coot is going to troll Fukuda.

    I am more than certain that Kawamori isn’t going to pull a fucking Canvas 2, though I am preparing for the Ranka fan rage. Alto-hime made the right choice though, hopefully Alto-hime will kill both Brera and Ai-kun. Ranka can’t die for since she’s no Guld.

    Reply
31. Haesslich
    Posted September 4, 2008 at 9:41 pm | Permalink

    Show ▼

    Problem there is that Ranka’s travelling with Brera, so… well, I don’t see her suddenly being ejected into space without significant trauma, should Brera decide to ditch her for whatever reason. Especially if Alto or Luca are trying to kill him.

    And for some reason, I -still- think of Grace as being a hench-woman of Kain… peace… through POWER. Especially with that last scene and what she was doing. Hell, I’m hoping she kills Leon or betrays him. I wouldn’t begrudge her escaping after tossing Leon to the sharks. That, and crazy smart villains usually deserve a second chance to come back in a sequel for round two.

    Or maybe I’m just fond of how she’s fondling her breasts in that pilot suit. Kikoku Inoue as an evil bitch is just sheer delight.

    I STILL want to see Alto get some ‘bad’ orders, just to see if he’ll carry them out. He may not… but then again, if his hate is strong enough, maybe we’ll get to see his Anakin side for an episode. Or maybe shota boy will do the honors and try to wax her.

    Reply
32. Crusader
    Posted September 4, 2008 at 9:52 pm | Permalink

    I am sure Klein or Sheryl will keep Alto-hime well behaved…

    Show ▼

    At most I can see Alto unloading all his ammo and missing Ranka in a fit of rage and telling her to leave. In all probability hime will eventually forgive since Kawamori isn’t the kind of guy to make two disparate races mortal enemies, still holding out for a conclusive rejection though, that would make Ranka pay the piper so Ranka would not have out run the “no” hime was about to give her.

    I agree Grace must give Leon a good kick in the balls before she leaves, he did try to kill her so he must not go unpunished…Grace is her own woman I won’t have it any other way. Having Kikouku Inoue around as Grace at least makes up for her lack to time on Code Geass, that or being Grace was more fun than being Cecile.

    Grace fondling herself brings “so moe I died” and “Yes Your Highness!” Still Grace is a top contender for Villain of the Year.

    Reply
33. Haesslich
    Posted September 4, 2008 at 10:00 pm | Permalink

    Klein may not have a choice, and Sheryl may not be along for the mission in question. Hell, Klein may be dead by that point.

    Show ▼

    If she gets killed by Vajra (Klein), or Alto discovers that the V-type disease is gotten from Vajra, I suspect he’ll be more than ready to drop the dimension eater on Ranka’s planet, which means that either Brera’ll have to try to kill Alto, or else Alto’ll be dropping a bomb on Ranka’s head and Ozma and company have to fight him, like in VF-X2 where the hero has to choose betewen defecting to the ‘anti-UN Spacy’ (which wasn’t), or staying with the UN Spacy (whose commander was actually a member of the anti-UN Spacy forces). Alto’s made the choice that Aegis didn’t… and I’m wondering if he’ll get a second chance to defect or if he’ll create a great tragedy and wonder where he went wrong. Hell, I’d be happy if Grace shot Alto down so he had to switch planes… or to see Grace stroll into the Frontier and aim the particle cannon at Alto’s office and wave before she shot him.

    Besides, if Alto doesn’t try to kill Ranka, I’m sure Leon’s ready to do so now with what happened to Nanase and how he’s blaming Ranka for running off and leaving a friend who adored her in a coma without so much as a good-bye.

    Grace fondling herself isn’t moe – just sexy. It could’ve been sexier, but they had limits to work with. I’m half-expecting a doujin of Grace in that suit and a VF-27.

    Besides, if Klein dies at Vajra hands, and Ranka argues for peace… I just want to see if he struggles with it, or if he surrenders to his hate. Just to show how little Ranka knew him, or to force other peoples’ hands.

    Reply
34. Crusader
    Posted September 4, 2008 at 10:22 pm | Permalink

    Sheryl has other ways of making hime behave, besides he has few people left to talk to now.

    Show ▼

    Even if Klein some how dies I think that since she and Sheryl share the same out look on life that Alto will eventually have to deal with the grief. It seems Klein is still in mourning after what happened while Alto and Luca are still in rage mode. Since Alto-hime is the titular protagonist I doubt that Alto will make the wrong choice in the end, if only because Kawamori has never rolled that way. Since Ranka and Sheryl got second chances I am sure Alto-hime will get his to do things right.

    I hope Luca is the last to defect since he has probably the biggest issue with Ranka right now given how Nanase was abandoned by her so called best friend.

    VF-27 Pilot Grace will be flying in the dreams of Macross fans for years to come. I am sure you will get your doujin.

    I just hope Klein survives to see the end it would be a shame if she died, maybe in that regard she’s the Claudia of this series. Still love how Bobby gave poor Cathy a hug.

    Reply
35. Haesslich
    Posted September 4, 2008 at 10:38 pm | Permalink

    Show ▼

    Cathy makes Ozma happy, which makes Bobby happy. Plus, she’s a member of the Quarter’s family now, which makes her his family. Of course he’ll hug her (and Ozma) after finding them alive.

    Actually, I’d be happy if Alto decides to go it alone in the end and not depend or go for either girl… or for Klein, who was my early pick. He seems a bit too thick, or reluctant, to pick a girl right now. Or to really depend on one for anything at all – much less for emotional support. He’s willing to provide it… but seems to see it as a one-way street after his mother’s death. He really doesn’t want to get hurt again.

    Hime seems too independent, or wants to be, to depend on anyone’s advice. He may listen to it, but he only internalizes it if it has meaning to him.

    Reply
36. Crusader
    Posted September 4, 2008 at 10:50 pm | Permalink

    Well that’s one way hime is different from Ranka

    Show ▼

    Yeah I know but it was rewarding to see how far Cathy has come from the first time she stepped onto Quarter. Admittedly she’ also grown more than Ranka.

    It’s Macross so I am sure Kawamori is not about to change things up too much by having Alto-hime go at it alone. Given how at least Alto listens to Klein and Sheryl maybe he will cool his jets sooner. I would not say hime is dependent but rather he listens to what they have to say heck Alto was almost quoting Sheryl verbatim when he told Ozma that he would be master of his own fate. To date not once has Alto ever not listend to what Klein has to say, it’s probably a Meltran thing.

    Conversely while hime might not want to hurt again at least it prompted an answer for Sheryl. All this time i suspect hime thought that he had all the time in the world to be tsun tsun with Sheryl. When faced with losing something or someone he really cares about hime made a stand. I am sure that he will not go back on his choice, one because that would mean Ranka is getting together with a jerk and would be inconsistent with the Alto we know, and second because for once hime chose to leave his VF-25 for Sheryl. Guess Ranka just wasn’t that important. Still I’d like to know what message Cathy sent out to everyone.

    Reply
37. Haesslich
    Posted September 4, 2008 at 11:24 pm | Permalink

    Whatever it was, it probably wasn’t “Help! I’m going to killed! – Meer”

    Reply
38. Crusader
    Posted September 5, 2008 at 12:10 am | Permalink

    Hehe, I hear that. Well hopefully we can get a more clear picture once subs come out.

    Reply