Macross Frontier 04, Kyun kyun! Kyun kyun!
April 27th, 2008 by Shirukii
ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA
Macross Frontier lends itself surprisingly well to the creation of awesome gifs.
As for the actual episode itself, not bad, but not particularly good either. The Miss Macross Frontier competition was much shallower than I thought it would be and the inner workings of the SMS were pretty dull as well. The combined Ranka concert scene and Alto mock battle was a nice combo.
Ranka gets a message on her…uh…cell phone (?) notifying her of her qualification for the Miss Macross Frontier competition, celebrating with a high pitched squeal of joy along with coworker Nanase.
After work she relays the message to Alto, who is busy going through the SMS’s training regime to whip him into shape for battle. Alto’s skills as a pilot are already quite good so Mikhail makes things a little more interesting by cranking up the difficulty on the combat simulator to Nightmare Modo, just to give the pride of the new recruit a bit of a beating.
Alto is worked like a dog through his training period, not only having to deal with the insane drills but also being put through some hazing by the rest of the SMS. Thankfully, Ranka gives Alto something to look forward to, inviting to come see her in the Miss Macross Frontier competition that Sunday, which unfortunately overlaps with the timeslot Ozma sets for Alto’s final test.
Ranka is going through a bit of hazing herself, new to the world of beauty competitions, she gets pushed around by the veterans. However, a confirmation from Alto that he’ll be watching and a quick pep talk from Sheryl gets her spirits back up in no time. Unfortunately, despite staying for the opening ceremonies, Alto has to take off soon after the contest begins, called out by the SMS for his final initiation test.
When it’s Ranka’s turn on stage, her nervous is painfully apparent and a quick glance out into the crowd to fins Alto missing doesn’t help much in that regard. The judges, which consist of Sheryl, Kathy, Leon and Alto’s father.
Meanwhile, Alto is determined to finish his final training exercise off quickly and run back to catch the end of the contest. The test is a mock battle against the SMS’s Pixie Squadron, comprised of three Quaedlunn-Rau powered armor fighters in the M217 asteroid cluster, an old Zentradi battle field, having previously scouted the area, the Pixie Squadron is at a territorial advantage.
As Ranka takes stage and shows off her greatest asset, her singing, Alto proceeds through the mock battle, displaying great potential, managing to take down one of the Pixie Squadron members and decently fend off their captain. However, the battle takes an odd turn when a Code Victor is issued, a vajra is in the area.
Despite being told to retreat, with nothing but paint rounds on them, a conversation Alto had with Ozma about the vajra being responsible for the destruction of Ranka’s home colony sends him into a blind attack. The Pixie Squadron’s leader was just on a reconnaissance mission and has live rounds, so she engages the vajra, managing to crack its outer shell, but taking immobilizing damage in the process. Alto finishes the job, retrieving a weapon from a downed Zentradi fighter he saw floating around earlier, and putting a shot through the crack.
After being lectured by Ozma about the value of the SMS’s equipment, Alto’s fighter having been totaled in the resulting vajra explosion, he meets the leader of the Pixie Squadron in person. Klein Klan, a Zentradi with an air of confidence and maturity who praises Alto’s battle senses but thinks he needs a bit more practice to control his recklessness.
Afterwards, everyone meets up at Nyan Nyan’s to celebrate Alto’s official recruitment into the squadron. The Pixie Squadron is there too, accompanied by a short blue haired loli who congratulates Alto and reminds him to work hard from now on. Luca explains that the shorty is actually Lieutenant Klan, who becomes both physically and mentally childish when she’s in her micronized state, prone to teasing by Mikhail.
As Klan and Mikhail horse around the restaurant, the results from the Miss Macross Frontier contest are replayed on a nearby TV, Ranka having to relive her defeat, which she saw coming right from the outset anyways. But nevertheless, she congratulates Alto on his acceptance into the SMS, Alto returning the sentiment by telling her to keep striving towards her dreams.
And the episode ends with a random Alto-Sheryl encounter as he heads to school.
Thoughts
Not much to talk about in terms of plot with this episode, very little happened in that area. Alto’s inauguration into the SMS is all wrapped up, which means that he’s probably the best pilot on the team now thanks to plot armor, all the more so since he was likened to Ozma stylistically.
I’m angered about the abrupt beginning and end of the Miss Macross Frontier contest though, I thought it would be a plot and character exposition device on Ranka’s side that would last the better part of the series, but it’s already over. And we come out of it as clueless as we went in, with nothing to show aside from the fact that Ranka’s endearing qualities include her latent ditzy cuteness and singing ability, but we already knew that. And what was up with the random introduction of Alto’s father, not to mention his whole visual fantasy about Alto in a kimono.
On that note. Japan, you have to stop this. We get it, Alto’s a rather explicit trap, he possesses feminine charm and long silky hair along with the ability to kick ass in a mech. Congratulations, you have confused my sexuality once again, can we please move on ;_;?
I found myself oddly drawn to Sheryl in this episode, as she proved herself to be more than a self-important arrogant diva. She showed genuine concern for Ranka, throwing her some words of support in her time of need, but didn’t abuse her power in the judging position to skew the odds. Also, the more time she spends on screen, the more I find myself liking her character design, albeit that it’s quite unrealistic for someone who’s supposed to be 17. Her hair in particular brings back fond memories of Gurren Lagann’s Nia, while doing away with whole cloud motif.
I feel pretty, oh so pretty, I feel pretty and witty, etc etc
~ Shirukii ~
16 Responses to “Macross Frontier 04, Kyun kyun! Kyun kyun!”
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“Congratulations, you have confused my sexuality once again, can we please move on ;_;?”
This shall be held against you for ages to come!!11!onewon!!1!
You forgot the rest of that song. ;)
I was expecting more of the Miss Macross competition myself, but I guess they didn’t want to be accused of being a complete knockoff of the original series, or the CGI was cheaper - probably both. It was more Alto’s episode than Ranka’s as a result, especially with everyone (including our makeup artist, Lt Bobby) talking about how cute be was as he was so earnest in his efforts.
Sheryl still reminds me of Misa due to her professionalism and basic niceness even if next week’s preview promises a return to drama. They’ve also set up the father plot point, Klein as a comedy/fanservice vehicle, and made Ranka into Alto’s reason to pilot. But i love Klein - anyone who wants to throttle Mikhail is OK in my books. ;)
One thing to note: kabuki has made such an impact on his life that he’ll strike poses in combat that even Lt Bobby notices their femininity.
a nice episode this one is. fan service, humour and alto defeated his first vajra. ^^
Well you might not have to worry about Alto being the best. As many a Macross veteran has lectured me, the lead is generally NOT the best. It’s the one with the dark blue mech followed by or equaled to the red mecha. In this case Michel and Klan.
Shirukii is insufficiently broken, MOAR Alto-hime!
I actually like how they keep ribbing Alto-hime for being girly, it be sad if they all of sudden forgot about how womanly he looks. Who knows may be Alto-hims’ girlish looks might prove useful in infiltrating enemy meltrandi installations or driving zentradi MAD. Besides after dusting off the yuri goggles this is just fine by me.
In a way I am sort of glad that Ranka lost since an easy vicotry would have meant that there were two songstresses and that might not have ended well. In any case maybe Ranka will spend more time under the tutelage of Sheryl. Meaning possibly some unintentional yuri…
Klein-sama is awesome!
LOL Shugo Chara episode 25, they killed one of my favorite character.
IT IS A TRAP!!! Nagehiko?! WHAT?!
>>”I found myself oddly drawn to Sheryl ”
I believed many people do.
Crap. Shows me for not using a keyboard to type.
Crusader: I think it’s because they don’t want to follow the original Macross too closely, so they decided to do things this way - and of course, because we’ve already got Sheryl as a major pop idol on ship (for now). Sheryl’s grown on me the past few episodes, since she doesn’t just get to be a bitch… but shows the hard-working, and fun sides of her character.
Yeah, that is what I like about Sheryl too, and she has the right to be confident since she has certainly earned it. SMS needs to do some recon to upgrade their weapons, considering the missile spam does nothing to the Vajra.
Alto is not female.
Alto is a MAN. A MANLY MAN. Who just happens to feel pretty.
Kabitz: Normal missle spam not working? Then it’s time to move on to the NUKE-TIPPED MISSLES.
@ PyrrhusOnline: I thought I had already pre-established the fact that I’d hit most traps like the angry fist of god. As long as they’re wearing a skirt at the time it’s awwwright.
@ Haesselich: Yea, I figured that my declaration of lust for Alto made me gay enough, I didn’t need to explicitly state it via song and dance.
I see the parallels between Sheryl and Misa Misa, but I’m going to have to say the former is leagues above since she’s not voiced by Hirano Aya.
@ gordon: Indeed, I hope there are more like it to come, now if only they could straighten out the animation issues.
@ Square: Mikhail does seem to be pretty good, sniping that vajra from a ways away in episode 2. I’ll keep that in mind.
@ Crusader: True enough, I suppose it’s more realistic that they rag on him for being so girl like, as opposed to the fact being accepted blindly like in many other series featuring a feminine bishie lead.
Good point on Ranka going under Sheryl’s wing as a result of her loss, though the tension that builds up between the two as a result of Alto may break that bond.
@ Siva: Haha, I knew a loooong time ago that Nadeshiko was a trap, Hinano mentioned it on her blog when the series was just starting, lol.
@ Kabitzin: I wonder why they bother doing it at all, point concentrated laser beams seem to do much better than wide area asplosions.
@ DrmChsr0: A manly man who, in a dress, any other man would want to bone in an instant.
Shirukii: I meant Misa Hayase from the original Macross. Except, y’know, recast as a pop idol. A bit bitchy when you first meet her and she’s busy and stressed, but an utter professional who is actually a rather nice person. Who, I will note, was not voiced by Aya Hirano who was busy being born at the time. ;)
I see…
Having not watched any of the Macross series prior to Frontier, I had no clue. Thanks for the info tidbit.
Shirukii: Wiki it. Basically, take Sheryl and make her a stiff military officer whose lovelife was a casualty of war and who fights constantly with the main character when she first meets him before they find themselves growing closer.
Now… does that sound familiar? ;)
Speaking of Klein..
http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/238968/blue_hair-klan_klein-long_hair-macross-macross_fro
… so cute. Whoever came up with this was inspired.
Nooo… I am too late!
Anyway, I am getting the same vibes as Hasselich that Sheryl is like the new Misa.