Macross Frontier Part 2 Episodes 6-10

As Alto completes his training and officially joins the ranks of the SMS, the Frontier receives an SOS from the Macross Galaxy fleet.  Alto and his teammates fly into the face of danger itself as they face a horde of Vajra, leading to a very close and personal encounter.  Meanwhile, Ranka’s burgeoning singing career begins to take off while Sheryls finds her fate uncertain after her home fleets attack.  As the fleet becomes fully aware of the enemy they now face, Alto, Sheryl and Ranka’s relationship continues to grow both stronger and more confusing, especially when the three find themselves on a film project detailing the events of a long lost conflict just before the Zentradi War.

I said it plenty of times last week and I mean it now more than ever, it is soooooo good to be watching a properly done Macross sequel.  Guess that also means that last weeks premiere wasn’t a fluke as Week Two ups the stakes, delves deeper into some of the supporting cast, and even adds a couple of new layers to the mystery of the Vajra.  Heck we even got a surprise return to Macross Zero of all things…and kinda made me wish Macross Zero had Alto and Ranka as the main characters there as well.  Still, wouldn’t say everything was perfect this week but we’ll get to those negatives after some positives, let’s go.
 
I’ll start with the tie in to Macross Zero.  Much like with Mylene and Basara doing a Minmei documentary, Alto and Ranka ended up being tapped to play Shin Kudo and Mao in a film about the incident detailed in the Macross prequel.  I’m both surprised and not surprised by Zero being referenced here mostly because, as I said before, Studio Nue has been the home studio of the Macross franchise and Macross Zero was made well before Frontier.  However, the actual story of Zero felt kinda insignificant given what happens to Earth in OG Macross.  Yet Frontier was at the very least able to confirm that Mao at least survived the Zentradi War and even became a Doctor as well. Considering she was one of the best characters in Zero, it’s good to see Mao had some kind of future (or still does, she could still be alive maybe).  Also Macross Plus shoutout with the monster that almost killed Ranka apparently hailing from Planet Eden.
 
It isnt lost on me the significance of having Ranka play Mao in the Bird Human movie.  While Mao was the far more fun and interesting of Shin’s two love interests, Shin and Sara ended up “romantically involved” (I use parenthesis because I was not a fan of Sara at all and you can check out my Macross Zero review from a year ago right here for why: http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2024/03/macross-zero.html).  Ranka is falling behind in the war for Alto’s heart, especially after that kiss he and Sheryl shared.  But Ranka is using that as fuel to try and reach Sheryl’s level and maybe even win Alto’s affections.  I do feel for Ranka cause she’s a very nice girl with a lot of heart and talent.  Sheryl meanwhile does have the looks of a Goddess and some fun chemistry with Alto.  She also isn’t a terrible person as she is trying to help Ranka where she can and even steps aside when Ranka wants to try and make things work with her own voice.  Again, one of the best parts about Macross Frontier is that either girl is good for the main character and choosing between them is hard cause you don’t want the choice to hurt the other.
 
We also got to spend a little more time with some of the supporting cast, specifically Michel and Klan.  We learn about why Michel became a sniper and the sister he lost because of some pretty major circumstances that are pretty dark for a Macross series.  It’s amazing he’s still the easy going ladies man he is with that kind of baggage.  But whereas Alto has two possible romantic choices on his plate, Michel is oblivious to the one who clearly wants him, Klan.  Yeah these two are kind of being set up as the Max and Millia of this series, just with the Zentradi beauty already being an ally and childhood friend (that was a sweet moment seeing an image of Giant Klan as a kid acting as a swing for Michel.  Michel isnt wrong about him and Klan hooking up given how she looks when she Micloned (they still haven’t explained that).  But man Klan is a Goddess in Zentradi form.  Still I like how serious she is as a giant warrior but still shy as heck in smaller form.  Seriously, let’s fix her miclone problem so Michel can have some proper loving, huh?
 
The war with the Vajra intensified this week too and only got more complicated with the reveal of another faction involved.  We were introduced to Brera, who is able to pilot a super advanced Valkyrie because he’s also a Cyborg of sorts.  Actually that does feed into a possibility of where he’s from, maybe not so much the reasons of his mission to keep any intel on the Vajra out of the hands of the Frontier.  As to where he’s from, that might have something to do with Sheryl’s sexy manager, Grace.  She has cybernetic upgrades that originated from the Macross Galaxy fleet but are apparently illegal in the Frontier Fleet.  Curious how the laws of one fleet differ from another but that’s not the point.  Point is, we’ve seen Grace hacking into various systems to spy on the military’s engagements with the Vajra and honestly, if that’s not her digitized voice talking to Brera who else could it be?  It’s an extra layer of mystery keeping the potential antagonists of this series way more interesting than the lackluster and annoying Protodevlin from Macross 7.
 
What held this set back a little bit was some school shenanigans that felt lifted right out of Code Geass.  Some cute little Pokemon creature (Baby Vajra) accidentally steals a pair of Sheryl’s underwear and hilarity is supposed to ensue…and it’s just more annoying than anything else.  Even Sheryl dawning a flight exo skeleton and going on her own rampage feels out of place and silly compared to the more laid back and chill moments we’ve had with the cast when the Vajra aren’t attacking.  I’m also not feeling the need for Sheryl to become a student at Mihoshi Academy.  The idea of her becoming a pilot is both enticing and wrong.  Is it for spotlight or to make some kind of an extra difference with more than just her song…or does she just want to spend more time with Alto?  Gonna need more time examining this development and it better not be a one off notion either.
 
One last thing: MACROSS FRONTIER MADE THE MACROSS SOAR BABY!!!!! Yeah if it’s one thing the animation excels at, it’s bringing all of the fantastic action from the OG series into the 2000’s with flair and rule of cool.  Seeing the Quarter Macross battleship change during a full on charge to the Vajra mothership was jaw droppingly awesome, this is how a Macross is supposed to move.  The rest of the action was just as good with Alto and Berea’s dogfight with Michel running sniper support being the stand out action scene from this set.  Alto’s definitely getting better with his Valkyrie skills and it’s also nice to see Valkyrie’s being give close quarters weapons if they need to get up close and personal with an enemy.
 
Ignoring the High School comedy that came midway through, Macross Frontier’s second set of episodes stepped it up a notch with bigger action, more mystery, and more time with a cast of characters I cant help but want to see succeed and see more of.  Good thing we’ve still got a few more weeks left with this crew and their bad ass mecha.  Macross Frontier continues Next Monday right here over at the Gundam Anime Corner.