THAT Animeblog

88 Comments so far

1. Martin August 31st, 2008 3:39 am

   “Well Grace’s Aimo Re-mix does suck…”
   …And finally she seemed to listen! I swear the ‘Tori no Hito’ version is more effective on the battlefield, but eh. Aoi no Ether is a great tune so the second OST will be something to look forward to (especially since I prefer the second OP theme to the first). The music really fitted the dramatic turning point vibe this time. Great stuff.

   And so was Klan. She was fantastic in this episode – utterly badass and awesome. Dunno whether she could pilot Michel’s old plane while micronised but I’m certainly hoping things turn out well for her.

   I guess this is Ranka’s episode though so with her departure and Berserk Mode Klan there wasn’t much time for Sheryl. A shame really but now Ranka’s playing happy families with Brera and her pet Vajra the adults can get on with fighting the war instead. Honestly, who thought it was a good idea to place all the responsibility on a traumatised sixteen year old girl?

   As for that fold bomb, I swear the name is some sort of reference to the two A-bombs from 1945 – I could be reading too far into things but it wouldn’t be the first anime show to throw in a bit of anti-war social commentary…

2. Faris August 31st, 2008 3:43 am

   Anybody read Ender’s Game? For some reason all of this reminded me on that book. You know, in that book, humanity is in an all out space war with a hive-minded bug species. One thing that kept being said was, it’s survival instinct. Humanity’s survival is beyond anything. The universe isn’t big enough for two species yadda yadda. In the end humanity win by doing a genocide to the bug species, wiping them out from the universe for good.

   But in the end, we found out that maybe, it’s just a misunderstanding. Humanity and the bug can’t communicate with each other (the bug use telepathy to communicate with each other. Maybe they’re just as confounded as humanity, why these pinkish creatures wont answer our telepathic hail) . THey have different way of thinking (The bug thought that killing human isn’t ‘murder’ Because they’re a hive-mind species, killing a few individual is just like trimming your nail or at most losing an arm) and so on.

   And thousands years later, the hero from the war is written in history book as a war criminal, because he kill an entire intelligent species.

3. forgottendiary August 31st, 2008 4:27 am

   Great read as usual~ Thanks for this. Was nodding savagely in either total agreement and/or amusement throughout. (*w*)

   Completes my Macross F dosage every week.

   See yah in a few days!

4. d3v August 31st, 2008 4:28 am

   At least from the subs I’ve watched, it seems that Ranka, despite finally confessing, seems to deem finding out about her past and her conenction to the Vajra more important than a relationship with Alto-hime.

   Also, Klan launching EVA-style was sheer and utter AWESOME!

   @Faris
   The whole Enders Game thing was actually discussed quite a bit over at the Macrossworld Forums.

   @Crusader
   That upgraded VF-171 has been unofficially dubebd the Stampede Nightmare by some fans since it reminds them of the SDP-1 Stampede Valkyrie from the PC Engine game.

5. grss1982 August 31st, 2008 4:47 am

   “Alto-hime has decided that the only good Vajra is a dead Vajra.”

   Nice one Crusader. It really reminds me of Starship Troopers.

6. d3v August 31st, 2008 4:51 am

   @Martin
   I’m pretty much surprised that Luca didn’t give the mini dimention eater a cute boys name like he does most of his toys. And yes, “Little Girl” might as well be a reference to the A-bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

7. rollchan August 31st, 2008 4:59 am

   Alto should forget Ranka, Sheryl definitely suits him best. hehe.

   Ranka loves Ai-kun so much rather than Alto.

8. forgottendiary August 31st, 2008 5:29 am

   @rollchan

   And Ai-kun definitely loooovesss Ranka back, no doubt about that as shown below:

   http://i35.tinypic.com/a2tehi.jpg

9. Nellie August 31st, 2008 5:32 am

   @d3v
   I don’t really think she felt discovering her past and connection to the Vajra was more important. Rather it seemed like she wanted to share it with him. They just weren’t on the same page.

   Just as her song didn’t reach him, neither did her words or feelings.

10. shinz August 31st, 2008 6:05 am

    The last week I thought it was a bit harsh but really well written because it was a pretty ironic way to say the truth.
    But this week I have to say this is the contrary. Not that I criticize you, I will not dare to do it since you take some of your time to write such a long post on Macross Frontier

    But you deny the fact that Ranka seemed to find more important, to find more about her past which she knows is linked to the vajra than staying with Alto.
    For her, she will never see him again and he was her first love. You can’t say that: “…and running away with Brera is the best way to accomplish this.” under the picture where she says I wanted to be with you forever.

    She understood Alto really hates the vajra and Brera was the one who understood why she had to leave. Alto at this time is blinded by the hatred of the vajra, this is understandable after Mickhail’s death. How can you say “if Alto-hime was going to confess that was the time to do it for love of Fleet and Ranka. It didn’t happen though…” Did you see how shocked he was when she confessed him ? You didn’t put the picture on your blog but he was pretty open mouthed. It’s clear that until this episode, he didn’t know she loved him. Remember how indifferent he was when Mikhail said him Ranka and Sheryl loves him. It was as if he didn’t really buy it. When Ranka saw him with Sheryl on the rooftop, the one thing he said to her was to sing Aimo for the vajra. He doesn’t think that much of who loves who but more about the vajra.
    So why would he tell her he loves her even though he didn’t even think about it once ? He was shocked because didn’t thought she loved him. I don’t know why you said that” if Alto-hime was going to confess that was the time to do it for love of Fleet and Ranka” or “Right now since Alto-hime called Ranka stupid for running away I doubt “I love you Ranka” was in the cards. ” ???

    As for the confession at knife you’re talking about “Brera hold Alto-hime at knife point while Ranka told hime everything” “A confession at knife point it seems…” , she didn’t confessed at that time…. she confessed when she landed on Brera’s VF saying she loved him.

    And finally for the “While there wasn’t much Sheryl this time it seems that Sheryl has decided to stay at the Saotome home and Alto-hime has actually returned home for real for her sake.”
    We see him in the preview upside down, certainly thinking about Ranka’s departure and last words. The only one who remains his friend,except Luca is Sheryl.
    You said “Alto-hime has actually returned home for real for her sake.”, I think if it was the case, he would have done so in episode 21 instead of staying in his bed…

    I don’t want to be rude but when I read your post today, I didn’t laught like always. Not that I’m so biased toward Ranka to deny the truth when it’s obvious. I even was disappointed with her since episode 19.
    But saying “This time the only nice thing I really have to say about Ranka was that Aoi no Ether was a fine song” without saying she finally made a decision on her own, finally confessed her love to Alto instead of acting the role of the little girl who doesn’t want to heard the answer, she at last wants to know more about her past and the vajra, she acted and looked her age at the end of the episode… Miss out all of this is not that fair…

11. Cherubium August 31st, 2008 6:13 am

    Gah I want to use a MDE bomb on Ranka right now!

    Well Ranka seems to be back when things get icky. Until then, it’s Sheryl and Alto.

12. indr0008 August 31st, 2008 7:00 am

    u know what? i love ur blog on macross

13. rollchan August 31st, 2008 7:00 am

    @forgotten diary:

    *gulp*

    that’s nice… hehehehe…..

14. Shirukii August 31st, 2008 8:32 am

    Klein ;_;

    Mikhail’s sacrifice was far too great a price to pay just to prod along the triangle. Why couldn’t it have been some lesser character like Nanase or Ozma D=

15. Lyi August 31st, 2008 9:02 am

    @shinz: I completely agree with you. I find it unfair for people to deride Ranka for making the decision to find out more about the Varja instead of staying with Alto when it’s clear that she considers her feelings to be one-sided. (Something some of you have been pointing out with savage glee for some time, I might point out.) Rather than wallowing in stalemate she leaves in pursuit of knowledge in hopes of further understanding the Varja and her role in the conflict. I think that is truly the most mature thing she has done this series.

    Also, just because she’s leaving with Brera doesn’t mean she’s fickle or a two-timer at heart. Sheesh.

16. Zentari August 31st, 2008 9:37 am

    @Crusader : Nice entry.Now get back to writing Code Geass :p .

    @shinz: “But you deny the fact that Ranka seemed to find more important, to find more about her past which she knows is linked to the vajra than staying with Alto.”
    See the scene again.She did it for herself , AS ALWAYS.

    “Alto at this time is blinded by the hatred of the vajra ”
    Fair enough but can’t someone say that Ranka is blinded by her gross naiveness ?
    Can’t see why the blame game can’t be played both ways…

    “she didn’t confessed at that time…. she confessed when she landed on Brera’s VF saying she loved him. ”
    See anything wrong here ?

    “I think if it was the case, he would have done so in episode 21 instead of staying in his bed ”
    Did you miss the part where he went back home for her despite having sworn otherwise or are you ignoring it on purpose ?

    “Not that I’m so biased toward Ranka to deny the truth when it’s obvious”
    YES YOU ARE ! That reminds me of what happens when someone starts a convo with “I’m not a racist but… ” followed by statements that you would expect from a neo-nazi ….

    “But saying “This time the only nice thing I really have to say about Ranka was that Aoi no Ether was a fine song” without saying she finally made a decision on her own, finally confessed her love to Alto instead of acting the role of the little girl who doesn’t want to heard the answer, she at last wants to know more about her past and the vajra, she acted and looked her age at the end of the episode… Miss out all of this is not that fair…”
    Good point.Ranka behaved like a woman in love instead of a self-centered brat and also did her confesion with courage instead of running away from all of her responsibilities , not to mention taking her part of the blame for herself instead of putting it all on Alto …. oh,wait….

    PS: Fuck yeah @ the flamethrower mechs.Fire makes everything better.Can anyone say fried cockroaches ?

17. vjean August 31st, 2008 9:45 am

    Ranka still swings with the tides of her own emotions.

    She hoped to live in a private world with Alto (after delivering Aikun to his friends). It is not clear that Ranka had any other motivation to leave Frontier that was more than partially realized. She sees Alto’s astonishment (at her Vajra friend and her confession) very simplistically.

    Her abrupt and apparently happy acceptance of Brera as a substitute companion is surprising because it kind of negates her supposed love for Alto – as Crusader points out.

18. Anon August 31st, 2008 11:19 am

    Following that naming convention the next fold bomb will be called Fat Lady.

    When She sings, Its all over

19. Claricandyxd August 31st, 2008 11:31 am

    This episode really gave the turning point and I support Ranka for leaving with Brera, and Ai-kun since 1st: Ranka finally is able to understand some of her memories, and thus is making a decision on some logic on what is best. 2nd: She has finally realized that Alto never took her seriously and didnt want to go with her because if he never took her seriously then why now that he has a knife almost up his throat. 3rd: Ai-kun has proven to us that he is not from a murderous species because he was taught to be good from Ranka, and its the same as what you teach any species to be. 4th: Ranka went with Brera because she was well aware that Alto resented Vajra because of what happened to Michel and because she was more aware that the sky was Alto’s dream and that to him Vajra in this world ment no wonderful dream. 5th: Its not like Ranka had asked Brera that if Alto declined he would have to go with her since she was also surprised that he showed up out of nowhere. 6th: Ranka finally confessed to Alto something that had taken her long to do. So just because Alto thought it was stupid of her he was the stupid one that didnt want to hear her out like she did and maybe if he wouldnt of been so blinded by Michel’s death and the skies his mother gave him to gaze at he would’ve understood Ranka who at this point is also agonizing because she does not know where her brother is and is remembering her painful past, and trying to do something by herself to help everyone. Thnx for the blog is was exciting, and made me laugh^^

20. Einherjar August 31st, 2008 11:36 am

    @Lyi

    You make a valid point, but with all of the problems the Frontier Fleet is going through this was a bad time for Ranka to abandon everything to find herself. I like Ranka as a character, but with this she jeopardizes the safety of the whole fleet. Really don’t know if there can be a AltoXRanka pairing after this; their relationship could end the same way as Escaflowne or Macross Zero turned out. To Ranka’s credit, at least she confessed to Alto before leaving. IIRC even Minmay didn’t say that to Hikaru until it was way too late in the story and movie.

    As for Klein, she should have made a Fold Quartz memorial for Mikhail from all her kills this day. Screw SMS traditions, he totally deserves it.

21. Myssa Rei August 31st, 2008 11:49 am

    Is that Battle 25/Frontier? Well gee, it’s about time for the fleet’s flagship to make its appearance… Though it does make me wonder about why it wasn’t with City Frontier in the first place.

22. Crusader August 31st, 2008 1:53 pm

    @Martin
    Tori no Hito Aimo was probably the best IMO. I am sure the next OST will be awesome every time I think that they are out of music them introduce new ones, Aoi no Ether was a great song that for me was unexpected.

    I think the Little Girl was a double reference to Ranka as a WMD, and to the actual Little Boy only this time the question is presented the fleet was saved using a WMD, but at what cost?

    Using children as fighter si not unprecedented and it happens when the adult population is all but gone and kids start getting drafted. I am sure it would have been preferable to let Ranka off on her own, but since the Fleet is in dire straights in a struggle for survival they simply had no choice but to rely on Ranka if they were to survive. Desire did not enter into it it was done out of necessity.

    @Faris
    I haven’t but the way things are going it might end up being somewhat similar.

    @forgottendiary
    Thanks, I can’t wait for the next episode.

    Kudos for finding the gif.

    @d3v
    Thanks for the info on the Stampede Nightmare. Thing is though Ranka not only ran away from Alto-hime, but she abandoned the whole fleet to the mercy of the Vajra. That to me is hardly forgivable.

    @grss1982
    Ah Starship Troopers t’was silly movie. XD

    @rollchan
    Ai-kun wins out in the end I guess.

    @shinz
    Ranka was abandoning her responbsibilities by flying off. She wanted Alto-hime to go with her to some place far away just the two of them, that to me is sickening because in doing so Ranka leaves the whole fleet including Nanase and Ozma to the mercy of the Vajra. She knows that they are connected but she is not doing it for the sake of the fleet or any one but herself. She needed to know and was willing to leave Frontier defenseless while she searched.

    Much of Ranka’s heartfelt confession was los because she did not declare them on her own she needed Brera and Ai-kun to be there to reassure her that what she was doing was right.

    When Ranka went to the park she understood nothing only when Alto-hime was about to shoot Ai-kun did Ranka realize that Alto-hime was not so forgiving of Mikhail’s murderers. Perhaps it was not all at knife point but what do you suppose would have happened to Alto-hime had he rejected Ranka while Brera was in his VF-27 and Ai-kun was on the prowl? Since Ranka’s pain killed of a good chunk of the fleet how much damage could she inflict if hime told her “I am sorry…It’s me not you…”?

    I don’t think that it was so much as shock over that Ranka loved hime, but rather that Ranka was doing this out of heartbreak and hime is some what responsible for how it turned out. If Hime loved Ranka he would have gone after her at the roof top, if hime goes after Ranka in the next ep I can see it as a possibility that Alto-hime loves Ranka. But if Hime’s affection for Ranka was not enough to spare Ai-kun it at least indicates that Alto-hime doesn’t love Ranka that much or at least enough to spare her pet Ai-kun. Ranka’s affection for Alto-hime was not deep enough to warrant even a cry of concern when Brera kicked hime to the curb again.

    First time hime went home it was through he hedge rows if hime uses the front door it will really be for reals. Sheryl is no longer sick so there is no reason to go back home to see her, he could always arrange for a visit on the outside.

    Ranka decided to runaway at a real bad time, the fleet was in shambles and if there was another attack the Frontier would have a hard time coping iof not be massacred entirely as Ranka takes some off time. It was great she decided to do something but abandoning the fleet at a time of crisis is not being responsible or even likable. Ranka confessed, but what was hime’s answer, she did not stay to find out she simply flew off with Brera. It might have been a yes, but Ranka seemed for fixated on escaping the possible no.

    Thing is while Ranka did grow up a bit her abandonment of Frontier other Vajra was simply unforgivable given how the fleet was in no condition to repel another attack. Ranka left every one behind to find herself and put them all in danger as a result. That was not an adult thing to do it was a move that was again worthy of Minmay because it was so selfish when you break it down. Ranka has a right to be sad, but I can’t say she has a right to put the whole fleet in danger.

    @Cherubium
    I hope when Ranka comes back she will be a bit more mature, but given how little progress she has made I don’t have much hope for her.

    @indr0008
    Thanks.

    @Shirukii
    Well if it had been Luca or Ozma (it must be from the schwarm/vic) then Kawamori would be retreading old ground. Mikhail is gone but his death at least has ridden us of shoutaro boy Luca for Knight Templar Luca who will protect Nanase.

    @Lyi
    I don’t think that the decision was mature because it put so many people at risk so that Ranka could find herself. this was abandonment in every sense of the word. She wanted to take Alto-hime with her but in the end chose her own wish over the safety of the Fleet and all those who care about her. Frontier is a mess there is little hope that they can fight off another Vajra attack without Ranka. This decision benefited only Ranka and no one else. It is great she stopped wallowing but this is hardly that great of an improvement on Ranka’s part to leave every one at the mercy of the bugs as she finds herself.

    Grace referred to Brera as her prince, given how Grace is the shadow queen I bet she has been using Brera to manipulate Ranka. Moreover Ranka has been relying more on Brera than she ever did any one else. By running off with Brera Ranka might not be in love with hime, but we know that because Brera is willing to do anything for Ranka that she will accept him. Brera has been spoiling Ranka with honeyed words to retreat from her responsibilities. Right now since they are together we will be getting plenty of RanakxBrera development. Ranka may not love Brera but so far Ranka has had a history of attaching herself to people who she thinks understand her, listen, to her, and indulge her. It would be great if Ranka was not fooled by it, but I have my doubts.

    @Zentari
    I am on it but good grief that blasted beta couple has returned.

    @vjean
    Agreed Ranka settling for Brera as a substitute companion does bring into question how much Ranka does love Alto-hime. She was shocked when Alto-hime was willing to kill Ai-kun, and did seem to care much when Brera was kicking hime’s ass. Ranka’s own definition of love is rather strange but we shall see what she thinks is love in time.

    @Anon
    You called it.

    @Claricandyxd
    It may have been understandable, but ultimately Ranka’s decision to runaway was not responsible. I had hoped that Ranka would have been able to shoulder some responsibility, but it was not the case. If hime was blinded by his hate and lis love of sky then Ranka is blinded by her own pain and her own immaturity to see why things turned out the way they did.

    @Einherjar
    The Fold Quartz Statue of Mikahil can still be made, but it seems that Mikhail’s body might not have been recovered…

    @Myssa Rei
    It was the first time Battle Frontier left her dock, let us hope comrade that we shall see Battle Frontier vs Battle Galaxy. XD

23. shinz August 31st, 2008 2:43 pm

    @lyi I even think she will come back more mature and everybody will be surprise to see her so woman like !!!

    @crusader I don’t think we can agree here ( about Ranka, her responsability, her confession..) so I propose to leave it as it is

    You talked about Alto visiting Sheryl for her sake but I can’t agree here. He will not see her because he misses her or something like that because he would have done so in episode 21, right after killing some vajra along with Luca. Instead of that we saw him at 3 am not yet asleep in his bed until he went to run like crazy for Ranka.
    You said that “Sheryl is no longer sick so there is no reason to go back home to see her, he could always arrange for a visit on the outside.”
    In the preview of the episode 22 we see him upsided down outside of his house and I have to add it’s clearly the night.
    This implies that he surely, right after Ranka’s goodbye, went to see Sheryl in his house.
    Why would he arrange a visit on the outside knowing it’s 3am past. He knows she lives in his house and at this hour has poor chance to meet his father or brother.
    So he knows perfectly Sheryl will be alone there.
    When you think about it, Luca is busy staying with Nanase at the hospital and Mikhail is dead.
    He was just confessed by Ranka and couldn’t even imagine she will take off with Brera and a vajra which is no one else than Ai kun. Worst, she clearly said they will not see each other again.
    Now with Mikhail dead, Luca not avaible he still needs to talk about it with someone.
    It’s not surprising that Sheryl will be the one person in his mind if he wants to talk about it, since she also knows Ranka.

    I think we will all be surprise to see how Ranka will grow up and become a mature, fine WOMAN when she will come back. She could be a hottie competing with sheryl

24. Crusader August 31st, 2008 2:55 pm

    @shinz
    I’d be surprised if Ranka comes back a full fledged woman after her little trip with Brera, but at this point it might be too late and a full transformation might end looking like an ass pull. We shall see if Alto-hime sneaks back home to talk to Sheryl about Ranka.

25. tofu August 31st, 2008 2:57 pm

    lol @ ranka when she threw the plane “eh!”

26. acesoldia August 31st, 2008 3:10 pm

    just a quick comment about Crusaders picture comments..I LOVE them..never seen so many G Gundam references from one person besides me in my whole life, carry on crusader, carry on.

27. Crusader August 31st, 2008 4:54 pm

    @tofu
    Indeed kids are cute.

    @acesoldia
    G-Gundam is one of the best AU Gundams ever it will always have a place here.

28. Anonymous August 31st, 2008 5:38 pm

    You say that Ranka abandoned the fleet at a crucial time, but I’m not so sure about that. I do think her exit was a little rushed (there was definitely an element of escapism there… she was kind of a tool to poor Nanase and Ozma.) but I don’t really think she felt there was a right time. As far as she’s concerned, all the Vajra have been sent somewhere far, far away so the fleet is safe. Her singing is no longer life-or-death. She sang like a pro in this ep when they needed her (even after Brera tried to give her a way out) and Leon’s request was obviously neither cleared previously with Ranka nor life-or-death. Ranka was grieving too and missing her reason for singing. She’s experienced trauma and I find it reasonable not to sing considering the need for it is lacking.

    I don’t think this is Ranka’s best move on the Alto-hime/Ranka front, but I do think it’s a good move anyway. We don’t know what Ranka has been remembering, or how crucial it is that she figure out what it is. You say “oh no not again” when Ranka starts hurting, but don’t you think if every time someone hit a Vajra you felt the pain you might want to check that out? And I felt like her confession was NOT to provoke an “I love you” from Alto-hime, but more of a “so you know.” I also don’t think she “needed Brera and Ai-kun to be there to reassure her that what she was doing was right” considering she started her proposal (and possibly her confession) before Ai-kum showed up. And just because she won’t let Alto-hime kill something that she is considering to maybe be family doesn’t mean she doesn’t love Alto-hime or that she is selfish.

    Finally, I felt like Ranka’s request for Alto-hime to join her was indeed misguided but not immature. He wanted to see the sky and Ranka, like Sheryl before her, thought Alto-hime might be happy going with her. Her crucial mistake, of course, was assuming he would abandon the fleet. I would say that was based more on a lack of knowledge of Alto-hime (you mentioned how she’s only just now asking about his love of flying) than selfishness. Again, as a 16-year-old civilian, I’m not sure she understands how much danger the frontier is still in and how much work and help it needs.

    That may just be my reading of it, of course. I still think SherylxAlto would be a much better matched pair, but I think this ep did add to Ranka’s credibility. I think this ep showcased that she is growing as a character (finally!) and not currently well-suited to Alto-hime but I also think this is Kawamori’s attempt to make Sheryl’s last episode slaughter of Ranka triangle-wise a little less brutal.

29. Anonymous August 31st, 2008 6:02 pm

    Oh and my sub (and it looks like yours) also has Ranka confession and whole “I wanted to go with you” in the past tense. It looks like his attack on Ai-kun made her realize that Alto-hime would not be going with her. Her exit is not a ploy to get him. I guess what I’m saying is that, sure, Alto-hime is not her no. 1 priority but I don’t really see a problem with that. Now… if she comes back all whiny because Sheryl and Alto-hime have hooked up… then I will have a problem.

30. d3v August 31st, 2008 8:30 pm

    @Crusader
    Her “abandoning” the fleet to the Vajra is up for debate, as I believe she’s started to notice that her singing has something to do with them and maybe even jumped to the conclusion that it’s what attracts them in the first place.

    @Anynymous
    It pretty much seems that she’s letting go of Alto so to speak, at least based on GG’s subs where she refers to her feeling for him in past tense.

31. Einherjar August 31st, 2008 10:35 pm

    This is kind of off topic, but while thinking back on recent events in MF a disturbing thought came to mind. I wonder if anyone thought about this:

    With Grace taking Aimo and changing the lyrics and arrangement for her own version to use against the Vajra, is it fair to say she pulled a Carl Macek?

32. Zentari September 1st, 2008 3:33 am

    @Anon : She didn’t do the proposal alone , she did the private wish “plz go away with me to meet the bugs plz “.AFTER that had happened and she was going away with Brera she remembered that she should confess before leaving.

    PS: Lol @ Ranka for saying her songs didn’t reach him.Girl didn’t know WHY she sang herself and she expects Alto to know ?

33. Kilroy0097 September 1st, 2008 8:50 am

    Man if you hate Ranka now, you are going to really hate her when she comes back with that armada of friendly Vajra to save Frontier in the last episode. *looks into the crystal ball* This I predict. Lets all hope she herself molted and turns into a real 16 year old in image, mind and personality. This 16 year old Ranka looking and acting like a 12 year old has got to say goodbye forever.

34. Crusader September 1st, 2008 1:48 pm

    @Anon
    I diagree that Ranka’s actions were merely misguided and not immature. Ranka was drafted as the savior of the fleet but never did care enough to try and ask about how it functioned. Ranka saw the damage that her pet Vajra wrought and the whole skyline of her specail place was a reminder of how dire the situation is for Frontier. Nevertheless Ranka did not want to sing one last time for the people who needed to be reassured that there still is hope that they might survive. Ranka could not do that that was unprofessional even if Leon was the one who asked her.

    Ranka confessed but the atmosphere was more conductive of pity than any thing else. Since Ranka needed Brera and Ai-kun to reassure that what she was doing was right she is still very much dependent on the support of others. She made a decision, yes, but she needed some one to hold her hand and grant it. Perhaps it was a way to blunt the possibility of a Sheryl confession given how Ranka was faffing about for 21 episodes.

    @d3v
    I don’t think the safety of the fleet ever crossed Ranka’s mind at all Luca already said that the Colony ship was in ruins, if Ranka could not comprehend why Island 3 was sacrificed then I doubt she would have drawn the conclusion that her singing attract bugs. Ranka was not thinking at any point about during the episode.

    @Einherjar
    Don’t ever mention that name again, but yes.

    @Zentari
    Ranka it seems expected a lot From Alto-hime, her aversion to finding out about who hime really was, was partly due any real information would have tarnished her image which was some how absolute and correct.

    @Kilroy0097
    …and then spoil my Battle Frontier vs. Battle Galaxy? You bloody right I’d be pissed if Ranka showed up befor they got into the swing of things.

35. skoll September 1st, 2008 2:02 pm

    I fall on the side of ‘Ranka is being a dumb bitch’.

    The first reason for this is that I’m an insensitive man, and I would rather have one crying girl who gets used by the government and scientific organizations in unethical manipulations of human life and politics than have a spaceborne civilization burn.

    The second reason is one of responsibility. I hold no sympathies for those who cannot predict, or at the very least, accept, the consequences of their actions. Childishly, Ranka accepted her role as fleet idol, symbol, figurehead, weapon. Her intent in this matter is inconsequential and a non-issue; people believed in her and expected things of her, welfare, survival, hope. And she destroyed that. In favor of her own hopes and priorities, she failed to accept the consequences of her childishness in favor of yet more childish escapism.

    Third, more than anything Ranka is motivated by fixation. Her past is unclear, but she was likely fixated on organic Brera. She was once fixated on her adoptive brother, Ozman. She was recently fixated on her wished-for lover, Alto, and now, to escape the hurt of what she sees as a failed contest for Alto’s heart, she has chosen cyborg Brera as her new target. We see now that she did not show any undue distress at Ozma’s MIA status, which, in a spaceborne military, might as well be KIA. I have no respect for those who endanger others for their emotional inadequacies, complexes, and neuroses.

36. ani_d September 1st, 2008 2:20 pm

    I’m proud of Ranka. ^_^ She did what she had to do even if a lot of people don’t get it. She would probably get misunderstood by the people of Frontier. I knew this day was coming after Leon’s prediction in 11. This is also the perfect scenario I’ve been waiting for since ep 14. Ranka/Vajra friends vs Alto/Frontier lol

    I’m aware that Ranka left and let Alto go, but I see the events in this episode as a strong indication that Alto won’t let things end like this. With the amount of feelings that were portrayed in the last scene, and how dramatic it was made to look at, this really bodes well for a happy ending between the two. I can see Alto getting confused, hating the Vajra, wallowing around, getting info, supporting dying friends and all that, but I can’t see Alto letting Ranka hang out in Vajra planet forever after that bittersweet parting. It would be out of character.

    As soon as Alto finds out that the Vajra are not the real enemy, or Brera’s real identity, or the real truth, he’ll understand why Ranka did what she had to and he’ll inevitably act on it. Besides, I have a feeling this is orchestrated by Galaxy in order to obtain the Little Queen. I don’t think Ranka is going to be safe no matter how chevalierized Brera is–so long as Grace has that force mode on him.

37. skoll September 1st, 2008 2:47 pm

    You’re going to have to run that by me again. ‘What she had to do’? Even if that was true, that definately was NOT what she was thinking about when did what she did.

38. ani_d September 1st, 2008 3:40 pm

    @skoll
    Well, Ranka left because her memories are coming back and to return Aimo. She defended Ai-kun because Ai-kun REALLY didn’t do anything wrong. She stopped singing because singing to the Vajra and making Frontier kill them is not what she’s supposed to do in the story. This confirmed that she’s not going to be merely a flat singing tool. Sheryl singing in the midst of despair was portrayed perfectly–with her heart and mind in it–because that’s where she belongs. Ranka’s calling is different so naturally, she won’t feel right doing what she’s doing right now.

    People are hating Ranka for doing something so selfish–for stopping to be a “singing tool”. I think it’s a waste of breath because she’s not going to sit there following what everyone tells her to do forever. Vajra isn’t the enemy–that’s what her gut feeling is telling her now that she found out what Ai-kun is. She’s merely following her own instinct now. She’s been hated for not having an opinion in 17, and now that she did this, she’s still being hated. I’m starting to think that people are just trying to find something to fault Ranka with because this episode is clearly a comeback from her behavior last episode. I can NOT find any reason to hate Ranka for what she did. The people of Frontier who’s in the dark about the Vajra has a lot of reasons to hate her, but as a viewer who can see almost everything from a bird’s eyeview, there should be no reason. She even left a letter to Ozma and Nanase telling how important they are to her. Sorry, but the reasons that I see for hating on Ranka is just so shallow and very narrow-minded.

    Ranka probably expected that her attempt to make Alto come with her will be futile, but she still tried. She’s not telling him to go after her, she resigned and bid him goodbye in person. No matter how much she loves Alto, she has more stuffs to deal with and that’s how it is. =/ We don’t crucify people for doing things for themselves. It’s worth commending.

39. Crusader September 1st, 2008 3:48 pm

    @skoll
    Ranka had a choice and when she signed on under some very mistaken notions. I agree though Ranka did not seem to care much for the news that Ozma was MIA and presumably KIA. There is a time to be emo, but never is that time while the world around you burns.

    @ani_d
    For Ranka to let Alto-hime go she would have had to been in a relationship in the first place Ranka never got that far and her jumping on the Brera Bus is not doing to do her any favors in making any resulting relationship anywhere near as satisfying because she has been so immature about it since the first episode.

    Things won’t end like this but it would hardly be considered a step in the right direction for Ranka’s maturity level if she needs to be rescued by Alto-hime again. If Ranka has to be rescued then she will be forever a damsel in distress and will never grow up or mature if she needs someone to drag her out of her own mistakes.

    Grace is probably pulling Brera’s strings and thus has masterfully manipulated the immature Ranka in indulging Ranka’s personal wishes. I would hardly be surprised if Ranka falls for Brera lock stock and barrel because Grace made Brera Ranka’s ideal prince. Brera has not only saved Ranka, he listens to her, says everything she wants to hear, and nurtures her own childish immaturity and rejection of responsibility. By fleeing with Brera and not trying harder to explain the situation to Alto-hime Ranka proved that she is a quitter. Ranka wanted to take with her Alto-hime and Ai-kun to a place where only they would be. It was not an acceptance of responsibility, but rather an attempt to remove the shackles of duty and obligations that she took on, in favor of a Ranka paradise where she could be with the two people/things who she thought would love her and be with her forever.

    Ranka did not have to run to find herself, Ranka could have asked for help from Nanase, Luca, Bobby, Alto-hime, and Canaria. Instead she choose to run away from the pain, the hurt, and her obligations. The decision to find herself is self serving Ranka is not asking about how this might benefit those she supposedly cares about but rather she wanted to know her past and take Ai-kun home at at time when the fleet is in shambles and barely capable of fending off another major attack.

    Alto-hime might understand eventually ,but right now Ranka didn’t seem to grow much at all. I understand Ranka’s wish to know about her past I simply do not agree with how she chose to go about it and simply left. Ranka was supposed to be a pro about this, but when she was asked to sing for the sake of the dead and the bereaved Ranka did the unprofessional thing and ran off stage.

40. ani_d September 1st, 2008 4:18 pm

    @Crusader
    I think we, the viewers, are starting to notice now that the Vajra isn’t the enemy. Ranka can feel this now with how her abdomen kept glowing. I’m pretty sure she’s starting to get aware. Her reluctance to sing to the Vajra was because she would be killing the Vajra and it also doesn’t feel right to her, not because she doesn’t care that people are dying. “For everyone’s sake” she agreed to kill the creatures that she felt were also innocent. I mean, just WHO put those Vajras in Frontier in the first place, anyway?

    “Ranka did not have to run to find herself, Ranka could have asked for help from Nanase, Luca, Bobby, Alto-hime, and Canaria.”

    How? She’s the only living survivor from the research fleet. Noone can tell her what really happened but herself.

    “Ranka was supposed to be a pro about this, but when she was asked to sing for the sake of the dead and the bereaved Ranka did the unprofessional thing and ran off stage.”

    She said sorry first lol That’s important. Well, maybe Ranka just isn’t cut out to be a professional singer like Sheryl. She has another role to play other than being the ’songstress of hope’. That was like an official declaration that she’s not going to sing just because people tell her to. She makes her own rules. ^_^

41. BLEACHOD September 1st, 2008 4:39 pm

    This is the worst blog I ever saw. You are biased and how old are you? Do realize that Ranka learned about Alto’s mother from Alto (Because they have relationship) and Sheryl learned by proxy. Ranka was hysterical, it hurts her when the Vajira and her friend dies. Why is it Sheryl can be shallow, spiteful and insecure. And she’s the saint. Ranka the most honest, brave and courageous and you find reasons to shit on her. Alto doesn’t think about Sheryl unless someone reminds him of her. Ranka is always on his mind. He screamed her name. She calls he comes running. Sheryl delivered the sky…but who flew in it. Who did he look at…Ah wait till I am almost finished my posts. Sheryl hasn’t got a shot in hell of winning this. This random noob is going to laugh ass off. Well I am banned from suki but I m almost done and will post on my own website. Bleachboard.com. Look out for Alto and Ranka or Alto and Sheryl. <—She loses.

    I am so sick of you all ignoring the facts. You are worst than “The Dream Team” (IchiOri) Alto and Ranka for the win. P.S. she called and he came running…as usual. Yet he loves Sheryl.

42. Crusader September 1st, 2008 5:12 pm

    @ani_d
    Ozma was there as were other survivors that Leon gathered on Island 3 when they were examining the Vajra Corpse that Ozma made. Ranka did even bother, she just made her decision after Brera said that he would grant it. Ranka was not the onlyu survivor the problem is that she waited too long to start asking questions.

    Perhaps you are one to shit on the dead, but I don’t. Ranka wanted to be a professional, but now that she finds that she isn’t cut out for it, this was hardly the polite way to telling people. After such a disaster the people need and relied on Ranka to provide hope, Ranka could not be a pro one last time for them. She could not even sing for Mikhail who she saw skewered in person.

    Making you own rules in not a sign of maturity, fulfilling one’s obligations adn responsibilities are. Ranka signed up for this perhaps she did it in error but snubbing the dead is hardly the right way to do it.

    @BLEACHOD
    You yourself are biased in making your comment, I see little point in flinging accusations and being rude. Question is because of your little out burst how old are you? Clearly not enough to value duty and responsibility… Since you were hardly polite about this and this is your firs comment I can see why you were banned. Don’t jump the gun think before you post.

    Ranka asked the right question, but in the end she waited 21 episodes to ask about it when it was evident that Alto-hime loved the sky.

    Ranka has hardly been brave or courageous she still needs some one or something to support her. Had Ranka made the decision to leave Frontier on her own without Ai-kun or Brera I would have said she made a step in the right direction, but she relied on Ai-kun and Brera’s assurances. Ranka has still yet to make a decision wholly on her own. She’s honest to a point, but right now she hasn’t grown up much at this point.

    Sheryl stopped being a high strung diva bitch a while ago, but Ranka is still a scared little girl who needs others to rescue her and help her make decisions. Alto-hime went to Ranka because she was clearly in need of help after the incident at the funeral it was the right thing to do. To say that Sheryl has no chance in hell is presumptuous and arrogant. You presume to know Kawamori, I doubt there can be anyone who thinks like Kawamori.

    I accept that Ranka is well meaning, but she remains immature and has chosen some rather bad times to do things. If Alto-hime was a cold-hearted hime then we would all wonder why both Sheryl and Ranka love him. I have ignored nothing, but you seem to be able to ignore the fact that Sheryl has become a better person from the prima donna that she was and habitually give Ranka a pass for putting herself over the good of the fleet. Ranka has her good points, but right now telling the dead and the fleet that she won’t sing in their hour of need was hardly selfless even if understandable. Leaving the fleet when they are still trying to rebuild and repair for the next attack, while simultaneously robbing them of her much needed singing talent to fend off the Vajra is not the most selfless thing in the world. All of Ranka’s actions are understandable but now that she should be an adult these things are no longer excusable. We have waited eagerly for Ranka to grow up these past two episodes has proven that Ranka has not matured that she still is the same old Ranka, but that is no longer enough after she became the songstress of hope voluntarily. Ranka had responsibilities and to run away from them because she was heart broken is not the adult thing to do.

43. haruhiphantom September 1st, 2008 5:25 pm

    @BLEACHOD

    Ranka is Emo just like you…^_^.
    And I do love your blog ^_^

44. ani_d September 1st, 2008 6:11 pm

    @crusader
    You seem to be thinking that Ranka had no respect for the dead JUST BECAUSE she refused to sing for the people in the cemetery. Is this a very solid hint to conclude that Ranka didn’t care one bit for all the people who died? This was like when people kept biting her for not shouting Nanase’s name (equating to not caring) when she got injured, and was proven wrong later on. If you can see Ranka behind Leon praying for the departed, you can tell she cares. Ranka isn’t that demented. What she doesn’t want was for all those cameras to be looking at her, expecting more from her, and a mushroom head telling her to sing even if her heart wasn’t in it. For someone who’s always listening to others, this was the second time she went against the flow and I hope she does so from now on.

    Vajra isn’t the enemy. Ranka is not running from her responsibilites. The people of Frontier will think she is, but we as the viewers should know better. Ranka is stepping out of the dark to be able to look at the whole picture because she feels that Vajra may not be the enemy that Frontier thinks it is and her lost memory is the key. Her real responsibility lies within herself. Though Ozma was there when her fleet was attacked, he doesn’t know everything. Does he know that Ranka has that glowing thing in her abdomen? No. Nor does he know the secret of Aimo, her ability to communicate with the Vajra queen. Even Grace knows MORE than Ozma. If not, then how come Ozma has to investigate Grace and Leon’s motives?

    Anyway, the discussion here is getting a little heated and I don’t want to jump on the wagon. ^^ Feel free to hate on Ranka, but like I said, I have yet to see a more reasonable reason from anyone to criticize this big decision she made for herself.

45. Crusader September 1st, 2008 6:36 pm

    @ani_d
    Even if Ranka cared it was disrespectful no matter how you cut it. Ranka cared but not enough to to sing for them, it was a snub in every sense of the word. Just because it was understandable doesn’t mean it is not rude. Ranka does not know how to step back and take a look at the bigger picture. Ranka is unaware of Leon and Grace’s plans all she knows is that she is hurt and wants to get away from it all. Perhaps it will be of benefit in the end, but her initial motivations are not for the sake of the fleet. I am glad Ranka decided to go against the flow but whenever she does it seems only for her own sake and it comes off as rude and self centered. There is a time and place, but since Ranka has thus far chosen so poorly it indicates that she lacks maturity.

    Ozma and Cathy have dug up a lot in relation to Leon, and it stands to reason that they might have found out more. Klein found out about Grace’s past and Sheryl knows some of it as well. To say that Ranka could not get a clearer picture is false. Ranka has not told anyone but Brera about her pain. Ranka was not explaining herself to anyone, she just packed up and left thinking that two letters will be sufficient. The research that Dr. Mao was doing was in public domain, and had Ranka looked she might have had at least a passing understanding of the power of her song. All Ranka was doing was using and abusing Aimo irresponsibly, she never bothered to ask about the power of her song until that point. When Ranka was the hero, the star everything was fine not questions were ever raised. Only when she no longer wanted to do it did Ranka start asking questions, by which point it was already too late.

    The Vajra may not be the final bosses, but they are a threat they have attacked Frontier time and again and have proven to this date hostile to the humans and Zentradi. Ranka maybe stepping out of the dark but her first steps are for herself. Ranka was asked to help protect the fleet, she will not be doing that from now on and since it is probable that their destination will be Macross Galaxy Ranka is not doing Frontier any favors by leaving.

    Again perhaps Ranka’s actions will be of some benefit, but her initial response to her stress and pain were to run away, that’s not being mature that’s being a coward and a child. You say that Ranka’s real responsibility is to herself fair enough, then that would mean that Ranka put Ranka before the fleet.

    The end result might vindicate Ranka, but right now ditching her home for the sake of her memory is selfish because she is doing it for herself. In this sense since Ranka has put Ranka first she has proven to be the Minamy that we all did not want her to be. I am not hating on Ranka, I am just very frustrated that she never grew up in 21 episodes and is still reliant on others to get things done, in the past it was her friends and family, now its Brera and Ai-kun.

46. Zentari September 1st, 2008 6:39 pm

    @ani_d : “You seem to be thinking that Ranka had no respect for the dead JUST BECAUSE she refused to sing for the people in the cemetery. ”
    It wasn’t the first time she refused to do so….

    “Vajra isn’t the enemy. Ranka is not running from her responsibilites. The people of Frontier will think she is, but we as the viewers should know better. Ranka is stepping out of the dark to be able to look at the whole picture because she feels that Vajra may not be the enemy that Frontier thinks it is and her lost memory is the key. Her real responsibility lies within herself. Though Ozma was there when her fleet was attacked, he doesn’t know everything. Does he know that Ranka has that glowing thing in her abdomen? No. Nor does he know the secret of Aimo, her ability to communicate with the Vajra queen. Even Grace knows MORE than Ozma. If not, then how come Ozma has to investigate Grace and Leon’s motives?”
    Vajira aren’t the enemy ?…a race of space bugs that adapt to weaponry and tactics as well as having huge numbers isn’t a warrior race ? They are as harmless as a nuke.
    Besides even IF they are SOMEHOW manipulated it doesn’t change the fact that they are a big threat.Guns don’t kill people, people kill people…but people who like to kill sure like guns an awful lot .

    “Anyway, the discussion here is getting a little heated and I don’t want to jump on the wagon. ^^ Feel free to hate on Ranka, but like I said, I have yet to see a more reasonable reason from anyone to criticize this big decision she made for herself.”
    Want me to tell you what’s the weak link in there ? “Reasonable ” is entirely subjective , just because it doesn’t support your beliefs doesn’t mean you can disregard it.

47. jack September 1st, 2008 9:18 pm

    @Zentari

    She refused a request by her nation to sing for the fallen. The heartbreak comes from her very lack of ill intent as she does so.

    As of right now, Ranka is a girl that has broken my heart one time too often. I no longer feel grief at her foibles, but neither do I feel pride at her accomplishments. Hate would be an improvement, it would mean she has the ability to move me to feeling, and my feelings could yet change. Ranka’s actions this episode could lead to the slavation of Frontier and my response will be a resounding “…Eh”. I’m simply no longer emotionally invested in her at all. I’m more interested in Brera, here.

48. Kabitzin September 1st, 2008 9:27 pm

    Haha, can’t believe Ai-kun took the paper airplane with him. I wonder how Klan Klein is going to feel when they tell her everyone has to be nice to the Vajra now.

49. Crusader September 1st, 2008 9:37 pm

    @jack
    I have faint hope for Ranka now, because the only people she has decided to talk to now are Brera and Ai-kun…

    @Kabitzin
    Ai-kun doesn’t hate planes he just hates planes that were made by Alto-hime.

    Like hell is Klein going to play nice with the Vajra if Alto-hime can’t do it for Ranka the bugs haven’t got a prayer.

50. JustinStrife September 1st, 2008 11:19 pm

    I love how the Ranka shippers keep giving her a free pass on everything she does. They have absolutely NO concept about responsibility. None, zero, zilch. Thousands of people died in the latest attack, including a friend, her best friend is injured, her acting brother is missing, and she can’t sing for the dead at their funeral? All she could do, was cry,”why me, why me?”. Yeah, we wonder why you were chosen too.

    Another thing that chaps my hide, these same people(ani_d, BleachOD, diva, and others), don’t take into account, that the characters don’t KNOW what we know. Ranka doesn’t know she’s being used by Leon and Grace. Alto doesn’t know that Ai-kun isn’t like the other Vajra, and that they too are being used by Galaxy. Alto and Ranka don’t know Sheryl is dying. There’s so many things they don’t know. Yet you act like they do.

    Ranka didn’t leave Frontier for the good of the fleet or the people. She left because she A) wants to bring Ai-kun back to his own kind, B) Wants to learn more about her own past, and C) heart-broken that Alto hasn’t returned her feelings.

    She’s the main weapon they have against the Vajra, and she is taking away the best fighter with her(Brera), and tried to take Alto away(one of the best). What if she came back from her soul searching, and Frontier was wiped out? Would she give a crap then? She certainly hasn’t shown empathy towards people through 21 episodes. Unless it suits her interest.

    This is why Sheryl is a better match for Alto. She understands other people, can relate, and puts them above her own needs and wants. She puts herself in other peoples’ shoes as best as she can. Ranka, can’t see their perspectives to save her life.

51. cheesie September 2nd, 2008 12:02 am

    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.

52. JustinStrife September 2nd, 2008 12:14 am

    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.

53. D.J September 2nd, 2008 2:47 am

    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

54. Crusader September 2nd, 2008 1:03 pm

    @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.

55. shinz September 2nd, 2008 2:06 pm

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

56. cheesie September 2nd, 2008 2:50 pm

    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.

57. skoll September 2nd, 2008 3:38 pm

    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.

58. Haesslich September 2nd, 2008 7:33 pm

    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.

59. Crusader September 2nd, 2008 9:53 pm

    @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.

60. Haesslich September 2nd, 2008 10:24 pm

    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.

61. Crusader September 2nd, 2008 10:38 pm

    @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.

62. Haesslich September 3rd, 2008 12:48 am

    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.

63. Haesslich September 3rd, 2008 12:59 am

    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.

64. Crusader September 3rd, 2008 1:30 am

    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?

65. skoll September 3rd, 2008 6:33 am

    @ 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.

66. Haesslich September 3rd, 2008 5:46 pm

    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.

67. Crusader September 3rd, 2008 7:57 pm

    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.

68. Haesslich September 3rd, 2008 10:09 pm

    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.

69. Crusader September 3rd, 2008 10:51 pm

    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.

70. Haesslich September 3rd, 2008 11:23 pm

    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?

71. Crusader September 3rd, 2008 11:50 pm

    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.

72. Haesslich September 4th, 2008 12:01 am

    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.

73. random hero September 4th, 2008 12:01 am

    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

74. Crusader September 4th, 2008 12:32 am

    @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.

75. Shin September 4th, 2008 8:55 am

    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.

76. Crusader September 4th, 2008 12:11 pm

    @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.

77. Haesslich September 4th, 2008 7:43 pm

    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.

78. Crusader September 4th, 2008 8:48 pm

    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.

79. Haesslich September 4th, 2008 9:14 pm

    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.

80. Crusader September 4th, 2008 9:32 pm

    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.

81. Haesslich September 4th, 2008 9:41 pm

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    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.

82. Crusader September 4th, 2008 9:52 pm

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

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    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.

83. Haesslich September 4th, 2008 10:00 pm

    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.

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    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.

84. Crusader September 4th, 2008 10:22 pm

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

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    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.

85. Haesslich September 4th, 2008 10:38 pm

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    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.

86. Crusader September 4th, 2008 10:50 pm

    Well that’s one way hime is different from Ranka

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    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.

87. Haesslich September 4th, 2008 11:24 pm

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

88. Crusader September 5th, 2008 12:10 am

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

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