I personally adore Macross for it Characters, compared to the Mecha (but Macross makes it not as boring as most series, since they tend to drag it out).
I personally found the way the way they would jump right into a situation of things was lovely, since it’s a more realistic point-of-view. The usual “let’s start from the very beginning and explain in every detail”-sort of storytelling is quite lame and I rarely enjoy it (I like it, when it’s to show another’s pov).

And with Ranka…
She has the kind of Character that was quite spoiled. When she was living with her Mother and Brother: Spoiled. With Ozma: Spoiled. She was even spoiled within her Friends. So her “I want attention from you!”-behavior does have a reason. But her Nature shown through that with the “I don’t think I can do it”, even though both Sheryl and Alto got it to stop [quickly] and make her more confident. And that was mostly all of her developement. XD
I’m seriously hoping that the movie (although, I have much Fear of it to be a recap of the freakin’ series–in which case, I will be annoyed as heck and not watch Macross for a while, etc.) will show more development (at least something. Seriously.).
But I guess I can sorta relate to Ranka’s character. Since I’m basically spoiled (to the point that I’m lazy), I want to be noticed. But my nature (An analytical thinking, metal ram. XD) tends to make me shy away from my chances and make me think too much (usually, it’s a pessimistic outcome); where I will do nothing. If I had befriended someone such as Sheryl or Alto (especially Sheryl–they’re more entertaining of a character~), I could probably become more Confident and do things I would want to do. I had fun relating to Ranka, in the beginning.
But, as everyone [clearly] notes: Poor Development. Which ANNOYED me. But I still hoped to see something happen with her… sorta disappointed, but I enjoyed the ending.

And although I enjoy the SherylxAlto coupling, I found that it seemed rather forced… on both parts. Sheryl wanted him, but I never thought that Alto really wanted to be in the relationship. At least, not as the current situation was taking place (departed friends, dying Sheryl, etc.). If everything was fine, I probably would’ve viewed the coupling in a better light and not as a “we’re gonna die/Sheryl’s gonna die, so let’s just do this thing”-sort of thinking… -_-;;
And Sheryl didn’t seem to think anything positive of it. I mean, she seemed to have loved how she could act that way [that she did] with him, but she didn’t seem to feel the same coming from him. That, and she was just as concerned with the same things Alto was.
I really would like to see how they are to act together, in the movie, to see if they really would seem great together. (Well, they seem it now. But in a way that they don’t seem [nearly as] forced. XD)

And yes, as many have also noted: Alto’s “You’re both my Wings!” is the lamest thing in the book. Next to pick-up lines. XD
*lol*
But I guess he felt that he loved them both (that ain’t “polygamy”, idiot. That means he loves them, but can’t decide. Geez, you need to THINK, ‘fore being so simple-minded…), so if he had said something like “Ranka/Sheryl, you’re my Wings!”, that would’ve hurt at least one of them. But even if it was to be nice, ’twas still LAME. XD
But he also could’ve literally meant that without either’s personality, he wouldn’t be able to do what he does, etc. (Ranka’s selfish, yet innocent self; Sheryl’s strong, yet humane self.)

In the ende, I’m still more of a AltoxRanka (since I’m always into these kind of pairings), but since they didn’t have much time together (Again, a good sense of Realism! <3), I lean more towards the reality of SherylxAlto. But if Ranka and Alto were to have had more time together, rather than seeing each-other once every 5 episodes (exaggeration, etc.; ain’t exact statistics. XD)… they could’ve had more of a chance of being together. Even if it were to seemed [a little] forced…
I guess I just wanted Alto to have given Ranka a chance [at least], rather than just automatically go with Sheryl. Even if it were to spell-out “fated to fail”. =P

Inoue Kikuko sings, and does it well!

If only Kawamori had used her gift… Frontier would have been doomed

@darkplataform
True, true!