Sometimes life can imitate art retroactively….this is the sea story of one such incident.

Well seeing as at the time of writing I have been in ordered into a short exile by my employer I might as well rant about all the bullshit I had to endure at AX from asinine panels to the underwhelming Masquerade since internet is slow here. After doing paper work and pretty much getting some military paper work done, though I need to put an APB on Impz and (I finally burned him out…) Haesslich for one little thing that will bring them great benefit for their rooms (all are at the time of writing frustratingly MIA), I have simply run out of things to do. Still I suppose it is probably best time to get the Morning Musume panel and concert out of the way. To be honest I went into AX ready to hold them in utter contempt since their handler, hence forth known as the Mouth of Sauron, was tossing her weight around the press junket and decided who it was that would get the “honor” of holding an interview with Morning Musume. Being a gaijin barbarian I had severely underestimated them…

Morning Musume when exposed to light…

Morning Musume at night…

For those who don’t know Morning Musume is basically the Menudo of Japan, only instead of boys they recruit girls who are under 23 (though age is not always the reason for “graduating”). The only thing I really knew before being exposed to their black magic was that most were born around 1989, in which case their ascension were heralded by an earthquake that struck San Francisco and split the Berlin Wall asunder. I probably should have read up on them before hand as they were the originators of the theme for AX that year. Perhaps then I would have come across this:

“Those who used the Nine Microphones became mighty in their day, bards, sorcerers, and warriors of old. They obtained glory and great wealth, yet it turned to their undoing. They had, as it seemed, unending life, yet life became unendurable to them. They could walk, if they would, unseen by all eyes in this world beneath the sun, and they could see things in worlds invisible to mortal men; but too often they beheld only the phantoms and delusions of Tsunku (a.k.a. Sauron). And one by one, sooner or later, according to their native strength and to the good or evil of their wills in the beginning, they fell under the thraldom of the microphone that they bore and of the domination of the One which was Sauron’s. And they became forever invisible save to him that bore the Ruling Microphone, and they entered into the realm of shadows. The Nazgûl were they, Morning Musume, the Ulairi, the Enemy’s most terrible servants; darkness went with them, and they cried with the voices of death.” –Record of the Lodoss War

Morning Musume’s Translator/Handler at AX’09

Their Fanclub HQ…

At the panel the Mouth of Sauron was pwning the noobs who dared to ask questions as not straight answer was given that the ignorance of their orc armies was evident as some did not know that a few of them has been voice actors for some anime series. Still if nothing else the host of Minas Morgul were certainly loud and numerous. Even if I think the Mouth of Sauron was all high and mighty she did have enough skill to shut people up and outright change their questions. Still after the Nine name dropped Pink’s Hotdogs I assume there might have been an even longer line there for some time. Well except Sunday since the Nine were summoned back to Barad-dur.

In any case while they roamed about Los Angeles they did address their infernal host of glow stick wielding Uruk-hai at a concert that I actually got a fairly decent seat for, even if I had to banish a few Mordor trolls to claim it. Like Earnur, 33rd King of Gondor, I was a fool for trying to challenge the Nine and for my impudence I was struck by Koharu “the Shadow of the East” Kusumi, Commander of Dol Guldur, with a Black Dart. It is true that their powers are greatly increased by the darkness, and that their Black Breath is indeed no joke, as I would discover to my utter horror. The only moment the faltered was when they hissed something about global warming, but even then their lethality was scarcely reduced. Such was my horror and subsequent stupor that I forgot to put the rest of my music onto my iPhone and only had their infernal shrieks from which I hoped to gain forbidden knowledge on the mics of power from which to mock them as having no talent. Coupled with the effects of their fell sorcery and my exile to Virginia with agonizingly slow internet meant I would have nothing else to listen to.

Already I can feel the weariness overtake me as their catchy songs become increasingly pleasant. Soon I will become a dwimmerliak in service of the dread captain of Dol Guldur as punishment for my insolence. It was as if I had been cursed by Glaurung himself as the one who bested me was a tall and fair lass of less than 20 winters and was the one who once donned the guise of Kirari from Kirarin Revolution. Oh unhappy fate for me to have been beguiled by a shojo heroine. Forever more, I shall love her and despair…

Kawamori was Right

It was as it were the perfect analogy…

He did it to me again…

I think it was ghostlightning who once mentioned in passing that Macross is full of fanciful BS, a song ending a war after all is rather fantastic. In any case I went into the concert as a man on a mission of malice out of pure fucking meaness, and I was expecting to loathe them (and write a post to incite a huge flood of hits from their white knighting hordes of fans, sadly some one already did something similar and successfully), but I really should have known better as a Macross Lifer. The power of song is certainly not to be underestimated and even if I didn’t understand much of it, their songs were catchy enough that I enjoyed myself. They probably can’t write a much of a song on their own, but still as a soldier who knows how brutal military drill can be (I was in color guard and drum corps when the world was young) I can respect them for working hard enough to do it for years at a time. Given that they never chose to be in the same group and were drafted to work together in a sense their dance routines seem all the more impressive for it since they all have to share the spotlight. I was ready and eager to call them the IRL Sakura-dan of White Album infamy. I was even prepared to go as far as mocking Jun Jun, as having been originally named Chun Li but was so backward they had to change it. Indeed my malice was quite excessive and my haterd unfounded. Nevertheless considering how rigorous their generational drafts (auditions) are and how the producer even went as far as taking no one at all in one audition, they are less like bard conscripts and more like bard commandoes.

I suppose I should have taken more heed of the bards of the Macross Universe. Even if Sheryl was irritating at first she became endearing because she worked hard to get where she was, even if Grace was the undisputed master of propaganda. I do think it was my respect for the great Sheryl-sama that I didn’t dismiss their efforts out of hand and operate under the assumption that their job was easy. Given that the media gives more of shit about them fucking up than me; I suppose not being under an electron microscope makes my job easier in that I can fuck up and not get in too much trouble supposing there is no body count of consequence. In the case of Minmay, she might have been a deplorable woman but she did have talent and the power of song. I suppose it was simply a case of life imitating art as the Zentradi were also laid low by an underage idol. In that sense I probably got what I deserved for walking into one of their concerts with an axe to grind before I even listened to their songs.

Bards like her do exist.

Life is funny, as at the time I just simply went to help cover the event, only to walk out a fan and picking out the 16, now 17, year old (I assumed that since they got graduated at their mid twenties that they ranged 17-22.) as the cutest since she was comparatively tall (which I assumed to be an indicator of age), hardly broke a sweat (Which I assumed was the result of years of strength and endurance training. After all dancers are among the fittest people in the world in terms of overall muscle strength, like a gymnast), and had a pony tail (a fatal weakness of mine in this case). My full horror only came about after reading the wiki article on them (truly ignorance would have been bliss). Ah well even if I can no longer give Char crap about choosing Lala Sune anymore, at least it was a young lass who is living the shojo heroine dream that robbed me of the moral high ground. At least I can give Char crap for having shit taste…

In the end I can see how they managed to sell so many CDs and have a fandom that counts significant numbers outside of Japan.

Her song ended a war.

Her song ended my string of Char likes jailbait jokes…

The Black Captain of the Nine. Do not pursue her! Far off yet is her doom, and not by the hand of man will she fall.

Ai Takahashi, Lord of Carn Dûm, is capable of taking out whole kingdoms as Arthedain, Rhudaur, and Cardolan found to their cost…

Their like I had long assumed was confined to 2D…

Little did I know that such was shojo heroine power that they were capable of becoming 3D; as such IN THE NAME OF THE MOON she punished me.

It was pretty much like having underestimated GARby, the consequences were quite drastic.

Kawamori then sent me this post card with a message, “MERRY CHRISTMAS ZENTRADI SCUM. LISTEN TO THEIR SONG! LOL newfag.”

Ah memories…

Well about two months ago back in April I should have marked my 2nd blog anniversary but things have not really been normal to say the least. Well I suppose that this post will at least mark the start of my terrible twos in which case quality will plummet as will output (Mwahahahaha). I started the year off by getting my apartment broken into and making E-5. Now that my academic career is at an end it basically fell upon me to make good on my newfound responsibilities at work, which meant having a whacked out schedule of extended hyperactivity every now in then. In July it will be a brutal month as I get to fly to Virginia twice in the same month to the same place, knowing what I know now it basically means four or more red eye flights unless the paper work goes over well. Still I do get to make the traditional after graduation road trip, and hopefully that will be a bit more interesting than the usual. While summer looks to be a hit or a miss at least there is the promise of the Macross Movie (Which will be Gorgeous Delicious DECULCHA!). So here goes the mandatory late as hell rant I am supposed to do at the end of every blog year, which is conversely an opportunity to muse aimlessly in a futile effort to put together a post.

Oh Mazinger Z how I lament that your tale is shrouded in obscurity.

While Impz might have gone from gun monkey to desk jockey in the Singaporean Corps of Conscripts, I haven’t earned the right to chain myself to a desk just yet, to be perfectly honest I am finding just how magical a time being an E-5 is. I get the headaches of an E-6, and the physical exhaustion of being an E-4, but at least I do get a little extra here and there and most importantly I am still low enough on the great totem pole to evade responsibility. I also just lost my other half (partner in crime/co-worker) so I get to have twice the work load until I finish training the E-4, but at least she’s a good learner and I don’t have to baby sit an E-3 with “issues.” All in all I am edging towards the point that I might end up as exhausted as Zeon. I suppose this comes with the territory as I suspect that most bloggers are students rather than overworked soldaten, certainly there will probably come a point where the number of posts per week simply declines.

Also now that college is over and done with I actually got back into my other hobbies, and oddly enough while I have some issues with Valkyria the anime I still love the game to pieces to the point I actually want to do my Imperial Guard in Gallain colors and find some local saint who does resin casting for female Cadians/Kasrkin because I must have a model to represent Jane “Kill ‘em All” Turner (hey if anyone knows one drop a line). It also saddens me that there is very little enthusiasm for Shin Mazinger Z, but I suppose it might be time to bring out the reserves of stuff I have been meaning to watch but haven’t, Guin Saga, Eden of the East, etc. I still need to settle for a format on doing VOTOMS since condensing it into one post per arc would make it tl;dr, not that I think too many people are interested in going back in time to see what mecha was before yaoi, cowards, harem, and idiot soapbox preaching started taking hold.

I suppose it has been good going for the last two years plus some, but it has been a long time since I actually watched a shoujo series since Skip Beat! ended, though I am hoping there will be a point where the anime starts up again. Still the manga is still running along smoothly so it partially makes up for it. I suppose I am growing old if it’s becoming more fun to reminisce about the old days. If nothing else at least when Gundam 00 aired I could placate myself with the additional activity of praising the Immortal Colasour and his marrying above him. Well so far it’s been a good run even if productivity has slackened as of late. I hope that there will be a series that I will genuinely love to pieces that I can put into words come summer. As much as I like Shin Mazinger Z it’s pretty simple and I suppose very niche these days as it lacks modern aspects of mecha. Valkyria is turning out to be a re-interpretation of the game storyline that I don’t find terribly agreeable but it was always meant to be a festival of mediocrity that only fans of the game would stick with to the bitter end. Ah well with a Gundam Unicorn Movie due out within my life time and the promise of a Macross Frontier Movie with 70% redone animation I guess there is much to look forward to. So as a extremely premature celebration of a Macross Frontier largely free of QUALITY animation IMAGE DUMP GO!

There is a correlation…

Designation: Liberty Prime. Mission: the Liberation of Mankind from Tanuki Propaganda. Primary Targets: Any and All Red Japanese Harem Leads. Emergency Communist Acquisition Directive: Immediate Self Destruct. Better Dead than Red.

While it has been some time since I last wrote on this subject it was Stripey’s heinous Jominian efforts to spread a spate of lies and propaganda to loser harem animu leads has forced me to create a Clausewitzian response. I also wished to restore the balance of power on the field of courtship because IKnight was ill at ease that there was no treatise for the menfolk. To be sure this article is not for the loser harem animu lead that only needs his mysterious musk to attract women. This guide is for the average man who lacks such miraculous powers and Marty Stu qualities and is in anime that is superior to harem. I am quite well aware of how women operate and my knowledge has compelled me to instead marry my job, nevertheless I am not without mercy and hope that in writing this some of you might happily put on the ball and chain of marriage or otherwise make yourself a nuisance to women everywhere, so that my years of slavery under their continued tyranny might be avenged if only slightly.

(Note there are LOGH spoilers aplenty)

Shock and Awe

If you think the one in the middle is the dude, I got news for ya…

The sad truth of the matter is that for some reason women like to praise each other’s good looks, and sense of style. Men, more often or not, do not do this for fear of catching “the gay.” As such those who have the daring to do what ever it takes to find some one to love, take the view that the ends fully justify the means. After all what is the price of a man’s dignity? Not worth nearly as much as staying single or worse yet a virgin. Shock and Awe, is a doctrine based on the use of overwhelming beauty, dominant aesthetic awareness, dominant maneuvers, and spectacular displays of femininity to paralyze a target’s perception of their feelings and destroy their will and ability to resist. It can only be used by a select few who are able to pull off the infiltration tactics necessary to make the best use of this doctrine. To this end since women often take more notice of other women, an infiltrator must do the utmost to look the part. Once that is complete one’s strategies must remain offensive, but the tactics defensive. The effort that must be put into looking the part by an infiltrator often creates a superior feminine sense of aesthetics that puts real women to shame as such an infiltrator will attract all sorts of attention from women and most terrifyingly of all other men. As such Shock and Awe requires superior situational awareness lest things go awry, getting attention is rarely an issue the primary danger remains attracting unwanted attention and singling out the desired target to bring forth acceptable levels of affection.

There are some risks if the infiltrator is discovered but the hallmark of a gifted practitioner is the ability to be openly male while looking the part in male attire. Not only do women pay more attention to an infiltrator, but they will often feel more at ease as well as many men make the mistake as coming off as being predatory and unscrupulously perverted. Not so with Shock and Awe as women will be asking for advice and will more readily accept a man as they will be asking him for fashion tips and the like and that alone makes for much less awkward conversation. Women are always dragging their men folk around on shopping trips as such an infiltrator has a distinct advantage in such adventures because they are capable of making recommendations (and as such exert some influence over what the target wears with the possibility of the infiltrator dictating the entire wardrobe to boot). Once trust is earned the rest is easy. As they say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, despite protestations to the contrary women love to be flattered. Women like bishounens and nothing a man can do will alter that, thus for Shock and Awe practitioners knowing that much is half the battle. After all why haggle over rules of engagement when the ones in place favor those who put in the effort? Time wasted haggling is time not spent lurvin.

Noted Practitioners:

At first it took me a while to realize it was not Sara.

Alto-hime (Macross Frontier) – The blood of Meltrans doth flow strong in this one. Raised since his childhood to out-women women, Alto-hime has perfected the art of infiltration to the point that the unwary often mistake hime for being a girl. Hime is a classic example of where an infiltrator is so adept that there is no shortage of admirers, many of them un-wanted and some of a less than savory nature. Nevertheless after years of oyama training hime’s skill set is indeed formidable where Ranka makes death pills out of cookies and Sheryl needs help chopping hime beats them both in being able to make something edible by himself. Such prowess by the time of hime’s sixteenth birthday was already second nature, and try as hime might to be a pilot the old oyama habits die hard. To be sure hime’s fame as the greatest Sakura-hime of his age if not all time, hime’s reputation earned the notice of nearly the entire female contingent of SMS. Coupled with hime’s skills as a pilot even Mr. Bilrer took notice as did Grace.

When the end came and hime donned the heirloom of the Nome family it suited hime to a startling degree. Even in the end the PR campaign for the movie could not hide the fact that hime blended in seamlessly and in some cases stole the spotlight altogether. Clearly between Sheryl and Alto-hime Miyo-sama’s undoubtedly fantastic wardrobe will be put to good use for years to come. The ultimate testament to hime’s prowess was when Grace admitted her first true defeat and took solace in the fact that the one who delivered the coup de grace was the greatest oyama that ever lived. Despite hime’s good looks he still boasts some decent combat abilities even as he is out classed by cyborgs, veterans, and Zentradi. Nevertheless being adopted by Meltrans is in itself its own reward, so what if hime looks like a girl? At least he has a Klan onee-chan and getting more female interest without being a loser harem animu male. As they say any female interest is good interest.

Yeah I think Mako-cakes is too far gone…

Mako-cakes (Minami-ke) – By far the only infiltrator to have taken it this far is Mako-cakes, and despite claims that he wishes to reclaim his manhood, there is no denying that Mako-cakes will pay almost any price to be near Haruka. Truth be told Mako-cakes has had the most success in getting closer to Haruka as rival Hosaka is being waylaid by Hayami, and Natsuki was MIA after being beat to a pulp by Haruka, I suppose the coward fled from Haruka the Terrible. Clearly dignity is a small price to pay by Mako-cakes’ book for getting a front row seat to a Haruka disrobing; he also got an unintended bonus when he was felt up by Haruka. Certainly there are those who say that a man’s dignity is not worth losing for getting closer to Haruka, to that I respond: your numbers are negligible and you are stupid, and/or possibly interested in only men; also may your virginity last forever. While most boys his age flee from girls in terror of the cooties, Mako-cakes has enlisted Uchida and fellow infiltrator Touma to keep his identity secret. Even if he’s no Kamina at least he will live long enough to enjoy his female company until puberty hits, and there are ways around that…

Mako-cakes’ reputation is indeed infamous to the point that brokenness became incredibly widespread and millions await in abject terror at the return of Mako-cakes. Given the lazy nature of women when it comes to chores (what you think that they like cleaning?), it is abundantly clear that should Haruka refuse out of concern for age, I am sure Touma will take him. At the very least Mako-cakes has many a year to spend with Haruka, which is more than can be said for the other potential suitors and admirers.

Guerre de course

Opportunism at its finest.

Otherwise known as “Raiding,” this doctrine is most often used by men who cannot stay in one place for very long, in complete opposition to the loser harem animu male who stays in one place and is often subject to retribution. However, on the flipside men who adopt Guerre do course will often find in their old age that all was for naught and they become despicable ero-ji. Thus for the greatest practitioners (Pyrates) the goal has always been to live a short and merry life. Women love the idea of a mysterious wanderer that will whisk them away to the far corners of the land on some sort of adventure. Indeed there is a slew of bodice ripper trashy romance novels that is proof positive that such women are out there, and if those publishers have survived this long then clearly their numbers are significant. They say a sucker is born every minute, while doubly true for men it is also true to an extent for women as well. While letters of marque are often granted or more often out right forged Pyrates roam the world and the universe in search of fleeting liaisons. Although they might never experience love, they will nonetheless have the experience of joy of the hunt and the thrill of the pursuit. While ideally Pyrates are not long for this world should life become exceedingly long it is they who feel the hard hand of Grandfather Time the hardest. Indeed it is often said that old Pyrates are often bitch slapped repeatedly by Grandfather Time in a temporal loop where time itself no longer advances. While suicide is often chosen only the best practitioners of Guerre de course find some way to die heroically and without the shame of an heroing oneself.

One last word of caution though, when starting out you must keep in mind that this a purely opportunistic modus operandi as such rookies are liable to get anything and everything that comes by. Just remeber just because you can doesn’t mean you should…

Noted Practitioners:

Cuz, old Walter wants to pay her a visit after he kills you.

Walter von Schenkopp (Legend of the Galactic Heroes) – While the number of lovers this man has had remains in dispute it cannot be said that his genes were some how inferior given how one of his daughters turned out. Nevertheless while many of his secrets died with him courtship theorists have surmised that as leader of the famed Rosen Ritter that formed the core assault force of Yang Wenli’s fleet Schenkopp was able to mover from one location to another without much trouble from the authorities as the needs of war took precedence. Given his reputation and that of the Rosen Ritter there were many women who suffered from khaki fever, it is to his credit or discredit that Schenkopp took full advantage of this, much to the lamentation of Admiral Attenborough. Whatever his misdeeds in love his reputation as peerless and gallant soldier often overshadow his many vices. His daughter would never forgive him fully for what he did, but he died a hero so at least his Katerose cannot spit on his grave, not only because of the law but because Julian respected him. He remains an example to all would be Pyrates, setting forth a high standard for martial might and martial honor to cover up his infamy as a womanizing cheat. It is said that he once remarked that it was far better to be controversial than to be universally loathed, the monument to him in the Soldiers’ Memorial on Phezzan is testament to his successful use of controversy.

Chevauchee

While Guerre de course advocates a more opportunistic approach a Chevauchee is much more proactive in creating vulnerable women. Don’t let the polite name fool you, a Chevauchee is essentially a grand raid undertaken to loot or destroy everything in one’s path to undermine the local authority’s power in demonstrating that you are above them and beyond whatever justice they might try to mete out. It is by far the most brutal doctrine to ever be employed it is still worthy or study if only because we must acquaint ourselves with the darker side of courtship. In Chevauchee the practitioner simply destroys every resource that a woman might posses, her family, wealth, property, and any other means of support. The objective is to so damage a woman’s circumstances that a burning desire for revenge is lit. If the one who initiated the Chevauchee the impending assassination attempt will be botched and then the rest is easy as the woman is all but helpless before the law as any assassination attempt is by default Murder in the First Degree, which often carries a harsh penalty. The downside is that not all would be women assassins are of sound mental health by this stage and if they still had their mental faculties intact, the impending assassination might very well succeed. The methods of Chevauchee are indeed brutal and there is little room for mistakes. It is in effect a risky gamble one that might cost the practitioner dearly.

Noted Practitioners:

Allegedly out of context…

Oskar von Reuenthal (Legend of the Galactic Heroes) – Reuenthal had it all good looks, power, and the ability to charm women. However his ruthlessness in dealing with the hated Lichtenlade family was far from complete and carried unintended consequences. There was one survivor of that accursed house who did make an attempt on his life, but the former noble woman was no warrior and was easily overpowered. What crimes were committed that day are too awful to contemplate, but by morning the last survivor of the Lichtenlade family was with child. Flush with success Reunthal’s own ego was inflated to a staggering degree that he willingly fought against his Kaiser in his quest for more power. The crushing of Reuenthal’s Rebellion was characteristically harsh and it is often said that he paid the price for his misdeeds. Had Reinhard not been alive perhaps it would have been Reuenthal that would have been Kaiser, but the heterochromatic womanizer was no match to Kaiser Reinhard who was his complete opposite when it came to the art of courtship. One can only wonder what would have been the outcome had Reunthal’s ways been more gentlemanly and his ambition lessened (Note: I declare the Britannian experiment to be a complete and utter failure, thank goodness Reinhard was a better Kaiser).

Mahan

If at first you don’t succeed…

The idea of having one Decisive Date is often mistaken for the penultimate form of courtship, such is never the case as love at first sight more often than not only applies to a single party, in the case our concern the male’s. This is one method that is only for those who are certain of their feelings and are willing to endure many months if not years of hardship in getting their feelings across. Women are perfectly capable of being as dumb, and at times, dumber than men to the point that they cannot see the likable bloke next to them in favor of other less devoted and less savory suitors. As such those who adopt a Mahanian strategy should be prepared for a long campaign and be fully prepared for initial rejection and a long stalemate. There is of course the very real danger of holding everything in reserve in preparation for a Decisive Date that might never come, and even if there is one a botched attempt at a premature Decisive Date might entail irreplaceable loss of treasure and materiel from which any further expenditure of effort is futile. While Orange-kun talks of loyalty the amount of loyalty required for a Mahanian strategy makes the Lance of Britannia look like Benedict Arnold.

Noted Practitioners:

Hard to imagine that Patrick use to get rides from blonde chicks. Now look at him, after Katie had dinner with him he sprouted wings…

Patrick Colasour (Gundam 00) -  Often the butt of everyone’s jokes poor Patrick tried his hand at Guerre de course and gained quite a reputation to he chagrin of other skilled and straight pilots. Nevertheless upon suffering the backhanded blow of love he fell hard for a woman that was quite out of his league when it came to intelligence. It was his misfortune to have fallen for Katie, but to his fortune that he was the only one (until recently) to try. While outwardly good humored and obnoxious poor Patrick knew that he was no ace, but in Katie he found a woman who could make a man out of him. Despite being book dumb Patrick pledged his loyalty to the only person in the world who could accomplish such a feat. He gave up his old ways and made many grand gestures to his beloved Katie. Night after night he went to her house and professed his undying devotion and love, eventually she had to give in if only to get a night’s sleep. Even when parted, Patrick improved his piloting skills to become an A-laws gofer (gofer coffee and the like) to rejoin Katie in the field. Such devotion ingratiated himself to his beloved and made her think for once that he was serious and not merely an idiot, but an idiot that was very much in love. Seeing as how many women like to believe that they are smarter than the men they marry Patrick had enough sense to take full advantage of this. Not only was he finally attaining some martial renown, but now he no longer had to think as hard for himself, and with Katie his infamous stupidity was reduced threefold. While Patrick is rather thick, he did manage to gain a real chance at marrying way above himself; given that women always marry beneath them it is to his credit that he managed so wide a disparity.

The man who conquered a galaxy…

Reinhard von Lohengramm (Legend of the Galactic Heroes) – Kaiser Reinhard was undeniably a military genius whose ambition and intelligence forged the greatest empire the anime has ever known that spans a huge expanse of space. Despite his military achievements when it came to courtship Reinhard was as helpless as a quadriplegic in a swimming pool. One day Reinhard got uncharacteristically sad and a lass named Hildegrad von Mariendorf went to set him straight. One thing led to another and they spent the night. Upon waking up the Kaiser was clearly smitten and being a gentleman wished to take full responsibility for what had happened. Now mind you the Kaiser had no idea that Hilde was with child, but that hardly mattered to Reinhard whose first and tragically last experience in love compelled him to make Hilde his wife and Kaiserin. Unfortunately or fortunately for Reinhard, Hilde was not a woman of such loose morals and spurned his advances telling him that she would carry the child to term without him. All that was Reinhard the Admiral was lost in Reinhard the Suitor and while he could have taken her by using his authority as Kaiser, he did not. Instead after a long campaign and embarrassing himself before his men, who were quite certain that their handsome Kaiser was above dallying with women, Reinhard finally won Hilde’s consent to marry him. The lengths to which Reinhard went are astounding and the full story can only be told if one watches Legend of the Galactic Heroes, to be sure it was completely unexpected.

We will be tracking your sleigh that night…

Now that the Nyquil (I caught something fierce while busting my ass to clean the apartment) has worn off a bit and I am not about to pass out, it’s almost that time of year again. Soon it will be Christmas, and even if times are tough and money is short, I still would like to make a few wishes for the season of giving. I gave my able this year and Travis AFB has already flooded their Toys for Tots bin which is now a mountain with the bin in the center. Given how I have too much crap laying about in the house, I suppose I’d better just ask Santa Claus for something other than Gunpla or War Gaming stuff. Because I have the utmost confidence in NORAD I am sure that Mr. Claus will try his best to deliver on some of my hopes and dreams for the coming year, or risk an ICBM up his arse. (Yeah Christmas is not here yet, but since I trust that most of you will be good little boys and girls that you will be visiting friends and family.)

Macross Frontier Movie

Thanks to mai and comrade Haesslich (no threatening e-mail required I might add…) for his dogged insistence that I use this. My Alto-hime is the prettiest, not seriously it’s true. Hime went all out, I suppose we have Sheryl to thank for breaking out the booze and rummaging though Miyo-sama’s old clothes. Yakkk Deculture, indeed.

I have every reason to suspect that this one will be nothing more than Do You Remember Hime, but as such I have but one humble request on this front. Regardless of what ever it is that Kawamori does I want to see Sakura-hime Azuma Bunsho, preferably at the end where the power of my Alto-hime’s performance stops Grace’s plans and breaks the Vajra for all time, for BEST END. Just look at that promo material, Alto-hime looks way better than both of the heroines…Sheryl isn’t helping by letting Alto-hime keep the earring. I bet Sheryl can drink like a fish and that she even dolled up hime too seeing as how they probably were digging through Miyo-sama’s closet. We are half way there, don’t hold out on us Kawamori, you can even have flying rocks for all I care, just give us Sakura-hime Azuma Bunsho I’ll buy every VF-25 kit you put out even if it kills me.

Gundam 00

The Day of Reckoning is soon.

I have many wishes for this one. First off I want to see Prince Ali gut his opponents in full HD glory no censorship, I want to see blood spurting out of Lasse when Prince Ali rips his head off. I have a couple I wish to add to my liege’s hit list, and seeing how this is Christmas I hope that Prince Ali heeds my petition and adds or keeps the following to his hit list: Marie, Haptism, Lyle, Mariana, Sumeragi, Desu-Yellow, Ian, Lasse, Saji, Jihad-kun, and all of the Azadistani helots in Kataron. I also hope that Santa comes to his senses and also gifts Prince Ali with an upgrade to keep kicking ass, preferable a Dendrobium Orchis to take on Jihad-kun and Saji. It will be EPIC, trust me Mizushima, it made Kou Uraki tolerable so imagine what it could do for Prince Ali.

BEST END. I guarantee it.

Secondly I want Louise to be happy and the only way that is possible is to bring back Soma. Yuri ending is the only good ending! Screw Saji your plot line with loser Saji already failed when Louise showed some yuri love towards Soma making /m/en every where fap to LouisexSoma. Nobody wants to see Saji live any longer, trust me there are none, or at least soon they will all be extinct…just give me until the end of the year I guarantee it. Failing the return of Soma, Bushido Bob is an acceptable alternative to peel of Louise from the predictable and thus incredibly boring pairing with Saji. Bushido Bob, has honor he will never cheat on Louise, and certainly after the Sunrise Team sent Nena across Louise’s path, poor Louise deserves Soma, or at least a Bob instead of a Saji. Giving Louise Saji is like giving her a lump of coal stuffed inside a pile of shit. I have high hopes for this one given how Louise just deleted her Saji folder after learning how Saji had been with CB since day one and had betrayed her in a manner most base.

Together forever!

Thirdly I wish that Patrick “the Immortal” Colasour lives and makes his Katie happy. For the entire run of Gundam 00 so far only Patrick has been a good boy. Even when he got blasted off after every fight he never cried and always came back. A warrior who fights for love certainly deserves to live and propagate love until he dies of old age surrounded by his wife, his children, and his grand children. Besides Katie deserves to have a good husband, just because her protégé Sumeragi fucked up her own life by dallying with Billy doesn’t mean that Katie had anything to do with that. If Katie is not on the good list I insist that Santa check his list a third time (points towards the shiny red button).

Minami-ke

It’s all down hill from here…

Just one thing for the next season no more Fuyukis and the like. More of everything else please. Kana is Boss. That is all.

Tale of Genji

Don’t be squeamish.

Please let this one be as faithful to the source material as possible, disturbing loli-con overtones and all that means NO CUTS.

Seriously Folks…Merry Christmas or whatever you want to call it.

Give and ye shall receive.

In all seriousness though stay safe, don’t drink and drive, and be grateful with what you have. I am thankful that I at least have a military job until 2010 to keep me financially better off than most folks who have lost their jobs. Best wishes to all of us for finding employment or otherwise keeping the jobs that they got. For those of you in school, study hard. Finally no matter what given how must of us live in a fairly safe place on the globe, be thankful that you have that much, there are many people out there who don’t live in peaceful parts of the world and would gladly trade places with you. If you are better off please consider donating to a local charity your time or some food or toys will do just fine no matter how small. Thanks to the zoomies of Travis AFB along with the leathernecks, grunts, squids, puddle pirates, weekend warriors, civilians, and retirees who have contributed to the mountain of toys for the less fortunate this year, I know most of us didn’t have much to spend this year.

Here’s my image dump gift to the rest of you so you don’t have to lurk moar. Merry Christmas, Good luck with Ramadan if you adhere to that, and Happy Hanukkah because it starts today if I recall correctly for the Chosen People.

Patrick has been a good boy this year.

Soma is superior!

In Memory of Graham Acre who died last season.

If only they were still around…

Bob presents Gundam 00.

I miss last season…

The only senisble thing for Kawamori to do is to gender bend…

Oddly enough it seems loli-Klan fan art outnumbers Macronized Klan fan art…I think I know why.

Come on Kawamori, its almost too easy.

Macross FOR LIFE, amen.

Okay Gundam 00 team, I want this animated LIEK NAO!

Sadly gender bent Ranka was not as popular, shoutas get no love at all.

Merry Christmas Saji!

The Magic of Love.

Best Pairing.

Bushido Bob is acceptable.

If only he still had a daughter…

Celestial Being Upgraded.

Lecherous Lyle is lecherous.

Well now that Louise got a Custom Ahead, she only needs a new teacher to take Ginin’s place, I am sure Prince Ali needs some extra cash…

Ersatz Loli-Yuri.

We want Sakura-hime Azuma Bunsho!

Do You Remeber Hime, Summer 2009.

Well do ya?!

Since I have just about finished my finals and am bored out of my mind like how I have always wanted to be since the quarter started I thought it was time to add a bit more to weep over now that 2008 is almost over and 2009 is a few days away. Given how I am a creature that thrives on negativity I thought perhaps it was time to go over some of the dick moves that we have seen so far… Let us recall for a moment the trolls and those full of fail characters.

So any one up for some RAGE? (Note shameless image dump ahead.)

(WARNING: this post will have a lot a rage and mean words for many a character if you cannot tolerate copious amounts of RAGE read no further)

Trolls of 2008

Shoji Kawamori (Macross Frontier)

Planning Conference for Episode 25, and some people thought he loved Ranka and Minmei more than his toys…

This man is my 3D hero, he trolled everyone twice, first with the pineapple cakey, and then with the end. I have already stated how much I love the ending of Macross Frontier and eagerly await the next crop of soon to be trolled people who watch the Macross Frontier Movie expecting an ending… If history is anything to go by these people will be even more pissed than those who wanted to see if Mylene ended up with any one in the Macross 7 OVAs. Mr. Kawamori is a life long troll, heck I bet one of the reasons why we never saw Battle Frontier transform was because of the grief we gave him back in Macross 7. He even brought Ranka up to a high only to let her character suffer from one of the biggest backlashes in Macross history, he even made the call to recycle shot Ranka so that Battle Frontier could look more GODLY when it socked the shit out of Battle Galaxy. That was some EPIC trolling Mr. Kawamori, let’s hope next time will be just as fun.

Abra Lindt (Gundam 00)

He even did a dance while Trolling Seel.

Lindt is a low level troll who lurks on /k/ I have to say that was a mighty fine troll on Seel for having Kataron for tea. Even if every one laments his lack of morals, Lindt is like Oberstien and Garak, he has no use for such small things. Not content with trolling the Sultan of Seel Lindt has also trolled Saji by trying to shack up Andrei and Louise, certainly Louise could do better, but Lindt will not suffer to see Saji happy. He might not get along all that well with Katie, but when Patrick applied to be in the A-Laws for the nth time, Lindt gave his blessing and now Patrick is back. I am sure that when this is all over Patrick is going to thank Lindt for helping him achieve happiness.

Mrs. Nakagami (True Tears)

Trolling her son for being dumb.

Even if I found Hiromi to a bit detestable and jealous to the point that she was greener than Impz’s hair, Mrs. Nakagami was by far more able to hold a grudge and make Hiromi feel it ever since she walked in. That was one awesome troll on Hiromi Mrs. Nakagami, funny thing is Hiromi bought it along with Shin. We still have no idea what the whole deal was with Mrs. Yuasa, but maybe some day we will find out. Still for telling a most cunning lie of all and turning Hiromi into a coward, Mrs. Nakagami was the biggest bitch of True Tears, not even Hiromi was that underhanded. Still let’s hope that Hiromi will never end up like Mrs. Nakagami, when the daughter of Noe blesses the sequel. Next time Mrs. Nakagami, learn to photoshop.

Crusader (The Cancer that is Killing Impz)

!

Me for making this post…

Failures of 2008

Jihad-kun (Gundam 00)

I make no secret of how much I dislike this traitor to the Kurds, and it has never been without reason. Frankly I have no idea why he was ever selected to pilot a Gundam, though granted I never understood how Shin Asuka was given one either. Suffice to say though Jihad-kun has made plenty of dick moves during the course of Gundam 00, perhaps he’s like some hopeless moron that can’t make sense of anything, but one thing is certain Jihad-kun has very poor judgment skills. First off despite his bitch, moans, and complaints to the contrary Jihad-kun’s first dick move came not long after he was squeezed out of his mother’s womb. Where any other child would have done something to thank his mother for her birthing pains with flowers or something, Jihad-kun repaid her by killing his dad, and then killing his mum too. Sure the rotten little bastard blames Prince Ali for this but if his brain washing was so effective why did the little runt try to stop his buddy the suicide bomber? That’s right folks Jihad-kun was too dumb to be brain washed effectively and as a result made all those stupid decisions on his own because Haruhi knows Ali would not have told Jihad-kun to try an obstruct a mission. Not limiting himself to killing his own parents Jihad-kun made another dick move by saving Nena…so much for peace and justice when the only person he did save in season one was a mass murderer. Not content on only saving mass murderers Jihad-kun went two steps further in saving that loser Saji so he could cry and drag down Gundam 00 with his woe is me attitude, worse still Mariana was freed to plague us with kiddie meat shield day care for the duration of the year. Out of all the people he could have save not one was a Kurd, sure Jihad-kun pretends to be a good guy, but judging by the people he has saved he might as well have saved Corner from heartbreak by Ribbons to cement his year of being an ass. Way to go Jihad-kun, may your inability for form coherent thought make for more dick moves in robbing every one of happiness because Saji is miserable.

On the piloting side of things, I can’t believe how this guy can claim to be Gundam when Gundam 00 seems to hate his guts and refused to Trans-Am against Bushido Bob. Really with the way Jihad-kun’s getting his ass kicked he better hope that O-Raizer will help him last five minutes against Prince Ali, otherwise come Sunday maybe his first kills will be team kills. Sucks to be you Jihad-kun now you’ll go down as the worst Gundam pilot ever, if he had to pilot a GN-XIII he’d be worse than Patrick.

Princes Poverty (Gundam 00)

I told her not to watch Cabbage Love…

You know for a monarch who has been ruling for almost a decade she has done less for the average Azadistani than Prince Ali. At least Prince Ali killed off the warring factions even if he had to kill every Azadistani infidel in Azadid to do it, but at least death by fire is faster than a slow death at waiting for Princess couch potato to get off her ass and do something. For all the poverty we see in Azadistan it’s funny how she gets to live in a big fancy palace all day watching TV, you have to admit it’s a real dick move for her to suck up tax money while her people starve and shoot each other on the street. Thank goodness the Feddies came in and stopped her bullshit rule.

Kataron (Gundam 00)

I see you got the message, good to know Kataron can read.

In what is possibly one of the more memorable dick moves of the year Kataron, the terrorists who need protection started a day care for children right next to their Mobile Suit Hangers. Despite their propaganda Kataron are almost as dickish as Hamas in hiding behind inhabited apartment buildings. Perhaps they fancy themselves as some sort of charity, but using kids to be a meat shield for your Anfs is a dick move Karaton…way to go. I am sure the Feddies are evil because they don’t put kids anywhere near their GN-XIIIs. Surprising thing is not even Ribbons is using a kiddie meat shield to protect Gadessa, GARzzo, or Liberty Prime (Arche).

Saji Crossroad (Gundam 00)

Always brings a smile to my face.

Any one who likes this guy needs their head examined, the biggest loser in all of Gundam. His only role is suck and drag down the series with his angst. Way to go Saji talking a big chunk of BS about how much you miss Louise as you flirt with Jihad-kun and Marie. I hope Louise kills Saji for trying to steal her Soma.

Marie (Gundam 00)

You heard her Marie GTFO!

Where do I begin with Marie, she’s disgusting and on the fast track to useless. Either Hal scares this clueless bint into the darkest recess of Soma’s mind that Space Loli comes back to kiss Louise or Hal kills her to spite Al. Either way I miss Soma… If Soma were still around then Saji would have only that lose Jihad-kun to talk to, but now Marie just has to have fake fights with Feldt and give comfort to Saji.

Desu-Yellow (Gundam 00)

Annoyed yet?

God hate this kid, so freaking annoying that you just want to kill her with fire before she says desu again. I hope Prince Ali gives this bitch a cab ride.

Ranka Lee (Macross Frontier)

My Ranka folder nearly ended after episode 20.

One of the most heated fan camp wars to happen all year was from the Ranka faction that wanted to ship their Ranka over having Battle Frontier take on Battle Galaxy in the mecha battle of the year, suffice to say the Episode 20 Revolt was only one of Ranka’s daft decisions that broke my rage meter beyond repair. Such was the idolatry of Ranka that my duties as secret police became more heated as Ranka shippers took to the blogosphere using two or more IDs from the same IP address (You know who you are…) to justify her bullshit because Ranka was moe. Never before had I seen such dedicated worship for moe and loli than in the case of Ranka. Not even Hiromi shippers were as rabid as Ranka’s Moe Guards, I had expected True Tears to be the biggest battle ground, but mein gott is seem that Macross had suffered an invasion of shippers who had no love for the GODLY mecha ending. How it was possible that any one could have thought that I could have tolerated maltreatment of my Alto-hime despite my dogged determination to fanboy my hime until death was in for a great deal of disappointment. It was all fine up until Ranka cried and the Fleet almost died incident, that was the last straw and then she eloped with Brera. It was at that point I was no longer willing to give Ranka the honor of marrying my Alto-hime, and Ballte Frontier agrees.

Would have been more interesting.

I really wanted to like Ranka, but after her abuse of my poor Alto-hime I could not tolerate her antics any more. At first it was all nice and innocent and then after Galia 4 Ranka became famous and made plenty of dick moves against her former friends, she let Elmo get kicked out by Grace without a word in his defense. After all those hard times poor Elmo believed in Ranka when Ozma didn’t and how was he repaid? With treachery, sure Ranka had about much spine as a snail, but all of her cuteness and moe counted for nothing in the end. The saga of woe did not end there as Ranka let my poor Alto-hime get beaten to a pulp by her bodyguard Brera at school for a huge dose of public humiliation…way to go Ranka. Way to stick for my Alto-hime whom you professed to have loved, but not nearly enough to stop your Brera. Ranka thought she was the hime of Frontier and had my Alto-hime climb up a building like some adulterer to have a chit chat when a phone or lord even a visit to Alto-hime’s home would have sufficed…sorry Ranka, but you don’t treat my Alto-hime like that and get away with it. Worse part is you never even realized you were showing that stranger at the time more love than you did to my Alto-hime.

She went from Ninjin Loves you Yay, to Ninjin Loves you ? NAY!

Then Aimo Day came and Ranka decided to hang President Glass out to dry as the public booed him during the parade…that took some cojones Ranka to ditch the leader of Frontier like that without a word or an apology to his face. Little children can be so mean sometimes…Not limiting herself to unintentionally pissing on President Glass Ranka then had a bout of heartbreak and then a great slaughter commenced because Ranka suffered from emotional turmoil and didn’t even apologize. Ranka’s lucky that Sheryl and Alto-hime were there instead of me, I would have tossed her off the roof at that point. I won’t pretend I could sympathize with a little girl who had her heart smashed because she waited forever and a day to confess to my Alto-hime. Oh Ranka you could have shone, but alas your love of song was as weak as your professed love for my Alto-hime. Ranka did not let up on the deluge of disappointment when she saw Mikhail gutted by one of Ai-kun’s friends and then had the gall to ask my Alto-hime to piss on Mikhail’s memory and his oath to protect Frontier to help Ranka take Ai-kun home…if that was a big enough of a dick move she even let Brera kick my Alto-hime’s ass in one last fight and then turnabout and run off with Brera. Oh words could barely convey my RAGE at Ranka for abusing my poor Alto-hime like that. With love such as Ranka’s who needs enemies? All this abuse heaped upon Ranka’s friends and my Alto-hime…and let’s not forget how big of a dick move Ranka did to the Vajra in getting them all pumped up to mate only to have them get blown to bits, and tear her friends to pieces. No doubt Ranka’s fans would say that these were all very nice things Ranka did to these people, of course these same people might be masochists…not that there is anything wrong with being a masochist.

Hungry? Grab a Ranka…

Yeah I have been intolerant of Ranka for almost half the episodes of Macross Frontier, it just sucks when you get high expectations only to see it all blow up in your face. I don’t take lightly to treachery I don’t tolerate it form Jihad-kun and I sure as hell will never tolerate it from a little girl. No for me duty is the most important word in the English language, my standards are not so flexible and weak as to cut a character slack when they fail as hard as Ranka did. Ranka had the best qualities of Minmei at the start and all of it was for nothing all my hopes for Ranka were dashed and spat upon by her base damsel in distress act. Ranka made an oath to the people of Frontier and she broke that and to me that is something vile and detestable to my grunt sensibilities. Oh she was important alright, but good grief did my hopes for her turn sour and into a most powerful hatred I normally reserve to terrorist scum and Saji. Her ignorance of her own malicious behavior was nothing short of appalling and in the end I could not like her any more because she just didn’t do anything to redeem herself from fraternizing with Brera and pissing on everyone. But hey maybe one day when Ranka grows up I can forgive her for all the dick moves she never realized she made. It takes a lot of BS for a green haired loli to be panned even by Impz, but some how Ranka did it. I just wish it didn’t have to be like that. Ignorance is never an excuse Ranka, well let’s hope she learned something at the end, and just maybe in the Movie I will get to see an improved Ranka from that spoiled little brat who nearly sank another fleet. Children can be so cruel.

A new year is about to start in 26 some odd days…and no Mako-cakes will not be reclaiming his manhood.

Well another year has almost past and overall it was pretty good. Much fun was had, many gut busting laughs occurred, and memories both good and bad were made. So here are some poorly laid out thoughts on 2008 even if Fall is not over. I might do one for fall once all is said and done, but even so this post is already rather long. I hope you all had a fun year watching anime, no matter what your genre. Feel free to add some of your own stuff as this is hardly exhaustive, otherwise relive the rage relive the joy, savor Shinichiro’s tears one more time.

Outstanding Lasses

Noe Isurugi (True Tears)

Poor Noe never did find love by series end, but still helping others does make her a better person…

Poor Noe never did find love in the end, but she did help along a couple idiots find happiness. While Shin and Hiromi were content with going nowhere fast, Noe leapt out of a tree and changed every thing, Shin art was thunderstruck, Hiromi was threatened, Ai-chan was forced to face reality, and Nobuse gained the courage to carry on. Still for holding back her true tears for a while after Shin poured out all of his, Noe was an Outstanding Lass for being that selfless and not so vile as to beg a rival for any sort of help or pity points. Besides, Jibeta appreciates her mercy. I hope she finds a good guy some day that understands how great she really is, who knows maybe one of her new friends has yuri tendencies, perhaps both…

Sheryl Nome (Macross Frontier)

By series end this was no idle boast…

I for one was pleasantly surprised when Sheryl stopped being a haughty diva with a bad attitude and became a brave young lass. For a character that was never meant to be much more than Ranka’s older sister figure, Sheryl like the great Misa took on a life of her own and compelled Kawamori to make some changes after episode five. Who have thought that underneath that haughty hostility was one of the more memorable Macross women to ever exist. If you told me that Sheryl would be saving people towards the end I would have laughed my ass off during the early eps. She was on top of the world fell to rock bottom and still with a bit of hime help was able to pull herself together to sing on the Bridge of Battle Frontier. She even sent of Mikhail with style, and risked her own life for the sake of others. Were she a lesser woman Grace’s revenge would have been complete over the Nome family. For believing in the power of her own song and helping out Ranka, and her rather thick headed hime, Sheryl prove to be an Outstanding Lass of the highest order.

Klein Klan (Macross Frontier)

She’s no Sinagporean that’s for sure.

Poor Klan lost her Mikhail, but she did mourn in her own way, the Meltran way. For some one who had her own fair share of grief it was most noble of her to try and help Mikhail’s friends now that he was gone. Besides some one still had to take care of the kids. As the only person that command Alto-hime’s respect I say she did pretty well in putting hime on the right path, she did prevent Sheryl from running away at least. After all only a foolish miclone picks a fight with a Meltran, those armor piercing slaps are the least weapons of their formidable arsenal. Alto-hime is very fortunate to have such an Outsanding Lass as his onee-sama. I hope Kawamori gives her a happy ending of her own someday, next Macross perhaps?

Katie (Gundam 00)

Still waiting for a Gundam 00 College Years spin off. I bet Katie was a Bio Major, and Prince Ali had a blast in theology class as well as chemistry. Bushido Bob was probably in Japanese studies and president of the anime club, and poor Patrick was still trying to pass his entrance exam. As for Sumeragi…Partying 101?

Poor Katie has her hands full with an irritable XO, an Innovator conspiracy, a devoted book dumb suitor, a pill popping yuri pilot, and a cosplaying ace to deal with. All of this while having to lead her brave band of men and women against CB and their magic GN particles that almost put Minovsky Particles to shame. Life is tough Katie, but never has the thought of defeat or angst crossed her mind. Even if she one of the unsung heroes of Gundam 00 I think Katie is an Upstanding Lass for not adding to the wangst that CB and Kataron keep pumping out. I wish her the best of luck so that Prince Ali might be put on the fastest route to kill more terrorists. Besides she made Patrick a man and mildly dangerous to the point that Patrick was actually able to cripple Lockon Mk I and filled Tieria full of lose for the second season. The Power of LOVE is indeed a curious thing…

Touma Minami (Minami-ke)

The really surprising thing is that Touma is technically being groped…

It’s hard to think for oneself and doubly hard to think for some other half wit as well. One cannot help but admire the camaraderie that Touma has for fellow cross dresser Mako-cakes. That swim suit gambit was damn clever and even greater deeds were done to protect Mako-cakes’ identity even as Touma had little reason to do so. Friends will do a lot of things for you, but few would genuinely help you cross dress for your lustful ambitions. When Mako-cakes was about to give up on going to the pool, Touma pulled through so Mako-cakes could see Haruka in a bathing suit, incidentally Haruka was tossed in optimal proximity to his last known position in the pool. For going above and beyond what a friend would normally do, Touma is an Outstanding Lass.

Sakura (Wagaya no Oinari-sama)

I bet she’d make a great writer, rated G and otherwise!

While Hosaka was under delivering on fantasies this year, it fell upon poor Sakura to fill in the gap. She did so magnificently providing plenty of imaginary fanservice. Oh the power of the girl’s imagination. Even if she was the only normal of the lot, she was able to kick ass and get a hell of a ride home thanks to Kuu-chan. Maybe one day she’ll realize that she only has one rival, but until then may her imagination run riot, Haruhi-sama knows that a fertile mind is more interesting than reality.

Louise Halevy (Gundam 00)

While Piloting Sumltron…with Soma in her arms…and sharing a passionate kiss.

Haruhi-sama knows how much I hated Louise in season one as the stupid air head with her undeserved wealth and poor choice in men. How gloriously she has changed since her family’s run in with Nena. In fact she has exceeded all expectations and has not become the morality pet that I dreaded would be. Joining the yuri side of things was awfully nice of Louise as is her proper attitude about kicking CB and Kataron’s ass to avenge herself against the protectors of Nena. May Prince Ali help Louise achieve the revenge she has so long been denied. Long may her yuri love for Soma power her fighting spirit, and may the pile of dead terrorists be tall in her quest for justice. Outstanding Louise just outstanding, may the superior pilots of the Federation teach you all they know.

Excellent Evil

Hayami-sempai (Minami-ke)

Sorry Kana, but your cooperation is not neccessary…I don’t know what happened, but I can tell.

It is always more fun with Hayami-sempai, her juice is much more fun than Akkiko’s jamu with far more interesting results. Besides where Maki lacked the chutzpah to fight Hosaka, Hayami slapped the guy over the stolen bento, she even kicked him hard. While there are many ways to be evil a great malicious being knows precisely where to apply their trade. Given that Hayami has few wants, her treatment of Hosaka carried the hallmarks of excellent evil. No one is safe from Hayami-sempai, even the smartest fall to her juice, and while Kana never takes a sip, we all know that even juiced Hayami is a force to be reckoned with. No one seriously thinks Hayami spared Kana…I may not know, but I sure as hell can dream.

Grace O’Conner (Macross Frontier)

I am proud of that technological terror, delicious villain is delicious and evil. ALL HAIL GRACE!

Who could have suspected a Kikoku Inoue voiced character was the real villain, still evil Belldandy is deliciously evil. Grace does it all, from managing and helping ruin the careers of idols to piloting a VF-27 Grace’s skills are many. One cannot help but appreciate how close she was in getting her vengeance on her erstwhile researchers. She made and broke Sheryl with Ranshe’s precious bugs and used Ranshe’s kids like pawns. Sure she was helped by the fact that Ranka was in way over her head, but in crafting her own nii-san as Ranka’s Prince in a Valkyrie was the most malicious and terrible thing that could be done. The only thing that could have made it worse was if Ranka was with Brera’s child, thankfully for Ranka that fate was avoided. Lord Grace was almost Queen of the Galaxy and used the descendants of her enemies to do it had she succeeded the name of Nome and Mei would have been cursed for all time. Fire could not stop her, dimension eater could not stop her, and if you think that Grace was killed by Alto-hime with Mikhail’s gun…well Grace has been dead before. With any luck Miss Kikoku Inoue will bless us again with her evil voice may her legacy be as enduring as Kamijin’s.

Kana Minami (Minami-ke)

Don’t underestimate the cruelty of Kana…

Being smart is not all its cracked up to be, and without a doubt Kana has wrought more havoc and broken more lives than your typical stupid girl. Kana not only gets to defeat Chiaki more often than not, and has also taken control of Chiaki’s clique of friends. The continued success of the Mako-cakes experiment is absolutely diabolical, Kana doesn’t have to do much more than give Mako-cakes a nudge and the rest just follows. From inadvertently leading on Fujioka to ruining any hope Mako-cakes has of ever being a guy again Kana may not know it, but if she was even a bit smarter the world might be dancing to her tune. Unless of course there was some one even more evil…

Haruka Minami (Minami-ke)

What occurred that dreadful I can never say for I am bound by wards and oaths of a terrible power, but I tell you this, when we say Haruka is AMAZING that applies to everything…

It’s always the kind and gentle ones who wreak terrible vengeance once you push their kindness to the breaking point. Like her Banchou legends it is hard to discern truth from legend, no one knows what Haruka did to Chiaki and Kana that day and neither have ever spoken of it…perhaps there are things in this world that are simply too terrible to mention.

Upstanding Blokes

Patrick Colasour (Gundam 00)

Patrick can fit only a limited number of thoughts in his head, and most of those some how involve Katie.

Sure the man is an idiot, but given how the series he’s in is stocked with characters with emotional baggage with loads of emotional turmoil Patrick is still the only real good guy in the series. He hasn’t done anything evil and his reason for fighting is the only honest one and the only one associated with love. Besides the more screen time he sucks up the less Haptism and Marie get to rear their hateful visages. Never will you see any angsting on the part of old Patrick, he doesn’t know much and he doesn’t give two shits what other people think. If nothing else the man is persistent and has been pursing the love of his life for over four years, that right there is loyalty and devotion of the highest order. If nothing else he annoys the hell out of CB fanatics because Patrick is better than Tieria. Patrick is like root beer he’s bubbly, happy, and the more you watch the more you begin to like the fact that he also takes time away from Saji, Marie, Haptism, Mariana, and Desu-Yellow. He’s not only upstanding for piloting for his Katie, but he’s insidiously happy as well.

Saotome Alto (Macross Frontier)

Hime takes after his mother.

While almost universally panned by every rabid shipper that followed Macross Frontier, my Alto-hime was still a reliable one in that he honored his promise to stick with Sheryl who lost everything, going against his boss, his crew, and losing for a time his VF-25. Furthermore he chose bros over hoes and remained a friend to Luca and saved him from the curse of Kak’s colors instead of running away with Ranka. Most importantly of all hime did not have the high level of emotional baggage that seems to plague mecha protagonists these days. Hime trolled the shippers and for that he is a most Upstanding Bloke. Besides I tell you all again the triangle was resolved it all depends on how sharp your ears are…

Nobuse (True Tears)

When can his glory fade?
O the wild charge he made!
All the world wonder’d.
Honour the charge he made!
Honour the Green Brigade,
Noble Nobuse!

Poor noble Nobuse got caught in a love triangle, were he a lesser man he would have killed his best friend turned rival in a fit of rage. He could have done it two since Nobuse was able to see off two interlopers with but a glance, truly that reputation was hard earned and done over a veritable mountain of vanquished foes! Instead of destroying his friendship this Upstanding Bloke took an altogether different path and not only spared his rival a beating, but also saved his ass from getting beat by others. Never sparing himself he even sought out a curse so that his beloved Ai-chan could get a clean break. In the end his undying love was felt and he got the start that should have been his the first time. While there are some who may still hate Nobuse for giving Ai-chan happiness, such miscreants ignore the fact that Nobuse was a better man than his best friend. He was decisive, where Shin hesitated, he was strong where Shin was weak, and he never set eyes on anyone else. His heart was inviolable and for such strength of character Nobuse is an Upstanding Bloke.

Prince Ali (Gundam 00)

God knows ’twere better to be deep
Pillowed in silk and scented down,
Where love throbs out in blissful sleep,
Pulse nigh to pulse, and breath to breath,
Where hushed awakenings are dear . . .
But you’ve a rendezvous with Death
At midnight in some flaming town,
When Spring trips north again this year,
And I to my pledged word am true,
You shall fail that rendezvous.

In this Noble Prince of Kurdistan is the will of Tomino reborn, while death’s door has become a Sunrise joke, Prince Ali has come forth to restore its permanence and cull the fat from a bloated cast. He kills not for some false morality, but for his own fun and it cannot be denied that it was Prince Ali who did the most noble thing in Gundam 00 so far by killing off roughly 66% of Team Trinity and giving Nena a taste of her own medicine. Truly Prince Ali has done more for the good guys than CB did all season and then some, after all it’s not as if Jihad-kun and his buddies killed any one who deserved it, hell even Ribbons one upped them when he gave Corner a broken heart… Also while the killing of Kinue was rather unnecessary it did set her soul free to be reborn in Macross Frontier as Sheryl Nome, a fair trade by any account. No genetic engineering will be found in prince Ali, for he is a GOD OF WAR who honed his martial prowess the old fashioned way,  neither super soldier, newtype, nor Innovator, Prince Ali is 100% Bad Ass Normal. For killing off the greatest number of villains in S1, Prince Ali is an Upstanding Bloke.

Mako-cakes (Minami-ke)

Meido has changed…

It’s indistinguishable…(courtesy of Comrade Haesslich)

While Mako-cakes hasn’t done much more than give us all a good laugh, I think that in itself was service enough. Lord knows many of us will never see meido in the same way again and Mako-cakes has broken many an otaku. May Mako-cakes show us all how there is no price too high to get into the home of your crush, and incidentally attain more female company without being a loser harem animu lead. Oddly enough it is nothing short of astounding that this not so book smart kid has such discipline. Had it been anyone else the pretense would have ended long ago with some thing unseemly happening. For maintaining the pretense of being a girl and out girling Chiaki Mako-cakes is an upstanding bloke, more so because he has yet to jump Haruka despite ample opportunity to do so, Mako-cakes is an Upstanding Bloke.

Ozma Lee (Macross Frontier)

The cake was excellent by the way…

When the death flags were flying high and the hearts of fans stopped at the sight of his bloodied cockpit, Kawamori trolled every one with pineapple cakey. It was brilliantly done on the part of Ozma despite the womanizing myth it seems that baking might advert the bane of aces. He was a terrible squadron leader that failed to convince his crew to follow his lead, but he was a decent enough guy to Cathy who almost married that Leon fellow. If nothing else he’s upstanding because he broke the pineapple curse, nuff said.

Bobby (Macross Frontier)

Don’t worry Cathy Bobby will adopt you!

Bobby may have given up on love, but one can’t argue with the quality of his parenting nor the quality of his children. Along with Cathy he actually went to a pre-battle sale that made total sense 80% off everything is something no one in their right mind could pass up. Bobby even had a big enough heart to help out poor Cathy after she lost her dad. He did after all help raise the smartest crop of bridge crew we have seen this year that was not cursed with the stupid. For that alone Bobby is an Upstanding Bloke, besides I am not stupid enough offend the only ace cap ship helmsman of the year.

Memorable Moments (mecha and otherwise)

Hiromi wins twice (True Tears)

Cry, CRY! CRY some more!

Ugh…I wish I could forget about that false hope they instilled in me. Here’s to Hiromi not losing her lead, just remember how much you both owe Noe for stirring up the stagnant waters between you two.

Macross Frontier two part Finale (Macross Frontier)

My Happiest Moment of the Year.

Oh yes Kawamori ultimate troll against the shippers and delivery of the mecha battle to beat of 2008. If you believe that new age hippie in that he made a harem ending that is all fine and well, but if you had the Macross OSTs looping for a while now you will have noticed that the end of Prolgue F was only played for Sheryl and Alto-hime, moreover Battle Frontier capped off its score with the same tune slightly mixed. Thus were Sheryl and Alto-hime blessed by Battle Frontier, and every true fan of Macross will concur that Battle Frontier knows best. So that was the end in musical terms that Kawamori has been touting for 25 years, Battle Frontier hath mused and only a fool would argue with a big bad capital ship with huge Macross Canon after you realize Kawamori is rather eccentric and always high on something in public. When Battle Galaxy was previewed the end was no longer in doubt and we finally saw two and a quarter Macross class vessels duking it out to the death. The way was cleared the character shots were rushed to make way for Battle Frontier and Battle Galaxy as well as a host of ghosts, valkyries, ships, and bugs. It was epic and had ever real mecha fan on the floor twitching violently upon its conclusion after the sensory overload and GODLY mecha action that had been cooking in Kawamori’s hookah for 25 years. Epic fan wank to go with EPIC TROLL for Kawamori. If your mecha sense was not firing on all cylinders you are no fan of mecha.

Metal Gear Rex vs Metal Gear Ray (Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots)

I wish I was that good… (Spoilers!)

When I first saw the MGS4 trailers my jaw dropped when I got a hint that this was possible. Sure it was really the end…but it was at least on par if not slightly better than the old man fight. It was so much fun to play, slightly hard at first, but by Tsuruya’s fang it was everything I wanted it to be. Sure Liquid was a cheap bastard, but a few AT missiles can take care of that…Thank you Mr. Kojima, I am satisfied with your conclusion of the Metal Gear Saga. I can also stop egging people on to send you death threats motivational letters to your office since MGS3 ended.

Liberty Prime (Fallout 3)

Better dead than Red. (Spoilers)

What more needs to be said about one of the most definitive mecha moments in gaming for 2008. Western mecha may not be as popular as it once was but mein gott I dare say Liberty Prime has the most personality of any mecha this year. It certainly has more motivation to liberate Alaska than Gundam 00 has for helping Jihad-kun. Sure the Liberty Prime was no Zaku but hell it lobbed nukes like grenades and has some of the most awesome lines ever in anything mecha. Without a doubt Liberty Prime had one of the most just causes of any mecha, it did not pretend to fight for world peace or any such BS, but was completely honest about what it would do…destroy all communists. The only people who did not have their mecha fancy tickled were agents of the Red Menace. We all know what Liberty Prime has to say about that…

Mako-cakes’ continuing slide (Minami-ke)

Just friends? Maybe more…?

For some reason watching a character slowly become something else is at times hypnotic, I bet many of us could not help but watch with terrified glee at how Mako-cakes became more and more girl than boy. It’s like a black hole the viewer is simply drawn in and cannot escape after reaching the point of no return. Kana has scarred the poor guy soon to be gal for life, and I doubt any of us would be surprised if Mako-cakes signed up for gender reassignment. Thankfully for him at least his slow slide into femininity has gotten him more female company than most boys his age, oddly enough those in on the secret don’t seem to mind at all and Uchida along with Touma seem keen on keeping Mako-cakes as is, so at least Mako-cakes has some faint hope for someone to take him in if Haruka spurns him. Funny how it was all his love for Haruka that made him what he is today, one cannot help but wonder if Mako-cakes even remembers his original objective. Scary thing is…I bet he kept that bag of clothes. So much for his wild manliness that cannot be contained… Hopefully next year there won’t be a damned Fuyuki.

Death of Team Trinity and the coming of Yazan’s heir (Gundam 00)

Now it gets fun…

I am still a cautiously optimistic about Gundam 00 despite my dismay and disgust at the sight of Desu-Yellow and Saji. However it has been some time since Gundam power levels have been taken down to the low that they have, I wish the Gundam 00 team the best, and at least for now they can console themselves that they have beaten out SEED (even if they aren’t getting as high ratings, at least Fukuda is out of the way) for the time being (Marie withstanding). Still the destruction of Team Trinity was by far a high point and presaged how Celestial Being has been doing less good for the world than Prince Ali. If nothing else it does feel as if Tomino is back in charge of things and with any luck Prince Ali will kill even more useless cast members. It was an awesome Gundam jack that made Anavel Gato look like an amateur and the losers of Cosmic Era look like a bunch sissies. Prince Ali simply flew up and kicked the shit out them BY HIMSELF, only the heir of Yazan Gable could be this bad ass, and when you are Prince Ali you don’t need no Permit the reputation says it all. Such a pity that the traitor Jihad-kun saved Nena from justice… The conclusion for season one was good, but this was the moment when Gundam 00 really started firing on all cylinders, the tech gap had been bridged and Ali had delivered the Earth Sphere from the depredations of the Trinities. It’s worth noting that after Prince Ali slew Johann the only wedding intervened on was that of the hated Azadistani occupier.

Well I sure don’t see what the problem with my Alto-hime is, but I gather that the rest of you could not stand to see that my hime is prettier than your moe blobs.

Well I am still suffering a bit from Macross Frontier withdrawal so hopefully this post will be the one to make the withdrawal symptoms end before I can celebrate the return of my lord and liege Prince Ali when Gundam 00 deigns to have my lord kill something for old times sake. I know that unlike a lot of people I genuinely did like Alto-hime, at first I thought it would be fun just play on the fact that hime was prettier than most other girls when it aired, but as time went on I liked Alto-hime because hime reminded me of what I went through when I enlisted for the Imperial Forces. In that light I could never really hate hime since unlike most mecha protagonists he had to work for his right to pilot his VF-25. Despite the outcry of hime’s good looks and the alleged indecision, I think most people are just giving Alto-hime a cursory glance as the card board cut out of a guy that was to be fought over by Sheryl and Ranka. For me though I think Kawamori did give us a fairly good lead protagonist. Now that most of the rancor and rage should have died it might as well be the time to make one last Macross post until the movie airs. Hopefully now the last of my withdrawal symptoms for Macross Frontier will be gone.

My Alto-hime’s first love was his VF-25, and suffice to say she was very beautiful.

I know that for the most part I am probably the only who has supported my much maligned Kabuki-hime during the entire run of the series. While Kabitzin thinks of my Alto-hime as a blandmaster, I agree with Martin that Alto-hime is more than he seems. Much rage and whines were there of hime’s girly looks, but ultimately though I think Alto-hime did one manly thing that most of his critics shun and fear doing, hime enlisted to fight in a time of war. Unlike many recent mecha pilots there was no hesitation on his part that he wanted to fight and that he wanted to do it in a badass mecha, it’s quite a change from kind of boy that steps into a mecha cockpit and trembles in abject fear on his first outing barely able to stop himself from wetting his pants. For the most part I have a loathing of civilian males who think of themselves as manly yet contribute nothing to their volk and fatherland. They are the ones I see who refuse to fight and have repeatedly failed to change things for the better by staying within the safety of their homes. They complain and clamor for change, but not much ever changes.

Even Max had to don the apron and do domestic chores…

I remember a time back in the not so distant past where there were fears of a draft (hell most guys in the Military opposed it anyway) in my country there I bore witness to some of the most eloquently argued reasons for wanting to stay at home, they were not all made by men who rejected violence but cowards who valued their own personal safety above all else. For such cowards rejection of violence for the state did not rule out violence for the sake of themselves. Like John Stuart Mill such men, I think can never be free unless made so or kept so by the exertions of better men than themselves. No such cowards are not free they are merely protected and have no claim to manhood if they refuse to fight and refuse to change things for the better. There are many ways to fight, but to refuse to do anything but look out for their own welfare is the epitome of the basest form of cowardice, in my humble opinion.

…if you met his waifu you’d know why.

I care little for a person’s gender, race, creed, or lifestyle; only the willingness to fight the ability to endure fear for but five minutes longer than the average man is how I measure a person. Even in modern society the pretension to GAR really has no place as one cannot yell at his/her boss or creditor without fear. No the average person is afraid, afraid of poverty, afraid of the shame of having to ask his/her fellows for charity, and afraid that ultimately they will fail in life and eek out a meager existence on welfare forgotten and alone. No in modern times with gender equality men have to be a bit more like women and women have to be a bit more like men. The burden of raising a family, by and large for the average person, would disallow for there to be only one bread winner. The old unequal relationships that defined gender roles have largely been obliterated whether by law or economic necessity and in this light I think that Alto-hime’s struggle to reconcile this was his greatest internal conflict. We know that hime is the greatest oyama that ever lived who’s performance over awed all that saw it, however, being so strongly associated with being a woman led to Alto-hime taking a different path.

This is Kawamori, he makes toys and designs big bad mecha for a living. He’s not exactly GAR, nor will he kick your ass and take your name, he has a mecha bodyguard that will tear you in half though…

I quite enjoyed watching hime try and live up to the hot blooded school of manhood, but ultimately I think that since he was getting trashed and humiliated by Brera that the realization that hime simply could not compete dawned on him. It was never from a lack of trying but ultimately like a lone M-4 Sherman facing a Panzer VI no amount of skill could help Alto-hime beat the cybernetic Brera and his superior VF-27. Brera remained largely undefeated and only Grace was able to beat Brera after using SLAVE mode because Grace was just evil like that. Eventually I think Alto-hime did find something a value from his feminine side (and by that I mean the old virtues associated with being a woman, a cool head, compassion, did all the domestic chores, and the like), he learned to care more about others and to cool his jets for a somewhat more calm and practical approach to battle (teamwork instead of blindly charging). Had this been a more shonen styled anime Alto-hime would have been kicking Brera’s ass to the ends of the galaxy, but that never happened. Alto-hime was never a hime for words and given how I my Japanese history teachers always said to look at kabuki in terms of actions in terms of what is going on instead (mind you I always thought that many of those damned love suicides were god awful) of what was being said, perhaps it pays more to see what Alto-hime did and didn’t do rather than try and decipher his arcane flying analogies.

So while the shippers cried, Kawamori was enjoying his LEGO.

Given that his mother was the dominant influence in his life, his drawing of inspiration from Sheryl, and his unconditional respect for Klan and all that the meltran had to say helped Alto-hime accept that his past along with the wisdom of women was of some value. Alto-hime felt much less influence from Mikhail, Yasaburo, and Ranzo given how he was liable to be rude, talk back, and generally turn his back on all three of them from time to time. Alto-hime was a guy who more deeply felt the female influences in his life than he ever felt from his father, brother, or friend. Hime had female heroes, and while that may seem silly at first for a lot of people who for one reason or another grew up without much of a father figure often looked up to mom and remember all the sacrifices she made for her children. Kawamori has always liked to lavish better qualities in his female characters and I don’t think that it was a coincidence that Grace was the one who made Leon look like a small little boy when it came to doing evil. I think that for a lot of men that the biggest influence on your life was probably a woman, hell you probably came from one as well with no shortage of pain that men can scarcely imagine I might add. Besides if you can recall your childhood I am sure it was your mother who scolded you every time you did something stupid or wrong, if your mum was old school you probably got a good beating as well. Like most guys today Alto-hime had to learn how to accept his feminine side, and even the bravest of US Marines have to learn how to cook, sew, do laundry, and if they have a family, take care of their girl children as well.

Unlike many contemporary mecha pilots of this accursed age once Alto-hime saw the VF-25 only one thought crossed his mind, DO WANT!

While it is clear that Alto-hime loves to fly he does nonetheless meet two love interests who could not be any more different. In Ranka, hime finds that sweet girl next door who falls for him at first sight. She likes to sing but lacks the confidence to believe in the power of her song. Ranka with her copious amounts of moe runs more along traditional (by that I mean 19th Century) values of feminine virtue. She’s dependent on men for protection, she is very introverted and shy, and at first seems to only long for her beloved. Ranka is not confrontational and her educational prowess is likely less than Alto-hime’s given how she struggled with the Miboshi exam while Alto-hime got top grades in all his classes. Ranka’s initial style is very conservative and modest highlighting her innocence. In essence in Ranka Alto-hime finds a girl not yet in full bloom but she is well meaning, modest, soft spoken, and is very dependent on Alto-hime and others to reach her full potential. Ranka wants to have a knight in shining armor and for the most part Alto-hime tries and fails to live up to the task of rescuing Ranka from all sorts of baddies, from Brera, Ai-kun, and Grace. If one were to imagine that Alto-hime and Ranka were together one would probably see a relationship where Alto-hime is in clearly dominant position as protector and bearer of more masculine traits. Ranka’s non-confrontational nature lends her a more supportive role, she cannot do much on her own but she could provide support to her man if need be. Ranka is how Minmei started out, Ranka had fame thrust upon her but like her predecessor she was not able to cope with the burdens that came with it. Ranka never lost her fame, but rather in the end Ranka axed her own career after she refused to sing for the dead.

Sheryl cut straight to the chase, Ranka took the more inactive approach.

In contrast Sheryl was loud, proud, confrontational, and confident to the point of arrogance. Sheryl was very much in the full bloom of her womanhood, both mentally and otherwise. In Sheryl, hime found a woman who loved her songs and lived only to sing, she never needed his encouragement to shine on stage. Nevertheless Sheryl decided to make herself a part of his life and became his boss for a time. Even though hime thinks little of her career and performance style eventually he accepts her as a performer in her own right, and offers her a rare bit of encouragement when she was on the verge of quitting. Her professionalism is quickly apparent to Alto-hime and in that they have much in common given how both had achieved a degree of fame early in life. Sheryl is characterized more along modern lines with her independent streak and her self reliance. Her style of dress is not nearly as modest as Ranka’s and has more variation in style that even Klan appreciates. Neither is intimidated by the other, though Alto-hime, is for a while, intimidated by Sheryl’s “hopes and dreams”. Between the two it is Alto-hime to plays a more responsive role as Sheryl more often or not takes the lead in their relationship. Both have masculine and feminine traits and it can be said that their relationship is the more familiar modern one, both are capable of acting independently but at the same time a bit complimentary. In many ways Sheryl was the continuation of DYRL Minmei in that she had already adapted to her fame and was genuinely interested in her hime. While Ranka’s style was similar to Minmei’s, Sheryl shared some passing similarities as well with her modest blue dress and hat. It is however worth mentioning that Sheryl wore her earring and hat in the opposite position in relation to Minmei, such as Sheryl wearing her earring on the right as opposed to Minmei who had hers often showing on the left.

For Ranka it was love at first sight, for Sheryl it was love at first flight.

Alto-hime’s relationship with Ranka was as plagued by his absence and apathy as much as it was by Brera’s interference and Ranka’s shyness. If Alto-hime loved Ranka he sure had a funny way of showing it. It matters little if their romantic moments were not backed by sacrifices made on both sides. For Alto-hime he very quickly started lying (it also was not the last time either) to Ranka about going on a date with Sheryl and responded unenthusiastically when Ranka launched her career. Even when Ranka got a small role in the Macross Zero movie he underscored how small it was. Once on the set hime hesitated in giving Ranka help and when his help came, it was no longer necessary. On his birthday he elected to leave Ranka behind and did not bother to apologize in person, though to be fair, Ranka wanted to gift him something that suited Ranka (concert tickets plus her cookies) than it suited him. Times were good around the time of Galia 4, but the truest test of a relationship is always when times are bad, and after that things certainly took a turn for the worst. His inability to be Ranka’s knight in Armor Pack once Brera showed up inflamed his feelings of inferiority. The repeated beatings while Ranka watched with nary an action in his defense highlighted how indifferent Ranka was to Alto-hime’s public humiliation and she wavered once Brera started doing all the things she had wanted Alto-hime to do for her. When Ranka started having doubts about betraying her song Alto-hime egged Ranka on to sing Grace’s Aimo Remix. After Ranka saw Alto-hime and Sheryl together Alto-hime did not go after Ranka nor did hime wipe away her tears nor reassure her leading to the Sheryl slap. Just as Ranka was not there for Alto-hime when Brera gave him another beating, Alto-hime wasn’t there for Ranka when she fled with tears in her eyes at the sight of hime embracing Sheryl.

Yeah once times got tough Ranka’s eyes started to wander…

During Ranka’s last ditch effort to elope with Alto-hime, he rejected her pleas not to shoot and demanded that she step aside. After that Alto-hime was once again humiliated and Brera took off in his stead which Ranka readily accepted. Watching it again it was alsmot as if Brera was whisking Ranka away from a one sided relationship since Alto-hime was not lending Ranka a shoulder to cry on, and when that happened she used Brera’s instead. Even when a second opportunity to save Ranka presented itself Alto-hime stayed behind rather than go after Ranka. Even if Alto-hime came to her rescue at the final battle, nothing had fundamentally changed. One rescue doesn’t really erase the fact for the most part Alto-hime was neglecting Ranka and left Ranka to her own devices, while Ranka was treating their relationship like a high school romance. If Alto-hime truly loved Ranka then sticking around Sheryl wiping away her tears and supporting Sheryl in her time of need while Ranka had hit rock bottom was a terrible way to show it. Alto-hime claimed that he would protect Ranka, but when she needed his protection the most he just could not set aside his personal feelings to honor that sentiment. They say that when you love some one you never have to say you’re sorry, but in this case if Alto-hime did love Ranka then it is hard to deny that he was being a dick to her for most of the series if he did love her. Even before the necessities of duty had made Ranka an enemy, Alto-hime was not exactly devoting himself to Ranka. Ranka’s use of Brera as a refuge after Alto-hime did not respond the way she wanted also casts her in a bit of bad light as up until the end of episode 24 all Brera was to Ranka amounted to being her bodyguard. She never knew that Brera was her brother and for her to accept him as a substitute for Alto-hime gives much reason to doubt Ranka’s faithfulness to Alto-hime if she could not muster much concern when Brera was kicking the crap out of Alto-hime. Since I don’t believe that my Alto-hime is terrible person that would cheat, I don’t think that he took Ranka’s feelings seriously enough nor was he taking the time to respond to her feelings, pure as they might have been. It was a relationship that I believe had more problems than love, and while Ranka believes that she can still win hime’s heart I highly doubt his apathy and her questionable faith will produce anything positive.

…towards the Prince of Galaxy, built by Grace Heavy Industry Ltd.

Alto-hime’s treatment of Sheryl differed vastly from his treatment of Ranka. On their first date he took some pains to conceal it and keep it a secret to prevent a scandal. Even if it was Sheryl who dragged hime along, eventually it was Alto-hime who showed Sheryl his favorite place instead of going to Ranka’s rescue. He had an excuse to part ways with Sheryl, but at the time Ranka’s cry for help was brushed aside to go play with Sheryl and be her tour guide. Initially it was Sheryl who made most of the advances she gave Alto-hime one of her earrings in the hopes that he would be able to come back alive, going so far as to make no secret of her intentions towards Alto-hime at school, joining Miboshi’s pilot course, taking the first kiss, and getting Alto-hime a paid vacation to Galia 4. Despite the overt nature of Sheryl’s actions Alto-hime could never be quite sure about what he was to Sheryl. On the one hand they did kiss more than once, but she had played it off as joke and a small thing. On the surface Sheryl did seem flirtatious given her style of dress, the way she marketed herself, and her then numerous male admirers cast a bit of doubt on whether Sheryl was serious or just teasing. Once things started turning dreary, Sheryl looked to herself for the will to keep on going as Alto-hime and Ranka went on a date of sorts of their own. The knowledge that Ranka had eclipsed her was no doubt hard to swallow, and the revelation that Grace was much more than she seemed coupled with the truth of her illness were harsh blows to her self confidence. As Sheryl hit rock bottom for the second time in her life Alto-hime made many more sacrifices for her sake than he ever did for Ranka.

In the end Brera did more for Ranka than Alto-hime ever did.

When Sheryl refused to go back to the hospital hime risked his own ass to take her on board Macross Quarter. Even after Sheryl waltzed onto the bridge despite his warnings and despite the punishment doled out Alto-hime never held it against her. Despite what she seemed to be on the surface Sheryl remained faithful to her love for Alto-hime even as her death loomed. Even when a stranger offered a helping hand she imagined that it was Alto-hime, even as it seemed that Alto-hime was moving away from her. While Alto-hime had refused to set foot back into his old home he eventually tossed aside his pride and humbled himself to Yasaburo in order to see her again if only to make sure she was okay. While he never stayed for long he did decide that going back was a small price to pay to make sure that workaholic Sheryl was okay. When Sheryl announced her retirement from singing his disappointment and anger were readily apparent because the can do attitude that Sheryl had imparted to him and Ranka was not wrong, and hime would for once take the lead and show Sheryl how right those words were.

When Sheryl was at a low point in her life Alto-hime pretty much gave it his all to bring give her hope and courage.

After Klan told Alto-hime everything he went so far as to take sides against his squadron leader and some of his comrades in order to honor his promise to Sheryl that he would not leave her. For a guy who was very much in love with is VF-25 giving it up was no easy decision. He had always wanted to fly and to give up his Valkyrie for an inferior one was a significant sacrifice on his part to be with Sheryl until the end. Before his last sortie hime even went back on his dogged insistence in regards to his masculinity by wearing Sheryl’s earring instead of merely carrying it as he had the first time he borrowed one. As grand gestures go Alto-hime took one of her songs as his call sign and saluted Sheryl DRYL style. When Ranka and Sheryl hit their respective low points he could have kept his VF-25 and taken off with Ranka, but instead he gave up his home on Quarter, his tears, his pride, his insistence on masculinity, and his VF-25 for Sheryl. Sheryl also gave up a lot of what she had left for Alto-hime’s sake, both of her earrings, and her heart. Sheryl could have had any pick of the men folk, but in the end she chose to love Alto-hime and remained faithful. It was true that we will rarely find a woman as great as Sheryl, and I have little doubt that in the years to come that the Macross Lifers will remember Shereyl as the idol singer who underwent one of the more profound journeys of self discovery within the franchise. There is a limit to what a person will give up out of a sense of pity, but when it comes to love, for better or for worse, people are much more willing to sacrifice more, and at times more than what they have. Alto-hime gave up quite a lot for Sheryl on his own accord, and in this regard allegations of his sacrifices being soley out of pity look rather silly as few sacrifices and efforts were made by Alto-hime to help Ranka out.

Despite how Sheryl at times rode hime hard in the end Alto-hime forgave all that and even gave up his VF-25.

It’s all too easy for someone to say that they love another, but it is only under adversity that their love is put to the test. Deeds not words are what really matter when it comes to love, for there is no shortage of dead beat parents who abandon their families in times of crisis. In this regard I think that given how much he gave up for Sheryl that Alto-hime did care for her much more than he cared about Ranka. My Alto-hime was not some card board cut out for Sheryl and Ranka to fight over, and while it would have been easier to interpret his actions had he explained them, it was not all that necessary. Hime had some depth to his character and while much of the audience will write him off as indecisive and leave the Macross franchise for good, I think that hime’s deeds spoke louder than any wordy love confession could have. His response to both Sheryl and Ranka’s feelings while never articulated, were still action oriented. Saving Ranka from physical danger was the majority of his sentiment towards Ranka, he was only ever there when Ranka called for him, and most damning of all he wasn’t there when Ranka needed him the most. Hime’s sentiment towards Sheryl was shown more through his sacrifices and deeds than any words could have shown had it been merely pity then he would not have gone as far as he did not would he have given up nearly as much especially that VF-25. Even if you believe that it was a harem ending (no doubt Kawamori has heard those who cried out for it, and snidely delivered it as a troll) it is hard to believe that for hime that Sheryl and Ranka will be treated separately, but equally. It just doesn’t work that way. I don’t think that the be all end all of love is just a confession based on attraction, rather I believe that it is the sacrifices we make for those we care about demonstrate the depths of our affections.

It will be hard to forget that we also had a male lead like Alto-hime, no It will be damn near impossible.

Sheryl wishes that her hair was that good…

Eventually Alto-hime found a way to stop Sheryl from riding him.

So Alto-hime how did you like that earring?

Sheryl opted for a direct assault.

New planet has beaches.

In the future Sheryl will be picking out hime’s clothes.

Hey Sheryl your folding them wrong…

]]> http://that.animeblogger.net/2008/10/08/sakura-hime-of-my-youth/feed/ 43 http://that.animeblogger.net/2008/10/01/macross-frontier-final-thoughts-analyses-and-verdict/ http://that.animeblogger.net/2008/10/01/macross-frontier-final-thoughts-analyses-and-verdict/#comments Wed, 01 Oct 2008 16:00:15 +0000 Crusader http://that.animeblogger.net/?p=12713

This is Mr. Kawamori, he’s crazy…

Hopefully, by now the shock from the Kawamori’s troll has since passed, but suffice to say if you were never privy to the Kawamori’s talent for trolling consider yourself schooled. I had a slight suspicion ever since the infamous Pineapple Cake episode that we were going to be in for a troll at some point. It was not all together surprising to see that up until episode 25 aired that Macross Frontier was riding high on people’s lists, sadly only a few old Macross Vets had a vague idea as to what was in store when Kawamori threw down the gauntlet that was Battle Galaxy. After that only the uninitiated and die-hard shipper ignored the warning, the last ep was to be an EPIC mecha fight that would be the greatest of everything Macross. If you were a Macross vet then your homage check list was complete and how! This a long post but I hope you will pick at it section by section at your leisure.

He’s not your typical anime director…

First off if you are a rabid shipper, or dislike j-pop Macross Frontier is not for you, but if you are a casual mecha fan who is willing to acknowledge that all character development pretty much ceases in the next to last ep you would do well with Macross Frontier. Still at the end of the day it was for the most part a celebration of 25 years of Macross slightly updated. If you still remember all those years of sexy fighters transforming into bad ass mecha it was almost everything you could have asked for in a mecha show. While I agree with Martin that one had to be familiar with the older Macross series to fully enjoy it, Macross Frontier remains a fine mecha series, though for whose who want to going back to get more of the history is a worthwhile endeavor.

Kawamori never spells out things any more, so liberally fill in the gaps…hell we still don’t know what happened to Minmei.

Since most of the recent rancor was over the unresolved triangle, it really depends on whether or not you need everything spelled out for you. Moreover since all character development ceases at episode 24 for the most part my Alto-hime did make a decision, and I reiterate that salute to Sheryl in his VF-25 was all the confession you really need if you are a long time Macross fan. It would be pretty cliché to just have Alto-hime say that he loved Sheryl, instead given his fumbled confession in 24, calling out her name every time she was in danger, invoking Sheryl’s name in trying to inspire Ranka, and saluting her on the bridge of Battle Frontier it seems plain that my Alto-hime has a very special place in his heart for Sheryl. However it is possible for Ranka to turn things around someday, but given how she has been stagnant and recently backsliding to the very end Ranka’s declaration of “I won’t lose” seems incredibly hollow, and for the most part can easily be dismissed as more wishful thinking on Ranka’s part. Besides really how does Ranka’s resolution affect how Alto-hime treats Sheryl? Not at all in my opinion so unless Ranka gets Ai-kun to run Sheryl through Ranka’s chances of wedding my Alto-hime are pretty much non-existent.

Mecha

The only way ep 25 could have been more awesome.

After watching the whole series again, one does appreciate the coolness of having CG dogfights more akin to Macorss Zero than the old methods of recycling in Macross 7. What MF manages to do to build upon the orgasmic dogfights of Macross Zero was increase the size and scope of every engagement. It is abundantly clear that much of the animation budget was reserved expressly for the purpose of sublime battle sequences and was a clear indicator of what Kawamori and his team felt was the most important aspect of MF, big huge battles. While there was recycling of scenes for the most part they were not common enough to become annoying and Kawamori did give every Macross fan what they had wanted, the epic fight between Battle Galaxy and Battle Frontier/Macross Quarter. The greatest success of MF was to have raised the bar for all mecha series to follow in delivering the final battle, and I have no doubt that Gundam 00 will have its work cut out for it in meeting the MF challenge for claiming the most epic mecha fight of 2008.

It was a fan wank 25 years in the making.

The VF-25, VF-27, and even the lowly VF-171 were all pretty sexy looking mecha that look quite different from each other with the VF-27 looking quite exotic, the VF-25 looked conventionally streamlined, and the VF-171 looked very stealthy. I really did like how the VF-171 was a major contributor to the war effort by not being exclusively cannon fodder. It was a joy to see that Diamond Force was around with Machida leading the grunt charge to give Ozma a good run for top pilot. Even now as awesome as Ozma is Machida could probably give the old Fire Bomber fan a good run if they had the same machine, after all Machida’s fist is still mightier than Ozma’s little knife. The capital ships also saw a fair bit of action though the humble Guantanamo class seemed to get hulked more often. The biggest attraction of MF is not only are its fighters sexy, but there are three Macross class vessels that look unique and fight in very different ways. Northamptons, Uragas, and the humble Guantanamo all have their share of screen time. Even the Ghosts get some new additions to their families, most notably Macross Galaxy’s V-9s which sport the same kind of weaponry as the formidable VF-27. In essence every thing that could ever fight in the Macross universe was present in MF in force. The full spectrum of every kind of ship was accounted for in the 25th Anniversary, along with one new addition the EX-Gear. The EX-Gear system is still one of my favorite new additions to the Macross Canon, works well as an ejection system over the older pod, and can double as a mobile infantry system that enhances strength and mobility. In essence Macross Frontier is probably the mecha series to beat for sometime given the sheer amount of mecha elements that more or less fit seamlessly together.

On Vajra

I disagree with otou-san and the verdict that Macross Frontier offers nothing new. In fact MF has the most unflattering depiction of NUNS of any Macross to date with the political back stabbing, deep seated hostility towards the Zentradi, and the arrogant assumption of miclone cultural superiority when faced with an enemy that was superior in most respects.

The Vajra were a significant shift from the typical Macross opposing force since they were not humanoid nor were they in the business of recognizing individuality. I think it is important to note that while the Vajra were radically different it sort of pays to try and discern what message Kawamori was trying to tell us in his use of bugs. Overall within the Macross Canon the Vajra do predate Protoculture and given how bug like some elements of Macross Zero’s Protoculture elements were Grace probably was telling the truth. I suspect that the choice of “Ai Oboete Imasu ka ~ bless the little queen” was meant to imply how culturally arrogant NUNS had become. The Universe is incredibly old and there were beings in existence before Protoculture the Vajra were in some respects superior culturally, they existed for the good of their species, and they had advanced to the point where they could overwhelm any other space faring race given time. Biology often does last much longer than technology and even our own DNA replication methods have been highly conserved since long before the apes known as humans discovered fire. While we can take pride in out technological achievements Mother Nature is still superior. While they had no individuals, and subsequently were free from ambition and had little in the way of inter-species conflict. Even if they are different they still have to mate like any other creature, and perhaps since they focus on breeding for the most part perhaps they are superior for it since NUNS is much more expansionary and is still embroiled in a conflict with uncultured Zentradi. It is quite fitting the Vajra are bugs, and like our own insects they were here before us, and they certainly will be here long after we are gone. For all their achievements Protoculture died out, but the Vajra who have no concept of ego and whose main goal in life is to explore and mate have out lasted them, and perhaps will outlast the Zentradi and humans as well.

Unlike previous OPFORs the Bugs did not take kindly to being boxed…

That is not to say that the Vajra are without fault, if anything it seems that even if Ranka was baiting them with Aimo every episode or so they do seem to look down on humanity as well. In NUNS they meet two sub species that have been at war with one another and with each other, from the outside looking in you do not get a flattering sense of NUNS even if they are the good guys. For starters while the Zentradi have been integrated within NUNS there is still plenty of room for conflict as we saw with the 33rd Marine Fleet, Glass’s anti-Zentradi faux pas, and Leon’s sacrifice of Island 3 (the Zentradi mall and agricultural island) to save all the miclone Islands despite Island 3 being the least damaged. There are plenty of subtle hints that even now the old prejudices are very much alive even if the Zentradi have mellowed out a lot and have gigantic Zentradi children. Given how NUNS is still seething with conflicts decades old, it is small wonder how a “greater good” race would find this kin-strife detestable, perhaps when they juiced Giliam they saw it little more than crushing a pest that was culturally inferior; not unlike how we crush ants with little concern.

Yeah deculture man…

Perhaps in the end proof of cultural superiority is not merely just having song, but rather how much we devote to nicer things like procreation? Where most of the military hardware produced by NUNS is for the purpose of finding new worlds and fighting uncultured Zentradi, the Vajra developed everything for the express purpose of breeding every few millennia. NUNS explores for new worlds to colonize in a vaguely imperialistic fashion, while the Vajra travel and explore to meet new races for a brief romantic liaison. In the case of the Vajra though having military power on their level likely evolved out of contact with other space faring species that either saw them as prey or pests. It’s interesting to note how the Vajra did produce one valuable resource that NUNS coveted and actively hunted the Vajra for, in a fashion not too dissimilar to how Japan hunts whales. Given how much of hippie Kawamori is I would not be surprised if the use of Vajra was a slight on how we humans are so arrogant as to believe that we can plunder other species for resources. It is rather telling how for the Vajra Aimo was always a love song, but for NUNS even love songs have become weaponized, I think that says a lot about how human technological development is still largely based off technology that helps us kill each other.

Kawamori Hugs More Trees

No it’s not a troll, but there are days when I think Kawamori has powers of prophecy…sort of.

The fragility of Frontier’s ecosystem was no accident and I believe that no other Macross series has highlighted how eco-friendly people ought to be. Much of the budget could have been saved to make Ranka look better on screen, but Kawamori and his team spent a fair bit of time making Frontier look stunning. I am still over awed by how faithfully they recreated San Francisco, and was duly impressed when they showed the aftermath of the Vajra attacks in the latter half. Kawamori has always been a tree hugger and while Zero touched on a paradise lost, with Frontier we saw an out and out melt down of their ecosystem to the point that no amount of technology could over come. It’s a clichéd message to be sure but in the end we only have one planet, and once it’s gone we have no fleet or Vajra planet to fall back on. The fixation on conservation of resources and recycling did produce a paradise on Frontier when it was in its prime, and despite the artificiality it certainly is a better place to live than in many parts of the world. The complexities involved in balancing the artificial eco-system really does highlight how hard it would be to take it all with us if the need arose, right now we simply can’t and if we play it right we won’t ever have to. As fresh water and oxygen are essential to life once Frontier was dying we did see a possibility of things to come once fresh water really becomes scarce and if our air quality plummets, it really isn’t that far fetched and is one thing Kawamori has been preaching for some time now.

It is also important to note how unlike many previous installments of Macross science has not been demonized to this extent until now. Grace was in many ways the epitome of the seduction of unbridled and unprincipled science along with all the promises it offers, while her goal of galactic domination is nothing new, Grace still does represent an immortal terror that transcends natural things like death. It’s a common theme in sci-fi how men might become slaves to their own machines, but here it’s not a problem with machines, but the removal of limits that comes with it. Grace was always ambitious and with her cyborg nature she feared nothing and was willing to wantonly kill and abuse her fellow humans and zentradi in ever more audacious experiments. At one time experimentation on humans was not out of the ordinary as in the case of the rabies vaccine, but now we have the can of worms we call stem cell research, DNA manipulation, and cloning and while many of these are still in its infancy things can get out of hand. It won’t be just science that will kill us all but rather our ambition, our arrogance, and our recklessness in how we use the technology and sciences we have that might be our undoing. Like Grace the true horror of it all is concealed in a very seductive and benign package.

Kawamori’s Take on Music

LISTEN TO MY SONG!

Kawamori usually has something to say about the music industry and I believe that MF is no exception. Grace was in the business of manufacturing idols like Sheryl who used much of their sex appeal to gain fame. However like many idols Sheryl found out how even her fame was not ever lasting no matter how hard she worked or how dedicated she was to her craft. Sheryl’s fall was not unlike that of many idols of years long gone. Sheryl’s fame evaporated almost over night in favor of the next big thing and her music fell from the charts so quickly that her albums went from top dollar to 30% and finally to 50% off in a bargain bin. It really doesn’t get more humiliating than that. Grace was the one who took her in chewed her up and then spat her out with gleeful malice, no matter how much credit Sheryl could claim as her own Grace’s marketing skills was what sold most of Sheryl’s concert tickets. Ultimately I think that the message from Sheryl was that even when the fame is gone it is still no reason to give up your craft if you still believe in it. If you sing some where out there some one will listen. Question is will the size of the crowd matter? For Sheryl it didn’t and for a lucky few musicians even if the crowd gets smaller their legacy still lives on in their songs. I know that many of us still have our favorite oldies as time goes on, and perhaps for singer or musician that is a form of immortality worth pursuing.

Sing often enough and you can annoy people into thinking your song is good.

Ranka’s case is fairly interesting since she did work her way up the hard way, however like many young idols she eventually got drunk with fame and let it all go to her head. Ranka was riding on top of the world and felt that her fame to would last and get her everything she wanted. Whether Ranka had intended to or not her rise helped accelerate another’s fall. Despite knowing Sheryl, Ranka became so wrapped in her own fame that she lost sight of everything she had. I think that in many ways Ranka’s career highlighted how young idols should not be put on the fast track to fame. It exploits them for one, but it also does not serve their personal development either. Ranka took her job very lightly she ditched work, broke her contract, and ended up all the worse for it. Her fame separated her from what few emotional anchors she had to the point she no longer looked to her old friends or family for support but ultimately a pet. After getting the best marketing in the galaxy Ranka’s work ethic took a nose dive and despite her sweet personality she did end up being a dick to others. Glass had to take flak for Ranka’s Ai-kun hunt, and undoubtedly the bereaved of Frontier were probably miffed over her refusal to sing during a tragic and uncertain time. Making young women idols makes them less of an artist, not more so given how they might be inclined to take short cuts and subvert their art by selling out like in Ranka’s case with Grace’s Aimo remix.

Alto-hime and Sheryl’s Love

In the end Sheryl got her Sara.

Unlike Kabitzin I don’t think that just because it was never clearly stated who ended up with Alto-hime that the developing relationship between the diva bitch of the galaxy and the greatest oyama that ever lived was any less enjoyable to watch. Watching things from the start again does impart a new view on things at times, given how I am confident in how my Alto-hime is not some duplicitous tart, it was enjoyable to see how Alto-hime and Sheryl blundered into each other. From the start Sheryl’s presence is ubiquitous at the time hime folding paper planes with her posters wasn’t surprising but it does serve nicely as a portent of how eventually they ended up together. It as more heavily highlighted when Sheryl ended up in Alto-hime’s arms for the first time. It was unintended as it was sudden, and their relationship would start with the first exchange of Sheryl’s earring, but certainly not the last. It was a rocky start but eventually they built up a ludicrous amount of momentum when you consider how Ranka’s relationship with Alto-hime never really went anywhere. Despite Alto-hime’s protests hime did little by little appreciate that Sheryl was a performer in her own right and not some cheap exhibitionist.

In the end Sheryl and Alto-hime were on the same page, as for Ranka….

In hindsight it seems apparent that Alto-hime was inspired by her and held a begrudging admiration for Sheryl’s unwavering confidence in all of her actions, her indefatigable attitude, her sense of invincibility, and her determination to carve out her own destiny. In the beginning Alto-hime had just fallen out with his family over his own destiny and it was heavily hinted that Alto-hime was getting into fights and stirring up trouble as he was without direction. He wanted to be a pilot but was wavering over how to go about it. Hime ran into Sheryl just as he was ingloriously tossed out of SMS, and soon after hearing Sheryl go on about not leaving her fate to other people, Alto-hime quotes her when he confronts Ozma again. While Ranka gave him a reason to join SMS, it was Sheryl who provided “the never give up” attitude that allowed Alto-hime to survive the initial hazing, as Mikhail’s doubts over Alto-hime’s dedication were not completely unfounded.

So when they went back home…

As time went on Alto-hime did appreciate Sheryl’s drive and took an interest in her career whether by working for her, getting pissed off when the public started mocking Sheryl as a has been, or being ill at ease when Sheryl’s workaholic nature was compromising her health. It becomes abundantly clear that when Sheryl is at her lowest that Alto-hime is disappointed and angry at her for going back on the very principles she espoused and he took to heart. They were both performers and while Alto-hime felt that he had left his stage for good in the end he could never forget what it was like to be Sakura-hime, there was a level of understanding on that level once Alto-hime accepted Sheryl’s art as legitimate.  Towards the end it was nice to see that Alto-hime surrendered his pride for Sheryl in going back home and deal with, ultimately accept, and embrace his past. Eventually his feelings of admiration and mild physical attraction to Sheryl became something more and reached a critical mass once he realized that Sheryl was not so invincible after all. Accusations of a harem end seem patented untrue given how hime had a conservative upbringing and seems to think more highly of his preference for monogamy in contrast to Mikhail’s womanizing.

What no iSlug?

I have stated it else where but for me it was great to watch Sheryl go from that haughty arrogant diva end up as a more humble and likable young woman who was devoted to her art. Sheryl’s reasons for falling for Alto-hime seemed rather lame at first but eventually, she sees that hime is an honest hime and was able to connect with Alto-hime in a short amount of time. Sheryl had been to a lot of places and probably never intended to be on Frontier for long hence after their first date Sheryl seemed ready to let Ranka and Alto-hime develop on their own when she went back to touring. Events transpired against her and perhaps out of her loneliness reached out for the only person she knew on Frontier. They had a lot in common the loss of their respective mothers, being forced into a harsh regimen early in life, and a loathing for their homes, even if they learned to care about their respective fleets. Despite her attraction to hime the thought of being some how dependent on him seemed anathema to her independent way of life, it was only after she lost everything did Sheryl come to accept that despite her teasing of hime, Alto-hime stuck by her.

Many years of bliss at the rebuilt Folmo.

After learning the hard lesson that she could not do everything on her own, and even if she never asked for it, Alto-hime came to her aid time and time again. Once she realized that  that her doom was not too far off she retreated into her old ways of being alone, but even as she pushed back Alto-hime pushed back even harder to prove that he was not with her out of a sense of pity but because he genuinely cared on a level that was deeper than a friend’s. It was only Sheryl who ever brought out fully hime’s softer side without the usual hot blooded snarky attitude. Once we got to see the softer gentler side of Alto-hime it really seems as though Sheryl fell for Alto-hime for the right reasons, hime was sweet, caring, and had such a skewed view of gender that hime was not above domestic chores. Indeed given how Sheryl seems new at this cooking thing it was wise of her to fall for a rather independent hime. I have to say Sheryl’s choice of waifu was indeed a good one.

After the earring gambit succeeded Sheryl got bolder with her dress-up Alto-hime schemes, it also cut down on clothing expenses…

It was nice to see how it really felt like a courtship between both parties, while Sheryl came to her conclusion much sooner than Alto-hime, even if hime could never put it into words (that flying analogy sucked) he really went above and beyond for Sheryl to the point going on sortie had become a nuisance. They eventually came to rely on each other rather than go through life exclusively alone, whether it was Sheryl assenting to being taken care of to Alto-hime invoking Sheryl when he finally went off to bring Ranka back in something other than a casket. Given how much Kawamori had built their relationship and how neither Alto-hime nor Sheryl suffered as much recycled and out right bad animation as Ranka, I remain confident and adamant that in all probability they did end up together no matter how cheesy the end was. I think that if you can accept that in the end Kawamori was being a troll, and that 24 was the last truly serious episode then Alto-hime did confess to Sheryl even if it was fudged. Given how Alto-hime is used to being kissed as Sakura-hime, I don’t think hime is use to initiating a kiss, at least Sheryl understands that much.

Ranka as a Kawamori troll on moe

Yeah it seems that Kawamori made sis-con come true…and for once I really hated it.

One thing that struck me while watching the whole series again from start to finish was how Ranka really had it bad even compared to Minmei. Ranka suffered greatly in the character department as she was stagnant and backsliding until the end with her damsel in distress act, and her rather shallow reasons for trying to get into Alto-hime’s kimono. What is abundantly clear about Ranka’s relationship with Alto-hime is that it was very much about hime rescuing her, listening to her, and for Alto-hime to wait on Ranka. It was very much of a crush up until the end as Ranka never bonded with Alto-hime, even the last serious attempt was overshadowed by how late it came. Ranka seemed to want to be the center of Alto-hime’s life much like how she was the center of Ozma’s and Brera’s she was spoiled, but she was genuinely infatuated and never really wanted to do ill. However Kawamori has never favored his female characters for just being well meaning and earnest. Maturity has been and continues to be a running theme with most of his female characters. Ranka in the end showed little signs of maturity and less so that Minmei in my opinion. Where as Minmei did contribute a lot to the salvation of the human race, Ranka demolished nearly two whole fleets with her singing. I think that by inverting the power of song to something more of a bane and a curse that Kawamori was implying that power in the hands of a teenager can cut both ways. In Minmei’s case it cut the right way, in Ranka’s case it cut opposite because she lacked the emotional maturity to remain faithful to her song and sold out with the Grace Aimo remix.

The more I thought about why Ranka got the short end of the stick when it came to animation, characterization, and new outfits the more I suspect that it was not just necessity in order to conserve the budget for the sake of awesome mecha action. Towards the end Sheryl suffered much less in terms of animation and received a whole lot more love in terms of costumes, Ranka had three stage outfits while Sheryl had almost twice as much. If the animation had been more even between the two I would not have thought much more of it, but since Sheryl looked incredible in episode 24 and the beginning of 25 while Ranka got her patented recycled shot from the OP. Thus I suspect that Kawamori’s treatment of Ranka was much more than a budgeting decision. It was uncharacteristically harsh for Kawamori to make Ranka this stagnant, and I do believe that it might have been a rather scathing criticism of the modern fixation with moe.

Ranka is still free to visit their home though.

Ranka was moe, she was loli, well meaning, naïve, timid, earnest, and above all was head over heels for the lead with her nursing her crush until the very end. In the end though almost all of that was turned against her, her loli build made it rather hard to accept Ranka as a woman, as Klein had the benefit of an imposing macronzied form. Ranka’s well meaning nature led her to aid greatly in the slaughter the Vajra, who had from the start intended to use her as a bridge between them and NUNS, for sake of others who had no way of understanding the Vajra. Ranka’s timid nature allowed Brera to beat up Alto-hime with impunity. Her earnest love for Alto-hime led her to betray her song in a bid to garner more attention, and Ranka became comfortable in her crush to the point she was unwilling to risk her own heart until she “saw” love signs from Alto-hime. Her naiveté resulted in the near total annihilation of Frontier once she got into Grace’s clutches and it was a major reason why she never suspected that Ai-kun could be mad at her or that the responsibilities she had undertaken really had a lot of weight. Given how Minmei never had it nearly as bad and that Kawamori seems a bit too seasoned for this to have been an unintended mistake, I suspect that maybe we’re meant to get sick of Ranka’s antics, because eventually the very things that made her moe made her character and motivations to be rather shallow. I suspect that in the end Ranka was meant to be redeemed a bit, but it is hard to ignore how she never got anywhere without help or someone pushing her forward. Since Kawamori is an environmental hippie, Ranka’s import of a foreign species might well be a flag that Ranka was never going to be favored. I could be very wrong about this, but while Ms. Megumi Nakajima will benefit immensely from her break out role I think that history will not be kind to Ranka.

In the end while Ranka waited Sheryl jumped across and took hime.

Perhaps that was what Kawamori had wanted given how it wasn’t just being loli that was the problem (Klein onee-chan’s important presence debunks that), but rather the other qualities that made Ranka moe (fangs and all) seemed to get by far the harshest treatment from Kawamori and his team. I know for the most part I was rather ticked off at Jesus Ranka in episode 25. It would have been better if there were consequences for Ranka, but in hindsight moe characters usually don’t get steam rolled, and for once when I sort of want Ranka beaten up a bit the moe shield prevents that for better or for worse. Even Ranka’s bro-con was successful turned into something truly hateful. If Kawamori intended to get under my skin with a moe character he and his team have succeeded, even here where Green Haired Lolis often get praised, I can’t deny that I really dislike how Ranka never grew out of her moe love interest role. In the end I have no doubt that Kawamori is going to milk the moe thing because the only thing better than trolling is to get paid while doing it.

Minor Characters

Meltran Trio? Deculture!

The minor characters are treated well for the most part with Mikhail getting one of the more memorable and well executed deaths in recent times. Luca struggled and eventually succeeded in shedding some of his shouta image, while Nanase was a very good friend to Ranka even if Bilrer beats her out in fan-fu. Wilder was a bit stock, but at least his willingness to go for eager young girls makes him different, if in a slightly disturbing way. Ozma was the epitome of the never grown up man-child who still thinks his oldies are cool. For the most part they did help impart a sense of history to Macross Frontier, even if it may lean a bit too much on the “life long fan” side of things I have to give Kawamori and his team credit for sparing no effort in making Macross a generational franchise that doesn’t forget where it came from.

In the end though, much of my minor character love went to Bilrer, Klan, Cathy, Bobby, Ram, Monica, Mina, and Grace. Bilrer I liked mostly because of his devoted Minmei fanboyism, but also because Bilrer was the Zentradi success story. He was the zentran who was able to walk away from his warlike nature and become a transport mogul from probably nothing given how the zentradi had no money or wealth to speak of. His train set was freaking awesome and he did play the part of shadow recluse who has a file on every one quite well  He’s the kind of man who you don’t see do much of anything, but given how clueless everyone else is, you are sure that grandpa Bilrer was still doing things for his employees. Bilrer is probably the first zentran who doesn’t seem ignorant of miclone ways, and is by far the most gregarious of all the zentradi we have seen. While there was much miclone hate within NUNS, Bilrer’s success and the sight of giant zentradi children refusing to eat their carrots was a welcome sight on how things had changed for the old villains of SDF Macross, it’s not so much what he does but more of what he represents.

Bobby’s Daughters

The running theme of strong women is very much in force with Macross Frontier, and it was good to see Cathy go from mean jaded middle aged woman to a mentor and independent who got a second chance at love. Perhaps much of it was nostalgia for Misa, but I think it was delightful to see Cathy rebuild her life after having to give up a lot of her dreams, get engaged to a sleaze bag, and end a relationship on a bad note. While I am sure Ozma doesn’t deserve Cathy it was refreshing to see an older woman succeed in love and life again after she failed at it in her youth. Bobby was just awesome, not only could she go into GARby mode when roused but also because he was the mother figure to Ranka (albeit briefly and unsuccessfully), Cathy, Ram, Mina, and Monica. In the end the combined package of bridge crew minus Wilder was a delightful sight. I felt that they were competent and didn’t much mind their small talk. In fact I thought it was an inspired decision to have their fangirling as a means to introduce us to Alto-hime’s past as Sakura-hime. Even when they went shopping the experience didn’t annoy me as much I though it would have because they went during a time of godly low prices and made it more of a black Friday type deal with Cathy’s sale-fu being the greatest.

Well at least Ranka will always have Nanase.

Strong Meltrans are nothing new, but I think Klan deserves special mention since she was no Milia clone. While the loli thing seemed like blatant fan baiting at first it did serve as way to highlight now tough it would have been had there been no miclone/macronization process. Max and Milia had it easy, Klan and Mikhail had it tough since Mikhail didn’t want to get arrested and romance would have been weird either way. As meltrans go Klan was probably the most cool headed and much more of a mentor in personality. I think that Klan was more representative of the Zentradi still in transition, Klan did not want to break the family tradition of being a soldier, but on the other hand she was much more even tempered. The military tradition won’t die with Klan but being a medical student at the same time also shows how not all zentradi have rejected military service but neither is Klan one of those who refused to integrate. While Milia demonstrated an aspect of meltran motherhood, Klan demonstrated meltran sisterhood. Given how Alto-hime seemed to have trouble communicating and getting along with other males, Klan was probably the only one who could get through to hime. While Yasaburo was always preachy, Klan was subtler in her handling of Alto-hime given how she never undercut herself and commanded hime’s respect, most likely because she was a veteran pilot, and because she was a meltran given hime’s fondness for the zentradi mall (imparted to hime because Miyo-sama was a Meltran, I assume). With Klan at the head of the charge it was great to see macronized Zentradi playing a prominent and positive role on Frontier, hopefully in the future we will see more macronized Zentradi living at peace and being treated better by miclone big wigs.

Grace dead? Were it so easy.

Grace was probably the most delightful villain of the year. I believe most of us were certain that Leon would end up as the evil guy at the start but once Grace slowly infiltrated her way into the upper echelons of power she became a top contender for villain of the year. Even if her end was suitably Macross in that she was laid low by the power of love and culture, Grace still proved to be one of the most subtle villains in recent memory whose methodical revenge bordered on Glaurung levels of evilness. In Grace you had the terror of science, monstrous manufacture of idol singers, and the burning desire for revenge rolled into one. Grace not only made the son of her rival Ranshe her slave, but poisoned Mao’s granddaughter (probably killed Sheryl’s mom off too) and turned Ranshe’s daughter into a tool of galactic conquest that spilled a vast amount of blood, human, zentran, and Vajra alike. Leon got duped big time and up until the end Ozma and Cathy had no idea that Grace was the one pulling the strings. No one could destroy people quite like Grace from crushing Sheryl’s self esteem to making Ranka a tool with but a word Grace is still the one to beat for revenge that went all the way down to the very last descendants of her enemies. Hopefully Ms. Kikuko Inoue will be able to get more evil roles in the future.

I

I believe in both of them, and I believe in what they have built together. Hopefully my Alto-hime will agree to become Sheryl’s waifu.

Over all in spite of some glaring animation flaws I liked Macross Frontier a lot. It would be nice if animation was more consistent but it seems that Kawamori isn’t willing or able to cut advertising deals or just likes blowing the budget on deculture mecha action. I still think Kawamori is a troll (let’s not forget Pineapple Cakey) but at this point I can and am more than willing to take his bullshit as long as he delivers the kind of mecha action I crave. I trust that for many mecha fans that episode 25, after discounting much of the Jesus Ranka action (which thankfully is short), will remain the mecha battle to beat for sometime. It is rare indeed to see 2.25 Macross class ships slug it out, we won’t see something like that again. I hope Gundam 00 will be up to the challenge but seeing as how they lack something of comparable size, perhaps Prince Ali will make up for it with the sheer number of kills, disfigure Wang Liu Ming, and cripple Setsuna for life.

Final grade: YAKKKKKK DECULTURE (A-)

And how! Well all those who forgot that this was still a mecha series and not a harem…certainly did get trolled.

The whines, cries, and the most impure tears that make Noe gag of the hated shippers brings joy to every Macross Vet that ever was and ever will be. This is not some harem anime, you arschleckers and hammels this is Macross where mecha is still more important than Ranka. For starters if you are a Sheryl fan that still likes Macross, but now doubt Alto-hime’s actions for the past few eps I demand you shave your heads as a sign of your lack of faith in my Alto-hime and the awesomeness of Sheryl. If you are a Sheryl or Ranka fan who thinks this series sucks now after your pitiful minds were overloaded by the Kawamori troll GTFO and an hero yourself this instant! If you are some sorry looking Singaporean conscript who just got trolled for the first time by Kawamori and are now weeping in the corner of a maid cafe, how does it feel to be stupid for daring to think that you would not be trolled? Kawamori and Kadun have no use for you. Go back to your harem series from whence you came and never let your hateful presence mar the glory of our franchise. Let it never be said that my name of Crusader has no meaning for I have a faith in Alto-hime that is beyond reproach and can and do delight in the fulfillment of the one thing I had prayed many moons for. Kawamori has delivered and by Kadun if you did not enjoy it I hope that a fold bomb falls on your face you hateful and ignorant heretic, so say we all!

This will be one battle that will be hard to top.

So yes it was a true Macross fan’s wet dream lots of capital ships, lots of Valkyries, a fuck ton of singing, missiles going everywhere, and above all the most awesome cap ship fight of the year with the Battle Frontier/Macross Quarter tag team against Battle Galaxy. If this alone is not enough to satiate your hunger for mecah, you are no fan of Macross your applications is hereby revoked and the next mass fold bombing of you and your ilk shall teleport you back to something more to your tastes like generic harem no. 9001. By Kadun it was glorious and words cannot convey the awesomeness of Battle Galaxy getting KOed by a double whammy of Macross Attack by Battle Frontier and Macross Quarter. Klein onee-chan took up Mikhail’s VF-25G and did a back to back with her imouto-hime. Brera gets to have one too. Overall it was great to see the Macross Attack once again. The near full run through of the entire soundtrack was also good fun and very Macross. Words cannot convey the pure win and aweoms of what godly mecha action just occured int he last ep so I leave it to the Macross faithful to just gawk and awe at Kawamori’s gift to us all for putting up with is trolling for 25 years. Mmmmmm…gorgeous, delicious, deculture!

Not much on the development front since this is the end of the series and even with the announcement of the movie I doubt much will change give the precedent set by almost every Macross movie to date. Richard Bilrer turned out to be the most devoted Minmei fan in history and although he did not get to see her again he is more than willing to wait just like the rest of us. Besides he has an up and coming Kabuki-hime to take care of now on a new world to bring under the banner of Bilrer as a new jewel in the Bilrer economic empire. Leon gets disposed of by Perry and NUNS once they discover that Cathy is alive and well. The never did trust that deserter turned mercenary Ozma but since Cathy is their Misa her word is law. I can only assume that the messy business of disposing of Leon was as quick as it was brutal I assume they shot him and shoved him out an air lock. Grace was just awesome again and I confess that I did get giddy when she merged with the Vajra Queen.

i always said that my Alto-hime was a one woman hime.

Grace was about to become the God Empress of the universe and was about to tend the first of her Vajra fleets to crush every outpost that NUNS possessed. So sad to see Grace go and her face at the end betrayed everything she did it all so that she might force Alto-hime to do Kabuki again since another run of Sakura-hime Azuma Bunsho was not forth coming. Grace always did love Alto-hime ever since she was over awed by Sakura-hime, guess that is what happens when you get a yandere with a genius level intellect. Mikhail was with them all in spirit as his weapon ended the war. Sad to see that Mina and Ram ended up single though, but I am sure “Dead Meat” Jones and Maruyama Kakizaki made it out okay…well at least Machida survived.

By Kadun that is a lot of Valkyries! Quick pinch me I think I died and went to heaven.

As expected Ranka had next to no development and rightfully so for to try and do it now would have been a crime against Kadun, for Kadun does not like to have his mecha action compromised by a little girl who should have been developing before the final showdown. Since the Vajra were being led on mercilessly by Ranka I can now finally understand their frustration and rage at their appointed translator who brought them so much trouble, all they wanted to do was mate and Ranka was teasing them the whole time making them rage out of sexual frustration. To make amends the bugs do save Frontier, but being smart bugs promptly leave the galaxy and leave only Ai-kun and Ranka to take the coming heat. They figured that since they ended up pissing on the whole neighborhood that staying was not such a good idea and that it was time to leave while the locals were still glad that they helped thwart the Cylon plot and give Frontier a replacement home for the one they wrecked after Ranka was teasing them again. Ranka thinks that everything will now be okay, were it so easy. Now that Ai-kun and Ranka are the only Vajra left I hope that for her sake there will be no more angry humans and Zentrans who lost many loved ones who still have it out for the little traitor. I do know however that no one will ever forget how things went down, and it might take a while for the good people of Frontier to forgive Ranka for everything that she has done. The bugs are gone, but the little girl who pissed on both sides yet remains ignorant as ever about their suffering. It is most fortunate for Ranka that there were no consequences for her previous actions, and if there were Ranka certainly did not seem to notice or care.

That was the only Ranka statement that ever registers in my Alto-hime’s mind. This is Ranka’s love, thus my Alto-hime loves Ranka? Were it so easy.

It was so unfortunate that even at the end Ranka had to be saved and that Sheryl’s Diamond Crevasse was the song that prompted the Vajra to redeem themselves by saving Frontier as Ranka was drooling all over Alto-hime’s VF-25 after she thinks he came just for her, good thing Ranka is ignorant of how Alto-hime put his mission to save Ranka on hold every time Sheryl and Battle Frontier seemed to be in trouble. Ranka has every reason to be happy about being one of hime’s wings, I hope she never learns how hime was ready to rip out his Ranka wing and fold bomb her for being a traitor. Ranka remains the child of the series and I doubt that will change with the movie. Oh Ranka it is good to see that she tried to be like Sheryl and thought that slapping Sheryl was going to do just that. The critical difference though was that Sheryl believed like every one else that there was no cure, but like a vindictive little girl Ranka slapped first cured later without giving Alto-hime a chance to talk to her. oh and Sheryl was apologisizing for her failure and inability to stave off death not because she had some trifiling problem such as a broken heart. Nice try Ranka but your slap was the more tepid one, next time let’s not slap the terminally ill before you tell them that there is a cure. I was most amused that Ranka told Sheryl that she would not lose in love or at singing. Were it so easy, for you see Ranka your career is still in tatters and even if Ozma’s friends forgive you and indeed there will be many questions in the up cominginquiriy to determine if your culpability as an accomplice of Grace O’Conner. All Leon has to do is implicate you as one last spite against Ozma for the intrrogation to begin. Not everyone on Frontier will forgive you, let’s not forget why General Perry refused your presence on Battle Frontier, he was not sure if you were a friend or a foe, and was not willing to trust that you were a friend. Elmo is now Sheryl’s manager and I doubt he has completely forgotten how you ditched him for Grace. Last and most certainly not least Sheryl is up on the kiss count, date count, profound couple moment count, and is now living with Alto-hime. Let it not be said that Ranka was a lesser girl for trying to fight again so late in the series in fact I’d like to see her try, but seeing as how there is no time left…well at least Ranka decided to try and develop as a character 24.99 episodes later than not at all right?

Yes my Alto-hime’s face has “I love Ranka” written all over it…were it so easy.

Yes while both fan camps are scratching their heads and raging incessantly my Soldaten-hime showed his true colors by reminding us all about how much he loved wearing Sheryl’s earrings in fact such is his fondness for them I do not see Alto-hime leaving Sheryl anytime soon. They have been through much together and are still going to have to live together for some time until a new planet side city is built.  Good o see that like any soldaten getting shot at that hime did not care about how the Vajra and Brera just went turn coat on Grace, hell I know if I were in the same situation I’d be glad they were shooting at the same targets, sort of how that whole Sunni Insurgency turned out in the end, I don’t have to like them, but for now we can work together though I am watching my back every so often. Very much shoot first questions later, besides since Ranka must be sent off into hiding from potentially vindictive citizens of Frontier, Brera and Ai-kun can also go into hiding with Ranka so all is well. Alto-hime promised to be with Sheryl until then end and Sheryl just got an extension, I know that my Alto-hime is a hime of his word and do not doubt that his continued and indeed glorious wearing for the Nome heirloom is a sign of hime’s dedication to his promise to Sheryl. After all since Alto-hime seems keen on wearing it more often there is only one way to ensure that hime gets to wear it from time to time. To think that Alto-hime would just toss his obligations and promises aside for Ranka is nothing short of heresy. Their salute to each other was nothing short of nostalgically sweet and they make a fine team. Alto-hime needed Sheryl’s support to take on Battle Galaxy and Sheryl delivered. It was also delightful to see how Alto-hime bonded with his Klein onee-sama in the heat of battle, I hope they will have many fruitful years as wingmates in the times to come.

The way that earring was shining throughout you’d think that it meant something…like property of Sheryl. Still very much Yakk Deculture!

My Alto-hime has become a humbler hime going so far as to treat Brera as a comrade and let Brera do most of the rescuing of Ranka from now on. No more of the “rescue Ranka” missions being at the top of Alto-hime’s to do list since hime has higher priorities than just bailing out Ranka, so letting Brera do it is now perfectly acceptable. Besides now that hime is no longer obligatyed to be around Ranka, Brera and even Ai-kun find this situation much more tolerable and they no longer are out to kill Alto-hime. Good to see that Alto-hime accepted his glorious past as Sakura-hime and hopefully the Movie will incorporate more Sakura-hime Azuma Bunsho. I liked how Alto-hime was controlling his VF-25 with his EX-Gear, that’s so cool, I hope they make them one day. It all makes sense now what those guys were doing in the first ep, they were practicing remote control not calisthenics. So yes when the world was about ot end Alto-hime cried out for Sheryl like Ozma cried out for Cathy, and even in the end Alto-hime was banking towards Sheryl in the last shot. So if you are the kind thick headed sop that believes that Ranka’s declaration of no lose would in any way affects my Alto-hime’s dedication to the one whose earring he chose to fly with, you must be STUPID.

It was delightful to see that Klein-onee-sama and her imouto-hime were able to work so well together, I had asked nicely to see this realized. Thank you Kawamori for giving us this.

Sheryl was just all around awesome and her momentary lapse was understandable given how she was already dying from the bugs in her brain. Good to see that Sheryl once cured went right back to singing without any complaints unlike the little girl who slapped her before telling Sheryl that there was a cure. Again Alto-hime and Sheryl have come along way as comrades and as a team where once they had trouble working together now their team work is something formidable. Sheryl has her job and so does Alto-hime and both are pros who do them well. It is a new beginning for Sheryl she just got a second lease on life which will be spent happily with my Alto-hime since the person who kisses last kisses best. Alto-hime is still doing his grand gesture of his love and still looks deliciously hime with her earring. Sheryl has faith in her Alto-hime and no doubt they will have many happy years together as that promise borne out of the previous eps is still in effect. I t was a pleasure to watch Sheryl grow as a character and have Alto-hime say her name many times and make Ranka’s rescue a combined Alto-hime and Sheryl effort. Sheryl knows that she and Alto-hime share something special hence why Sherryl said she accepted the challenge to her position as Alto-hime’s beloved Songstress. I remember when Alto-hime thought little of Sheryl in the first episode, now hime is very keen on hearing Sheryl sing her songs, how delightful it was to see them go from out right hostility to being closer to one another than they are with anyone else.

Mahou shoujo Sheryl.

Seriously it was to be expected that all character development had all but ceased when the first minutes were rolling, we all saw one mother of a mecha battle and pure win and awesome is in no way diminished by Ranka’s declaration of no lose. We have heard that all before in the last duet in episode 15, she said it then and not much has changed about Ranka since, no sane person would expect that Ranka could get any better results even if Grace is gone while Brera and Ai-kun are still around. I am glad that they kept Ranka as a little girl in love since it would have been a crime to cut into the mecha action, the only other way to have had Ranka be Grace’s pawn was if Ranka was overbearingly arrogant to not have seen Grace’s motives, since they elected to go with childish naivete it does at least make Ranka a bit more tolerable. The explanation that the Vajra were mad because of their sexual frustration is understandable, for they had paid the cover charge and were pissed that they were not getting the donkey show that they paid for. If you don’t understand this imagine that you actually have a significant other (I know this will be hard for many of you, but please bear with me, if not pretend your Dakimakura is sentient) and that he/she/it has called you at work/school that he/she/it wants to make sweet love all night long. You then drop everything race a 100 miles only to find that he/she/it is no longer in the mood. If you are not pissed you are obviously a liar and incredibly whipped. If you are sick then its raep tyme.

We still see a bigger smile for dear onii-chan than my Alto-hime, suffice to say I have no faith in Ranka’s love for my Alto-hime.

We pretty much has all of our loose ends tied up, the Vajra, Luca, Klein, Alto-hime and Sheryl, Ranka, Cathy and Ozma, and above all Grace. So yes the mecha battle was awesome and the triangle is resolved if you use a bit of thought power and realize that Ranka’s challenge has no bearing on how Alto-hime will honor his oaths and hime was banking towards Sheryl in the last scene. Surely now that there is no time left that Ranka’s “new beginning” is hollow indeed given how it’s the same attitude she had at the conclusion of episode 15. Sheryl ended the series ahead, Ranka ended up back at the start line, maybe next series Ranka can be a woman, but for the next decade or two Sheryl will be living with Alto-hime. Sheryl won out ahead and Ranka was going backwards. The resolution hinges essential on the viewer’s faith that Ranka can compensate for the widening gap, so if you have faith in Ranka the triangle is not yet “resolved” despite there being no more time left, but if you doubt Ranka’s abilities to make good on her words, like I have been for since episode 19, then this is nothing more than a idle boast which we have heard before coming from a character that has changed barely at all. If you are like me and don’t believe in Ranka any more then the triangle is resolved, Sheryl will remain in the lead until the day my Alto-hime marries Sheryl.

Should have named it SHARON instead…

Still it was a true mecha fan’s wet dream, since Macross was always a mecha series and not harem show no. 9001 where who wins is the most important aspect. It is foolish and wrong to think that Grace is really dead, Grace has been dead before. Grace’s, like Kamejin’s before her, attempts at a Cylon conquest will have an impact many decades fo come as there will be other ambitious cyborgs throughout the galaxy scheming to bring allof NUNS under their control if they are known collectively as the Grace line of cyborgs i would not be in the least bit surprised. I hope that Kikuko Inoue gets more roles on the side of evil because by Kadun she showed that she could do it. Nevertheless Grace was just delicious through out the episode, glad that she saw some Kabuki-hime before the end. As for the movie I expect a compilation with much better animation that befits a Macross series. I have no doubt Kawamori heard the talk of wanting a harem end and if you are thick you bought it lock, stock, and barrel and ended up RAGING in some corner. I commend you on finishing your first Macross series, you have tolled in typical Kawamori fashion. So Grace and her cause are dead eh? Were it so easy. Really Ranka made a comeback in the least ep to make things even again? Were it so easy.

Yes, all of a sudden Ai-kun is no longer keen on tearing up paper planes made by my Alto-hime. Were it so easy.

I am being very harsh on Ranka because let’s face it for most of this series she has either been stagnating or backsliding, and if most of her new moments were involving Ai-kun and Brera then little has changed. I have heard of Ranka’s numerous resolutions to get the hand of my Alto-hime, and yet I see no effort being made. Brera is still her number one fan whose attention she relishes, Ai-kun is still her pet and likely still hostile to my Alto-hime, I don’t think any one can be blamed if they see this latest Ranka Declaration as just an empty boast. The Goddess of Love waves Alto-hime’s kimono in Ranka’s face. Maybe Ranka can make a come back, but we will never see it happen…especially since every Macross movie to date has just been a compilation. It is the epitome of ignorance to deny that Sheryl ended this series much closer to Alto-hime than Ranka, and as such we have a clear winner. Ranka definitely has a shot assuming she avoids the still vengeful assassins of Frontier and has all the charges of crimes against humanity, Zentradi, and bugs dropped once Leon starts point to Ranka as a willing accomplice to Grace’s schemes as a part of a plea bargain to NUNS to find out about Macross Galaxy.

Since you made it this far you have proven yourself either a real Macross fan or some sick masochistic shipper here are a few choice Landserdeutsch words for reading this post.

arschlecker – ass licker, brown noser

hammel – castrated ram (all bleat and no balls)

…

Really?

I should have known.

Only Battle Galaxy could have been that all powerful.

I hope jilting your lovers was not your plan for glacatic domination. Man you ditched Cathy and then Grace, sorry Leon but what is it with you and women? They all seem to have it out for you…

General Perry is glad to have his Misa back.

Sons of X-9! Go forth and kill…

Tell me are you both from Macross City?

Aww look my Alto-hime is asking for permission…

In the past that would have ended with an exclamation.

Couples need to support one another in times of crisis.

My Alto-hime is now the number one Sheryl Fan.

Well it’s not exactly Kabuki, but…

Thank you Kawamori for trying I am sure that in the movie it will be a full on Sakura-hime Azuma Bunsho that will save the galaxy.

…

So my Alto-hime will be going back to Kabuki, the film crew for Macross Zero must be delighted indeed.

They are indeed one now!

Even if it kills you!

Thank you Kawamori for making Grace’s Vajranet avatar much less tentacley.

Thank you so very much Mr. Kawamori.

Grace is still trying to kill Sheryl…

My Alto-hime really cares about his Sheryl.

Grace hates shippers in her Macross too…

I see so the Vajra predate Protoculture.

Dang I was hoping for it to be Macross.

Taking out the Vajra Queen with reaction weapons there Ozma? Were it so easy.

Evil Grace is so sultry, stiff endgame hehe.

Next Macross to get the series treatment ahoy!

Oh look Macross City is just fine…hehe. Were it so easy.

Still yoiur remix of Aimo will be the most infamous…

Yes my Queen.

All bow before the God Empress of the Known Galaxy from her all mighty throne of everlasting life.

Yes your Highness!

The Fleet is in trouble…

…including Sheryl.

That is my Alto-hime’s first line of thought…for the second time in the final episode.

Things look bad…

Well now it looks like Ranka has been falling on the lists of priorities for both my Alto-hime and the brother she left behind…

Well at least Brera will always put Ranka as his number 1.

Well I know now never to let Ranka do any PR work in a ward for the terminally ill, so stop looking so innocent there is a limit to how much you can abuse the sick Ranka…

My Alto-hime is now quoting daily from the words of Sheryl, clearly her advice has helped my Alto-hime.

Yes, go with my Alto-hime, Ranka stay here and out of trouble. Seems there is no team that includes both my Alto-hime and Ranka…

If you did not enjoy sight of big huge captial ships going at it you are no Macross fan.

Bobby never wanted to leave my Alto-hime behind, hopefully in the movie he can do all of Kabuki-hime’s makeup.

Now if only Sheryl had this power before to communicate with the Vajar in a coherent manner then much of this tragedy could have been averted.

Grace is not happy that Alto-hime did not take her into his arms.

More like you could not explain it…eh?

Alto-hime saltutes the bridge.

As we can see here unless Ranka is being incredibly rude by pointing instead of saluting that my Alto-hime was saluting Sheryl like the wonderful waifu and comrade that she has been. I know Ranka isn’t that stupid or that rude so it must be because she did not see Alto-hime salute.

General Perry is sure not going to put his back to the bugs even now.

Go Koning Monster!

Go Destroids!

Well this brings back happy memories…

And thus Battle Frontier under the protection of Sheryl and the command of General “Rock’em Sock’em” Perry landed the final blow on Battle Galaxy.

Armor Packs are still sexiest on a VF-25.

Because Ozma is getting too old for this sort of stuff.

Klein onee-sama has much faith and trust in her imouto-hime.

Now that the Klan and Saotome families have united Nene now has an imouto-hime too.

Ranka’s most important person.

Grace is referring to Brera of course.

After learning that Alto-hime had no romantic interest in Ranka these two had no problems working together, Brera accepted the help in protoecting his Ranka while Alto-hime was just releived that Brera would dtop making hime look like an idiot.

Say good by Grace.

This is for Mikhail and Sheryl.

Grace was sad that she has to wait for the movie to see Sakura-hime Azuma Bunsho.

Grace’s one true love was always the Sakura-hime of her youth.

After learning that Ranka did not want to mate and about how humanity really was from Sheryl the Vajra decided that it was better to leave on a high note after pissing on the whole galaxy. Hopefully the planet and the song Aimo will be enough for the meory of ht e Vajra to fade and hatreds to coool, if not they hopeed thatAi-kun and by extension Ranka were prepared to face the consequences of killing hundreds of tousands and wrecking two whole fleets. Suffice to say the Super Dimensional Tease Ranka Lee would spread throughout the universe.

I see I’d be confused too if I was being blown to bits to the tune of a love song. I guess the Vajra aren’t all that different from the Zentradi afterall.

Well Richard never got into the business of owning everythng for money…

It was all to see Minmei again, the old softy…

Richard Bilrer is still the greatest Minemi fan to have ever lived.

Yeah it does look better on Alto-hime…

Yeah even Ranka knows that she is way behind…

What now?

Right, just like how you didn’t lose after episode 12 and 15.

Sure, and one day you too Ranka can become President of Frotnier…

Indeed have fun Ranka trying to dig out Sheryl from the hime home, get more kisses, more couple moments, get into Klein onee-chan’s good graces, introduce your self to the Saotome and Klan families, make Ai-kun behave, and get Brera’s permission to stay out late at night.

Elmo lives! Oh and now Bobby has to find some nice boys for his last two daughters, at least he married off his Monica and Cathy. I hope Bobby checks the medical ward since Machida is still alive.

Time to give her a big wet juicy one eh Luca?

As you can see Ai-kun is being very jealous and trying to steal my Alto-hime’s thunder.

I know that Sheryl is only looking at Alto-hime, but I still can’t shake the idea that Ranka might be thinking of Ai-kun instead.

Okay Ranka time’s up, My alto-hime is clearly banking towards his Sheryl waifu. Relly Ranka after what you pulled…were it so easy.

VS

EPIC END! I demand that we have no more of these blasphemous demands for RankaxAlto-hime. It’s not that I love Ranka less, but by Kadun! I prayed and Kawamori is going to deliver. Fucking Battle Galaxy vs. Battle Frontier, DO WANT! YES WE CAN!

So yeah I want that RankaxAlto-hime ship scuttled and torched, screw that and I mean it! I will not forgive Ranka for trying to explain her actions as it means robbing time away from the best mecha fight of the year, Battle Frontier vs. Battle Galaxy, may Macross Quarter jump in as well, Kawamori be praised! Any one who wants the Ranka ship now is no Macross fan they deserve to rot in Minmei hell for their insolence for hoping for an ass pull at the expense of what may well be the best mecha fight of the year. We can either choose to watch transforming kilometer long capital ships slugging it out or Ranka going “Alto-kun save me”… The choice is clear! Ranka you better save yourself anything less would mean despoiling the hopes and dreams of every Macross fan that ever was and ever shall be. We live to see mecha battles; Kawamori has shown us Battle Galaxy! If Ranka so much as tries to steal one second then she will be more hated than SDFM Minmei. Oh I cannot wait for next week it’s agonizing, well played Kawamori thanks for trolling psgels for daring to suggest the Great Kawamori had a ho hum end planned. Well played, well played…(Thank you comrade psgels for taking the hit and goading Kawamori)

The time for cowardice has come to an end. Save yourself or risk being destroyed when the Battle Frontier does a Daedalus Attack.

It seems that it was no joke when we were talking about Ranka’s fleet killing powers. Ranka really did kill the 117th Fleet, probably in some vain attempt to kill Grace on behalf of Ranshe no doubt. Sadly the final tally of collateral damage was nearly the entire 117th Fleet sans a few dozen survivors. Ranka now under the full weight of her own guilt decides to protect the bugs by slaughtering Frontier which has come to fight in one desperate bid to secure a planet to ensure their survival. SMS has been snooping around, likely at Bilrer’s insistence, and find evidence linking Ranka to Vajra and dug up some good dirt on Grace. Given how Ozma and Cathy were only looking at Leon as the big bad I am sure Bilrer had a hand in telling the Pirates of Quarter where to go since Ozma would have never thought that Grace was the real threat and would have instead tried to get at Leon. Like Ozma said he is an idiot for not noticing Grace when she used her real name and boldly walked on to Frontier jumped onto the air waves. Ozma has much to be embarrassed about since Grace was everywhere and she even took over Ranka’s management. Good going Ozma, thank goodness Bilrer is the one calling the shots.

Heck even Mr. Bilrer has a special someone, the mushy old Zentran.

It seems that comrade Haesslich was mostly right in that Grace wants to control the communication lines to secure her Cylon Empire that will be enforced by the might of the Vajra. The pirates realize that Grace intends to make them all her cylon servants and send out a warning to NUNS, but given how they never invested in Grace’s tech, fold lag means that they will have to act and act quick. Frontier in the mean time prepares for battle, Luca confesses to a comatose Nanase, Klein onee-chan mourns the loss of Mikhail, and Alto-hime tells Sheryl that hime can no longer fly alone and that hime wants to fly with her. Sheryl, under the mistaken impression that Alto-hime will go back to Ranka, and Sheryl tells hime to shut up and kiss her. Sheryl then gives hime her last earring, which Alto-hime very much enjoys. It was very much YAKK DECULTURE! My Alto-hime promises to come back for Sheryl and sets off. The battle begins in with Sheryl’s “Iteza☆Gogo Kuji Don’t be late,” but things go bad once Ranka steps in with her “Ai Oboete Imasu ka ~ bless the little queen” under the guise of Sharon Apple. Under the influence of Ranka the Vajra continue to slaughter the Frontier fleet while allowing Grace’s commandos on the Dulfim pass by. Grace sets off to claim her throne as Brera beats both Alto-hime and Klein onee-chan. Not content with just defeating his arch nemesis Brera also shoots down Alto-hime’s VF-171EX as Sheryl cries out hime’s name in anguish. Ranka however held aloft the flaming wreckage for all to see in a sign of her current level of affection for Alto-hime.

Wow Maruyama Kakizaki really does look like Kakizaki. Mein Kadun Alto-hime has a bunch of underlings ready to fight for their taicho-hime.

So yes aside from that epic preview of Battle Galaxy this episode was everything a Macross fan could want, love is in the air as Frontier makes one last sortie to save its citizens. Confessions are given, love runs amok, and my Alto-hime has reaffirmed his resolve to stay by Sheryl and that hime will return to her. The strength of Ai Ai Alto-hime has swelled, as there is no shortage of pilots willing to fight under the inspired leadership of Diamond Force’s Machida, and Taicho-hime, those who have criticized my Alto-hime have decided to cower in shelters, I say let them! Like Ranka they know nothing of duty or freedom, they are merely protected, ignore their base accusations towards my Alto-hime. Not only has hime made good on his promise to be with Sheryl, but hime has also made good on his word fire on Ranka, and protect volk and fatherland. Sadly the power of Ranka “Fleet Killer” Lee was too much and the Frontier fleet suffered the loss of two islands and numerous capital ships and fighters. Ranka can now never be forgiven by the fleet, not only did she abandon them, but now she is actively aiding the Vajra enemy in sinking more islands and more of the Fleet in her heart broken state. Clearly the Vajra and Ranka intend to finish the job they started in 21…so much for Ranka’s claims to want love and peace. The only peace she wants is a debris field made up of bits of the entire Frontier Fleet.

Oh Ranka why must you emulate the losers in love of the Macross universe? Well at least you beat out Sharon Apple as most dangerous giant singer.

Ranka did not even so much as lift a finger against Grace and everyone paid dearly for Ranka’s compliance to Graces whims. To be fair Brera was telling Ranka to do bad things, but that conversely shows how much Ranka loves her onii-chan rather than her old fans and friends. Not even Alto-hime getting shot down and supposedly exploding phased Ranka one bit, rather she opened up her arms making it seem as if she had just crushed Alto-hime to death. Perhaps Ranka did not intend to crush hime, but it is most evil of Ranka to be spreading out Alto-hime to the far reaches of the Galaxy and help realize Brera-nii’s boast of scattering Alto-hime’s throughout the galaxy. Oh, Ranka, so much for your ship, there just isn’t that much time now, and I want to see more of Battle Galaxy than another go Ninjin Loves You Yeah. Such a pity Ranka opted to stay catatonic the whole time…now that every one knows that Ranka is singing for the Vajra I think she just forfeited her chance of being that silhouette that will be projecting on Battle Frontier. No, it will be Basara, Alto-hime, or Bilrer and Tokugawa-san who will do something to save the Frontier. As for Ranka after seeing her Sharon Apple projection prompting devastating salvos that death for numerous humans and zentrans, there is no one left on Frontier that would not shoot her the first chance they get. Such a pity Ranka now has earned the eternal hatred of Frontier. Ranka better hope that those two islands Ranka just helped blow away were really empty. If the Vajra start attacking Island 1 well not even the Pirates of Quarter are guaranteed to help. I can’t see the logic behind atoning for the destruction of one fleet with the massacre of another, but hey Ranka what ever makes you feel better about I guess…

Now at the end do you realize…

As I said before Alto-hime was just great this time around hime kept his work and led his army of grunts into the fray. Where once Alto-hime was doing things largely solo now we see hime taking car of his vic and fighting alongside Klein onee-chan to fight Brera. I like how hime went to promise Sheryl that hime will come back for her, it’s pretty much a confession at this point since its so late in the series and the Ranka ship deserves to sink since she spent more time dallying with Brera-nii than she ever spent with Alto-hime. Now that Battle Galaxy is going to enter the fray Alto-hime will have more to worry about than saving Ranka. My Alto-hime is a hime of his word if hime says he will come back for Sheryl hime will come back for her. Reports of hime’s death have been greatly exaggerated Alto-hime had plenty of time to get out of his VF-171EX to decoy Brera in order to save hime’s Klein onee-chan. In fact I look forward to more blue haired alliance action between Klein onee-chan and imouto-hime. Thus there is another reason why the Ranka ship must sink; any Macross fan would scuttle that decrepit ship in order to have a Valkyrie fight back to back with Queadaluun.

Klan onee-chan will protect her imouto-hime to the death!

Alto-hime has become a responsible adult now with responsibilities hime did not even look sad when he saw Ranka, only utter shock and disgust at the sight of her Sharon Apple cosplay and unfathomable RAGE as hime saw Ranka’s new friends wiping out the Frontier Fleet as Ranka sang about love. So much for Ranka’s love for her former friends, now that she has made clear that Ranka “loves” Frontier to bits, hime will also “love” Ranka into nothingness. Alto-hime was once tasked with protecting Ranka, but now like a real man and not just some hot blooded old timer past his prime, Alto-hime has decided that the Fleet is worth more than Ranka and hime rejected Ozma and any plans and pleas to save Ranka. Clearly the Kamejin Clone has had a bigger influence on Alto-hime than Ranka ever did. Hime is still out to kill bugs, and even if Quarter comes back with evidence the hard feelings will remain. At least now Ranzo is proud of his Kabuki-hime as he smiled as hime went off to destroy Ranka.

RANKA!

Sheryl was spectacular once again, not only does she try to take her heart break like a woman, Sheryl also gives Alto-hime a clear go and gave hime the last of her luck so that hime might go on. Silly Sheryl Alto-hime will come back to you no matter what, and that is more than can be said for Ranka. Alto-hime said that he no longer wants to fly alone, and hime chose to take Sheryl’s earring with him in a grand gesture of affection (not as a means to get a full set of some fabulous earrings) in a bit of black humor. For most of the series Alto-hime has tried in vain to assert that he is a man, but when hime saw Sheryl one last time Alto let Sheryl make hime more girly and deculture. Heck not even Ranka could get hime to act like a girl to get a bit role, so I think by wearing that earring Alto-hime is making a grand gesture. Most tellingly of all was how Alto-hime chose to fly with Sheryl’s earring and song, while hime is flying against Ranka and the power of her song. To add to Alto-hime’s barrage of grand gestures hime even took the call sign of Sagittarius 1. Silly Sheryl my Alto-hime has chosen to fly with you that was supposed to be a confession, but if you want to wait hime will wait.

Sheryl is Basra and cemented it by leaping down onto her stage. By Kadun Sheryl is most worthy of my Alto-hime’s hand! Not only does she suck it up and sing for the fleet but showed much more concern about Alto-hime than Ranka who appeared to have crushed Alto-hime. Truly the remark that such a woman is rare applies to both of them equally. My Alto-hime has finally realized it and for the first time in a long time became more girly for Sheryl. Ai Ai Alto-hime appreciates Sheryl for giving hime her remaining precious fold quartz earring, it looks so yakk deculture. I am sure Sheryl agrees… Good to see that Sheryl has some fight still left in her and she did not stop singing even when Ranka’s song just blew her and the whole fleet away. Maybe Sheryl will get some more power out of her feelings of a love lost. Like Elmo says Sheryl’s songs have love in them while right now Ranka’s are just soulless and without real love.

Listen to my SONG!

The rest of SMS is doing okay and the Bilrer was most wise in sending them off to dig up some dirt on Grace. I bet that projection will be the honorable Mr. Bilrer himself as he announces that Leon is a traitor in cahoots with the criminal Grace. General Perry will then summarily execute Leon, because having the bridge of Battle Frontier blown away by Ranka or Quarter would suck when there is still Battle Galaxy to fight. Monica finally gets her man, as Cathy and Ozma grow a bit closer. Good thing Alto-hime kept “Dead Meat” Jones and Maruyama Kakizaki (who looks just like Kakizaki) alive so that Mina and Ram might also find some nice boys. Seeing as how there is little hope for reinforcement and that since Grace is very much in command the only way Quarter can have a shot at doing anything to make up for their desertion is to help Bilrer take Leon down and get the Frontier Fleet back in shape for the epic match between Battle Frontier and Battle Galaxy. So don’t screw it up Ozma, you will still have to answer for your poor parenting skills…

Well idiots like Ozma will always be around, bt it’s a good thing that this idiot has a Cathy Glass.

Klein onee-chan did not die and helped out her imoutos, Alto-hime and Nene nicely. Even if Mikhail is gone Klein one-chan still has a reason to live so that she might take care of Nene and Alto-hime. Luca gets some action too the little Knight Templar. Even if Luca discarded his SMS uniform and joined Leon to kill more bugs I think that so long as Luca can kill more of the bugs that hut his beloved Nanase then he won’t mind if General Perry shoots Leon in the face. Thank goodness Luca only stole a kiss from Nanase, at least he didn’t go Shinji on us. The battle was good an not ho hum, in fact this was a very good tip of the hat by Kawamori and his crew to Macross II with dueling songstresses. I also liked how hime was only complaining internally about his VF-171EX as his vic just flew there in awe. Glad to see that Ai Ai Alto-hime has grown so large on Frontier, and now that Alto-hime has Sheryl’s earring we are one step closer to a Kabuki-hime end. I am sure Maruyama Kakizaki, “Dead Meat” Jones, Machida, and the rest of the Frontier chapter of Ai Ai Alto-hime will be looking forward to seeing Kabuki-hime come onto Battle Frontier kiss Sheryl and sing Enka to defeat Grace and her Ranka puppet. The finishing blow will be Sakura-hime Azuma Bunsho. Then and only then will Ranka snap out of it since Alto-hime “dying” was insufficient to bring her back to reality, or we can have Sheryl slap Ranka again.

Grace will surpass Morgoth!

Grace was just awesome she swore her revenge and is getting it. Oberst Grace is truly the greatest villain of the season, she has fold bombed a planet, wiped out a Zentradi division, taken over one of the most advanced fleets in human, and is about to seize the throne of her galactic empire that makes ever other empire look like a small hovel. Ranka tried to kill Grace with bugs and flame, but that was not enough to stop almighty Grace. Not only has Grace avenged her self on Mao and Ranshe, she has set their descendants on a collision course. The name of Mei will forever be associated with the massacre of fleets while the blood of the Nome family will be all but spent unless Alto-hime and Sheryl make a little queen of their own. No doubt Bilrer has been aware of Grace for some time and has done his home work the showdown between the Zentradi Billionaire and the Greatest Cylon to ever end up in a Macross series are about to have an epic match. Grace seems to have forgotten about Bilrer in her seizure of the throne, but Bilrer has not forgotten Grace, perhaps at last there is one who can go toe to toe with Grace.

Good to see that Nene did not die so far, I hope she finds a nice boy too…

All in all a great episode which makes me eagerly anticipate the finale which can do no wrong so long as they have Battle Frontier in a slugging match with Battle Galaxy. By Kadun I think Kawamori is going to over awe us all. I hope Machida makes it out okay, awesome grunt is awesome.

Ozma saw his home blow up and he cowered in fear…

Well what were you going to do about it?

You should have asked Mr. Bilrer, but sadly the boss man trusts hime more than some guy who ditched his fleet to save his own ass. As if saving Ranka would have washed away the stain of your cowardice…

Man even Wilder is thick, does he even have to ask?

Monica got her good end!

Wow Frontier boasts a fine share of MILFs.

Well that’s one down, all Bobby has to to now is marry off her other two kids.

General Perry supports Suki Suki Sheryl.

Now that is a good role model, such a pity Ranka never took a liking to Klan onee-chan, Ranka must have felt treatened by another loli hanging around Alto-hime or something.

Luca is a coward.

Well maybe next time you can say it to her when she is awake, eh?

At least it’s only a kiss, such a pity the Prince of LAI cannot awaken his princess.

To confess.

My Alto-hime will survive.

Mission Accepted.

Oh a flying analogy…

Should have just said you wanted to fly with her…

I think Sheryl ahs come to a wrong conclusion…

Look who’s talking.

So…?

Don’t get cocky your not being very clear because your flying analogy sucked.

How about simple statement one whose meaning hits with the force of a fold bomb?

Oh Alto-hime was paying attention when Sheryl said that…

Wait-

I told you Alto-hime that you should have gone with something simple, but no it had to be a flying confession…

Yes, keep it simple.

Well if Alto-hime didn’t like Sheryl in that way he sure does enjoy standing there with Sheryl’s lips on his…

…

Yeah shut up and kiss her again!

Uh Sheryl…

Look I know its confusing, but Alto-hime has always loved the sky and he wants to fly with you…

Oi oi, Sheryl Nome can’t help but sing like Hime cannot help but fly.

Well, shut up and kiss her Alto-hime…

It seems My alto-hime is about as thick as Sheryl right now, must they do everything together…

Now Alto-hime has a real reason to come back. If hime wants to confess properly then hime can do it after killing some bugs.

Nani mai hunni?

Were it so easy…

…

Second chance!

Wow…

You want to see Sakura-hime?

Sheryl wink!

In any case Alto-hime is proud of Sheryl.

YAKKKK DECULTURE!

Sakura-hime end is a GOOOOOOO!

All wings report in…

Machida in “Fists of Fury”

I like this job. I like it.

Capital ship charge!

Go Machida!

Saggittarius 1 standing by…

You worry about those bugs, I’ll worry about Brera.

I am going in, cover me Kakizaki.

Saggitarius 1 get set up for your attack run…

I’ll cut across Ranka’s axis and try to draw her fire…

Today Luca finally got his first confirmed kill…

That’s taicho-hime to you.

Only if you make them your enemy…

Kill Alto…

You have to do better Ranka. I’m over here.

It seems the Perry Brothers are not taking kindly to Ranka’s treachery.

I just want my phone call.

Ranka’s love beams…

With love like that who needs hate?

I am Alto Saotome, I am here to avenge my colony.

Grace is so awesome she snuck in a Dulfim in the middle of a fire fight.

Grace will violate you…

Yes, my Queen.

The Royalty commands!

Not exactly the way to refer to the person you might be in love with…

Yeah why?

Nothing says I love you like wearing the other girl’s earring and actually getting more femminine when you could not even do that to get you favorite girl a bit role…

Ranka will give Alto-hime the thrill and death hime always wanted…

Were it so easy to forget such a hime…

…

Still pretty when mad?

Brera-nii sayeth so!

It cam from…behind…

Sheryl cares…

Klan onee-chan cares…

Heck even Luca cares…

…and yet here is Ranka spreading out hime’s ashes, just like Brera wanted.

Well next time hime comes back you won’t be so coy.

Alto-hime will be fine, but that should help motivate Alto-hime to survive.

Well it seems if have found a nice boy for Mina…I have high hopes for you Maruyama Kakizaki…oh and the answer is we’re not sure though they are living together.

True beginning indeed with the last stretch of Macross Frontier before us I expect a most epic ending with Alto-hime performing Sakura-hime Azumu Bunsho to end the war while hime fold bombs Ranka via a kabuki-hime fan. Basara-sama will come and cure Sheryl through some good old Fire Bomber as they sing a duet that will drive Leon to an hero himself and Grace to go BASARA-SAMA in a fangirl squeal. Admiral Jenius and Supreme President of NUNS, Millia will de-fold to conclude the conquest of the Vajra homeworld. It will be an epic end to a great series, and we all will LISTEN TO THEIR SONG! Yes this will not be some mundane end where Ranka sings her song to save the fleet, oh no my Kawamori sense is tingling that it will be the prettiest hime on Frontier who is fated to save the fleet after Sheryl passes out after giving her all to protect volk and fatherland. After all Bilrer expects great things from Alto-hime…

Oh ho…so it seems Grace has been paying special attention to Ranshe’s body. I like where this is going.

Ranka begins to remember a bit of her past as she recalls her mother Ranshe being bullied by Grace, the little runt Brera starts criticizing Ranshe and Grace for fighting but the little brat knows nothing. Grace wanted to better the galaxy by uniting the Vajra with her cyborg network while Ranshe is still sick from dancing with the bugs. Frontier is losing islands at an alarming rate oxygen is being rationed and they have crossed the point where they can no longer sustain themselves. The Frontier congress is furious with Ozma’s antics as already the SMS defection has spread rumors that the pirates were leaving a sinking ship. Fortunately while Ozma is a stupid mercenary who really can’t to much more than protect his Cathy (note not Ranka), Richard Bilrer is a far more composed and intelligent Zentradi billionaire who has kept the remnants of SMS in fighting condition and monitoring the progress of both Leon and Grace. Alto-hime has been given his own vic complete with Maruyama Kakizaki and Johnny “Dead Meat” Jones. The NUNS guys seem like good blokes who are proud of having a squadron leader like Alto-hime. Kakizaki is absolutely delighted and can barely keep his joy in check, as rumor of Alto-hime and Sheryl dating is all over the place. Clearly Kakizaki has is yuri-goggles set to over 9000. Suffice to say I enjoyed every moment of the Alto-hime vic banter.

Oh Ranshe time you’re daily nibble from Grace, oh don’t mind the kids it’s better if they watch.

Sheryl and Alto-hime are living together after hime was left homeless after Quarter left and Sheryl followed Alto-hime in leaving the Saotome home. In an all too brief bit of marital bliss they have dinner together with their pooled rations as Sheryl takes a fondness to the drink. Sheryl gets drunk quickly and asks Alto-hime to carry her as she asks hime to never leave her until her duty is done. Alto-hime has noticed that Sheryl is acting differently but accepts it without question. Hime suspects that Sheryl might not be taking her medicine at this point and while hime might not like it Alto-hime will respect Sheryl’s decision to sing to her dying breath. I think that the speed subbers are right since Alto-hime doesn’t wnat to go back to the Saotome mansion, and hime did lose his home when Quarter left as he was staying on the ship. Sheryl has been homeless ever since she was tossed aside by Grace, so Sheryl didn’t have a home. Also as delicious as it might be they are not taking over Ozma’s house since Ozma lived on a hill and didn’t have a store underneath him. So with intact housing being at a premium I think it is very likely that they are living together since Alto-hime is an adult hime will honor his oath and never leave Sheryl until she can sing no more. Besides there too many pictures of the sky to say that it isn’t hime’s place and those curtains in Sheryl’s room were certainly for a female as not even Alto-hime has shown an affinity for frilly things.

Yeah I bet if word got out Alto-hime and Sheryl were staying in the same house Kakizaki and “Dead Meat” Jones would be visiting every day…and with a few new “friends.”

While Frontier is falling apart Ranka is on her little journey with Brera as Ranka starts asking questions about Brera. Such a pity that Ranka has asked more about Brera than she has Alto-hime but I guess that is about the extent of her love at this point. The Vajra break out a welcoming party as Ranka is shocked that whenever she stops singing that the Vajra go hostile. Like Kabitzin was saying, clearly the Vajra are none too happy that Ranka sold out and betrayed the spirit of Aimo. I have not forgotten the travesty that was the Grace re-mix, and neither have they. Brera tries his best to protect Ranka as she laments how things are not going to plan. Ranka thinks that the Vajra will still listen to her song and gets out of the VF-27 to beg Ai-kun to help Ranka talk to the Vajra. Sadly for Ranka Ai-kun has had enough of Brera and snatches Ranka away from Brera. Grace intervenes and saves that idiot Brera telling the “major” that his Oberst Grace cannot be so easily thwarted by merely deactivating the tracer, Grace knows everything about Brera’s elopement with Ranka and reveals to his horror that Ranka is his sister before Grace activates Brera’s slave mode.

Ai-kun just took your Ranka and trolled you good Brera. There there Ranka I am sure Ai-kun will love you more than anyone else…Sweet ride by the way Ai-kun. Oh where o where is Alto? O where o where o where…

Leon is forced to invite Alto-hime to meeting at the insistence of Bilrer. They have divined the location of Ranka and the Vajra homeworld by tracing her song that is all but useless against the Vajra. They inform Alto-hime that the bugs are all part of a gestalt consciousness and that communicating with one is all but impossible as each Vajra is only a single synapse in a vast network that makes up the Vajra. Leon thinks that Ranka was always intended as a spy, but Bilrer knows better. Grace has Ranka in her possession and as such will use Ranka to further her ends Bilrer informs Alto-hime the hard truth that Ranka will be his enemy. Despite Ranka’s resistance she will be powerless before Grace and will be dancing to the cylon’s tune. Alto-hime takes Sheryl to the hospital where she declares that she knows that she is a tool and will not take her medication because it would compromise her ability to sing against the Vajra. Luca in his new NUNS uniform can do nothing. Alto-hime runs into his dad and Yasaburo. Yasaburo asks Alto-hime to go back to acting and asks hime if he would still be a pilot if there was no enemy to fight. Klan onee-chan informs Alto-hime that she too received the memo about Ranka.

Ah the infamous “Barry Goldwater Ranka Lee will kill us all…” ad, and that was how Leon won a landslide election after Howard Glass died, with a single smear campaign. It also helped that Leon was the only name on the ballot.

Alto-hime declares that he joined SMS to protect Ranka, an activity at which hime has consistently failed at due to Brera. Alto-hime says that he deliberately ignored some things but no longer. Alto-hime will defned the fatherland until death, the people of Frontier have a right to live and now the Fleet is too far gone to continue on their journey. Alto-hime says that if Ranka is an enemy that hime will kill her. Klan asks if that is Alto-hime’s love for Ranka, the answer is of course yes. The confession at Griffith Park when Ranka left has finally been answered hime loves Ranka enough to blow her to hell for the volk and fatherland. Klan onee-chan thinks that this is sad; Sheryl after only hearing half the conversation sheds a tear over how hime will not love her. No sooner is the final verdict given that the announcement is made that Frontier will be headed for one final sortie to wipe of the Vajra and claim a world which is so rightful theirs due to the Vajra wrecking their fleet. Sheryl being the fantastic and mature woman that she is wipes away her tears and braces herself for her last concert to save Frontier.

I smell a rooftop confession.

Well it’s about time my Alto-hime has decided to answer Ranka’ confessions, imagine my delight when my pilot-hime decided to answer Ranka’s love with the promise of a fold bomb. Maybe then it will add some much needed spark and hawtness to their decrepit relationship based on rescuing Ranka. Oh sure the Ranka fans will cry hime has chosen Ranka while ignoring the threat of fold bombing her into oblivion, but such talk is silly for if bombs were a measure of love then by such flawed and uncouth logic the Palestinians love the Israelis (and vice versa) and the US really loved Japan to atomic levels. Clearly these people have it wrong…My Alto-hime is better than that my plucky hime has leveled up to Soldaten-hime which is in every way superior to a mercenary. Soldaten-hime has chose volk and fatherland over Ranka, duty is hime’s reason for flying not Ranka. Duty is the most important word in the English language, without duty men are but worthless cowards and women nothing more perpetual victims of their own stupidity. Duty makes men and women strong it gives them unshakable will to see things through to the end, it allows for men and women to be great. If Ranka is an enemy, if she dares in her insolence to use her pet bugs to harm Frontier then Soldaten-hime will offer Ranka a token of his explosive and deadly love for her. Desire does not enter into it, the line has been drawn. If Ranka, for whatever reason, crosses it she will be bombed mercilessly along with her new friends.

i

So say we all!

No doubt lesser children will cry foul at such thinking or adherence to duty. Ignore their honeyed lies and sorry excuse for logic. They will cry that the millions on Frontier have no right to ask that Ranka die, but such fools fail to ask the proper and correct question: by what right does Ranka have to demand that millions on Frontier die for her sake? I say she has none. If Ranka wishes to be spared from the coming fire then she better well get the hell out of Alto-hime’s way. Right now all Alto-hime is declaring to Ranka to lead hime (i.e. Bilrer and Klan), follow hime (Sheryl, Maruyama Kakizaki, and Johnny “Dead Meat” Jones), or get the fuck out of hime’s way (i.e. Ranka and Ozma). Alto-hime understands that it is not a matter of by what right hime has to kill Ranka, but rather by what right does Alto-hime have to let Ranka live? Alto-hime is an adult now so hime now has responsibilities to Frontier, and to the men under hime’s command. Sorry Ranka but as much as Alto-hime loves you with a fiery passion, hime has obligations and responsibilities now that come before rescuing Ranka or wasting his breath trying to get you to walk out on your beloved bugs as Ranka has chosen to help Ai-kun. Ranka has chosen to be with the bugs, Alto-hime has chosen volk and fatherland. Don’t make hime destroy you Ranka…Ranshe knew this to be true. Join Alto-hime and together you can destroy Leon and bring an end to this destructive conflict. Together you can rule the galaxy as hime and loli.

Alto-hime has a grateful fatherland and a glorious struggle. Honor and blood for the Northern Cross.

I am over all delighted with my Alto-hime for doing the right thing and choosing the hardest and most demanding path of all in life. Alto-hime had no hand in starting this war but by Deculture Alto-hime will finish it even if it means obliterating the Vajra menace along with Ranka. Alto-hime will not just shoot the damn bugs, hime is going to rip out their Goddamn guts and use them to make more warheads. Alto-hime is going to murder those lousy Vajra cocksuckers by the bushel-fucking-basket. War is a bloody, killing business. Hime has got to spill their blood, or they will spill his. Rip them up the belly. Shoot them in the guts. When beams are hitting all around Alto-hime and hime wipes the dust off hime’s Valkyrie and realize that instead of space debris it’s the blood and guts of what once was hime’s wingmate, Alto-hime will know what to do! Where once Alto-hime held Ranka’s life as a something value, hime has now found Ranka’s life to be but a paltry price to pay for the safety of volk and fatherland. Things have changed, Alto-hime has changed and for the better. With Klein, Sheryl, Maruyama Kakizaki, Johnny “Dead Meat” Jones, and Bilrer supporting hime, my Alto-hime will defend the fatherland until death. Honor and blood for the Northern Cross!

I guess my Alto-hime wasn’t just being thick about Ranka, in fact hime was actively ignoring her growing feelings for hime. If it is true that Alto-hime was deliberately ignoring things then hime’s love for Ranka is most cold and distant. I am glad hime has given some insight about what goes one in that pretty little head of hime’s. Ai Ai Alto-hime will support our kabuki-hime no matter what! We are proud to have a new Soldaten-hime who is ready to give his all for the safety of Frontier and all her citizens.

Dang it Ranka why couldn’t you just stay that way for the rest of your life, like Klein onee-chan.

So yes Ranka is in dire need of rescue once again because she grossly overestimated her power and severely underestimated what Ai-kun was capable of. Ranka really has only herself to blame for this, such poor choice of allies and companions… I have been saying all along that Ai-kun and Brera were not to be trusted, but no… Ranka didn’t listen as I shouted at the screen when she took in Ai-kun and got chummy with Brera. Well Ranka better hope that Brera or Ozma will rescue her first otherwise the results could be quite, shall we say spectacular and final. I hope that Ranka will muster the courage to rescue herself because I grow tired of her always being that damsel in distress, the kind of typical clueless bint who always finds herself in trouble because of her own indiscretion and ignorance. I hope Ranka is better than that, for a woman who has nothing which she is willing to fight for, nothing which she cares more about than she does about her personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better women and hime than herself. Now, that Grace has Ranka in her clutches Ranka better hope that she inherited some of her father’s courage because it seems that Ranshe was always being bullied by Grace, as they say like mother like daughter. Speaking of my favorite evil Cylon, I am hoping Kawamori will give us a Grace and Ranshe OVA so that I can see more of Grace bullying Ranshe. I imagine it to be very much like how Haruhi-sama bullied Mikuru, and it would make science much more fun, yes…

Wow amazing what you find by just randomly mashing the f5 key when taking screen caps…

It’s fine if she decided to try and end the war after she left declaring the return of Ai-kun as her only intention. Sadly Ranka did not do her homework and had a piss poor plan to go with her good intentions. Good intentions are fine, they pave the road to hell, but I want results not a statement of intent after she left. No Ranka better make good on her wish to stop the conflict, it would be sad if some one else had to do it for her. It’s not okay for her to sit idly by while Frontier is locked in a battle to the death. Frontier has no choice left but to attempt the conquest of the Vajra homeworld, after Ranka’s new friends ran amok, such a pity it had to come to this.

Valiant Sheryl knew what it meant to fill in for Ranka, like a real woman she saw through the lies and pretense.

Sheryl is a tough woman the kind of woman I would gladly betroth my Alto-hime to. Sheryl is formidable, has self esteem, and above all has a sense of duty. Like Soldaten-hime Sheryl has chosen to defend the fatherland until death. Sheryl has decided to share Alto-hime’s fate of honor and blood for the Northern Cross like a real woman. These may be her last days but Sheryl will not suffer to see them wasted in a bout of self pity, while the lives of millions are at stake. Even if she feels that Alto-hime will never love her Sheryl is glad to have known hime and will do her part to protect hime and all that hime fights for. I applaud her selfless courage, indomitable will to die standing, and her faithful love for Alto-hime. I can see why Sheryl fell for alto-hime, not only for hime’s good looks, but because he has a sweet side and despite the hime aloofness does care about those around him. Sheryl knows that since hime is not above cooking and housework that Alto-hime is more than just a Princess who comes to the rescue, not hime is that and much more. Sheryl knows that hime is a fine catch and good husband material, not a mere rescuer of damsels in perpetual distress.

Yeah don’t think Sheryl could manage living on her own, that is why she lives with Alto-hime.

I still think that Sheryl might find the love that she truly deserves from my Alto-hime. The spirit of Misa and Sara are with her and I was elated when Sheryl and Alto-hime were playing house. Alto-hime will be with Sheryl until the end that much is certain. Their happy time together will shine forever because of how their last game of house was undercut by the impending doom of Sheryl. Sheryl can take comfort in knowing that hime cares for her to a great degree, enough to carry her, and cook for her. At least she got to drink with Alto-hime since Ranka won’t be able to experience that for a few years until she grows up. I still think Alto-hime cares more about Sheryl than hime does Ranka at least hime is not threatening to bomb Sheryl for getting in the way. No instead Alto-hime being a real hime will carry Sheryl off to her bed, a far happier fate than being fold bombed. Just as Sheryl will protect Alto-hime and all of Frontier so too will Alto-hime protect Sheryl and all of Frontier. Ai Ai Alto-hime applauds her valor and faithful service to volk, fatherland, and hime. Long shall we remember the efforts of Valiant Sheryl and her unwavering and 100% faithful love for Alto-hime.

We’re the pirates who don’t do anything! We just stay home and lie around! And if you ask us to do anything…

The Pirates of Quarter haven’t done much though it seems that Bilrer is playing Leon for a sucker. Surely as the respected owner of SMS Bilrer is aware and wary of Grace and Leon, Ozma found out too late, but Bilrer has been planning for a show down with Oberst Grace and her Galaxy conspirators. I am sure that Bilrer is right that Alto-hime will do great things in defense of volk and fatherland. I hope Maruyama Kakizaki and Johnny “Dead Meat” Jones makes it out alive; I know two of Bobby’s daughters that deserve to have some nice boys of their own. Hopefully there will be some pairing of the spares come the ED credits of episode 25.

Ladies and gentlemen I give you the true savior of the fleet. Alto-hime is still the prettiest of them all on Frontier, sorry Vajra but your attempts to poison hime for Brera have failed… Ranka stand aside, Sheryl go get some rest, Bobby make that make-up deculture, Ozma you are broken, and Grace prepare to squeel like a fangirl.  Mr. Bilrer will fund it…

As I said before I look forward to an EPIC ENDING along those lines. As much as I liked Ranka, despite her cuteness and Aoi no Ether, my inner Macross Fan is demanding a lot more. Having Sakura-hime as the savior of Frontier would be just that, the second coming of Basara, Max, and Millia would just be icing on the cake. No a Ranka concert is simply not enough, I want to see Sakura-hime Azuma Bunsho, I want to see Kawamori fanboying on Battle Frontier, I want to see Grace say “Yakk DECULTURE!” as Alto-hime walks onto stage. Any one who thinks a mere singing of Lion is a fool that needs their Macross Fan membership revoked, my desired ending would make every Macross fanboy and fangirl cry Yakk Deculture at the sheer amount of win and awesome. Mr. Kawamori I implore you to make it happen using Mr. Bilrer’s billions!

Because they want to know more about hime. Kakizaki plans to ask more questions as a true fan of Alto-hime should.

Maruyama Kakizaki really likes his taicho-hime.

See even people in the show know this to be true.

Boo…we wanna know more.

Is it still pineapple salad?

Oh…

Maruyama Kakizaki is so glad tht his taicho-hime cares.

Kakizaki and “Dead Meat” jones were so gladt to have such a glorious taicho-hime that they added custom colors to hime’s VF-171EX.

Alto-hime’s waifu comes to pick hime up every day…

“Dead Meat” Jones always keeps his yuri goggles with him.

Maruyama Kakizaki has his set to OVER 9000 at all times.

Oh taicho-hime no matter where you go every one remembers Sakura-hime Azuma Bunsho, except one…who never bothered to ask.

Well if hime didn’t Kakizaki and “Dead Meat” Jones might end up being roommates.

Hime is not ashemed to be with Sheryl, hime just doesn’t want his underlings as squaters.

Sheryl remember when cutting use a cat’s paw…

Hime wants to kiss your boo boo Sheryl…

Hime will just suck the blood and put a band aid on it…

Oh right, the v-type infection thing…

That she is.

:3

I see now why Sheryl fell for that smile.

It seems that all blue haired pilots can cook, isn’t that right Max?

Sheryl likes himes who can cook. I also see that Sheryl is ready for marriage too.

At least it don’t taste bitter.

Well…

…what do you think?

Sheryl’s dream was to have a hot meal with some one she loved.

Today Sheryl’s wish will come true, even if her etiquette isn’t up to snuff…

I think she’s giving a hint about something…

I think Sheryl meant sexy Alto-hime.

There is a British word for being drunk to the point you become a toddler, but I seem to have forgotten it…

I think Sheryl was trying to give Alto-hime a kiss…

Well if only Sheryl were a couple feet closer…

It’s part of being an adult hime…

Wow Alto-hime is pretty strong even without his EX-Gear.

Hime is a Kabuki hime of his word.

See hime will always be there.

It’s odd…

Hime knows, hime knows…

That evil Grace…

Sorry Ai-kun, but the Vajra need to pay you back for tearing up Alto-hime’s papaer plane.

As do we all Mr. Bilrer.

Tell them what?

Umm…Ranka Ai-kun’s eyes are glowing red, their bright hue tells Ai-kun to give thou thine due…

Don’t look so surprised Ranka the only difference between Ai-kun and the one who killed Mikhail was about 24 hours.

And lo did Ai-kun doth snatcheth his amorous beloved Ranka.

Well met Brera. We meet again ere the end…

Stupid Brera, like that would have done anything…

No Grace’s gaze pierces earth, cloud, shadow, and flesh…

They don’t think much of Brera, obviously…

Here here!

Grace knew the whole time…

…and the greatest of your crimes Ranka shall feel within herself!

Yes…

Grace is the fairy godmother.

No there will be no glass slippers…

Welcome to the Cylons Brera, I think we will get along fine as long as you know who is your master…

What’s that coming over the hill? Is it a Vajra? Is it a Vajra…?

Only at the end do you understand.

Raep tyme?

Grace likes to hear people scream and beg for mercy…

Grace is victorious once again.

Because hime had no where else to go!

Me neither.

Loli shouta Alto-hime is still cuter…

Miyo-sama will watch over Frontier, also she’s a prettier mom than Ranshe. Those really are some genes.

…

…

…

Like I said funny how button mashing the F5 Key sometimes results in unintended shots, but by your command Klein onee-chan.

Say goodbye Relena Ranka.

To be fair hime never answered…

Sheryl was a bit sad…

…but not defeated. Sheryl will do her duty onto death.

War’s coming…

Nene is back!

If the whole world has gone crazy, then I’ll believe in myself and keep on fighting. Ranka… I will kill you.

Alto-hime, life is cheap. Especially mine.

You’re going to self-destruct? That’s not a bad plan either…(done)

Oh Please Kawamori for the love of Misa please let Grace be the one who kills Leon.

At least that is what I hope it was… Well that was one episode that was firing on all cylinders, lots of plot progression all around and much to my elation my Alto-hime has finally given Sheryl an answer of sorts. Congratulations Sheryl you will have Kabuki-hime by you’re side until you can sing no more! Unfortunately with her condition being terminal as Sheryl is a long term carrier her seemingly last moments of her career will mean that she will die for the safety of the fleet. I salute her resolution and resolve to put volk and fatherland above her personal safety, and taking up the duties and responsibilities that traitor Ranka cast aside as if they were but trifling things.  We will defeat the bugs and burn them out of their nests! So say we all!

Sort of new toys…they still look sexy though.

So it seems that Leon gets to be the fifth President of Frontier, but if Grace has anything to say about it will be one of the shortest presidencies in Frontier’s history. Since Leon had the gall to try and off Grace it is clear Leon is underestimating Grace and will be very shocked to see Grace roll up to his office in her VF-27 (possibly gold plated) and fuck up his office with an Itano Circus. At the very least it seems Grace is the most evil and dead sexy Cylon of the year, looks like Klein has some competition in the smexy female pilot category. Heck Grace grasping her hopes and dreams gives poor Alto-hime a good run too. The new fold quartz based weapons seem to be working and this time they are taking extra precautions to prevent the bugs from rapidly adapting. The modified VF-171, the VF-171EX is still a beautiful machine though still not as sexy as that VF-25. Nice to see how they are using SMS to train the rookies for the VF-171EXs, instead of just letting the rookies learn the hard way.

Hmmm… I still prefer the VF-25 hopefuly Alto-hime and Luca will get them back.

Sheryl starts singing again for free with the help of Elmo. Elmo doesn’t seem to mind as he now approves of Sheryl’s songs because there is love in her songs now. Mina, Monica, and Ram also approve of this new Sheryl. Their taste in music is about as good as how they look, god I love these girls. Klein is still mourning the loss of Mikhail and decides to tell Alto-hime the truth about Sheryl’s illness. Luca and Leon ask Sheryl to take Ranka’s place after explaining how after being terminally ill Sheryl’s songs have the power to create small fold waves, not nearly as powerful as Ranka’s but still better than nothing. While there is a cure for Sheryl’s illness, she is past that point and in the end decided to sing for the sake of Frontier which is still in ruins with its people still mourning the loss of the last Vajra attack.

The blue-haired alliance. Might as well be brother and sister.

Bobby finally finds Cathy and Ozma again and gets all teary eyed when he sees them. Ozma and Cathy tell Wilder, Bobby, and Canria how Leon orchestrated the assassination of Howard Glass and has by now destroyed all the evidence. Wilder was tipped off by Bilrer about the impending integration of NUNS with SMS. Canaria also informs Ozma about how Ranka has gone rogue and regained her memories. SMS is now at a crossroads try and do something or quietly go along with Leon’s integration plans. Wondering if they are doing the right thing Cathy sends out a call to arms of which we know nothing about to all of SMS. 70% of SMS soldaten answer including Mina, Ram, and Monica who has wedded her fate to that of Wilder. As for the other 30% they all have their reasons to stay behind.

Yakk Deculture! Ranka is Minmei, she even has a doll!

Sheryl gets back to her new home and shortly collapse in front of Alto-hime. Alto gets the call from Cathy but before he reads it he turns off his phone when Sheryl is awake again. Sheryl struggles to keep a brave face and conceal her illness thanking Alto-hime fore making her see that she must sing again. Under the full weight of his knowledge of Sheryl’s impeding fate hime begs Sheryl to stop for the sake of her health and to stop putting on a brave face. Sheryl insists that her songs are the only legacy she has left and is proof that she lived. Alto-hime relents and wipes off her tears reassuring Sheryl that he will be with her until the end. Sheryl admits that she is scared and asks Alto-hime to give her courage. Meanwhile Ranka and Brera find the Vajra homeworld where the once and future queen of the Vajra lives, much to the delight of Grace and her cabal.

Bobby loves them both. Cathy is so lucky to have a sister like that…

The Glass faction of SMS decides to become pirates and seize Macross Quarter and make off with all haste. NUNS along with Luca and Alto sortie off to stop them in their inferior VF-171EXs. Ozma is contemptuous of all of them and gives his reasons for being a pirate as the best way to protect the women he loves. Ozma then accuses Alto-hime of just going with the flow and attributes his stubbornness as the reason why he’s not running off with Quarter. Ozma says he’s not and adult but a man and asks Alto what his wings are for. After shooting each other in a charge Ozma remarks that Alto has improved. Fleeing the battle Ozma tells Alto that Ranka has chosen her path as has he, but asks where Alto will go. Despite a lot of Ozma’s big talk it was a good dogfight with Northern Cross blaring in the background.

Elmo is the Duke of Deculture.

First off I think I might be the only one who doesn’t approve of everything that Ozma says in the dogfight. I agree that Ozma is a man, but he is not an adult. In fact I think Ozma won’t be an adult until he fathers his own kids. One of the reasons why Ranka turned out the way she did was because he was not being an adult with her, nor is Ozma being much of an adult by proclaiming to be leaving Frontier to protect Cathy and Ranka. I say Ozma is about as thick as Alto-hime when it comes to knowing his wingmen. Ozma didn’t seem to understand that Mikhail’s death inflamed both Luca and Alto. I know that Ozma was busy and all but he could have at least tried to meet with both of them personally to try and address the issue, Mikhail was his wingmate too. Since Luca seemed utterly ignorant of what they were doing Cathy’s message must have been vague indeed. I think Alto has already chosen his path but unlike Ranka’s or Ozma’s he can’t protect Sheryl and has to watch her die while he is unable to save her no matter how much he flies. Had Alto been “going with the flow” he would have been there on Quarter after reading Cathy’s vague message, but instead hime mounted a sortie in an inferior fighter. The thing I agree with most in Ozma’s big talk is that Alto has improved, for an inferior pilot Alto did very well considering he was also flying the inferior Valkyrie when Ozma was aiming to kill. Alto at least has finally decided to do something for Sheryl even if Ozma is ignorant of it. I really want to know what the master plan is for Quarter now that they have left since it just reeks of self indulgence and self righteousness at a time when all of Frontier is under the hegemony of Leon. Ozma was not playing nice since he clearly shot at Luca for a kill. Whatever they have planned it better be good enough to excuse leaving everyone on Frontier to Leon’s machinations and actively trying to kill the pilots who are unaware of Leon’s treachery. At least the plan was good enough for Canaria to endanger her husband and child by becoming a pirate with Leon in charge. hopefully their plan will not be “ally with Ranka’s Vajra”, but rather identify which NUNS units are loyal to Leon and which aren’t before advancing to phase 2.

Sheryl has decided to defend the fatherland until death. Honor and Blood for the Northern Cross.

Hopefully Bilrer is playing his own games and did deliberately tip off Wilder about the integration of forces, hence the unofficial memo. Otherwise you have to feel sorry for the man he’s only every done good to help his crew and at least deserves some respect for giving those people a job and letting them run their own operation without much interference from him. I suspect that Bilrer will be having a little chat with both Luca and his favorite kabuki-hime. We know that Bilrer is aware of Grace so he’s probably wary of Leon as well. I don’t think we need a third maniac in the series, besides I hope Bilrer is more cautious given how Grace has proven as invincible as she is sexy. I can understand why Klein stayed behind to help Luca and Alto mourn the loss of Mikhail since their hatred has given them tunnel vision. I like how Klein wasn’t just weeping for herself but was also trying to take care of Alto and Sheryl to have them avoid her fate. Luca would never leave Nanase behind and resolved to stay and protect her going off on some vague message from Cathy wasn’t going to change that. Alto might have left, but he promised to be with Sheryl who decided to stay and sing until she dies for the people of Frontier. Out of everyone in SMS I think that until we see the master plan the boys and girls of Quarter have, that Klein acted the most like an adult.

For once I agree with Leon. Ranka how could you go off with Brera you filthy traitor?!

Poor Cathy has lost her dad but at least she still has her surrogate family in Bobby and their daughters Mina, Ram, and Monica. I like how Cathy is an adult about this and choose the time and place where she cries. The decision to ask 70% of SMS to mutiny for the sake of her father was a hard choice. In the end though even if they had good intentions, it won’t mean shit if taking down Leon means slaughtering the people who chose to stay and protect the Frontier Fleet. Again I hope their master plan is good since going after Ranka is pretty much a pipe dream since they have no idea where to look. Hopefully they are still taking input from Bilrer or Klein who can act as their eyes on Leon. If Ozma never grows up into and adult, then at least he has Cathy to be the adult for him, forever if need be.

Kabitzin just make banner for Ram, she likes snails, those are almost like slugs…

Not much on the Ranka front, but I do hope Ozma learns the truth about how his Ranka has been acting as of late so he can apologize like a man for spoiling her to the point that she would run off with Brera. Given how disingenuous Grace was about Brera leaving without her knowledge I highly suspect that given how Grace also found the Vajra homeworld that Brera is not acting entirely on his own. I bet Grace was the one who manipulated Ranka into leaving or at the very least bugged Brera and was able to see what he sees. Grace is just awesome, I hope this will be one of Kikuko Inoue’s most memorable roles for years to come. It’s hard to believe that the voice of Belldandy is the same one as the super evil Grace. Ms. Kikuko Inoue, you ma’am are awesome.

I am glad it hurts, traitor…maybe Brera will make it all better.

Sheryl has over awed me once again, she sang for charity and was content with that. Unlike Minmei who took food and money to support her Kaifun, Sheryl did the exact opposite. This is why I have taken a liking to Sheryl she has improved and has done everything right where Minmei fucked up. While Kurogane would have us all believe that Sheryl sings only for Alto this is false since Sheryl thought about the grieving people of Frontier before she thought of Alto-hime. Ranka sings for Alto, Sheryl sings for the poor citizens of Frontier in their darkest moment. Like I stated before I admire Sheryl’s resolve to put the people of Frontier before her own life. This is the exact opposite of the Sheryl we met in episode 1 where she cared only about Sheryl Nome. She wanted to tough it out herself and spare Alto-hime and every one else the ordeal of having to watch her waste away. Sheryl has every right to be scared at time when she has fully accepted the duties and consequences of being Ranka’s replacement for the fleet. I am glad Sheryl did not ask Alto-hime to stay with her because she was lonely she only asked for the courage to see things through to the very end. I am also glad that Elmo, Monica, Ram, and Mina also like her new songs. The scared little girl who Grace found on Galaxy has grown into a fine woman. Sheryl as she is now is the anti-thesis of Minmei, I just hope Alto-hime not only sees that but loves her all the more for it.

Poor Elmo can’t get a break from MIB for the last two clients…

I think that Alto-hime has made a decision, its by no means definitive, but given how in the post Canvas 2 world is Alto-hime might pull off a jerk move by leading Sheryl on only to get with Ranka in the end. I hope it won’t come to that since at this late in the game I want these plot threads resolved sooner and don’t want more love triangle stuff mucking things up or slowing things down since the action has really heated up now. Regardless of whether or not Sheryl and Alto-hime got intimate with one another is pretty much moot. All we know is that while hime was in there with Sheryl giving her “courage” it must have gotten really hot in there. Hot enough at least to take off his jacket… In any case I think it was as good as an answer as we are going to get from Alto-hime. Hime has decided to be with Sheryl and give her the courage to see things through. The tragic part is that other than that there isn’t much else hime can do for her. The parallel with his mother Miyo-sama is important because when Miyo-sama died Alto-hime probably had no idea that she was on the verge of death; hime’s life was forever altered by that tragedy and now the imminent loss of Sheryl will be a severe blow to Alto-hime. I don’t think that Alto wiped away Sheryl’s tears and hugged her out of a sense of pity, I think he did it because he cared that much for Sheryl. For most of the series hime has been really tolerant of Sheryl’s antics and teasing, when Sheryl was kicking herself Alto-hime wanted to revitalize her spirits, and now that hime knows that she isn’t going to live into old age hime showed the most emotion he ever has for the entire series.

Klein you should just adopt yourself into Alto-hime’s family that way you can help all of them sort their problems.

Alto-hime probably never did say good bye to his mother who kept things hidden from hime. Now that he knows that Sheryl is slowly wasting away I think Alto-hime is doing what he would have done for his mother. Alto doesn’t want Sheryl to die, her songs and the public be damned if they don’t get their idol, and that I think is the real indicator of how much Alto-hime cares. It was not the most perfect “I’ll be with you until the end” thing ever but it was for the most part genuine in the sense that there was something between them when they showed each other how vulnerable they really were for the first time. There was no pretension of strength or façade of nonchalance it was two people who confessed their fears and uncertainties to one another. Sheryl was afraid and lonely, and Alto did not want Sheryl to die. In his heart I think that hime has come to a decision. If Alto wanted to find Ranka then the opportunity to run off after her came and went with Quarter. It’s much more telling how Alto-hime did perceive Ranka’s flight with Brera as nothing less than a betrayal. Alto and Luca are out to kill Vajra and they seemed quite willing to bring Ranka back in chains if they had to so Nanase would never know how Ranka had betrayed them all for the bugs. Hime chose to stay behind because he wanted to honor his promise to Sheryl to be with her until the very end. Hime wasn’t screaming because Ozma was right, but probably because he wasn’t protecting much of anything by flying any more. Brera was better able to protect Ranka, Ozma was able to protect Cathy, Mikhail was able to protect Klein, but Alto cannot protect Sheryl no matter how many times he sorties. All three of them Ozma, Brera, and Mikhail were flying to protect the person they loved. Alto can’t even do that, so how much of a man is he when the person he cares about is dying and hime can’t do more than give Sheryl the courage to sing and die?

Your new life starts today Klein-sama.

Hopefully this is the end for the love triangle. Things can only move forward and go up I hope the ride Kawamori and his team have prepared for us is going to be full of win and awesome. Now I want to see Grace vs. Brera, Grace vs. Ozma, and Grace vs. Alto-hime, any of those will do Mr. Kawamori I just want to see Grace fly her VF-27 gracefully until the end. Here’s hoping Quarter has a sound plan and that Grace will have revenge on Leon. It would be funny of Grace assassinates Leon making the whole pirates on Quarter plan moot with Ozma looking like an idiot… In fact Mr. Kawamori and crew I give you free license to make that happen because Grace is just that awesome I don’t want credit I don’t want anything just do that and I will fork over money for your Bluray release in NA in what ever collector’s/limited edition thingie you plan on dropping here.

That she’s all Nanase’s would be a start.

Should have made Ranka Judas…

Not to mention run off with Brera…

Hime’s first reaction to Ranka.

I like simple.

In short kill Ai-kun.

That’s like joining the US Navy to study nuclear engineering…

Like every other college student.

Yeah and we all know who to thank for that…

Hey look there’s Capt. Wilder!

Well that peaked her interest.

Great job Elmo!

Sheryl’s in love, and got rid of Grace.

So say we all.

Can we change the “one of us dies part”?

I want to see AltoxSheryl because that would make Klein happy, and she deserves to be happy more than any one.

Leon tried to, trust me Cathy only an idiot would try and call of a marriage with you.

Cathy is so lucky ot have a sister like Bobby.

Except the ones involving Grace.

So did Bilrer tip them off? I hope so, given how duplicitous Leon is…

Let’s hope its not a spur of the moment thing.

Better than nothing, right?

Only you’ll be doing it for the Fleet.

We will be counting on you Sheryl to make sure this does not happen again.

Some day Sheryl this will be your home for good.

This how adults make decision we think about them before we do something stupid.

Good now all you have to decide is if the 4th Squadron is really in league with Leon or if they are just a bunch of rookies who follow around Sakura-hime…

Alto felt otherwise…

Never give in, never give up!

You have more than that I assure you…

Alto-hime leads the way!

…

She has but she wants to do more for volk and fatherland.

Beacsue Sheryl doesn’t want Alto to care out of pity.

You Sheryl Nome, and you will do great things.

A genuine laugh is so much better.

Well that was a 180… guess living a bit longer means that much to ya, hime?

Miyo-sama will protect you both…

Because you certainly can’t have kids…

Noe finds these tears of Sheryl to be True Tears.

Noe also wants to see hime cry True Tears.

Everyone who is that close to death is.

Not any more…

You better uphold that oath Atlo-hime.

Really to go after Ranka after making this oath would make you the biggest prick in the history of Macross.

It’s Sakura-hime and she loves you.

Alto-hime you better be there to wipe away her tears until her untimely death. For Men do not mak such oaths lightly.

Yes… courage.

Hime will, at least he better.

Oh just you two?

Oh there’s more…

That’s it?

Leon should have sent more…

Mina wink is okay…

Oh yes “ready for marriage” Monica is moe.

Okay kids play nice okay?

Cathy has such wonderful imoutos.

Klein stayed for her imoutos Alto-hime and Sheryl, along with that idiot Luca.

Klein respects what you are doing Ozma so don’t be a prick about it. Also make it fast.

Alto stayed for Sheryl, not that hime could do much for her…

Yes she did alright…

She chose to elope with Brera…good going Ozma.

Final destination Protoculture homeworld?

Leon should have sent more men…

Grace’s new ride.

I for one welcome our Cylon Grace Overlords.

Aww…such a shame Ranka made me dislike her som much later in life…

I know…how about kill Brera? Now that is a resolution!

]]> http://that.animeblogger.net/2008/09/07/macross-frontier-22-love-triangle-over-back-to-the-war/feed/ 137 http://that.animeblogger.net/2008/08/31/macross-frontier-21-elopement-with-brera-bye-bye-ranka/ http://that.animeblogger.net/2008/08/31/macross-frontier-21-elopement-with-brera-bye-bye-ranka/#comments Sun, 31 Aug 2008 08:30:37 +0000 Crusader http://that.animeblogger.net/?p=11238

If only your actions were as beautiful as this picture Ranka…

Much to my joy Ranka finally did do something other than cry, unfortunately in doing so she just shot to pieces whatever hope there was for any development between her and Alto-hime. Getting on the bus did not do Minmay any favors and jumping on the Brera Bus is not going to help Ranka much either. For some reason the more I see Ranka being down and out the more I seem to dislike her because she seems to be only focused on her own pain. Ranka wasn’t doing any one any favors after the successful completion of Luca’s plan, but I guess now that Ranka has confessed and then run away perhaps she thinks that will some how win over Alto-hime, but I have my doubts.

One Little Girl.

Two Little Girls.

Luca has finally manned up, your next Alto-hime.

Well it wouldn’t be the first time…

While Ranka cried.

No more shotaro boy this time, Luca to the rescue!

…and this Little Girl will make sure we survive.

Look us in the eye when you say that Ranka.

Leon successfully takes over the fleet and colludes with Luca in ridding Frontier of the Vajra. Sadly Island 3 where the Zentradi farms and mall were, ended up as the sacrifice for the sake of the fleet. I am delighted that Island 3 was the least damaged of all the islands because the Zentradi fought back with gusto. Klein cemented her place as the most gorgeous mecha musme of the fleet. When I first saw Klein’s sortie with Mikhail super pack and glasses I fell out of my chair because it was that awesome. Battle Frontier sallies forth to save Quarter and thankfully Perry’s crew had some good gunnery officers as the opening shot narrowly missed Quarter in the all or nothing shot. Had they done nothing then Quarter would have been lost to Leon.

Did you have to ask, hime?

Klein was born ready.

Klein made this EX-Gear in a cave! With a box of Valkyrie parts scraps!

Meltran Marine Kelin will fuck you up.

My anger, my sorrow, and all of my hatred!

Mikhail’s Missiles!

Luca manned up and decided that he would do anything and everything to protect Nanase, which is more than what can be said for Ranka. Ranka had to cry on Brera before she could sing while she lamented that her song did not reach Alto-hime. Once the Vajra threat is gone Leon consolidates his power by delivering the eulogy for the dead and Howard Glass. Leon asks Ranka to sing, but Ranka refuses and runs away. Sheryl and Alto-hime are shocked that Ranka broke down in front of all those cameras. Ai-kun shows up to molt before Ranka, who finally understands the Ai-kun is a Vajra. Calling Alto-hime at 3 am Ranka asks hime to meet her at the park so they can make paper air planes. Ranka at last asks the question that she should have asked many episodes ago about why Alto-hime likes the sky, turns out it was because Miyo-sama was always looking at it and told hime all about what a real sky would look like for hime had never seen a real one before in person. Ai-kun shows up and Ranka begs Alto-hime to not shoot.

There’s too many of them.

Hold you positions we are coming.

Still on station and still cool under fire, man I love these girls!

Vajra may be big and red, but Zentran Marines are green and mean.

Alto-hime is by now far too hateful of the Vajra thow killed his friend and destroyed his moe so Ranka’s pleas are in vain. Brera shows up kicks hime to the curb once again and makes off with Ranka and Ai-kun. Ranka confesses that she loves Alto-hime and wanted hime to come with her, but it was not to be and Brera would be the one to grant her wish. Leaving Frontier weakened and without any real defense against the Vajra Ranka elopes with the only tow things who will bend to her will Brera and Ai-kun.

Great now Brera is Ranka’s conscience…

and yet you believe him.

Not according to Ranka’s contract…besides don’t you want to share?

Oh great now she’s acting cute around Brera way to go Ranka…

Well Grace’s Aimo Re-mix does suck…

Nothing to say about Alto-hime’s happiness I see…

Well I suspect that now that Grace has mentioned it that Ranka was tangentially responsible for the destruction for the 117th Perhaps because mom wasn’t there all the time that Ranka’s heart hurt so much that the Vajra decided to destroy the source of the pain for Ranka. Perhaps at some point when Grace will tell us the whole story of what happened. I just hope Ranka won’t be there to hear it because I doubt Ranka can cope with the mere suggestion that she killed off the 117th fleet because she missed her mom. Ozma and Cathy were too late to stop Leon, but now that they are on the run thing should be more fun for them. Who knows maybe Ozma and Cathy will make it out okay after all.

Oh no not again…

Ranka made Grace happy at this point this can hardly be excused…

A bit older, a bit taller, and a whole lot more emo.

Klein was simply amazing in this one. She did what Ranka should have done, fight on despite the pain. I am sure Klein felt the loss of Mikhail more keenly than the others and despite that Klein swatted down numerous bugs and found some Zentran comrades to kill more of them. No content to kill only stage 2 Vajra Klein sortied to kill even more bugs. So sad to see that Klein and Mikhail could have had more time together had Mikhail been more honest. Having that picture in the cockpit of Skull 2 was especially saddening. Well at least we know that Klein is going to be sticking around for a while until there are no more bugs to kill.

Good Grief Ranka even the shouta grew up from this…

That better be the first question Ranka starts asking her new friends.

On land, in the air, and up in space Klein will fight the Vajra menace no matter where they are. How many did she kill? I lost track, but Klein told me not enough…

Thus another one bites the dust…

For some reason Brigadier Perry is growing on me.

Clearly Wilder will miss the Zentran malls as much as Bobby.

It was better than the last ep but this was still very much a “woe is me” Ranka episode. Ranka seemed to be running away from her heart break and obligations more than anything else. It wasn’t the most mature way to do things in my opinion. Before the grieving public she refused to sing on last time for the dead and essentially snubbed them. More over she did not stand and take the flak but ran off into the woods. Ranka could not even try to tell Ozma and Nanase that she was leaving face to face and just left behind her runaway letters for them to find. When Ranka ran away it was not for the benefit of the fleet but rather because she was heart broken and did not have the will to see the results of her last failure. It was a selfish move on Ranka’s part because now every one who ever cared about her is going to be worried and not since the hope of the fleet is gone there is no defense other than the indiscriminate MDE-Bombs. I diagree with Kurogane that this was Ranka’s way of stopping a war (besides war is already upon the fleet) it was about Ranka getting away from her pain and responsibility than saving the fleet. Maybe Ranka will end up saving the fleet, though right now that doesn’t seem to be her objective as no mention was given of stopping the carnage only sparing of Ai-kun who didn’t do anything bad. Ranka wanted to know about herself, not for the sake of the fleet but for her own sake, and by leaving the fleet she put herself above the safety of the fleet once again. If there is a Vajra attack while Ranka is out finding herself there will be plenty of hard feelings to go around on the fleet.

Note this excludes Leon and Grace…

You know like Seikan Hikou…or Neko Days.

Survival of the fleet? Well Ranka might have a few problems with that…

Very unprofessional Ranka…I see that the Sheryl Slap has worn off.

While this will be the last meeting between Alto-hime and Ranka for some time even then there were some problems. Once again the brother sister dynamic took hold again for Alto-hime who seemed to be baby sitting a child than seriously dating a girl. Ranka’s wish that Alto-hime and her could runaway together and condemn the Fleet to a slow death was pretty galling as it showed that Ranka doesn’t care about or is utterly ignorant of hime’s obligation to protect the fleet. More worryingly the only way for Ranka’s dream to come true was if Alto-hime was willing to forgive the Vajra, given how hime has adopted the “kill them all” attitude after Mikhail was skewered by one of them, this was already nigh impossible considering how Ranka just popped the question after Ai-kun showed up instead of trying to explain things before hand. Ranka did not seem to care much when Brera kicked hime to the curb. I can’t say that Ranka’s confession was all that sympathetic because of how it was done. Not only did Brera hold Alto-hime at knife point while Ranka told hime everything, but in the end she brought with her two of the things Alto-hime hated the most Brera and Ai-kun the Vajra. To add insult to injury Ranka choose their special place, but come on Ranka show some discretion for pity’s sake! Griffith Park might be special but it also has a perfect veiw of the skyline that your pet Vajra wrecked. It was almost as if Ranka only confessed because Alto-hime could not even say no unto pain of death, but I suppose it might have been a real heat of the moment thing for Ranka. In the end though running off with the other guy and her pet was not a good way to leave hime. Even Shirukii considers the abandonment of the Fleet to the Vajra was a bad move, though it wasn’t a just a dick move it was another Minmay move.

It’s not like we had a choice in the matter Ranka.

If you had asked back when Grace was making you do things, it might have made a difference…

At least Ai-kun finds emo-Ranka to be likable.

Alto-hime despite being called upon to be thickheaded as the plot demands it at least showed that he was not willing to lie to Ranka that he did “love” her to keep her on the fleet, nor was hime confessing his love for her despite the urgency of a confession at this point, if hime did indeed feel love for Ranka. Right now since the last meeting had minimal to zero romance vibes from hime I have my doubts that hime loves Ranka in a romantic fashion at this late in the series. I suspect that Alto-hime’s hate for the Vajra have over taken any sentiment he felt for Ranka for the most part since it was in Alto-hime’s eyes treachery to collude with the Vajra. Now that Brera is still kicking hime’s ass I guess that since Alto-hime can no longer grant any of Ranka’s wishes, not that hime was even capable in the first place, has pretty much dealt another blow to RankaxAlto-hime. If nothing else Alto-hime made the right choice to stay and protect the fleet rather than run off with Ranka and damn every one to death by Vajra.

Only one person would make such a Minmay move…

Indeed what is one more favor for Ranka? How many more do you need Ranka?

About damn time, Ranka. I have been waiting 21 episodes, but hey this is “almost” as good just like “almost” winning will be for you Ranka.

Well if you had asked earlier Ranka you would have known some time ago…

Still Miyo-sama was hawt dignified and awesome.

Like mother like daughter son.

…and to quote Miyo-sama, “Alto-chan Kawaii”

And Sheryl delivered…

Next time Sheryl will make it blue instead of brown.

Not much for Sheryl this time though it seems that she will be singing again now that Ranka has eloped with Brera. Now that it’s only Sheryl and Alto-hime on the fleet for a while I guess Sheryl is going to be the first one to get an answer. Now that Ranka has been revealed to be pivotal in the loss of the 117th Fleet it seems Sheryl’s fold quartz earrings have been tipping off Fairy 9 that something momentous is about to occur. 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. Hopefully we will see signs that the love triangle is about to end. With Ranka’s last effort being rather tepid and flat, not to mention under knife point the next episode should motivate hime to give an answer now that the situation has calmed down a bit.

Sorry Sheryl but it is or was Ranka’c chance to shine…

I sense a disturbance in the quartz…

Holy SH-

Ranka’s going in the wrong direction Alto-hime lives here…

Well that is just about the last straw for me in Ranka’s case. It would have been tolerable if it was just woe is me Ranka crying, but the confession at knife point and her elopement of Brera pretty much killed what sympathy I had left for Ranka. It was not the mature thing to do she is a kid through and through and probably won’t grow up in time for Alto-hime. Moreover Ranka’s wish was incredibly selfish and if it ends up as RankaxAlto-hime I can’t say I would be neither thrilled nor happy that it would negate all the development between Sheryl and Alto-hime for the low levels of Alto-himex Ranka development. At this point since Ranka ran away there will be little to no development between Ranka and Alto-hime. The basis for any relationship of a romantic nature between the two will only be at the level of puppy love at most, unless Kawamori has one last big trick up his sleeve. Right now since Alto-hime called Ranka stupid for running away I doubt “I love you Ranka” was in the cards. Next time it looks like Northern Cross will finally debut on Frontier, Alto-hime goes back home again and I suspect that hime has gone back on his word to never return.

Thing is Ranka never did wear this…

The biggest smile we will see on Frontier for a while.

Don’t worry Nanase, Luca will love you no matter what.

This time the only nice thing I really have to say about Ranka was that Aoi no Ether was a fine song. Mikhail’s death at least has forced things to move forward. Luca became a man who would do anything to protect his Nanase, Klein tore the Vajra a new one, and Alto-hime has decided that the only good Vajra is a dead Vajra despite the pleas of Ranka. Perhaps the triangle did progress because of Mikhail, now we know for sure that Alto-hime hates the bugs more than he likes Ranka. Whether or not it is because Alto-hime’s hatered runs that deep or that his love for Ranka is just that shallow remains to be seen, but 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…

Not as good as Pilot-hime’s…

In other words Ranka, you’re doing it wrong…

Enjoy it while it lasts Ranka.

Stop spoiling Ranka Alto-hime…please?

Like brother and sister…

No not another request for a favor…

Not with Ai-kun we’re not…

Hime just doesn’t want to lose another paper plane…

Really? Ai-kun was the one who tore up one of Alto-hime’s paper planes, that was not exactly right of Ai-kun.

Then give Kabuki-hime back the plane Ai-kun tore up…

And hime loves the sky more than he likes you Ranka.

For no one gets away with tearing up Alto-hime’s paper planes…

Say good bye Ai-kun.

That had to hurt…

A confession at knife point it seems…

Pilot-hime is not happy about this…

Oh SH- Ranka is going to tear up one of hime’s paper planes too.

Great job Ranka you made Brera smile…

That’s Alto-hime to you traitor.

Ranka no BAKAAAAA!

It is about the best policy, a bit late though…

You mean you wanted to take hime with you…

…and running away with Brera is the best way to accomplish this.

Bye Bye Ranka.

…which is why you are eloping with Brera.

She left us for Brera?

You heard it right…

Ranka left hime and the rest of us for Brera…

Well Ranka I hope you and Brera will be together forever, just like you wished.

Just like how these people will be dead forever.

Luca will always love Nanase, always.

Hoho EX-Gear Infantry, Heroes wanted.

Once the dying screams of the bugs dies down a bit.

Unlike Ranka Klein dealt with her heart break after the shitstorm was over…

Feel free to take Skull 2, Klein it belongs to you now, Mikhail would have wanted it this way.

Oh hell yes new toys!

Monica and Mina miss Island 3 too…

Going back home eh? For what I wonder…

Yeah he’s dead for reals…

Ranka catches Alto-hime and Sheryl sharing a tender moment and begins to wallow in her own self pity. Wishing that she were dead and singing with anguish in her heart Queen Ranka of the Vajra served only to prompt Ai-kun and his siblings to realize Ranka’s pain in a more physical manner. While many died Leon and Grace took advantage of chaos and Ranka only could think of herself. I confess I am really ticked off at Ranka after this episode. I can forgive her being ignorant of her own abilities, I can forgive her for being slightly emo after her heart break, but what I cannot forgive is that when shit hit the fan all Ranka could do was cry and be useless to everyone. Here was her chance to grow up take the flight deck and sing her heart out to save the fleet, instead she delivers a massacre and feels nothing for anyone else. I know she is a kid, but it was high time she grew up. Ranka can’t be a kid forever and after this I cannot honestly say I would like to see Alto-hime choose Ranka because that is the heart of the problem she is still a child mentally and utterly incapable of entering a relationship and enduring the highs and lows of it. In a battle you find the true measure of a person, you learn of who they really are, if they are crazy, craven, bold, resolute, or stupid. Ranka showed that she is still that scared little girl from the 117th Fleet 11 years ago.

Once upon a time, there were three very different little girls… who grew up to be`three very different women. But they have three things in common: They’re brilliant, they’re beautiful and they work for me. My name is Bilrer. (courtesy of 4chan)

Emotional Turmoil? The only thing you should be feeling Ranka is recoil from a weapon…

Queen Ranka is heartbroken for not even being able to confess…

Queen Ranka says to kill all humans…

Kill all humans…YES YOUR HIGHNESS!

So the shit hits the fan as Ranka gets teary eyed and suicidal over seeing Alto-hime and Sheryl together. She tries to control the situation but only makes it worse prompting the Vajra to get really mad and start killing everything that moves. Fortunately for Frontier second stage Vajra don’t have immunity to small arms like their final stage counter parts. While Howard Glass dodges the first bullet he later dies in a hail of gunfire from Leon and his coup plotters. Grace believes that no harm will come to Ranka and orders Brera to scramble. Brera it turns out has a sweet uplink to his VF-27. Chaos is not limited to the confines of Frontier and Bobby and his children Monica, Ram, and Mina are desperately trying to keep Vajra space forces from reinforcing the ones inside the colony. Breaking out the guns Luca, Mikhail, and Alto-hime try to fight their way to the SMS armory for some heavier firepower with Klein, Sheryl, Nanase, and Ranka in tow. Sadly a stray shot from a destroid separates Sheryl and Nanase from the others. Alto-hime tries to get to them but Sheryl tells them to go ahead while she stays with Nanase as the local guardsmen escort them to a shelter. Ranka is still dazed and has to be dragged by Alto-hime to a safer location.

Well having you holiday canceled has some benefits…

There there Ram I there will be other ships named Akizuki Gouchin.

It’s GARby time, you Vajra bitches…

Once they get to SMS they find that the Vajra have already swept the place, but Klein rallies the troops and Luca, Mikhail, and Alto-hime grab some Ex-Gears while Klein prepares to enter a Macronization Chamber. Elsewhere Cathy and Ozma escape the clutches of Leon who is surprised to learn that Howard survived the sniper attack and was on his way to Battle Frontier. Seizing the chance to escape Ozma beats the shit out of two lackeys, while Cathy elbows one in the face. They make their way to Battle Frontier only to find the bullet ridden corpse of Howard Glass. Sheryl finds the shelter and starts patching up Nanase who lost an eye to shrapnel. The locals are scared along with Canaria’s husband and son. With periodic after shocks rocking the shelter Sheryl protects Nanase’s comatose body as the rest of the people start raging at Ranka, the government, wondering when salvation will come for not singing, and wondering if Ranka really is the savior of the fleet. Bound by her love of song Sheryl decides to sing Diamond Crevasse to calm the people, as singing is the best thing she can do for all of them after she did everything she could for Nanase.

At least they left behind some good eye catches…

Some very sweet ones as well.

Poor President Glass never saw it coming.