dreamweaver13

i think the timing had something to do with it. the poll came out after or around the same time as episode 5, which was a predominantly sheryl episode.

haha. sheryl is writing on a giant panty. a GIANT PANTY! if you were alto, would you give her paper? hell no!

Interesing point. space colonies could provide mobility. but on an anime perspective, i think macross would try to avoid the use of space colonies as much as possible since that would be in the realm of Gundam. I'm guess it will always be colonization ships for macross, and colonies for gundam.

Wow. didn't see it this way before. But now that you said it, it feels right. Nice insight. And I guess that's why i believe that paying homage to these "memories" are not a bad thing. the memories enhance the current experience. Wow, you must really hate Macross F so much. haha. but actually, maybe the reason why you "can't find many memorable and brilliant moments of storytelling in Frontier" is because the homages are all you can see, and you start to judge all the other moments against that. And of course, old macross fans that we are, everything else would pale in comparison. But, trying to be as unbiased by my macross memories as possible, i can remember some brilliant "non-homage" moments. and most of them are actually kick-ass amazing. the skull pilot getting crushed at the hands of the vajra, and alto getting sick when he remembered. The moment of realization that the military is not an elite defense force, but a mere sideshow (so far...). Ranka as a lone survivor of a massacre, and her nervous breakdowns everytime she remembers. the nyan nyan song. the zentraedi community/mall. klanklein turning loli when micronized (yup, misaforever, it's klanklein love!!). classmates turned wingmen. alto charging in with a knife and eventually blowing the vajra up with a pointblank shot. sheryl and her earring. sheryl and her celphone (oh you gotta remember that one. haha). there are lots more. and i'm pretty sure there will be a lot more as the series progresses. i just find it sad that you could be letting these new moments pass by focusing to much, negatively, on the homages. sure they're there. but in the grand scheme of things, those homages don't really matter to the whole story. they're there to amuse. if you recognized them, happy easter! and i don't think he copied it scene for scene. isn't that too much of a generalization? i mean, other than the valkyrie rescue bit, alto coming up to the flight deck, the ms minmei pageant and being trapped in the hold, was everything else lifted? c'mon. it's the 25th anniversary. after such a long time, i would even forgive an exact remake (using current animation technology. wow!). there's an occasion. it's ok to use some old stuff. like i said, it's a tribute. and yes, it's still a homage. directors and producers often add some stuff from other movies they made. call them easter eggs. call them homage to the original work. i wouldn't call it recycling, though. so far, it isn't. but if the vajra start defecting and trying to join the macross citizens just because they heard ranka singing, and want to get a taste of culture, let's talk again. haha. nah, i think she's a great singer. but you're right about her movements, they're very amateurish, and i'm sure that's what the animators were going for. and it came out as very kawaii. I wouldn't be surprised if every fleet has some kind of miss macross pageant. i mean, that's where minmei was discovered. I like the idea that it's some kind of post-war tradition. Like VTF, i get jenius' point. yes, there are similarities. and if you really give it a thought, you might be able to predict how things will turn out just because you've seen something familar about it. But, hey, i can usually predict an outtcome even without homages. over the years, there are so many movie and tv cliches that you know one event would most probably lead to a particular outcome. Without knowing about macross original, could i have predicted that alto would be called to duty while watching ms macross. I'd say, probably yes. c'mon, if alto stayed through the entire thing, where's the plot in that? like i said before, to each his own. we agree on the number of homages. i guess we can even agree to a certain extent about the similarities and the predictablity factor. but where VTF, eugimon, aegis and I (and some others) differ is that we believe these things enhance the viewing experience of MacrossF. On the other hand, you might be letting them ruin it for you. it's a case of the macross "memories" working against you rather than for you. but as i said, to each his own.

Sheryl Nome for me.

I'm having trouble understanding some people's severe distaste for the homages in macrossF. I believe there must be a distinction between homages, and recycling storylines. I mean, does Macross F tell basically the same story? or is it telling a different story albeit with some homages to the original series. I think it's the latter, and that's not a bad thing, in my opinion. So far the plot line of macF is quite different. and while it has its homage moments, do these moments really change the plot? are they forcing the plot to change just to contour to the macross homages? i don't think so. alto doesn't have to save ranka the same way hikaru did it. he could have just saved her, and it wouldn't make a difference to the plot. Did the ms macross homage change the plot? not really, ranka didn't win anyway, so she's not gonna be a star via that route. at this point, we don't even know if she's gonna be a star at all. sure, alto was a civilian that became a pilot. but this time, alto WANTED to become a pilot. he wasn't forced upon it by Ozma (supposedly Fokker reincarnation) and certainly not by Ranka (supposedly Minmei). And besides, SMS isn't military anyway. sure, there's an idol in this series, but is she behaving like minmei did? not at all. Did the time that alto sheryl and ranka spend trapped in a hold change their relationships forever, in a way that would change the storyline? maybe, maybe not. they weren't really in there that long, and i don't think anyone fell in love with anyone during that time. not yet, anyway. sure, ranka sang kyun kyun, but so did Myung's friend in Mac+. that wasn't really a big deal. My guess is we're just too immersed in original macross so we notice all these things. some of us like it (i love it. it's been 25 freaking years since SDF macross, i say give me some of that again!!). some of us are bothered by it. to each his own. but to say that kawamori is just recycling the storyline is quite unfair, i think. He took 25 years to do this. I will give him the benefit of the doubt that he is not merely cashing in on an old formula. why are we so critical that kawamori is replicating the magic of the old series "instead of bringing in new things with the same spirit, coherence, and creativity". It's not as if this is the direct sequel to macross. this is 25 years after. in the meantime, there was macross plus, and macross 0, and to a lesser extent, mac7. in fact, i'd day it took them long enough to get here again. I think the ultimate test to a good story is something that we can't apply ourselves: for a person who does not have a background of macross, and is watching MacrossF as a newbie, does he like the story? Will he like it as it stands on its own? Is it a good show? While we see tributes and homages, will he be taken out of the context of the story? As for me, i've recommended the series to several non-macross friends, and they have loved it. no "what the frack" moments. they just liked it. sometimes i try to explain why this particular scene is special for me, but i know that the trivia doesn't really matter. they liked it, homage or not. so for some macross fans, why are those homages really that much of a bother? i just don't get it.

Unless there's a scene somewhere in macross SDF that shows pin-point armament firing without a helmet. I do remember scenes from Macross where Hikaru removed his helmet (the last battle) but he never really fired any missiles after doing that, did he? And also Isamu during his final attack. but he didn't use any weapons, i think. he just rammed his valkyrie into macross. So from what i can remember, it seems consistent alright. and i agree, it was INSANELY COOL when i saw the eye-tracker the first time in Mac0. i had a sudden "so THAT'S how they do it" moment. What we didn't see was that Hikaru was rolling his eyes around like a crazy person just to cut that circle. hehe.

Yup, i'm definitely leaning towards Sheryl now. Episode 5 really turned the tide in her favor.

i agree with this one. perfect order to watch the whole thing, and basically i watched it the same way. the only thing is, i would highly recommend (not merely sugest) leaving out MacrossII. It kinda destroys the feel of watching macross dogma. even if you know at the back of your mind that it's not a part of the continuity, it just doesn't do well to remember stuff from MacII that never actually happened. If you still want to watch it, i would suggest watching it at the end of your marathon (after a break). This way, it would be like watching a "What if" story. some might suggest watching mac0 before Macross TV, just because it's chronologically correct. i tried it once. but i just kept thinking how awesome the animation and the performance of the VF-0 is compared to the VF-1, so it has a tendency of ruining the action sequences. so gubaba's right in following the production order.

well, in Mac+, when Myung was eating with her friend (was it Kate?), before Morgan came and before they went for karaoke, there was a fish head on the table, with fish eggs inside its mouth. so if that was a tuna, you actually had a Maguro. PLUS eggs. hehe. get it? Maguro Plus...hahahaha....... oh ok, i'll shut up now. As for Mac0, i won't be surprised if there was a tuna there somewhere, they were in an island after all. i'll just watch it again to be sure. DYRL definitely has a tuna (and it's really out of place, so you have to wonder....). No idea about mac7. Mac II doesn't matter.

hehe. since hikaru minmay and the rest of the original macross characters are currently still MIA, if ever they have a cameo non-plot appearance, then that would have to mean that they also cloned themselves before leaving. then again, a clone of minmei running around without anyone giving her any attention at all is certainly hard to imagine. haha. alto: "hey, who's that? she looks familiar..." klan klein: "oh her? that's just a clone of minmei. let's get back to watching sheryl write a song on those panties." seriously, characters that important should not just have a cameo appearance out of pure fan service. that would make the current series more of a joke than a serious addition to the macross universe. but then again, the owner of the video arcade did make a cameo. i wonder how he's still alive. hahaha.

just finished watching season 1 last weekend. WOW, those were fantastic hints of things to come. i was pretty blown away by the fact that Gundam 00 (the series namesake) never actually made an appearance this season! whoa, what a set up! it's a given that setsuna's eventually going to pilot it. c'mon, he worships Gundam 0 like a freakin god. this is actually what he means about "becoming a gundam" -- piloting the Gundam 0, or in this case, gundam 00. so that was louise behind tiera (or the tiera look alike)? hehe, didn't get that. i'll watch it again. loved season 1. but with these hints, looks like season 2 will be even better.

i still love this show, but it doesn't feel as cohesive anymore. or it doesn't feel like the same galactica i've been watching the past 4 seasons. i mean, whats BSG without a cylon attack every now and then? sure, there are now 4 secret cylons on board, but does that have to be the be-all and end-all of this season? i think the entire first part of the season will just be a set up for the end. the last episode of season 3 was just so climactic that anything short of an arrival to the SOL system would just be uneventful. in terms of the plot factually moving for real, the last 5 episodes will be the REAL season 4, i think. i hope i'm wrong, and that things start really moving again when the rebel cylons join the main fleet.

great episode, as always. it was a nice change of pace to see a zentraedi community. and the interaction between alto and sheryl is captivating. while it has not yet developed fully, their chemistry strengtens my belief that they'll end up at the end. i love ranka to death, but i think it's gonna be sheryl. and sheryl is far more interesting so far (character-wise, not plot wise, coz this early we can already surmise that ranka is more important to the general plot). hey, and i LOVE klan klein in this episode. while i found her chibi form adorable, her full zentraedi form is downright hot and beautiful. where's the klan klein love?? can't wait for the subbed!

hahaha. i wouldn't discount alto being promoted from princess alto to high school queen alto, as some have jokingly suggested. another funny theory could a prince and the pauper type story -- sheryl convinces ranka to try out recording a song, while she tries out studying again as a mysterious transfer student. just to give alto hell. images of ikari shinji reacting to asuka's first day at school come to mind.

oh yeah! forgot about that. now see, everyting's falling into place. haha.

actually, i don't see anything wrong with fanservice. in fact i look for it, and enjoy it whenever i see it on my anime, or on other shows i watch... ok, but maybe that's because i never restricted the term fan service to boobies,upskirts and panty shots. i have always considered fan service as anything which "fans" of the show or the genre would find enjoyable. By definition, it's fan service if it has nothing much to do with the plot of the current show, but fans of the genre would nevertheless get a kick out of it. maybe it's a cameo appearance from a revered character. maybe it's a homage to an old or related series (kyun kyun!!). maybe it's mentioning an obscure trivia that only hardcore fans would know about. Mr. March would probably call this a "liberal" interpretation of fan service, but i would stand by this definition. because i would hate to think that we would accept the conception that the only things "fans" like us are exctied about are boobies, upskirts and panty shots. so to fan service.. kampai!!

maybe the SMS pilots are young because SMS wants to pick them out from training school before the military realizes how good they are. it'll be harder to get them once they're signed up with the military. and also, that's the appeal of an independent military provider.. basically, SMS can place anyone they want -- no matter how young -- if it feels that they're good enough. so here's the dilemma. in building its own elite force of VF25 pilots, SMS could be siphoning off the real talented pilots, hence leaving cannon fodder to the NUNS. On the other side of the coin, why would SMS let gifted pilots to the military, where they'll be piloting (relatively) crappy valkyries? to have the best fighter squadron ever, the best pilots have to be on the best valkyries. i'm just wondering why it took SMS so long to get to alto. i mean, mikhail and luka already know he can fly particularly well (it was his "corkscrew", after all), he should at least already be on the radar of SMS when it comes to possible future recruits.

just pray the last episode doesn't end up as an "inside starbuck's mind" episode, with the rest of the BSG cast playing around in her head, and asking her to re-create the world in any way she sees fit, and congratulating her at the end.... haha, in the end, god's in his heaven, all is right with the world.

too early to tell, for me. so far, i love them all. can't single one out as a favorite. ranka's adorable. sheryl is very interesting. alto's an amusing hero. ozma kicks ass. klein klan is endearing. everyone else is so interesting so far! i CANT DECIDE!!!

kyuun kyuun kyuun kyuun!! watashi no kare wa PAIROTTO. haha, if that's all there was to this episode, i would have watched it all the same. sigh. i just love macross original. moving on... so far i've only seen the raw. but the plot was pretty much straighforward, so i got the story and most of the dialogue anyway. unless of course a BIG reveal was given about the vajra during alto and ozma's short talk. THAt i didn't get, of course (for thos who undertand jap fluently, was there a big reveal? or just something like... "the vajra... i have to tell you now.... are very dangerous enemies! yes, alto that's all i wanted to say"). i love this episode. but as you may have hinted from my statement above, i probably would love each episode because of the heavy imprint of original macross written all over it. but of course, i wouldn't want it to be the same thing. thank GOD Ranka didn't win miss macross. if she won, that storyline would spiral into plot-recycle universe. and the entry of the klanklan (did i get it right?) character was pretty cool. during the fight... a strong hint of eva there. shinji disobeying orders and going head on against the enemny. yup, definitely a hint. i guess it has a lot to do with that prog knife the valkyries keep using. haha. how i wish my friends (who are watching frontier with no macross background other than mac+) could watch this series as i see it. chocful of fan service. haha.

but in that case, they'll helluva a lot of trouble explaining how she'll get her old skin back. unless they change actresses midstream (nooooooo!!!!!).

poor cally... i loved her character. and here i was trying to build up arguments for the "Cally is the Finaly Cylon" website that i was planning to put up. oh well, i guess that idea is out the airlock. haha. in any case, at least her character lasted this long. from what i heard, she was going to be killed off as early as the prison ship uprising. so all in all, not a bad run for specialist cally.

"We are considered infected by your humanity. We will protect you while you take out the cylon mothership. we will protect human culture!" hahaha. now where have i heard that before?

what? no thread for BSG?? where's the space-warfare love?? just a few episodes into season 4, and i know it's gonna be awesome.