dreamweaver13

alien homage? are you telling me somewhere in this series, 50 years after SW1, there's the one true perfect clone of Minmei hiding somwhere? and that the vajra queen has taken some of minmei's DNA as well, and she will give birth to the vajra-minmei hybrid??! waitaminute.. the queen already did!! and her name is Ranka! VFTF1, add that to your family tree.

sheryl's popularity is increasing (as if it needs more??) with the last few episodes, but i'd like to think it's not so much as a sympathy vote, but more of a fan reaction to how classy sheryl takes the events against her. specially that moment when alto begs her to save ranka. very classy response from a mighty fine woman.

only managed to watch the whole episode just now, and man, it was AWESOME!! The plot definitely thickens, and the action is bound to fire up for the coming episodes. lots more reveals coming up, and the importance of ranka in the whole scheme of things is starting to build up. episode 14 come on down!!! a bit late in the day to jump into the thread, but nevertheless, here goes: 1. ok, that partially solves the mystery of WTF-1. so at least one other old-macross design was built. Alto used the words "macross class 4 Global". macross 4? this brings up a whole world of possibilities on the nature of ships/fleets/vessels launched post SW-1. is the retro macross design exclusively for non-colony flets? or was the old macross design battleships really used for all macross-class fleets (post megaroad fleets, but pre-macross 7 design). i don't recall ever seeing the Macross 5 battle in action, so for all i know, the Macross 5 battle and all preceeding batlleships could have been using the old retro design (feel free to call me out on this one if there's dogma to the contrary, though) 2. Just when i finally saw and realized the full extent of grace's "cyborgness" (Gracu-Jumpu!!), she shows me that she isn't as all-knowing as i thought. when she activated the dimension eater, she really thought she was killing the galactic fairy? shows that she didn't know that sheryl took off with michael on his VF25 (thank GOD for that! i love you sheryl!!). ha! you ain't so tough, bit*h. your plan failed!! you can't kill the galactic fairy just like that! 3. grace's plan is rather complex. bring the galactic fairy to frontier coz it will eventually meet up with the vajra. bring the GF to galia 4, where the nest was hiding. leave a trail for the vajra that leads straight to frontier. kill the GF along with the entire planet and heap the blame on the vajra. and this will lead to all-out conflict between humanity and the vajra. as to her purpose for that war, only time will tell. i wouldn't like it, though, if the reason was some kind of arms manufacturing race. (LAI needs more money, thus it needs a war). yuk. macross will turn into a political statement all of a sudden. but with LAI's involvement in all this, i wouldn't count out this possibility. speaking of LAI... they were building something that destructive??? wow. reaction warheads and main cannons got nothing on the dimension eater. NOTHING!! 4. anyone else get a Macross DYRL vibe from the scene in the nest between alto and ranka? alto getting so close to rescuing ranka. ranka in a closed transparent shell. saying each other's names. ranka like a happy camper about being saved, and then boom, alto gets thrown out by the ship starting to move, ranka along with it. alto (presumably) hitches along with the enemy battleship's fold. throw in a brother with ranka and we would have the scene in the zentran ship between hikaru and minmei... waitaminute, ranka's brother was there somewhere!! 5. that being said... ranka's brother is... gasp! edward eldric??! (well, it sure does look like him... hehe) 5. ranka's mother (hurray maaya sakamoto!!), when asked if the "aimo" came from earth, she replied that it wasn't, but we couldn't hear the rest. a song she picked up from her vajra test subjects, perhaps? or is ranka's family a vajra hybrid? hmmm.... and... just WHAT does ranka have inside her?? 6. sheryl rules!! sure this is a ranka episode, but sheryl's short scenes stole a lot of ranka's thunder. the resolve on her face when she promised alto that they would do everything to save ranka and told him to "stop that guy even if it kills you."... . michael said it perfectly: "what a fine woman. i might just fall in love." 7. damn you grace for activating the dimension eater so fast! when brera said "showdown" i was bracing for an all-out alto-brera dogfight of macross plus proportions. damn you for cutting that fight short!! and while we're at it, damn you for keeping sheryl sick all this time. did you not feel her pain, you cyborg witch??!! that being said, cyborg grace was effin cool! good thing she isn't dead, but sadly this might have been the last time we'll see her in "grace/businesswoman megane" mode. 8. well, thank god brera actually has a cockpit and flight suit. basara he aint! so him playing the harmonica and sitting down like someone having tea and biscuits is just a mental projection? 9. next episode is all-out mecha battle!! can't wait! Speculation time: 1. did the 117th research fleet inadvertently cause the war with the vajra by researching the species? if so, is the grace/brera faction there out to clean up the evidence of 117th's mistakes? or to have revenge on the vajra? or on humanity for leaving them behind? 2. is the vajra merely a peaceful species, forced to war by the actions of the 117th fleet or the grace/brera faction? if so, i'm starting to get an "ender's war" vibe here, with the vajra as the formics. 3. ranka will temporarily cease the intense battle between frontier and the vajra fleet from galia 4? by singing aimo? a bit cheesy, but definitely macrossy, so it might be the way the ball rolls. but one thing that's sure from the ep 12 and WTF-1 fiasco, we can never tell which way this is going. and that is the best thing about it. gad, i love this series!

ok, finally got to see the episode. that WTF-1 through us all for a loop. props to zinjo and the rest for not shouting out a big frackin "I TOLD YOU SO!". haha. you got this one right on. yes, it's amazing how one episode can rock a whole franchise. so.. the old macross designs are made specifically for non-colony fleets? ok... how's the timelinme on this one? if the macross/sdf4 global was built and launched around the time of the 117th research fleet, when was it commissioned? sometime before 2047, thereabouts? they were still coming out with 1st gen macross designs around that time?

SDF-1 is shocked upon hearing this until...

Tobey!!! haha (nelson style). that wasn't me this time! but seriously, tobey, i already heard you mention your fanfic before and i already wanted to read it then. do tell when you find it again. the concept itself is effin cool.

dear god, no!! i recall some movie or TV show did something exactly like this as an inside joke. just can't remember what.

kind of like what those bastards at BSG did when

good point. but the funny thing is that i always imagined that mylene was still dreaming these dreams until she was 30. (which means she hasn't really decided even then).

an analogy worthy of the BOING's founding member.

but... who IS the final cylon??!!

or what if... Global suddenly comes absolutely out of nowhere to explain things. it's starting to sound like a Get to Know Nadesico segment. ich-ni-san-kampai!! welcome to global's get-to-know-Macross!! bakground: ranka in a bunny suit, sheryl in her beret outfit, and alto cross dressing.

you may be right. the moment i see Nanase giving luca some pineapple salad, i'll change my opinion!

Memory of Global: Global: "well, you see, in my absolutely crappy alternate universe, my SDF-1 got blown up and i got killed along with my bridge bunnies. yeah, silly, isn't it? I simply can't accept that so i folded away from that universe and into this one. well, would have liked to defold on earth, but i guess this will do. Oh, by the way, who's this Bruno person? just call me Henry." *cue RT background music* kawamori: so in that sense, it's the SDF-1... but it isn't the SDF-1. chew on that suckas!

what he said. check out the nyannyan fro liner notes thread for the real story.

was just kidding, of course. maaya still owns megumi. and i agree that maaya sings with more emotion when she started (although whether that's because of them, or the songs themselves, i'm not really sure). but she (megumi) does have potential. in my opinion, a slightly smoother/cooler voice, at least. that being said, i wouldn't mind a maaya/megumi duet project in the near future. sugoi.

damn that girl, even in her dream sequences, she's utterly confused. if the macross universe allowed polygamy, she'd jump at the chance.

I agree that her now-underdog status could further increase her popularity among the viewers. but it can't be the reason for her over-all popularity, coz she's been the top queen long before ep12. put simply, she's just the better character. Dude, even in this thread?? is nothing sacred anymore???

like i said, she's not irrelevant to the plot. but relevance to plot progression shouldn't be confused with actual character development or substance. What she does to keep the story moving and other characters developing, and what she is as a character on her own are two different things. she can support ranka all she wants, and i'm sure everything she does or says will help in developing Ranka's character. but if that's all there is to her, then i could easily replace her with someone else and it wouldn't even bother me. i could replace her role in the plot with... say... miclonized klanklan!! wait a minute... hey that could work... come to think of it, it could even be better! more klanklan exposure!!

YAK! De-CULCHA!! Man, how could you?? How could i ever look at sheryl the same way again??! as a side note, that must be some NASTY V-Virus strain if it can revert her back to honey.

or the big-bad SDF-1 will see the macross quarter and exclaim, "now what is this little mofo here, doing all these acrobatic sh*t and stuff?? be gone, lil macross wannabe!". and then bitchslaps the quarter to oblivion with her Daedelus/ARMD.

that could work too. But see what i mean? in your heart, you've already replaced maaya with megumi. how could you??

ok i could throw out complex plot analyses, observations on pacing, characterizations, and the logical, natural flow of events, cross-reference them with other popular and/or critically acclaimed anime series.. but nah, the bottom line is that i'm enjoying every minute of the series, haven't been bored by a single episode yet, haven't lost interest-momentum (there are some anime that, no matter how good or brilliant, i just find myself losing some momentum in watching it), and i'm always waiting in anticipation for the next episode. so i voted GREAT. and before anyone says, "well that's because you're a macross fan!", a friend of mine who is neither a macross fan nor a mecha fan is hooked to the series as bad as i am. and she's quite picky with her anime. so i'm taking that as a sign that i'm not TOO biased about this. personally, i think they're doing well with plot development given the limited number of episodes. so far they have been able to fit in several concepts and characters, without them being too forced or hurried.

next to Triangler, it's Infinity that always had the OP vibe for me.

ok, but before you go, i have just one thing to ask... WHAT THE F**K WAS WITH THE EMO HAIR????!! there, i said it. i loved you in Pleasantville. don't be a stranger.