Vinnie

Aw, how lame! Sheryl goes through all the trouble of setting up this awesome present for Alto and then he Man, people we're saying in the episode 11 thread that he was less of a d-bag than Hikaru, but I think that single handedly beats out anything Hikaru did. How, 'bout taking care of the girl that brought you here!?!? I can't help but wonder if Sheryl will go the way of Asuka Langley in a self-destructive downward spiral. I don't think Frontier is that type of show, and I hope that Sheryl puts up a good fight after she recovers. It's been mentioned in the news threads when discussing episode titles/teaser summaries, I'm glad people still think it's a good idea 15 years later to looks too much like Sandra Bullock's water glass talent outfit in Miss Congeniality. She's also still too Moe for me. The fight between was just a giant blue-baller for me. It started out with so much potential to be a good dogfight but fell so flat. We're 12 episodes in and I've yet to see one that holds a candle to any of the Macross Plus ones. Possibly the simulated fight in Episode 4, and maybe the Alto vs. Brera in Episode 9, but come on. I want one good one! The finishing move was quite excellent though, I liked seeing Finally, I am scared to death of fly by wire aircraft and this episode only further reinforced how much I don't want to pilot one, especially a helicopter. Oh, and not that I'm a fan of discussing the previews but

So blaming it on the outfits she wears would just be an "old wives tale" about the causes of sickness? I don't think any possible feelings for Sheryl had anything to do with his decision to go to Gallia IV in this episode. He loves to fly, plain and simple, and he would have made the same choice whether it was Ozma, or Klan, or Leon offering the opportunity. The fact that Sheryl is with him is just a nice perk. I really couldn't think of a better way to spend my birthday.

Not that this is the place for it, but wouldn't yaw vectoring allow you to keep trim and peform coordinated turns, slips, and crabs without the use of vertical stabs? I mean removing them or even just the control surface on them would decrease drag.

Agreed with all of the above

Ordered through CDJapan. Mmmm First Press goodies!

My OST and singles arrived home in Vermont on Thursday after being shipped out on monday. Got it in Alabama today. Thanks CD Japan! The thing that stuck me most about this album was the arrangement of the tracks. There was a nice flow to it start to finish. The big letdown was Big Boys, and to a lesser extend Welcome to My Fanclub's night. With the former, it was simply that there wasn't more to it. It's a catchy song, I just want more than the 1.5 min that we hear in the series. With the latter, it's gotten some hype in this thread, that I thought was pretty undeserved for what sounded like some stock JPop/American 80's pop-rock. It's a good song, but nowhere near as dynamic as Infinity, strong as Diamond Crevasse, or memorable as Don't Be Late and What 'Bout My Star I think is the better general Pop piece. I'm not sure if tracks like Tally Ho and The Target stand out the way that Fly Up in the Air, Breakout, and Dogfight did. It could simply be that I'm nostalgic and associate these songs with scenes that inspired me to be a pilot. Vital Force on the other hand, might be able to work it's way in there, but perhaps because its style is more 'military concert band' like the aforementioned M+ tracks. Maybe I just need to listen to them more. The awesome suprise was the extended version of Private Army. I loved the flamenco rythyms combined with later what sounded like a celtic contemporary guitar (didn't sound like latin fingerstyle.) Speaking of which, Alto's theme was really nicely done. Zero Hour was enjoyable with electronic components reminded me of Front Mission (much like the VF-25) and blended nicely with the orchestra. If you liked this and Kirakira, I think you may like the Aria and Earthbound Albums by composer Paul Schwartz. Innocent Green as a gentle piano piece also really got my attention, I had forgotten the scene that made it memorable until writing this. Everything that I didn't mention was simply great. I love the Ranka tracks, Take Off is another joys of flight BGM, That Girl is an Alien still makes me laugh, and Infinity is the best Sheryl Tune. Well worth the cash to import, and I'm looking forward to Lion and OST 2. Included in my order, but not in any of the plastic, was an Autographed Backstage Pass to Sheryl's concert. Was that a first press bonus and if so, for which CD? There weren't any first pressings available when I ordered. Now I just need to avoid flying Valkyries with green trim and make it to age 77 so I can use it.

I'm still really surprised Ranka hasn't gotten more of the votes after episode 10. Although it seems that Nanase's ranking got a boost either from the grassroots campaign efforts of BOING or the shower scene in Episode 8.

It'll be the DYRL of this series. We'll see a scene in the climactic battle where Sheryl is trying to get Ranka to take the giant panties and sing the song. Ranka refuses because it's from some other woman...the song, not the...you know.

Despite the requests for Bobby and Alto Hime in the original frontier girls thread, I declined to include them in part 2 because: 1) They've got a Y chromosome 2) More importantly the original poll did not include them, and I didn't want to throw in a variable that may affect the results. Unfortunately, I may have already induced some bias by listing the choices in order of their ranking from the previous poll (for whatever reason, it seemed to make sense at the time) and included a reminder of things the leaders of the last poll had done since episode 5. I am hoping that these factors are negligible, though.

I had mentioned in the previous frontier girls thread that I wanted to conduct the poll every 5 episodes to see how fan opinion of the girls changed over time, and then we could run some statistics at the end of the series. Sheryl came out with a whopping lead last time the poll was posted, but some speculated because the question was asked hot on the heels of Star Date. Will Friendly Fire make Klan friendly with the fans? Will Kathy Glass's motion sickness on Macross quarter sink her chances like a Varja Battleship? Will The release of the OST with Infinity and My Fan Club's Night keep Sheryl in the lead? Or will Ranka's latest performance in the legend of Zero put her on par with Sheryl in both the hearts of Alto and the fans? And how about Nanase's...well you get the idea. Only you can decide!

Wow. If it wasn't for the crap animation of the Hydra fight scene this episode would've been perfect. I'm not sure if it was just that this episode had so many references for fans that it inspired nostalgia, or if it was finally seeing Ranka gather up the determination and drive that many of us have come to appreciate in Sheryl. In either case, it definitely got me emotionally involved as a viewer much like Episode 5 - Star Date. The best part: scenes with H-60s. Makes Frontier a little more personal for me.

I think the manga (and to some extent the anime) Genshiken: Society for the study of the Modern Visual Arts really explores what it means to be otaku (gundam models, video games, hentai, cosplay, manga, anime, cons, etc.) and the extremes to which people will go for said obsessions.

a) So if an order to scramble comes in, he's good to go and doesn't have to return to the ship for re-armament. Military aircraft in a "ready" capacity will do this if they have to take care of an administrative flight and either don't have someone to cover the "ready position" or simply need to be able to accomplish the mission should the need arise. b) Local SOP could be that all EVA requires FAST Packs. The additional verniers, thrusters, and fuel add in a safety factor should something go wrong. c) Artistic License - the animators did it because they thought it was cooler. EDIT: d) train as you fight. When I go out to the range on my own, I'll wear my flight gear and body armour to get used to how I have to handle the weapon with the additional load, vision or movement restrictions.

And the award for cutest picture EVER from an anime goes to...

Thanks, mike! Once again, great site! Make sure CDJapan is shelling out for some of your hosting costs. I'm sure they've sold a bunch of YK discs because of it.

If an SMS jacket was done right, as in looked real (not a bright colored cosplay outfit of random fabrics) and was functional (warm enough for everything but winter in Vermont, and slightly water resistant) I would buy one and use it as my spring/fall jacket.

I was a big fan of D7. The music was great, and Angel Voice is one of my all time favorites. It was indeed Basara on another Zany adventure, but with way higher animation quality. I think the Mylene date rape scene was way out of place, but heard second hand that it didn't seem as out of the blue if you'd read Mylene Beat or some of the other supplemental M7 material that dealt with Mylene's solo career.

Heard the full versions on youtube, and I'm not sure if Infinity or What 'bout My Star is my new favorite. I love Sheryl...

"Broke formation" also sounds like tucking tail and running. While it is common to "break formation" to perform a maneuver such as an in-flight lead change, in military commonspeak breaking formation or breaking ranks can be synonymous with retreat, desertion, or collapse of discipline, especially in the face of overwhelming odds. I think you're forgetting that you can disobey an illegal order, but not a lawful one. A lawful order can mean certain death for you and those under your command, but it still must be executed. I imagine any escort ship, US Navy or NUNS, is under the standing orders "protect at all costs."

The translation I saw said "It seems the Dulfim crew withdrew immediately after the galaxy fleet was attacked by the Vajra," followed by "in the end, the whereabouts of the galaxy fleet is unkown." That wording implies to me that they bugged out to save themselves, and weren't going to stick around to see if the civillians made it out safely.

Yeah, but look at who Mylene's parents were. We're not talking about an ordinary 14 year girl here.

The advantage of transformation in space is that theoretically you should have to use less of your limited vernier fuel to achieve different effects such as changing your thrust vector or aiming your primary weapons system. So instead of having to burn to do a 180 pitch change and a burn to stop that movement, you'd just have to kick the legs out in front and do short burns on different verniers across the body to compensate for the mechanical change in CG.

With the talk of a Nanase interest in Alto and the tone of this episode, it's starting to play out more like a harem comedy like Love Hina or Tenchi Muyo than a sci-fi mecha drama. (I'm not complaining at all) Perhaps a dating sim really is a more probably spin-off than a VF-X like shooter.

Unless he compromises the mission, compromises unit effectiveness, affects morale and cohesion, or gets his fellow soldiers hurt or killed as a result of his desire to stay alive. Then he's a dirtbag. I'd have the senior officers of that crew brought up on deriliction of duties, cowardace in the face of the enemy, conduct unbecoming of an officer (a great catch-all reg,) and probably a few lesser charges under the NUNS equivalent of UCMJ.

Or perhaps it's just a plain old