missile contrails overload 14
Categories: anime, episodic review, macross
Tagged: macross frontier
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Time to play some hero music.
Ranka-puppy is… uh… nakkid. Works for me!
How Alto left Sheryl… C-O-L-D. Brrrrrrr.
The CG work and the mecha battle scenes? Awesome. Probably some of the smoothest and prettiest mecha battle action that I’ve ever seen. I thought the mecha work for Gundam 00 wasn’t bad, but the level of work that went into Frontier is just another level above it. I think it’s better than Appleseed Ex Machina, and that was a feature movie.
I liked the battle sequence, but there really needed to be a bit more suspense. Maybe it’s because it happened so fast, but you just had the feeling that the Frontier fleet would wipe the floor of the Vajra. I knew pretty much that was the case once the NUNS started busting ass in the first five minutes of the battle. You really know it’s not your day if random NUNS pilots are owning you like how Tomoyo owns Sunohara. Then the “reaction” weapons came on-line, and that was that. Basically, the Vajra got toasted (which would have happened even if Alto didn’t take out the Borg Queen), and the fleet only got a flesh wound.
The animation for the faces… not so good. Cathy’s face looks kinda lopsided there. Also, I’m not feeling it with these Frontier bridge bunnies. Both the Code Geass R2 and Gundam 00 ones out-class them. I guess that was one of the disappointing things about Gurren Lagann: lack of bridge bunnies.
(Pizza Hut!)
I like how both SMS and NUNS could barely defeat two Vajra at the beginning of the series, and now they’re taking down a whole fleet of them. I mean, if Galaxy’s fleet was the best and most advanced, and they got creamed by the Vajra, what makes it that Frontier’s could do a much better job at warding them off? I like how now all Alto needs to do is missile spam and dozens of Vajra fall at this feet when before if he did missile spam, he’d be lucky to even get a single hit.
(Also, whatever happened to Frontier trying to look for Galaxy? Did that plot point suddenly disappear? I, and seemingly a good part of the cast, completely forgot about Galaxy until Brera brought it up again.)
What adoption agency is going to give a little girl to be raised by a 40-something single man who works as a mercenary? This is almost as big of a plot hole as a female running a fundamentalist Middle Eastern country.
SMS sure got a lot of new random members quickly. I like how Luca was giving out orders… only in anime would you find a high school kid giving out orders to battle-hardened mercenaries. He can’t confess to the girl he as a crush on, but he can lead his own squadron into battle.
(SHIIIIMON!!!)
Crazy female drivers. Oh well, at least she wasn’t doing her eyelashes or yakking away on her cell phone will piloting.
Itsuki… your face is too close.
Didn’t she like, uh, disintegrate? You know I’m going to make a snide comment here about Sunrise and Shirley, so I’ll just stop. I think it’s better for everyone this way.
Okay, let the speculation begin. What is Ranka to the Vajra? Grace calls her the “Little Queen,” which insinuates that Ranka can somehow control the Vajra and that the Vajra are born out of human meddling.
40 Responses to “missile contrails overload 14”
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Luca doesn’t have a human squadron, he’s leads 3 Ghost fighters (AI driven ships minus the Sharon Apple…judging from episode one that equals suck ass)
They should release a side plot dvd with the exploits of Diamond Team leader, and how he turned into such an anonymous bad ass. :)
First! Yay! Apart from the great battle scenes, this ep was kinda a downer for me such as said plot holes and sudden overpowered-ness not to mention the confusing part of the link the Vajra has with Ranka.
On another note, did the speculation from last episode’s comments about the voice actress of the brood mommy/ranka mommy was right on target?
Can’t they just kill of Alto and Sheryl? Please?
After that, let Ranka lead her Vajra forces to glorious victory against those vermin that call themselves humans!
“Didn’t she like, uh, disintegrate?”
Remote control? There’s probably a whole army of whatever-her-name-is out there.
Why are battle in (almost) every mecha-anime just about spamming missiles?
Argh! noooo… I stand corrected, second!
Honestly, I spent most of my time watching this episode wondering why it was so poorly (strangely?) executed.
I was confused throughout the second half as I didn’t have a clue whether Sheryl had just killed Michael with her lame attempt at piloting. It seemed to me like she was the only one who ejected and then there was absolutely no mention or sight of him afterwards. I checked back and it seems like he was ejected alongside her, but it’s stupidly easy to miss.
Luca’s latest embarrassed/almost-confession scene was awkward to the point that suggested the writers didn’t have a clue what they were doing. Ranka’s scene where her mother ‘gave her’ her song just seemed strange. And also, the white haired guy suddenly claiming to have rescued Ranka after all those attempts to kill the Frontier guys came across as incredibly weird.
I think Grace that we saw disintegrated last episode is just a cyborg/robot that was being controlled by the “real” Grace somewhere else.
And for the missing Galaxy, well I agree with you that the writer is properly forgot about it by now. :P But still… I have this strange feeling that the Galaxy is somehow involved with the conspiracy behind Vajra and is doing well and hiding somewhere else.
I for one also forgot about Galaxy until Brera mentioned it. I got massively confused trying to figure out what Galaxy was until I remembered. As for Grace, I agree with zodmaner that the one we saw disintegrate last episode was probably only one of her multiple bodies (for lack of a better word) and that she can somehow… re-upload herself into another cyborg body thing.
And am I the only one who finds Ranka’s glowing abdomen a little weird? Is she preggers with some Vajra babies?
Grace = The Major
She has probably got dozen of spare bodies. She just trasfers her conscience into a new one when the old one dies. Remember that burly guy who went to talk to Leon in episode 10? I think he was another one of Grace’s doubles.
Man, the doujin creators will have a field day with all those tentacle imagery and nekkid Ranka…
Son Gohan is on the money and you should vote for him.
A few comments:
1) Grace is sexy. She may be evil… but damn, she looks good.
2) The fold-comm capability makes ALL the difference. Now they’re able to use missiles without them being jammed, per Episode 1; Ep 7 showed the difference that makes, and this was Diamond Force – the elite of NUNS. It’s their All Star team, and equipped with nukes AND anti-jamming capability that wasn’t present before Ep 7. Makes all the difference… especially with nukes.
3) Sheryl may have killed Mikhail after the VF disintegrated, and Remaria also died. DOH. I’m hoping Mikhail’s dead or comatose; Alto needs something else to get mad about, ditto Klein.
isuki: I only realized last episode that Simon was a robot fighter (the one Luca was screaming about that got run over by the Vajra battleship), and that it made perfect sense given his fetish for naming his robots…and crying over them when they break (*coughSherylcough*).
I’m watching Macross 7 in parallel with this, and the comparison between the two Diamond Forces is amusing.
My thinking was that Luca was either talking to “drones” or one of the many red-shirt type pilots his daddy has in that LAI cooperation type thing he’s a part of. But yeah it was kinda strange…
OH man there were so many death flags this episode.
I was sure that Luca was going to die.
Also that lady who looked at the picture of her kid…but she did die i think.
Ranka-puppy has yummies in her tummy… at least that’s what I hope that glow is…
Tenticles be there in the last picture.
“Ranka-puppy has yummies in her tummy… at least that’s what I hope that glow is…”
either that or Alto is going to be paying child support…
“What adoption agency is going to give a little girl to be raised by a 40-something single man who works as a mercenary?”
…yeah…what kind of agency would to that… so do u know the name of such agency?…
*sees naked Ranka Puppy*
Huh? I read something?
*sees naked Rank Puppy with tentacles*
….
*Heads out to the local doujinshi shop to see if they’re published yet.*
Luca didn’t get some new red shirts, he got some more drones. Also since you opted out of Macross 7 you underestimate the power of the title of Diamond Force. As Haesslich stated they are not your average grunts they ware the elite of NUNS
Sure the Code Geass and Gundam 00 bridge bunnies have more melonpan, but in a slug out fight I prefer Monica, Ram, and Mina. They actually do more than just sit there stating the obvious and looking pretty. Competence has a quality all its own.
Grace has the equivalent of the Konami code she can never die. As a cyborg she is immune to the planned obsolescence scheme of android bodies thus allowing for different mods and upgrades to her formidable figure. With a new iteration every few months or so. So stop thinking and just pray for upgrades and new model improvements in places where you would want them…
I’m seeing many parallels with Battlestar Galactica… I wonder when we’ll hear someone spout out “this has all happened before and will happen again” or something similar.
Grace is a Cylon!
>> OH man there were so many death flags this episode.
I was sure that Luca was going to die.
Also that lady who looked at the picture of her kid…but she did die i think.
Yeah, me too. Early on, I pegged Luca as a character that was going to bite it as soon as he gets a chance, but he avoided a premature meeting with the Grim Reaper in the first major battle previous despite being trapped inside the Vajra battleship, and now he gets off with just some equipment shot up even after an infamously cliched line like “I have something to tell you after the battle”. Maybe he’ll be the wimpy side character that DIDN’T die and make it through the end.
I vastly enjoy Macross F, but I fear these recent lapses of logic and plot may indicate a turn for the worse…
Wow EvilDevil… Wow…
I think the research vessel they discovered that housed the entire vajra fleet created the vajra. Ranka was probably created by the same research team leading to a “Humanity creates its own problems” conclusion. Then we’ll sit through a ten minute lecture on global warming. Well hopefully that’s not the case.
“Then we’ll sit through a ten minute lecture on global warming.”
make it two hours and a half, i bet Al Gore is going to be in it… and dont look at me like that…
Also, whatever happened to Frontier trying to look for Galaxy? Did that plot point suddenly disappear? I, and seemingly a good part of the cast, completely forgot about Galaxy until Brera brought it up again.
They are, Galaxy vanished without a trace and one of the reasons Sheryl was going to Gallia IV was that was a rumor some Galaxy refugees were there.
Also they rescued one Galaxy ship with a second one being destroyed by that Vajra cruiser, they only found those 2 ships and in episode 8 its stated that that ship claims to have disengaged when the Galaxy was attacked.
True enough we do not get to hear about Galaxy since episode 8 until Episode 11 were Sheryl insists going there because of the rumor.
Didn’t she like, uh, disintegrate?
She is a cyborg, likely that is a clone with the same memories as before the previous body was destroyed.
I doubt she is even human but a AI.
Okay, let the speculation begin. What is Ranka to the Vajra? Grace calls her the “Little Queen,†which insinuates that Ranka can somehow control the Vajra and that the Vajra are born out of human meddling.
Well Ranka have a glow-in-the-dark vagoo … even back in episode 2 we could figured out there was a connection with Ranka and the Vajra since they reacted to her voice, then you had the glow in the dark vagoo in episode 7 during Sheryl concert, and then the “going to commercials” segment that had the “this girl is a Alien” (well she is supposed to be 1/4 Zentradi so she is a alien) and now “Little Queen”.
To say the truth I am more interested in Sheryl role in all of this.
“She is a cyborg, likely that is a clone with the same memories as before the previous body was destroyed.”
in the next episode looks like she is still working with Sheryl… I wonder what kind of explanation she will give to her, after all most of the people die on that planet and i doubt they had a ship for her to escape…
Parallel Works 5 is out :D
It’s jiggly and there’s topless Yoko ;)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=en3PeMc6M6w&fmt=18
“Why are battle in (almost) every mecha-anime just about spamming missiles?”
Well, supposedly, the original Macross “pioneered” the “missile shower.” Good missile showers became the trademark for Macross, along with the music.
“Why are battle in (almost) every mecha-anime just about spamming missiles?â€
If it isn’t missile-spam, it’s beam-spam and geass-spam. It’s like playing an FPS and saying, “OMG they just shoot guns all the time! Less bullet-spam please.” It comes with the territory.
I sit back and soak in the gorgeous and silky-smooth CG. This is as good as it gets.
*Crosses fingers that this doesn’t turn into a ‘Sunrise trainwreck’, a term slowly overtaking ‘Gainax ending’ and ‘Gonzo anime’ in noteriety*
I haven’t seen this episode yet, but I think that Luca’s squadron are all Ghost fighters. Unmanned drones with AI. He’s a bit of a mecha-nut, and he treats them as his partners.
>162915″
I completely agree! I thought that this episode was a complete mess… I don’t understand how such a massive battle left me so disinterested. I suppose that what I’m really looking for is Gaogaigar/GL-style manly screaming, and Alto seems to just spend his time blowing Vajra away without any effort. I mean, he didn’t even put much work into blowing away the queen(?)… The “Reaction Warheads” (N2 mines, definitely not nukes) were pretty boring for me. After the awesome effect of the weapon in the previous episode, big orange explosion circles just didn’t cut it for me. On that thought: planets are solid the whole way through >_>
I completely agree that the Vajra have become Storm Troopers .. What happened to them being completely impervious to both small arms and missiles (well, if we consider the standard assault-rifle/miniguns that the VFs carry as small arms). I remember that it always used to take a beam sabre … and even the sniper rifle didn’t do much to them. Couldn’t they have come up with some mini-vajra as an ‘easy’ enemy? Hopefully, these’ll look a lot like insect-Ranka hybrids… can’t wait to see them chewing on Luca (who I’m amazed survived this episode)
I’ve been waiting for someone to fight the queen Vajra by shooting up all the glowing crystals for 2 episodes. Now, she gets blown up. This is terrible – has no one in this show ever played an FPS? Shoot the crystals, then the boss gets vulnerable. Couldn’t be simpler!
Finally, as someone else said, I’m far more interested in Sheryl here. The problem is, I’m sick of Micheal, and there are no other male leads for her to hook up with… I’m extremely excited about the prospect of some bitch-slapping from Klein (either size is fine too)
After Sheryl is ejected, you do see Mikhail floating in space behind her to the right of screen. I thought most people would have assumed that’s what happened though even if they didn’t show it.
The pilot with the photo didn’t die. One of her squad members did. You get to see her face briefly at the start of the battle.
Only the standard NUNS squadrons have issues with Vajra. Diamond squadron looked kickass to me.
Luca’s wingmen do look like the ghost fighters from Macross Plus or at least a variation of them. Plausible seeing as Diamond squadron use the same fighters as Diamond squadron from Macross 7. They are quite small compared to the other fighters everyone else is using.
I think people need to go back and re-watch a few of the earlier battles. The small white Vajra can get taken out by a few good shots with their rifles. The big red ones did require a bit more effort. In an earlier episode you do see Mikhail take one out with a single sniper shot to the head. The fold-comms as has been mentioned to make a significant difference.
If you listen to the commander in the monitoring room he says that the battle is fairly even, but, they’ll win in the end. So it’s not like it’s a cakewalk for them. You also hear a bunch of reports of whole squadrons getting wiped out. It sounded more like a battle of attrition to me with reaction weapons being able to turn the tide in their favour.
I don’t mind the missile spamming actually. If you think about medium/long range combat in a big empty space, it would look kinda boring without it. You could make it look tense I suppose, but, it would lack that action movie feel that most people have come to expect.
I imagine it’d just be a bunch of fighters zipping about chasing each other’s tails. That’s all well and good to showcase a duel, but, against a group of enemies I know I’d be reaching over for that spam button.
This battle I agree was not very interesting. I guess that can’t be helped seeing as it was really a backdrop for the drama going on.
The attack on Frontier was odd I will say. The beam that managed to penetrate through and into the city somehow struck two different locations consecutively from the same beam. I was really hoping for a return of the pin-point barrier system!
i had to backtrack few eps just to remember what was Galaxy. fight scenes this ep were ok i guess, but Alto-hime is simply just too damn predictable, appearing always at the right time and right place.
oh ya, if Brera, whos a betta pilot than Alto-hime, why the heck did Galaxy vanished? plots plots plots…
in the next episode looks like she is still working with Sheryl…
Previous can be misleading, also Sheryl in the preview is shown wearing the earing that Alto lost for good in episode 7.
hero music?
i’m playing this music
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Skan0yO-qU8
haha
I know there are 300 responses to this question… but:
“Didn’t she like, uh, disintegrate?”
Obviously she is a Tieria clone
Ok, remind yourself that either you’re too stuck-up to get it or you didn’t pay enough attention, before saying something is a plot hole.
I can’t bother to answer all those so-called “plot holes”, but I think just a couple will do:
@KG: Brera listens to Grace. And Grace looks calm even when the Vajra are all over the place. Plus, remember the episode where Brera blew up that shipwreck with some Vajra in it after losing the advantage (probably to hide their existence)? What does that tell you? There’s some conspiracy going on, and we don’t know which side Brera’s on (he even seems to disagree with Brera to some extent).
@boc: I agree with you. And about the beam, obviously the barrier had had some kind of effect on it (weakening/splitting it), so there’s nothing wrong going on.
@mark “Ranka’s scene where her mother ‘gave her’ her song just seemed strange. And also, the white haired guy suddenly claiming to have rescued Ranka after all those attempts to kill the Frontier guys came across as incredibly weird” : It was weird to you, wasn’t it? To me, it was just an ordinary plot device. And about Brera, read above.
And about the adoption agency: That part of the story hasn’t been told at all you know. I myself wouldn’t call sth that hasn’t been explained a “plot hole”. However, it’s not something impossible to interprete though, maybe Ozma was a very important person to Ranka at the time, and seems like many members of the NUNS squadron also took care of her. And she was a very SPECIAL child (the military might have noticed, and hey we may get to see a whole episode explaining their involvement with her too), who probably couldn’t be entrusted to normal adopters.
I think the most important thing to remember is that Grace and Cecile are voiced by the same seiyuu… the awesome Kikuko Inoue. Has she ever played a villian before this anyway?
P.S. What’s the obsession with space anime and pink nuclear explosions?
Epi: She played The Boss in MGS 3… and man, she sounded good doing it. Ditto Rosemary from MGS2, aka ‘mindscrew girl’. Also I-No in the Guilty Gear XX games… but I don’t know if she counts as a villainness there. Or maybe Eleanor in Zero no Tsukaima…
But she definitely did a good job with The Boss, aka Big Boss’ predeccessor.
Like others have mentioned before, it’s established in episode 7 that Luca’s crews was GHOST, unmanned fighters.
Grunts in Frontier > Grunts in GSD
Fukuda should be taking notes.
Actually, (dunno if anyone said this before or not, but here it is anyways) I think those three units that Luca is giving orders two are AI controlled drones of some kind that his ship is able to give specific orders/controls to. As they seem a little small and lacking in the cockpit department, if ya know what I’m sayin’.