According to the creators, there are three elements to Macross that make it Macross (beyond the transforming jet robot):
Pop Music, Love Triangle, War.
So far, only the original Macross has featured all three elements prominently and arguably equally.
Macross Plus focussed on the music and the love triangle (Sharon Apple wasn't so much a war as a firefight, though the opening battle sequence in the
original three-part version was very cool).
Macross 7 focussed on the music and the war elements (the love triangle between Basara, Mylene, and Gamlin was pretty good-natured, all told).
Macross Zero focussed on the war elements for the most part, along with the spiritualism of music and touched on the love triangle element somewhat.
Macross Frontier seems to be following 7 with its focus on music and war, though of course there are pretty blatant hints as to a love triangle or two
developing.
Anyway: compared to Plus and especially pop-heavy 7 the music, particularly the opening, isn't very strong. The opening is surprisingly generic, despite
vocals from Sakamoto Maaya (Escaflowne's Hitomi).
However, the animation is eye-popping, and not just in the fight sequences. This is another step-up for the franchise since the superlative battle scenes in
Zero.
However, is it just me or did the animation quality drop, though not significantly, in the third episode? Maybe it was just the version I watched.
The characters are all appealing, from Alto to Ranka and Sheryl. Though I, as a longtime Macross fan who waited friggin' five years for Animeigo to finally
ship the Macross dvd box set (and yes I'm still bitter about waiting that long, but god was the set worth it), appreciated all the continuity touches like
the Ranka rescue scene in episode 2, I am glad that they're trying different things with the character archetypes here. By having both Sheryl and Ranka we
get to have, in a sense, Minmei from the beginning of the series and from the end interact. And so far nobody has shown the sort of fanatical monomania that
Isamu and Basara showed in their own way.
Looking forward to the rest of the series.
And later I'll talk about why it's okay for me to have earth-military style ranks and uniforms here but not in Baen books.
-murmur
Oh, and for you destroid fans, I think I caught sight of one in episode 2.
Pop Music, Love Triangle, War.
So far, only the original Macross has featured all three elements prominently and arguably equally.
Macross Plus focussed on the music and the love triangle (Sharon Apple wasn't so much a war as a firefight, though the opening battle sequence in the
original three-part version was very cool).
Macross 7 focussed on the music and the war elements (the love triangle between Basara, Mylene, and Gamlin was pretty good-natured, all told).
Macross Zero focussed on the war elements for the most part, along with the spiritualism of music and touched on the love triangle element somewhat.
Macross Frontier seems to be following 7 with its focus on music and war, though of course there are pretty blatant hints as to a love triangle or two
developing.
Anyway: compared to Plus and especially pop-heavy 7 the music, particularly the opening, isn't very strong. The opening is surprisingly generic, despite
vocals from Sakamoto Maaya (Escaflowne's Hitomi).
However, the animation is eye-popping, and not just in the fight sequences. This is another step-up for the franchise since the superlative battle scenes in
Zero.
However, is it just me or did the animation quality drop, though not significantly, in the third episode? Maybe it was just the version I watched.
The characters are all appealing, from Alto to Ranka and Sheryl. Though I, as a longtime Macross fan who waited friggin' five years for Animeigo to finally
ship the Macross dvd box set (and yes I'm still bitter about waiting that long, but god was the set worth it), appreciated all the continuity touches like
the Ranka rescue scene in episode 2, I am glad that they're trying different things with the character archetypes here. By having both Sheryl and Ranka we
get to have, in a sense, Minmei from the beginning of the series and from the end interact. And so far nobody has shown the sort of fanatical monomania that
Isamu and Basara showed in their own way.
Looking forward to the rest of the series.
And later I'll talk about why it's okay for me to have earth-military style ranks and uniforms here but not in Baen books.
-murmur
Oh, and for you destroid fans, I think I caught sight of one in episode 2.