Macross Frontier

[OpMegs]

My going theory is that Galaxy was a testbed for a next gen weapons system. The Vajra perform on par with the newest model Valkyrie, the VF-25, and are, as
noted, designed as controllable weapons. However, they've been noted to have attacked Ranka's home fleet (The 117th Large Scale Research Fleet) when
she was a kid (11 years ago), they attacked the Frontier, and they seemingly attacked the Galaxy fleet as well. Even if NUNS developed them(ala the Ghost X-9),
they don't seem to have control now.

Enter our shadier characters. Leon most definitely knows about the seeming connection between Ranka and the Vajra, and is deliberately covering this up as well
as trying to prevent her from reaching areas where her voice could become widespread. Similarly, he reacts with the comment "Finally" when the Vajra
carrier breaks through the fold disturbance, and is in contact with the mysterious Mr. Bilrer.

Under his apparent command is the mysterious pilot of the red VF-27, Brera Stern. Despite flying a VF with NUNS and Galaxy Fleet markings, he acts alone and
was most recently seen destroying a cache of Vajra eggs inside a NUNS carrier. Were they a danger to the fleet because they were left there? Or a danger to the
illuminati-like organization trying to suppress the Vajra's existence while attempting to once again take control of their lost weapons?

Also, on the whole Mikhail/Klan thing.....I have to, astonishingly, quote 4chan in that "That was one of the saddest romance scenes I've ever
seen". Here's hoping for those two. That entire sequence sold me on it right there.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."

[SkyeFire]

Dunno why, but I just *can't* seem to download the MF subs in any kind of decent time, even from different groups and trackers. Finally got Ep9 tonight,
and:

Michel&Klan: Talk about star-crossed. The only way they can see eye-to-eye is if one of them's a giant and the other's in a mech. And Michel
seems more synched with his mech (rubbing its head?) than normal controls would allow for.

And... just what is up with Michel's ears? His sister had them too, and I was thinking that Michel was a Zentraedi who spent all his time Micronized. But
it would seem not, given his conversation with Klan on the hull.

Their baby picture together: Awwwww. Even with the risk of extreme bodily harm.

And at the end, a telltale blue ponytail peeking around a tree -- PRICELESS!

[Evil Midnight Lurker]

The ears answer seems to be, according to the writers, that the Terran-human population was artificially inflated after Space War 1 by means of retooled
Zentradi clone tanks. And in all the mixing of genetic samples to re-robustify our gene pool, some odd errors crept in. So people who are ostensibly of
"pure" Earth stock may wind up with pointy ears, odd skin colors, or whatever.

Also: has Gattai ditched the series or what? >.<

--Sam

"This is graveness."

[Berk]

Gattai is a name that certain elements of ADRTW over on Something Awful uses sometimes. SA fansubbers usually only grab shows that other people don't
express much interest in or are dragging their feet over. If someone else picks it up and starts stepping up, they will often drop it.
- Grumpy Uncle Gearhead

[Evil Midnight Lurker]

Ookay... any recommendations for the new second-best until Shinsen-Subs catches up?

--Sam

"You have all become victims of the Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs... Hey! PAY ATTENTION!"

[Berk]

GG, supposedly, doesn't suck.
- Grumpy Uncle Gearhead

[Valles]

If AiA is still attached to this, then I haven't found their work too bad.
===========

===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."

[OpMegs]

And in this ep, the waters get muddied further. Leon gets in touch with what seems to be Brera's handler, who is an entirely OTHER faction than Leon's
behind the scenes group.

Brera's revealed, messily, to be a cyborg, further reinforcing Leon's scientist who says his Valkyrie couldn't be piloted by a normal human just
due to the strain its maneuverability would put on them.

Ranka *finally* gets a break and her big chance, both for her music and her acting, but the love triangle seems to continue mainly because Sheryl can't
resist flirting with Alto to get a rise out of him.

Interestingly, "Dr. Mao" seems to indicate that Mao survived the Zentraedi attack on Earth and Ozma knows/knew her.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."

[Evil Midnight Lurker]

And why, exactly, did Leon sic a Hydra on the set, and what could that have to do with "how dreadful the Vajra really are"? If this actually makes
any sense I'll be amazed.

--Sam

"Elf finger magic. I hate that."

[khagler]

OpMegs wrote:

---

Interestingly, "Dr. Mao" seems to indicate that Mao survived the Zentraedi attack on Earth and Ozma knows/knew her.

Don't Sheryl and Mao have the same (unusual) last name?

[Evil Midnight Lurker]

Yep: Nome. I was expecting some dialogue about Sheryl being a descendant of either Mao or Sara, and it seems outright odd that there wasn't any...

--Sam

"I never seen a cow eat a guy that fast."

[OpMegs]

Evil Midnight Lurker wrote:

---

And why, exactly, did Leon sic a Hydra on the set, and what could that have to do with "how dreadful the Vajra really are"? If this actually makes
any sense I'll be amazed.

Given the Hydra makes a bee-line for Ranka as she's singing, a trait previously evidenced primarily by the Vajra....add in strange glowing red eyes....
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."

[Evil Midnight Lurker]

While the series is skipping this week, Shinsen-Subs took the opportunity to catch all the way up to 10

--Sam

"Why am I here? Why does my mind have wings? Why do blue midgets hit me with fish?!"

[OpMegs]

We don't get one this week? Coulda fooled me O_o : http://www.veoh.com/videos/v14243792NpAQRYCy
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."

[Evil Midnight Lurker]

Apparently I was misinformed. ^.^

Meanwhile: Alto, you boob... the Underpants Lizard continues its sinister campaign of cuteness... Grace is Brera's contact?... and if the next-ep teaser is anything to go by, it's a good old-fashioned Zentradi rebellion!

--Sam

"This is graveness."

[OpMegs]

Meanwhile, I couldn't help but make this after seeing a screenshot from this scene:


---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."

[Evil Midnight Lurker]

...That good old-fashioned Zentradi rebellion I mentioned? It's even more old-fashioned than I thought.

THAT'S KAMJIN KRAVSHERA IN THE EPISODE 12 TEASER. O.O

--Sam

"Aw... the culture was just getting good!"

[OpMegs]

And, if you look closely, the other Zentradi there has an awfully coincidental resemblance to a certain Kridanik, if you take out the bio-technical
elaborations of the DYRL design and simplify it. You can see the seam of the cowl for a split second.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."

[khagler]

Okay, having watched episode 12:

That's not Breetai--he introduces himself as Major Ogotai.

The rebel leader who looks like Kamjin is never named. However, not only does he look just like Kamjin (he's even missing an eye), he acts just like him
too.

There's another rather unexpected cameo from the original series at the end of the episode. ;-)

[OpMegs]

Man, that was totally out of left field. Now I'm *really* looking forward to seeing what's going on here. Especially given the flashes of
some....thing....when Alto's VF-25 malfunctions.

Of course, seeing Ranka upstage Sheryl was.....odd. I really felt bad for Sheryl in the same way I did for Ranka last episode. Alto needs to just accept he has
a harem and choose both. He has too much chemistry with either of them.

Really, this is the best love triangle I've seen in a Macross series. Minmay was utterly unlikable to me as Hikaru/Rick's love interest in Macross, and
Guld was...Guld. And let's not even start on the M7 triangle which was more like Mylene being unable to decide and Basara being oblivious....
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."

[Evil Midnight Lurker]

I don't think Kamjin ever was missing an eye, so... yeah, just a lookalike, sorry for the spasm. n.n;

Rooting for Ranka, but I'd accept a harem solution

Alto seems to be mellowing out, at last...

The ejected FASTPacks assemble themselves into neat little packages! Nifty. Gives a certain amount of respectability to my earlier theory that it woud be
neat if they could use verniers to fly themselves back to base.

That "something" looks an awful lot like a closeup of a Bird Human. But considering my last wild guess, I'll pass on stating that outright.

...And I wish we'd had a better view of the Megaroad back in the day, because a big part of me wants that to be
it...

--Sam

"Do you remember the moment... when our eyes met for the first time...?"

[OpMegs]

Kamjin lost his eye during his kamikaze attack on the SDF-1 waaaaaay at the end of the series.

Of course, it was pretty much assumed he was DEAD after that, along with Laplamiz, but if the bridge bunnies and Global survived...
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."

[khagler]

OpMegs wrote:

---

And in this ep, the waters get muddied further. Leon gets in touch with what seems to be Brera's handler, who is an entirely OTHER faction than
Leon's behind the scenes group.

That faction appears to be LAI, the same company that Luca's brothers work for.

[khagler]

OpMegs wrote: Of course, seeing Ranka upstage Sheryl was.....odd. I really felt bad for Sheryl in the same way I did for
Ranka last episode.

Interesting. My perspective is biased by knowledge of the US music industry, and not much knowledge of the Japanese music industry, and I saw that
a different way. I thought Sheryl was depressed because she had to cancel her gig due to illness--something that musicians really hate to do under any
circumstances, let alone when the consequences are so dire.

Really, this is the best love triangle I've seen in a Macross series.

It kind of gives me the creeps. Ranka is maybe 12 years old! Okay, I realize she's probably supposed to be older, but she sure acts like
she's 12. At most. I realize that this is one of the cultural differences between me and the intended Japanese male audience, but still... ick. Sheryl is
at least an adult!

Incidentally, Sheryl is also kind of believable as a musician, which is rarely a big priority for story writers! She even reminds me a little of certain
real singer/songwriters I know. ;-)

[Evil Midnight Lurker]

Ranka is 16, I believe; Sheryl and Alto were both 17 at series start, which makes Alto 18 as of the last couple episodes.

--Sam

"If that's art, then art is dirty and weird!"