There’s no point in running these ‘no anime is dropped forever’ posts if I don’t actually watch the anime featured. So here we go again, with Macross Frontier.
Picked up on: Episode 1
Why I picked it up again: Because you lot told me to. Which is pretty much the same reason I pick up any anime in these posts. Why do I have this section again?
Review: I can certainly see why I originally dropped Macross Frontier. It is awfully derivative, but not necessarily in a bad way. Which sounds like an oxymoron but bare with me for a second while I explain.
When I make season previews, I’m often on the lookout for something a bit left of centre. Something very different from the norm, like Tatami Galaxy last season. They’re a welcome change of pace from your standard anime fare and any anime watcher needs these shows occasionally in their diet to keep them from growing bitter from repetitive viewings of the same old anime. Some people state that these types of shows are why they watch anime. They watch anime for those series that set themselves aside from the rest of the pack. Ultimately I believe these types of fans are doomed to the burnout. These anime are rare. You might get 2–3 every year, leaving you disenchanted with the rest of anime fandom as they watch whatever this latest mecha singing craze happens to be.
To really enjoy anime though, there has to be an inherent love of the staples of the medium. This isn’t something you can naturally create and cultivate. It’s deep ingrained into your psyche. Whether you want to or not, you will enjoy the crazy coloured hair, the robots, the love triangles, the grand plots, the exaggeration of certain character traits. This might sound like I’m describing Macross Frontier but you could use those exact same descriptions for Code Geass, Full Metal Panic, Mai Hime and many more. Series that are so inherently ‘anime’, yet have a sheen to them that says the creators loved and cared for what they were making. This is what I watch anime for. Not for the latest arthouse series. I watch it for the series that scream of anime and scream it the loudest and with the most passion.
I wouldn’t say Macross Frontier restored my love for anime or anything like that. For one, it’s not like I never lost it, and anyway that would be giving it way more credit than it deserves (I ended up giving it a MAL score of 7). This time though, I removed the jaded veil of someone who thought he had seen this all before. That season I was busy being enthralled by Kaiba (Geass R2 was also airing at this time, but I was late to that train and only started watching R2 when it had reached something like episode 14). I had seen it all in regards to Macross Frontier before. But this time it managed to recapture the feeling of a newbie anime fan, amazed and entertained by everything that was atypical in anime.
Also Sheryl > Ranka
Was it worth picking up again: Yes. Unbelievably ridiculous civil-war stopping divas and all.
23 Comments
yeah these kind of anime are kinda rare these days, agree >:)
Why are they rare though? They sell phenomenally well. They do have large budgets but it’s not like it’s compulsory. What worries me is that we are seeing these kind of shows but they’re stuff like Legend of the Legendary Heroes
Well, it’s just the Japanese business model, I think. It’s a tried-and-tested formula. It explains kind of perfectly why there are so many kiddies’ anime that are just ‘hero powers up because he’s the hero’, or ‘hero collects stuff and discovers a passion for it’, or ‘our useless hero becomes better at a sport’.
I think something like Legend Of The Legendary Heroes is just something they put out because they know how popular anime is. Hopefully they’ll get DVD sales and some merchandising out of it, because some otaku will like it. Know what I mean?
(And I’ve heard a real horror story about otaku-ism before. Friend of a friend did student volunteering at a homeless centre in Osaka, and this 30-year-old guy comes up to register, clearly kicked out of his house by his parents… he was wearing his pyjamas, was clinging onto a body pillow ‘with an anime girl on it’, and had pretty much no other possessions other than the pillow. *shiver* It’s sad, but quite scary at the same time.)
“Also Sheryl > Ranka”
Why don’t you go to hell?
Are you blogging Shiki?
Nah I’m not blogging Shiki. So little happens in each episode, I’d have no idea what to say. Just Occult Academy and Hetalia. I do have plans to blog a show that technically falls under ‘currently airing’ but I’ll announce that at a later date
I’m right there with you on the Sheryl love.
Can’t wait to rewatch Frontier after I get through the rest of the Macross canon!
After watching this and Gundam 00, I have to say that I think I’m more of a Gundam guy. I’ll be working my way through the Gundam timeline before I tackle anymore Macross
Good for you. I couldnt watch this past episode 13 or so, i’d rather rewatch Destiny again i guess. Or original Macross.
I’d always thought Destiny’s name was mud in Gundam fandom?
Gundam SEED Destiny is good through the first half (though a good number of people hate it immediately because it does rework a lot of the characters and relationships from SEED), but the second half is utter garbage.
I’m becoming a bit more of a Macross guy right now because 1) There’s a bit more variety in the individual entries, whereas many (though not all) Gundam series are similar, and 2) Macross as a whole doesn’t take itself that seriously, even though there are serious elements to it.
For someone who hates musicals or music heavy movies/anime/series I liked a lot this one. Good to see you gave it a go
Also Sheryl FTW.
I’m not a fan of musicals either. Good thing is you never had to take the music seriously because of how ridiculous it was. I will never, ever forget seeing Ranka stop a civil war between giant aliens by singing a pop song. It was like having Justin Bieber parachute into the Gaza strip and ending the conflict
that is the greatest image ever. i say we ship him over there right now. (on an unrelated note, my sister sent me a news segment of 4chan shenanigans voting for bieber to have a concert in north korea. win.)
i’ve put this series on my “to watch” list, but god knows when i’ll get to it. at least random instances of bursting into song bumps up my motivation slightly.
Ah yeah, the North Korea gag. Well played 4chan on that one.
They don’t exactly burst out in song on random. But the show is about two divas so they obviously spend a lot of time singing. The songs are corny but undeniably catchy
Sheryl all the way! I didn’t like her much at first, but she really grew on me and developed well as a character.
Glad you liked it. It’s not the best of the franchise (except in pretty CG graphics) but it’s pretty solid as it is for the reasons you mentioned. It was my gateway to the franchise, and nicely set me up for the richer stuff in SDF Macross, Macross Zero and Macross Plus. I gave it one higher on MAL, but I think it got bumped up a point because I rewatched it after the rest of the canon and was better able to appreciate the ‘Macross-ness’ of it. If I had rated it back before I watched the rest then I’d have given it the same score as you did.
I should have saved the reply I gave to Shinmaru for this comment…
I don’t have any real interest in tackling the rest of the Macross franchise anytime soon. Definitely more interested in Gundam. But before that I gotta finish Galactic Heroes. Then give Utena a shot. Then Mononoke. Then Shakugan no Shana. The the rest of Banner of the stars. And then…and then…and then…and then…
I’d say go for something more down to earth before launching into Utena. Seems like you’ve been watching a bunch of weird series lately. haha
I was going to disagree but I guess you’re right. It’s been a long time since I’ve watched something a bit more laid back. Should give Aria a shot or something
I’m more of a Gundam fan too, but I really enjoyed Macross F (it was my 1st taste of the franchise) because it was just entertaining. There was no way in hell you could ever take the show seriously, but it was just a whole lot of fun to watch.
Sheryl definitely > Ranka
Sheryl ranks right above Ranka in the Saimoe 2010 first prelims, I believe.
Why? Ranka is clearly 50 times more moe than Sheryl. How does Sheryl even count as moe?
Saimoe is a joke
From what I hear, at least in Japan, Ranka isn’t that popular because she goes too far with her childish behavior, and came off too strongly like the creators were trying to make Lynn Minmay 2.0. Sheryl is WAY more popular than Ranka.
Shh there’s been worse.
Yeah, all the Newtype rankings I remember seeing has Sheryl ranking above Ranka.
Hey look, Dora (the Explorer)‘s Backpack got three votes.