[Lynk Former]

I've just watched the first episode of Macross Frontier... here are my impressions of it.

I don't want to go into too many spoilers so I'm going to be vague about this... but I will talk about the spoilers at the end of the post.

Animation

The animation is great in some places, crap in others... what I mean by that is that in some parts the kinds of techniques they used were out of place and really shouldn't have been used. You know what they say "just because you can, doesn't mean you should"... it applies here too.

The scenes inside Macross Frontier's city were great simply because they weren't in space. The 3D and 2D elements blended in well and aside from the really generic character designs, it was pretty damn good. However, the main problem comes from the scenes in space. While the character models for the variable fighters and the colony ships are great, there are a lot of elements which seemed to not seem right. I think while you do get a lot of dynamic movement from the space battles, the animation quality is extremely low compared to the standards of other animes using 3d for this kind of thing. The main reason for the problems is because they're in space though...

Does the 3d and 2d animation blend well together? Sometimes it does... other times it doesn't. You can tell when it does and doesn't very easily... at least I could... and the times it didn't weren't that bad, but I still thought "bleah, wish they didn't do it like that".

Oh and there is quite a bit of that generic anime cutseyness in MacrossF... it's not over the top like big angry marks on peoples faces and super deformed moments... it's more along the lines of.... well it's kind of hard to explain... but it's the most unrealistic character animations I've seen for a Macross series yet. As cute as it is, I do not approve.


Characters

Like I said before, the character design is pretty generic, but you can forgive that pretty easily once you see the characters in motion... though I am getting tired of seeing the kind of characters that are being portrayed in MacrossF since they're basically in EVERY OTHER anime out there...

We're introduced to quite a few characters in the first episode, and while they do seem generic at first, I'm sure they'll find their footing soon and we'll get some nice interaction out of them. Either way, I can't tell you much from the first episode since it's all just introductions into the characters, but I am noticing some nice quirks with them that will be fun to see played with in the next 25 episodes.

Mecha

I have to say, before I go on... what happened to the UN SPACY? They used to be so cool... who the hell are these guys supposed to be? *sighs*

Anyway, we did get to see some VF-17's in action along side our hero fighter, the VF-25... I can't say much without spoiling it for you, but guess which one got their asses kicked and which one put up a good enough fight. We also got to see the FAST Packs for the VF-25's in this episode. Can't say much other than that without giving away spoilers, but all in all, you don't see that much action with the variable fighters that you can really talk about.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v629/l...ontier.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v629/l...ghters.jpg

Music
If you liked the music in Macross Plus, you'll like what Yoko Kanno has done in Macross Frontier. That's all I really have to say about that cause it really does sound like a reprise of what Kanno did in Plus. Oh and also... I love the version of "Do You Remember Love?" that's played in the end credits. Very nice.

Story
It's the first episode, so I can't say much. But so far, for an introductory episode, it's pretty good. You've met the lead and support characters, you're given a brief synopsis of the events of SDF Macross and the reason why humanity is spreading itself throughout the galaxy, and then you're with the Macross Frontier fleet which has travelled the furthest compared to all other fleets.

At the beginning of the episode it's just another day, aside from the fact that a pop idol is coming to Macross Frontier, and by the end, it's a full on battle with the Frontier suddenly being attacked by an alien force.

Actually, the way the episode was set out... it reminded me of SDF Macross. They had their "this is what happened in the years before present day" bit... then they had their normal "everyday life where a significant event is taking place" and then their "invasion by an alien force" moment and then at the end the hero who is your normal average boy finally springs into action and gets pulled into the fight. Classic Macross.... well, not literally down to the wire classic Macross... but close enough.

I'm liking it so far, it's a great first episode simply because it reminds me so much of the original series.


Spoilerific

XD And now here are some spoiler moments I want to talk about.

I didn't appreciate how in the introduction, they used the DYRL? animation designs to represent the Zentradi. The Zentradi aren't monsters and Britai definately isn't a monster so I am pretty offended that they represented him that way in that one shot. I mean come on! Britai was such a champ and it sucks how he, Hikaru, Misa and Minmay all went missing along with the Megaroad-01 fleet. Have some fucking respect you bastards!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v629/l...ontier.jpg

But that does disturb me, because again the creators seem to be taking the events of DYRL? as canon and the TV series as... nothing.

They also showed the launch of SDF-2 Megaroad-01

Also, it's told that Megaroad-01 travelled towards the center of the galaxy... but in the graphical representation of the Macross fleets spreading out from Earth, it's shown that Megaroad-01 travelled to the outer edge of the galaxy instead and Macross Frontier's fleet travelling in towards the center of the galaxy... this confuses me and diminishes hope that Macross Frontier will discover what happened to the SDF-2, Hikaru, Misa, Minmay, Britai and the others.

EDIT: Hmmmmm as I look at the path of the Megaroad-01... it seems that the Megaroad-01 looped back around and then... well... I don't know... you lose track of it as the camera zooms in towards Macross Frontier... but I find it difficult to believe that the Megaroad-01 fleet could be tracked for that long considering that the UN SPACY lost contact with them shortly after they left...

In the graphic, you can also see where the Macross 7 fleet went in relation to Macross Frontier and Megaroad-01 and also Megaroad-04 which settled on Eden (the planet from Macross Plus).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v629/l..._earth.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v629/l...h_eden.jpg

It's also funny to hear Japanese and English being spoken in MacrossF... kinda like what they did in DYRL? to try to signify the fact that there is multiculturalism and everyone isn't Japanese... though in the end since pretty much everyone is white and looks the same, they didn't do a very good job of it.

I love the bit where the guys are making planes with their hands just like Isamu... and the attack during the concert reminded me of the moment in the TV series when there was a Zentradi attack during one of Minmay's concerts.

Oh, and the holographics seen in the show have a striking resemblence to the holographic designs used in the original TV series.

Ranka is cute, Sheryl seems like your average arrogant pop idol, Alto seems like a good hero character... and the others tease him about looking feminine which is pretty funny.

Sheryl is quite different as far as the other Macross pop idols go, the first time you see her sing she's got quite the outfit on.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v629/l...outfit.jpg

Ozma (or Ozuma) seems like a Roy Focker wannabe.

Mikhail is so this series' Max lol.

The restaurant Ranka works in is called "Nyan Nyan" lol

Oh and also... Sheryl Nome... as in Sara and Mao Nome from Macross Zero?...

Love seeing the vending machine and cleaning bots working around the streets... as soon as I saw them my thoughts went straight back to the original TV series.

While you do get a few good shots of the Frontier fleet and can see some Zentradi ships among them... so far, I haven't seen any Zentradi in the series and no one has been named a Zentradi yet... which is disappointing... but I'm hoping we'll get to meet some later on in the series.

EDIT: Ah, I spot some Zentradi insignia's.... woot

When the aliens do attack and make their way into the city, it almost feels like Evangelion/RahXephon for a moment lol. But there is a moment at the end of the episode which I absolutely LOVE! It's CLASSIC SUPER DIMENSION FORTRESS MACROSS. Those who have seen SDF Macross and watch the last part of the first episode will know exactly what I mean. I loved that part.

Also, it's pretty funny how the VF-17's get their asses kicked completely as well as how they also have X-9 Ghost's which in Macross Plus was the automated fighter that Guld fought and defeated... a squadron of those got their asses kicked too XD In the end the VF-25's were the only ones to really hold their own.

Tanks? What happened to the Destroids?

Oh, and did anyone else think that the aliens seemed to look like Kadun's?... it kinda gets me thinking...

Oh and a small note... the aliens are a lot bigger than the VF-25s when they fight hand to hand... and also, while the subbed version I saw was really bad, the subbers obviously weren't familiar with Macross at all, one of the characters did refer to a VF-25 as a "Valkyrie"... could this mean that the VF-25's are "Valkyrie II's" ? lol

I don't know what's going on with the timeline, but like I said earlier, it seems like they're using DYRL? as canon rather than SDFM which disturbs me... The sub I saw was pretty bad, but even so, it does seem like Earth was abandoned after the events of DYRL? instead of rebuilt like in SDFM... I find this all very strange considering that Shoji Kawamori has said that the events of DYRL? is a movie made in 2017 about the events of Space War 1... a romantic dramatisation and nothing more... bleah, it's all so confusing.

Another thing that worries me is that I don't see a UN SPACY insignia anywhere... which leads me to believe that they're possibly trying to work around all that legal crap Macross has gone through and possibly try for a release outside of Japan with this series... but then I am seeing a Zentradi insignia in Frontier so why the hell not a UN SPACY insignia?


Overall

This is a good start to Macross Frontier, can't wait to see more and I hope it continues on along the lines of SDF Macross and Macross Plus. I'm hoping for big things and while I'm optimistic, I also know that the floor can fall out from under me with this just as easily since Macross is always so hit and miss.