Macross Frontier Episode Guide

This episode picks off right where the last episode ends. Sheryl confronts Grace demanding to know “why”. In response, Grace tells Sheryl that she is nothing more than a manufactured idol who would have gotten nowhere if Grace had not pulled her out of Galaxy’s slums. And then Grace tells Sheryl she is going to die. 

After the new opening, the real one this time, not the silly Ranka one, we come back to Sheryl and Grace. Sheryl dismisses what she thinks is Grace’s idle threat about dying until Grace explains that she literally meant that Sheryl’s life will soon end. Apparently, when Sheryl was still young, Grace had her taken to a hospital where she was treated for some illness but was never actually cured. 

Elsewhere, we see that Luca is still providing his or his company’s advanced technology to Leon for something called “Cinderella’s Horn”. We also see that Leon and President Glass have managed to get the political votes they need to authorize the Frontier fleet’s next super long distance fold. It seems they are going to try and leave the Vajra behind and return to their original mission of finding a new world to settle. Except… it seems the fleet hasn’t accumulated anywhere near enough energy to make such a jump. Not only will they be making a 20% shorter jump than they originally intended, they’ll put the entire fleet into heavy rationing to do it. Which, of course, means a giant fleet wide pre-fold sale is about to start! 

We catch up with Alto visiting Ozma who is still in the hospital. Ozma asks Alto to protect Ranka when Leon and the others try to use her to repel the Vajra that will be drawn to the Frontier fleet as it prepares for its long distance fold. We also see Sheryl taking a cab away from the hospital. She looks worse than ever and in her flashback we see that Grace’s pronouncement of her untimely death had a dramatic effect on her. We also see that Michael and Klan are continuing to investigate the drugs that Grace had been giving to Sheryl. Apparently they were meant to suppress V-type infections. Ones that come from the Vajra! But, side effects include the symptoms and sicknesses that Sheryl has been experiencing for the last several episodes. 

Doing even more research, Michael and Klan find original scientific papers on managing V-type infections submitted by Dr. Mao Nome! Even more important though, Grace O’ Connor is listed as one of the other contributors to the research along with someone named Ranshe Mei! They even find a report that directly confirms what Grace told Sheryl. That she was treated for a V-type infection several years before. Sheryl happens to walk in on their research, and a few moments later begs them both not to tell Alto before continuing on her way. Michael understands that Sheryl loves Alto enough to wish to spare him the knowledge that she is dying, but Michael calls Alto anyway and tells him to find Sheryl without breaking his promise as to the why. 

Back out in the rain, Grace’s words continue to haunt Sheryl. Sheryl catches a news report of Ranka being chosen to help protect the Frontier fleet and that along with the knowledge she is going to die, and her obviously weakening physical condition sees Sheryl collapse crying on the sidewalk only to see one of her own posters torn and tattered on the ground before her. It seems Sheryl’s self confidence has finally been broken by all that Grace inflicted on her. 

We see Alto racing through the rain searching for Sheryl, and then someone stands over Sheryl with an umbrella and offers his hand to her. When Sheryl looks up she at first thinks she sees Alto, but it is in fact his adopted brother Yasaburō who has found Sheryl. Alto arrives just in time to see Yasaburō load Sheryl into his car. He tells Alto if he wishes to see Sheryl he’ll come home. 

Just then, the predicted large group of Vajra appear and Alto is forced to head outside to protect all of Frontier. As the battle heats up outside, it quickly becomes apparent that most of Frontier’s forces might as well be firing blanks since the Vajra have become immune to nearly every weapon. And, if Frontier folds before killing the Vajra, they will just be followed to their new destination. Things are looking bad, but then Ranka appears with Brera escorting her. Her singing allows Frontier’s forces to herd the Vajra into one area where Battle Frontier’s full-sized Macross cannon obliterates them all in a single shot! We see that Ranka is, once again, affected by the mass deaths of the Vajra. With the Vajra out of the way, Frontier makes its fold to safety, but it looks like maybe the Vajra have once again hidden away on the underside of one of the Frontier ships. 

Specifics Scenes I Loved: 

• The Sheryl vs Grace scene and it’s various flashbacks are pretty well done. You can see how defiant Sheryl is in the beginning and how crushed and scared she is by the time Grace is through with her. 
• The new opening. A lot of it is kinda abstract and plays with the triangle tropes, but those first shots of Ranka preparing for a concert, the sparkle off the gunpod of a Valkyrie’s add-on Super or Armor pack, Sheryl’s earrings, and Frontier lighting up for a concert… it’s about the most Macross thing in all of Macross. And it’s set to the quick, sharp opening piano notes of “Lion” which is one of my favorite songs from Frontier. 
• Sheryl’s breakdown in the rain. By that point she had lost her manager, her health, her fame, and even knew she was going to lose her life, but she was still holding on to her self-confidence, and she finally lost that as well. It’s a surprisingly powerful scene for someone who started out as a seemingly haughty performer.  
• Battle Frontier destroying a swarm of Vajra in a single shot. 

Episode Impressions: 

The Good: 

This episode is more emotional than I remember it being. It doesn’t exactly make you well up with tears, but Sheryl’s emotional crash, Klan’s longing for Michael’s love, Alto searching desperately for Sheryl, and Sheryl still trying to put on a brave face and protect Alto from the truth of her impending death all worked for me. And it was all earned, which is just as important. 

The Bad: 

Sorta like Alto randomly finding Ranka on the cliffs in Legend of Zero, Sheryl stumbling upon Michael and Klan was a little forced. Sheryl just happened to stumble into that library at that time? That’s a bit hard to believe. 

Next Episode: Triangler

Well, this next episode looks to be a bit of a combat breather, but it may very well replace ship to ship combat with emotional combat all its own.

We start this episode by watching as Ozma reminisces about his early days after adopting Ranka. Notably, he first manages to break through her catatonic state by baking her what was apparently a terrible tasting pineapple cake. 

Oh! And look! We’ve got a new bizarrely colorful opening. I’m guessing this episode is somewhat Ranka centric? :p

At SMS, both Alto and Michael are being forced to do laps in their unpowered Ex-Gear as administered by Cathy as punishment for bringing Sheryl aboard the Macross Quarter. When they are finished, Michael remembers the medicine pill he kept after Sheryl either lost it or refused to take it back on Gallia 4. He arranges a meeting with Klan and asks her to introduce him to someone with pharmaceutical training. Klan had hoped Michael was asking her out to a date and is upset when she thinks Michael is just looking to use her to meet more women. The two of them being to argue but then spot Luca getting a government escort across the way. 

Cathy and Ozma have another one of their increasingly frequent government conspiracy meetings. This time, they meet in Cathy’s quarters where she has ripped all of the cameras and microphones out of the walls. It’s clear now that Leon and one or more people from the Galaxy equipped with implants are involved in some sort of conspiracy. Cathy and Ozma seem to be reconnecting after their breakup years ago. At the same time, Ozma can’t understand why Ranka needs to put herself in danger when new anti-Vajra weapons should be enough for Frontier to effectively counter their attacks. Ozma again reminisces about pineapple cake. It seems the one he made for Ranka so long ago was based on the cakes and recipe that Cathy had made for him and given to him back when they were together. 

Elsewhere, Alto sneaks up to Ranka’s apartment where the two of them talk about the Vajra and Ranka’s singing experiment from the previous episode. Alto shares his belief that the galaxy isn’t really big enough for both Humanity and the Vajra if the Vajra keep attacking them on sight like they have in the past. Ranka cheers up and tells Alto that she’ll keep singing if her voice can help in the slightest. 

Next, we see just where Luca has been going. He is again meeting with Leon where we learn that fold quartz is produced within the bodies of the Vajra and that it is the key to dramatically faster travel through fold space. Luca guesses that’s what Leon is after, but Leon and Grace seem to indicate that their plans are much bigger than that. 

Over at the Island 3 Vajra research facility, we find that Ozma is attempting to break in to further his search for answers. Unfortunately, Brera is there following him and the two nearly come to blows. Well… more like Ozma fires multiple shots at Brera and misses placing the two in something of a Mexican standoff. Ozma demands to know why Brera and the others are using Ranka’s dreams as a weapon when Frontier can oppose the Vajra on its own now. Brera seems to indicate that Frontier’s new found strength vs the Vajra is only temporary. Before the two can finish their fight, a call comes in. A new force of Vajra have appeared and are approaching the Frontier fleet. 

Ozma, SMS, and Frontier’s Spacey fly out to head off the Vajra attack and launch reactive missiles as their opening salvo, only to find that the larger red Vajra have somehow adapted and are now able to shrug off some of humanity’s most powerful weapons! They shed a layer of their armor to do so, so repeated hits might still destroy them, but even the Vajra’s secondary layer of armor seems to have gained heavy resistance to the other upgraded anti-Vajra bullets and missiles that the Frontier fleet was counting on to give them an edge. 

One of the Vajra breaks through the defense line and launches a full power directly at the Macross Quarter’s bridge only to have Ozma intercept the shot with his Valkyrie’s pinpoint barrier system just in time to save Cathy and the rest of the Quarter’s bridge crew. Brera joins the battle and we see that his more powerful beam cannon can still kill Vajra, but he reveals that every time a Vajra is killed it instantly sends information about what killed it to the rest of the hive mind which allows the Vajra to become immune to repeated attacks. Even Brera’s beam cannon will likely become useless, eventually. That’s why Ranka’s songs are necessary, Brea tells everyone. 

Ozma, however, won’t stand for it. In a moment of pure awesome, he vows to fight on as an old Fire Bomber song beings to play in the background. He kills a nearby Vajra with a combination of weapons including his energy knife, his head mounted point defense lasers, and even the Vajra’s own severed arm! Ozma turns his Valkyrie towards Cathy on the bridge of the Macross Quarter and says that the hit he absorbed was just a scratch, then asks what kind of a man he would be if he couldn’t protect his sister and the woman that he loves. I think Cathy’s engagement to Leon is about to go out the window! Alto and Michael comment on how awesome Ozma is, and they too charge the Vajra with knives drawn while Brera and his support fighters help in cleaning up the remaining Vajra. 

Back on Frontier, Ranka finally gets to have her concert, and Ozma joins Cathy in attending. Intercut with Ranka’s singing, we get an ominous look as some techs begin to make repairs to Ozma’s fighter. One of them gets to his cockpit and is shocked at what he sees. Back at the concert, Cathy playfully chastises Ozma for making such a bold declaration during battle and then offers to go back to her place to have some pineapple cake. When Ozma doesn’t respond, Cathy turns to find that he has passed out and is covered in his own blood! Apparently, that hit from the Vajra was more than just a scratch after all! We fade to black with Cathy desperately shaking an unresponsive Ozma… 

…only to cut to Frontier’s main hospital where Ozma is alive and being treated for his wounds. It turns out, this entire episode has been one big tongue-in-cheek callback to the tragic events that occurred during the SDF Macross tv show. Back then, ace pilot and mentor Roy Focker, who was also one of the lead characters in Macross Zero, bleed out and died on his girlfriend’s couch just after returning from an intense battle defending the Macross from a Zentradi attack. The kicker? His girlfriend Claudia, who was a bridge officer aboard the Macross and who served more or less in Bobby’s role as the ship’s lead tactical officer, had just finished making Roy a pineapple salad. We get Michael joking about how tragic it would have been if Ozma had died and one final pineapple cake set to the silly SMS music to finish up the heavily referential joke that this episode played on long time Macross fans. 

The episode ends, however, on a truly tense moment as Sheryl confronts Grace along one of the hospitals upper walkways. Sheryl forcefully insists that she and Grace need to have a long chat. 

Specific Scenes I Loved: 

• Ozma and Cathy’s meeting in her quarters with all the disconnected wires and cables laying on the floor around them. Not only was their chat layered with multiple meanings, I liked the attention to detail the art team put into Cathy shielding herself from Galaxy’s hackers. 
• Ranka standing dreamily on the stage of the theater that not to long before hosted the intergalactic superstar Sheryl Nome. Sure, this scene wasn’t quite as powerful as Ranka being led on stage after the debut of Bird Human, but I kinda consider that scene and this one connected. It’s neat to see just how far Ranka has come in only a few short weeks or months. 
• Ozma’s rock n roll moment! 
• The final scene where it looks like a severely pissed off Sheryl is going to reassert herself. 

Episode Impressions: 

Yeah, you pretty much have had to have seen the original Macross tv series to get this episode’s huge in-joke, but I still think this episode represents an example of Macross Frontier at its best. Even while making a joke that it knew many or most might not understand, it still managed to show us Ozma’s early relationship with Ranka, and his deteriorating and renewing relationship with Cathy. It was also able to fill us in on more about why the Vajra are so dangerous and why Grace and Leon have gone so far to find and guide Ranka into using her voice as a defense against them. This episode accomplished a lot, and also managed to wrap it all in perhaps the most inside joke in Macross’ long history.

Next Episode: Fold Frame

Frontier going shell down again makes me think we’re up for another battle, but the we’re also told that Frontier is carrying out some sort of super long distance fold. It’s also looking like Sheryl might figuratively lose her confrontation with Grace. Those last shots of Sheryl looking out towards the rain and then being in the rain don’t look very happy.

While returning from a mission to collect Vajra corpses, Alto thinks back to his time with the shadowy Mr. Birler, a full size Zentradi who has a dream of connecting the furthest points of the galaxy. Mr. Birler seems sure that somehow the discover of the Vajra will help him do that. On the bridge of the Macross Quarter, the bridge bunnies are impressed by Alto’s combat performance but also wonder why he, and other SMS crew members, are being continually tasked with killing and retrieving Vajra corpses. 

Back at Mihoshi Academy, Michael notes that Alto has had more of a bad attitude than he normally does. It seems that Alto’s secretive meeting some days ago has left him unhappy. Things get worse when Ranka comes to class for the first time in a while. Instead of coming alone, she has Brera following her closely as her bodyguard. Later, in class, Alto tries to force Brera to leave only to be pinned to the floor by the cyborg. 

After class, Ranka meets up with Grace who has been assigned as her new manager. Grace gives Ranka a rearranged version of Aimo to practice singing. This new version is dark and weighty and is a far cry from Ranka’s more airy version. The lyrics, too, are about Frontier declaring victory instead of the far more peaceful things Ranka usually sings about. Ranka tries singing the new version at a recording studio Grace brings her to, but it’s obvious that Ranka just can’t get into it. Even Brera notices and comments on how out of it she sounds. 

In the meantime, Sheryl is still stuck in bed at the hospital. She appears to be slowly becoming more and more bitter, going so far as to think that flowers delivered to her are not real gifts of sympathy. This also appears to be the first time Sheryl has seen that Grace has become Ranka’s manager. Apparently, Grace never informed Sheryl of that fact. 

That evening, Alto stumbles across Sheryl on his way back to his room on Macross Quarter. She is slumped on a fountain bench near the large domed window that she, Alto, and Ranka met at before, and she is not doing well at all. It seems her fever and weakness have returned in full force. It’s all Sheryl can do to explain that she doesn’t want to keep being locked away in hospitals and hotels. 

When Sheryl next wakes, she finds herself unexpectedly in Alto’s room on the Macross Quarter. She initially freaks out, but then thanks Alto for worrying about her. It’s then that Alto notices that the main stone of Sheryl’s earring appears to be made of the same purple fold quartz as Mr. Birler large ring. Alto leans in close to get a better look only for Michael to walk in on him and Sheryl at just the wrong moment. Worse, Cathy calls on a wall monitor on the other side of the room (with only one brief ring before she starts a two way video conference?!) to alert Alto and Michael of a secret mission involving Ranka’s singing. 

In Leon’s office, Ozma voices his fury at the Frontier government experimenting to see if Ranka’s singing really does affect the Vajra. Leon calmly tells Ozma that his objections won’t make any difference. Later, in space, Alto and Michael discuss the upcoming experiment while Ozma helps secure Ranka in Canaria König Monster. He switches his and Ranka’s suits to a private channel and asks Ranka if she really wanted to do this. Ranka seems reluctant, but she confirms that she agreed to perform this test. Soon, Brera and a few other Valkyries from what’s left of the Galaxy’s forces join the SMS test group, much to Alto’s great annoyance. 

Back on the Macross Quarter, Sheryl uses her charm to sneak onto the Quarter’s bridge where she request permission to watch the test. Captain Wilder ask her if she wants to see out of curiosity. Sheryl instead replies that she wants to see the test out of a sense of stubbornness or pride. It seems clear that Sheryl is skeptical that Ranka can have an affect on the Vajra, but Sheryl also seems unhappy with the idea that Ranka’s voice potentially might have a beneficial affect that hers doesn’t. Over at Frontier’s military command, President Glass also seems skeptical, but Leon convinces him to let the test proceed. 

Ozma and the other members of the SMS arrive at an asteroid being used as a hive by the Vajra and proceed to launch an attack. The Vajra pour out and move to counterattack, but then Grace has Ranka begin singing the new, altered version of Aimo. To most everyone’s surprise, the Vajra all but cease their attacks and movements! Alto, however, recognizes that Ranka’s original song has been significantly altered. 

With the Vajra all but immobilized, Brera and the SMS pilots begin eliminating the swarm. Things go well for a while until the shock of seeing a Vajra killed nearby causes Ranka to stop singing. One of the red Vajra recovers and launches an attack on Ranka’s ship. Alto moves to assist, but is cut off by a heavy beam attack from Brera. Brera takes a defensive position, then tells Alto that he is not worthy to protect Ranka. 

As the battle ends, President Glass changes his tune. Now, he is thrilled that Frontier finally has a real edge on the Vajra. Most of the SMS members are exuberant as well. They heap praise on a still reluctant Ranka while comparing her to past legendary singers like Lynn Minmay and Basara Nikki who both helped end previous space wars with their songs. Despite all the encouraging words, Ranka privately wonders if using her voice for warfare is really the right thing to do.

Specific Scenes I Loved: 

• Ranka’s cellphone once again showing how versatile it is by it reaching out, grabbing, and then “eating” a music cd in order to play it.
• Ranka singing the new version of Aimo without enthusiasm. They did a good job of making her singing flat and a bit monotone in order to show how unsure she was of the new arrangement. 
• The brief battle sequence set to the new version of Aimo. There may not be a single frame of new animation in it, but there’s this great edge of uncertainty with the new song and its far more forceful lyrics. Everything just feels wrong even as we watch our heroes easily destroy Vajra who were previously able to destroy entire warships with a single shot.  

Episode Impressions: 

The Good: 

This episode answers more questions about why Leon and Grace have been looking for or keeping an eye on Ranka. We now know that there is something special about her voice that can help Frontier in its battles against the Vajra. It was also good to see that the show has not forgotten Sheryl and is slowly continuing her subplot of becoming more jealous and perhaps even bitter at Ranka’s success. 

The new version of Ranka’s Aimo is actually a little scary when you read the lyrics. We have Ranka singing things like “Now tolls the bells of victory, For this place is my new planet.”

The Bad: 

It seems like this meeting between Alto and Mr. Birler was important but it is being stretched out across multiple flashbacks across multiple episodes. So far, I don’t think we’ve really seen anything to make Alto so upset. 

Next Episode: Goodbye Sister

Looks like we are getting some more flashbacks. This time about the early days after Ozma adopted Ranka. It also looked like there may be another battle coming up. Maybe Ranka’s voice will make it go much more smoothly?

This episode is an interesting one. It spends a lot of time going back over past events from Grace’s point of view and gives new context to her actions throughout the first half of the series. 

The first thing we learn about Grace is that she was not acting alone. There are at least three other intelligences housed within her body. Or maybe not within her body, exactly, as she obviously destroyed her original self with the dimension eater. It seems that Grace, and those working with her, enacted a plan to use Sheryl to somehow lead the Vajra to the Frontier fleet where the two would clash greatly weakening Frontier’s military in the process. 

This part of their plan was only partially successful thanks to SMS and their new prototype VF-25s. Grace choose the Frontier fleet for this plan in part because they have no cyborgs or implants and because it would be easier to damage Frontier’s delicate ecological balance. We learn that Frontier has indeed suffered major damage. At least one of the smaller islands is going to be abandoned and others will be shutdown until they can be properly repaired.

While Grace’s original plan was to use Sheryl, there had been rumors that survivors from the 117^th fleet were alive on Frontier. When Grace and company found Ranka, they revised their plans significantly, to the point that Grace has decided to dispose of Sheryl as she is no longer necessary. 

So what is Grace’s big plan? We have to piece it together from Grace and her cabal and from what Leon tells Ranka when he summons her at the end of the episode. Apparently, Grace and Brera detected some sort of Vajra command protocol mixed in with Sheryl and Ranka’s singing back when the Macross Quarter went out to save the surviving Galaxy ships in episode 7. Leon seems to confirm this by telling Ranka that her voice may in fact be some sort of trump card against the Varja. 

A little before that, we see Alto and Ranka visit Sheryl in the hospital. The three of them have a conversation on one of the hospital’s upper walkways and that conversation turns into both singers having an impromptu sing off as each tries to express their thanks to Alto for saving them. We also learn that Alto really did hear their singing when he was inside the Vajra ship. 

One final piece of the puzzle is that Cathy and Ozma suspect that Leon is up to something because of the way the Frontier government keeps lying about Brera’s actions. SMS saw him battle the Vajra and fight against both Alto and Klan directly, yet word coming down from the top says he only first appeared at Gallia 4. There’s also Alto’s strange meeting with Richard Birler, the owner of SMS. It is possible Birler is in on this strange conspiracy, as well. He certainly knew about the Vajra long before their existence became common knowledge. 

At the very end of the episode, Grace’s intelligences note that the scene is set and that they are at the beginning of achieving a dream that not even the Protoculture could manage in their 500,000 year existence. We’ll just have to wait and see what that dream really is. 

Specific Scenes I Loved: 

Sheryl and Ranka’s crazy sing off. Alto seems very trapped in the middle. I also like where he noted that they managed to film Ranka’s singing at Folmo mall surprisingly well. 

Grace’s manipulation of Sheryl. It’s clear that Sheryl took a self-esteem hit when Ranka saved the day on Gallia 4, but now Grace is subtly adding to Sheryl’s fears. But, given that Grace tells her cohorts that she plans to dispose of Fairy 9, aka Sheryl, why is Grace even bothering to add to Sheryl’s jealousy? Is Grace just that cruel? 

Episode Impressions: 

The Good: 

We are finally starting to get some answers on what has been going on. Grace is actually home to a number of intelligences working towards some goal that not even the Protoculture could achieve, while Leon, along with Grace, seems to want to use Ranka’s voice as a defense against the Vajra. 

The Bad: 

Ultimately this was something of a clip show and an info dump episode. We learn some of what was going on, but maybe that info could have been better spread across the previous 14 episodes? We saw little hints here and there with Leon and Grace’s behavior, but the big juicy stuff like Grace being a multi-personality immortal cyborg? Yeah, that was just kinda dropped on us from out of nowhere! 

Next Episode: Ranka Attack

From the name of the episode, I’d expect to see Leon and Grace trying to exploit whatever power they think Ranka has. From the visuals though, we see a lot of Ranka and Brera plus a little interaction between Alto and Sheryl.

In the aftermath of Grace’s attack on Gallia 4, we catch up with multiple characters back on Frontier and learn how Alto, Sheryl, and Ranka’s absence is affecting them. Elmo is left trying to set up a live concert when his star is missing. Ozma is left pondering when his adopted little sister managed to grow into a young woman capable of making important choices for herself. We also get a fun bit of Bridge Bunny gossip before things turn deadly serious. 

The Vajra fleet from Gallia 4 emerges from its fold directly within the path of the Frontier fleet and it’s all hands to battle stations! Island 1 goes shell down and the other Islands similarly raise protective armor. Everyone on Frontier knows this is going to be one hell of a fight. 

Back at Gallia 4, Alto finds the prototype fold booster that Michael left for him in orbit. He races back to Frontier in time to rescue Sheryl, who didn’t do a terrible job of piloting all things considered, and Luca, who apparently sucks at his job. Where did Luca’s escort of Ghost fighters go, anyway?! 

Onboard Battle Frontier, Leon, President Glass, and Frontier’s top military commanders are debating whether the situation is dire enough to break out the reaction weaponry. It apparently takes a special order from the president to declare total war upon an enemy. That order is eventually given when a second Vajra fleet emerges in a rear flanking position and Island 1 takes major damage from this rear fleet’s attack. 

Alto rearms his fighter on Macross Quarter as it, and the rest of SMS, reverse course to engage the Vajra’s rear fleet. This time, though, Alto and the others are equipped with heavy reaction missiles and are able to do great damage to the Vajra forces. Alto recognizes the ship that Ranka is trapped on and he and Brera rush inside to rescue Ranka. 

As all this is happening, some part of the Vajra intelligence is communicating with Ranka. It sings her a lullaby in the form of her mother and even seems to indicate that it does not wish to fight. Ranka and the Vajra begin singing Aimo together which causes at least some of the Vajra forces to hesitate or cease their attacks. Alto and Brera then arrive. Brera rescues Ranka while Alto unloads all his weaponry into the Vajra queen, even as Ranka yells at him not too. 

Emerging from the Vajra command ship with Ranka, Brera finally indicates that he is a surviving member of the Galaxy fleet’s military and that from now on he will assist the Frontier. Meanwhile, Macross Quarter destroys the Vajra command ship with its Macross Cannon and the rest of Frontier’s forces annihilate the remaining Vajra as they attempt to retreat. 

The final two scenes of this episode are disturbing in their implications for the future. First, we see what appears to be Grace awakening in a new identical body. She is surprised to find out that Ranka is a “little queen.” Second, we see Ranka’s stomach glowing in connection to the Vajra and we see Ranka crying as Frontier’s forces wipe out the remaining Vajra. It seems that Grace has discovered something important about Ranka and that Ranka has been deeply affected by her contact with the Vajra… maybe for the worse. 

Specific Scenes I Loved: 

• That huge chunk carved out of Gallia 4. 
• Ozma and Bobby worrying over Ranka’s decision to save Alto and Sheryl. It was great to see Ozma realizing that Ranka actually is growing up and might no longer be the scared, traumatized girl he has had to protect the last several years. 
• That opening missile attack that Frontier’s forces launch at the Vajra.
• The Quarter’s little radar ball and Bridge Bunnies getting their own mid-episode spotlight during the intermission. 
• Sheryl’s power up music and attempt to fly herself and Michael to safety. Yeah, she bumped the Vajra ship and went for a tumble, but she also recovered and it looks like she would have been able to fly back to the Macross Quarter safely if the entire Frontier fleet hadn’t been in the middle in its largest battle ever. 
• Those first few reaction missiles Alto fires. They look nasty and devastating in that reverse shot. Yay for Frontier’s forces finally giving as good as they get! 
• The Vajra’s attempts to communicate with Ranka. Maybe there is some path to peace now? Or maybe not given the way Frontier’s spacey utterly destroyed the Vajra forces at the end of the battle?
• That final triumphant attack that we see Frontier’s forces pull off. Those last few reaction weapons detonating that one Vajra carrier is really impressive. I like the carrier’s few point defense beams shooting down some of the missiles before the others get to it. 
• Grace’s reawakening. If she had just died on Gallia 4 it might have mean a major plot thread would go unfinished. Now that we know she is still around, there’s at least a chance we’ll find out what in the world she did and why she did it. 
• The music throughout. This is one of the few places in all of Frontier that singing is not really involved in a major battle, but the show’s instrumentals more than carried the day. Things were in turn dire and triumphant in part thanks to the amazing music backing each scene. 

Episode Impressions: 

Holy cow, this was one heck of a battle episode! There weren’t a lot of clever tactics or fancy maneuvers in this one. It was just a straight up, all out braw between Frontier and the Vajra. And humanity finally broke out some of their biggest guns to deal with the situation. 

The question that remains, though, is why did the Vajra attack even though they seem to indicate to Ranka that they want peace? Is it because Grace disintegrated half of one of their planet nests into another dimension? Were the Vajra maybe responding in kind to a unprovoked attack? And what about the Vajra research that was taking place on the Global in the previous episode? Could all of the Vajra’s attacks be self defense and retaliation that we just haven’t understood so far? 

In any case, this episode was terrific. Just a whole episode dedicated to a major battle. Now that it’s over, I hope we can start getting real answers to the various mysteries that have been set up. 

Next Episode: Lost Peace

Certainly this next episode is going to be something of a breather after that tremendous, episode long battle we just got through. We do, however, see Grace near Sheryl. Does anybody even know that Grace was/should be dead? And what is that strange place Alto is standing in front of?

We begin this episode with Alto and Ranka exploring closer to the downed Macross-class ship. The jamming that dropped Alto’s Valkyrie out of the sky continues to be an intermittent issue, but it seems it’s only affecting the navigation and radar systems. If Alto really wanted to fly, it seems he could do so on manual or maybe some sort of more limited emergency mode. Alto and Ranka walk on foot to a nearby spring where Alto washes his hair. He and Ranka recall their first meeting where Ranka saw Alto with his hair down and where she was the one who had gotten soaked. 

Back at the Zentradi base, Sheryl continues to recover but is putting up a fuss about taking the medicine Grace gives her. In just a few hours, Sheryl is back on her feet and demanding that Michael take her with him to go looking for Alto and Ranka. Michael agrees, but while Sheryl is out of the room changing into a flight suit, Michael finds one of the pills Sheryl was supposed to have taken. It is a little unclear, but it seems like Sheryl not taking the medicine is what has let her recover so quickly. Michael is amused at how Alto seems to have somehow found himself surrounded by stubborn women, but then an image of an angry Klan comes to mind and he has to admit to himself that maybe his position is no better. 

Back on Frontier, Luca has a tense meeting with Leon. It seems that Luca has provided the Frontier government with some technology or possibly a weapon that could get his company, L.A.I., in trouble, but Luca thinks it is the best way to protect those he cares about. 

Alto and Ranka continue exploring closer to the Macross and share more tender moments, but then Ranka excuses herself into the woods and is almost immediately captured. Alto chases after her towards the Macross and follows her signal inside. Within the Macross, Alto is surprised to find some sort of research lab where they were researching or maybe even experimenting on Vajra. Alto soon discovers that this Macross was attached to the 117 Large Exploration Fleet. The fleet that Ranka and her family were once a part of. The same one that Ozma rescued Ranka from when it was destroyed by the Vajra! 

We find Grace far from the Zentradi base with some piece of technology called a Dimension Eater that has L.A.I. markings on it. She orders Brera to rescue Ranka if possible, but warns him she will soon detonate the Dimension Eater and that retrieving Ranka cannot interfere with their primary mission. Both Brera and Alto trace Ranka’s signal to a large cavern where a Vajra queen is laying eggs. Alto tries to rescue Ranka, but she is encased in some sort of shell. Brera meanwhile fights off a small swarm of Vajra only to hit one of the many glowing crystals on the queen which causes it, and Ranka, a great deal of pain. The queen, or at least part of it, explodes throwing both Brera and Alto clear. 

To Alto’s horror, the remains of the Macross crumble as some sort of large Vajra command ship emerges and leads a fleet of carriers skyward. When Alto returns to his Valkyrie in an  attempt to go after Ranka once more, Brera stops him almost as if he is protecting the Vajra ships. Fortunately Michael and Sheryl arrive just in time to save Alto. The two SMS pilots are ready to take on Brera once more, but then Grace does the unthinkable. Her cybernetic arm rips apart to form cables that connect to multiple ports on the Dimension Eater, activating it. It creates an expanding sphere of what seems to be fold energy that literally eats Grace, the Zentradi base, and a significant part of Gallia 4. 

Michael and Sheryl barely escape the dimension eater’s rapidly expanding blast radius by grabbing hold of one of the Vajra carriers as it folds away. Alto is forced to watch the as a good third of the planet below him is consumed as he barely outruns the blast radius. And that’s how the episode ends! 

Specific Scenes I Loved: 

• Alto and Brera’s battle after the Vajra fleet launches. It reminds me a little of Shin Kudo and Nora Polyansky’s very high speed battle near the end of Macross Zero. 
• The Zentradi yelling “Yak! Deculture!” as the artificial fold fault destroys him and his ship. This is the true, classic, original use of “yak deculture” as seen in SDF Macross.
• That last, impressive shot of the dimension eater’s blast consuming a third of Gallia 4. That’s not bad for something only a couple of times larger than a human! 

Episode Impressions: 

I’m not going to lie, this episode felt like it came out of nowhere the first time I watched it. Grace killing herself and everyone at the Zentradi base, and presumably some Vajra as well was very much a LOLWTFBBQ moment. Based on her final words, it seems like her plan was to enrage the Vajra and point them toward the Frontier fleet? 

Compared to the end, the rest of the episode is of pretty minor importance. Alto and Ranka got some quality time together, Sheryl is back to her old self, we again see that the Vajra tend to build nests in the ruins of ships they have destroyed, but without knowing the implications of the Vajra fleet or the dimension eater, it’s hard to say how much of any of those events even matter. This is one of those times I’m glad I can just skip straight to the next episode instead of having to wait a week. I guess, if nothing else, this episode ends on one heck of a cliffhanger! 

Next Episode: Mother’s Lullaby

Wow! Looks like we’re getting a major fleet battle next episode!

We start this episode with a Zentradi Commander and his assistant trying to deal with the 33^rd fleet’s threat of rebellion. The look of these two Zentradi is interesting because they have a resemblance to the Zentradi commander and assistant who were first humanities enemies and eventually its allies in SDF Macross and Do You Remember Love?. The leader of the rebelling group also bears a very strong resemblance to one of the worst individual enemies humanity had to face back during Space War 1. It’s interesting that a good song would still be able to calm the unhappy faction down even at this stage, or so the commander thinks. 

We finally get to see Alto experience flying in a real atmosphere. Orbital reentry is his first experience and is something he would never really have to deal with while operating with the Frontier fleet. Things look like they are going great. Alto is overjoyed to be flying in his endless sky, and the unhappy Zentradi are immediately enamored as Sheryl steps out of her plane… only to stumble and collapse after just a few steps! The two Zentradi factions open fire on each other with Alto, Sheryl, Grace and the other humans quickly getting captured by the rebelling Zentradi. 

Back on Frontier, we see that Ranka finally took a day off and has come to Mihoshi Academy to spend some time with her friends. Nanase almost freaks out when she sees the green creature that has befriended Ranka, but Ranka manages to keep her calm. Apparently, bringing unknown lifeforms onto Frontier is against the law. Ranka, Nanase, Luca, and Michael hang out for a while until Luca gets notification of Alto and Sheryl’s capture. We soon find out from Frontier’s government and from the Macross Quarter’s crew that a series of fold faults delay communications with Gallia 4 by almost two hours and that any rescue attempt would take around seven days to arrive. The crisis would be long over by then. Ozma, Cathy, and even Captain Wilder suspect that things have gone just a bit too easily for the rebelling Zentradi, almost as if their request for a concert was part of some larger plan. 

On Gallia 4, the rogue Zentradi are busy loading up the base’s supply of reaction warheads. Nearby, Sheryl struggles against her illness while Alto resolves to do something about the situation. Using his relatively small size, Alto manages to sneak back to his Valkyrie, but the leader of the rebelling Zentradi appears to be notified of Alto’s intentions and holds him at gunpoint and jokingly demands that Alto try singing to him. 

Just then, from out of nowhere, Michael descends from the sky with Ranka in the backseat of his Valkyrie. We learn that Luca’s family’s company has been working on a prototype fold booster that cuts through fold faults making fold travel somewhere between twice and ten times faster than it has been up until now. Ranka demands to go and help save Alto and the others… and it works. With large speakers strapped under his Valkyries’ wings and a holoprojector broadcasting a huge view of Ranka to the base, Ranka’s latest song, Interstellar Flight, quickly pacifies most of the rebelling Zentradi. Even Alto is enamored by Ranka’s singing. Only the rebelling Zentradi leader continues fighting. He boards a Queadluun and attempts to target Ranka but is stopped by Alto. The two have a brief dogfight, but Alto quickly comes out the victor. Still trapped in her bed, Sheryl is obviously distraught that her sickness and inability to sing led to this whole situation even as grace declares Ranka to be amazing. 

After the crisis is over, Ranka is finally able to wish Alto a happy birthday and the two of them go flying among Gallia 4’s cloudy skies where Alto declares Ranka’s rescue to be the best birthday present ever. Back on the ground, Sheryl appears to have recovered somewhat and watches the two of them from the roof of a building, clearly wishing she was the one up there with Alto.

Up among the clouds, Alto and Ranka catch each other’s reflections staring out into the sky and they can’t help but share a moment of joyful laughter at everything that has happened. But then, we see a closeup of some monstrous looking eye, and Alto’s Valkyrie suffers some sort of system failure from which he is barely able to recover from before crash landing near a set of cliffs. While Alto is busy checking his fighter, Ranka walks to the edge of a cliff and is shocked to see something she never expected. She calls out to Alto and when he joins her he confirms it. They are looking at the ruins of an early generation Macross-class warship which has crash landed on Gallia 4 in its robot form! 

Specific Scenes I Loved: 

• Alto getting to experience atmospheric friction for the first time. This must be one of the things he’s dreamed of. The music in this reentry scene is just so delightfully upbeat as well. It’s a short scene, but it’s a very good one! 
• Ranka descending from the skies and demanding that “Everyone! Embrace each other! To the ends of the universe!” Watching a music idol’s songs pacify a group of waring Zentradi is one of the most Macross things you can see. It’s pretty fun that these Zentradi had been anticipating watching Ranka’s upcoming concert and part of the reason they are so quick to lay down their arms is because they now get to see her in person! 
• Alto and Ranka flying among the clouds in that stunningly beautiful sky! Up until now, Alto’s dreams of the sky have always seemed a bit small minded. But seeing it like this, I think maybe he was right to wish to fly in a truly endless sky! For more beautiful sky be sure and stick around for the credits. Alto’s Valkyrie among the sunset clouds is almost like a soothing screensaver it’s so relaxing. 
• That shot of Sheryl look out to see Alto and Ranka’s jet trail. This is something of a mirror of Ranka looking up and seeing Alto’s contrail as he carried Sheryl through the Frontier’s sunset at the end of High School Queen. 

Episode Impressions: 

I like this episode because of the way it starts paying off some of the plot we’ve had building for a while. Alto and his love of the sky. Ranka’s singing career being about more than her just being personally popular. The existence of fold faults and how they make interstellar travel more difficult. There’s a lot of little payoffs here. 

At the same time, there are some big new questions. Like: Why is Grace cooperating with the rebelling Zentradi. What does she have to gain from it? And, just what was it that downed Alto’s Valkyrie? It’s pretty scary when something can disable an advanced, top of the line military prototype like that. 

It was also interesting to see Sheryl have to deal with not being the top, most popular person around. You have to feel bad for her for pushing herself to go on this concert partially as a gift to Alto, but at the same time… she brought some of this on herself with her stubbornness. That longing look she gives from the rooftop at the end isn’t just a romantic/love triangle look. I think it is as much about as her having failed as a professional. Or, it’s about her confidence as The Sheryl Nome having failed her for once. That one little moment where she tugs at her sheets as Grace comments on how amazing Ranka is says a lot, I think. I’m even a little worried that Sheryl may tumble down into jealousy as Ranka’s career continues to heat up…

Next Episode: Memory of Global

It looks like Alto and Brera fight each other once more, but what was that large alien creature near the end of the preview? Could it be a Vajra that disabled Alto’s Valkyrie? “Memory of Global” might be an important clue to this episode since the Macross’ captain in SDF Macross was Bruno J. Global.

Ranka’s career has finally kicked into high gear after her prominent role in the Bird Human movie. Elmo has her racing from job to job with little time to rest in between. But Ranka is upbeat about it all, even saying that every new day is like a day come true. But, even with how busy she is, she is keeping Alto’s upcoming birthday in mind. 

Sheryl, on the other hand, has seen her workload slow somewhat in recent weeks, but she has an upcoming rare job that she is gearing up for. It seems that the Zentradi on Gallia 4 have become restless and have either strongly requested or outright demanded entertainment or else they will mutiny. 

Cathy and Ozma are looking into some of the strange happenings that have been going on lately. These include Sheryl’s trip to Gallia 4, the plague that infected the hydras, the unknown purple Valkyrie, and more. We also learn that Ozma really did not like that Ranka starred in Bird Human! 

Back at Mihoshi Academy, Ranka and the others look up information on Gallia 4 but are interrupted when Alto’s “brother” Yasaburō arrives. At a restaurant nearby, Yasaburō congratulates Alto on acting again but then informs him that his father is ill. Yasaburō then offers Alto a birthday present…  

We rejoin Ranka in some sort of mall or shopping center and learn that she has gotten Elmo to secure her two physical tickets to her upcoming live show. Sheryl happens to be there as well and indicates that she knows exactly why Ranka wanted the tickets. Ranka and Sheryl talk a little about Alto’s upcoming birthday, but then Sheryl becomes dizzy and drops her coffee. A little later, Grace performs a scan on Sheryl and lets her know that she is suffering from a worsening fever. She suggests Sheryl rest, but Sheryl is determined to perform at Gallia 4. Grace notes that she should have never told Sheryl that there might be survivors of the Galaxy fleet there. 

Leon is still in communication with his informant who lets him know that Sheryl is for sure going to attempt her concert. The informat also thanks Leon for some large item he obtained from LAI, the advanced research company that Luca is one of the heirs of. It seems that someone is keeping a very close watch on Sheryl… 

Meanwhile, Cathy talks to Klan about the 33^rd Naval Fleet stationed at Gallia 4. The way they demand entertainment irks Klan pretty badly and she comments that they are a disgrace to the warrior spirit of the Zentradi. 

Later, Ranka and Nanase have a phone conversation about Alto’s upcoming birthday. Nanase urges Ranka to call Alto and to meet up with him soon as she has observed Alto and Sheryl together a lot lately. Ranka hesitates and considers her relationship with Alto but ultimately takes Nanase’s advice and gives Alto a call. Unfortunately, she just gets his voicemail, but she still leaves him a nice message to meet her at Griffith Park so she can give him a present. 

Alto, however is still stewing about the offer Yasaburō made to him and ends up in the observation area near the Macross Quarter where Ranka and Sheryl once sang together in Episode 3. Alto contemplates the present his brother offered him. In a flashback we see that if Alto will apologize to his father, Yasaburō has gotten assurances that Alto’s father will accept him back into the family. This news does not please Alto, but Yasaburō makes the point that even while upset, Alto is acting more upset that he really is.

Sheryl then arrives and thanks Alto for waiting for him. She goads him a bit about still wearing his school uniform and he returns the favor by criticism her somewhat revealing outfit. Sheryl, however wins the argument by noting that unlike Alto’s chest, hers can provide people with hopes and dreams. Alto wants to know why Sheryl called to meet him. It turns out that Sheryl, like Yasaburō and Ranka, wants to offer Alto a birthday present. She gets his attention by knowingly asks him if he wants to fly in a truly endless sky. 

Alto now has a decision to make. Three people have offered him tempting birthday presents, but all three are mutually exclusive. And he has to choose. We cut to Ranka running to meet Alto at the observatory only to see that it is Michael, not Alto, who is waiting there for her. Michael relays Alto’s apologies and we then learn that Alto has chosen to escort Sheryl to Gallia 4 where he will get to finally fly in the atmosphere of a planet. 

Sheryl, now onboard her starliner, thanks Alto for coming with her. In the seat across the isle, however, we seem to learn that it is Grace who has been Leon’s informant all along. And that they have something big planned. Brera appears to be heading to Gallia 4 as well. 

Finally, we see a disappointed Ranka at Griffith Observatory as she is comforted by that strange green creature. She holds up one of the airplane shaped cookies she baked for Alto. She takes a bit of it and exclaims “It’s bitter…” which just about sums up her attempts at pleasing Alto. 🙁 

Specific Scenes I Loved: 

• Ranka’s hurried day as she finally gets to live her dream of being an accomplished actress / singer. It was nice to see that her starring role in Bird Human really did lead her to much more success. 
• Ranka’s worries over her and Sheryl’s relationship with Alto as she sit in her dressing room. It felt very natural for Ranka to debate with herself over what she should do. 
• Alto waiting for Sheryl outside the Macross Quarter. It’s the second time the two of them have been in that spot and had something consequential happen. It’s also just a really cool spot with an impressive view of the SMS fighters launching. 

Episode Impressions: 

I found myself writing a lot less about this episode than I did the previous one, but I don’t think this episode is bad in any way. We get a good look at some of the relationships between Alto, Ranka, and Sheryl and more insight into why Alto ran away from his life as an actor. And it’s all good stuff. I like this episode because it shows that not everything in Frontier needs to be hurried, or a space battle, or a wacky nostalgic film shoot for it to be impactful. This was a character-centric episode and I think it accomplished a fair bit being what it was. 

On the other hand, this was also a setup episode where plot points are being moved into place, but really not a ton happens in the meantime. Not only does it split the party, it seems that Leon and Grace (of all people!) have plans that are close to coming about. So, it is a slower episode, but I think that’s ok as long as the setups lead to new excitement down the road. 

Next Episode: Fastest Delivery

Whoa! I expected this next episode to be a new Sheryl concert, but here we’re seeing what looks like Alto battling Kamjin Kravshera, a prominent villain who died in SDF Macross. This will prove to be interesting!

This episode opens on a familiar sight for long time Macross fans. We are back on Mayan Island with Sara Nome, Shin Kudo, and Mao Nome… excerpt, they don’t quite look the same as they did when they helped U.N. forces save the world more than fifty years before Frontier’s present day. Shin looks a little different this time around, Sara’s hair is orange instead black, and Mao’s hair is green instead of purple. A closer look reveals that we’re not seeing the real Shin, and that Sara and Mao are being played by Miranda Meilin and Ranka Lee! We cut to a movie theater where Ranka is watching a movie version of Macross Zero that the Frontier fleet has apparently produced.

We skip to a few weeks earlier and see that the Frontier fleet is gearing up for the production of a movie called “Bird Human” based on the actual events that happened some fifty years prior. We learn that Ranka is going to be in the film, but as a background character credited only as “Mayan Girl A”. Despite that, Ranka is excited to be a part of the movie. When she reaches the shooting location, an island on one of Frontier’s smaller pill-shaped ships, she is surprised to find most of the SMS crew members are present at the filming. Apparently, SMS is lending its Valkyries as stand-ins for the prototype VF-0 fighters that the U.N. forces fielded back then.

Ranka soon comes across Miranda Meilin who warns her not to ruin her movie. Sheryl is also present, since her songs are going to be used in the film. Miranda flocks to Sheryl’s side in an attempt to introduce herself, but Sheryl sidesteps the Miss Macross winner in order to speak to Ranka. She is glad to see Ranka continuing to advance her career. Ranka is so happy to have Sheryl’s praise that she doesn’t even notice Alto standing nearby until Sheryl points him out. Embarrassingly, the movie’s director who Sheryl had just been talking to recognizes Alto from his Kabuki days where he played a popular princess. The director has his assistant beg Alto to be in the movie, much to Alto’s dismay. 

A little later, we see that the actor playing Shin has refused to do the movie’s big underwater scene because it’s not a part of his contract. Alto agrees to be the actor’s stunt double as a favor to Ranka, after Elmo gets the director to agree to give Ranka a bigger part if Alto could be convinced to play a role, any role, in the movie. It seems that Alto was so well known that he still carries a significant amount of weight and influence in the acting world! 

Sheryl, Ranka, and Luca have a conversation off to the side where Sheryl informs Ranka about Alto’s past popularity. Sad that she is the last to know about Alto’s past, Ranka hikes off on her own to a scenic spot up on the island’s cliffs. There, she sings Aimo to comfort herself and is unknowingly spotted by the director who had earlier gone off to fish while the dispute with Shin’s actor was worked out.

Elsewhere, we see Leon having a meeting with a strange informant who gives him new information on Purple 1 and the Vajra. In return, the mysterious informant seems to want more purple crystals that look a lot like the main portion of Sheryl’s earrings. 

Back at Ranka’s scenic cliff, a large, bulked up Hydra approaches and attacks. Alto, who was nearby looking for Ranka, comes to her aid, but they are both knocked down by the Hydra. It charges them, but suddenly the pilot of Purple 1 jumps in the way and protects Ranka and Alto by intercepting the Hydra’s bite with his arm. He fends off the Hydra by ultimately cutting it in half after a tense fight. We find out that this pilot is a cyborg named Brera Stern before he quickly leaves.

Alto carries Ranka back to the mock Mayan village where Elmo is waiting for Ranka with “ultra super big news.” Apparently, the director liked her and her song so much that he wants her to play Mao in the place of an actress that the rogue Hydra either injured or killed. Even more excitingly, the director also wants to use Aimo as Sara and Mao’s legendary song of the wind! At first, Alto is thrilled for Ranka, but then he remembers that he signed on to do the underwater stunt work… which includes a kissing scene with the actress playing Mao… which will now be Ranka! 

Despite the great opportunity it would be to play Mao, Ranka does not immediately accept the offer. She can’t get over the acting advice Alto gave her earlier. That to act, she needs to really understand and become the character she is playing. Ranka admits to Bobby that she does not understand the crush Mao had on Shin, or what Mao felt as she watched her older sister fall in love with Shin. Bobby takes pity on Ranka, noting that it’s obvious that she has never really fallen in love before. 

Further up the beach, Sheryl teases Alto about his upcoming kissing scene with Ranka. Alto says he is ready to play the scene, but he feels bad for Ranka because it is a much bigger and tougher decision for her. Besides, Alto says, a kiss is not a big deal. But then Sheryl surprises him by surging forward and giving him a long kiss. Afterwards, Alto is stunned and can hardly put two words together until Sheryl breaks out into laughter. Her kiss was mostly just her putting on an act to prove to Alto that maybe kisses weren’t as meaningless to him as he claimed. 

Down on the beach, Ranka is shocked to see Sheryl and Alto’s kiss, but at the same time, she finally understands the jealousy that Mao felt back then. Newly determined, Ranka marches over to the director and accepts his offer to become Mao. 

Alto and Ranka perform the underwater scene and the kiss. We are also treated to the end of the movie where Ranka, playing Mao, sings Aimo in order to catch Shin’s damaged Valkyrie and send him racing towards the stars after Sara who had been whisked away moments before by the movie’s titular alien doomsday weapon. (Go watch Macross Zero to see that happen.) 

Back in the movie theater, we see that Ranka has been attending the debut of “Bird Human”. After Miranda Meilin takes her bow as the film’s lead actress, the spotlights light up Ranka in the front row of the audience. Sheryl is there encouraging Ranka to stand and then the director himself, who never once spoke a word out loud during the movie’s filming, personally offers his hand to Ranka. He leads her up onto the stage and tells her out loud that even though she was an unknown before, now her legend is about to begin!

Specific Scenes I Loved: 

• Every scene that is taken from Macross Zero. This episode was such a nostalgia trip! I especially liked that even the commercial break graphic was a scene from the shoot of “Bird Human” instead of a piece of random Frontier character art like it normally is.  
• Ranka’s long period of indecision on the beach. Her fears and lack of understanding about Mao’s feelings are a really well done character moment. 
• The scene where Ranka is led triumphantly on stage by the director after the film’s debut. It is such a powerful scene, and it looks like it will be a big, life changing moment for Ranka. 

Episode Impressions: 

Where to even start? We’ve already gotten some pretty direct callbacks to past Macross works in Macross Frontier, but this episode blows them all away! For those who haven’t seen Macross Zero, this episode literally paints Frontier characters into some of its key scenes. Things like most of the background artwork and even some of the background characters are literally untouched and look exactly like they did in Macross Zero. And that’s awesome. Macross Zero was made about six years before Macross Frontier and has excellent writing and animation. It’s the only other work in the Macross franchise that I whole heartedly endorse. (Though Macross Plus is pretty good too!)

Even more awesome is the way Frontier uses the story of Sara, Mao, and Shin to enhance our understanding of Sheryl, Ranka, and Alto. The way Sheryl teases Alto but also is respectful of his decision to stop acting is very insightful on Sheryl’s part. Then there’s the way Alto puts aside his grievances with his family and his past in order to help out Ranka. Knowing what we know about Alto and his tendency to jump to anger whenever anyone mentions his family or acting career, what he did was very significant on his part. And then Ranka, of course, looks like she is about to become a major star! I know I listed it above, but that final scene where she gets asked on stage is one of my favorite scenes in all of Macross Frontier. The music and that final shot are just perfect. 

In addition to all that, this episodes also manages to give a name and a bit of motivation to the mysterious pilot of Purple 1. It’s interesting that his decision to save Ranka and Alto is frowned upon by his mysterious handler. 

Next Episode: Missing Birthday

If I had to guess, this episode will be about Ranka trying to cope with her newfound stardom and her lack of free time to hang out with Alto and the others.

We open to a very interesting scene. Alto appears to have grappled the purple Valkyrie and is holding it steady in order for Michael to snipe it. Michael, though, seems to be having a hard time committing to the shot. And in between them is Klan in her badly damaged Queadluun that appears to have its legs and arm ripped off and its front hatch blown away so we can see her exposed to space in her spacesuit!

After the opening, we cut back a few hours or days to a Sheryl promotional shoot that is annoying Alto by taking up his precious flying time. Michael, being the flirt that he always is, begins hitting on Grace who appears unsure how to handle it until Michael tell her his name. She stiffens up and then tells Michael that she is sorry for what happened to his sister. This surprises Michael and knocks him straight out of his flirtations. Later, on a mission, Alto is nagging on some of Michael’s recent decisions, but Michael is still caught up on Grace’s words about his sister.

When a Vajra attacks a transport that Alto, Michael, and Luca are flying escort for, the three fall back into their normal roles. Alto closes in to attack, Luca flies recon, and Michael sets up to snipe the enemy once Alto immobilizes it. Except this time, instead of being cool and confident, Michael still has Grace’s words about his sister ringing in his ears. He get preoccupied just for a moment and fires his shot too late. Instead of nailing the Vajra, he clips Alto’s Valkyrie instead. The two were already arguing with each other, and now, Alto straight up accuse Michael of hitting hitting him on purpose.

Back on Frontier, a meeting of military officials is taking place. They have discovered a Vajra nest ahead of Frontier’s planned route and organize a raiding party to destroy it before the Vajra can again attack the Frontier fleet. But, unknown to everyone at the meeting, Grace is watching in via the cameras on their laptops. She seems to be taking her hacking of government lines a lot farther than she first did back during episode 2.

After returning from their escort mission, Michael and Alto trade blows after Alto continues to demand answers about why Michael missed his shot. While patching up Alto after the fight, Canaria, SMS’s doctor, notes that like Alto, Michael has his own demons to fight and his own reasons for joining SMS. We cut to Michael outside the fleet in his Valkyrie practicing sniper shots. With every shot he takes we see a brief flashback of traumatic times in his past. A graveyard and him and his sister as little more than children standing in front of their parent’s grave. A still young Michael chasing after his sister after she had joined the military. His sister in trouble and on trial in a court room. And finally, his sister bleeding and possibly dead in a chair with what appear to be one or more gunshot wounds. Clearly, something very bad happened to her!

When Michael goes to reload his sniper rifle he notices that Klan in her large form has come out in a spacesuit to talk to him. He is annoyed that she is there and teases her about the physical immaturity of her smaller form to which she pulls back and slaps the heck out of his Valkyrie before angrily pushing off into space leaving Michael to himself once more.

We get a brief, amusing scene of Alto talking on the phone with Sheryl. Later, while Alto is inspecting the damage to his Valkyrie, Klan approaches him in order to talk about what is bothering Michael.

Elsewhere, Ranka is handing out physical copies of her first original song “Cat Diary” at a fancy street side booth. Elmo is nearby with Bobby, Macross Quarter’s pilot, who apparently helped design the booth. Bobby wonders why Ranka is being promoted in such a low tech fashion. Elmo replies that all of the normal, high tech things they’ve tried like websites have gotten hacked almost immediately. Across the way, Ranka spots that mysterious Valkyrie pilot once more, but he takes a call and quickly disappears from view.

Back in space, SMS appears to be leading that raiding force designated to clear out the Vajra nest. Alto and Michael are still at odds with each other, but Ozma pairs them together anyway to try and force them to get over it. We also see the mysterious Valkyrie pilot launch from Frontier and get orders under the callsign “Purple 1.” He is assigned to destroy the nest as well, but is also given orders to prevent SMS from retrieving any Vajra samples. The voice addressing him is female and sounds somewhat familiar.

Klan spots the Vajra nesting in an abandoned N.U.N.S. warship and SMS moves to attack. Before they can fully engage, Purple 1 swoops in and shoots down most of the defending Vajra before engaging Klan in combat. It’s almost as if he is toying with her. Klan puts up a good fight and very nearly takes out the purple Valkyrie but an unluckily blocked shot from her heavy cannon saves the enemy Valkyrie. Purple 1 reengages Klan and nearly takes her out before Alto and Michael can intervene.

As usual, Alto charges in to close quarters combat while Michael sets up to snipe. Like with the Vajra earlier, Alto manages to pin the purple Valkyrie. He lets Michael know he knows what happened to Michael’s sister and he urges Michael to surpass his sister and carry on her legacy of never missing a shot. We flash back to Klan telling Alto about what happened to Jessica. Apparently she had been having an affair with her superior officer but on the day he called off their affair she slipped up and accidentally killed him in a bout of friendly fire. She was court marshaled for it, but took her own life before a verdict could be delivered.

We’re back to the start of the episode now, and Michale is finally able to line up a good shot. He scores a near direct hit on the purple Valkyrie which flees, but not before accomplishing its mission of destroying the Vajra nest. Back on Frontier, Michael pays respects to his sister at her grave, then he and Alto set aside their differences and head to class as friends thanks to Klan’s intervention.

Specific Scenes I Loved:

• Michael and Klan’s encounter outside of Frontier while Michael is practicing sniping. That his crass teasing of Klan is met with the mother of all giant slaps is just awesome. It’s also apparent in that scene that some of what Michael said about being with Klan got to her a bit. Maybe she actually has some feelings for him that she is not easily able to act on? The tears coming from her eyes as she pushed away certainly seems to back that up.
• Alto’s brief phone call with Sheryl. Alto gets in a couple of good zingers as he makes light of Sheryl not having attended much school before. I got an even bigger laugh when she asks him if her promotion as a Valkyrie pilot taking up arms for her homeland would have impact to which he replies with something like “Yeah… for its stupidity.” The best part is Sheryl takes his comment in stride. She doesn’t quite agree with him in a “fair enough” manner, but she also doesn’t argue the point much, either.
• Klan and Alto’s battles with Purple 1. Klan almost gets in a good, clever shot and we see that Alto has improved a lot from his training days when Klan could easily fight him to a standstill. Alto even manages to shoot off one of Purple 1’s legs using the smoke from his missile barrage to cover his attack!

Episode Impressions:

This episode was a nice return to form. Ranka didn’t get a whole lot of screen time, but the conflict between Alto and Michael had some real weight behind it once we were finally told what happened. Also, Alto and Michael have been bickering quite a bit over the last few episodes. I’m hopeful they’ll tone it down now thanks to Michael working this out of his system.

It’s nice that the mystery of the purple Valkyrie is being revealed fairly quickly. I was a little afraid it and its pilot would remain in the shadows for several more episodes, but we’ve already seem some limited part of his objectives and have even heard the person sending him orders. That voice sounded a bit like Grace to me, but I don’t think there’s any real way to confirm that yet.

Finally, the combat was really good once again. There were a couple of reused shots, but most of it was new animation that was easy to follow and that looked really impressive.

Next Episode: Legend of Zero

Once again, it’s somewhat hard to tell what’s going on based on the scenes alone, but the name and narration gives everything way. It appears that the Frontier fleet is shooting a movie recreation of Macross Zero, the previous entry in the Macross franchise that, in real life, first debuted about six years before Macross Frontier. This should be good! (Or terrible! We’ll see!)