Macross Frontier

So, after the Dragon Ball marathon, I believe I fulfilled my duty to the legendary anime, but now I think it’s time to move on. Now I know you’re waiting for a shitty anime review, but I want to talk about another favorite. The reason for this is that it’s all you would expect, and more, from a sci-fi and action anime. With this one, Animenerdz opinions and mine differ because of our different tastes. As you can see I am a more mecha and sci-fi fan. But I think that with this one, you don’t have to be a fan of the genre to truly enjoy it, and see why it is so acclaimed. While it doesn’t offer the same experience as Code Geass, cause it doesn’t have a story as amazing as Code Geass, or many twist and turns in the plot, but it does deliver a good experience. The plot is that after being threatened by extinction at the hands of alien invaders called the Zentradi, humanity undertook the task of guaranteeing itself a future by launching fleets of colony ships into space. On Macross Frontier, one such fleet, high school student Saotome Alto's life is changed forever: the fleet is suddenly attacked by unidentified creatures while he is performing aerial stunts for a concert by the wildly popular idol Sheryl. Alto quickly finds himself in the cockpit of a new-model fighter struggling to protect Ranka Lee, a young girl he met only hours earlier, from the invaders' swath of destruction. Noting his performance during this incident, the S.M.S. Skull Squadron private military company invites Alto to join their organization, where he continues protecting his friends and Macross Frontier.
So, as you can see the setting is good for some nice action. One complaint ( one that you will frequently notice in my mecha anime reviews ) is that the main hero, the awesome pilot, IS A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT. You know it’s nice when you see one or two anime in which the hero that pilots the badass, newest model of mecha suit is just a kid but COME ON ! How many anime do you need with such idea. Well we will talk about that later on but right now I want to praise this one. First of all, let’s start with the opening theme. Just by listening it you can already tell that the musical score in this anime is freaking AWESOME. Every song is a treat and it always fits the mood perfectly, and always helps change it. The character cast is big, it has a lot of variety, with examples of different social status and occupations. Most importantly, each and every character acts the part he is supposed to act. A president will feel like he really is a president, a general will really feel like he is a general and a soldier will act the part. Although I have to say, some of them live some awkward drama, that really don’t make much sense. For example, the main character, Alto, is struggling to figure out if he did the right thing by becoming a pilot instead of some kind of Japanese theater actor. WHAT THE FUCK ! Are you serious ? Are you really wondering if you should have remained an actor and frequently play female roles ? What is there to decide ? I mean honestly if I come up to you and ask ,,Would like to play transvestite roles, and make out with men, or would you rather pilot the newest most badass fighter that can transform into a humanoid robot suit ? I think the choice is obvious. Yet he ponders about it like FOREVER. Also there is a lot of drama going on. For example both Ranka Lee and Sheryl fall in love with Alto, yet he can’t chose one of them. Well that’s easy, just propose a threesome. Just kidding, but the point is that sometimes the drama feels unnecessary and a bit dumb. But it doesn’t spoil the mood. Also I like the enemy because they offer a sense of true and imminent danger, and they are really hard to beat, which heightens the suspense. The action here is more based on epic space battles, but there are moments with more personal confrontations, without any fighters or robots, just a your two feet and a big gun. The best example is episode 20 which is also the most dramatic one. The battles are epic and the visual effects certainly are a eye pleasing. Animation-wise, Macross Frontier is certainly better that it’s predecessors, but I think they aren’t quite the best I’ve seen ( personally I think the best are in Code Geass and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig ). I mean they are good, and use a lot of coloring and laser-show effects, and the character models are beautiful, but there are times when they lose some of it’s sharpness. It’s like the graphics devolve a couple o years for a few seconds, and then they come back. These are minor gliches, and they aren’t really noticeable, but they are still there. The sound department is flawless. I already commented on the musical score, how it is one of the best out of all the anime I watched, and the sound effects are realistic. Voice work is good, it fits every character nicely and the singing steals the highlight. Overall, this is one of the best sci-fi, outer space anime in the market ( well at least presently cause you never know what might come up ). Also I would like to point out the fact that this is ONE of the best not THE best, so I’m still looking for that one, but if someone of you might know, please write it in a comment so that you might see that anime review.