I’m a big fan of stories and storytelling and during my life, I have consumed a ton of fiction in the forms of books, television, movies, and video games. If I were forced to pick the one that has most influenced who I am, the answer would probably be “Macross”. Some of my earliest memories are getting home from kindergarden at my grandmother’s house in time to watch the “Robotech” adaptation that aired beginning in 1985. I have always loved the Macross saga, and I’d sooner purge memory of mainstream staples like “Star Wars”, “Transformers”, and “Lord of the Rings” than give up Macross.
Over the years, a variety of sequels have been produced that follow the original 1982 story. Some have been pretty good (“Macross Plus”), others have been mediocre (everything in the Robotech universe post-Macross), while some sequels have been atrocious (Macross II”). It was against this backdrop (great original story, mixed sequels), that I began watching the latest series, “Macross Frontier”.
“Macross Frontier” was produced as part of the 25th anniversary of the original series. The story centers upon a human colonization fleet heading to the center of the Milky Way. En route to a new home, the fleet encounters a new race of alien adversaries and is forced to deal with obstacles from both within and without the the fleet.
Since plot summaries and full episodes are available online (legally & illegally), I’ll leave the plot summaries there. However, I did want to highlight the some of the things that I liked and disliked in the series:
Likes:
1. Unlike previous efforts, “Frontier” captured the spirit and vibe of the original series early on. To be fair, it did adopt a very similar plot structure to the original series (reluctant young pilot becomes an ace, pop music saves the day, a love triangle ensues), but the series deviated from the original structure in sufficient ways to form its own identity.
2. One of the core elements of the Macross series is the importance of music and culture. Consequently, the series has always had a strong pop-music bent. As much as I love to despise her, there is something catchy in the original Lynn Minmay tunes. “Frontier” continues with this theme and introduces two characters who become vehicles delivering for catchy pop songs. The music in “Frontier” certainly surpasses the music in the sequels, and is second only to the original.
3. The VF-25 Messiah is a really cool piece of sci-fi technology. I especially like how it was a homage to the original VF-1 Valkyrie.
4. The writers did a good job showing each character’s journey. A great example is how they handled Sheryl Nome’s arc. She first appears as a egotistical pop star, and goes on to grow into one of the more compelling characters of the series.
5. Unlike recent shows like “The Shadow Chronicles”, “Frontier” used cel-shaded animation to give it a classic cartoon look and feel.
6. Pineapple cake. (Just watch the show.)
Dislikes:
1. The ending is resolved abruptly using a series of last minute revelations and deus ex machina. The series had a rich buildup to the end and I think that the final resolution didn’t do the rest of the series justice.
2. While there were call-backs to previous Macross characters (Ozma Lee :: Roy Focker, Alto :: Hikaru Ichijyo, Ranka Lee: Lynn Minmay), there were no compelling counterparts to Misa Hayase or Bruno Global.
3. Copyright issues prevent the series from being more widely available in the US.
Overall, I enjoyed the series immensely and would rank it first in my list of Macross adaptations. It doesn’t surpass the original series, but it is better than the prior sequels by a good margin.
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