Realist_Classic

Wow, I have to chime in on the awesome scans. I totally dig Minmay's character design.

That's a great concert, thanks a bunch for uploading the video. May'n is great live.

Sheryl, easily. Probably one of the more interesting characters in recent anime, and really carried the series for me. Also, she got all the good songs in Frontier

I'm thinking there will be a Season 2--you just don't go about investing manpower and hours designing a whole colony fleet just to use it as a place-holder, unless Kawamori and Co. made significant midcourse adjustments to the plot.

That's pretty insane, if true. Such a showdown suggest a whole bunch of developments (i.e. body count) between now and the end, judging by Ranka's decision.

Ah, it looks like Alto took off his jacket at some point after consoling Sheryl. Implications, implications.

Not so much Ranka-hate in my case, but the pacing was just off and I was a bit bothered by the fan service. A week ago we saw Michel go out like a hero and its followed up by a lolwhut Klan in a strapped-on Valkyrie suit Very distracting. A lot of bad things happened (the loss of Island 3 for once), but I didn't get a sense of the emotional gravity. Everything seemed to be overshadowed by Ranka's departure. I felt that the writers could have done a better job portraying Rank's dilemma between Alto and her responsibility with the Vajra. I would've preferred a little more time on portraying Ranka's inner turmoil. The reason for her departure seemed all be-muddled by the end of the episode.

Nice, great to see a new instrument playing a Macross Frontier tune! Not that I'm tired of the talented flute, violin, guitar and bass players who have done similar things. I really do appreciate it when talented fans share them on youtube.

This was the first episode to really disappoint (at least for me) because it failed to be more than a sum of its parts. Really quite unfortunate, given how much tension was built up in the previous one and how precious little time is left until the end. There was so much going for this episode, but the writers had to cram so many elements in. The overall pacing didn't help much to improve viewing pleasure, either.

Well, let's just say that I believe in equal opportunity

Thanks, ackem. Now as a Sheryl fan, I'm feeling somewhat ambivalent. If Kawamori hasn't altered his original intention, it seems like Ranka is going to "win" the love triangle by default.

Thank goodness for that change. Not that it matters, but it makes me wonder when they made that decision--was it before or after the first airing of the deculture episode. Sheryl seemed like a whole different person before Episode 3.

Ozma - pineapple salad connoisseur, fits the big brother archetype who is most likely to take one for the team Brera - will most likely sacrifice himself for Ranka's sake if they are not united happily as siblings Nanase - most likely dies shielding Ranka from some kind of danger One from the Pixie Squadron - I think the story can use more Zentradi deaths Grace - most likely to die multiple times (but actually invincible, with her AI will rising from the ashes like the Terminator-keikaku doori...)

Yeeesss, Episode 5. Most excellent choice. Having seen Episode 12, it's almost tied with Episode 5 in my book. It was heart-wrenching seeing Sheryl having to suffer, but then watching Ranka charging in with speakers maxed-out balanced that out somewhat. The episode would have been fine without the cliffhanger, which took away from Alto and Ranka's alone-time. However, I have a feeling that the writers will want to have Alto and Sheryl share the sky together later in the story.

Hippocows. Definitely the hippocows. Of course, there was also the minor additions such like (f*ckwin) character development and passable background music, but it was the above element which helped edge 'Star Date' (Episode 5) over the premiere, Episode 7 and Episode 10. I'm a Sheryl perv, but seeing Ranka level-up has me feeling giddy as well.

That is way too cool. Deculture! Go Maaya!

Triangler Diamond Crevasse (big margin in terms of playback count) What 'Bout My Star (both the Sheryl and Ranka versions; would make a decent mid-series OP if remixed) Sagittarius-9:00pm-Don't Be Late Aimo Honestly, there's not a single song in MF that I don't like, it's just these five are always stuck in my head

Thanks for scanning and sharing the artwork. Really funky and bizarre-looking designs. If anything, I now have greater appreciation for the sheer amount of creative energy and work behind MF's production.

Which RAW did you watch to make that screen capture? On mine (704x396), there was definitely movement before the glow.

Awesome episode, just wished I had a better quality RAW so that I can better enjoy the details of the battle.

Argh, voted too quickly, and didn't see the 'All of the Above' option and instead voted for characters. To be honest, I'm less emotionally bound to the franchise to begin, although having watched just about every series (with the exception of Macross 7). I really wasn't in a hurry to watch the first episode of Frontier when it came out late last year. Come to think of it, I was initially put off by the promotional previews because the imagery of Frontier seemed so---gaudy. So I almost dismissed the series entirely, thinking that it was going to be a show with an average story with lots of eye candy. I'm so glad that I was wrong. Six weeks in and I'm still looking forward to Thursday/Friday when the first raws come out. There's just something about the story, the characters, and the music (probably because I'm a big sucker for Yoko Kanno's work). The mecha is secondary for me, but so far, I liked the designs and the action sequences involving them have been well choreographed. The best aspect of Frontier turned out to be the futuristic world itself. So many little trivial, but interesting things ranging from the interactive cafe tables, the cellphones and other doodads. Eye candy to some extent, but it also reflects some detailed creative thinking to come up with those concepts, which I appreciate.

I have no idea what the per episode production costs for Frontier is, but I think it should be on par with Cowboy Bebop (per episode @¥20 million*) and Escaflowne (per episode @¥30 million*). *According to ANN Edit: Ack, I just re-read your post and of course, none of them came from last year. But maybe someone else will have better info.

Thanks for all the effort that's gone into scanning and translating. I like the direction in which the story is going, although I know I'm spoiling myself every time I visit this link.

After listening to both of the leaked songs, in my most humble opinion, Diamond Crevasse is my favorite original song from Frontier at the moment.