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If you look closer, you can draw other parallels. Nausicaa: Doroks maim a small Ohmu so that they can use it as bait to draw the main herd into smashing the Torumekians. Macross F: Galaxy provokes the Vajra to attack Frontier. Nausicaa: Nausicaa becomes soaked in blue Ohmu blood trying to protect the small Ohmu from going into a lake of acid. Macross F: Mikhail becomes soaked in blue bug juice trying to protect Klan. Nausicaa: Noble young princess has a mysterious way of communicating with giant bugs. Macross F: Naive young idol has a mysterious way of communicating with giant bugs. Nausicaa: Heroine has pet fox-squirrel Macross F: Heroine has pet weird green three-eyed squirrel/Vajra larva Nausicaa: Heroine on quest to get humanity to co-exist with the fukai and its inhabitants Macross F: Heroine on quest to get humanity to co-exist with the Vajra

This is an interesting comment. I wonder if feelings about exterminating the Zentraedi can even hold a candle to those about exterminating the Vajra? I'd say the Vajra have done a lot less against humanity than the Zentraedi yet they have generated much more hatred. In another thread I remember someone half-joking about how hokey it would be if the writers were trying to portray the Vajra as being misunderstood. I'm not sure what is wrong with this approach though. Saying all the Vajra are evil is a good way to ease your conscience about killing them, but it's just xenophobia. Outside of mathematics I would say that there are no absolutes. People into religion, politics, and anime would like you to belive so, but they are mistaken

To be a true traitor, she would have to gather a bunch of Vajra, and send them to attack Frontier. Wait, someone has already done that already though... I wonder who that could be? Seems to me when it comes to love & war, viewpoints become polarized to the point where the truth cannot be seen.

This is one of the common criticisms about Ranka. My question is: responsibility to what? To appear in a parade or sing at a wake? I think she's earned more than a pass on these trivial matters after helping to save everyones collective rear ends.

You also see another sleeping next to Ranka when she's trying to promote the seven-colored carrots. I hadn't noticed them at all. I guess I'll have to re-watch the mall episodes.

It seemed that pain she experienced here was not as strong as when the Vajra mothership was destroyed, or maybe she was braced for it this time. In any event, it would suck to realize that something you loved would be used to make you a judas goat. There are obviously some who disagree with this, and call Ranka a "traitor" for wanting to take Ai-kun back to the Vajra, but she also feels that she has betrayed the Vajra by using her power to call them to their deaths. It seems to me though, that this connection to the Vajra is the source of her power over them in the first place. If she could not connect with them, her song would be useless against them.

If "the government" let the population know what Vajra larvae looked like, maybe they would have known about Ai-kun's existence. Ranka was not the only one to have ever seen Ai-kun. Also, why didn't they ever ask how the heck a hydra got on board as well? Sounds like their animal control department needs better staffing.

Ummm, have you been watching the show? She's already contributed to saving the fleet two or three times already.

What harm did Ai-kun ever do to anybody? Even though it was never stated explicitly, I think it's obvious that Ranka realizes that she is communicating with the Vajra at some level. She is taking a page from the Nausicaa playbook, and is going on a quest to see if she can use her powers to soothe the raging bugs that Galaxy set on them.

I would hazzard that humans don't macronize because they are not set up to function in macronized form. Zentraedi would have to have pretty much superhuman reflexes to compete with human pilots due to the fact that it takes that much longer for a signal from their brain to travel to their muscles. Macronized humans would have really slow reaction times and probably be like giant dojikko, tripping over cars and flattening buildings.

I think Nene is the second Pixie. The third Pixie is always the drummer.

I think the only one who bothered to examine why Ranka's singing worked was Grace, and I doubt she wants anyone else to know of her findings. Everyone else probably assumed that it worked in the same way as singing did against the Zentraedi.

I kind of see that as well. Ranka has obviously been sheltered her entire life, and in mo-e fashion, people like Ozma, Nanase, Alto, and Brera feel protective of her. Her development would be to gain some psychological strength (which she has shown on occasion), and reverse roles to become the protector instead. I think that Sheryl has been largely sheltered as well, after being found by Grace. However, I imagine she was probably "raised" by Grace, which could not have been very fun, but would probably have required her to grow up (and build barriers) real fast.

Don't forget to blame Alto and Sheryl as well then. They were the one's who pushed her to start singing during the attack. I still don't get why there is so much Ranka-hatred. The writers/character designers obviously did not have it in mind for the viewer to hate her. Many of the criticisms leveled against Ranka have been seen in other characters, but nobody ever mentions a thing about it. Maybe it has something to do with mo-e hatred, but that says more about the viewer than the character...

That's true, but you're in denial if you don't think Ranka looks and acts 12, even though she's suppose to be 16. Even Mao in Macross Zero looked older and more mature than Ranka does. While it's true that Ranka's character looks young, I don't agree necessarily that she acts 12. If you want to make that argument, you would have to say that Sheryl is exactly the same. During the previous episode, I couldn't help but think how Sheryl's drama words and actions are just like my 6 year old daughter's when she can't get her way. "Why Ranka and not me? Boo hoo hoo. Instead of getting a second opinion on my condition, I'm going to leave the hospital and stagger around in the rain even though I'm near death. That will show you!" The difference though, is that because her character design is more mature, her actions are perceived in a totally different manner (except for by Grace, who I think characterized Sheryl's actions perfectly).

Onii-chan is also used in a more generic sense of a "big brother" type. Which is how I see Ranka using the term. Aniki is often used the same way, but definitely not as an "affectionate" form.

Except in the first episode when she runs off during the Vajra attack despite Alto's remonstration. She didn't really seem to give a damn until she got news that Galaxy had been attacked. That little episode was probably spread in the Frontier blogsphere with images from a video phone, which would account for the snide comments by those Frontier girls when they saw Sheryl's disks in the bargain bin.

I meant that Grace was using Ranshe as a test subject without Ranshe's (or the other team members') knowledge.

What better way to have the subject [of illegal human subject testing] available in the lab for study? Nobody would wonder why Ranshe was in the lab. Grace: "Hey Ranshe, we need some more control blood samples today, do you think you could provide some?" Ranshe: "What, again? Why don't you provide some yourself!" Grace: "You know I don't have the right blood type..." Ranshe: "Oh, fine!" Grace [snapping latex glove in place]: "Kiri kiri kiri kiri kiri" This would be a possibility as well, but I like the first one better because it would explain Ranka better.

This is my theory: Ranshe Mei = Fairy 1. Secretly infected by Grace with the v-type virus as part of her [own?] private experiments. Ranka was born with the v-type DNA inserted in her genome (transmitted from the virus in mom as opposed to being exogenously introduced from an outside source). When Ranshe starts exhibiting the symptoms of the infection, Mao et al. start to trace the source of the infection. Grace realizing that the jig is up, engineers the destruction of the 117th Research Fleet. Grace escapes and goes on to produce Fairies 2-9. In the end our heroes will foil the plans of Grace & Co. and being indestructable Grace will move on to pursue even more grand and evil schemes.

I'm not sure if anyone's mentioned this yet, but HLJ has a photo of painted prototypes taken at the Tokyo Toy Show.