Macross Frontier Episode 4 Talkback Thread *READ 1st Post*

[kensei]

Questions:

1.) Has Ranka's memory of Ozma being a pilot in SMS gone? They mentioned she has selective amnesia or something.

2.) I thought everyone knows that SMS is a military provider. Its not a secret. Why the sign "SMS Shipping" on nyan nyan?

3.) Michael has elf ears. I wonder if he is part Zentran. And I wonder if he and Klan Klein have a love hate relationship.

1. Usually shutting it away is a coping mechanism that some use to get over the tragedy, or at least to manage.

2. Perhaps they have a cover up?

3. Hope not, I was waiting for Frontier to go via the SDF:Macross route and waiting for Mikhail to hook up with a Vajra female

[Zirdante]

Damn I want the song playing at 9:11.. Hope it is in the soundtrack.

[Kronnang Dunn]

I noticed something... The name of the fleet where Ranka was rescued by Ozma 11 years ago was "the 117th Large Scale RESEARCH Fleet". Could this mean that some kind of experiments took place on it? Could it be that... Ranka really... is a... human/zentradi/Vajra hybrid?

I know it sounds crazy, hehe... In fact, I hope this is not her real origin, since it destroys my previous series-connecting theory, hah...

Edited April 27, 2008 by Kronnang Dunn

[Heron]

I noticed something... The name of the fleet where Ranka was rescued by Ozma 11 years ago was "the 117th Large Scale RESEARCH Fleet". Could this mean that some kind of experiments took place on it? Could it be that... Ranka really... is a... human/zentradi/Vajra hybrid?

I know it sounds crazy, hehe... In fact, I hope this is not her real origin, since it destroys my previous series-connecting theory, hah...

It is a research fleet...It is possible that they expanded upon Dr. Hasford's and Aries Turner's research...

[Nexx Stalker]

while alto and klan klan were in a dogfight, the sms captain was saying "reminds of a certain someone i knew when i was young." who was he talking about?

The Captain is Hikaru (that's why he has a scar on his face) and he is referring to Max!!

Ok, just joking. It's referring probably to Ozma.

I had an Ozma/Obi Wan - Alto/Luke moment there. "He is reckless..." "So was I, if you remember."

Well, it looks more a "homage" to Robotech The Sentinels (for those of you who had the courage to actually watch it from beginning to end... I did...): the exact same scene (with more or less the same words, oincluding "reckless" and "reminds me etc.") occur when Max (Sterling) is talking to Rick Hunter after watching Jack Baker's flight simulation/test.

But of course this is ridiculous...

[Nexx Stalker]

And about the "throwing things at Ozma": behind the pan there's a VF25 "Alto" model (I could actually catch only the legs, but it's there)

[Elektrix]

It's kind of interesting that Ranka sang "My Boyfriend is a Pilot" rather than "Aimo" (what she sang to Alto at the end of Episode 3). To some degree I was expecting "Aimo" since the setup seemed to be that Alto was encouraging her to sing that song to others.

But I guess it might be too soon for the song to be used, assuming it might play a similar role as DYRL.

And if she had sung "Aimo", it seems hard to imagine she wouldn't have won "Miss Macross".

-Elektrix

[kensei]

And about the "throwing things at Ozma": behind the pan there's a VF25 "Alto" model (I could actually catch only the legs, but it's there)

That looks more like a figurine in a EX Gear.

[raymond]

It's kind of interesting that Ranka sang "My Boyfriend is a Pilot" rather than "Aimo" (what she sang to Alto at the end of Episode 3). To some degree I was expecting "Aimo" since the setup seemed to be that Alto was encouraging her to sing that song to others.

But I guess it might be too soon for the song to be used, assuming it might play a similar role as DYRL.

And if she had sung "Aimo", it seems hard to imagine she wouldn't have won "Miss Macross".

-Elektrix

Yup, great scene there. I would've liked to have seen the "Aimo" song too though I think the scriptwriters went with "Pilot" since it jives so well with the dogfight scene. Using Aimo would've been kind of wierd. I have a feeling they're reserving "Aimo" for something bigger. It seems that this time around, becoming a celebrity singer isn't going to be as easy as winning the Miss Macross contest and I have a feeling they're going to use that song when the proper time comes.

[kensei]

Miss Macross really is a beauty pageant anyway. Ranka was cute, whose talent is singing, but not the prettiest.

Maybe she'll do better if there is a Macross Frontier Idol.

[Shun]

Yup, great scene there. I would've liked to have seen the "Aimo" song too though I think the scriptwriters went with "Pilot" since it jives so well with the dogfight scene. Using Aimo would've been kind of wierd. I have a feeling they're reserving "Aimo" for something bigger. It seems that this time around, becoming a celebrity singer isn't going to be as easy as winning the Miss Macross contest and I have a feeling they're going to use that song when the proper time comes.

agree that it fits better with the dogfight scene.

also, it seems Leon had a hand in fixing the results of that contest, so it doesnt matter what songs she sang.

[Elektrix]

Yup, great scene there. I would've liked to have seen the "Aimo" song too though I think the scriptwriters went with "Pilot" since it jives so well with the dogfight scene. Using Aimo would've been kind of wierd. I have a feeling they're reserving "Aimo" for something bigger. It seems that this time around, becoming a celebrity singer isn't going to be as easy as winning the Miss Macross contest and I have a feeling they're going to use that song when the proper time comes.

Yeah, that's true, it really wouldn't have fit (either as a song to perform for Miss Macross, or as something to juxtapose with the dogfighting). And yeah, it would have been inconceivable to lose after singing it, so it does make sense it's being saved for something more important.

[Project Phoenix]

And about the "throwing things at Ozma": behind the pan there's a VF25 "Alto" model (I could actually catch only the legs, but it's there)

Can't tell from that angle but it looks suspiciously like the Nirvash.

[OmegaD3k]

Great Episode, from what I could tell. Too bad Shinsen Subs aren't doing this series, so I can't find an english sub which works..

What is everyone using to play these .MKV and .ASS files? I tried WindowsMedia - Didn't work, WinAmp - nope, VCL - didn't work either, Quicktime/RealPlayer - nope.

[Eej]

Great Episode, from what I could tell. Too bad Shinsen Subs aren't doing this series, so I can't find an english sub which works..

What is everyone using to play these .MKV and .ASS files? I tried WindowsMedia - Didn't work, WinAmp - nope, VCL - didn't work either, Quicktime/RealPlayer - nope.

Download and install CCCP and use either one of the players that comes with the package (Media Player Classic preferred) and you will be able to watch anything the fansubbing community throws at you, as long as you don't play around with the options without understanding what they do.

[Gubaba]

It's kind of interesting that Ranka sang "My Boyfriend is a Pilot" rather than "Aimo" (what she sang to Alto at the end of Episode 3). To some degree I was expecting "Aimo" since the setup seemed to be that Alto was encouraging her to sing that song to others.

But I guess it might be too soon for the song to be used, assuming it might play a similar role as DYRL.

And if she had sung "Aimo", it seems hard to imagine she wouldn't have won "Miss Macross".

-Elektrix

She didn't lose because of the song she sang, she lost because of the "talk" Leon had with the other judges...as someone mentioned earlier, if the Vajra are drawn to her singing, is it a smart idea to have her become the Macross 25's new idol?

[Duke Togo]

She didn't lose because of the song she sang, she lost because of the "talk" Leon had with the other judges...as someone mentioned earlier, if the Vajra are drawn to her singing, is it a smart idea to have her become the Macross 25's new idol?

Yeah, see, that doesn't work for me. We don't actually know its the singing itself they are drawn to. Also, they allowed Sheryl to come on board to close out her 3 month tour, and she seems to attract them as well. So they think its OK that Sheryl attracts them, but not Ranka? We don't even know if Ranka was amongst the top runners up. Out of all of the likely scenarios, the one that was the most plausible for me was that Leon did it because of Ozma's past relationship with Kathy. I am going to stick with that until I have more information to go on.

Leon could be a big fat cheat, too, and has been nailing the chick who won.

Edited April 27, 2008 by Duke Togo

[Beltane70]

Can't tell from that angle but it looks suspiciously like the Nirvash.

Nope, definitely not the Nirvash. The legs are all wrong.

[Zirdante]

Use media player classic.

[Gubaba]

Yeah, see, that doesn't work for me. We don't actually know its the singing itself they are drawn to. Also, they allowed Sheryl to come on board to close out her 3 month tour, and she seems to attract them as well. So they think its OK that Sheryl attracts them, but not Ranka? We don't even know if Ranka was amongst the top runners up. Out of all of the likely scenarios, the one that was the most plausible for me was that Leon did it because of Ozma's past relationship with Kathy. I am going to stick with that until I have more information to go on.

Leon could be a big fat cheat, too, and has been nailing the chick who won.

LEON MISHIMA: MACROSS 25'S TEH ÜBER-PIMP!!!

It's the haircut...drives women wild...

Okay, what do we know and what can we guess?

1. It certainly LOOKED like Leon changed the minds of at least two judges who were going to vote for Ranka.

2. It also looks like the Vajra are drawn to Ranka.

3. We know that SMS knows more about the Vajra than they're letting on.

4. If SMS knows about them, it seems reasonable to assume that NUNS knows about them, too.

Lots of assumptions, yes...but I think reasonable ones.

Still, I'm willing to WAFO. We'll see.

[Valkyrie addict]

wait...is Shinsen doing Frontier or not?? I was under the impression that subbing Frontier might take longer cause of all the singing, but the were still going to subb it

[Gubaba]

Well, it's still listed among their ongoing projects...

[Duke Togo]

LEON MISHIMA: MACROSS 25'S TEH ÜBER-PIMP!!!

It's the haircut...drives women wild...

Okay, what do we know and what can we guess?

1. It certainly LOOKED like Leon changed the minds of at least two judges who were going to vote for Ranka.

2. It also looks like the Vajra are drawn to Ranka.

3. We know that SMS knows more about the Vajra than they're letting on.

4. If SMS knows about them, it seems reasonable to assume that NUNS knows about them, too.

Lots of assumptions, yes...but I think reasonable ones.

Still, I'm willing to WAFO. We'll see.

2. To her, or to something about her? I'll go with the latter (until further notice).

3. Eh, you're looking at it cockeyed. There is more to the Varja than Kawamori and Co have shown us, for sure.

4. This is made clear in episode 4, the UN covered up the attack on the research fleet, calling it "fold dislocation".

[Elektrix]

She didn't lose because of the song she sang, she lost because of the "talk" Leon had with the other judges...as someone mentioned earlier, if the Vajra are drawn to her singing, is it a smart idea to have her become the Macross 25's new idol?

Ahh; I have to admit I didn't pick up on that. I was kind of wondering what Leon was saying to the other judge and why Cathy was scowling at him about it.

But surely Leon or anyone else doesn't know yet that they are being drawn to Ranka? I can buy that Leon might have have his own agenda about who wins, but it doesn't make sense to me that they might already know about Ranka.

[Chronocidal]

Stupid, idiotic, impossible theory time.

K, Ranka's 1/4 zentraedi, her voice has weird powers, etc. etc...

*pause for effect*

So she could be Basara and Mylene's kid, right? *ducks flying vegetables and other assorted blunt objects*

As ridiculous as that may be, it fits in a few more ways than I care to think about... if the research team was actually conducting experiments in deep space about spiritia, and just happened to accidentally attract the vajra...

As much as I hope this isn't the case, I do think its at least vaguely possible. That would also explain Ranka's weird abilities.

And actually, aside from any possible relation, Leon's supposed rigging of the votes does make a lot of sense from the military side of things... They have her blood sample, and probably know she's a survivor of that lost research group. If she ever got into the limelight and revealed that there were survivors of that incident, the military would be in a serious pickle. You kinda don't just accidentally survive when your fleet blows up or gets lost from a bad fold. Any proof of survivors kills the current military alibi.

Edited April 27, 2008 by Chronocidal

[raymond]

Yeah, see, that doesn't work for me. We don't actually know its the singing itself they are drawn to. Also, they allowed Sheryl to come on board to close out her 3 month tour, and she seems to attract them as well. So they think its OK that Sheryl attracts them, but not Ranka? We don't even know if Ranka was amongst the top runners up. Out of all of the likely scenarios, the one that was the most plausible for me was that Leon did it because of Ozma's past relationship with Kathy. I am going to stick with that until I have more information to go on.

Same here. You'd think that after all the time that Sheryl's been singing on the Galaxy fleet or the countless times Ranka has sung while on the ship that the Vajra would have attacked a long time ago. However, its also undeniable that during important scenes, the Vajra are shown to definitely notice Sheryl and Ranka when their in the midst of singing. Add the fact that sound isn't supposed to be carried through space and whatever is attracting the aliens just might not be the physical act of singing but rather the persons themselves or something else entirely. Sound energy? I sure hope not.

Leon could be a big fat cheat, too, and has been nailing the chick who won.

With that hair? I seriously doubt it. The fact that he's with Kathy still surprises me to this day!

[Duke Togo]

So she could be Basara and Mylene's kid, right? *ducks flying vegetables and other assorted blunt objects*

Which means they are both dead, which isn't such a bad thing. But no, as discussed before, people need to stop equating Macross Frontier with Macross 7. Its a new series, a new story.

I'm still not even convinced its the singing that is attracting the Varja.

[Ork_dreadnought]

Stupid, idiotic, impossible theory time.

K, Ranka's 1/4 zentraedi, her voice has weird powers, etc. etc...

*pause for effect*

So she could be Basara and Mylene's kid, right? *ducks flying vegetables and other assorted blunt objects*

Let's hope not. The characters deserve better than being appearently killed off screen, despite my own intense dislike of Basara. (Hikaru, Misa and Minmay are just missing, before someone makes the comparison)

I liked episode 4. The story is ticking over nicely, the combat was absolutely beautiful and the comedy was welcome. If we can get some background on the NUNS situation next episode, I'll be very happy indeed.

Edited April 27, 2008 by Ork_dreadnought

[Effect]

Okay finally going to take a look at Macross Frontier after seeing how long I could hold off on it. Didn't last to long . Anyway since 4 episodes have been released so far any determination as to which group seems to have the best subs (another reason I was holding off)?

Thanks.

PS.

On a different note I have a question. I have no clue as to where it should it be asked so I'll just put it here as it isn't a huge issue but figure it wouldn't hurt to ask. . I plan on putting the episodes on DVD so I don't have to watch on the computer all the time. Anyone have a guess as how many episodes on average one might be able to fit on a single layer dvd due to the size of MF's episodes? Anyone try this yet?

Edited April 27, 2008 by Effect

[Duke Togo]

Same here. You'd think that after all the time that Sheryl's been singing on the Galaxy fleet or the countless times Ranka has sung while on the ship that the Vajra would have attacked a long time ago. However, its also undeniable that during important scenes, the Vajra are shown to definitely notice Sheryl and Ranka when their in the midst of singing. Add the fact that sound isn't supposed to be carried through space and whatever is attracting the aliens just might not be the physical act of singing but rather the persons themselves or something else entirely. Sound energy? I sure hope not.

I think a big clue is the incident after Alto rescues her, and she screams, causing the Varja to bug out. They reacted, and that was not singing. Right now I am tentatively going with emotion, the reasoning being that the singing produces a higher state of certain emotions in these particular individuals, which attracts them. Ranka screaming in that scene was probably had a good amount of shock and confusion behind it, which caused the Varja to bug out.

Hell, we don't even know if there is anything special about Ranka at all, besides the fact that she's had previous contact with the Varja (and the UN seems to know there is some effect on individuals who have had contact with the Varja, or they wouldn't be doing the blood testing). Sheryl, on the other hand, may be the one who is truly "special" going into it.

But really, we won't know anything for sure until we actually see it. Would could all be way, way off base. WAFO

[ackem]

Same here. You'd think that after all the time that Sheryl's been singing on the Galaxy fleet or the countless times Ranka has sung while on the ship that the Vajra would have attacked a long time ago. However, its also undeniable that during important scenes, the Vajra are shown to definitely notice Sheryl and Ranka when their in the midst of singing. Add the fact that sound isn't supposed to be carried through space and whatever is attracting the aliens just might not be the physical act of singing but rather the persons themselves or something else entirely. Sound energy? I sure hope not.

With that hair? I seriously doubt it. The fact that he's with Kathy still surprises me to this day!

My loony theory is that the reason they might have not responded to Sheryl when she was on Galaxy was because she had both her earings on. I mean there has to be a reason that she is still wearing the right one.

[Elektrix]

I think a big clue is the incident after Alto rescues her, and she screams, causing the Varja to bug out. They reacted, and that was not singing. Right now I am tentatively going with emotion, the reasoning being that the singing produces a higher state of certain emotions in these particular individuals, which attracts them. Ranka screaming in that scene was probably had a good amount of shock and confusion behind it, which caused the Varja to bug out.

Hell, we don't even know if there is anything special about Ranka at all, besides the fact that she's had previous contact with the Varja (and the UN seems to know there is some effect on individuals who have had contact with the Varja, or they wouldn't be doing the blood testing). Sheryl, on the other hand, may be the one who is truly "special" going into it.

But really, we won't know anything for sure until we actually see it. Would could all be way, way off base. WAFO

Wasn't this a significant part of how things worked in Macross 7 too though? I know you've been making a big distinction between emotion vs. singing, but I always got the impression in Macross 7 that the emotion and feeling was the core component of things anyway, not specifically the singing (just that the singing was highly emotional).

-Elektrix

[Gubaba]

Stupid, idiotic, impossible theory time.

K, Ranka's 1/4 zentraedi, her voice has weird powers, etc. etc...

*pause for effect*

So she could be Basara and Mylene's kid, right? *ducks flying vegetables and other assorted blunt objects*

As ridiculous as that may be, it fits in a few more ways than I care to think about... if the research team was actually conducting experiments in deep space about spiritia, and just happened to accidentally attract the vajra...

As much as I hope this isn't the case, I do think its at least vaguely possible. That would also explain Ranka's weird abilities.

No, it's impossible. Ranka was born in 2043, when Mylene was 12...and hadn't met Basara.

[Gubaba]

2. To her, or to something about her? I'll go with the latter (until further notice).

3. Eh, you're looking at it cockeyed. There is more to the Varja than Kawamori and Co have shown us, for sure.

4. This is made clear in episode 4, the UN covered up the attack on the research fleet, calling it "fold dislocation".

Agreed...there really isn't enough information yet to make any firm speculations.

Until proven otherwise, though, I will continue to believe that Leon squashed Ranka's Miss Macross win (really, I just want to dislike him...mostly because of his foo-foo haircut), and that at least SOMETHING about Ranka (but not Sheryl!) is drawing the Vajra (could be singing, could be her emotions, could be any number of things, really)...and that NUNS probably has an idea what that thing is.

But I'm not heavily attached to any of these theories; so if they turn out to be wrong, that's fine.

[Beltane70]

So she could be Basara and Mylene's kid, right? *ducks flying vegetables and other assorted blunt objects*

Definitely not, since Ranka was born two years before Macross 7 takes place.