Dissecting Alto

[s-girl]

I looked for another thread to post this thought to, but didn't see anything (unless I missed it)...

Overall, I've been frustrated with Alto's character. It's seemed a bit too flat-toned to me, but the last few episodes, I've been struck by how emotional Alto has been. It's been enough to make me think it worth paying attention to.

I've been thinking about the last two episodes in which Alto has had this almost dogmatic and singleminded drive to rescue Ranka, and it's actually struck me that the somewhat reckless way he goes about it is similar to the situation in which he went after Luca, in which he went in really when others wouldn't.

I'm not trying to diminish the importance of Ranka to Alto at all, but I was wondering at the irrationalities behind these two rescuesand whether it was just his age and part of somewhat brash and headstrong personality, or perhaps something deeper or linked to his otherwise unrevealed past.

We have little information on his mother, other than possibly a glimpse of her in a flashback. We don't see her present at all in the modern day alongside the father in the few scenes we've had, and we do know that Alto is effing clueless when it comes to dealing with girls.

Part of my thinking is that his mother died when he was fairly young, in what he might have perceived as a preventable incident. Or maybe she disappeared, and as a result, Alto has developed this almost too strong reaction to people being "taken away."

It's just a thought, and I"d appreciate any other observations that one has had to correct or refine these ideas. I'm trying to flesh out the character a bit more because I do believe the writing staff isn't just trying to write a flat character but is keeping coy on the backstory elements because it's just their style.

Edited July 11, 2008 by s-girl

[d3v]

I remember reading this post which explains why the posts author thinks that Alto is better than your average modern day mecha pilot.

[s-girl]

I'm not convinced that Alto is better. It's too easy to compare someone who is still being revealed slowly to thea udience to protagonists (or anti-heroes for that matter like in 00) who have been fleshed out more fully in 25 episodes or more.

For one thing, we could get a massive plot device thrown at us that reveals that Alto isn't purely about the love of flying, but love of flying as linked to something else. I guess this is just one of those "wait and see" issues.

On the one hand, I agree it's nice to have someone without all that mega-angst of the recent Gundam series (which is why I think I burned out on modern Gundam), but I'm afraid that right now Alto is still relatively less fleshed out than the other two main characters (Ranka and Sheryl) . PErhaps it's because I still him as largely reactionary and not answering some of the questions he had posed for himself in one of the earlier episodes about his motivations for flying.

lalala. But thanks for putting in that link. I'd like to see the auteur revisit their post once we wrap up at 20 something episodes (unless we get lucky and get 39!).

[stray]

You may want to check out the AnimeSuki Macross forum if you don't already; people over there have a knack for writing 1500 word essays full of lengthy character studies... although typically in the process of justifying why Sheryl should end up with Alto (or vice versa) instead of Ranka, and why anyone who thinks otherwise should... go to hell. Eh, it is what it is.

Regardless, I can't really put Ranka and Luca's rescues in the same league, I think... Luca's rescue was mostly just brash recklessness... he just stormed in guns blazing and hoped for the best. But Alto knew exactly what he was doing with Ranka, and aside from a few yells here and there, he was pretty rational and calculating all the way through. I mean, hell, he asked for permission!

As far as why; I dunno, you can throw archetypes at him and call him tsundere or some such and... maybe it comes down to his mom. It seems like from the start he's had kind of a resentment of the people around him. Michael in episode 9, Sheryl pretty much all the time... in an earlier episode he's kind of pissy towards Ranka (or probably the world) when she gets Ozma's permission to work with Elmo... seems like he's making progress relating to the people around him in non-life-threatening situations anyway...

Edited July 12, 2008 by stray

[s-girl]

Eh. I think I'll spare myself character dissections that are undertaken with the idea of setting up Alto with someone else. As much as it's fun to think about it, Alto (as you said) doesn't interact with people normally. This is part of the problem I have with investing so much energy into pairing discussions with his character.

He doesn't understand cues which could be charming in a "clueless boy" sort of way, but in a mature drama like Macross it's actually kind of odd to the point of being a bit "out of the ordinary." I am not yet sure he is capable of having a relationship that sustains itself without seriously annoying everyone else around him XD, so why argue about it so much on the internet?

FOr the most part, Alto seems so far behind where he should be in terms of relating to and understanding people.

I am not sure Alto is more rational or less with Ranka's rescue. The whole thing was so difficult to dissect pace-wise that as a result I got a very scattered impression of it. It'll be something to mull over as we go into the next episode. But I also do think that after someone helps save you and they end up in trouble for it, you'd also wig out too. Guilt? Like? Both? Maybe, maybe not.

Edited July 12, 2008 by s-girl

[junior]

Keep in mind that Sheryl's been teasing Alto with actions like the kiss in episode 10. Her action suggests that she's interested in him romantically, but she pokes fun at him when he starts to actually consider that the action might actually indicate her feelings. So it's reasonable for Alto to require a little more reinforcement from Sheryl before he finally realizes how she feels. And truth be told, I don't think Sheryl realized how she felt until the trip to Gallia 4.

Alto doesn't have a problem with Luca. His annoyance with his circle of friends is largely limited to Michael, who likes to tease him. The rest of his annoyance revolves around Ranka. Up through episode 11, Alto's relationship with Ranka is like that of an older brother, giving friendly advice and looking out for her. But Ranka's infatuated with Alto, and all of her friends are aware of it. Further, they tend to get annoyed with Alto when he shows anything other than absolute devotion to Ranka. Since Alto doesn't share Ranka's feelings (at the moment), this tends to happen frequently. And since Luca's more or less the only person that doesn't engage in this independently, he's the only person who doesn't seem to at least occasionally draw Alto's ire.

What I see of Alto is someone who decided to leave a successful career in his family business to strike out on his own and do what he really wants to do. He doesn't have much patience with anyone who would try to stand between him and flying. He already gave up his family (which is a huge deal in Japan), and he's not going to quit flying just because someone asked him nicely. He also doesn't have much patience with people who try to push him around. Michael and Sheryl, both decent judges of personality, realize that about Alto and amuse themselves by pushing his buttons.

Further, he's still well-known for the work that he did in his family business. Sheryl has the good sense to leave it alone, but it seems to be an open target for anyone and everyone else and is no doubt the cause of his nickname among other things.

Is it any wonder that Alto isn't exactly the most sociable guy around?

Alto's a nice guy, but for very good reasons he's had to adopt something of a loner attitude. People treat him differently and he doesn't like that. His stand-offish attitude is his way of coping with that.

[Batou]

Keep in mind that Sheryl's been teasing Alto with actions like the kiss in episode 10. Her action suggests that she's interested in him romantically, but she pokes fun at him when he starts to actually consider that the action might actually indicate her feelings. So it's reasonable for Alto to require a little more reinforcement from Sheryl before he finally realizes how she feels. And truth be told, I don't think Sheryl realized how she felt until the trip to Gallia 4.

Which makes her like every other woman: Nary a clue what she really wants herself, but still gets in a huff when you fail to read her mind. Oh, and hung up on the one guy who shows her nothing but disinterest.

(Ha! Sorry - do I sound bitter??? )

[junior]

Which makes her like every other woman: Nary a clue what she really wants herself, but still gets in a huff when you fail to read her mind. Oh, and hung up on the one guy who shows her nothing but disinterest.

Alto's the only guy that can see past her fame and appreciate her as a normal human being. I don't think he exactly shows her disinterest so much as he's just not interested in playing mind games. Now that Sheryl's aware that yes she really does like Alto, I suspect she'll stop playing her mind games. Then we'll have to see how long it takes Alto to notice the change and realize that she's not just teasing him again.

Unfortunately for Sheryl, the preview summaries

suggest that she's going to be spending a lot of time sick in bed, and won't have much opportunity to start pursuing Alto properly.

[VFTF1]

Hmm...interesting thread. Alto is an enigma; although to be fair at least we get some glimpses of his past and even meet his dad, and see how he is respected by that one dude who took his place and convinced his sick dad to offer Alto forgiveness and a return to the Family...

Compare this to Hikaru - all we got about his folks was what we gleemed from that little exchange between him and Roy in episode 1...nothing more. Macross Plus is also sparse with familial revelations about Dyson and Guld - while Frontier follows in the footsteps of Zero, where Shin's childhood was fairly well described.

But it's hard for me to say anything about Alto. So I'll wait for people to post more.

VFTF1

[stray]

I am not sure Alto is more rational or less with Ranka's rescue. The whole thing was so difficult to dissect pace-wise that as a result I got a very scattered impression of it. It'll be something to mull over as we go into the next episode. But I also do think that after someone helps save you and they end up in trouble for it, you'd also wig out too. Guilt? Like? Both? Maybe, maybe not.

I was honestly kind of bothered by the sheer level of desperation in his voice in episode 13... I think his seiyu did a really great job of conveying how helpless and frustrated he was then and there.

Which makes her like every other woman: Nary a clue what she really wants herself, but still gets in a huff when you fail to read her mind. Oh, and hung up on the one guy who shows her nothing but disinterest.

(Ha! Sorry - do I sound bitter??? )

LOL so true, so true...

Compare this to Hikaru - all we got about his folks was what we gleemed from that little exchange between him and Roy in episode 1...nothing more. Macross Plus is also sparse with familial revelations about Dyson and Guld - while Frontier follows in the footsteps of Zero, where Shin's childhood was fairly well described.

In DYRL Misa mentions that his family died when he was young and he grew up with no one but Roy really... although... I can't think of the SDFM explanation off the top of my head... I just remember he was in a flying (Itano?) circus...

Anyway, if Ranka is TV Minmay and Sheryl is DYRL Minmay, Alto is just... Minmay. Fullstop. I'll flesh out my theory later...

[junior]

In DYRL Misa mentions that his family died when he was young and he grew up with no one but Roy really... although... I can't think of the SDFM explanation off the top of my head... I just remember he was in a flying (Itano?) circus...

In SDFM, Hikaru's family ran a flying circus. iirc, Hikaru mentions to Roy that the latter had promised Hikaru's father that he'd return to the circus. So the implication is that Hikaru's family is still alive at the start of the TV series, though there's the possibility that it isn't the case.