Macross Frontier Episode 15 Talkback Thread *READ 1st Post*

[Shaka_Z]

This part really unnerved me. THey were exploring all the other ships it sounds like looking for something. Perhaps the other eight (assuming that there were eight) have something to do with that, although Sheryl was also touring other places so it could be that she's #9 in a different sense -- sort of the inheritor to the legacy of other singers.

Ranka's numbering was Q1. That implies there are more.... kind of interesting too.

And how is this all going to get resolved in this few episodes? It really boggles the mind. Are we sure there might not be 39 eps?

yes the whole fairy-9 reference *is* unnerving. somehow I think that Sheryl is in fact the 9th of her particular 'experiment' - possibly based on Mao's genetic code and the bird human blood... perhaps while she 'failed' to exhibit whatever the people who created her wanted in the lab, she was viable enough to be let out into the 'wild' of Galaxy as a long term study subject (I am assuming the other 8 in the series died due to some kind of genetic defect while in vitro or while still infants). her emergence as a singer of substantial talent probably made her useful to those who knew her true history. Ranka is likely related to Sheryl in the sense that she too is a research subject from a different, but competing project. gotta wonder though what exactly Grace is trying to hide by swapping the blood samples... it cant just be the witchcraft pill or Sheryl's Alpha type.

as to Bilrer's taking notice of Alto... I think he has had his eye on both Ranka and Sheryl for some time, and has recognized that Alto might be a means to get them both away from Grace's faction. that or he has become aware of Brera's role as a knight in this game of chess, and has decided that he needs his own.

as to the triangle... I think the girls came to an unspoken agreement during that serenade-duet of alto. at some point it felt like it stopped being a competition between them over alto, but rather a cooperative assault on Alto. it was definitely working too. perhaps on some level the girls have realized that they *both* need him, so why not share? the idea was certainly starting to form in his eyes ^^.

dammit why cant women in RL be this unambiguous?

[Shun]

hold it, i thought Alto was already a lieutenant Jr (since ep. 11 12 ... maybe even earlier)

edit: ops

nope.

when Alto introduced himself to Major Ogotai in ep12, he called himself 准尉 Warrant Officer. And the Galia 4 story arc extends upto ep 14 where Alto gets himself back to Frontier straight into the full blown war.

Now in ep 15, Ozma mentioned to Cathy that Alto just got his promotion, and near the end Mr Bilrer called Alto a Lieutenant Jr.

[info600]

well, that says a lot (like i can keep up with Ozma's talking )

at least he unknowingly "received" 2 "gifts" for the promotion

[Shun]

yes the whole fairy-9 reference *is* unnerving. somehow I think that Sheryl is in fact the 9th of her particular 'experiment' - possibly based on Mao's genetic code and the bird human blood... perhaps while she 'failed' to exhibit whatever the people who created her wanted in the lab, she was viable enough to be let out into the 'wild' of Galaxy as a long term study subject (I am assuming the other 8 in the series died due to some kind of genetic defect while in vitro or while still infants). her emergence as a singer of substantial talent probably made her useful to those who knew her true history. Ranka is likely related to Sheryl in the sense that she too is a research subject from a different, but competing project. gotta wonder though what exactly Grace is trying to hide by swapping the blood samples... it cant just be the witchcraft pill or Sheryl's Alpha type.

the conspirers thought that they lost Q1 Ranka to that Vajra attack, they probably tried to make another Q1.

... that means Sheryl is in fact younger than Ranka. which is why i remember reading from some magazine(?) regarding Sheryl's age being a question mark/mystery. At that time, i thought Sheryl was much older than her reported age

Edited July 19, 2008 by Shun

[vanpang]

the conspirers thought that they lost Q1 Ranka to that Vajra attack, they probably tried to make another Q1.

... that means Sheryl is in fact younger than Ranka. which is why i remember reading from some magazine(?) regarding Sheryl's age being a question mark/mystery. At that time, i thought Sheryl was much older than her reported age

What does Q1 stands for ? Quarter 1 ?

There is a lot of references to the 25th Anniversary.

Macross Quarter

VF-25

Macross 25

25th Long Range Expedition Fleet, Macross Frontier

Ranka is 1/4 zentran

[Shaka_Z]

so you are thinking that Sheryl was subjected to accelerated aging? some how I doubt that, as she seems to have a pretty good idea of how long she's lived on Galaxy, given that she knows how long she has had the earrings. *unless* her memories of her life on galaxy were implanted.

thats a whole lot of 'Ifs', and since scientists in general dont like having too many variables to worry about when conducting experiments, it is most likely that she was allowed to mature at at a natural pace. matter of fact, I would be surprised if her embryonic and infant/toddler stages were not extremely regulated to ensure that her early development was as close to human norms as possible.

as an aside, Sheryl takes extreme pride in the fact that aboard galaxy she is one of the *very* few 100% 'natural' humans aboard... hell.. the way she flaunts her cleavage simply screams 'look at THESE... aint NOTHIN fake on me, IN me, or GETTING in me' ^^.

though she did in fact fail at preventing grace from slipping her the pills... but then she trusts grace to be looking out for her.

Edited July 19, 2008 by Shaka_Z

[ComicKaze]

I always thought the Japanese R and L mixup was exaggerated but COME ON!!!

[junior]

What does Q1 stands for ? Quarter 1 ?

We don't know. It hasn't been explained. It's possible that it stands for "Queen 1", and is a reference to the "Little Queen" title that Grace mentioned in episode 14.

though she did in fact fail at preventing grace from slipping her the pills... but then she trusts grace to be looking out for her.

I'm forced to wonder how long that trust will last if/when Sheryl discovers that Grace is now working with Ranka...

as to the triangle... I think the girls came to an unspoken agreement during that serenade-duet of alto. at some point it felt like it stopped being a competition between them over alto, but rather a cooperative assault on Alto.

Nah... I think both girls just realized that there's not much point using femine wiles on Alto when the other female is around. They're just waiting until they have a chance to get him alone. Then whoever does it will REALLY put him on the spot.

[s-girl]

gotta wonder though what exactly Grace is trying to hide by swapping the blood samples... it cant just be the witchcraft pill or Sheryl's Alpha type.

Blood type also appears to tell where someone originates from. There was a passing reference to Ranka and her blood showing where she was from.

BLood could reveal a number of things -- blood type, yield samples for genetic typing/DNA fingerprinting (or even mitochondrial typing), whether you were being poisoned, etc. etc. IN theory though, taking any of Sheryl's cells should yield a lot of the same information, so maybe it's the poison/chemical issue at play. DNA can yield lots of good info - like your real cellular age. Dolly the cloned sheep had really bad looking chromosomes. Of course, if Sheryl is a clone, she could die earlier. But that's really all speculation. There's not enough evidence yet to suggest anything.

Still I kind of funny that we got to see the blood dropped, smashed, and taken by a bot. If I were a paranoid world ruler, I"d make all the bots analyze the garbage that was dumped out XD. Or at least look for weird things. (Then again, I got vague "Moe" from Wall-E vibes from that sequence.)

dammit why cant women in RL be this unambiguous?

Fictional women don't fear rejection and don't angst as much. That and Alto really has been a complete blockhead all this time. Short of jumping him, there's really not much else they could do except sing.

Edited July 19, 2008 by s-girl

[DeeBot]

More for the speculation mill:

Frontier sounds like a greenie's idea of the perfect colonization fleet, what with the bio-plant (which I'm taking to mean a Biosphere 2-style closed artificial ecology) and prohibition of cybernetic enhancement. Without everyone full of implants and reliant on artificial life support (ironically, on a giant colonization spaceship), maybe it makes it more difficult for Frontier to be influenced and subverted by the Galaxy conspirators, which is why Frontier has to go.

I get the feeling the conspirators may either be a lot older than the human race, or artificial constructs. If the bit about Gallia 4 being someone's homeworld is true (although I don't recall what voice that was directed to), and since Gallia 4 was considered uninhabited, that could mean a remnant of the Protoculture (which presumably lived there at an earlier time), or possibly an artificial creation in the labs aboard the 117th fleet (which apparently made a stop there).

This poses an interesting scenario: Could these "AIs" actually be some sort of transcended form of the Protoculture (living in fold space, perhaps), and parasitically intertwining themselves into human technology?

On to some more prosaic commentary.

I found it kinda interesting that the beginning of the "sing off," Sheryl and Alto actually seem to mutually push apart in embarrassment when Ranka begins singing (taking them out of the moment), and they realize how close they are. It seems as if Sheryl didn't consciously realize what she was doing, which I think is kinda sweet. Makes the whole thing less a calculated ploy on her part to try and steal Ranka's thunder, and more just a spontaneous thing.

I also found the sing-off to be not that competitive. Sheryl and Ranka genuinely seem to like each other, even if they do get a bit jealous at each other when it comes to Alto. In the end, it seems like they were just enjoying themselves. Singing is what they love to do.

Next episode... seems pretty clear Ranka is being groomed to play a role similar to the Jamming Birds: a government-sponsored anti-alien song weapon (only she's actually good at it). Considering her reaction to the destruction of the Vajra queen in the last episode, she's clearly not going to be happy at all about this. Should be interesting to see how that plays out.

Even if they have a special weapon, I take it from that one chart of Vajra activity that the Frontier's pretty much surrounded by now. I can definitely see things getting increasingly dark and desperate as the show moves towards its conclusion, in the style of the original Macross.

[grss1982]

the conspirers thought that they lost Q1 Ranka to that Vajra attack, they probably tried to make another Q1.

... that means Sheryl is in fact younger than Ranka. which is why i remember reading from some magazine(?) regarding Sheryl's age being a question mark/mystery. At that time, i thought Sheryl was much older than her reported age

So could it be that Sheryl is a clone or something? The Fairy 9 call sign makes me wonder about this.

I mean the way Grace said that she/he/them was/were discarding Fairy 9 really disturbed me. It was as if Sheryl was some unwanted object that can just be thrown with the garbage.

Edited July 19, 2008 by grss1982

[Sulendil Ang]

Well, what can I say 'bout this episode? This is a very awesome clip show! The editing is well done, and I love the part where Sherly and Ranka have a duet. Poor Alto, forcing to choose between the two.

I can definitely see things getting increasingly dark and desperate as the show moves towards its conclusion, in the style of the original Macross.

Is that mean we gonna see 4,795,122+ Vajra ships appear around Frontier in the finale? Awesome (and very unfortunate for our friends in Frontier)

[junior]

Of course, if Sheryl is a clone, she could die earlier.

Actually, in setting cloning is an understood science. The Zentraedi were cloned warriors, and a lot of cloning was done early on after the Space War in order to help reestablish the human population. So if Sheryl were a basic clone, then there shouldn't be any problems.

It's the possibilities that arise when you're talking about something other than a basic human clone that start to create potential problems.

It was as if Sheryl was some unwanted object that can just be thrown with the garbage.

Grace also casually talks about contaminating the entire Frontier fleet, suggesting that she's planning on doing something nasty to the Frontier population as well. Grace and her cohorts clearly don't see individual human beings as being worth much.

Edited July 19, 2008 by junior

[David Hingtgen]

Fixed MKV file is up. Go check first page of thread.

[grss1982]

Well, what can I say 'bout this episode? This is a very awesome clip show! The editing is well done, and I love the part where Sherly and Ranka have a duet. Poor Alto, forcing to choose between the two.

Is that mean we gonna see 4,795,122+ Vajra ships appear around Frontier in the finale? Awesome (and very unfortunate for our friends in Frontier)

The problem though is that those 4,795,122+ Vajra ships don't have an EARTH to bombard (SDFM Homage). Well maybe they could bombard that Jupiter-like planet that's been appearing since the beginning of the series.

On the bright side though if those 4,795,122+ Vajra ships do appear are we gonna finally get to see a Vajra version of the:

DYRL's Gorg Bodolzaa-Class Mobile Fortress. (DYRL Homage)

http://www.new-un-spacy.com/macrossdyrl/go...ilefortress.htm

Edited July 19, 2008 by grss1982

[Kronnang Dunn]

I find the pieces of dialogue from Grace-selves pretty interesting... (Kei subs)

When they destroyed Galia 4:

"Why are you laughing?

Isn't that your homeland?

Because it has finally ended.

So you're going to sacrifice a planet because of that?

That lacks elegance.

But that's a necessary sacrifice.

This is the real beginning of the overture.

Exactly.

The death of the Songstress of the Galaxy and the annihilation of the Forward Division.

The flames of hatred will blaze high.

The fold communication waves will be their guide.

I wish you all good luck, everyone from the Frontier.

Start up complete, beginning reorganization.

Wait!

The sense organs are not connected yet!

But there's no time to lose.

The situation is starting to progress, we cannot let this chance pass by.

Should I pass the Initiative to you?

No thanks.

That was originally designed for your body.

Fine.

Confirmed fold linking.

Beginning download.

Now, wake up.

My other self...

No, ourselves..."

Mid part...

"Index 11983E745, Operation Carnival, code name: Fairy-9,

individual name: Sheryl Nome and the start of her galactic concert tour.

After 18 months of inspections,

our battle target is confirmed to be the 25th fleet,

known as the Macross Frontier.

The last stop of the concert tour has been specially scheduled there.

The main reason is

because the bio-plant ship will easily be affected by environmental fluctuation.

Also,

this is a fleet which doesn't allow implants and cyborgs, which is rare recently.

Apart from that, the destination of this fleet is the closest to ours.

An additional factor is,

code Q1, which was thought to be killed 11 years ago,

is reported to be alive on this ship.

The priority of searching for her was low back then.

Such a warm welcome!

They're really carefree,

they don't even know we guided Vajra's to this ship.

Just like that, the battle between the Vajra's and the Frontier has begun.

The completion rate of battles is 72%.

What about the remaining 28?

The main reason is the miscalculating of the true strength of the private military company, S.M.S.

Also, the testing model YF-24,

gave an underrated performance rating to the VF-25, which was privately developed by the giant company, LAI.

But the biggest miscalculation was Code Q1 - Ranka Lee, showing her ability at that time.

Weren't you the one who denied the existence and ability of Q1?

Admitting my errors outspokenly is one of my good points.

Such a great voice.

If I got this footage earlier...

You're going to add it to your collection?

Just joking.

But Major Brera who went into the Vajra's main ship,

discovered that Sheryl's voice has been mixed with other fold derivations.

Since the proto agreement,

it feels like our destines are fooling us.

The world which is echoed by the fold strings...

She's an interesting child.

Not just that she survived,

she went back to that place of cause, Gallia-4, to sing.

Then, in the second defense battle,

the existence of Q1 was confirmed.

Operation Carnival was forced to be altered...".

When they destroyed Sheryl's blood sample...

"She's really strong.

I've already discarded her,

but she lived.

Project Fairy has concluded in failure.

Fairy 9 is discarded.

We've got the precious queen due to this battle.

Entering a new stage...".

And then at the end...

"Richard Pillard, is he going to pull him over?

That Saotome Alto-kun?

I don't know what he's thinking...

Even though he's kind of cute, he's just a pilot.

But there has been a deep connection since,

so they're probably going pulled into this.

Ranka Lee and Sheryl Nome.

Also, Pillard.

There are these people who are chosen by time.

They're really lucky, no.

I mean, really unlucky.

But now, the actors are ready and the stage is set.

Yes, this is the real beginning.

500 thousand years of protoculture history,

might not be able to make the dream stage come true...".

Edited July 19, 2008 by Kronnang Dunn

[Xeros]

gg is out XD

[sdf2501]

^ To be fair though, that's one person's translation of the dialog.

I still think when the voice said "homeland," what was really being referred to was the SDF-4 Global (or whatever it's called) and not Gallia 4 (or maybe the Vajra ships around it; who knows). Kind of like "A first generation Macross ship" vs. "The first generation Macross ship." Sometimes things get lost in translation.

[d3v]

Of course, if Sheryl is a clone, she could die earlier.

Not unless she get's a V-type infection which mutates in her which means she'll turn into a walking biological WMD in a few months, which means she'll find herself in a cemetery with a gun preparing to kill herself

until she is iterupted by the original (Ranshe?), who explains everything and kills a guy in a wheelchair (Bilrer?) but end up dying anyway due to the mutated virus in Sheryl - which by the way wont turn her into a WMD due to another virus that kills off the mutants.

[Max Jenius]

I liked it. Plot progression... didn't appreciate the clip show aspect... but the Rock-Off between Sheryl and Ranka. Why do I get the sneaking suspicion that the characters in this series will follow the same pattern I've encountered repeatedly. . . the characters I actually find most interesting always fail lol.

Edited July 19, 2008 by Max Jenius

[Shun]

ya, i also get the impression that it is the Macross Global that they're referring to as Grace's homeland.

i noticed that the sponsors' background image (just after the OP) is usually a screen shot from that particular episode. however, this time they have a really cool animation of some flying VF-25s... was expecting to see this scene in this episode but surprised we didn't get to see it. wonder if its gonna be inserted as part of a future episode...

Anyway, the above pic from right to left: Luca's RVF-25, Michel's VF-25G, Ozma's VF-25S, Alto's VF-25F, and.... Sheryl's VF-25 ??!?!?

what about the three extra ones in this pic?

Sheryl, Ranka and..... Ranshe?

[d3v]

ya, i also get the impression that it is the Macross Global that they're referring to as Grace's homeland.

i noticed that the sponsors' background image (just after the OP) is usually a screen shot from that particular episode. however, this time they have a really cool animation of some flying VF-25s... was expecting to see this scene in this episode but surprised we didn't get to see it. wonder if its gonna be inserted as part of a future episode...

Anyway, the above pic from right to left: Luca's RVF-25, Michel's VF-25G, Ozma's VF-25S, Alto's VF-25F, and.... Sheryl's VF-25 ??!?!?

what about the three extra ones in this pic?

Sheryl, Ranka and..... Ranshe?

Those are clips from the preview/trailer for All That Valkyrie.

[ComicKaze]

ya, i also get the impression that it is the Macross Global that they're referring to as Grace's homeland.

i noticed that the sponsors' background image (just after the OP) is usually a screen shot from that particular episode. however, this time they have a really cool animation of some flying VF-25s... was expecting to see this scene in this episode but surprised we didn't get to see it. wonder if its gonna be inserted as part of a future episode...

Anyway, the above pic from right to left: Luca's RVF-25, Michel's VF-25G, Ozma's VF-25S, Alto's VF-25F, and.... Sheryl's VF-25 ??!?!?

what about the three extra ones in this pic?

Sheryl, Ranka and..... Ranshe?

what do they combine to form?

[darkrealmbahamut]

what do they combine to form?

Macross Voltron. They even have a blazing sword.

[Shun]

Those are clips from the preview/trailer for All That Valkyrie.

oic... when will that be released?

what do they combine to form?

Macross Voltron. They even have a blazing sword.

Superion (5x VF-25)? and Mega-Superion (7x VF-25).

[David Hingtgen]

The others are just the CF VF-25's we've seen before--always sitting in the hangar undergoing repairs. That's the only time we've seen them fly I think.

[darkrealmbahamut]

oic... when will that be released?

Superion (5x VF-25)? and Mega-Superion (7x VF-25).

It is already out on the official site but it jerks on my player. I see the VF-25s as seekers more then autobots lol

[Strumvogel]

Finally watched it with subs and I think it's a very successful in it's intregration of a clip/recap show that also advances the story and characters. So I really don't get those people who whines about this episode.

I love the fact the story tells of how the SMS is effectively giving the Galaxy conspiracy operation the big finger. Considering how big and evil what the Galaxy is doing at the moment, I'd love to see the SMS continuing to throw wrenches into their works and finally turning the screws into them in the end. This of course, if Birler isn't a part of the conspiracy, that is.

And btw, since it needs to be said. Considering that the show has passed the halfway mark and had a so-called recap episode, does that mean we can expect a new intro and OP soon?

The release date of the new OP single doesn't bear that out though since that's not until 8/20 and we've seen that they have been releasing the singles at the same time it is broadcasted so far.

[Final Vegeta]

Despite footage recycle (and badly drawn Sheryl) this is really a good episode. Since episode 12 we got tons of plot twists and emotionally significant scenes per episode. If this keeps up this Macross Frontier will be the best series ever.

I just hope that Bilra will be able to outsmart Galaxy at the end. I will laugh if that happens.

By the way, I don't think that Sheryl is necessarily an artificial human. It could be that she was seen as a good singer and then adopted as Fairy 9. Only her success would be slightly manifactured. As for the other fairies, they aren't necessarily killed. To better explain: Sheryl was #1 singer for 17 weeks. The ones that were #1 singer before her were the other fairies. They just stopped being #1.

Since I don't think Sheryl is an artificial human I also don't think Sheryl is going to die. I think there were only some side-effects from Grace's pills, nothing too bad.

FV

Edited July 19, 2008 by Final Vegeta

[vanpang]

Grace's intention is to murder Sheryl to set off hatred between Vajra and the Humans, to what purpose we are not sure yet. However after Grace realized that she has a better candidate in Ranka, I am sure she would try to kill off Ranka. But I am not sure how is she going to do that if Brera (asuming Brera is really Ranka's blood brother) is around to protect the "Little Queen"

[Kronnang Dunn]

Grace's intention is to murder Sheryl to set off hatred between Vajra and the Humans, to what purpose we are not sure yet. However after Grace realized that she has a better candidate in Ranka, I am sure she would try to kill off Ranka. But I am not sure how is she going to do that if Brera (asuming Brera is really Ranka's blood brother) is around to protect the "Little Queen"

Did you read the Gracelves dialogue I posted?

"She's really strong.

I've already discarded her,

but she lived.

Project Fairy has concluded in failure.

Fairy 9 is discarded.

We've got the precious queen due to this battle.

Entering a new stage...".

More than killing her, it seems they will simply let her die... which appears to be what is causing her sickness... Sheryl (Fairy 9) is dying...

Edited July 19, 2008 by Kronnang Dunn

[vanpang]

Did you read the Gracelves dialogue I posted?

"She's really strong.

I've already discarded her,

but she lived.

Project Fairy has concluded in failure.

Fairy 9 is discarded.

We've got the precious queen due to this battle.

Entering a new stage...".

More than killing her, it seems they will simply let her die... which appears to be what is causing her sickness... Sheryl (Fairy 9) is dying...

discarded as in abandoned isn't it ? she is a failure to their scheme, isn't that why she is being abandoned. i think if sheryl can overcome the effects of the "witchcraft" poison she would live and even grace won't bother her no more.

[DarkReaper]

I speculated earlier that Sheryl has a limited life expectancy sort of like the replicants in Blade Runner. Maybe she even is a replicant. Who knows.

Edited July 19, 2008 by DarkReaper

[TehPW]

what do they combine to form?

... and I'll form The Bong!

[Kronnang Dunn]

I speculated earlier that Sheryl has a limited life expectancy sort of like the replicants in Blade Runner. Maybe she even is a replicant. Who knows.

Clones cells have shorter telomeres, so they age faster... Maybe Sheryl is indeed a clone...

Edited July 19, 2008 by Kronnang Dunn