Who's your favorite Triangle?

[dreamweaver13]

The more i see fanart of the new Triangler (Alto-Sheryl-Ranka), and with the way it ended a bit unresolved (at least for now), i have this feeling that it will stand the test of time as one of those classic love triangles. In fact, IMO, given a few years and enough fan 'shipping (face it, there's a LOT), it could even rival the beloved original, specially for a new generation of Macross fans.

So now, this got me thinking: In a Macross universe where love triangles are the norm, which one is the best for you? I'm not setting any criteria for your choices on this one, so whatever floats your boat.

Edited October 3, 2008 by dreamweaver13

[d3v]

What? No Basara - guitar - everyone else?

[RedWolf]

No Flower Girl?

[Sumdumgai]

Alto = most likeable male main character in Macross for me, Sheryl = most likeable female main character for me. Ranka = most likeable other main female character for me. The Frontier trio is my favorite triangle. Followed by Hikaru-Misa-Minmay. Shin-Sara-Mao comes third. Poor Mao, if only she were older, maybe things would have worked out differently. Then again we wouldn't have Macross Frontier the way it turned out, if it did. (Besides Sara probably would have gone off the deep end again and killed them both with a machete, that psycho. ).The M7 trio wasn't much of a love triangle, especially since I hated Mylene. The Isamu-Myung-Guld triangle was interesting for their past history, but it was a triangle of screwed up people...

[Gubaba]

Wow...really looking at them like that, Macross's much-publicized love-triangles don't really add up to a whole lot, do they? SDFM had something of a sneak-attack triangle...it seemed like it was the love story of Hikaru and Minmay for a good portion of the show, and then Misa stepped in (to the surprise of many). The M7 love triangles are barely there...the only one that really goes anywhere is Sivil/Basara/Gigle, but Sivil is comatose for most of the working out of that one. The Plus love triangle was probably the most hard-fought (on Guld's side), but it kind of ends by default. The Zero triangle never really got going, either, due to Mao being more than a little too young. And the Frontier triangle, despite probably getting more actual time devoted to it than any of the other ones, stubbornly refuses to be resolved (at least, it does to those of us who don't see the incredibly subtle hints - which are also apparently glaringly obvious to anyone with half a brain, which I guess doesn't include me - that Alto picked one girl or the other). Not a whole lot of action on any of those fronts, really...almost any Rumiko Takahashi series blows any and all Macross series out of the water in terms of unrequited (or semi-requited) love and romantic competition.

So with that in mind, I voted for Shin/Sara/Mao, just because that seemed to be the triangle with the most inherent meaning next to Hikaru/Misa/Minmay, and I figured a lot of people would be voting for the SDFM original. If, as kawamori has stated, Hikaru had to choose between "the forces that create culture" (Minmay) and "the forces that protect culture" (Misa), then Shin was confronted with Tradition in the form of Sara, and Modernity in the form of Mao, which makes it, if not really convincing as a love story, at least philosophically interesting.

[dreamweaver13]

What? No Basara - guitar - everyone else?

actually thought of adding this, but i realized most of you would vote this just for the fun of it. heck, i would.

No Flower Girl?

same as above. and i'd couch it as: flower girl - flowers - radio.

Wow...really looking at them like that, Macross's much-publicized love-triangles don't really add up to a whole lot, do they? SDFM had something of a sneak-attack triangle...it seemed like it was the love story of Hikaru and Minmay for a good portion of the show, and then Misa stepped in (to the surprise of many). The M7 love triangles are barely there...the only one that really goes anywhere is Sivil/Basara/Gigle, but Sivil is comatose for most of the working out of that one. The Plus love triangle was probably the most hard-fought (on Guld's side), but it kind of ends by default. The Zero triangle never really got going, either, due to Mao being more than a little too young. And the Frontier triangle, despite probably getting more actual time devoted to it than any of the other ones, stubbornly refuses to be resolved (at least, it does to those of us who don't see the incredibly subtle hints - which are also apparently glaringly obvious to anyone with half a brain, which I guess doesn't include me - that Alto picked one girl or the other). Not a whole lot of action on any of those fronts, really...almost any Rumiko Takahashi series blows any and all Macross series out of the water in terms of unrequited (or semi-requited) love and romantic competition.

So with that in mind, I voted for Shin/Sara/Mao, just because that seemed to be the triangle with the most inherent meaning next to Hikaru/Misa/Minmay, and I figured a lot of people would be voting for the SDFM original. If, as kawamori has stated, Hikaru had to choose between "the forces that create culture" (Minmay) and "the forces that protect culture" (Misa), then Shin was confronted with Tradition in the form of Sara, and Modernity in the form of Mao, which makes it, if not really convincing as a love story, at least philosophically interesting.

hmmm... that's definitely an interesting vote. actually, that triangle would only be 4th for me (after SDFM, Frontier and Plus, in that order) only because of its lack of real development. i always believed that a triangle is only a triangle if it can go either way. macross zero's triangle was heavily leaning towards shin-sara, that i thought of it more as a direct line with a little squiggle in the far right. but thinking of it from a philosophical perspective... as a choice between tradition and modernity (dare I say, Protoculture and Humanity?)... never thought of it that way. thanks for the new perspective.

good point on the SDFM triangle being a sneak attack. it was clearly a hikaru-minmay story at the start; the triangle only came about halfway through the series. and of course, since we had no history or prior stories to fall back on, no one expected a triangle. On the other hand, because of the success of that triangle (hey, it took more -- much MORE - than its fair share of attention from the mecha and the space wars), it became so much a tradition that you come to expect it already in any macross series.

on the other hand, i wouldn't say that the macross triangles are relatively weak. rather, i think it's the subtlety at work that makes these triangles convincing and endearing, imho. Other typical anime triangles have extreme depictions of their triangles or harems (to the point of depicitng man-hungry love struck females and inexplicably naive and clueless men). macross triangles just give enough romance to tease the viewers, without taking away from the plot too much.

EDIT: typographical error. YES, that's ALL it WAS!!

Edited October 3, 2008 by dreamweaver13

[Morpheus]

My vote goes to the original triangle (The TV series not DYRL). I love how Minmay and Misa silently compete with brickhead Hikaru and the fact that Hikaru was chasing after Minmay at first. I saw Minmay-Hikaru relationship like ordinary high school romance while Misa-Hikaru is more mature in term of romance.

There's also some intense moment like when Hikaru confess to Minmay during the final battle, only to have him rescuing Misa and end up with her in the end, also when Hikaru is duoble-dating them both.

The best moment IMO in SDF:M is when Misa is giving her album to Hikaru and when Minmay choose to stay with Hikaru in his home.

Nothing beats the original.

[Morpheus]

good point on the SDFM triangle being a sneak attack. it was clearly a rick-minmay story at the start; the triangle only came about halfway through the series. and of course, since we had no history or prior stpries to fall back on, no one expected a triangle. On the other hand, because of the success of that triangle (hey, it took more -- much MORE - than its fair share of attention from the mecha and the space wars), it became so much a tradition that you come to expect it already in any macross series.

Hmm, are you watching the same show?

--silently preparing MK III brainwashing machine for dreamweaver13---

[dreamweaver13]

Hmm, are you watching the same show?

--silently preparing MK III brainwashing machine for dreamweaver13---

OH.MY.GOD.

i cannot believe that came out. i can't believe it's still there. it lingers. can't get it out.

i get it now... I am the super mother bug!

help. i don't want to remain this way.

Put a bullet to me. Bullet in the brain pan. Squish.

[hobbes221]

I can't vote yet, I'm stuck between HMM and ASR. Like how fubar the first got at some points near the end and like how Alto handled his, sure he seemed oblivious to much of it (or most, or all of it depending on who are talking to) but I tend to think that he just didn't know what he wanted in life other that to fly. And I can also say that as for his oblivious nature I would had probably reacted the same way, a girl would have to hit me over the head with a 2x4 to drive it home that she likes me. (I have been told just that by some girl friends before)

[dreamweaver13]

I can't vote yet, I'm stuck between HMM and ASR. Like how fubar the first got at some points near the end and like how Alto handled his, sure he seemed oblivious to much of it (or most, or all of it depending on who are talking to) but I tend to think that he just didn't know what he wanted in life other that to fly. And I can also say that as for his oblivious nature I would had probably reacted the same way, a girl would have to hit me over the head with a 2x4 to drive it home that she likes me. (I have been told just that by some girl friends before)

alto didn't sound like he was oblivious about much of it. in fact, i think he understood a lot about his relationship between the two. just so happens he wasn't ready to commit to either one just yet, or that he much prefers to fly at this point.

[Anon]

As a now older fellow than my first exposure to Macross.... I have to vote for HMM. I see Hikaru's choice from Minmei to Misa more as how a boy grow up to be a man. Going from an idol/cute girl chasing idiot to become a real man that knows what's important in life.

As for the other pairings...

M7 "triangles" in my view is more about the Mylene choosing a way of life for herself, fringe and mainstream. Though her character was too young (and too woefully underdeveloped) for this to play out completely in my book.

M+ triangle... Kinda meh, reminds me more as a continuation of HS level romance several years later.

M0 was way too short for me to see it as an actual triangle. More like competing crushes where one side never got a chance.

MF triangle also don't have much of an impact on me, since the only difference between S and R is probably just maturity level on their part in my book.

Edited October 3, 2008 by Anon

[Funkenstein]

Alto X Sora X Kabuki. lol.

[Valkyrie addict]

hikaru, misa, mimmei

want to know why? IT GOT SOLVED the 3 of them had the same feelings for each other, Hikaru although dim witted finally chose someone and Mimmei took it like a women

Mylene, Basara, Gamlin... Basara never had feelings for Mylene

Myung, Isam, Guld... Myung needed proffesional help and Guld died... that's not a resolution

Shin, Sara, Mao... I never felt shin had anything for Mao

Alto, Sheryl, Ranka.... IT'S NOT SOLVED!"

[Cobalto]

"Never as good as the first time" - Sade ;D

-- JOIN THE CAMPAIN "BASARA - GUITAR - EVERYONE ELSE NOW!" and make the pool better! --

Edited October 3, 2008 by Cobalto

[adrianop]

Straight up SDF:Macross.

In Zero had it been Shin+Mao there would be a different Sheryl Nome standing in front of you today.

[Duke Togo]

It was hard not to vote for the Plus trio, because in the end, they all realize just how much they all mean to eachother. None of the other triangles have this. But in the end, you can't beat the original.

[Max Jenius]

in the end, you can't beat the original.

[anime52k8]

I had to vote for the mac+ triangle. it actually was a triangle (unlike in 7) that felt believable (unlike 0). and in plus, the triangle is an integral part of the story, (in SDF:M, I always felt that triangle was just sort of there) and while I actually like Alto/Sheryl/Ranka more as characters, the fact they've dragged out their relationship without anything close to resolution just kills it for me.

Edited October 4, 2008 by anime52k8