MF Marathon time!!!

[dreamweaver13]

Most of us watched the series immediately as each episode came out. and most of us will probably embark on the time-honored tradition of any anime or macross fan: the Marathon!! the experience of watching the series again in its entirety, and without weeklong breaks in between, is well worth it.

And also, having seen the whole series already, we can now watch the series from a different perspective, and notice subtle details, hints and dialogues that would have new meaning in light of the series as a whole.

I'm in episode 7 of my MF marathon (continuing tomorrow), and here are just some:

Episode 1 (broadcast edition):

- The broadcast edition more or less starts with alto trying to fly, but finding that the sky is not high enough. Ep25 ends with alto finally happy about being able to fly in a real sky. quite appropriate.

Episode 3:

- Upon seeing an injured Ozma, Ranka screams: "why are you doing this? I kept it a secret like you told me to!" I think someone already pointed this out in another thread. amazing how she channeled "baby ranka" and was talking to Brera this early in the series.

- In deciding to join SMS, Alto says, "I will live by myself; I will die by myself." quite a far cry from alto saying in the last episode "we are alone. that's why we love!"

Edited October 3, 2008 by dreamweaver13

[RichterX]

Episode 3:

- Upon seeing an injured Ozma, Ranka screams: "why are you doing this? I kept it a secret like you told me to!" I think someone already pointed this out in another thread. amazing how she channeled "baby ranka" and was talking to Brera this early in the series.

oh wow i didn't notice it until i read your posting. I am planning a showing of Macross F for my friends. will probably start it next week.

[Sumdumgai]

When Ranka is shown to finally speak after having moved into their new place on Frontier after the 117th Fleet incident, she's still clinging to the importance of "onii-chan".

[USCOLMRNE]

Episode 25

Battle Frontier and Macross Quarter both lost their main guns to Battle Galaxy main gun attack. At the end of the show, Battle Frontier and Macross Quarter have their main guns again

[Renato]

Episode 3:

- Upon seeing an injured Ozma, Ranka screams: "why are you doing this? I kept it a secret like you told me to!" I think someone already pointed this out in another thread. amazing how she channeled "baby ranka" and was talking to Brera this early in the series.

I don't get/remember this. As I recall she was screaming that Ozma had promised he wouldn't go out in battle anymore. What secret are you saying she is talking about here?　And I have no idea what you mean by channelling baby ranka / talking to Brera...

[Sumdumgai]

Well, the Frontier gunship looked like it got blown into chunks. The Quarter gunship was blown out of its hand with damage to the butt of the gunship, but was otherwise left intact.

The channeling "baby Ranka" has to do with her flashbacks in the last episodes, when young Brera tells her to keep her singing having attracted the vajra a secret.

As to Macross1982's post ahead of this one, the red thing was an omamori, a good luck charm. It probably had something to do with flying, but that's just a guess.

Edited October 3, 2008 by Sumdumgai

[Macross1982]

I did the Marathon, just finished, and wanted to post right away about the "I kept it a secret part" I can't believe she was talking to Brera so soon in the series

I was also wondering whatever happened to that red tag thing around Alto's neck, it seemed to have some importance, but was it important??, We never saw it again, also in The deculture Edition, more than one person pointed the fact that Sheryl had a spot (Mark, Tatto??) on her left leg and although we all thought it was important or related to the series, it wasn't, I forgot about all those things as the series continued and just remembered after the Marathon Also I loved hearing all the music from the OST in the background I have the cd on all the time while I'm driving and now I can picture the moment when each track was played in the series

I know there's more stuff, but I'll keep it short for now

[Gubaba]

I don't get/remember this. As I recall she was screaming that Ozma had promised he wouldn't go out in battle anymore. What secret are you saying she is talking about here?　And I have no idea what you mean by channelling baby ranka / talking to Brera...

When Ranka and Brera were children (and the Vajra attacked the 117th), Brera told her not to tell anybody that her song was what drew the Vajra there.

Thus, when she saw that Ozma was hurt, Ranka reverted back to memories she had consciously buried...

Good catch, Dreamweaver!

[Lethalzero]

alto's necklace i think was symbolic about his attachment to his mother..

Ill re watch it again just to make sure....

[Macross1982]

I don't get/remember this. As I recall she was screaming that Ozma had promised he wouldn't go out in battle anymore. What secret are you saying she is talking about here?　And I have no idea what you mean by channelling baby ranka / talking to Brera...

She says some thing like, "why did you do his to me? (refering to Ozma) why did you lie?, I didn't tell anybody" and then she fainted, the "I didn't tell anyone" part was refering to Brera who asked her to keep the fact that she called the Vajra a secret.

Edited October 3, 2008 by Macross1982

[Xeros]

I don't get/remember this. As I recall she was screaming that Ozma had promised he wouldn't go out in battle anymore. What secret are you saying she is talking about here?　And I have no idea what you mean by channelling baby ranka / talking to Brera...

He means this

Ep 3

EP 24

[Macross1982]

He means this

Ep 3

EP 24

Any clearer than that would be impossible, nice job Xeros!!

[RedWolf]

Watching the Deculture edition again who would've thought that the Glasses Lady would be the Final Boss?

[Macross1982]

Watching the Deculture edition again who would've thought that the Glasses Lady would be the Final Boss?

Not only that, but she was so nice and Sheryl was a bitch, Grace had to apologize for everything Sheryl did, How wrong was I??!!!

[dreamweaver13]

I don't get/remember this. As I recall she was screaming that Ozma had promised he wouldn't go out in battle anymore. What secret are you saying she is talking about here?　And I have no idea what you mean by channelling baby ranka / talking to Brera...

well everyone else answered this quite quickly and accurately. thanks guys.

at least as early as ep3, we know that the writers already knew where they were headed. i was really amazed when i heard ranka cry it out in ep 3. amazing how close it was to the truth that took more than 20 episodes to reveal.

[dreamweaver13]

Watching the Deculture edition again who would've thought that the Glasses Lady would be the Final Boss?

No way anyone could have guessed. setting up Grace as a mere side character was flawlessly done. watching ep 1 again, she was literally just at the sidelines. no weird change in voice or attitude. no change in the eyes. no close-up of a misplaced smile or smirk. she was literally a wallflower. she had us ALL fooled.

[Major Focker]

just dawned on me that while alto had an omamori, brera had a harmonica around his neck.

whether it was intentional or not, there seems to be some symmetry in the design and development of these 2 male rivals. we may find out later that they share more similarities

[DeeBot]

You know, it's taken me a while to try and resolve Sheryl's initial attitude with her later softening--heck, even with her initial impression of Frontier as her starliner drops out of fold. For a long time, I figured it was just discontinuity.

I still think it doesn't entirely gel, but it's started to make more sense to me. Under Grace's tutelage, Sheryl took everything about her job extremely seriously. Work was all she had; on the job, that was the only thing on her mind. When she was acting like a jerk, she was usually actually right. (She's a professional! What's she doing performing with a bunch of probably incompetent amateurs from a school? After all, she had no idea if they were really any good. And she said no fans backstage! She doesn't want anyone getting in the way of the crew doing their jobs. And her fans really would probably mostly be paying attention to her; that what they'd paid to see, after all. She may have just been gloating just a wee bit there, though. And when Alto was running off to be the hero, she belittled him because he should have left things to the professionals, like Gilliam, instead of just getting in the way.)

Ultimately, I think her attitude can be attributed to having an extremely driven work ethic, coupled with being managed by Grace to strive towards being that ultimate idol. There was nothing else for her--not school, not friends, not love (massive parallels here with the early Misa). Her professional exterior was as mechanical as anything else Grace built.

We get a hint, though, that her softer side was always there. In episode 3, when trapped in the shelter, she protests at Alto's accusation that she's an exhibitionist, just because her professional persona dresses like a slurm. She adamantly insists that how she appears on stage has nothing to do with who she is off it. I think that statement extends beyond just the way she chooses to dress.

On a slightly meandering note, I still enjoy that bit at the end, where Sheryl doesn't seem to realize that Alto and Ranka (like everyone else on Frontier) aren't implanted; in episode 5, she seems surprised that she has to explain how Grace can record scenes with her eyes. (It's the only way you can make sense of her demand that they not upload nude pictures of her up on to the net; strikingly, that seems to imply that such pictures don't already exist, which seems a bit odd, given her strictly professional approach to her career.)

Edited October 3, 2008 by DeeBot

[Anon]

Something just hit me, homage-wise. In the last ep, at the end of the mental/psychic heart to heart between A-S-R, when they put their hands together, I thought the scene looked familiar...

The DYRL scene where Hikaru handed the lyric to Minmei's hand anyone?

[Renato]

When Ranka and Brera were children (and the Vajra attacked the 117th), Brera told her not to tell anybody that her song was what drew the Vajra there.

Thus, when she saw that Ozma was hurt, Ranka reverted back to memories she had consciously buried...

Good catch, Dreamweaver!

I just watced that scene from episode three again, and yeah, you guys are right! Totally missed that the first time. Thanks

[grss1982]

No way anyone could have guessed. setting up Grace as a mere side character was flawlessly done. watching ep 1 again, she was literally just at the sidelines. no weird change in voice or attitude. no change in the eyes. no close-up of a misplaced smile or smirk. she was literally a wallflower. she had us ALL fooled.

The OP itself had us all fooled. Especially with Grace looking like this:

IMHO, Leon looks more sinister than Grace.

Also..about the statement in bold...there was there was this particular scene:

Edited October 4, 2008 by grss1982

[dreamweaver13]

Also..about the statement in bold...there was there was this particular scene:

whoa!

subtletly, thine name is Grace o'Connor.

and...

hawkeyes, thine name is grss1982!

[dreamweaver13]

Something just hit me, homage-wise. In the last ep, at the end of the mental/psychic heart to heart between A-S-R, when they put their hands together, I thought the scene looked familiar...

The DYRL scene where Hikaru handed the lyric to Minmei's hand anyone?

yup, except this time with a 3rd hand. it was too similar to be a coincidence, given that their hands were never animated that way throughout the course of the series.

[Gubaba]

yup, except this time with a 3rd hand. it was too similar to be a coincidence, given that their hands were never animated that way throughout the course of the series.

And the third hand might itself be a reference to Misa's infamous third hand near the end of SDFM episode 27...

[dreamweaver13]

And the third hand might itself be a reference to Misa's infamous third hand near the end of SDFM episode 27...

Ah yes, you would be referring to the Super Dimension Hand - with its own fold crystals for instantaneous movement.

[grss1982]

BTW...I just realized that Brera's explanation in Episode 25 about where a Vajra's brain is explains a lot to why the headless Vajra from Epsiode 3 and the captured Vajra in Episode 5 where re-animated back to life both those particular Red Lobsters still had their stomachs intact.

[RichterX]

BTW...I just realized that Brera's explanation in Episode 25 about where a Vajra's brain is explains a lot to why the headless Vajra from Epsiode 3 and the captured Vajra in Episode 5 where re-animated back to life both those particular Red Lobsters still had their stomachs intact.

and the energy that was gathered from Ranka's song in episode 5 tank Vajra started to gather from his stomach.

[Final Vegeta]

One thing I noticed is that, based on gattai subs which translated even the credits, there is a Machida Masaya as CGI designer. As I thought

FV

[DeeBot]

One thing I noticed is that, based on gattai subs which translated even the credits, there is a Machida Masaya as CGI designer. As I thought

Yeah, that sort of easter egg is pretty common in these situations. Makes sense that he was involved in the CGI, could easily sneak his name in there when they needed a label to slap on Machida.

[Major Focker]

finished rewatching up to ep7. a few things i've appreciated more in retrospect:

ep5

- when ranka sings at folmo, the captured vajra re-awakening is shown as a glow spreading from its abdomen. now, we know why.

- gubaba's theory might be right, about Yousei being written at folmo, on giant meltrandi panties. the scene prior, sheryl exclaims "This is just like a fairy land!". still inconclusive, but i like the thought of it.

- sheryl's feelings about alto might have coalesced as early as ep5 at the end of their "Star Date". when she invites alto to her farewell concert, and alto accepts, her cheerfulness suddenly wanes when alto explains it's simply because he has to return her earring. she was probably hoping for something more even then.

ep6

- some have speculated wilder might be one-eyed, but there are two clear shots in this ep that show otherwise.

[Sumdumgai]

Good catch on Captain Wilder's eye Major Focker! That puts that to rest.

Forgot which episode, but the one with Ozma and Cathy on a fake date getting Super Chili Chili Dogs as a cover for picking up a small data disk, when Cathy feeds Ozma a Super Chili Chili dog, he takes a big bite out of it.

Paper and all. Munch-munch swallow.

[Major Focker]

thanks.

another one is regarding the fan speculation about the birthmark on sheryl's left leg, seen during the defold sequence when she was first arriving in Frontier. they are actually heart-shaped prints on sheryl's stockings, clearly seen in ep16 when sheryl wakes up in alto's bunk at SMS (btw that scene reminded me of zohan; sheryl giving alto a flurry of fists, then a foot!). she was wearing the same outfit when she arrived in frontier. blu-ray rip of ep1 confirms clear heart shaped prints, which looked like blotches in earlier releases.

while rewatching the ep where alto sneaks into ranka's apartment, i picked up what may be another subtle juxtaposition. when alto was explaining to ranka how conflicts and competition happen in the universe, he was referring to the vajra when he says "..even now..", but the camera also pans slighlty to get the sheryl poster behind him in-frame. writers might be alluding to ranka's recent rise to stardom, and/or the triangle.

Edited October 6, 2008 by Major Focker

[taksraven]

The OP itself had us all fooled. Especially with Grace looking like this:

Ahhhh, the good old AIA fansubs. Good quality and usually on the scene a few days after the original broadcast. One of the worst things about the broadcast of Frontier was the loss of these fansubs halfway through. At least Lunar picked up the slack.

Taksraven

[taksraven]

Watching the Deculture edition again who would've thought that the Glasses Lady would be the Final Boss?

Yeah. Pretty funny how most of us pretty much ignored Grace for the first few episodes, until it became clearer that she was deeply involved in what was going on.

A nice bit of subtle characterisation that is rare in any dramatic entertainment. Usually villains get the sort of first screen appearance that Vader had in A New Hope with DA DA DA! music blaring in the background.

You have to wonder if Grace was always going to turn out to be the baddie when they started scripting the series.

Taksraven

[taksraven]

Anybody else noticed how the first appearance of Brera in the series (as a hyperactive mystery fighter flying through Michails sights) becomes more of a tingling down the spine sort of moment? (or is that just me?)

Taksraven