Kawamori's Frontier Episode Commentary

[Gubaba]

I've started working on the Episode Commentary for Frontier, by Kawamori, printed in the book 2059: Memories (pages 90-93). I don't know how long it will take me to do them all...maybe a few weeks, if I'm lucky. I want to give special thanks to Renato, who checked my translations, corrected some errors, and gave useful tips. Of course, if any errors still remain, they're mine and mine alone.

#01 - Close Encounter

Script: Hiroyuki Yoshino / Storyboard: Yasuhito Kikuchi, Shoji Kawamori / Production: Takayuki Tanaka / Art Direction: Yuichi Takahashi, Risa Ebata

In regards to the TV series, we're aiming for it to be the culmination of everything from the Macross series up to this point. The director (Yasuhito) Kikuchi and I did the storyboards ourselves, and we were able to put in all the little items we wanted to see. With the two of us doing it, 20 minutes just wasn't long enough! (laughs) We tried many experiments in the first episode. The parts that worked out well we brushed up and developed further in the following story.

#02 - Hard Chase

Script: Hiroyuki Yoshino / Storyboard: Yasuhito Kikuchi, Shoji Kawamori / Production: Kiyoshi Matsuda / Art Direction: Masahiro Sekiguchi, Takashi Ikari

We tried Ranka singing, and Sheryl stepping in to add her her own voice, and I thought "That's it!" Apparently (Yoko) Kanno had the same response during the recording. I did have a feeling it would go all right, but I actually shiver when I hear them sing together. The was when Kanno-san began rapidly sending me duet songs. (laughs).

#03 - On Your Marks

Script: Hiroyuki Yoshino / Storyboard and Production: Takao Abo / Art Direction: Futoshi Fujikawa

Well, someone always gets locked in at some point in Macross (laughs). While we'd had people be trapped before, we'd never done it with three people. The "Tuna Bun" design was a labor of love for our scriptwriter (Hiroyuki) Yoshino and the artist (laughs). The "chest portion" of the episode was described by Yoshino, and the artist decided to imagine what it would look like. Griffith Park is a reference to the landscape of the Griffith Park Observatory in L.A.

#04 - Miss Macross

Script: Hiroyuki Yoshino / Storyboard: Kazuki Akane / Production: Takahiro Majima / Art Direction: Ryouma Ebata

The main points here are really Ranka singing "My Boyfriend is a Pilot" and Klan Klang. Because Klan's destructive power had been assumed from the beginning, it was decided not to put her in the first three episodes. For the "My Boyfriend is~" section, the young animators took charge. Thanks to these artists, the characters move swiftly, even in something like a singing scene, which is usually rather restrained (laughs).

#05 - Star Date

Script:Hiroyuki Yoshino / Storyboard: Yasuhito Kikuchi / Production: Takayuki Fukuda / Art Diection: Hiroki Marufuji

The scouting trip to San Francisco and Las Vegas, accompanied by Director Kikuchi, provided a terribly charming background for Sheryl. I can completely understand why people would fall all over themselves for her (laughs). In order to give Ranka, having just failed in the Miss Macross Frontier Contest, her debut into the entertainment world, we made the street concert scene. We were thinkng about what would push her to her chance to sing; of course it would be Alto's paper airplane...

Edited May 30, 2009 by Gubaba

[Bowen]

Thanks a lot, Gubaba (and Renato)

Looking forward to the rest of the commentary

[VFTF1]

AWESOME! This is great to read. I always loved director's commentary - this form is good too

Pete

[Bri]

Thanks for translating those notes Gubaba and Renato.

[Gubaba]

Here are the next three. Translating the credits is a real pain, so I'll only do it if enough people ask. Suffice to say that Hiroyuki Yoshino is listed as the scriptwriter for all 25 episodes, and for the episodes here, Kawamori did the storyboards for (naturally) episode 7.

Again, many, many thanks to Renato for checking my translations. #07 is about half written by him.

#06 - Bye-Bye Sheryl

Background story arcs that continues to the end of the series. Not only an episode about Sheryl's earring, but also the first time Alto becomes aware of himself truly going into battle. The story's "school life" ratio lessened, and it shifted from that more familiar world to the world of war. I wonder, did we express that feeling? In terms of showing off mecha, we have the scene featuring the launch of the Macross Quarter.

#07 First Attack

For the previous two episodes, there had been no battle scenes, so we wanted to show the fight in a lot of detail. It seems like the Monster fans got especially excited. Because there had never been an episode in which the events unfolded entirely parallel to a concert performance, it was a worthwhile challenge. The deep resonance between the hearts of Ranka and Sheryl was first shown here, and naturally everyone got very excited about this.

#08 - High School Queen

We did the episode about Sheryl's underwear because Yoshino said that he absolutely HAD to do it (laughs). But Ranka's costume definitely came from me. Animal costumes are so common, so how about a vegetable...OF COURSE! A CARROT!, I thought. Likewise, because Sheryl taking the Entertainer Course at Mihoshi High would just be too predictable, we listened to the staff's desire: "We want to see Sheryl in an EX-gear!"

[DeX-kun]

Here are the next three. Translating the credits is a real pain, so I'll only do it if enough people ask. Suffice to say that Hiroyuki Yoshino is listed as the scriptwriter for all 25 episodes, and for the episodes here, Kawamori did the storyboards for (naturally) episode 7.

Again, many, many thanks to Renato for checking my translations. #07 is about half written by him.

#06 - Bye-Bye Sheryl

Background story arcs that continues to the end of the series. Not only an episode about Sheryl's earring, but also the first time Alto becomes aware of himself truly going into battle. The story's "school life" ratio lessened, and it shifted from that more familiar world to the world of war. I wonder, did we express that feeling? In terms of showing off mecha, we have the scene featuring the launch of the Macross Quarter.

#07 First Attack

For the previous two episodes, there had been no battle scenes, so we wanted to show the fight in a lot of detail. It seems like the Monster fans got especially excited. Because there had never been an episode in which the events unfolded entirely parallel to a concert performance, it was a worthwhile challenge. The deep resonance between the hearts of Ranka and Sheryl was first shown here, and naturally everyone got very excited about this.

#08 - High School Queen

We did the episode about Sheryl's underwear because Yoshino said that he absolutely HAD to do it (laughs). But Ranka's costume definitely came from me. Animal costumes are so common, so how about a vegetable...OF COURSE! A CARROT!, I thought. Likewise, because Sheryl taking the Entertainer Course at Mihoshi High would just be too predictable, we listened to the staff's desire: "We want to see Sheryl in an EX-gear!"

Ah Gubaba, you're the greatest once again (as well as Renato XD) Anyways, Ohnogi who? Again, it seems that Yoshino seems to be the person that is the biggest Sheryl fan considering how many times he's mentioned already I can't wait until we get to episodes 12-16, I'm really interested to see those. Actually I'm also interested to see the comments for episode 10 to see if Ohnogi is mentioned there at least Anyways, thanks again.

[Gubaba]

Actually I'm also interested to see the comments for episode 10 to see if Ohnogi is mentioned there at least Anyways, thanks again.

He's not. I've already done a preliminary draft of it.

[DeX-kun]

He's not. I've already done a preliminary draft of it.

Booyah! Well, there it is again then. Bah, now I feel ashamed that I believed in those "notes" rather than research some of it myself but it was so extensive and detailed that it was just hard not to believe

[Bowen]

Great job, Gubaba and Renato. Please keep up the good work if you have the time

[nexxstrait]

Thank you thank you so much, marvellous job!

[D' only]

Thank you very much Gubaba and Renato!!

Edited June 1, 2009 by D' only

[dreamweaver13]

VERY COOL!!

Thanks Gubaba (and Renato)!

I love these commentaries. funny how Yoshino said he absolutely HAD to do the panties thingy. haha. i can just imagine it.

also found it funny that Kanno Yoko suddenly started writing up duets after hearing the second episode.

[TheLoneWolf]

Here are the next three. Translating the credits is a real pain, so I'll only do it if enough people ask. Suffice to say that Hiroyuki Yoshino is listed as the scriptwriter for all 25 episodes, and for the episodes here, Kawamori did the storyboards for (naturally) episode 7.

Translated credits would be awesome! I love reading production notes in general, and Macross is my favorite since English information on it is so scarce. Thanks for these translations and for listing your source. I've got a funny feeling that we'll soon be able to sweep this Ohnogi Conspiracy nonsense under the carpet.

[Xeros]

I've got a funny feeling that we'll soon be able to sweep this Ohnogi Conspiracy nonsense under the carpet.

That was just vaporware.

[Gubaba]

Translated credits would be awesome! I love reading production notes in general, and Macross is my favorite since English information on it is so scarce. Thanks for these translations and for listing your source. I've got a funny feeling that we'll soon be able to sweep this Ohnogi Conspiracy nonsense under the carpet.

It that way, doesn't it? In a way, it's kind of a shame, since I've marshaled all sorts of Google searches, website bits, and pieces from interviews to bolster my points, and have finished three parts of a five-part essay about the whole thing.

But it looks like a lot of people already had some doubts about its veracity, and were just waiting for someone to find a serious hole in the story.

(By the way, I don't think I've even mentioned the REALLY serious holes in the story...this was all just meant to be groundwork-laying.)

[Gubaba]

Again, thanks as always to Renato for catching a few things I left out and fixing some errors.

#09 - Friendly Fire

It's a basic fact that new idols have to hand out tissues on the street (laughs). It was determined from the beginning that each episode would be a "character episode." The truth is, because we had decided that Michel would lose his life in the 1st cour [Translator's note: a "cour" is a season of 13 episodes], we put his story here. But he turned out to be a better character than we had expected, so we extended his life. Also, we really wanted to see giant Klan give him a slap.

#10 - Legend of Zero

The "movie within a movie" has been done many times throughout Macross so far, but Ranka playing the role of Dr. Mao, thus overcoming her heart's hurdle, while crossing "Macross Zero" and Protoculture, and also crossing the dimensions, gave me the chills while working on it. I'm digressing a little here, but I somehow still think that Miranda, the actress chosen to play Sara, was miscast (laughs).

#11 - Missing Birthday

To Alto, life is a three-answer multiple choice test (laughs). With Ranka's real debut, she and Alto quickly begin to miss each other [Translator's note: this is "miss" in the sense of a "missed call"]. Apparently (Megumi) Nakajima-san got fan letters asking things like, "It's unusual to sell so well right after your debut, isn't it?", but according to her, "It was real." Nakajima-san says that her life really did drastically change immediately after her debut.

Edited June 4, 2009 by Gubaba

[BeyondTheGrave]

#09 - Friendly Fire

#11 - Missing Birthday

To Alto, life is a three-answer multiple choice test (laughs). With Ranka's real debut, she and Alto quickly begin to miss each other [Translator's note: this is "miss" in the sense of a "missed call"]. Apparently (Megumi) Nakajima-san got fan letters asking things like, "It's unusual to seel so well right after your debut, isn't it?", but according to her, "It was real." Nakajima-san says that her life really did drastically change immediately after her debut.

thx. interesting stuff. you mean feel right?

[Gubaba]

thx. interesting stuff. you mean feel right?

Crap...you got to it just before I edited it. I meant "sell."

[BeyondTheGrave]

Crap...you got to it just before I edited it. I meant "sell."

that makes even more sense, imput my word and it sounds like she fell ill.

[dreamweaver13]

#10 - Legend of Zero

The "movie within a movie" has been done many times throughout Macross so far, but Ranka playing the role of Dr. Mao, thus overcoming her heart's hurdle, while crossing "Macross Zero" and Protoculture, and also crossing the dimensions, gave me the chills while working on it. I'm digressing a little here, but I somehow still think that Miranda, the actress chosen to play Sara, was miscast (laughs).

I can't believe this is the first time it actually registered that MFEp10 was a reference of SDFM MicroCosmos. I was too caught up in it being a Macross Zero tribute, that the more subtle reference totally escaped me. color me blind and brand me stupid.

Edited June 4, 2009 by dreamweaver13

[Gubaba]

I can't believe this is the first time it actually registered that MFEp10 was a reference of SDFM MicroCosmos. I was too caught up in it being a Macross Zero tribute, that the more subtle reference totally escaped me. color me blind and brand me stupid.

It's also a reference to the Macross 7 episode "Minmay Video" (which also inspired "Macross Generation"), as well as the in-universe status of DYRL.

[dreamweaver13]

It's also a reference to the Macross 7 episode "Minmay Video" (which also inspired "Macross Generation"), as well as the in-universe status of DYRL.

would you belive me if i told you that i actually caught the M7 reference, nevertheless i still missed the SDFM nod? shame on me. SHAME.

[Gubaba]

would you belive me if i told you that i actually caught the M7 reference, nevertheless i still missed the SDFM nod? shame on me. SHAME.

Well...the M7 reference IS the most obvious one. Micro Cosmos is a little more subtle, since "Shao Pai Long" isn't based on any part of the Macross backstory.

Me, I'm just surprised that they originally planned to kill Michael off before episode 13.

Edited June 4, 2009 by Gubaba

[dreamweaver13]

Well...the M7 reference IS the most obvious one. Micro Cosmos is a little more subtle, since "Shao Pai Long" isn't based on any part of the Macross backstory.

Me, I'm just surprised that they originally planned to kill Michael off before episode 13.

yeah, come to think of it, that'll be quite harsh. and since the episode was "friendly fire", michael might have been killed off that way, by alto or by klan? harsh.

[Killer Robot]

yeah, come to think of it, that'll be quite harsh. and since the episode was "friendly fire", michael might have been killed off that way, by alto or by klan? harsh.

To me that read more like Friendly Fire was supposed to be a character building episode since he was going to die within a few episodes. Assuming not much else was changed to accomodate it, he could easily have been killed in the escape from Gallia 4 in episode 13, whether by the Dimension Eater or the confrontation with Brera. The midpoint of the series, anyway, since 25 episodes doesn't make for clean halves.

[Garou Kuroryuu]

To me that read more like Friendly Fire was supposed to be a character building episode since he was going to die within a few episodes. Assuming not much else was changed to accomodate it, he could easily have been killed in the escape from Gallia 4 in episode 13, whether by the Dimension Eater or the confrontation with Brera. The midpoint of the series, anyway, since 25 episodes doesn't make for clean halves.

Actually, IIRC, more than one of us were wondering if Michael had survived the scape from Galia 4, when Sheryl took control of the VF. I guess that at that point the decision was made to not kill Michael... yet.

[Gubaba]

Actually, IIRC, more than one of us were wondering if Michael had survived the scape from Galia 4, when Sheryl took control of the VF. I guess that at that point the decision was made to not kill Michael... yet.

I was guessing it would've been around there as well...but that would've been a pretty lame death if it had happened that way.

The way it ended up, at least he went out with serious style...

[dreamweaver13]

Actually, IIRC, more than one of us were wondering if Michael had survived the scape from Galia 4, when Sheryl took control of the VF. I guess that at that point the decision was made to not kill Michael... yet.

oh yeah, forgot about that one. certainly that could have been his original death, but it's a good thing they extended his run a bit. his actual death was waaaay cooler.

[Killer Robot]

Makes me wonder now if Ramaria's sudden and barely visible death was pushed into episode 14 so at least one named SMS character would die in the battle.

Really, it's interesting seeing how fluid the plotline of a series can be in the production process.

[VFTF1]

Well...the M7 reference IS the most obvious one.

I...didn't...catch the M7...reference...until you mentioned it now.

It's been a long time since I've seen Macross 7 in all 40 plus episodes of its' grandeur. I've mainly stuck with listening to Fire Bomber songs on my MP3... so I forgot completely about the "making of" episode in M7...

Pete

[BeyondTheGrave]

Well...the M7 reference IS the most obvious one. Micro Cosmos is a little more subtle, since "Shao Pai Long" isn't based on any part of the Macross backstory.

Me, I'm just surprised that they originally planned to kill Michael off before episode 13.

there's an m7 reference?!

i dont really remeber much of m7.

[VFTF1]

there's an m7 reference?!

Yes - now that Gubaba has jogged our memories; indeed Birdman was also a reference to the equivalent episode in M7, where Bassara plays Ichijo Hikaru, and they put retro VF-1 fastpacks on the VF-19. However, as filming is underway, the protodevilin attack and Bassara needs to go sing to them.

But there are other more explicite M7 references in MF - most notably episode 12 where Ranka saves the day and Micheal's VF is equiped with Sound Force like speakers.

As for other obscure references to M7...

Did anybody else think of Physica from M7 when Alto got the "lucky charm" from Sheryl?

Pete

[Thom]

oh yeah, forgot about that one. certainly that could have been his original death, but it's a good thing they extended his run a bit. his actual death was waaaay cooler.

Despite his dying, his death scene was pretty great - and Klan (or Klang?) going vengeful was absolutely awesome!

Having him die earlier, like at Gallia 4 might have been too Kakizaki-like... which oddly enough would also have been another homage...

[Gubaba]

Here's the next group. Again, all episodes are listed as being written by Yoshino. Kawamori is credited (along with someone else) for storyboards for episode 14.

#12 - Fastest Delivery

This episode is really focused around Ranka singing "Seikan Hikou." Anyway, the really charming point here is the "Kira!☆" Animation director Takahashi (Yuichi) watched a lot of choreography videos in order ot animate this scene well, and I think it made a strong impression. And of course, the first audience to hear Ranka's singing is Zentradi.

#13 - Memory of Global

In this episode, the heartwarming mood of the first half, as Alto enters the Global, expands in a heartbeat in the second half into something much harder. And finally, Alto, having wished to fly in a real sky, of course finds joy in flying his Valkryie in the atmosphere. This episode crosses the halfway point of the series, and moves towards the second half, as Sheryl's sickness and Grace's conspiracy come to the forefront.

#14 - Mother's Lullaby

An all-out attack by the Vajra, and the war intensifies. This episode is the turning point for the war getting larger, but we also wanted to show that Grace is still lurking in the shadows. Ranka's power is revealed, and Sheryl's standing and position changes. Mylene was special, but Sheryl is the first diva to fly a Valkyrie in this series. Even though she gets shot down almost immediately (laugh).

Edited June 7, 2009 by Gubaba

[azrael]

#14 - Mother's Lullaby

... Mylene was special, but Sheryl is the first diva to fly a Valkyrie in this series. Even though she gets shot down almost immediately (laugh).

1st Diva VF pilot. Hehe. The Jenius' already hold the 1st female VF pilot (Milia) and 1st female Singer (Mylene). All we need now is some older woman pilot going after the young newbie pilots and she'd be the 1st Cougar VF pilot.