Macross Frontier Review - 80/100
Having never seen anything of Macross, the arrival of the new Macross Frontier, airing more than twenty-five years after the original Dimensional Fortress Macross, seemed like a good place to check out what the hype about the franchise was all about. What I got was probably the biggest-budgeted series of the year, with grand visuals and soundtrack. However, I do hope that this isn’t the best that Macross has to offer.
Overall, Macross Frontier is a very accessible series, as long as you know that in the Macross Universe, songs can be used as weapons. It tells about the love triangle between one guy and two different idols, while evil aliens called the Vajra are trying to invade and need to be stopped. While the romance is rather questionably introduced, it does develop enough to keep the viewer busy. The characters are overall nicely fleshed out, sympathetic and nice to watch.
The problem with this series is that I don’t really think that the creators really knew what they wanted with this series. It jumps from one thing to the others, introduces things that turn out to not matter at all in the end, while rushing the development of the things that do, some moment sparkle with brilliance, while others bore with dullness. The result is a beginning that goofs off a bit too much, and a finale that feels superficial, and where nothing really comes together like it should be.
The series has a cast of very interesting characters, but they’re not always used well. The series has a nasty tendency sometimes to put them into predictable situations, that don’t really allow them to fully develop their characters, with the prime example being Ranka, one of the main characters. She has some excellent moments, but she too often just plays the part of a damsel in distress. There’s only one character that’s really uninteresting to watch, and ironically this guy ended up being the main character of this series: Alto. His character isn’t bad, but he pales in comparison to the other characters, and because of that it’s so frustrating that the creators keep focusing on him.
Thankfully, this didn’t stop this series from having an excellent middle part, which lasts from around episode 10 till 18. It’s here where both the characters and the characters manage to show their best sides, which makes for a bunch of awesome action-packed episodes. Unfortunately, the series quickly dulls in again as it approaches its climax and finishes with a decent but inconclusive ending.
In terms of production-values, this series is also awesome, but unfortunately not without its flaws. Even though this series has a huge budget, the character-designs often look inconsistent and rushed, and unfortunately this just looks out of place a bit, unlike what Satelight managed to do with Noein. Yoko Kanno’s soundtrack also has a few very good pieces amongst it, but it’s nowhere near her best work.
Overall, I just feel that the creators could have done much more with the potential of this series. They should have taken more risks, they should have made more effort to flesh out some of the neglected subplots and side-characters, instead of goofing off with Alto, Ranka and Sheryl. Macross Frontier had the potential to bake a delicious cake, and instead just came with a fried egg. And while the egg is nice and good and all, it could have been so much better.
| Storytelling: | 7/10 |
| Characters: | 8/10 |
| Production-Values: | 9/10 |
| Setting: | 8/10 |
I dropped it after ep8. I didn’t see any potential then and I am not seeing any potential now.
Comment by green — September 26, 2008 @ 17:08
For me, Macross F was a very enjoyable show. I didn’t expect much from it (least of all a non-clichéd story, after all, this is a homage to the franchise itself), and in the end it exceeded my admittedly low expectations. The characters I either liked or didn’t care about, the animation was serviceable at worst, the fights were nice, the story made all the sense it needed to, and the music was nice (though in this aspect it didn’t come close to Macross Plus).
Yes, it had flaws and maybe it wasted some of its potential, but in the end, that didn’t matter to me. This wasn’t a “serious” show, just a silly homage that didn’t take itself all that seriously. I wouldn’t call Frontier the best Macross series I’ve ever seen (that title goes to the Macross Plus OVAs), but I’m glad that I watched it.
Comment by kuromitsu — September 26, 2008 @ 17:37
^ Macross Plus Movie is better than the OVAs!
Comment by Westlo — September 27, 2008 @ 0:20
compared to the horrible debacle called Macross 7, this was pretty good as far as macross series go.
Comment by shirokawa — September 27, 2008 @ 2:13
I feel Macross Frontier’s true approach can only be fully appreciated by fans who have seen most, if not all, the previous Macross series. Especially Super Dimensional Fortress Macross, which even by today’s standard is still considered a GREAT anime, and the best of the Macross series. *fanboy mode* Seriously, watch the previous macross series, watch this, and then you’ll be squirming all over in fanboy-ish orgasms like the rest of us…
Comment by Keiichi — September 28, 2008 @ 10:35
As a 25th anniversary release, the mandate of Macross F is to draw dots over as many of the well-remembered scenes from the 1982 movie as possible. That really coerces the plot though. Poorly paced, overcomplicated, rushed and contrived beyond belief. That’s especially annoying as the basic premise/concept/story had a lot of potential. If the direction had been a little more disciplined it could have turned out very differently.
Comment by Kamakiri — October 8, 2008 @ 18:17
It’s weird. while most of you guys don’t like the series that much, i find the series quite enjoyable. but yes, i do agree that they need more development on the characters & focus less on Alto. & death toll wise, i’m glad they keep most of the main crew alive. as developing new ones will take a whole of time. & Michael & one of the Zentraedi pilots in Klan’s crew did died didn’t they?
I didn’t think the ending was inconclusive. main villain wiped out, the fleet found a true new home, everyone’s happy. i don’t know how it could be better than this. (spare the thought of one girl eventually wins, cuz i better have it the way the ending did)
& i actually liked the way how vajras turned out to be good bugs manipulated by a wicked human. although you may not like it, but you can’t deny that it’s unexpected.
Comment by Hayabusa — October 31, 2008 @ 22:00
the 1st episode (the one before the season started) and Macross Zero gave me high hopes for this series, but to me it was just the uncrowned trainwreck of 2008 even considering the china arc and final episodes from code geass r2…too bad because this series had a lot of potential but they killed it off with a sorrowful plot and one of the worst endings ever.
Comment by Exia7swords — November 19, 2008 @ 15:05
Mmmmm…Even though I disliked the anime, I must admit though I liked the 2 main female characters (sheryl and Ranka), to bad their personalities weren’t used very well…it had char development but that development felt really rushed.
Comment by Julian — July 9, 2009 @ 16:48
Ya late post but I finally have finished this show. I have never seen the old Macross shows, but I enjoyed this one a lot. It had nice animation and CG, good fight scenes, some fun comedy, and cool characters. I do have a few problems though- mostly dealing with closure.
*SPOILERS* First, they really copped out on the love story. Instead of having Alto pick one of the girls, they leave it up to the viewer- that’s just weak. Also- there was some story cliches that I didn’t like (cliches as references to the old shows are fine- its plot cliches that turn me off). First, the Vajra turn out to be just mindless hive bugs, who can’t understand what they are doing is wrong. Lame. We have seen this in many instances (starship Troopers, Blue Gender, Ender’s Game). Second, super powered evil loli girls (Black Cat, Elfen Lied) appear far too often. When is there gonna be a show where they just kill them to save more lives? They need to come up with better things than this to explain what happens…
But- I gotta defend against some of the Alto hate. His character was fine- baddass even at many parts- he’s not an overly complicated hero- he wants to fly more than anything, and protect the women he loves. He has his flaws which is good because all of the characters in this show had their flaws and regrets about their past. My only problem with him was his hair- the princess joke got old so you would think he woulda cut it shorter or something.
Finally- I don’t care for Loli characters. Sheryl(the tsundere princess with a tragic past) > Ranka(who *was* too one dimensional- stereotypical loli/emo girl who needs rescued all the time) in my opinion- and I was hoping Alto would have said ‘I love you’ or something to her. She was far more interesting than Ranka, and would have made a better girl for him. (It could just be my own preferences coming through though…)
Comment by Avarice_WP — August 6, 2009 @ 1:02