Apparently this is a popular show. So popular that later this year a theatrical adaptation is set to debut in theaters across the land of the rising sun. So popular that it produced 4 singles that charted at 5 or higher in Japan. So popular that it sold more Blu Rays than any other Bandai Visual release. But let me be the first to say that this show was so painful that I can hardly believe that it even carries the Macross name. So inane that every plot “twist” was met with a yawn, so ham fistedly written that I felt like I was watching a Star Wars prequel. How did things go so far off course? Because I have no interest in even beginning to summarize I will let Wikipedia do it for me: The series features the 25th New Macross-class Colonial Fleet, dubbed the Macross Frontier, en route to the galactic center. This heavily populated interstellar fleet (consisting of numerous civilian vessels and their military escorts) contains a makeup of both human occupants and their Zentradi allies. As such, many of the Macross Frontier's companion vessels appear to merge more metallic Human designs with organic Zentradi aesthetics.
On the Macross timeline, the story is set in the year 2059, 47 years after the original Super Dimension Fortress Macross, 19 years after Macross Plus and 14 years after the story of Macross 7. Macross Frontier's plot explores a combination of action/political intrigue/space drama more than previous Macross series have done in the past. As the series begin, during a mission to an unexplored asteroid belt a reconnaissance New U.N. Spacy (N.U.N.S.) VF-171 is destroyed by extremely powerful and fast insectoid biomechanical alien mecha known as the "Vajra" (バジュラ),[4] which immediately begin their attack on the rest of the fleet. Unable to stop the new enemy threat, the N.U.N.S. Colonial Defense Forces authorize the deployment of a Civilian Military Provider organization called S.M.S. (Strategic Military Services) which utilizes the new VF-25 Messiah variable fighter to combat the alien menace.
I must let it be known before you go any further I hated this show. Thoroughly. With a passion I normally reserve for Hollywood adaptations of video games and anime (I’m looking at you Legend of Chun Li). The opening starts things off promisingly, Yoko Kanno turns in yet another memorable, oft times moving score, and the opening is both fast and exciting, with some excellent visuals. Then the actual show starts and it loses me immediately. First it’s the characters. Alto Saotome is a typical bishounen hero, who through 25 episodes changes little and offers no real surprises. There is Sheryl Norm, a pop idol, who is supposed to be the new Lynn Minmei and of course fits the bill as she manages to be just as annoying as the classic heroine. Then there’s Ranka Lee who manages to become the focal point of the series about half way through, and who the series creators can’t stop emphasizing how utterly and miserably kawaii she is! Then there’s a whole host of underdeveloped side characters to fit in the meandering plot and who utter dialogue so god awful I was praying for Chris Klein to deliver it so I could at least get some unintentional laughs. The human race is fighting some new alien race called the Vajra since the Zentradi have been mostly integrated into society and there has to be some villain which can be killed by the pile without asking too many questions.
Even as a lifelong Macross fan, I must say this franchise has lost me since the watermark of Macross Plus. Macross 7 I couldn’t finish and Macross Zero never left much of an impression. But this is just big, bombastic silliness which left me pining for the simple charms of the original series. By focusing on not one but TWO Idol characters any pretensions of realism are allowed to be quickly thrown out the door and what we get is a very very long commercial for some more Macross figures and the admittedly superior OSTs (and image albums, and so on). There are episodes in which it seems like one or two of the idols are singing THE WHOLE DAMN time. And since this is Macross there is nothing more powerful than the pure singing of an industry manufactured idol. And of course nobody listens to anything else other than these 2 singers who truthfully shouldn’t have much appeal outside the tween market. But in Macross everybody stops what they’re doing to listen to Sheryl Norm or Ranka sing EVERY TIME. Not only that but their singing is so important that they must comment on how much they love their singing or how they haven’t heard this idol in awhile. And so on and so on, ad nauesuem. The writing is lazy and obvious and prone to the inevitable anime quasi-philosophical babblings, spouted at the most inopportune moments, you know like when you’re in the middle of a dogfight! The acting is as good as one can expect when you’re given characters that only faintly resemble real human beings. The animation is outstanding across the board and clearly where all the attention went. Creativity is in short supply, and even the dogfights, the hallmark for many fans of the Macross series, are mostly lame and uninspired. And as noted before, with the enormously talented Yoko Kanno composing, is there any doubt that the music is at least good if not wonderful?
Honestly I can’t see how anybody who has watched any of the great progenitors to this mess can enjoy it. The often successful attempts at Realism in Macross and Macross Plus and engaging human stories made those classics. Of course they were soap operas but you could get involved on a human level with the characters. The original series had a multicultural slant which made it appealing to a wide range of people, an encouragement for humanity to band together. There was genuine thoughtfulness and not the crass commercialism which plagues this show. Besides the fact that it overuses the ironic use of bubbly pop music concurrent with the war scenes which were far more selectively and effectively used in previous series, Frontier’s insulting and self aggrandizing insistence on the power and significance of Jpop infuriates more than inspires. There is no North American release date scheduled and I couldn’t be happier. Don’t accept mindless pap like this that masquerades as entertainment.
Macross Frontier
