Anime: Macross Frontier

Okay, I already watched it from beginning to end of this anime and I found it somewhat weird, this anime are just... boring. From the beginning story, introduction, fighting, and etc, I finally come to realized that scoring is needed for it.

For art and animation, I found it very good, from drawing, putting 3D CG effect till adding some spices. They really doing a great job for adding elements, I can't deny it after all and I was stunned by it.

Sound for each characters are quite good, but some are not on their places. While the songs are very good, especially when May'n singing are so liveful like in real concert. But, the others... meh, not good.

The story are taken from Macross 7 but with some added twist and new remakes. The story itself around fighting Unknown creatures named : Vajra, and humans in colonies are fighting for it over decades. No matter how good they make, still it was same like Macross 7, bad stories that included Zentrandi : the giant species that lived for hundred years and lived for fight only. It was so boring that I disliked it the moment I watched for first few episodes.

Characters and somewhat just plain dull. There's nothing new from begin with, always same like that. The downfall on this story is too much focusing main characters with heroines and giving little spaces for the others. That's why, I was really uninteresting for each progressing stories.

Value in this story are found in nowhere, just too boring. Watching entire episodes in 2 days and I found it very poor. Just repeating it again and again, that's all. It just too much focusing in audition concert which are disturbing the story and pace of story. Very bad :thumbsdown:

Enjoyment??? IT WAS BULLSHIT!!! I'm never feel this so angry after watching all Macross Series form the oldies into present for all my life. Too much Singing that covers almost half of each Episodes making my head very dizzy and frustating. I swear, I WILL NEVER WATCH THIS SHIT AGAIN FOREVER, EVER!!!

Ah, Macross Frontier, anime in its flashiest form. It also balances between cheerful and sad, grand and... unresolved, and is, well, quite a sight to behold.

Art & Animation

Starting with its flash and pomp, Macross Frontier is a series that easily leaves almost all behind, and only the most high budget titles remain as equals. The animation is gorgeous, the details are amazing, the colours are bright and flashy. This same excess applies to characters, too, most of which are pretty boys and pretty girls of various sorts. I have to say that none of them are particularly original (actually, Sheryl might be the biggest standout), but the lack of inspiration is drowned in high budget gloss, and a weak sensitive mind like mine succumbs to all the "so... pretty..." with little objections. Ah, sweet oblivion.
but let's not fool ourselves, while extremely pretty and detailed, the designs are not super original, there is a noticeable number of reused animations, and my critical mind simply can't hand out 10s like candies (even though there's some serious temptation).
9/10, the verdict of my combined minds.

Sound

Did you know that Macross Frontier (and Macross is general) is famous for having idols sing songs every 5 minutes? Well, now you do. For a show whose central point revolves around singing, Macross F can't fail, and it delivers! Loud, sweet, energetic, melancholic, silly, what, what is this horror my ears are barely enduring? Ah, pop music, sweet oblivion.
Sorry, got carried away. Technically, it's probably of high quality, the melancholic songs appealed even to me, but, alas, my musical tastes are somewhat sensitive, popmusic like this inspires little beyond mild disgust in my heart. If, however, your heart responds differently, you might even enjoy the bunch of songs Macross F presents - they certainly embody the high budget visual flash seen in the animation department in the form of a high powered pop music, but, subjectively, personally, I'm not a big fan of it at all. I can respect the quality, though, both in the singers voices, the actors and the multitude of songs.
8/10, for my sensitive mind overpowers the critical, which said "objectively, might be ok", with its cries of anguish and boredom that "this is shit".

Story

Ah, story.
The setup is pretty great and entertaining - a bunch of guys and gals in an interesting future space exploration setting, where you get to both explore space and be all cozy in your green metropolis with high culture, and pretty people all around you. Great!
Then the conflict pops up - who are these mysterious fellas? Wow, they can do that? and they don't do that, like we do? Wow, how interesting! I wonder what's up with all that?
In parallel to that we get our beautiful bunch being mixed up in entertainment business and romance, we get a real romantic entanglement here, and can only guess who will win whose heart, oh, how exciting!
Ooh, look at these shady guys doing these shady things, I'm sure they have a great plan that will be revealed later only to astound us.
And, wow, what's... oh...

Oh well, nevermind.
The rough of it is that Macross F has a pretty good setup, great action, a generous mix of some military action, epic mysteries and teenage romance, but the promise of this mix is never fulfilled, the villains turn out to be kinda dumb, the previous twists are not illuminated by future revelations, but rather revealed to be quite stupid. Some miracles happen along the way, the pacing goes awry, and then you've reached the ending, where only the secondary military part has been resolved, but the thousand times more important romantic part hasn't moved forward even one bit. How's that for an end?

yeah, kinda lame. but together with the visuals and audioworks, it's an entertaining storyline that firmly resists logic, but manages to evoke some sense of events to structurize all that high budget around.
6/10

Characters

best quality of the macross f characters is that they're pretty. worst quality is that we've seen this all before. whether you look at the bunch of the generic pretty boys, of whom some are smart, others are flirty, and other others are pretty, but ignorant of their condition of being the main love interest for just about everybody else, or the bunch of the pretty girls, where we get the flashy and confident one, or the slightly clumsy and shy, but ever so pretty and absolutely cute one, or these bunch of gals, being blessed with extra large, umm.

yeah, there's no one original here. even villains feel meh with their traditionally confusing motivations.

the big question now is whether this recipe still works on you personally. if you're still moved by sexy schoolgirls and hot schoolboys fighting for the fate of mankind and falling in love with each other, then macross f in its flash is sure guaranteed to entertain you. my heart, personally, still responds mildly to this, and I can appreciate what was happening, but nothing here is masterpiece.

another 6/10.

Value & Enjoyment

What value does such a show have? Surprisingly, its grandeur works wonders, and I'd say that this is a good anime as entertainment kinda show, one of the better ones, really. Perhaps purely by virtue of its high production values (or Sheryl), but its appeal can't be denied, and is an easy recommendation for anyone seeking a good time. It is no high art, but it's a pretty fun ride. 7/10

This value, this recommendation, also corresponds with my enjoyment. Macross F fails critical analysis, as shallow as I've provided one here, but the fun and excitement I felt was real (even if introduced by a bunch of bytes on a disk, a rather unreal source of reality). I don't regret anything. 7/10

Macross F is a tough show to review. It's a sequel of an old and famous franchise and had predecessors that were both awesome and terrible. By the time it was launched it was criticized for being too flashy and shallow but still venerated as a Macross show and its superb production value. There are flashiness and shallownes, yes, but a few of its contemporary were just as bad in these areas yet still never took the same blow (Code Geass R2 comes to mind). Macross F is a show with one of the best art and sound direction, a good but inconsistent cast and a nice pace, but fails when it comes to originality and complexity.

Art & Animation
There are only a few animations with 25 episodes that look as good as Macross F. The production value is extremely high, with bright colors, nice art style and superb animation. The whole thing is very detailed and the robots, despite being the weird jets in space from Macross, are outstanding. You'll also be presented with a very consistent show. Overall the art and animation are aspects where one could not simply find any major flaws in Macross F. It's not as great as some movies, but comparing it to other shows, especially those released in the same year, makes clear the difference.

Sound
Macross was always about music. The franchise focus on a singer and the strength of songs in a fight for survival, both are present here and are very well used. While Macross 7 had failed to greatly combine music and action, Macross F does it greatly, perhaps better than the first Macross in fact. You'll be limited to more popular music and that may leave some unhappy, but the whole sound direction fits the show perfectly. Background music is good but what really shines here are the vocals when they merge with combat and other scenes. Voice-acting is great as well, and contribute to the show with fitting voices and above average quality.

Story
Macross F is about the appearance of a new, bizarre race of the Vajra. These alien creatures instantly destroys one of the big colony-shaped spaceships and become a huge threat in this part of the universe. To guarantee the protection of their own colony fleet, the humans from Macross Frontier resort to their fighter jets and the strange effect that a girl's music has on these alien creatures.

1. Good, but lacks a boom
   Here is were Macross F has one of its problems. The concept is still the same as previous Macross, with a interstellar ship cruising to find a place where humanity could settle while they brave through the mysteries of the universe. There's music involved and the enemy is alien. The problem is that, while the pace is good, there are never convincing twists or complex intrigues where you think there should be. The whole plot becomes a bit shallow, with many events not clearly explained or simply left without the deserved spotlight. The drama of the show is good, we have some nice relationship developments and unexpected outcomes, but they generally lack emotion and tension to give you the feeling that people are in fact facing a threat and not just fighting drills.
   
   Perfect Music for Fights, but That's it
   Some parts of the show, especially a few combat sequences, are really outstanding when merged with songs, making the action parts of the shows something quite bold and unique. Sadly, when the plot starts to get straightforward the show loses much of its shine. The intrigues could be more present, or perhaps the villains could be better detailed. The fact is that Macross F loses its momentum and by the end is just a big nice stage for great fights and music.
   

Character
Macross F suffers from an inconsistent cast. The main protagonist (there are three in fact), Alto, is in fact good, a bit different from most of its kind and somehow refreshing for not being a complete teenage idiot as many shows have. Comparing to other Macross protagonists, however, makes him lose some respect due to his shounen-like willpower. Ranka is the absolute stereotype of the young japanese girl and she never really evolves or take anything as experience, becoming more and more annoying as the show goes on, always shy, crying, overly emotional, overly cute, etc. Sheryl, however, is a very different and great character, more human then most and evolving a bit as the story progress. She suffers a lot during the show, but reacts in a more believable way and learns from her mistakes, especially in her relationship with Alto.

1. Weak Enemy
   The support cast is just average with the exception of the enemy. The enemy are alien beings without intelligence, real motivation or decent background. They just pop, kill, never create intrigues, tension or anything like that. While there are good non-intelligence enemies in other stories, here in Macross they are just shallow and unconvincing and also a true plot-killer, as the story becomes hard to move with such weak antagonists.
   

Value
Macross F is not original simply because it's a Macross. If you've watched any sci-fy show released after the original Macross you'll be facing some very familiar stereotypes and events. While it's not original, it's at least a good improvement. The great production value helps creating nice combats, enhancing dialogues (even when the script is not as awesome), and making the show different from others. It's flashy, yes, but also lacks fillers and is boosted by a good addicting value. While it's a sci-fy shonen filled with giant robots and combat, it feels different than most because of the focus on music and watching something different is always a good thing.

Enjoyment
Macross may have shallow plot and inconsistent cast, but the overall experience is great. The combats are nice, the animation is superb, the music really adds to the show and the pace is good. You'll likely to forget the story is shallow when watching the events unfold in sucession but it's almost certain that after the show ends you'll be disappointed that nothing outstanding really happened story-wise. The fact is that the high production value tops the flaws of the show in many ways to guarantee you'll have a good enjoyment as you watch it.

Comments
Macross F is a top quality show. I can't say it's a superb anime because I really value story and characters, and there's where the show suffers the most. If you watch other animes, you'll likely to find that the plot is in fact good when comparing to how much stupid things you're presented out there, but for a Macross show and the importance given to the emotional events you'll notice its flaw more than in a typical shounen fare.

The first time I've watched Macross F I was really impressed, but the second time I was convinced the plot was not that good and the great animation and sound were the real reasons why I was lured in the first time. Don't get me wrong, the show is superb when you put everything together with such quality, if it had a better plot and character this could clearly become one of the best shows of all time. A shame, but it's hard to hit the spot when it comes to shounen animes.

Macross F is a perfect example of what happens to a franchise if it stays too much in the field. It eventually runs out of ideas and excitement and goes for cheap entertainment. While the original series was also light in nature and had some fan service, it was still a cornerstone in anime history for its good production values as well as its interesting cast. Well F is none of that. It came out in a time where its visuals, although good, are not awesome next to anything else that airs close to it, and its story and cast are hardly as captivating. One could say that it’s because nothing feels special and original anymore, or that there are several well made series annually to chose from, unlike back in the time when the original owned everything else that aired at the same time. Although that is a factor too, breaking down the facts of the anime still shows how it doesn’t hold up to its predecessor.

Speaking of that, F is indeed the sequel to the original, as well as Zero and Dynamite 7, a thing that it made clear with several allusions and references to the events that took place in the previous instalments. Although that is very good to make you feel familiar with the setting, at the same time they overdid it with the tributes. You clearly see that they deliberately rehash the plot of the original and even make a movie of the events of Zero. It’s as if F was focusing too much on the fans’ nostalgia and far less on continuing the story forward. That is just cheap.

Now about the actual story. It is messy! Really. It tried to be epic and mysterious and more mature than before by including a hive mind notion, yet ended up as nothing but a silly mecha show with shallow logic, corny romance, and unexplained events. Especially the fate of the lost SDF is enough to demand a series of its own. While the original had a storyboard that kept changing continually to something else, F wasted most of its duration on simple events, tributes to prequels, and silly romance. And while the original had events that led to an interplanetary war and the almost extinction of the human race, F feels like a few skirmishes around a small part of humanity. It is simply all too underwhelming.

I can go on comparing everything else that the original did better. Here, let me choose the Zedraedi for example. They were awesome adversaries in the original for being war-like, unable to think past their way of life, scary and mysterious, yet curious of our way of life. They were a huge contrast with the humans. In F though, they behave almost like us, having intergraded to our way of living. They no longer feel as anything more that huge people. Not only that but the only important alien character in the whole show is a Meltran female warrior, who for some genetic problem turns to a loli when she assumes human size. The conflict in her story was how she couldn’t do all the sexual stuff with the guy she liked. And that is aaaall the offer she had in the show. What a joke they made out of the once great Zedraedi.

Shall I go to the new adversaries of this season? They were a bunch of space bugs called Vajra. They have no personality because of their group mind and for the whole anime they hardly show any signs of interaction. They are completely boring! There is also a person with a hidden agenda who tries to exploit the whole linked mind notion to become a god and stuff, but the whole thing is shown so messy, you just don’t even care.

And then it’s the romantic interest in this season. Apart from the fact they are hardly memorable for following their stereotypes down to the finest detail, their very interaction is just silly. Where the original had a catchy premise of a normal young man having to choose between the mature military girl or the perky pop idol, here it is if he has to chose the butchy pop idol or his non-blood related loli pop idol. Well that is just silly; especially since in the end he doesn’t even choose one. Yeah, a goddamn harem ending is what you get. To the most part you see them only as pale imitations of the originals desperately trying to keep you interested with tired anime clichés around pop idols and corny romance as well as references to the original cast.

The only thing I have no problem with is the production values, which I found them very good. For their time the action and the ever present pop songs are very well done. There are some quality drops in animation later on but nothing much to ruin your already not so good impression further.

In all, it is not as entertaining or even as well planned as the original. Although it does have some cool action scenes and continues the story forward, it is messy and far more typical. Almost like an average space adventure albeit with good production values. I can same the same about any other show that followed the original Macross, simply because it was no longer directed by the most awesome Ishiguro Noboru (who also directed Legend of Galactic Heroes) but was switched to Kawamori Shouji. He pretty much directed all following major Macross projects and they were all hardly as interesting. He clearly lacks the talent of his predecessor and even made a fool of himself by agreeing to direct a very tasteless show called Basquash.

In all, I still recommend this anime but only if you have or plan to watch the rest in the franchise and only if your bar is rather low.

Macross Frontier was certainly an experience. While the focus of a Macross series should always be the songs - and there are many, with some real gems among them - in Frontier the show is stolen by the simply staggering animation detail. The impeccably drawn backgrounds and ships give a real sense of volume, not to say beauty, and the visual clarity of the effects simply has to be seen to be believed (in particular, Macross' trademark missile swarms make this show perfectly suited to HD). In fact there is so much background detail that the character designs (which are by no means substandard) begin to look weak by comparison.

When I'd finally recovered from the visual overload, there was a pleasant surprise awaiting me; the plot is actually very good, being convoluted enough to sustain interest without being too bizzare to follow. It's given the correct amount of screentime too, providing context to the set-piece battles but never threatening to overshadow them. This same delicate balance is also present between "external" and character-based plot, although the characters themselves are somewhat hit and miss; the male lead, Alto, is a breath of fresh air, with actions and motivations that justify his position without ever falling into melodrama. However, the central love triangle is poorly handled, being dragged out for too long (and to my mind, there was only ever one sensible choice). The romantic subplots of side/minor characters thankfully avoid these problems, though the way everyone just happens to pair up neatly may grate for some; that aside the side characters are a good mix, and while each fits neatly into a pigeonhole there's enough secondary detail to make them interesting.

The most important balance, this being Macross, is between the battles and the singing, and it is sublime; perfect intercutting of concert and spaceship makes one wonder how other series manage without this. The voices of the leads are if anything slightly on the generic side, but they're clear and distinct, and the support cast manage a good array of their own (though the show would be better off without one "loli" gimmick). There are a lot of songs, as should be expected, and multiple variations on a couple of the more important ones; nothing ventures far from conventional pop, but for me there were enough genuinely touching songs to make up for the more superficial ones.

Dramatically, Frontier manages to avoid any mid-to-late slowdown by having its first big peak later on; it works well, the buildup to the climax being nothing short of superb, but the price is a slightly slow start; fortunately, the animation alone is good enough to justify watching this show, and kept me going through the first quarter. After that the series really comes into its own; plot, songs, and action in perfect harmony, and the animation never drops off either. Of course this won't be for everyone; it is Macross through and through, plot taking a second place to space battle action and the fundamental principle of the universe being the power of frothy pop songs. But the overall composition, the way every element is integrated into a single coherent whole, is simply brilliant.

Macross Frontier was a very strange anime for me. While I could not bring myself to like its storyline or its characters, watching it still gave me the kind of adrenaline rush and enjoyment that very few other shows have done.

Animation: 10

This aspect of Macross Frontier has been done to death, and the other reviewers have not lied: the animation is very appealing. The action scenes are much more exciting than the Gundam Series for example, and the characters are drawn much more nicely than most other mecha series.

Sound: 10

The songs in Macross Frontier are not outstanding per se, but when combined with the animation and progression of the story, I cannot help but give it a 10. Many episodes end in spectacular fashion: impressive fast-paced action scene mixed with intense adrenaline inducing music. The result: the viewer is often left with a sense of awe at the end of each episode.

Story: 7

Somewhat too idealistic, the story occasionally gives off a childish feeling to it. It is straightforward and fails to stand out in any aspect (politics, romance, character development, etc.). Nevertheless, the animation and music of Macross Frontier is still able to captivate the viewers and plunge them into its world, despite its rather blatantly unrealistic plotline. In other words, while the story does indeed fail to add anything to the anime, at least it doesn't take away anything from its enjoyment.

Character: 7

The main character is unique for a mecha anime, but his character fails to develop enough to take advantage of this uniqueness. Ranka and Sheryl share the female lead, but I personally think that both characters are somewhat lacking in depth. However, the action scenes combined with Sheryl's singing create a powerful impression on the audience, which is probably the reason why I preferred her character much more than Ranka's. Unfortunately, just like the main character, the producers also failed to take advantage of Sheryl's character potential.

Value and Enjoyment: 9 and 10

Macross Frontier is a good, enjoyable and rewatchable anime. It is unique in that nearly every episode delivers a 'wow' feeling to the viewer, which is very pleasing. While the storyline and the characters are average at best, the animation and music really amplifies the entire ambiance. While not mind-boggling in terms of quality, Macross Frontier will definitely leave the viewer with a positive experience at the end.