cmsahe wrote:GamePlayer wrote:...
Have you watched Macross Frontier? It's amazing.
Hi Gameplayer, I have just ended watching Macross Frontier (the complete 25 episodes over several days) thumbs up! I have been a fan of Macross for 23 years, I liked this one a lot. Awesome jap pop music: Seikan Hikou, Ni Hao Nyan, Diamond Crevasse, Triangler, etc.
I'd have liked to watch what happened to the Megaroad 1...
(spoilers
...)
Macross Frontier took several plot elements from the original Macross series, Didn't you feel that the series borrowed ideas from Robotech the New generation? There were even Invids, a nest, humans fighting alongside the Invids/Vajra. Maybe this was the Macross franchise revenge on Carl Macek
Ah, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Macross Frontier was a lot of fun and a very worthy sequel to the franchise. Mecha anime is actually going through a bit of a renaissance, so if you liked Macross Frontier, now is the time to check out a few other mecha series as well. I've got the first Macross Frontier OST on CD, so if you're interested I can send you some tracks. It's not bad, but not Kanno's best work (which would be Macross Plus and Cowboy Bebop, IMO).
I know this may sound odd coming from a Macross fan, but I've never actually cared to know about the fate of the Megaroad-01 and the original cast after
Flashback 2012. Kawamori intentionally left their fate unknown so that the original cast of characters will be forever immortalized. I'm fine with that, because it does close off that story to a satisfactory end, at least for me. Besides, once
Macross Plus came out, I was ready for a new cast and story.
Back to Macross Frontier, no, I never felt Frontier was any kind of homage to Genesis Climber Mospeada nor did I think the writers were influenced by the Inbit. What Macross Frontier was channeling when the writers created the Vajra was
Ridley Scott's Alien,
James Cameron's Aliens and
Orson Scott Card's Ender's series. Everything from the Vajra's bio-mechanical nature (Giger-esque), "eggs" and the "tailed," greenish/yellow "drones" (facehuggers) to the Vajra "Queen", the bio-mechanical "hives" and deceptive semi-humanoid/insect design were all taken from
Alien/Aliens. The V-type virus, "ansible-like" communication between the Vajra, and the Dimension Eater (Dr. Device) were all variations of the
Ender series.
Speaking of influences, if you are familiar with the late director Sergio Leone (
The Good The Bad and the Ugly,
Once Upon A Time In America, etc), you might have recognized his influence upon Macross Frontier. The SMS are "hired guns" like the reluctant heroes in many of Leone's stories. The name "Frontier" is indicative of the old west itself, the mysterious stranger (Brera Stern, dressed in cowboy boots no less!) that plays the "harmonica" (that instrument itself an obvious homage to Sergio Leone's great western
Once Upon A Time In The West), the Macross 25/Frontier appearing as a pioneer fleet of "covered wagons" (the various Islands), and so forth. Going back to the SMS, they are most definitely inspired by the same "old west" genre themes; they defy convention and are somewhat "beyond the law", presented as the only "real men" that can meet the challenges of the new frontier. This is in stark contrast to the NUNS described as impotent (Ozuma claims they are cowards) that represent a failing law and the social commentary that inherently implies.
Anyway, yeah, Macross Frontier was a rich animated adventure the way Macross should be. Great stuff