When considering Macross Frontier, I have the onerous duty of taking two viewpoints: That of the existent Macross fan, and that of the ignorant first-time adopter.

Macross Frontier, considered as a science-fiction, big-mecha show, is an excellent example of the genre. It comes complete with intriguing characters, excellent animation, and a storyline that introduces the universe well to new adopters, as well as making reference to older material, without alienating anyone in the process. Macross has never been politically charged, and so it stands as a very different from its contemporary cousins Code Geass and Gundam 00. Certainly, it is superior to the latter in several key areas, including character design. Where Gundam 00 came across to me as a pale imitation of Yoshiyuki Tomino’s great Universal Century work, Macross Frontier still has the hand of its creator — Shoji Kawamori — present. It’s a much stronger continuation of the themes found in SDF Macross and Macross Plus, than the more recent Macross Zero.

When comparing it with Macross Zero, a few simple touches place Frontier a world ahead of its predecessor. Firstly, the use of contemporary music. While Zero attempted to deal with music and its mystical effects via the island tribes, it broke with the Macross tradition of being contemporary. Macross has to look more-modern-than-modern, and Zero felt a bit antiquated. Marrying Zero’s inspection of music as a creative/regenerative force with more contemporary themes might be the best way to deal with that, and I hope Frontier addresses that as time goes on. Secondarily, the colour pallet is far closer to what I picture when I think of “Macross”. SDF Macross defined itself as high-gloss and high-chroma, something which was carried through in both Macross 7 and Plus, but was severely lacking in Zero. With Frontier, we see a return to this aesthetic, creating the visual link to its heritage.

Lastly, the characters are wholly more likable. While I tried to like Zero’s protagonists, there was too little definition to pick up on. There was nothing particularly ‘friendly’ about the cast, and that weakened it on the whole. Frontier has a wider variety of characters, drawing a little less on naturalism, and a little more on caricature to get its point across. When creating a Macross series, the crew has a certain responsibility to the original work in order to get their point across — especially where the characters are concerned. Macross works well on caricature, less on naturalist characterisation. While one may argue that the latter style adds more depth to a character, it also makes them less accessible to the audience, something Macross has to be. SDF Macross demarcated the line between shallow caricature and caricature with depth. Using the latter, it defined steady roles for Hikaru, Max, and Kakizaki, as well as Roy, Misa, etc. It was more of an ensemble cast, and in the end you felt like you were watching big-name actors in a movie together. It made very strong use of personalities interacting with one another, rather than individuals with divergent goals.

The same can be said of Frontier. Between Alto and Ozma, you have a pair of excellent protagonist characters to follow. Alto demonstrates a kind of disgust for the limitations on his dreams (rebellious idealism), while Ozma provides an intriguing, clandestine backstory coupled with his more mature, supportive outlook on life (fraternal idealism). Add to that Lanka, who demonstrates a degree of naivety and starry-eyed happiness (emotional idealism), Lt. Glass who exemplifies duty and straightforwardness (military idealism), and Sheryl who embodies the haughty celebrity with her own agenda (material idealism), and you have a very strong selection of archetypes all interacting with one another.

In regards to the promotional episode we saw back in December, there are a few things to consider when comparing it with the changes to the actual first episode. There is a general continuation of the themes established, but the adjustments create interesting plot points that give more material to work with. One remarkable change was to the concert scene, where Alto now does attempt his corkscrew and messes up, nearly colliding with Sheryl. When she falls from the stage, he catches her and she continues the performance in his arms, flying in formation with his teammates. This expands two elements we didn’t have proper exposition on with the promo: First, it lends more to Alto’s ambitious, rebellious nature. It gives us a deeper insight into how difficult it is to repress him. But it also gives us the subtle hint that he’s still an amateur, despite his boldness, something which comes through and manifests in his later acquisition of a Valkyrie and subsequent battle with the enemy Vajra. This moment alone allows exploration of Alto’s personality and makes his ability to pilot a Valkyrie more plausible, while also lending more to his own instability. It draws him away from being an outright young mecha prodigy (Gundam’s major sin), and makes him merely adequate, something which fits with his development as a character and keeps him from being strong an agent of Deus Ex Machina.

The second element helps expand on Sheryl Norme. While we see Ms. Norme’s haughty attitude from the get-go, her professionalism was sorely lacking in the promo. She came off as extremely childish, to the point that I was dead-set on not liking her. While I still don’t like Sheryl’s personality, her level of professional ability at least justifies her existence, and makes her acceptance as a part of the cast. It was an excellent decision to show how quickly she recovers so early on, and explores her own self-confidence. This elevates Sheryl from a bratty celebrity to an icon of material idealism, and I congratulate the creative team on their choices with her.

There’s an overall stronger plot present in the revised first episode. It gives characters better examples of their strengths and weaknesses, and helps set the stage more appropriately. One of the major issues in the promo was with Gilliam, whose name I didn’t learn properly until much later, and whose place I didn’t rightly understand in the promo. There was a slight glossing of his identity in the promo episode, and I was stuck wondering why I should care so much about him. But with just a few slight changes in the sequencing, I have more time now to think about Gilliam and his place in things. It’s much easier to latch onto, and stronger for the reconsideration.