Macross F: The ultimate fanservice series?
No gimmicks this week, I drug out the soap box instead
If you can’t make a crazy generalization or inflammatory statement every once in a while, there’s not much point in blogging, now, is there?
Seriously though, bear with me. Yes, I realize all too well that Kanokon is happening this season, but I sometimes think Macross Frontier is the most brazenly fan-pandering anime show out there. Why?
- So far, though it is a classic franchise series, it’s catering somewhat obviously to the trends of the day, including high school harems, moe, lolis, implications of yuri, you name it.
- At the same time, it panders almost as shamelessly to classic Macross fans, with its near-infinite parallels to previous series. From Catherine Glass’s uncanny resemblance to Misa Hayase or the Macross-shaped high school, to the inclusion of “My Boyfriend is a Pilot” and the little easter eggs like a Minmay doll flying at Ozma’s head — the more references you can spot, the more enjoyment you get out of the series.
Fanservice is, as we all know, not necessarily about upskirts and 10% breast coverage, although Sheryl seems to have the latter under control. Protracted transformation scenes, techno-babble speak, obscure references, and missile spam are all the kinds of things that anime fans feed on, thus they’re fanservice. I think Gainax taught us that pretty well.
Overreaction?
This isn’t a new situation for the franchise. After all, every Macross series has had a captain who looks exactly like Bruno Global, and every series has had gratuitous references to Minmay. Hell, Macross 7’s characters even watched Do You Remember Love?
Something about Macross F is starting to rub me the wrong way, though — it’s starting to feel like it’s not as much about the story as it is about getting franchise fans to approve, or getting new fans to embrace the franchise. The past two episodes are perfect examples.
Episode seven sees a massive space fight juxtaposed against a Sheryl concert. That trick is old as the hills, though every time it’s done right, a Valkyrie gets its wings. If an old-school Macross fan didn’t enjoy episode seven, he should just turn in his card now.
Episode eight, however, revolves heavily around the kind of high school love comedy plot that I see enough of outside of my favorite franchise, and don’t really care to see in it. Every time Sheryl upstages Ranka, I feel the warm wave of moe and think, well that’s the intent, isn’t it? I don’t want to get into the Moe Problem (the poison that’s killing our plotlines) just yet, that’s for a different day.
Today there is plenty of time to rant instead on the fact that five minutes of what used to be my favorite twenty of the week was devoted to chasing after a cute green creature in possession of a main character’s panties. Dear lord, when does the Naked Misunderstanding happen? Is Sheryl going to show up naked in Alto’s bed? Oh, goodie, now that Sheryl’s in the school too, do we get a school festival episode?
I originally heard this was a 13-episode series, is that true? If so, I’m extra pissed to have the story dicking around and the production company so poorly mismanaging the budget, but it really seems like I have some false info there.
Just for balance
Here are the things I liked a lot about Episode 8:
- Ranka in the carrot suit. Nuff said.
- Ranka’s long path to stardom. Life was easy for Minmay: The SDF Macross population was small, everyone was going to die, and not that many people could sing. But Ranka has to do what Sheryl told her to do: work hard. Now she’s living that lesson.
- Sheryl sticking around, dicking up Ranka’s life. As much as that brings the moe, and the emo (anagram! holy cow! who knew? probably everyone but me…), it’s the kind of conflict that needs to happen for real drama. Alto is not enough because he’s showed zero interest in Ranka and very little in Sheryl. Only her persistence has cracked his disinterested facade a little. But if Sheryl hurts Ranka’s budding career, it’s only going to amplify the Alto factor for our green friend.
- Harmonica kid. I rarely think new characters are the answer, especially when some existing ones (Cathy, Leon, Ozma) are just starting to get development time. But this show could use a good shake.
So… Macross F… my midseason evaluation for you is getting shaky compared to that mind-boggling start, but as a famous cowboy once said, I can’t quit you.
So what is it about Lynn Minmay? Upon seeing her for the first time, it seems unlikely that this small girl of Chinese descent could possibly have stopped the massive Zentradi fleet and caused the destruction of the Earth as we know it. She’s cute, sure. And judging from the photos, her skirts get shorter with every appearance. But she’s just a young girl.
After a lovely dinner at Nyan Nyan, my girlfriend and I took a cab over to Super Dimension Stadium. I was prepared, pen in hand, to note the most egregious offenses to pour into a harsh review. Not to be the case.
Watching Kyouka on TV kind of makes me wonder if this is what Kyon and the SOS Brigade felt like. I love how she calls the audience “pigs.” Why does Yuuko have to be such a punching bag, though? I thought this was a comedy. My overall impression is still kind of ho-hum — such a random premise has to do some weird shit just to hold up week after week, and I’m not sure dramatic elements are right — but there’s a lot worse out there. Plus, Ginka’s managed to be gay and GAR at the same time.
Still being straight-up awesome. This week’s episode was light-hearted characterization, but the writing is so smart, there’s no way you could call it filler. Why do I like Kurenai so much? Because unlike any other male anime lead, Shinkurou seems like someone I might actually let babysit my kid. Certainly the only one with a bony weapon growing out of his arm. But what bothers me is, with Yayoi following them all the time, isn’t Benika effectively paying for two bodyguards? Animation continues to be good, though some character designs still put me off in a weird way.
What a blast. Aside from a totally ridiculous premise — basically an amped-up version of Fahrenheit 451 in which books are highly regulated but libraries are self-governed paramilitary organizations — this is a great series with a twist: it’s one part action and one part shoujo, which gives it a unique feel. Rarely outside of a true girls’ series is there such a winning female lead. And Production IG’s digitally-assisted animation tops their work on Blood+.
I don’t know why I’m still doing it, perhaps I like Jun Fukuyama more than I let on. I have now taken to watching the OP and ED because the singing is so incredibly awful. Rubbernecking at a train wreck, as it were.
This week’s episode was boooooring. Blah blah blah guns, blah blah M-16, blah blah let’s try to kill Golgo 13. News flash, dumbass: HE CAN’T BE KILLED. Get back to Duke fucking a prostitute and assassinating someone, already. Still the GARest thing that will ever be on TV.
There’s a YouTube hack that lets you save any vid with a high-quality version into an mp4 on your computer, which is nice because I can watch it on my iPhone. I might be squandering Gonzo’s good will, but I call Fair Use, bitches. Especially when the iPhone/Touch’s actual YouTube app allows access to about jack shit percent of the videos on YouTube as a whole. Getting away from all that, this show has amped up its charm over 5 episodes, and when combined with free legitimate release and an amazing OP, it makes a series you really should be watching.
This. Kaiba. This is why I wanted to write an “other shows” post to begin with. Sometimes we need to be reminded, with all the clichés and harems we both enjoy and deride in equal measure, why we started watching anime. Kaiba is why. Haters, stop bitching about vapid shows like Kanokon and To Love-Ru and start putting an antidote in front of your eyes. Lightly “H” series with tons of panties and a grade-schooler’s perception of sex are not “adult” — they share only ink and acetate in common with this very adult show. In the space of three episodes, it’s managed to be imaginative, fascinating, sexy, unsettling, and even heartbreaking. All with a design that looks deceptively like a kid’s show.
