"Makurosu furontia" (2008) TV series

User Rating:

8.4/10   

Creator:

Shôji Kawamori

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

3 April 2008 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation

Plot:

Taking place in 2059 A.D., Macross Frontier chronicles the events of the 25th Frontier fleet, located near the center of the Galaxy...

Plot Keywords:

Sequel | Alien Invasion | Love Triangle | Space War | Mecha

Cast

Aya Endô	...	Sheryl Nome (25 episodes, 2008)
Jun Fukuyama	...	Luca Angeloni (25 episodes, 2008)
Kikuko Inoue	...	Grace O'Connor (25 episodes, 2008)
Sanae Kobayashi	...	Catherine Glass (25 episodes, 2008)
Katsuyuki Konishi	...	Ozma Lee (25 episodes, 2008)
Houko Kuwashima	...	Canaria Berstein / ... (25 episodes, 2008)
Megumi Nakajima	...	Ranka Lee (25 episodes, 2008)
Yuichi Nakamura	...	Alto Saotome (25 episodes, 2008)
Tomokazu Sugita	...	Leon Mishima (25 episodes, 2008)
Hiroshi Kamiya	...	Michael Blanc (22 episodes, 2008)
Soichiro Hoshi	...	Brera Sterne (19 episodes, 2008)

Also Known As:

"Macross Frontier" (Japan: English title)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Company:

Big West

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Kosureiyâ Frontier (2009) (V)

Stunning Animation, decent story, less engaging characters

Macross Frontier is the latest story in the Macross Saga. This Series is a visually stunning masterpiece. Having watched the original macross series and the stunning animation that has become this series signature, I was not disappointed when I watched this animation gem.

The story continues the tale of humans and zentradi coexisting and now fighting a new enemy called the Vajra. This plot combines with the focus on the lives of the pilots entwined with a couple of female leads involved in the music industry. This focus on giant hightech robot warfare as well as song is nothing new to the regular fans.

The interesting thing about this storyline is that although the setting is original I find the story to be heavily inspired by the American Robotech series. Now I know that some of you will say that it's the other way around. I am not denying that. I'm simply saying that Robotech fans will easily recognize much of the frontier storyline as it closely follows the Robotech series story line. But the Macross Frontier story line non the less stays true to the Macross storyline. As a Robotech fan I thoroughly enjoyed watching scenes which was pretty much identical in both series (but of course hugely better animated an executed in the Macross Frontier series). And yet the macross storyline will also deviate quite a bit and make up a completely new story.

I do however have a problem with the characters of the show. I quite simply don't find the feelings between characters to be as engaging and realistic as some of the previous series... then again, I believe that part of this reaction is due to the fact that I watched the first macross shows with English dub. I believe that there is a big gap between the American and Japanese way of conveying believable drama and emotion. Likewise I find the music inferior to the beautiful soundtracks in the Macross Plus series. But if the Japanese style works for you then my critique might very well be of little relevance to you.

My conclusion as such is that this show is definitely worth watching. The animation is a 10 for me. The story is 7 while the characters receive a 5 for lack of believability (so far). The Macross Plus as well as the Robotech series did a much better job with realistic characters in a realistic drama. I hope that an English dub will be forthcoming which will better suite my taste...