Macross F Movie 2: Sayonara no Tsubasa

!!!WARNING!!! --may contain some SPOILER!-- Alto-kun is a real man~I would have complained if the movie ended with alto not being able to choose between sheryl and ranka. Even though that was (or maybe) his last time~ He really... *cries* he really made up his mind and chose~ I'm a rankaXalto fan. Even way back from the series, I was hoping that Alto would end up with Ranka. I was obsessed about their pairing so I kinda hated Sheryl. Or should I say I really hated Sheryl. What I had in mind about her was that she makes all this "alluring" moves to seduce Alto and so on. But after seeing this movie, i changed my view about her. TT^TT Well, more about the movie~ The concert (Sheryl and Ranka's concert) was very amazing! I wish there would be a concert like that. It started with Sheryl having her concert. (Once again, MF never really fails you with their songs XD) with all of those costumes and test tubes~ TEST TUBES? yeah~(It kinda goes along with the meaning of the song) test tubes and she used one of those as her mic then she suddenly collapsed. I thought the reason why she collapsed was because she kinda swallowed some of the liquid from her test-tube-mic. Hahaha~ n_n'' Well, the rest of the story was just like from the series. Some events on the series was elaborated on the movie. And there was also bit of twist. Also a memory of Alto from the past was revealed. Which I think is the one that contributed to the 'thing' that made Alto chose that girl. Alto's moment of decision must be considered a very special time~ considering how the movie ended. But if he could have just got out from that VAJRA, the movie would be more dramatic. Alto surviving, returning to his chosen girl, and that girl being on the verge of death, ranka getting over or accepting alto's decision (So sorry for the spoiler >_

The second part of Macross Frontier's theatrical version. What can I say? If you've seen the series and the first movie you know what to expect. a) The best animation ever seen (the first movie blew me away so did this one) b) Cheesy songs that you may end up listening to as a guilty pleasure, you wouldn't be caught dead listening to them in front of your friends c) A crazy story about how music can suddenly save the world and make wars come to an end d) some sort of stupid Love Triangle I mean the thing with Macross is you can't judge it in comparison toother shows nor can you judge it with a regular mindset. If you're the type of person who has willingly chosen to watch Macross then you know by now that - c) and d) are very likely to be present, perhaps you even enjoy dismally bad stories and love polygons perhaps you dream of one day singing to make the galaxy a better place, or maybe you're just an obsessed fanboy/girl. To you all of these things shouldn't matter Strangely enough the love triangle here is finally resolved! Yes RESOLVED - after the series' rather indecisive ending - which was left like that so as not to piss off half of their fanbase. Now that the frontier chapter is over though and cinema tickets have been purchased nobody cares about the disenfranchised lot who are probably now embarking on a host of collective suicide gatherings and poster bonfires. Was it better than the first movie? No use comparing them they're probably better watched in sequence If Nuclear reactors ran on cheese then this movie would be Fukushima - non-irradiated people like myself can actually sit through it if we take the time to remember that a) and b) are worth watching - so much so that c) and d) can be overlooked.

This review is spoiler free. I was excited when a fansub of this film was finally released. The first film remake of Macross Frontier was actually not that bad. It was enjoyable, and the changes they made from the original anime were interesting. This film follows the first. It's immediately clear that a considerable amount of money went into the production of this film. The CGI effects are a step above what we saw in the original anime. There's more detail, the fights are faster and more frenetic, and the animations are all much more convincing. The battles are fantastic. The music's quality continues to be nearthe top of anime music. The characters themselves suffer from the same inconsistency in their drawings that's plagued this series since the TV anime, but it's become part of its style at this point, I suppose. I'm not a huge fan, but it's digestible. Everything is so far so good. Then the movie continues its narrative, and things immediately starts to go downhill. The story continues where the first film left off. More details are revealed about the characters' origins. They're different from the TV anime, and in some aspects more interesting. In others, they're horribly convoluted and feel contrived. The conspiracy to control the Vajra returns, but with immense amounts of absurdity and contrivance added to ensure this film fails. That's the part I don't understand. The writers jammed so many twists into this film, and featured so many unkillable characters making surprise reappearances, I had to keep myself from fast forwarding between battle sequences. The unkillable characters reach Sunrise anime levels. The story barely ends up making sense at the end. The end itself is fairly interesting, but they take the most inane and unintelligible route to get there. Even for Japanese anime, which is notorious for ambiguity and stories that end terribly, this film manages to reach its own depth of utter nonsense. There's a scene where the main cast from the SMS dress up and play instruments on stage with Ranka. Michel plays a guitar. Kanaria plays drums. Clan plays what I presume to be bass. She shoots darts loaded with tranquilizers from the neck of her instrument. Near the end, the Macross Quarter surfs into the atmosphere of a planet on an enormous piece of ship hull. The main characters all "die" at least twice each throughout the course of the film. Words cannot describe how let down I was by this movie. If you're a fan of Macross, it's worth watching at least once for the battles. Personally, I can never get enough of Macross-style action with the missile trails and transforming fighter planes. This movie, though, managed to get me to delete it as soon as the credits hit. It's amazing.

You should definitely watch the anime, followed by the first film, "Macross Frontier: Itsuwari no Utahime" before you watch this. While the films and the anime differ, the anime provides a lot of helpful information that they cover a lot better and is still valid for the film, and this film follows the events of the first film. Story: This is NOT a rehash of the second half of the series. As occurred in the first film, "Sayonara no Tsubasa" borrows quite a bit from episodes in the anime, even frame-for-frame shots. This is far less the case for this film than it is for thefirst film. Most of this film is completely original story. The anime and the film, by this point, are both focusing on the problem that the Vajra planet presents, and there are some conspiracies and backstabbing going on, plus more Vajra invasions and skirmishes, but beyond that, the story is brand-new. It also feels a lot less contrived. No random journey for Ranka and Brera this time around! I feel incredibly conflicted about this film. It did a ton of awesome things, mostly in relation to rewrites of the stories for a number of characters. If you watch the anime, Sheryl confesses to Alto. if you watch the films, Ranka confesses to Alto. And the results of that are interesting. There's a part in the anime series where Ozma pulls a dumb and the anime creators make a really, really poorly thought-out melodramatic joke that is completely gone in the films. Also, the ending really reminds me, thematically, of the ending for "Code Geass R2". It's very polarizing and shocking and it's part of what leaves me conflicted over whether I like the anime or the films better. Also, the first film played a bit with scene cuts. It just moved very quickly through time. The second film does that a LOT more. There's a rather long sequence near the beginning that I don't believe people who haven't seen the anime would understand because it moves so fast and feels so random. If you've seen the anime, you'll see familiar scenes with some added content. Art: The films had a bigger budget than the anime. The art is gorgeous. Around the middle of the film, there is just beautiful scene after beautiful scene. Ranka throws one concert around 30 minutes in that is particularly gorgeous. It's like everyone in the concert is on a holodeck while watching a 3D movie, and the animation is amazing. The ending battle, which is rather long, is also quite beautiful. Sound: I like the music better in this film than the first, but I still think the series did a better job, overall. That being said, the music is still gorgeous, and you should definitely check it out, especially if you love Yoko Kanno. Character: This is Alto's story. Arguably, the anime is more about Sheryl and Ranka's growth and careers. The first film might even be more about Ranka's career. But I honestly feel like Ranka and Sheryl got the anime, and the creators decided that Alto was going to be THE focus character for the films, especially film 2. If you love Alto, this is great news! It also does a lot of neat narrative things. For instance, in the films, they mostly remove his interaction with his parents and adopted brother. Instead, you learn a lot more about his feelings about Kabuki, why he left the stage, and how he moves on in his life after his life on the stage. Rather than give up that life, he ends up embracing the gift he has and using it alongside his passion for flight. It's really great. Grace is also a highlight. She's been rewritten almost completely. While she's somewhat oversexualized in the films, especially in this film, they do a lot of neat things with her character, and her relationship with Sheryl is still very sweet. Ranka also gets to do a lot of really neat things this film. If you love Ranka, you will love this film. Anything else about characters is quite honestly a spoiler. But a lot of great things happen that a LOT of the anime fanbase will be happy to see. Enjoyment: I really like this film. I've rewatched most of it a number of times now. My biggest quibble is that I can't find it to buy it anywhere. It's even hard to find the first film and the anime series. I am still really conflicted about it, versus the anime, mainly due to the ending... THAT ENDING! But if you love the anime and you have seen the first film, this is definitely worth a watch, and it's very enjoyable and beautiful. And don't rage quit after THAT ENDING. There's stuff throughout the credits and after them, if I recall correctly.

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