GREEN. PREHENSILE. HAIR. Also best commercial ever.
I am most pleased at the first episode (really a special) of Macross F(rontier). We have singers (in hot outfits). We have cute potential love interests. We have a guy with a ponytail. And the whole thing is so pretty I just sat there slack-jawed at the beauty of it all.
We unfortunately don’t know much about the story at all yet, which makes this special largely a 26 minute eye candy feast, but it’s an excellent first episode that sets the stage for what is to come. Judging from the special, Sheryl seems pretty sinister for a pop star. I mean normally pop stars don’t look all menacing and speak with an evil tone of voice, so the whole bit toward the end with her in the car was a bit…weird. I also give Sheryl’s two songs 7 out of 10 Fire Bombers. (No song Macross churns out will ever be as awesome as the songs in Macross 7)
The CG was really nicely done, as expected from Satelite. I only ever watched the one episode of Sousei no Aquarion (I somehow can’t muster the courage to watch more, despite not disliking the first episode), and CG mecha rarely look good, but Valkyries are about twice as awesome in CG as they are in not-CG. One of the best things about the Macross series is its combination of plane-style combat with the Valkyrie form (oh, you delicious Itano ciruses) and mecha-style combat with the Gerwalk and Battroid forms. Gerwalk is always fun because it’s a PLANE! WIth LEGS! The alien ship was quite nifty too, and certainly more imaginative than 7’s “oh the enemy pilots Valkyries too.”
In short: this series cannot broadcast fast enough for me.
Anime wa Bakuhatsu da! 