Macross F Movie 2: Sayonara no Tsubasa

I came out watching the first Macross Frontier (the False Songstress) pleasantly surprised and thoroughly satisfied. I wasn’t expecting much, and as long as the movie delivered huge mechs, jets with big arms making big explosions, idol performances, and a love triangle I’d be happy. Suffice to say the film did just that, but left on an open ended note, and I found out that there was actually a sequel film. And this time, it deviated even more from the anime tv-series than the first movie. Not that it really mattered much since I’ve yet to watch the anime tv series. But knowing that served ... as a reminder that this was not a supplemental recap film of the tv-series a la something like Gundam 0079. Anyways, did this film manage to exceed my expectations more than first, or did it crash its landing?

The movie follows the same trio from the first movie, only this time the two idols are experiencing dire health complications. Sheryl is deathly ill with her days being numbered, and Ranka is having stomach ulcer-like pains that seem to be related to the Vraja. Alto is still with the SMS team in the war against the Vraja and is tasked with defeating them once and for all and finding out what is the matter with our two idol stars. While the plot is nothing too crazy to write home about, it raises the stakes pretty damn high compared to the first film. So right off the bat, this movie means business. It was also neat and sad seeing someone as exuberant as Sheryl become more timid and soft-spoken as her illness grew worse. And Ranka becomes more confident than she was in the previous film, finally being taken seriously as a premiere idol-star.

Alto largely stays the same, only this time we see his days as a child actor come into play towards the final act of the film, which was rewarding. Since during the first film I was waiting for that to be more plot relevant, and was figured it was just an excuse for why his character design looks so effeminate. There’s only one major addition to the cast, and even that’s a stretch. The person in question is Ranka’s brother and he doesn’t have much purpose aside from showing what the evil forces behind those controlling the Vraja in the first place are capable of. And the only times he has any impact in the story, is when he breaks free of his mind being controlled and capturing briefly subduing his sister, to bring him to those controlling him.

Though the love triangle persists, it’s less of a focal point in this film than the last because about halfway through the film, Sheryl just about gives up knowing her soon impending doom and Ranka admits her true feelings towards Alto not long after. Despite this the three remain buddy-buddy till the end, where two of the characters meet their fate for the sake of humanity. I'm not saying who, as you should watch the film, but it’s really not that hard to guess.

The highlights of this film to me are, as you expected, the fights, performances of the girls, the soundtrack, and the sheer magnitude of idol performances with giant fights happening right above them. Both of which are not only more epic, but also more frequent. So that only increased my enjoyment even more so than the last film. The ships and Vraja remain CG but much like I mentioned in my last review, this did not bother me as I felt the CG adds a unique charm to the movie. Almost as if I’m playing a gamecube or old pc sci-fi mecha game. Which, go figure, does exist in this game, though everything in that game is 2D. Anyways, the visual and audio department of this film are flawless. Particularly when it comes to the idol performances and the big fights. With my favorite scene being the prison escape/battle where we see everyone working together, and Alto dressed as a maid kicking security ass.

I watched this in the theaters recently (as of writing this) and was surprised by the amount of people in my auditorium. But there was another bonus, that being 3-4 different extra idol performances by Sheryl and Ranka after the show finished. One of which was almost all 2D (because most of these performances used their 3D models) and focused on Sheryl and had an AMV aesthetic and idol song with a high BPM that blew my mind. The visuals were extremely lewd and intense, and the impact it left on me was inspirational as I love making similar type of content. The visuals of that piece perfectly matched the song, and Sheryl’s character and I can’t help but appreciate when a work of art has all the pieces working together so seamlessly.

So that was my experience with Macross Frontier: The Wings of Farewell (or goodbye in some cases). As someone who’s only exposure to macross before this was SDF-Macross which is one of my all time favorite series, I was glad that these films carry many of the same aspects of the original series that I liked so much intact despite taking place, at least a millenia later. So suffice to say, this film, much like the first, filled me with delight and I’d place this slightly higher than the first. Despite the fast pace and intense nature of this film, I’m glad to say that it aced it’s landing and I recommend this to fans of cute girls and explosions.

Having seen "Macross: Do You Remember Love" in between the two "Macross Frontier" movies, I can't help but feel like... "DYRK" comes down to one thing: it promises you that the song at the end will be the best thing ever. There is one song at the end. It is, indeed, the best shit ever. And then it is over.

This is "Buy Our CDs: The Movie". Which isn't bad. I like the songs. "1000%" and "Valkyria" stand out for me. But it's not enough.

The movie fills itself out with some cool energy during music video segments, although it just can't reach the heights of Sheryl's ... show in the first one. There is definitely Gender in it with regard to Alto's relationship with kabuki. I also very much appreciated its willingness to put regular characters in real danger. Also, there were a number of big brained moves like the macross surfing on an asteroid.

Nonetheless, it's very much Just Extra for people who've seen the show. The first act has a whole beach episode segment that spotlights official couples, for example. Once the songs start, they never stop and they're rarely the singular focus of a scene. It's very common for characters to talk over them. And, like the first movie, any character who wasn't 100% necessary gets no personality whatsoever. They're just there.

And then there's the way it handled the love triangle. Talk about a cop out. How are you going to swoop in with an unrelated alternative ending to a show and not have the main characters truly settle anything between themselves?

I enjoyed it, but it's hollow.

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 near ... the 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.