マクロスF Episode 10
Macross F Ep. 10
Macross Frontier 10

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Ranka is sitting with Nana-chan watching the premiere of a movie (Bird Human) that Ranka is starring in and Ranka is embarrassed by what she sees. Earlier, Ranka and Nana are seeing that Miranda Melin, who won Miss Macross, is the female lead in the Bird Human movie. Ranka’s manager Elmo arrives breathless with news — they want Ranka to have a small part in the Bird Human movie. Ranka calls Alto, expressing her fears over acting. He uses his father’s words as advice to her to be natural and not “act.” The call is cut short because Sheryl calls for Alto and the S.M.S. people are shooting a promotional with Sheryl. Ranka is a bit depressed because of this.

Ranka is on a yacht with Bobby approaching the island on Macross Frontier that will emulate Mayan Island on Earth for the movie. She’s impressed with what she sees and is surprise to find Micheal and Luca there. S.M.S. are lending support to the movie with their Valkyrie. They tell her that Alto isn’t there as he’s been tasked with another assignment. However, when Sheryl arrives on set, she has Alto in tow to Ranka’s disappointment. Sheryl ignores Miranda to speak with Ranka and offer her encouragement.

When the director learns that Alto is on the set, he immediately wants him in the movie, having seen his Kabuki performance as Sakura-hime (Princess Sakura). This comes as a surprise to Ranka. Since Alto does not want to play a female role, Elmo begs for him to reconsider since it will mean more screen time for Ranka. Micheal also fails to convince him to change his mind. Later when she talks with Sheryl and Luca about it, she’s depressed to find they know more of Alto’s past than she does. As such, she decides to go for a walk on the island. She’s up on a cliff and starts singing. Her song is heard by the director, who’s out fishing, and he likes what he sees and hears.

After Leon receives a briefing on the mystery fighter, Lean heads to a nearby area where he secretly meets with a mysterious man (who sounds more like a woman). The person has information on the Vajra and the mysterious Valkyrie and when asked about payment, the person tosses a case with a gem in it. Leon won’t make any commitments until the information has been verified. The person asks if Leon brought a Hydra from Eden and put it in Macross Frontier. Leon confirms it, seeing nothing wrong with that. The person seems to relate that this is somehow tied to the Vajra when the person remarks that Leon will soon learn how dangerous the Vajra can be.

Ranka finds herself being hunted by said Hydra, which is a large, winged cat creature. Meanwhile, Alto wonders where Ranka is and is pointed to the bluffs. He arrives just as the Hydra begins to attack and he defends her by shooting at the beast. However, he fails to hit it (or do much damage) and soon finds himself disarmed as Ranka begins having memory flashes of the Vajra attack from her childhood. The Hydra attacks but the duo are saved by the mystery “alien-boy.” The damage the young man receives reveals him to be a cyborg and he eventually kills the Hydra. Alto asks his name and learns it is Brera Sterne (who later gets in trouble for helping Alto and Ranka).

Alto carries Ranka back to the set. Ranka is thankful he saved her again and he’s unable to tell her the whole truth. The director offers her a co-staring role of Mao, the sister of the lead female (played by Miranda). As Ranka thinks about it on the beach (joined by Bobby), we learn that Alto took a job as a stunt man for an underwater scene where he will replace the lead actor. Sheryl reminds Alto that if Ranka takes the job, the scene he’s in will be one where he kisses Ranka under the water. He tries to play off this as a kiss is a kiss, but Sheryl kisses him, proving the otherwise. Ranka sees Sheryl kiss Alto and this hits her hard, but makes her determined to take the job.

The day of Ranka’s scene with Alto arrives and she understands Mao’s motivation (in Macross Zero, Mao is in love with the stranded pilot, but the pilot and Mao’s sister have feelings for each other) and so the scene goes off without a hitch. In the present, Ranka finishes watching the movie. After Miranda is brought on stage for audience applause, Ranka is called up. She doesn’t go up at first and is surprised at the attention being given her, but Sheryl tells her that it is her time and escorts her up to the stage to thunderous applause. Ranka is now a star.

Thoughts/Review:

I’ve never seen Macross Zero, but I may have to give it a look-see after seeing this episode since the movie being filmed was based on that prequel series to Macross. While one doesn’t need to have seen that OVA to enjoy this episode, I think it would help the enjoyment level somewhat.

As to the episode itself, I like how Ranka didn’t let herself get all depressed when seeing Sheryl kiss Alto, but decide basically that “I’m not going to lose to this b****!” (Not the words she used of course, but the attitude.) So Alto gets to kiss Sheryl and Ranka in this episode and with that, I’d say our little love-triangle is completely formed now. As a movie star, Ranka now is on equal footing with Sheryl whereas before, she couldn’t compete much. The nice thing is that while both girls have feelings for Alto (though Sheryl hasn’t admitted it), they are at least friends (even if not close ones). Sheryl dissing the stuck up female star of the movie to speak to Ranka was a nice moment.

Alto’s past as a Kabuki actor (playing female parts) keeps cropping up. I’m not sure where the payoff on this is going to be. Clearly, whatever happened made Alto who he is today, but the writers haven’t written it as some sort of big, heavy burden on Alto (beyond the occasional “running away” comment since he left Kabuki to become a pilot).

So we learn that mystery dude (Brera Sterne) appears to be a cyborg. Wanna bet that he’s Ranka’s real oniichan who was killed in the Vajra attack? I think the woman communicating with him was the one who met Leon.

Speaking of which, he still looks like a sleaze. Why the heck would he bring that Hydra onto the ship? I don’t suppose it matters now because its dead. The fight with it looked a bit cheesy at times though.

Still, a fun episode.