So the confrontation between Grace and Sheryl is just as intense as we all expected it to be. Sheryl’s frustration about everything that has been going on boils over and she demands answers, but what she hears is devastating.
Grace calls Sheryl a manufactured idol and Sheryl angrily replies that she got where she is on her own power so the evil fembot begins to cruelly dismantle Sheryl’s world. She tells her that Sheryl Nome will die, both figuratively and literally.
She reminds Sheryl that when she picked her up off the streets she was already infected with a virus and the treatments she’s been receiving only keep it at bay. With no more medicine forthcoming from Grace, Sheryl will die and Grace encourages Sheryl to confirm what she has told her.
The purple haired menace’s twisted partner in crime also continues along with his nefarious plotting. Getting the majority in the senate, he and the President put forth plans to accelerate the fleet’s ultra long distance fold project. Instead of months, it will now occur within a week.
Run Luca Run!
Luca seems to be spending an awful lot of time in evil Leon’s office. The one with the scary hair for sure was just using Cathy, I’m starting to wonder if he actually goes for small boys… I’d say go for that sex change soon Luca, then you can avoid Leon’s advances since he won’t find you attractive anymore, but as a bonus you’d stand a better chance with Nanase.
The comic relief is brief but watching the bridge bunnies go crazy for sales with Bobby being the instigator was fun. As was watching poor Alto having to point out his Adams apple to the sales clerk trying to sell him a dress.
Mikhail continues to be dense where Klan is concerened.
It seems Klan must have gotten over her fury last week since her friend, Theresa has provided them with information about he drug. It appears to be a receptor blocker, intended to be a symptom therapy drug for a particular infectious disease. However, it has no potential for treating the cause it just eases the symptoms. The side effects include, fever, vomiting and chills… Klan tells Mikhail it is a V type virus and further digging unearths a photo of a child that looks a lot like Sheryl. Another photo shows Grace, Dr. Mao Nome, and Ranshe Mei, Ranka’s mother!
Sheryl appears before both Klan and Mikhail and after learning what she needs, tells them not to tell Alto before running off again. Although really since the virus can be transmitted through fluids, she might want to let him know what he’s getting into before they do the dirty, if they get that far of course. But Klan does state that it would take extraordinary circumstances for someone to get the disease and wonders just how Sheryl got it. That makes me wonder too, was Sheryl experimented on even before Grace got a hold of her?
Klan is very passionate about Alto knowing about Sheryl’s condition so Mikhail calls him without telling him what is going on, but just says that if he doesn’t find Sheryl he will regret it.
Sheryl is not having a great day.
Meanwhile pink haired starlet collapses in the rain upon a fallen poster of herself, whilst Ranka talks at a press conference on a screen behind her. Almost at the point of collapse, someone reaches for her, she thinks its Alto but it actually turns out to be his brother.
Because this episode doesn’t just crap all over Sheryl, Alto gets his fair share of torment too. First off Ozma dumps the heavy load of protecting Ranka on his ass since the government is pretty much using her as a decoy. Then again, I don’t know if that is such a big responsibility, since he’s been proclaiming his intent to protect her almost from the beginning. Although it’s a lot different doing something for yourself and doing it for someone else, it would certainly add another layer of guilt if something were to happen to the green haired songstress.
Alto-hime looks hawt when he’s angsty.
Later on, he’ll run to try to get to Sheryl after a cryptic message from Mikail, only to find his brother has gotten there first, saying that if Alto is worried he should go to the family home, only he can’t follow since he’s been called to battle. By the end of the episode, Alto is one big heaping ball of frustration.
The Varja have made a move but the President doesn’t want to let Ranka go out and sing, since he needs her to divert the Varja’s attention when they attempt the big fold. He instead sends the military out as a shield, which of course goes disastrously. With ships getting blown up and ripped apart all over the place.
Luca wonders about the timing of the Varja assault, since it renders the plan he had put before Leon useless… Did Leon and Grace send the Varja out to accelerate the Presidents’s plans for the ultra long fold? We know Leon doesn’t share the same goals as Bilrer and I doubt he shares the same goals as the President. It makes you wonder just what Leon and Grace want out of this whole thing.
Brera is more hawt when he’s monochromatic
Things look dire for Alto during the battle when he gets a Varja on his tail that he just can’t shake. But the Iceman Brera saves Maverick’s butt yet again as he leads Ranka into the frey. The President isn’t too happy about her being there, but Leon says it was her wish to put herself in danger to protect the convoy. He also tells the President that they should exploit the opportunity and carry out the plan and so the puppet President issues for the ultra long fold to commence. Mein Gott! I figured it out, Leon is Dick Cheney, Ozma better not go hunting with him.
Someone at too much pineapple cakey
Ranka continues to sing as Brera listens on and says he will protect her and Alto remembers Ozma’s plea to protect her and beings to fight harder. With the Varja herded into one area the Frontier fires its main canon obliterating everyone in its path. The mass destruction of Varja causes Ranka’s stomach to glow and appears to cause her pain.
The fold is initiated and all ships enter, Ranka continues to sing, but this time her own version of Aimo, which appears to awaken something large in space.
So this week we got more action, more intrigue and a shit load of angst. Poor Sheryl really gets put through the ringer and they’ve been crapping all over her for quite a few episodes now. Which makes you feel that things are going to start to get better for her here soon.
MECHA PRON!!
PICK ONE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!
We also get a new Opening Theme this week, Lion, and it’s a quality opening as we’ve come to expect from this show. They’re about as subtle as an elephant with all the Triangles over the place and all the shots of Alto, Sheryl and Ranka, but its rather nicely done.
Check it out for yourselves…
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Calamitous Intent 
Nice review. Loved the Luca sex change and Cheney hunting lines. And Klan is coming to be my favorite character here. I want to see her and Michel together full-size, if Michel can go full-size.
I like the ED more. And what’s with that? Was that Sheryl sinking into the water at the end of the OP? Please don’t tell me this is foreshadowing, dear god, no. If something happens to Sheryl, i’ll dieeeeeeeeeeee
Brera is hot, but angsty Alto does it for me this time. ;] And poor Sheryl, I felt like crying when I saw all she was going through..
LOL I had the same thought. Lots of angst indeed, and I ask the Ranka fans — who’s moe now? Seriously though, both are great characters and Frontier finally seems like it’s taking off in the past few episodes to be worthy of the Macross Name.
I like the Ranka OP better
It is always darkest before dawn and dawn might come sooner than we think now that Sheryl has been safely secreted to the Saotome home. I hope they use this as an opportunity to give some more history on Alto-hime and have hime make up with his dad. Sheryl could use a freind right about now so maybe she can have abit of fun and start doing some recon in Alto-hime’s home turing up childhood photographs and the like. I wonder what Alto-hime’s mother looks like, it would be greatly amusing if she looks even more deculture than her son. XD
Are you sure that Sheryl already had the V-type infection when she was found by Grace? I had the distinct impression that Grace said something like “remember how sick you were soon after I found you?” instead of explicitly saying that Sheryl was already infected.
@hashihime thanks, I think we started the idea of Luca needing to change sex over at THAT in one of Crusaders reviews. We figure its the only way he’ll be able to get Nanase interested since she really seems to be all about Ranka!
I think the Mikhai x Klan pairing has a lot of fans, we all want him to wake up and see how cute she is! Not that I really think he’s being dense about it, in reality I think its his hang-up over his sisters death thats really stopping him from going for Klan.
@Hoshi, the ED is great too. I’ve pretty much enjoyed the music all around for this show and can’t wait til the second OST hits. That was Sheryl sinking into the water, but I really do think things are actually going to take a turn for the better in regards to her, here soon. If you’ve seen the original they were pretty crappu to Misa before things turned out the way they did.
And yeah Angsty Alto = yummylicious ^-^ or maybe he just needs to stand in the rain more…
@otou-san, I whole heartedly agree, its really starting to move forward with speed now. Which I guess makes sense, with the number of episodes remaining, its going to be all systems go. I feel death coming…
@blissmo, I bet I know a green haired trap who agrees with you ^-^ I actually enjoyed the Seikan Hikou OP too, I thought it was really cute. But I like getting to hear Ranka and Sheryl sing. It really seems to push the idea not only of the love Triangle, but that maybe this whole thing will rely on those two working together.
@Crusader, You know I never even thought of that and it would be totally adorable. Do you think they dressed him up as a little girl from a very early age? Can you imagine if the bridge bunnies got their hands on those photos? AWESOME!
@Yoo, no Grace didn’t explicitly say that Sheryl was infected with the virus, but just said she was sick when she found her. But she did say that she was never cured, so I thought she was implying that Sheryl had the virus before they met.
Of course knowing how underhand Grace is, it wouldn’t surprise me if Sheryl had some perfectly curable disease when Grace found her and it was Grace that infected Sheryl with the virus.
My own theory is that Grace recruited a homeless child who would not be missed and deliberately infected her in order to study the V-type infection. It seems to be an unlikely coincidence that Sheryl’s health deteriorated to a life-threatening degree just after Grace found her.
@Hoshi & Sakura, the Sheryl sinking imagery in the new OP gave me a strong impression of being a symbolic representation of her sinking into despair. Given that she’s sinking into despair right now, maybe we’ll see a change in the OP soon with Alto and/or Ranka pulling her out. 🙂
@Yoo, It does seem very like Grace to do something like that, she’s callous enough. I don’t think she really gives a crap about anything except her grand plan.
I like your view of the opening, seeing her tied up in that red ribbon too gives you an impression of fate coming into play.
The Mecha, I came buckets.
And if I think the way this is going, as much as I want Ranka X Atlo, I think I’ll have to face Sheryl X Alto in the end.
@Xephfyre, The mecha are pretty and shiny and D.J likes pretty, shiny, mechas! 😀
Well, if they follow the original closely it will certainly be a Sheryl x Alto ending. If you consider that what Sheryl is going through right now parallels with the crappy time Misa was given.
If Kawamori wants to be a bit different this time round though, maybe he’ll have the green haired one win out ^-^
But yeah, getting to stay at the family home really is going to put Sheryl one up on Ranka-chan.
I wish brera wasnt rankas brother they would be the best couple!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love this show!!!!!!!!!! But i really love Brera!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!