Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
Estagon
It's a musical anime. And I HATE musicals.
And I have not watched anything prior, in regards to Macross, so I am new to the franchise.
But what can I say, the songs are actually pretty good and the plot - as simple as it is - flows nicely.
Also, characters don't have a plot armor - and those who seem like they do, BE SPOILED: it's stripped away in the movies.
Lastly, I have fallen in love with a specific scene, from episode 15.
I don't usually care for romance in anime but... What about my star?
Go watch this. Plot: 6/10 (Standard sci-fi staples)
Characters: 7/10 (Not quite tridimensional, but I liked them overall)
Pacing: 8/10 (Good pacing, nothing worthwile to say about it)
Execution: 8/10 (I hate musicals, but music didn't feel forced except at the very beginning - also, barring t…
Read at the sourceDawsenkar
If you love anime, you will definitely love this. There are astonishing fights, great music, a good story, good romance, giant robots, and excellent music. The ending of this series is the most ANIME end I have ever seen in my whole life, it was an almost perfect conclusion.
For Macross fans, this is definitely peak. This anime is almost a remake of the old Macross, with many parallels to scenes from the original, such as the trio being stuck in a bunker during an alien attack or Ranka Lee's audition, she even sings Minmay's song. Several references to the older series are present, like a movie that retells events from Macross Zero or the music from Fire Bomber.
But for me, the most important aspect is the love triangle. It is present from the very beginning and serves as the main motiva…
Read at the sourceJoeStraatmann
Still way more convoluted than it wants to do the legwork for, and it has a lot of needless moments that make two out of the three main characters weirdly rude (They even soft reset their intros in the first movie). But when it hits with its unashamed sentimentality and 80's music video editing, it hits hard. Yoko Kanno gets limiters taken off to write sexy love jams, cheery pop, and tearful farewells in the only way a person who once had Edward from Cowboy Bebop sing about the number Pi can do. It's glorious and compliments Kawamori's 80's capitalist utopia, even if the idea of the greatest gift civilization can give is the mall has already started to age poorly at this point. With the wild Valkyrie fights and amazing soundtrack, it's certainly a series that makes you feel it, even if at…
Read at the sourceS_Yellow
17 years after it was released and it looks good. The animation and CGI look good despite it's age. The only complaint is the vajra have little distinguishing characteristics. They can be described as indistinct CGI monsters. The emotional story told off the battlefield gives much more depth and meaning to this series. The characters seem real and have depth, but also seem one note. Which works because they never act out of character, per SE. One big complaint is it's very predictable. There's foreshadowing and then there's "oh, so that's where this is going." I specific villain has no clear motivations to be evil but is designed in a way that it's obvious they're a villain. Also this seems needlessly long, say nine episodes too long. But what makes up for that is the Yoko Kanno soundtrack…
Read at the sourceThe_Namer
A Macross story usually needs to juggle a few different plot elements: space opera war story, pop idol drama, and love triangles. Frontier mostly does a solid job at all three and throws in some conspiracy mystery for good measure.
As a war story, it benefits from high stakes, a dangerous new enemy, and lots of dynamic, well-directed action scenes. Considering it's from 2008, the CG for the ships, valkyrie fighters and aliens has aged well, which is more than can be said for a lot of anime CG from the 00s.
As a pop idol drama, it pits eager newbie Ranka against established star Sheryl to great effect. The dynamics of their rivalry evolves well over the course of the series, aided by both having skeletons in their closets.
As a romance, it does a good job of keeping you guessing how even…
Read at the sourceIrememberlove
4.5/10
The president of the Macross is not also the president of the student council. 0/10, absolute trash anime.
If you enjoy a lot of modern anime tropes, especially fan service ones, and you love high school settings, then you’re probably going to disagree with a lot of this review.
Cons:
Pacing: The pacing is horrible. It was boring throughout the middle of the series, and while the end picks up, it does so at the expense of logic and a decent story. What’s here, if well written, could have been good. But it sets things up, then gets lost messing around with nothing for multiple episodes, before scrambling to bring everything together. The ending itself was fairly abrupt as well, which was disappointing.
Main Characters: Sheryl Nome aside, it’s hard to care about most of the main…
Read at the sourceJastereich
The futuristic world of 2059 Macross Frontier is the setting of an adventure, where we travel with a squad of space explorers looking for a place to live outside of the universe. Among them are three teenagers: Alto Saotome, who is a kabuki artist but gives up his job to follow his passion to explore the outer space; Ranka Lee, a waitress who aspires to become known as an idol singer; and Sheryl Nome, who is already an accomplished singer that both Ranka and Alto are inspired by. Suddenly, they are involved in a fight against mysterious alien forces, and their colony and its population are in danger. These unassuming heroes, however, are not prepared to give up and they accept their shared mission.
Channelling the creative sparks from the original Macross saga and its Robotech adaptation,…
Read at the sourceGuvava
I don't know how this anime has a high rating.
It's painful to watch, very bad CGI mixed with ugly animation which also seems to be made in a computer.
The plot is also not interesting.
I recently discovered Macross and binge watched all there is available.
The only good ones are from the 80s and 90s. Animation is beautiful and the story is also super nice. By the way, you can pick any anime from the 80s and you gonna have beautiful animation and killer soundtracks.
Anyways, after Macross 7 (which is ok, but also not THAT good), it seems the franchise went down hill.
I got really disappointed with the franchise because I thought we we're gonna get a sequel with Hikaru and Misa, following their travel to colonize other planet. Only OVA that touched on that was Macross 7, which at leas…
Read at the sourcebujideyokatta
If you like the genre/themes and don't expect a revelation, you're in for a fun ride. Visually the show is very appealing, even the CGI is overall well implemented, though the Vajira are a bit jarring. The admittedly at times somewhat ridiculous plot is serviceable but the sense of some bigger mystery behind it all never really pays off. There's also a ton of foreshadowing going on, which seems really unnecessary as what it points to is fairly obvious. Where this show shines is the music. Not only is the orchestration very effective in regards to building tension, but the expertly crafted songs and their vocal delivery are top notch. If you like J-Pop or Anime Music at all, the soundtrack is likely gonna be a gold mine. Overall it's mix of fun sci-fi action that at times feels really cinem…
Read at the sourceSirLol31
TL;DR
Macross Frontier is a well-made anime with the music as its highlight. It’s easy to watch even if you haven’t seen other series set in the Macross universe, so for me it’s an easy recommendation.
Story [7]
This was my first time watching an anime set in the Macross universe so everything was very new and interesting for me, luckily there are never too many references to older Macross series, and those that are there aren’t essential to the understanding the story of Frontier.
The story is nothing special but it’s great at mixing different genres: mecha, music, romantic, and sometimes even comedy.
Overall the show never gets boring and leaves you wanting more after each episode.
Art [7]
The art and the animation are good: they aren't anything revolutionary, but they are consistent…
Read at the sourcealgoPotaku
I really liked the soundtrack, it is always very epic. Sin as always of the love triangles but good. After the half-smoked story, there are moments where you say what? because this does not make sense. But not bad it is not the worst macross series nor the best so I recommend it because it is fun but no one surpasses Bassara as the protagonist.
En español:
Me gusto mucho la banda sonora es muy épica siempre. Peca como siempre de los triángulos amorosos pero bueno. Después la historia medio fumada tipo hay momentos donde decis que? porque pasa esto no tiene sentido. Pero no esta mal no es la peor serie de macross ni la mejor asi que la recomiendo porque esta divertida pero nadie supera a bassara como protagonista.
Read at the sourceephemerry
Before watching Macross F, I had completed: the original Macross, Macross: Do You Remember Love?, Macross II: Lovers Again, and Macross Delta, but until experiencing Frontier, the entire purpose of the franchise hadn't resonated with me. Implicative of my language in the previous sentence: Macross F opened my eyes to the megalithic world of Macross! Before, I kind of thought it was a silly gimmick to have pretty idols be the precipice that humanity rests its hopes upon, but Frontier made me realize that there's more to it than meets the eye.
This review of Macross Frontier is spoiler free!
―Story/Characters
Synopsis: Following a catastrophic war against a race of giants known as the Zentradi, humanity has escaped towards the center of the galaxy aboard a fleet of colonial vessels called…
Read at the source_gaze
As a fan of the original Macross series, I was very dubious about this sequel. Before watching the anime I read the synopsis and looked at the promotional images, but I would expect the series to be mediocre and uninspired; despite that, I changed my mind about it when I finished the show.
Story [8-]
The story kicks off really slow, and the first episodes were a bit boring. However, the anime becomes much more interesting about half-way through the season. What I really appreciate was how it blends the explicit references to the previous Macross series into the new setting very well, even subverting the expectations of the viewers. There are even some elements from Macross Zero, and even if I didn’t like that show itself, I think that Frontier makes good use of them.
Compared to the orig…
Read at the sourcetaeyamada
I’ve been watching every macross these past weeks, and this one is definitely the worst entry of the franchise. The music is amazing, the rest not so much. In every series i watched, i found the cast to be more or less really good, some characters i disliked strongly but not enough to trash the whole show; macross F manages to have the WORST cast out of every macross. Sheryl and Ranka are the saving grace of it, and Brera is also a good character, everyone else was either a blatant carbon copy of a past character (Cathy is obviously inspired by Misa and so on) or straight up unlikable. Alto is the worst macross protagonist ive met, his looks and background are so good but his personality? not so much. It’s obvious from the very beginning of the series that he prefers Sheryl, and yet he kee…
Read at the sourceearl_of_sandvich
25 years after the original Macross (OK, probably more like 20), Shoji Kawamori says "Huh, we haven't done Macross in a while. Let's make it a spectacle.'
I tried to slog through the original Macross, and it felt like trying to slog through Gundam or Zeta Gundam. They're good shows, the mechs are outstanding for their time, etc., but if you want to get an idea of the story, watch the movie adaptations. Do You Remember Love is a work of art, and it's one of the few Macross works you can legally obtain in North America (assuming it's not sold out) thanks to legal shenanigans by Harmony Gold.
Macross Plus took that a step further and introduced a glimpse of the musical mastermind known as Yoko Kanno. From electronic synth to a roaring orchestral march, the only downside to the well-choreogr…
Read at the sourceBowlingJD
At this point, a true Macross series had not come out since the mid-90s. This time, fairly new Studio Satellite without much prior success got the task for Macross Frontier. This is where the series truly takes a turn away from the mechs and makes the full transition to idols. A bonus was the role of director was shared between the experienced Yasuhito Kikuchi and the famous Transformers designer Shoji Kawamori. Where the Macross franchise was successful in the past, it was quickly established that Frontier is no Plus and certainly no Super Dimensional and more towards Macross 7 with more emphasis on female idols instead of a band.
Only 50 years have passed since the alien invasion of the first Macross, but from the show, the viewer could guess centuries. Macross Frontier takes place prim…
Read at the sourceBalsamina
This is a series where I did not feel the story/plot would have carried the show, but the character development certainly did.
The story itself is mediocre-fair. Half way in, if someone asked me what the plot was, I would not have been able to give a coherent, comprehensive, and accurate answer. Today, if someone asked me, I'd be able to only give a vague 1 sentence answer.
So why the hell did I keep on watching?
The characters! You have Alto, Sheryl, and Ranka - a student who loves the skies but was born to a kabuki family, an established galactic idol, and a flegling singer who wants to become like Sheryl. The first is stuck in a complex where people call him "Princess", as if he's not masculine enough. He's also trying to become something his family opposes. The second is a confident…
Read at the sourceGeek_Boy
I watched recently Macross SDF and I loved so much. And then I wanted to keep watching the secuels and, after Macross Plus ( this one is pretty good), I watched this.
I'm trying so hard to describe with words how much disappointed I am with the work they done over here.
This anime was made in 2007 - 2008. We are talking about 10 years after the other Macross show (Macross 7), and there is a very high jump in animation improvement, but, it seems that, that much that they improved in animation, they lost it in imagination.
In Macross Frontier we can see the same approach, with the same 2 Heroines, secondary characters that don't contribute so much to the history.
We can see in, all the serie along, how the it trys to "Looks like Macross SDF". Apporting that fanservice that even gonnes wro…
Read at the sourceCodeBlazeFate
*SPOILERS FOR MACROSS FRONTIER. YOKO KANNO DID THE MUSIC*
If you asked someone if they`ve seen a Macross show, chances are, they`d say no. If the say yes, then ask them what their favorite one is. Some might say Macross Plus, others may say the original Macross from 1982 (my personal favorite). However, it`s undeniable that the most popular Macross series is Macross Frontier. I`ve already covered the alternate timeline movies that came out after this, so why not look back at the show that spawned them. So, did this soar into the skies, or come crashing down like an idol career? Let`s find out, shall we?
STORY: 8/10
It`s been over 40 years since the SDF-1 was destroyed, and in those 40+ years, humanity has set up space colonies as they expand their reach to the stars above. Now, after an…
Read at the sourceSorghaghtani
TL;DR: Cut out the ending and its a masterpiece. Otherwise 8/10.
Few people may read this review as it's almost literally at the bottom of the heap of reviews written for this series. But I have to get my opinion out there. this anime is way too overhyped.
It does a lot of good things. It's strong points include the overall story, the character development, the (very) atmospheric music, the artwork and the design of the world. In fact, up until episode 20 or so I really thought I had come across a masterpiece worthy of a 10/10 rating. I even considered going and downgrading some of my other anime because this one raised the bar for me.
-- SPOILERS BEGIN -- Warning: Rant mode = ON
And then the anime brought out all its negatives. The series conclusion is stale, generic and a cliche of…
Read at the source
