Joining the choir in the church of Macross
As if you couldn’t tell already, I have a fairly contrarian nature. I’ll start off on the opposite side to popular opinion just because I hate walking in-line with all the other otaku. Sometimes that’s justified, other times, not so much. I was wrong to doubt Macross Frontier. The first episode was exciting, well-animated and intriguing. In particular, the surprise attack on Frontier reminded me why I love space opera, it felt epic. That’s an over-used word these days, but it was that kind of thrilling. Big, sweeping, grand, destiny, bravery, love, death; themes of great consequence. Also, I liked a lot of Yoko Kanno’s soundtrack, but I wish she didn’t go the cliche-JPop route with Sheryl. The way she crafted Sharon Apple’s personality for Macross Plus felt so much more lively and authentic; she was the believable idol of a distant future, beautiful yet alien. In comparison, Sheryl could be any number of contemporary female pop-stars, just a little too same-y for my tastes. I guess it’s a little unfair to compare Frontier to Plus, considering the latter is a golden-age classic and it had Kanno in-collaboration with Bebop’s Shinichiro Watanabe, but I have some high standards for my dearest musician.
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I didn’t like Cheryl much at first either but as the episodes go on she’s less of a stereotypical pop diva and more of a pop diva with a mind of her own. She’s actually quite driven and self-assured, and the way she flirts with Alto is quite entertaining at times.
There’s something about Macross that resonates with me and even when it’s not the best offering of the franchise it’s still solid stuff and the Kanno/Kawamori combo gives that reassurance that it’s going to be fun. At the end of the day, Frontier doesn’t pretend to be anything more than pretty-shiny tongue-in-cheek space opera; if you’re content to settle for that like I am it should be fine for you too.
“High standards”, or an unwillingness/refusal to accept that a renowned composer can, will, and should diversify her range of sounds? Slippery slope there.
I’m not really sure how she resembles your idea of contemporary female pop-stars, but I don’t listen to J-pop all that much, and the little that I do dip my toes in don’t even come close to what Sheryl Nome does. However, if you’re going to compare Macrosses, then…
Eh? I’m not objecting to Kanno trying to diversify her sounds. I adore her work on Escaflowne, Plus, Bebop, Wolf’s Rain and Stand Alone Complex and there’s no consistent thread holding together any of those soundtracks, it’s just good, soulful music. Her try with Sheryl in this episode certainly wasn’t bad, but it’s lacking something. It’s too slick, much more cliche idol-style music. Just a bit like her efforts on Darker Than Black, it’s not distinctive enough. Compare it with the Sharon Apple concert and you’ll see what I’m getting at above. Really, that’s only one song though, the rest of it was really promising, especially the theatrical pieces, which instantly conjured memories of Escaflowne.
I agree with Bateszi; the pop music here definitely feels more conventional than Plus. Perhaps it’s something to do with it being a TV series and the audience that caters to… who knows.
Ah, got it. I was coming from a different angle, and interpreted your comment likewise.
The thing with comparing Macrosses (which I’m unable to do, unfortunately, this being my first and all) is that there’s the tendency to assume that all Macross shows should be linear in their format, with past ones setting precedents for future ones — clearly a problem when interviews with the director of Macross have noted that he wants to do a different show each time; hence its present-day incarnation differing from its older counterparts in just about everything, including sound.
While I can see what you’re getting at with your mention of Escaflowne, I’m afraid I’m going to have to disagree strongly, with all due respect, for Kanno has definitely gone above and beyond what she set out to do 12 years ago. I’m a diehard Escaflowne fan, and having listened to the four soundtracks (Over the Sky/OST 1, OST 2, OST 3, Lovers Only) over and over, in addition to possessing physical copies of them, Macross F is nothing like that. While Escaflowne had a youthful, unpolished naivete to it, to write off Macross F as “contemporary” and therefore “cliche” and “lacking” by extension is to be ignorant of what Kanno was really like back in 1996 when she first worked with Maaya Sakamoto in her debut. To wield the cinematic, space-opera sound so well is something I could have never expected of, what more her songwriting finesse.
To take this contrast with Escaflowne a step further, do you remember Kanno’s composing abilities with songs like “Yakusoku wa Iranai”, “Pocket wo Kara ni Shite”, “My Best Friend”, “Aoi Hitomi”, and “Kaze ga Fuku Hi”? These are all Escaflowne songs, and the songs I’ve heard in Macross F so far, like “Triangler”, “It’s Long Goodbye”, and “My Boyfriend is a Pilot” are leagues above in terms of technical accomplishment and soulfulness, garnishing the show in a backdrop of sound so well-tailored to its aesthetics, cohesive in its entirety.
I find it ironic that you’re longing for what, a 20th century sound circa the 90s/80s when we’re in the 21st century, present-day 2008? I’d say “Get with the times, bateszi!”, but you seem to loathe Sheryl Nome by virtue of her newness more than anything, so I doubt I’ll be able to get you to accept it with a mere comment like this.
In any case, I’ve got the suspicion that you’re more of a hardline Kanno fan than you let on (no thanks to your opinion of her work on Darker than Black, which I thought was miles above what she’s done so far — the best parts of Cowboy Bebop, Wolf’s Rain, and GITS:SAC coalesced in a single work), so this is my cue to spit out the words “lol internet opinions” with a nonchalant drawl and slouch back in my chair, eyes wide open and ears receptive for another glorious episode.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve always found living in the now to be better than living in the then. There’s only so much room on my pedestal, and I like making room for new shows every season. You know, survival of the fittest and all that. See also memories, and how we have the tendency to view our past loves with lenses tinted an all too lurid shade of rose.
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