Macross Frontier (2009)

[マクロスF (フロンティア)]

Volume 3

Author/Artist: Hayato Aoki
Publisher: Kadokawa Comics A

Synopsis:
Alto escorts Sheryl to Gallia IV to give a concert to mollify the local Zentradi garrison that is on the verge of mutiny.

Story/Characters:
Color me surprised to actually find some things here that I actually liked better than the original series. They're small things, I admit, but I'll take what I can get to distinguish this series. Namely, Alto and Ranka actually enter the Global together, which makes a whole lot more sense than her just somehow getting there on her own. (I guess we're supposed to infer the Vajra took her there in the TV series.) And when Brera is assigned to Ranka's security detail, he actually wears a Mihoshi uniform to fit in rather than just standing around in that weird open-torso bodysuit of his. More than that, we get some interactions while he's on campus which are nice. The main focus of this volume is what happens on Gallia IV and its immediate aftermath. The pace feels less clipped than previous volumes, but we've only got two more volumes, so that isn't likely to last.

Art:
It seems that Aoki is getting a bit better with character art. That's nice. Otherwise, what I've been saying about the visuals continues to hold true.

Other:
Eriela only gets a two-pager this time, in keeping with her shrinking presence in the main story. We get four pages of Dekarucya Frontier with anthro versions of the the Koenig Monster, the Macross Quarter, and the VF-27.

Conclusion:
I'm going to give Aoki credit for the slightly improved art, better pacing and a little new material this time around. I'm still not much of a fan of this adaptation, but steps in the right direction are making me feel generous. It may be by a narrow margin, but this one is well enough worth a read.

Rating:
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