Macross Frontier: The False Songstress (2009)

[劇場版 マクロスF 虚空歌姫 〜イツワリノウタヒメ〜]

Director: Shoji Kawamori
Starring: Yuuichi Nakamura, Aya Endou, Megumi Nakajima

Synopsis:
A former kabuki actor turned pilot candidate finds himself embroiled in a conflict with an alien menace.

Impressions:
If this movie played it cheap and simply recut the TV series, I'd have as low of an opinion of it as I do most compilation films, but there are significant changes to the story, to the point where it's effectively its own thing. Due to time constraints, it's understandable that secondary characters like Cathy and the Macross Quarter crew get sidelined and Nanase is written out entirely, but it is a little disappointing. Having Ranka be a prior acquaintance to Alto and company feels a bit like shorthand to avoid spending too much time building up the relationship and Sheryl barely has to undergo any defrosting. We do spend more time on the early stages of Ranka's career, which is nice. As much as I like the Rainbow Carrot song, the new natto song is something special. Speaking of the songs, we get several new ones, as well as some more elaborate stage performances, particularly Sheryl's first big concert at the beginning of the film. The budget is well-spent on the visuals and the action set pieces manage to outdo the high bar set by the original series. Unlike the vast majority of compilation movies out there, this does justice to the source material while providing more than enough new content to give viewers of the TV series reason to check it out. Give it a watch at the very least.

Rating:
Watch It