Macross Frontier (2009)

[マクロスF (フロンティア)]

Volume 5

Author/Artist: Hayato Aoki
Publisher: Kadokawa Comics A

Synopsis:
The crippled Frontier fleet is in dire straits and gears up for a final confrontation with the Vajra.

Story/Characters:
As we approach the end, this series remains fairly consistent. There's not much I have to say to praise it. I'm beating a dead horse at this point to say the TV series did it better, but I will say that I like how there's more emphasis on the damage from the Vajra attack. It better sets up the desperation of the humans leading into the big showdown. Other changes aren't so effective. I like how the TV series initially set up a three-way battle, but that element was lost because none of the secondary cast have enough characterization to support it. The finale hits the major beats, but they lack punch, leaving with a passable but thoroughly mediocre take on a story done better elsewhere.

Art:
The character art has gotten fairly decent, so as I imagined, Aoki's work has improved over the course of the series. There are plenty of big action scenes that are fairly well done.

Other:
We close on a two-page spread of the main cast with a thank-you note from Aoki. It's nice.

Conclusion:
I've been underwhelmed from start to finish, but there have been a few nice touches along the way. I suppose if you have no other exposure to Macross Frontier, this might come off better. In the end, I can't strongly endorse this or this adaptation as a whole. Take it or leave it.

Rating:
50/50