By At the Formo mall, Ranka wears a carrot costume and sings a song advertising carrots. Passerby ignore her, and several disgusted Zentradi children say Ranka’s weird. She recalls speaking over the phone to Alto and apologizing for not being able to visit him. She comments that her job is no fun, and a Zentradi man named Tokugawa comments that she at least got a TV job now. Elmo runs over and tells Ranka he has news for her. Later, Alto is shocked when Ranka transfers to the Mihoshi Academy’s entertainment course. In another part of the city, Grace drives Sheryl toward Mihoshi. On the school steps, Ranka tells Alto, Luca and Nanase that she couldn’t attend her old school anymore because of work, so she took the transfer exam to get into Mihoshi. Alto seems unenthusiastic, and Michael walks up and says they need to show her around campus. Suddenly, Sheryl’s car wildly drives onto the school grounds and nearly runs over several people. Leon speaks over video to Cathy and tells her that they interviewed the crew of the Dulfim, but since their ship withdrew shortly after the Vajra attack began, they don’t know where the Macross Galaxy is. Cathy tells him about Alto spotting an unidentified craft, but Leon dismisses it as just a foo fighter. Ozma then walks in and overhears Leon asking Cathy out to dinner. Sheryl tells everyone that she’s doing a cultural exchange with the school, so she wants her slave Alto to show her around. A crowd cheers for Sheryl, and when she hears Alto’s “princess” nickname, he grabs her and runs off. He argues that he’s not her slave, and she tells him he’s cruel since he lost her earring in space. Nanase and the others peek around the corner to spy on Alto and Sheryl. Michael asks Ranka if she’s bothered by Alto’s relationship with Sheryl, and Ranka is flustered. A small green creature stirs in the bushes near them. Alto asks Sheryl if she should be so carefree since her ship is missing, but she tells him she knows the Macross Galaxy is safe. Sheryl sees someone flying with EX-Gear and tells Alto she wants to see that. On the rooftop, Sheryl uses Luca’s EX-Gear and attempts to pick up eggs, but she fails miserably and gets herself, Ranka and Nanase dirty.
Sheryl and Ranka take showers to clean up, and Sheryl asks Ranka how her work is doing. Sheryl offers to get Ranka onto her upcoming TV special, but Nanase steps in and says that Ranka will achieve success without anyone’s help. Nanase then criticizes Sheryl’s actions, and Sheryl changes the subject by asking Nanase if she’s attracted to Alto. Michael asks Alto if he knows why Sheryl keeps hanging around him, but Alto doesn’t get it. Sheryl sticks her clothes in the dryer, and Ranka tells her she wants to work on her own. Sheryl says it’s best to follow the path she believes in, and the green creature suddenly jumps out of a basket with Sheryl’s panties and escapes. A crowd of perverted mail students then starts chasing after the green creature. Sheryl quickly puts on a dress and runs after the creature. Male students search everywhere for the panties, and Sheryl grabs Luca’s EX-Gear and speeds off. Luca worries that Sheryl didn’t lock the EX-Gear before she sped off. Ranka runs to get to her job, but Elmo calls and says their show was bumped off by Sheryl’s TV special. Leon views the battle footage and talks with someone about their preparations for Ranka. Sheryl crashes into a wall and makes a mess as she chases after the creature. Sheryl heads for the roof, where the creature is sitting atop the school’s mascot Valkyrie. The panties fly off the creature’s head, and Sheryl jumps off the roof to grab the panties, but she falls out of her EX-Gear. As she falls, Alto swoops in with his EX-Gear and saves her. Alto criticizes her for causing so much commotion. Sheryl looks at the sunset and asks Alto if they can fly longer, promising to forgive him for the earring. Ranka visits the park and sees the creature, so she wonders if it’s the same one from school. She then begins to sing “Aimo” and is surprised to hear harmonica accompaniment. She turns around and sees Brera playing the harmonica. Alto asks Sheryl if she’s satisfied, but she says she hasn’t had enough yet. Later, Alto is shocked when Sheryl transfers to Mihoshi’s pilot course.
With the last episode being a gigantic battle, it’s not surprising that the next one would be more slowly paced. Unfortunately, the animation quality takes a dip in this episode, with many characters, especially Sheryl, looking off model at times. We see Ranka struggling to get her career off the ground, so it’s not surprising that as someone just starting out she has to do lame songs and promotions. Much of the rest of this episode focuses on Sheryl’s misadventures at Mihoshi, not the least of which are caused by a mysterious green creature that steals panties. Whatever that creature is, it follows Ranka around the entire episode. Given that she has some green blob thing as a phone, I wonder if this creature is some surveillance set up by Leon. You kind of feel sorry for Alto, given the annoyance of Sheryl transferring to the school at the end. Speaking of mysteries, questions are certainly raised by Brera appearing on the Macross Frontier and playing “Aimo” on harmonica, since the song is so closely connected to Ranka’s childhood.
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