Alto Saotome

Alto Saotome (早乙女 アルト, Saotome Aruto) is the main protagonist of the Macross Frontier television series and the film adaptations The False Songstress and The Wings of Farewell, along with Macross FB7 Galaxy Flow Soul: Listen to My Song! and Macross Frontier Short Film: Labyrinth of Time. He is a high schooler enrolled in Mihoshi Academy’s pilot training course ^[1] who later joined S.M.S. as the pilot of a VF-25F Messiah ^[2].

Appearance

Alto is an attractive young man with waist-length or hip-length bluish-gray hair (when let down) that is usually tied into a ponytail by a red string which makes him more feminine with a single long hair strand hanging in the middle of his face and shorter bangs hanging above his eyebrows while he has chin-length hair strands hanging on either side, brown eyes and a well-built body (where he is seen shirtless in Episode 1 when he gives Ranka Lee his uniform shirt after she got entirely drenched, Episode 4 when he falls asleep from exhaustion, Episode 13 while washing himself with river water, Macross Frontier: The False Songstress when taking a shower and Macross Frontier: The Wings of Farewell when hanging out at the beach).

As a result of his fine features and long hair, he is often mistaken for a girl at first glance, even receiving the nickname 'Hime' (姫, lit. "Princess") and his appearance was revealed to have been inherited from his late mother Miyo Saotome who was said to be a considerable beauty.

Personality

Despite his stunning appearance, Alto is otherwise a rather normal, although somewhat aloof (not friendly or forthcoming; cool and distant) and standoffish (distant and cold in manner; unfriendly), boy.

Character

Born into the prestigious Saotome Kabuki troupe, his father Ranzō Saotome strictly trained Alto in kabuki acting since he was young and gained notoriety for his performance as the Cherry Blossom Princess. Due to Alto's androgynous features, he's considered a beautiful person where some see him as a handsome man while others see him as a beautiful woman at first glance due to his fine features and long hair. Those who know of his past, especially his pilot classmates, gave him the nickname Hime ("princess" in Japanese) because of it.

Alto is the apparent heir to the troupe and family house, but his father disowned him. Ranzō stripped him of his title(s) and declared Yasaburō Saotome (elder step-brother) as the new heir; Alto harbored no ill-feelings towards his brother. Alto had a strong passion to fly; he really wanted to become a pilot. Because of this, Alto didn't want to succeed the kabuki troupe and left the Saotome House for his dreams of flight. In the film version, his reasons for leaving acting wasn't just so he could fly. He was confused over his gender identity as he played a woman so much that he started questioning his own orientation.

Usually rebellious and sarcastic, he felt stifled living cooped up aboard the Macross Frontier and dreamed of open skies ^[1]. He attended the Mihoshi Academy's pilot training program to achieve that goal, but the Vajra Conflict propelled him into S.M.S. before graduating, becoming a private military contracted pilot. Because his classmates are also part of SMS, they continued to call him princess and it stuck as his callsign. Focused on his piloting dreams, Alto didn't think about romance until Ranka Lee and Sheryl Nome entered his life. He met both ladies on the first night the Vajra attacked Frontier and the trio have been intertwined in the Vajra conflict from start to end. Both ladies developed romantic feelings for Alto and wanted to win his heart; Sheryl would barge into Alto's life to spend time with him while Ranka seek Alto as a confidant and support. Eventually, Alto developed feelings for both of them, but he never made a clear choice over who he wanted the most. Overall, Alto is a person focused on protecting the people he loves while dreaming of the skies.

History

Vajra Conflict

One fateful day, Alto was with his classmates Michael Blanc and Luca Angelloni at Mihoshi Academy, telling them of his dream to become a fighter pilot one day and fly in his EX-Gear through the skies in the real atmosphere of a planet instead of the artificial sky of the Macross Frontier space colony. As he wandered off into the nearby woods, he sees a young girl named Ranka Lee who had gotten lost while heading to the latest Sheryl Nome concert and she mistakes Alto for a girl due to his long hair and effeminate appearance, which briefly angers him before he then escorts Ranka out of the forest. Shortly after, Alto and his classmates fly as backup performers at the same Sheryl Nome concert Ranka was previously going to. He prepares to perform his signature "corkscrew" maneuver, but the ceiling is too low and he swoops down, accidentally picking up Sheryl who continued singing, which impressed the audience, unaware that it was all unplanned.

A sudden attack by the Vajra prompts everyone to head for the evacuation centers. Fans at the concert struggle to escape through the main exit while Sheryl leaves elsewhere, angering Alto as he assumes she cares little for the well-being of her fans. Ranka escapes the concert hall only to be cornered by one of a Vajra Heavy Soldier. She sees variable fighter pilot Henry Gilliam killed before her very eyes, which leaves her in a catatonic state. Alto swoops in and commandeers his VF-25F Messiah, and repels the alien, thereby protecting Ranka from further harm (F: "Cross Encounter").

As the battle rages, he meets Gilliam's superior, Ozma Lee (Ranka's guardian) and he tells Alto to take her to safety while he takes care of the Vajra. As they head away from the chaos, Alto learns Ranka's name, and are horrified as they walk through the damaged city. The next day at school, Catherine Glass escorts him to a military facility to extract samples of his blood because of his contact with the aliens. He sees Ozma yet again who takes him to his private military company, the S.M.S.. Alto is surprised to learn his friends, Michael and Luca were already members of S.M.S. who then asked him how their comrade died in battle. Soon after, another Vajra attack occurs. Alto demands wanting to help out, but Ozma punches him in the gut and he leaves him. He leaves in pain and eventually meets up with Sheryl in a park outside the city. She learns his name, and Sheryl, in a bit of spontaneity, yells it out (F: "Hard Chase"). Later, he learns from Ozma that Ranka suffered from post-traumatic stress after witnessing the Vajra attack due to some event in her past. We then learn that Alto is part of a family of Kabuki actors, but he was disowned by his father Ranzō Saotome as Alto wanted to become a pilot. His father instead picks his adopted son, Yasaburō Saotome to be his heir.

Now fully caught between a war with the Vajra, he is finally recruited by S.M.S. where he hopes to protect the people he cares about (F: "On Your Marks"). Meanwhile, Ranka recovers and promptly joins the Miss Macross Frontier beauty contest, which helps push her to pursue a singing career. Alto is then forced to watch over Sheryl and the two have a few outings that help build their growing friendship. Ranka, Alto and Sheryl are soon cast on the film Legend of Zero where Alto plays a stunt-double. While filming, Alto starts to develop feelings for Ranka. They encounter a deadly Hydra creature, but they are rescued by the mysterious Brera Sterne. Brera then follows the crew back to their school at Mihoshi Academy where they wonder what his deal was. Ranka's career takes off shortly after and is soon used by the military to help wage war against the Vajra. This upset Ranka, despite the S.M.S. crew saying that they remind her of the legendary Lynn Minmay and Basara Nekki.

After a particularly nasty mission on Gallia 4, Alto becomes more and more jaded and soon, Leon Mishima enacts his coup, which leaves President Howard Glass dead. Leon then tries using Ranka to sing in a memorial service, but Ranka refuses and leaves with Brera to search for the Vajra homeworld. Alto, concerned for Sheryl's declining health and career, cheers her on. Sheryl sees renewed purpose from Alto's words, and resurrects her career. In the meantime, due to the toll of the war with the Vajra, S.M.S. forces are absorbed the the New United Nations Spacy fleet garrison, and Alto is promoted to Lieutenant. He becomes captain of Sagittarius squadron and pilots a VF-171 Nightmare Plus. Jeffery Wilder and Ozma return after a brief exile and recruit Alto back to deal with the Vajra Queen once and for all. He reunites with Sheryl and the two then search for the missing Ranka, who turned out to be brainwashed by Grace O'Connor. With their combined strength, they snap Ranka out of her stupor, and the triangle of friends launch their final assault on Grace, who had taken control of a Vajra Queen. With Grace defeated, Alto and the rest of the Frontier fleet settle on their newly colonized world. Alto flies through the sky in his EX-Gear, content in finally realizing his dream, as Sheryl and Ranka cheer him on.

Macross Frontier: The Wings of Farewell

Unlike the television series, Alto is well acquainted with Ranka Lee where the two have been classmates in Mihoshi Academy for some time and share a platonic relationship. Towards the end, Alto manages to save Sheryl Nome who had become possessed by the Vajra. He sacrifices himself and is soon whisked away from the galaxy while Sheryl falls into a coma and Ranka lives on, hoping they'd all return.

His fate is reminiscent of Shin Kudō in Macross Zero and whether or not Alto returns is unknown.

Macross Frontier Short Film: Labyrinth of Time

Several times after his disappearance, Alto has appeared in projection by the Well of Souls ruin somewhere on a planet where Ranka Lee is having a concert on.

With the help from the now-comatose Sheryl Nome, Ranka is able to activate the ruin's beacon to the location where Alto has disappeared to.

Relationships

Family

Ranzō Saotome

Ranzō is Alto's estranged father where Ranzō raised his son to be a Kabuki actor (who are known for their specialty of playing female characters), but Alto wanted to become a pilot and their relationship became distant because Alto wanted to follow his dreams.

Miyo Saotome

Miyo is Alto's late mother who inherited her good looks and he has a strong resemblance to her. According to Yasaburō Saotome in Episode 19, he mentions on how Miyo "often used to comb Alto-san's hair out on the deck." and it is possible that Alto keeps his current hairstyle in memory of his late mother.

“	Ranka: What made you want to fly? Alto: Well... My mom had a weak body, so she would always just stare at the skies. I would usually look with her, and when I did, she used to tell me... She told me that she wanted to see what the sky really looks like. Ranka: What it really looks like? Alto: Yeah. The never ending, grand, blue horizon and the tall, white clouds. She wanted to see the real, free sky. It was like a fairy tale to me since I was on this ship.	”
—Alto telling Ranka Lee the reason why he chose to be a pilot

In Episode 21, when Ranka asks Alto why he ever wanted to fly, he simply responds that he always wanted to see the true sky and that it was his mother who inspired him to do so. As it turns out, it was because his mother was sickly that she couldn’t really leave the house, but she did look up at the sky and tell him about real skies that were endless. This explains why Alto decided to become a pilot in order to carry on Miyo's legacy of flying in the sky.

Yasaburō Saotome

Yasaburō is Alto's adopted brother whom he regards as his older brother since he is a student of the Saotome family, even though he is not a blood relation and Ranzō Saotome selected him as heir.

Despite this, Alto bares no hard grudges against Yasaburō as Alto does not see acting as his true destiny anyway. Because of that, Yasaburō often tries to persuade Alto to return to his successful acting career.

Love Interests

Alto develops emotional bonds with Ranka Lee (a young girl who aspires to be a singer and shares Alto's similar drive to achieve his dreams) and Sheryl Nome (the famed Idol Singer from the Macross Galaxy fleet). In Episode 8, Ranka and Sheryl become students at Mihoshi Academy with Ranka "transferring into the first year of the Performing Arts course." at the beginning of the episode and Sheryl "transferring into the Piloting course." at the end of the episode.

At the end of Macross Frontier: The Wings of Farewell, the love triangle comes to a conclusion when Alto rejects Ranka (but he thanks her as well) and confesses his feelings to Sheryl, although his confession was interrupted when he gets sucked away from the galaxy and Sheryl slips into a coma.

Ranka Lee

Ranka got lost and met Alto on her way to Sheryl Nome's first concert at the Macross Frontier colony, Alto showed her the way as he was a back up performer for the concert, during the sudden Vajra attack on the colony, Alto saved Ranka's life and she falls in love with him.

“	Ranka, I'm sorry, I can't return your feelings. But thank you.	”
—Alto rejects and apologizes to Ranka

She confesses to him, but he rejected and thanked her (Macross Frontier: The Wings of Farewell).

Sheryl Nome

Alto got to meet the famous Galactic Fairy as he was scheduled to perform as a backup performer for her concert, accidentally he swooped in and carried Sheryl, but this excited the crowd more so Sheryl told Alto to continue as she sang. Alto is angered when he sees that Sheryl is evacuating the Vajra attack without any thought of the lives of her fans.

“	Alto: I'll be there for you if you choose to sing, I'll stay by your side until the last moment. Sheryl: Alto... Please give me courage, Alto. The courage to continue singing until the very end.	”
—Alto declaring to remain by Sheryl's side before she asks him for encouragement

Gradually, Alto develops feelings for Sheryl and he moves in with her late in the series and the novel makes it clear that they do end up sleeping with each other. This is also evident in Episode 22 when she's on the brink of despair and he confesses to her, following by asking him to "give her courage" before there's a slow-pan away from them making out as the camera pans up from the two beginning their courage-sharing session. Then, a heavily symbolic scene follows of Ranka Lee discovering what outer space looks like, connected to Brera Sterne's Lucifer with an umbilical cord and in a compromising position. When it cuts back to Alto, he is seen standing outside the door in a new shirt and his jacket suspiciously hanging over his shoulders as opposed to wearing them normally the scene before, heavily implying that he indeed had Sex for Solace with Sheryl according to the light novels.

Throughout the series, Alto was given Sheryl's Fold Quartz earrings:

• When Alto is about to go off into battle in Episode 6, Sheryl allows him to keep the earring as a good luck charm, but he ends up losing it during the ensuing battle.
• During the final battle against Grace O'Connor in Episode 24, Sheryl gives Alto her remaining earring and goes so far as to put it in his ear herself. Fortunately in Episode 25, Alto never loses the earring and he keeps it where it becomes an important plot point in their connection.

“	Alto: Sheryl, this might might be late, but I-- Sheryl: Alto!	”
—Alto's love confession interrupted when he gets sucked away from the galaxy and Sheryl calling out to him before collapsing from her disease

At the end of the Macross Frontier: The Wings of Farewell, Alto turns to Sheryl and starts to tell her that how he feels, but he gets cut off when the Vajra queen he's on folds into space (although, it is pretty obvious that he was saying "I love you") and Sheryl calls out to him before her body succumbs to her V-Type infection and she collapses in the process.

Friends

Michael Blanc

Micheal is Alto's human classmate and friendly rival who usually becomes annoyed when he is called "Princess" by him.

Grandpa Genji

Grandpa Genji took care of Alto when he was a child as explained in Vol.2 Chapter 3: Garnet Heart of Sheryl ~ Kiss in the Galaxy ~.

Etymology

• The name Alto means "high, to raise, to make high, to elevate" (which reflects on how he always has his head up in the clouds and goes on about how much he likes the sky and wants to fly) and "the deepest female classical singing voice" in Italian. Oddly, his voice is actually relatively manly, presumably because of puberty and his name becomes a bit prophetic when he actually does become a pilot and turns out to be quite good at it.
  • As a musical term, Alto refers to the low range for female singing and the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range, something that he's constantly mocked for.
    • Alto of Altomünster was an Irish or Scottish saint who lived in Germany.
• Alto's surname Saotome means "already, now, fast, early" (早) (sa) and "virgin, maiden, girl" (乙女) (otome).
  • Saotome is also an important name in Kabuki, which Alto used to do, and, driving the point home, he played female roles in Kabuki.

Notes & Trivia

• Alto's horoscope sign is Leo.
• Alto's hobby is making paper airplanes.
• Alto is 17 years old, but initial background materials listed his age as 16.
• Much like how Sheryl Nome bears a striking resemblance to her great aunt Sara Nome, Alto is the spitting image of his late mother Miyo Saotome.
• Alto is possibly named after Taichi Saotome, an onna-gata from the Kabuki theater, and just like his fictitious counterpart, Alto is also trying to play against type as he's tired of playing feminine roles.

Miscellaneous

• Alto bares many similarities with Sanji from Eiichiro Oda's One Piece anime and manga series:
  • Both come from well-known families.
    • Alto was a once kabuki actor born into a prestigious acting family.
    • Sanji was once the third prince known as Vinsmoke Sanji born from the reigning royal Vinsmoke Family bloodline of the infamous military Germa Kingdom before he renounced his title as a prince.
  • Both lost their mothers at a young age.
    • Due to poor health, Miyo Saotome passed away when Alto was 12 years old.
    • During Sanji's childhood, his mother Vinsmoke Sora died from a drug she took during her pregnancy that had led to a sudden deterioration in her health right after giving birth.
  • Both were abused by their fathers during their childhood.
    • Ranzō Saotome had strictly made Alto train the art of Kabuki.
    • When Vinsmoke Judge learned that Sanji began to show kindness and compassion instead of being emotionless, he began to insult and cruelly train Sanji into a cold-blooded soldier to the point that he locked him up in a dungeon for over six months.
  • Both have dreams of their own to carry in honor of their late mothers.
    • Before her death, Miyo shared with a young Alto her dreams of and fascination with the real sky, which led him to be a pilot for the sake of fulfilling his mother's desire of flying in the sky.
    • After Sora's death, Sanji carries out his mother's will by becoming a chef to honor her memory.
  • Both were disowned by their fathers and left their homes to pursue their own dreams before encountering them as young adults.
    • Alto was disowned by Ranzō after he retires from the art of kabuki and leaves the Saotome estate to become a pilot before they unexpectedly met each other in Episode 4.
    • Sanji was banished by Judge when he decided to become a cook and he cut all ties with his family after he escaped his home as a child. Upon returning to his family as an adult for his upcoming arranged marriage (only to be ruined when it was revealed to be an assassination wedding), Sanji disowns his family once more and makes the decision to renounce the surname Vinsmoke.

Gallery

Promotional Art

Anime

Episode 1: Cross Encounter

Episode 2: Hard Chase

Episode 3: On Your Marks

Episode 5: Star Date

Episode 6: Bye Bye Sheryl

Episode 8: High School Queen

Episode 11: Missing Birthday

Episode 19: Triangler

Episode 23: True Begin

Movies

Macross Frontier: The False Songstress

Macross Frontier: The Wings of Farewell

Games

Macross 30: The Voice that Connects the Galaxy

Super Robot Wars X-Ω

References

External Links

• Alto Saotome Wiki

Macross Frontier characters
S.M.S.	Ozma Lee | Alto Saotome | Luca Angelloni | Michael Blanc | Canaria Berstein | Klan Klang | Nene Rora | Raramia Rerenia | Henry Gilliam |
New United Nations Spacy	Jessica Blanc | Major Ohgotwhai | Major Ohgotwhai's Advisor | Tehmzin | Machida
Macross Quarter	Jeffery Wilder | Catherine Glass | Bobby Margot | Monica Lang | Mina Roshan | Ram Hoa
Diva	Sheryl Nome | Ranka Lee
Macross Galaxy	Grace O'Connor | Brera Sterne
Frontier Presidency	Howard Glass | Leon Mishima
Others	Nanase Matsuura | Miranda Merin | Ranshe Mei | Mao Nome | Richard Birler | Elmo Kridanik | Ranzō Saotome | Yasaburō Saotome | George Yamamori | Ai-kun | Ōsanshōō-san