Mao Nome

Mao Nome is a fictional character in the Macross universe. She appears in both the prequel OVA "Macross Zero" and the new "Macross Frontier" TV series.

Much like her older sister Sara, little Mao had known nothing but her home; the secluded Mayan Island. Mao's fascination with the technology that the outsiders bring masks her deep mystical link to the island's mysterious alien ruins. A link she shares with her sister.

The sudden arrival of Shin Kudo to the Island in 2008 sparks an 11 year old Mao Nome with dreams of release, and she centers all her attentions on the young pilot. Unlike her older sister Sara, she is carefree and spritelike. She yearns for a life in the cities beyond the island. She is infatuated with the pilot Shin Kudo, whom she has gotten to know well during his time here. Shin's skill in manipulating and repairing the island's few bits of machinery further infatuates the impressionable young girl. What she doesn't expect is competition in the form of the growing feelings between Shin and her sister Sara.

In the new "Macross" TV series "Macross Frontier", a version of the Macross Zero story is produced in-universe on which she is played by the character Ranka Lee. Her adoptive brother Ozma is also shown reflecting on his sister playing "Doctor Mao" indicating that she may have more than a few links to that series. This assertion is further developed in episode 18, when research into Sheryl's past shows that during 2047, 50 year old Mao Nome was a scientist in the 117th Long Distance Research Fleet and headed a project to manage and prevent an alien viral infection (the V-Type infection) with Grace O'Connor and Ranshe Mei (Ranka's mother) as her assistants. A brief image was seen of her along with Ranka's family, revealing she has since been restricted to a wheelchair. In episode 24, it's revealed that she had passed on a fold quartz earring to her daughter who had then passed it on to Mao's granddaughter Sheryl. By the new series end Mao is presumed to have been killed during the "Vajra" attack on the 117th fleet.

External links

* [http://macross.anime.net/characters/n/nome_mao/index.html Mao Nome] at the [http://macross.anime.net/ Macross Compendium]
* [http://www.macrossnexus.com/ Macross Nexus]