Ranka appears in the Sheryl ~ Kiss in the Galaxy ~ manga by Kariko Oyama. The story begins with Ranka having known Alto Saotome for some time and she participates in the Miss Macross Frontier contest which gains her notice from the public. When she was five years old, she sang "Aimo" on the planet Gallia 4 which made a Vajra appear, which led to her seeing her entire family killed as she escaped unscathed.

Later, she assumes the role of "Little Queen" and is manipulated into attacking the Frontier fleet. Thanks to Sheryl Nome, Ranka is freed from her condition and rescued by members of the S.M.S.

During the character designing phase for Ranka, a hairstyle not similar to any anime character was explored, and it finalized to be shaped like a dog's ear by Risa Ebata.[1] The reason for the independent movement of her hair was due to her being a quarter-Zentradi. Designers found it difficult for her design be both sober and not too flashy. The costume designed for Ranka was made with awareness of this orthodox-ism.[2]

Director Shōji Kawamori says that newcomer Megumi Nakajima was discovered in the audition, which helped parallel the growth of Ranka in real time.[3]

Yuichi Takahashi, director of animation, says that when drawing illustrations of Ranka, that capturing her "heart" was difficult. The setting was "small", and it could not be straight and can not be quite large, so it her design depended on whoever the drawing staff was at the time.