The Newbie and Short Questions thread

[Gubaba]

How old is Basara anyway?

21 in Mac7.

[Andras]

Have they ever defined the number of barrels and caliber of the VF-22s GV-17L gunpod?

Have the VF-11B/C gunpods ever gotten a GU-xx designation?

[Seto Kaiba]

Have they ever defined the number of barrels and caliber of the VF-22s GV-17L gunpod?

Not yet, no... but that information may yet be forthcoming in Variable Fighter Master File: VF-22 Sturmvogel II. Mind you, exactly when that book is going to be released is something of a mystery. It was originally marked April, but HLJ is now listing it as May.

Have the VF-11B/C gunpods ever gotten a GU-xx designation?

Barring an error on the cover of the previous Macross Chronicle edition's 22nd issue, I don't believe so.

(The cover in question mistakenly assigned it the designation of the VF-19's gun pod... GU-15.)

The VF-1 and VF-4 both used the GU-11, the VF-171 had the GU-14 and the VF-19 the GU-15, so smart money says that it's either GU-12 or GU-13. I'd suspect the latter, and that the former is probably the wedge-shaped gun pod the VF-5000B used during Macross M3.

[Reïvaj]

Could it be GU-12 for VF-11B and GU-13 for VF-11C? Or are they modified versions of the same?

[Seto Kaiba]

Could it be GU-12 for VF-11B and GU-13 for VF-11C? Or are they modified versions of the same?

As far as I'm aware, the -C variant's gun pod is the same model as the -B variant, just after a cost-cutting session put the kibosh on the bayonet and so on.

[Mr March]

I believe the official trivia describes both VF-11 gun pods as 30mm weapons, even despite their significantly differing appearances. But I agree, a GU designation would be nice. Hell, even a MC or GV designation would do

[Andras]

The VF-5000 and VF-14 also need their gunpods fit into the GU series. The VF-14 has a 35mm GP.

Is it possible that the VF-5000 uses a GU-11 variant leaving the GU-12 & GU-13 for the VF-11 and VF-14?

One being 30mm (VF-11) and the other 35mm (VF-14).

[Seto Kaiba]

The VF-5000 and VF-14 also need their gunpods fit into the GU series. The VF-14 has a 35mm GP.

Is it possible that the VF-5000 uses a GU-11 variant leaving the GU-12 & GU-13 for the VF-11 and VF-14?

One being 30mm (VF-11) and the other 35mm (VF-14).

Well, I already commented on the VF-5000's... the regular one from Macross M3 is probably part of the GU sequence, it doesn't look like it's a GU-11 variant though. Too small.

The VF-14 as seen in Macross M3 was using the same gunpod as the VF-11A/B, the other one that's 35mm was probably a MC gunpod instead of GU.

[Saruta]

Just realized - Ozma Lee was a pilot in the 117th Research Fleet and knew Ranka's family.

Why did he not recognize either Grace O'Connor or Brera Sterne when they showed up? Now, Brera might have changed a lot, but Grace didn't. So why no "hey, Ms. Sheryl's Manager, haven't we met 11 years ago?"

[azrael]

Just realized - Ozma Lee was a pilot in the 117th Research Fleet and knew Ranka's family.

Why did he not recognize either Grace O'Connor or Brera Sterne when they showed up?

Ummm, no. Ozma was part of the team that responded the 117th's distress call.

[Nekko Basara]

So, basically Ozma is Stacker Pentacost to Ranka's Mako Mori. Which is why Ranka grows up to be such a badass Vajra-hunter. No, wait...

[Saruta]

Close to the end of Frontier TV, SMS are recovering loads of information about the 117th Research Fleet in what looks like th aabandoned lab in SDFN-4 Global. But, was SDFN-4 Global not destroyed in the dimension eater attach on Gallia-4?

[VF-15 Banshee]

Close to the end of Frontier TV, SMS are recovering loads of information about the 117th Research Fleet in what looks like th aabandoned lab in SDFN-4 Global. But, was SDFN-4 Global not destroyed in the dimension eater attach on Gallia-4?

It was and I'm kinda surprised you missed that they were searching a section of the chest section that survived. Them Macross-class ships are built tough.

[Saruta]

OK, started M7 with the nearly-9 year old, and it was definitely the right choice - he even likes Fire Bomber music! I found hinm rewinding the opening for Seventh Moon.

Does any Western download service carry Fire Bomber legally, I wonder? It's not called Macross so HG should not be an issue?

[Seto Kaiba]

Does any Western download service carry Fire Bomber legally, I wonder? It's not called Macross so HG should not be an issue?

I don't believe so... it's jpop, so it's very niche.

[azrael]

OK, started M7 with the nearly-9 year old, and it was definitely the right choice - he even likes Fire Bomber music! I found hinm rewinding the opening for Seventh Moon.

BOMBA!

[Marzan]

OK, started M7 with the nearly-9 year old, and it was definitely the right choice - he even likes Fire Bomber music! I found hinm rewinding the opening for Seventh Moon.

Does any Western download service carry Fire Bomber legally, I wonder? It's not called Macross so HG should not be an issue?

Not FireBomber in itself, but you can find some Yoshiki Fukuyama playing M7 songs on Itunes. There's a pretty good live acoustic version of "Angel Voice" and if I remember correctly Seventh Moon as well. Different countries have different Itunes stores so do some searching and see what you can find,

[Saruta]

Ummm, no. Ozma was part of the team that responded the 117th's distress call.

Thinking of this for a few days now and still can't make it all work together. So Ozma came from Frontier, he was in the military at the time, right? And he rescued Ranka and took her to Frontier. But someone else arrived from Galaxy and rescued Grace's brain, making her a full-on cyber body later. How come these teams did not coordinate?

Ummm, no. Ozma was part of the team that responded the 117th's distress call.

Thinking it over for a few days but still not sure I understand.

Ozma, presumably in the military at that time, arrives from Frontier, rescues Ranka, takes her back to Frontier.

Someone else arrives from Galaxy and rescues the brain of Grace, and later she receives a full on cyber body. According to the novel translation bits floating around the net, she was not very happy about this development initially as she was never even kissed before (while having the time to complete higher education and get a job on a research fleet).

Yet Ozma did not know about that other rescue?

[Seto Kaiba]

Thinking of this for a few days now and still can't make it all work together. So Ozma came from Frontier, he was in the military at the time, right? And he rescued Ranka and took her to Frontier.

Eh... no. Ozma Lee was, according to his Macross Chronicle character sheet, serving in the escort/protection detail for the 117th Research Fleet when things went to pot and the Vajra attacked. He rescued Ranka, but adopted her because he was dogged by feelings of guilt over having failed to save her family too. Macross Chronicle also asserts that he didn't so much leave the military as get kicked out for assaulting a VIP (IIRC, during a debriefing in the novelization) who'd sponsored/backed the fleet.

(The novel asserts that Ozma's last assignment in the military was to the NUNS SVF-41 Black Aces, aboard the SDFN-4 Bruno J. Global.)

But someone else arrived from Galaxy and rescued Grace's brain, making her a full-on cyber body later. How come these teams did not coordinate?

Why are you assuming there were two different rescue teams?

[Saruta]

I'm principally trying to figure out why Ozma did not recognize or suspect that he knows Grace O'Connor. So he actually served on the SDFN-4 - then how did that happen?

[Seto Kaiba]

I'm principally trying to figure out why Ozma did not recognize or suspect that he knows Grace O'Connor. So he actually served on the SDFN-4 - then how did that happen?

's it really realistic to expect that Ozma Lee, a relatively young soldier assigned to the fleet's escort/protection detail would know all 10,000+ people living and working in the 117th Research Fleet? Grace was there as Dr. Mao Nome's assistant, while Ozma was just a normal soldier. Even the novelization only has Ozma meet Grace once while serving with the 117th Research Fleet, and that was right before the Vajra attack began... so it's understandable it might not have stuck in his memory considering all the traumatic events he endured that day.

[azrael]

's it really realistic to expect that Ozma Lee, a relatively young soldier assigned to the fleet's escort/protection detail would know all 10,000+ people living and working in the 117th Research Fleet? Grace was there as Dr. Mao Nome's assistant, while Ozma was just a normal soldier. Even the novelization only has Ozma meet Grace once while serving with the 117th Research Fleet, and that was right before the Vajra attack began... so it's understandable it might not have stuck in his memory considering all the traumatic events he endured that day.

Not sure how much faith I want to put into the novelizations...Anyways.

Seto is probably right. If you've ever worked for a company with a large workforce, beyond your group or the few faces you see daily, it's unrealistic (for normal people) to recognize some 10,000+ people. And lab assistants come and go all the time.

[Oskull]

Is there more info about what happened next with humans (Frontier fleet) in the vajra planet?

Edited May 1, 2014 by Oskull

[VF-15 Banshee]

Well, according to the SpeakerPodcast crew, during the 30th Anniversary concert there were some tantalizing hints that Alto is out there and desperately trying to get back to Frontier (presumably now parked on the Vajra planet.)

[Seto Kaiba]

Not sure how much faith I want to put into the novelizations...Anyways.

Seto is probably right. If you've ever worked for a company with a large workforce, beyond your group or the few faces you see daily, it's unrealistic (for normal people) to recognize some 10,000+ people. And lab assistants come and go all the time.

I don't put any in the novelizations... but it seemed worth mentioning, as it's the only time I'm aware of that a Macross title made any reference to Ozma having met Grace at all during his service with the 117th Research Fleet.

I work in a research center with a staff of 14,000 and let me tell you, keeping track of more than a couple dozen people? Just about impossible.

Well, according to the SpeakerPodcast crew, during the 30th Anniversary concert there were some tantalizing hints that Alto is out there and desperately trying to get back to Frontier (presumably now parked on the Vajra planet.)

Wasn't there a piece in one of the art books that showed Alto reuniting with Sheryl?

[BChoinski]

It was never released on DVD, not even the bootleg DVD's have the English dub.

But it was officially released here in the USA on VHS. The Japanese subtitles were even removed, so it's a clean video.

I remember renting that my local comic shop back in the early 80's. Or it may have been the Harmony Gold pre-robotech version. It was certainly more "pure" than Robotech, and I was pissed that's all there was until the Robotech came out (and befor I found the real thing, dubbed).

I do remember the names not being quite so americanized. Misa's name was Lisa Hayase in the dub.

[BChoinski]

I remember renting that my local comic shop back in the early 80's. Or it may have been the Harmony Gold pre-robotech version. It was certainly more "pure" than Robotech, and I was pissed that's all there was until the Robotech came out (and befor I found the real thing, dubbed).

I do remember the names not being quite so americanized. Misa's name was Lisa Hayase in the dub.

Sorry everyone, didn't realize how far in the past that post was when I replied to it.

[Nekko Basara]

Alright, I finished reading the newbie thread, and while there was a lot of great info, it didn't make me smart. So, get ready for the dumb questions!

Regarding the defense shells on the main "city" ships:

1) In M7 it looks like they show the artificial sky onto the inner surface of the shell, but in Frontier they use the clear dome over the city to show the sky. Is that right?

2) If that's the case, why in M7 doesn't the city have a sort of second horizon where you can always see space across a portion of the sky when the shell is open?

3) If they are going to use an artificial sky anyhow, what purpose does opening the shell serve? It just seems like a liability having to close it if there is danger.

[Mr March]

Don't know if I really have any answers, just more speculation that might make sense. Isn't some sort of light/projection upon the inner side of the City shells necessary for a day-night cycle? Otherwise the whole city would be perpetually dark travelling through deep space. I believe the cities are large enough that the atmosphere within will have some affect on what can be seen outside the shell. As for the open dome, it makes sense that for a healthy population accustomed to residency upon planets, you'd want to have an artificial long-term colony spacecraft using a system that provides as much of a view of open space as possible. In this manner, residents feel like standing on the surface of a planet such as Earth or Eden, which is of course open to the vacuum.

[Seto Kaiba]

Regarding the defense shells on the main "city" ships:

1) In M7 it looks like they show the artificial sky onto the inner surface of the shell, but in Frontier they use the clear dome over the city to show the sky. Is that right?

Nah, in Macross 7 they're projecting an artificial daytime sky onto the inner surface of the dome... apparently the same as it is in Macross Frontier. There are a couple occasions in Macross 7 where you see the hologram on the dome start to fail, exposing the "night" sky of space.

This answers 2. as well, I think.

3) If they are going to use an artificial sky anyhow, what purpose does opening the shell serve? It just seems like a liability having to close it if there is danger.

At "night", they can just turn the artificial sky off and show the stars of space. Save a little juice. Plus I'm sure not being trapped under a big armored bubble all the time does a little to prevent claustrophobia.

[Nekko Basara]

Thanks for the quick replies! I still feel confused, but it may just be that I'm not explaining myself well or understanding the answers.

What has me puzzled are familiar shots like this:

To me, that looks like the "sky" is being displayed on the inner hemisphere of the defensive shell... meaning that if you were in the city and looked to the side or rear of the ship, you'd be able to see dark space.

But in Frontier, it is apparent that the clear inner dome can project a sky image upon itself. Can the clear the dome in M7 could do this? (yes, there are shots during attacks in M7 where the sky image breaks up, but I'm not clear if what becomes visible is space or the inside of the shell) And if the clear dome can display the sky, why is the sky also shown inside the shell?

[Seto Kaiba]

To me, that looks like the "sky" is being displayed on the inner hemisphere of the defensive shell... meaning that if you were in the city and looked to the side or rear of the ship, you'd be able to see dark space.

Yeah, I have no idea why that art is like that... the Macross 7 series itself showed the sky projected onto the inside of the dome like it was in Macross Frontier. Admittedly, I don't recall the hologram on the dome ever failing in Macross Frontier the way it did in at a few points in Macross 7, where you'd see sort of rectangular "pixels" of the sky start to drop out while the shell is up. Like Macross Frontier, they didn't often lower the shell in Macross 7.

EDIT: They'd have to project the sky onto the dome instead of the shell... the colony ships belonging to the Macross-1 fleet seen in the series had no shell.

Edited May 9, 2014 by Seto Kaiba

[Nekko Basara]

Thanks again! I feel a lot better with the idea that the art is just inaccurate, than I did trying to make sense of it.

It occurred to me after I posted that when the band visits the "Riviera" resort ship in M7, there is a lovely sky even though that ship doesn't have a shell, but instead uses a weird collapsing shield system. So, yeah, just more evidence that the sky is projected on a clear dome.

Honestly, the shell just baffles me - it's such a huge contraption for such a limited purpose. Of course the colony ships we see in the series are always being attacked, but you have to imagine that for a normal fleet, situations that require closing the shell must be incredibly rare (and even when the "story" ships are attacked, half the time they can't get the shell closed fast enough to matter). Add to that the fact that the Frontier fleet (and presumably others) has loads of other ships that have clear sections and no apparent shell systems. Is that massive shell worth the energy it must take to construct, operate, and haul around?

I dunno... I realize it's all for dramatic effect, but as the valk discussions show, a lot of thought went into these designs, and it's fun to try to work out what that thought was.

[Seto Kaiba]

Thanks again! I feel a lot better with the idea that the art is just inaccurate, than I did trying to make sense of it.

Actually, it turns out the black-and-white version of that art also has clouds and stuff drawn on the inside of the shell... maybe some art reference? I recall also that there are a few scenes that show starfields on the inside of the Island-1 shell as well. (One translation I've found while checking on this does state the artificial sky is projected onto the inside of the shell... though that doesn't account for the all-around visibility of the sky most of the time when the shell is shown to be up.)

I'll check into this when I get home in a few hours.

Honestly, the shell just baffles me - it's such a huge contraption for such a limited purpose. Of course the colony ships we see in the series are always being attacked, but you have to imagine that for a normal fleet, situations that require closing the shell must be incredibly rare (and even when the "story" ships are attacked, half the time they can't get the shell closed fast enough to matter). Add to that the fact that the Frontier fleet (and presumably others) has loads of other ships that have clear sections and no apparent shell systems. Is that massive shell worth the energy it must take to construct, operate, and haul around?

Well, I can't speak to the ultimate utility of the shell itself... beyond its defensive purposes, it's involved in the projection of the "sky" effects (sometimes), and if memory serves is also lowered when the time comes to finally land the colony sections.

The Island modules in the Frontier fleet had armored shutters that roll up either side towards the centerline. We see them on one or two occasions in the series. I'd assume the Akusho block in Macross 7 had something similar, though I honestly don't recall if it ever used it.

Edited May 9, 2014 by Seto Kaiba

[sketchley]

Re: New Macross Class City Ship armour shells:

One think to keep in mind is that the shell might be more oriented toward defending the ship from natural phenomenon just as much (if not more so) as enemy attacks. Specifically asteroids (or their fragments, as I think I read somewhere that they blow them up).

But yeah, it may be a case of "isn't it cool to..." not quite being practical (in both the senses of defending against enemy attacks and being a place to project the sky from.