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  1. Been looking at this since it arrived in our Local game store. Of course I'll be configuring everything Macross-style if I get it, but I'm looking at all those real-life alternate schemes and weapons loadouts and wondering if I'll configure all the UNS stuff as JDSF, bundeswehr, or US Marines instead. Any modelers here know where I can find some 1/285 ordinance add-ons to go on the Valks?
  2. Robots paralleling the Monolith, the wormhole paralleling the space bridge, the docking sequence remixing the Pan-Am Clipper docking.... feels like this was 2001 but with a plot. Didn't grab me hard enough to make me want to go see it again but I thought it was one of the best exploration films I've seen. The Presentation was certainly incredible enough to blow my socks off. I read originally that TARS and CASE were supposed to be humanoid. I'm glad they didn't end that way. The Robot designs are fantastic! Also... apparently the spaceships weren't CGI. They were all physical models. Wow!
  3. I recall there was mention of a factory at a lagrange point manufacturing ARMDs and Oberths... but were concrete facts ever given about Earth's orbital assets? And how did they survive without being obliterated by the Zentreadi? (unless they started with the planet first?)
  4. I need to check my facts more... I presumed there was a VF-17 in the M3 game. Still, according to the dates in the Macross mecha manual there were three years between the debut of the VF-17D (2035) and the launch of Macross 7 (2038). If a 17A model had been several years earlier than that, could we assume Millia and Max were around to test them?
  5. Ah, I mis-read that. I remember she had the valk for whatever operation it was to steal the Factory Satellite at least.
  6. My thinking was along the lines of finding out Megaroad-01 had settled, and it was a matter of running into signals from the planet settled and/or the local patrols set up around the area. In the very least, some evidence to point to what happened. IIRC, Megaroad-01's destination was 'near the center of the galaxy', or did they just keep going around the core? Then again I suppose it's useless asking since it's a subject Kawamori will never return to (they've already ridden off into the sunset). Well, how about the AZ-130 and the other variable attack craft? The capital vessels at least? I imagine that the UN Spacy would be interested in a couple or several enemy craft for study, but the rest were either 'disposed of' or refitted for UN Spacy service with the Varuta colony. I'm not finished with Mac 7 yet, but my thinking was that with the Protodevlin gone, Varuta was inhabited by the former Megarod colonists who settled there, and they re-used their Varuta-era machinery (ones that were modified, anyway) as their defense forces until they manufactured newer replacements from the UN Spacy. The FZ-109 seems to be just as effective as the VF-11, and the VF-19 was just being rolled out. The difference is between having a standing defense force with little modification, drawing from Macross7's already depleted space defenses, or being defenseless without either until they could manufacture replacements and re-tool their existing factories to do so. After all given what discussions I've read on colony fleet diversification, using refitted, former Supervivion FZ-109s sounds like the beginning of fleets using ships other than a 'universal standard' variable fighter.
  7. Oh, I remember the Red VF-1x (It's hard to miss). My comment relates to Gamlin telling Milia she 'wasn't rated for [the VF-17]'. I thought it was a sure thing by then that she had flown one of the early VF-17s already in her colors. Then again as I think about it, it might be a mis-translation (the one I'm watching has the 'cake' translation from Hikaru's VA, which as I recall was commented on here in the thread). As of Episode 23 it's been destroyed sans the nose cone, so I doubt it shows up in episode 34 Though considering Millia's VF-1 and the mecha in the hands of the civilians, I wonder what the policy is for the UN Spacy to phase out equipment. Those certainly didn't look like VF-1Cs, and who gives a functioning Monster to civilians? In Millia's case I guess her status as a Space War One Legend allows her to keep her VF-1. I wonder if Max had his stashed somewhere (or donated), since he would have known Millia kept hers.
  8. With all the colonization fleets pushing to the galactic core, do any of them expect to run into Megaroad-01 (or what's left of Megaroad-01?) I felt that if Kawamori wanted to revisit Megaroad-01, it would be through Miku Ichijo's eyes. Her parents might be legendary, but does excluding them from the picture mean Miku doesn't get any life? Or is that the way it should be? :\ Here's a newbie question/consideration: At the end of Macross 7, should we presume the freed Varutan colonists shredded their remaining military equipment or did they recycle all the Protodevlin-era technology but removed all the spiritua gear? I have this idea of an FZ-109 in UN Spacy Livery and wondering if it was possible...
  9. Well... Thoughts on Episode 23 before I give it a rest for the night. This is the episode that premieres the Sound Force. After Basara finally 'shows up' for the ceremony, I have to wonder how many of the UN officers were asking themselves why they were investing so much in such a temperamental diva. It sounds like Basara is ungrateful for the military shelling out two new valkyries to augment his "band in space", and I can see that adding to the sentiment against him by Macross fans. But! The band must go into space, so it has to be despite how many would have misgivings about it. And adding to my earlier thoughts on the usefulness of Basra's valk... I'd wager it won't be useful until confronting the Protodevlin directly (since I know Operation Stargazer is somewhere in the future, I'd guess this would be the 'proof' that conventional forces are useless and Basara's singing is the only hope they have). The second significant plot point of the episode is, perhaps, Sivil showing herself to Basra for the first time without 'an alias'. She vocalizes what pretty much all of us know she's thinking before flying off and causing the commando vampires to strike again. Still, I noted that Basra got to know Sivil's name without her introducing herself... makes me wonder if Basra 'learned' anything more from the Protodevlin other than that. Though knowing Basra's character he probably wouldn't share that information, since it doesn't pertain to his song or how anyone understands it or not. I read once about the series some commentary regarding Max and Millia, and I've kept an eye on the exchanges and such between them to see if there was anything to it. I noticed Max here wondered to himself when the conversations between himself and his wife got cold. I always assumed that their marriage always had a level of professionalism to it, since both of them were ace pilots for most of their years and lived pretty much on the front lines (A military life, then?). To me, Max's comment suggests that their relationship got colder even then that. Both them seem to show evidence of the regret of this- Max to me is more obvious in this regard. He keeps asking about Mylene, which to me says he's asking about their marriage. Millia holds on to her Red Valkyrie, even in 'spirit' by adopting a VF-17 and painting it Red (I'd assume she flew a red one before, when she was an Ace in the formal military). Maybe part of her expects one day to have Max come back in a blue counterpart *shrug*. For my closing thought on this episode... Sivil's 'confrontation' of Basra made me wonder
  10. Hi all. Spotted this thread a while ago and it encouraged me to finally check out Macross 7. I've just finished Episode 19 after rushing to catch up, since I'd like to participate in the discussion. Firstly I guess I should say where I'm coming from. SDF:M's animeigo set is the only experience I've had with Macross so far (no Plus, no F, nothing). Since I'm a mech head though, I've already read up on the nature of the Varuta/Protodevilin and know some game-breaking spoilers. However, I've found that reading synopsis isn't the same as 'actually being there' when you're watching the series, so I set out to do so. Have it playing side-by-side with artwork I'm making, so I might have missed one or two minor details. Before watching the series I had the opinion that it was full of craziness, the Basara was just a hotheaded singer who was obsessed with singing and didn't care really who or what was in his way. I thought the human face mecha was silly, and the concept of singing at your enemy was some new-age thought processes that somehow tried to find legitimacy in a super robot show. *shrug* I've been forming some thoughts as I watch, as I kept this thread in mind to share my opinions about this crazy thing called Macross 7. First is the early-episode assessment of Gamlin from some of the other posters here. Keeping that in mind as I watched the early episodes, I didn't think Gamiln's reaction to Basra was over the top. If anything it's what I would have expected to feel if some clown in a civilian plane started dancing in the middle of combat blaring rock music. Without knowing Basra's plans or intentions I'd get angry at him too... since not only is he dancing in the way of combat and messing up your thinking by obnoxious music, but he's also a Macross 7 civilian and you have to protect him. Gamlin's upset is compounded by the fact that his superiors seem to want the nonsense civilian there, apparently without any clear reason. In a way that brings me to my second thought... Basra. He never stops to explain his intentions. Without some of the input from the other posters here I think I'd be just as frustrated as Gamlin is. Basra's mode of operation seems to be to sing at people and leave it to them to understand what he's trying to do, or he hopes that they will be so swept up in the power of rock that it wouldn't matter. Putting aside for a moment the fact that I find Planet Dance annoying (perhaps overplayed), that Basra doesn't try to explain to anyone what he's trying to do is probably what makes so many dislike him. He wants you to understand what he's trying to do HIS way, he doesn't try to mediate by giving reason to his rhyming. In a way, I think he brings his own frustrations on himself in the fist few episodes because he doesn't articulate his frustrations other than whining "they just don't get my song". Moving into my third point, I'm not sure if 'culture shock' is being effective as the cast (and maybe Kawamori?) might hope. Basra's singing doesn't seem to have much effect on the real fighting (except to agitate and anger people). All the while I presumed that Basra's singing might jolt the Varuta pilots out of their trance and it might 'work' that way, but it seems the brainwashed pilots are completely deaf to Basra's signing. So the only thing the Fire Valkyrie seems to contribute so far is as a mobile shield, eye-catching target, and counter to Sivil. Basra's affects seem so specific that it makes me wonder what would happen if the Macross fleet ran into an enemy that had its own culture and music. Basra would be completely superfluous in that case- and probably destroyed first if he insisted on getting in the way of the combatants. Further on culture shock, it's interesting to compare use and effect here of Culture from Macross TV v Macross 7's understanding and useage. I didn't get the sense that Minmay knew her singing would end the war until the military had in their heads that culture shock was affecting the Zentraedi. It was completely unintentional, and the effects of her singing weren't so much to stop the enemy completely from fighting as they were to stop and wonder what this strange thing was. Knowing this years later, Basara tries to go for this effect deliberately but (so far) fails with the Varuta (except Sivil). The connection was made for Mylene (and us) that Basara's like Minmay during the Minmay episode, but I think the circumstances, causes, and effects are different between the two shows, even though Basra's trying to replicate the 'Minmay effect'. Again, had the enemy been their own culture and not headed by superhuman Protodevilin with orgasmic results a particular weakness for Music, then I think the theme of Macross 7 would have been lost. On the matter of Sivil... her behavior so far reminds me a lot of the Ilea probe from Star Trek I. She doesn't have much vocalization, and in a way I can interpret her as an independent bio-weapon designed to collect spirita more effectively than the massed fleet or the soul-sucking vampires (whatever happened to them by the way? They seemed to lie low after that one pilot got captured). Oddly enough, like the Ilea Probe, Sivil will respond to a 'human factor' while ultimately defeating any attempts at force used against her (the Trek probe was supposed to have zapped a guard in a cut scene). Though on Spiria collection... it's a whole 'nother level of horror when you realize that most of the crew in that carrier died without the chance of getting free- they were all zapped and soulless, unable to escape, when they died in the explosion. Spirita sucking is a two-edged sword... you're not dead and you stand the chance of recovery, but on the other hand you're too powerless to escape real death on your own. So far the series is turning out to be entertaining, and not what I expected when I reflect on the summaries. I really wish 'Planet Dance' wouldn't be the choice of music whenever Basara goes out for combat. I understand that it's the 'theme' of Macross 7's plot (I think,) and I realize Music is Basra's way of fighting, but I really wish he would mix it up a little. I mean, are the fans tolerant of him singing the same song over and over again? I know of it's ear-worm potential... faced that recently with "Sunday Clothes" from Wall-E... I'm willing to bet that the obnoxious harmonica in Planet Dance will prevent it from being stuck in my brain and ultimately liked. Mylene's music is far more enjoyable to my ears... helps some that I like the character All in all the ride's been an interesting one so far. I'd be tempted to jump ahead as well, though I'm not sure where you guys left off in the series. Episode 19 was the one to have a review last.. though it's been more than one Friday since that one.
  11. Not sure if I should ask this here or in the newbie Macross thread, but would this be the reason why Macross F came up with the 'New UN Spacy' and a new logo? Is Kawamori trying to distance himself from SDF:M so that Macross can stand apart from Robotech?
  12. I find this extremely interesting. What are the circumstances behind it? How was a treaty reached between the Zentraedi and the UNG? Was a UNG Zentreadi delegation sent to negotiate on behalf of the UNG? I always assumed the Zentraedi were belligerent to the UN Spacy/UN Government. This is the first bit I've seen that shows this isn't the case.
  13. That would be my presumption as well, though I thought it was worth speculating about. They would have needed some way to analyze/examine the miclones though. Would they have left that up to machines, or would the Protoculture have bread specialists to do the job? Or would that be another task of the fleet archivist(s)? Does anyone have an answer on that ASS-1 drawing? Is it official Macross or where does it come from?
  14. I would guess from the wreckage of the ship, humanity could determine they were facing giant bipeds with hands and digits (to press the buttons) that required a pressurized atmosphere. For all they knew, they could be facing giant Star Trek aliens. On the matter of databases and such, I wonder now if either of the 'superpowers' (Supervision Army / Zentradi) use doctors or any other medical technologies. If they can't repair the equipment, what's to say they can repair the people? (Imagine the consequences, then, had the UN Spacy decided to use biological warfare) On the matter of Maclones... you can perhaps suggest that it would be the larger capital ships that would have miclones, and ships like the numerous gun destroyers would be manned by pure Zentradi. I can imagine that the 'production rate' of the Zentradi was high enough that there were more to brainwash and man starships than the protocultures. The Miclones were probably smarter than the average Zentran too. Did they handle this in Mac7? Wasn't Macross 5 a Zentradi fleet? Or did they just micronize any full-sized Zentradi they came across to fill the ranks?
  15. Depends on how many Miclones the supervision army used. If most of what the SA was using were brainwashed Zentradi then they wouldn't had need for the smaller accommodations. This might be the case since otherwise it would have gone mentioned, surely? Though while we're dancing on the matter of the ASS-1, was there any clear image of its pre-crash state (other than the space-wrecked derelict)? There's an image and profile up on steelfalcon, with an accompanying model (presumably fan-built?) Is this an official image or one created for Robotech?
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