The Flying Monkey

Arrgh! Compared to Macross Zero, the CG in Shadow Chronicles looks like Fisher-Price toys dangling from a string. That photo looks like Soleil Moon Frye's body PS'd onto a porno actress's head.

DYRL I'll just use your reasons, with my responses, because your list works. Character Designs - that's comparing budget and available technology IMO. Of course DYRL is better. Overall Tone - yes, more serious, less time for the lighter, comedic elements in TV. This is a draw, IMO. Soundtrack - this is where DYRL takes off. I like DYRL for the same reasons I like "Blade Runner": great visuals combined with a great soundtrack. Story - TV has the edge here, hands down. DYRL's story is completely dependent on TV. But I don' re-watch a movie because of its great story. If the best thing about a movie is its story, I don't need to see it more than once.

Sans question, mon ami.

Shadow Chronicles is OK, but no more than that. I don't recall anyone at Robotech.com actually writing this in any of the forums, but I get the feeling that many Robotech fans regard this as Robotech's "Do You Remember Love?" Perhaps it is. The movies' relationship to their respective fictional universes are different, but they are both big budget (relatively speaking in terms of Shadow Chronicles), high-quality (relatively speaking in terms of Shadow Chronicles), theatrically-released (relatively speaking in terms of Shadow Chronicles) movies based, in one way or another, on their respective shows. Sad.

You're comparing Robotech to Macross when you bring in the narration and the music. That's not what this is about. If you think the Robotech actors were melodramatic compared to the ADV actors, all I can is, you have never hard Monica Rial's delivery of "Riiiiiiiiibeeeeeeeerrrrrrrr!"

I certainly prefer the Japanese dialog in DYRL (and Macross). But if I had to pick between the ADV actors and the Robotech actors, I pick Robotech. Tony Oliver is a much better HIkaru/Rick than Vic Mignola. Mignola sounds too immature and silly. Oliver sounds young, but not too young. His voice (at least his 1984 voice) sounds much more like Arihiro Hase's than Mignola's does. Akira Kamiya is hands-down the best Roy. He really puts some oomph into it when he says "Skull Leader!" Max, well, I can deal with Cam Clarke as Max. Between Max and Lancer, I think Clarke does the best job overall of the Robotech actors. Now Minmay. Well, I don't mind Reba West so much in Robotech. I prefer Mari Iijima in Japanese Macross, but I'd take Reba West 1984 over Mari Iijima 2003 in English for Minmay in a heartbeat.

Uh, that doesn't sound the least bit jerkish to me. I agree the accent thing was an issue as well. Not to sound too jerkish myself, but I think if she were perfectly fluent in English, she'd still sound too old. No doubt her inclusion was more marketing ploy than anything. That and the fact that Reba West was probably not available. You know, if someone ever did a DYRL English dub, I'd take the Robotech actors over the ADV actors any day of the week. Although they'd all probably sound too old (Tony Oliver doesn't sound like "Rick" at all in "Shadow Chronicles"), they could use magic fairy dust to make them sound younger.

You could be incredibly rude and ask Mari Iijima.

It's always a good recommendation for a movie when you have to read a set of comic books first to set the stage. The gigantic breasts (even on the Regiss!) were annoyingly outlandish, as were the hyperly ripped physiques of everyone, including the dog. The Haydonites are just begging for some acting lessons from someone who can deliver lines like "All in due course" and "All is has been foreseen" without sounding like Thulsa Doom's more sinister big brother. The CG Alphas looked like plastic toys (Macross Zero anyone?). Ariel flits about like Dark Phoenix. Plus I had no idea what characters Mark Hamill played not that I care. Oh, yeah, it's a winner in anyone's book.

You never heard of String Theory? It is in outer space, after all.

She said in a commentary that she thought she did a better job acting this time 'round. Not being fluent in Japanese, I can't really tell how good or bad her acting was in Macross in Japanese. Not to redundantly repeat myself in a repetitious fashion, but no matter how good a voice coach she had or could have had or should have had, she's still a 40-ish woman voicing a 16-year old girl. Maybe if I hadn't known that I wouldn't have noticed anything, but I did and I did.

In the commentary Mari Iijima does with Monica Rial, she sorta kinda implies (or I sorta kinda infer) that his death was more tragic than a mere accident. She does not say exactly how he died, though. Vic Mignola then shows how classy he is in a later commentary with her when he does his "wing, wink, nudge, nudge" routine about how Mari Iijima and Arihiro Hase had a "thing" going during the original recording of Macross. You can can hear Mari Iijima's embarrassment, not to mention his as he flails about trying to wipe the egg off his face. I guess to be fair to Mignola, he obviously did not know about it beforehand, and he did sorta sound genuinely sorry after she told him about Arihiro Hase.

Bad?

What's up with that rank progression: "Sergeant; Second Lieutenant; First Lieutenant, Captain, Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel," OK so far, "Major?"

That might be why Harmony Gold was originally going to change Claudia's name to Loreena.