Tochiro

Why not just output the signal from your pc direct to the tv via a 360 or something similar wirelesslyor just running a cable between the two and using the tv as a second monitor? I do that with with my Sharp Aquos and have not needed to buy a blank DVD since. But then again, I also bought all of Mac F on Bluray too. Now THAT is some GORGEOUS looking animation :-D

Mike - I am hoping to go. Am applying for the draw when it opens this weekend. If that fails, Ill try for one of the leftovers that is actually sold regularly. If that fails, I suppose Ill just have to pay Yahoo auction prices. In other words, Im determined to get in somehow. And while theres never been a DVD of any Macross live event released anyway as far as I know, this concert would surely be even less likely to get a release due to there being various animation companies (and therefore rights holders) involved. I dunno, in a way, concerts and magazines/books are the only two things left that cant be easily bootlegged and downloaded these days. Keeping the concert off DVD makes it all the more special imo. Yes, selfish, I know, but hey I have to justify STILL being in Japan somehow! hehehe.

Minor update - for anyone in Japan, some tickets will go on sale through regular (ie, not lots) sales channels at Ticket Pia, Lawson Ticket, E-plus, etc, from 10AM on June 6.

Famitsu online just revealed that there is a new Youko Kanno best of album (3 discs) coming out, including music from Mac F, Mac Plus, Cowboy Bebop, Escaflowne, etc. Moreover, there will be a concert held at Saitama Super Arena on July 7, featuring not only May'N and Megumi, but also Maaya Sakamoto and even Origa from the Stand Alone Complex openings. Talk about a dream concert! Unfortunately, tickets will be drawn in lots. These things are going to go for a small fortune on auction... http://www.famitsu.com/anime/news/1223556_1558.html

Hey there all, I've been wanting to get into Votoms for some time now and am considering grabbing a boxset once I finish off my Macross F blu-ray collection with the final volume next month. So, Im interested in what people think of the show. Impressions? Is it worth the mula? More importantly, can anyone explain the boxset for me? I'd heard it was released in a special edition tin can, yet half the sites I've found it on have a cover image (ie, not the can). Whats more, many list it as region 0 and both the disc count (6 to and episode count (52 to 72) vary according to different sites. Ie, are these legit? http://www.toywuala.com/tho/tr/product/ARM...ON-1003824.html http://www.foxanime.com/shop/product.asp?c...amp;item=MA388E Was the set rereleased? I really want to avoid buying a boot if I decide to get this. Any input would be appreciated!

Definately a nice issue this month. For those of you ordering from Amazon - why not wait a few months? Every issue that is more than 2 months old gets reduced by 100 yen. So you could cover half of your postage if not more by waiting and getting 5 or 6 back issues at a time. The Memories 2050 book is out. Its 80% story digest with pictures, as well as a few pages of glossy colour pictures of Sheryl and Ranka and a few pages of sketches of the Frontier itself. Nothing too mind blowing but nice enough. No pics because Ill be tied up with work for the next few days, sorry.

Oh, another magazine that might interest people is the November issue of Hobby Japan. It has a large feature on the Macross Frontier plastic model series. Nothing on the actual YF 25 toys coming out in Dec, but nice nonetheless. Available from Amazon Japan for those interested.

Was approx. 2600 from memory. Whether its worth the price - well, I like big glossy booklets, what can I say. The interviews are Q&A pieces. I dont do scans but heres some pics.

A pile of a dozen or so. Yeah, theres no barcode or price listed on the actual booklet itself, so I figured that might be the case. Well, check your local animate soon before they run out, I guess. On the good side, this means that we might see the booklets and design sketch books from the Galaxy Tour pop up sometime after the final concert at the Budokan in November.

Well I have a tatami room and a western style room. The tatami room is the only one with any space tho. The western style room is where my Aquos resides and it doesnt like being disturbed ;-) Anyways, today being payday, I dropped by my local Animate since I didnt want my wallet being burdened by trivial things such as money. And I found an odd booklet calls DEBUT! Ranka Lee with Sheryl Nome, Macross 2059. This is different from the Memories 2059 booklet that comes out next month and is not something Id seen in any shop. Basically its a glossy collection of shots of Ranka from Frontier episodes, with some magazine style art thrown in as well. The booklet is 80% Ranka (we need a separate one for Sheryl love!) and each double page spread is themed after a particular episode. Theres also interviews with Kawamori, Nakajima and May'n. I'm not really sure what this is for, to be honest. It MIGHT have been a booklet for Nakajima's original solo concerts a few months back or could be an original product for Animate. Either way, if any of the posters here in Japan are interested, drop by your closest Animate to check it out.

Looking at how little time will have passed between the series and the movie, I cant imagine them reanimating the whole thing. I can only see two real options - a true sequel or a clip movie. And looking at trends in the anime industry at the moment, Id say a clip movie (ala Gundam Seed) is by far the more likely outcome. Unfortunately.

An interesting suggestion, but in this case, no. The whole 'gattai' joke has been a staple of more comedy/fan service mecha shows for years. Certainly in Aquarion it was a running gag, but it was played up much more in things like Vandread in the late 90's (early 2000's?). Moreover, this was not what Kawamori was referring to in his comment. He was really saying how he tried to try every weird idea he had in Aquarion. I felt it was his way of justifying, or addressing at least, many of the complaints people had about the series (and dont even get me started on it's pachislot rebirth). With regards to Spring & Chaos, I'm not dissing the show, it was very interesting and I like experimental animation. I still stand by my original statement however that the easiest way to explain it to someone who has never seen it is Miyazaki on tabs. Seriously, it is. Like...really.....dudue....whoa.... ;-) I dont know where you are getting this positive vibe regarding the Mac. F movie from. Look at EVERY series that Kawamori was involved in that got a theatrical release. See a pattern? All were either clip-fests (Aquarion, Macross Plus), or remakes (Esca, Macross: DYRL). Granted, Im not counting Mac. 7 in this, but still, I think you can see a pattern there.

Pics (hope they work this time):

Sorry, my work computer hates the forums for some reason. I keep getting my posts screwed with. Will try posting pics again when I get home tonight.

Its a little off-topic, but theres been a slew of Macross Frontier related magazine articles this month due to the series ending and the PSP game being released. Dengeki Playstation had 2 double pages devoted to the history of Macross, a double page interview with Megumi Nakajima, followed by a few more pages dedicated to the game itself. Also, Animedia featured a poster of the girls of Macross Frontier, which was quite nice. I've included pics. These should all be available via Amazon Japan, so if anyone if doing an order of Chronicles, you might want to chuck one of these in. Additionaly, Memories 2049 is due out this week, and the 2nd issue of the Frontier Fact File will be out next month.

Howdy everyone! Yesterday, a certain Man of Yellow Light and myself headed over to the Tokyo International Fim Festival in Roppongi Hills. The event: A screening of Spring & Chaos, followed by a chat session with director Shouji Kawamori. For those who havent seen Spring & Chaos, its an older OVA (1996) directed by Kawamori that features no mecha or love triangles whatsoever. It was made to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the poet Kenji Miyazawa and can best be described as Miyazaki dropping acid. But with more cats. Following the screening, the audience was treated to a 1hr Q&A with Kawamori, although the questions were asked by the events MC, not the audience. Beforehand there was a brief photo session of Kawamori with a colour sketch of the YF25 he did for the Tokyo Int. Anime Fair earlier in the year. He ver twirled around doing a valkyrie with his hands for a bit (ie, Isamu). As for the talk itself, the bulk of it was a slide show of photos that Kawamori had taken over the years while on research (location hunting, etc) abroad - Mongolia, Nepal, etc. He explained how what he saw influenced different projects - eg, the Mongolia trip heavily influenced some of his Escaflowne designs. He also spoke at length about how the experience of seeing people live simply, without televesion or most forms of technology we take for granted, affected how he made Arujuna, Macross 0 and some of Aquarion. On the topic of Macrodd Frontier, he siad that he felt he had gotten all the silly things he wanted to try out of his system when he made Aquarion and had therefore decided to return to a more orthodox approach (for a mecha show) when he started work on Frontier. If he hadn't tried everything he wanted to in Aquarion, said Kawamori, you would probably have had naked pilots flying mecha in Frontier or something like that. On the inevitable question regarding the Macross Frontier theatrical release, all he had to say was that it was currently in development and that he felt the tv series had a theme and story that he would like audiences to be able to experience on the big screen. This sounds to me like we may be looking at a clip^movie or possibly a remake. Sigh.

I feel for you mate, I really do. The tics for the Osaka concert were going for half the auction price of the Tokyo ones too - maybe hit up yahoo Japan next time theres an event? One thing that really struck me as unusual was the lack of foreigners there. Macross arguably has a bigger following in the West than it does in Japan, thanks to the Robotech angle and most anime-related events I've been to in the past - Macross or otherwise - have had a handful of foreigners attend at the very least. At the concert I saw one fellow foreigner I believe. The chap had a killer mo. Just goes to show how hard tickets were to come by, I suppose.

Ok guys, sorry to keep you waiting. Now, before I begin. I'd like to explain that the event organizers were REALLY tight on security – ie, taking pictures. They searched bags at the entrance and had a table for the confiscated cameras. Having said that, I've been to enough Japanese events to know how to bend the rules a bit. So I got some pics in the lobby and around the venue, but none in the concert itself, sorry. I was lucky enough to be on the ground floor (there were 2 galleries as well), only 8 rows from the front, but there were security guys in black in every aisle. Maybe they were out looking for Mylene or something? ;-) So, without further ado, here we go: <u><b>1)The leadup</b></u> For those of you who didnt try to get tickets or who weren't in a position to do so, tics were notoriously hard to get. You had to register online to go into a DRAW to win the right to buy a ticket. The ticket placing was random and couldnt be changed. There was a time limit of several days to then actually purchase the ticket you had won the right to buy. If you didnt buy it within the time limit, you lost the right to buy it. I entered the draw – but no luck. A friend entered – no luck. Within 20 mins of the draw results being emailed out, tickets were appearing on online auctions for 20 000 to 30 000 yen. There were 7 pages of tickets being auctioned at one point. Then I got a call from a work colleague who had entered the draw as well on my behalf – he got the tickets. And whats more, they were good seats! I've heard that Galaxy Tour tickets were harder to get than the Macross Anniversary concert tickets last year (I didnt manage to get into that one), since Macross Frontier is the popular thing right now. Looking at those online auctions, I didnt doubt it. <u><b>2)Pre-Concert – Chinatown</b></u> As a tie-in marketing event, a store in Chinatown, Yokohama, was selling Nyan Nyan Tuna Buns. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-10-07/yokohama-museum-to-sell-macross-frontier-tuna-buns ). These were limited to 100 per day and 300 on the day of the concert. They were unfortunately sold out when I got there. The Macross F Goods Corner was also mostly sold out, with just a few towels and mousepads left. I snuck a few pics and headed over to Pacifico Yokohama for the concert. <u><b>3)Pre-Concert – Pacifico Yokohama</b></u> There were already hundreds of people waiting at the Pacifico when I arrived at 4:30. The concert was due to start at 6. Everyone was watching the last episode being played on a huge screen on the back of a van. There was a lot of cheering when the final medley scene came on. To one side was the greatest Macross F car of all time. Decals on the front and sides and even the roof (although this was hard to get a good pic of. Sigh... I need to be taller). Very cool stuff. The goods shop had been opened earlier in the day for some reason, but was closed just before they started letting people into the lobby. I was assured by staff however that the store would be reopened once they started letting peope in. Whew... was worried there for a sec. ^^; Anyways, I headed to the end of the line and waited .... Once I got into the lobby, the store was indeed in full swing. The basic 4000 yen pack had a Nyan Nyan paper carrybag, a reversible poster (Sherryl and Ranka on one side, Alto and the boys on the other), a concert booklet (really nice – see pics), some stickers and pamphlets. I also opted for a card calendar and some books which Ill get to later. There were also shirts, towels and traditional Japanese fans on sale. One side of the lobby had the upcoming Mac. F Valkyrie toys and character figures under glass for fans to look at. Theres a 12 000yen VF25 coming out that looks awesome. The figures were very much in a similar vein to the Evangelion Portraits series that has been popular over the last couple of years, although the Macross ones seem to be slightly smaller. The other end of the lobby features a cardboard cutout of the Mac. F cast, and signed artwork and greetings from staff of the show, including some nice, if small, colour sketches of Ranka and Sherryl. Yet another part of the lobby was being used for a karaoke competition. I'm not sure what participants won, but everyone was so into it that it didnt really matter. A couple of girls did impressive Ranka impressions. One even got the 'kira' bit right and the crowd went nuts. One thing I have to point out is that Japanese guys singing Lion or Triangular is not a good idea. In fact, its a very bad idea ^^; Fortunately a few guys broke out some Mac. 7. Before long everyone was yelling along with Dynamite Fire and Holly Lonely Night. DYNAMITE! There were a few random cosplayers as well. I got pics of a few (they didnt mind helping me to sneak some pics as long as security was elsewhere). I even saw one girl dressed as the flower girl from Macross 7, but she disappeared up a flight of escalotors before I could ask for a photo. <u><b>4)The Concert</b></u> I've been to a few anime events in Japan and a lot of concerts and let me say that this was by far the best anime concert I've ever been to, bar none. I don't remember all the details, but I'll go through some of the highlights. Firstly, the whole concert was Nakajima and May'n. No Maaya akamoto or Kawamori unfortunately. Kanno was on piano the whole time but did not get introduced until the first encore. There was a band, but those three carried the entire show for almost 2.5 hours. Interestingly, the girls stayed in character the whole main concert, even referring to themselves as Ranka and Sherryl. During the encores however, they used their real names and introduced the band, etc. Kanno got her first introduction at this time (2 hrs in) too, although everyon obviously knew who she was. The concert kicked off with a duet version of Triangular, followed by the ep. 25 medley – a strange choice for a 2nd song but I wasnt complaining. The stage had a transparent sheet over part of it – either singer could stand behind it and be seen by the audience, but images could also be projected on it too. There was also a tiny section of the stage that could be raised hydrolically 1.5-2 meters into the air. The amazing thing was how these different elements were combined. At one point, Ranka went up behind the screen singing 'My boyfriend's a pilot' when these huge CG valkyrie flew in 'around' her thanks to the projection screen. The Gerwalks hand was exactly where the lift was, so when it raised it seemed that the Gerwalk was 'lifting' her in its hand as she was singing! Then, 2 other battroids danced on either side of her as she sang. Of course, then Ranka got scared – and what do ou do when scared and stuck waiting for a giant robot to put you down? You sing Ninjin loves you yeah, of course! Utterly amazing. The screen was also used to project series footage or even juxtapose footage of one of the girls over the other, which was a really nice effect. Kanno was handling a piano and a keyboard and giving infrequent dirsctions to the band all at once. Yet often she couldnt even stay sitting down she was so energetic. At one point she got up behind Nakajima and May'n and started dancing along, much to the approval of the crowd! Other highlights were Kanno coming out into the center of the hall (off the stage) and doing a piano solo. Theres something about over 5000 people singing along to the SMS anthem that is just terribly surreal. The final encore was a duet of Seikan Hiko, along with a an animated clip telling the audience when to wave their arms, clap, or kira! It was originally from the Macross F. Website: <a href="http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=ppZWEOdsApk&feature=related" target="_blank">http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=ppZWEOdsApk&...feature=related</a> Pretty much every vocal track from the series was covered, with the more popular ones being played 2 or even 3 times (ie, a full version, medley version and final megamix version). My only real disappointment was that there was no Sherryl only version of What 'bout my star. But there were plenty of duets to make up for it. Oh, there was a home documentary clip at one point showing Nakajima and May'n rehersing and practicing together – even Kawamori and Kanno made an appearence in it. Very cute. While its far from common, Im hoping that a DVD/BR or album of the concert is released or that some footage of it is included as an extra in in the DVDs. It was so good that it would be crazy not to release it. <u><b>5)Merchandizing!</b></u> I have included pics of all the merchandise and toys I mentioned above. One thing I picked up that was a pleasant surprise was 2 design sketch books – one for female characters and one for male. These are 90% character sketches with a few bits of mecha and background sketches as well. I've never heard of these before. The pages are only single-sided, leading me to believe they were put together in a hurry. Nevertheless, they have proper prices printed on the back (approx. 1800 yen each) , so they might go on sale through normal channels at some point. They are pretty darn awesome and I've included a few sample pics for everybody. Please dont ask for scans, as I don't support the scanning of magazines and books. Whew, well thats about it! Sorry for the rambling rant, but I hope I managed to convey what the concert was like. It was an amazing experience. A day during which the line between fantasy and reality was blurred, ever so briefly.

Well, bothering with vids kinda detracts from the fun of being there in a way. Will definately try for pics, although Yokohama pacifico is pretty huge and dark, so I cant vouch for quality, sorry ^^; Fingers crossed that Maaya Sakamoto turns up

Well, the big concert is on at Yokohama tomorrow! So far Yoko Kanno has only been 'officially' confirmed for the added-on 3rd concert at the Budokan, but most people I know who are going to Yokohama are, of course, hoping she will be there as well. Not to mention the main guests of the evening, Megumi Nakashima and May'n of course! I know theres some fellow Japan lurkers on this board - anyone going? Will try to post some pics (if they are allowed) afterwards!

They will cover pretty much everything eventually. I mean, we are up to issue 6 of what could be a 50 issue series. Theres plenty to go yet. The number of character sheets to mecha sheets, etc, does vary sometimes. Towards the end of a collectable series like this, some sections are missing altogether for the last few issues because theres nothing left to cover regarding certain topics/categories. So they try to balance things throughout the series to minimize this occurrence at the end. Speaking of magazines, I picked up an issue of Moe-mage today because it had a gorgeous pic of Ranka on the cover. Moe-mage is a spin-off of Animage and not something that I usually pick up. This issue, however, came bundled with a pencil board featuring the same art that was on the cover. very nice stuff. Also, if anyone is interested the newest Ani-mage, which goes on sale October 10, comes with a Macross Frontier "Memorial Book." On the same day, the newest issue of Otona anmie (Adult Anime) will be released on the same day and includes the second half of the Macross special that began last month. http://www.amazon.co.jp/萌え...2470&sr=1-1 http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/4...m=AN1VRQENFRJN5 http://www.amazon.co.jp/オト...pd_bxgy_b_img_b By the way, Macross Chronicles really seems to be selling continuously well. I was a few hours late getting to my local bookstore today and they only had 3 copies left. Sure, they will get restocked in a week or so, but in the morning theres usually at least a dozen copies. Bravo Macross Chronicles, bravo!

Well, the splitting of segments up is to give the collectors something to look forward to every week - fortnight - month, etc. It like piecing together a model. Also, doing it this way actually allows the publisher some degree of flexibility since new series can be added mid-release. The Gundam Fact Files was originally only supposed to go to 100 issues, but was extended to 150, for instance, thanks to Gundam Seed Destiny, Stargazer and Igloo. Having done such a long series however, I seriously recommend waiting until the set is finished before breaking them down into the folders. Or maybe do it once every 10 issues or so (this is what I did). It can make the task of sorting pages a little overwhelming, but saves a lot of wear and tear on the binders.

Totally agree with you Sharkey! And since all the other old-timers here are waxing nostalgic, I'll take the liberty of doing the same. Used to wake up early on Saturdays to catch Robotech on TV when I was in elementary school. Junior-high brought with it the realisation that Robotech was 3 series tacked together. Many weekends were spent in comic shops looking for old issues of animerica and similar publications. The beginning of senior high saw my first visit to Japan. Was blown away to find myself watching the recently released Macross 2 on VHS (a host family had recorded the broadcast). Tried to dig up any of the original music for either series I could find. Senior high-school involved waiting for Manga Entertainments sporadic VHS releases of Macross Plus. Became a fan of anything done by Yoko Kanno. Rumours began to abound of this strange new internet thingy and the mass of information and fansites it contained (actually, tiny compared to todays standards, but for the time it was a treasure cave!). In university I started watching Macross 7 via an eclectic mix of VHS imports/Japanese rentals from the local Japan center and dodgy VCDs from Hong Kong. Listened to Fire Bomber in the car with friends on the way to University each day. Heart and Soul eventually became our fave. The release of Macross Zero coincided with me just settling into my first job in Japan. It was amazing to actually see real commercials on late-nite tv - to be a part of the media blitz as it happened as opposed to weeks or months later via magazine articles and internet boards. But Macrross Zero pales in comparison to the all-out hype machine that Frontier has brought with it. Local magazines run features on it; a bar in Akihabara redecorates as a Macross Bar for a couple of weeks; the soundtrack breaks into the Oricon charts top 10! People are talking about Macross. Not just the fans, regular people. Despite having been in Japan for years now, Frontier feels like something new and fresh - and experiencing it as it happens feels like being a part of history. I can only imagine that this is similar to the way fans of the original back in the early 80's - several years before a certain pajama-wearing Australian kid awoke, bleary-eyed, on a Saturday morning - and had his world changed forever. Macross - changing lives for 25 years :-) Happy Anniversary! It is indeed a good time to be a fan!

Thats a tricky question. Of course more ARE made and distributed throughout the series - for example, theres a lot more folders at my local store now than there were when issue 1 came out - but they also become rarer towards the end of the series (finding a third folder for the Eva series was a total PitA!) So, Id say wait until issue 11 or so just to make sure they DONT change the art on the folders, and then order 2 or 3 extra ones. Even if you get one too many, Im sure you could find many uses for a spare of such a damn cool folder!

I dont really think 560yen once a fortnight over 100 weeks is all that much. Only seems that way when you add it all together ;-) Skip lunch or a beer once every 2 weeks and there you go! Since the Eva series got to 30 issues with only 1 series to work with, I dont see why Macross couldnt go to 75 quite easily (100 might be stretching things a bit). Sharky: They probably wont release different folders with different art. They usually include a set of stickers for the spine of the current folder every 10th issue - numbering and what sections are meant to be in it. The section labels are often included multiple times over the course of a series because they need to be changed as the folders fill up.