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staff interviews

Shoji Kawamori’s Panel at Otakon 2018 (part 1)

shoji_kawamori

Shoji Kawamori appeared at Otakon 2018, which took place on August 10th through August 12th. On Otakon’s first day, Kawamorio gave a panel presentation on mecha designs and original concepts. On the second day, Kawamori gave another panel presentation on the history of Macross. Below is a transcription of Kawamori’s first panel, with the second panel’s transcription to appear at later date here on Macross World. Here’s a special thanks to Kawamori for taking the time out of his busy schedule to appear at Otakon and to the Otakon staff for hosting him!

Categories
Collectors Macross Related Production History staff interviews Toys

Kazutaka Miyatake Interview from Megahouse Variable Action Hi-Spec Orguss

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Hot on the heels of the recent translation of the Kazutaka Miyatake interview from the SDF-1 book, comes yet another Miyatake heart-to-heart, this time the big man is talking about his work on Super Dimension Century Orguss, or as I like to call it, “Kei Katsuragi’s Adventures in Wonderland”.  I hope you find it as fascinating as I did, giving an insight into the state of mind he must have been in during that entire 1982-84 period.

This interview is from a booklet that was included with the first edition of the Megahouse Variable Action Hi-Spec Orguss toy from earlier in the year.  I chose to tackle it at this time since it would be perfect to brush up on our Orguss trivia as this year’s Macross World Convention will have a dedicated ORGUSS panel for all your Space-Time Oscillation needs!

The translation starts after the jump.  Enjoy!

orguss1_edited

Categories
Books Movies and TV Series Production History staff interviews

Miyatake interview from “SDF-1 Macross: Thorough Dissection”

WIN_20150915_161210-SMALLAs we board the hype train leading up to Kazutaka Miyatake’s exhibition of original artworks, let us look at a recent interview with him conducted earlier this year for the “SDF-1 Macross: Thorough Dissection” book — you know, the one which also doubles as an enormous 1/2400 scale papercraft model of the Fortress Exceeding Space and Time itself (the cover of the book stoically assures us that it is genuine “Deculture Scale”, no less).

The translation starts right after the jump! (I tried to be as accurate as possible, and that is why the four in-text notes are oddly numbered: there are two #3’s, and there is no #1.  😛 )

Categories
Events Production History staff interviews

Kazutaka Miyatake exhibition coming in October

Stop the presses — it’s the BIG ONE!powered_suit

The City of Yokosuka will hold a Kazutaka Miyatake exhibition from next month — on an actual BATTLESHIP.

Kazutaka Miyatake is a living legend. He, along with Kunio Okawara (who incidentally currently has his own exhibition running at the Ueno  Royal Museum until the end of September), practically created the “mechanic designer” position in the animation industry.

He is famous for having worked on the Powered Suit design for the Japanese editions of Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers — immensely influential in the history of Japanese animation as it informed every robot design in anime thereafter including Mobile Suit Gundam.  He is renowned for his design work on Space Cruiser Yamato, Super Dimension Century Orguss, Aura Battler Dunbine and of course, pretty much every Macross series: SDF, DYRL, Seven, Dynamite, Zero, Frontier, and most of the games (except Macross II 😛 ).

As bonus trivia, his credit in Macross: Do You Remember Love was “Production Design” — in other words, he created the entire world of the theatrical Macross movie from scratch, a feat that traverses the boundaries of “mechanic design”.

A talk show will be held on the 24th of October with guests Miyatake-sensei and fellow Studio Nue member, the legendary SF illustrator Naoyuki Kato!

The Kazutaka Miyatake Gengaten will be held from October 24th to November 23rd at the HIJMS Memorial Battleship “Mikasa”.

Info about the Mikasa in English here:
http://www.kinenkan-mikasa.or.jp/en/build_of_mikasa.html

Info on the event in Japanese here:
http://www.city.yokosuka.kanagawa.jp/4450/nagekomi/20150911.html

Categories
Collectors Production History staff interviews Toys

“Why are Arcadia Products so Expensive?” by Mr. K

arcadia

We’ve all thought about it, some of us more vocally than others, and on Thursday last week, the mysterious Mr. K from Arcadia — previously Yamato — took some time to publish a long blog post on the topic of why Arcadia’s products are so highly priced.

The really high quality transforming Macross toys have never been cheap. No, not even the Takatoku 1/55. But Arcadia’s recent offerings have finally broken the 30,000 yen barrier. Some of us in the forums felt that Arcadia had gone insane. Well, this here is a unique opportunity to peek at what actually goes into producing a Valkyrie toy and give a bit more context to the figures.

Original article:
http://ameblo.jp/arcadiaac/entry-12066413053.html

Feel free to discuss this in the MW forums!

 

Why are Arcadia toys so expensive? By Mr. K (Translated by Renato)

Why are Arcadia toys so expensive?

Our Macross items are currently on a Macross Zero boom (according to myself).
We’re putting out several UN Spacy birds in turn, but I (personally) want to do Anti-UN ones as well.

However, there is a growing difference between the way things are today and years ago, so the truth is that we cannot do things like in the old days.

“How can we make these products a reality…?” I’m constantly struggling with that thought.

Of course, the same goes for other projects, too, but it is a constant, everyday struggle.

Hello. My name is Mr. K, the struggling project developer of this company.

For years now the Chinese factories have been raising their fees and we have seen that influence the price of our products.

This is not just a hit on our company, but also on the manufacturing industry as a whole. So yeah, of course it’s a struggle!!

So I thought I would take some time to think about the reason for that struggle, which is the issue of high price point products, and how that relates to profit margins.

That said, it’s not like I can actually talk about the profit bottom line or anything, so let’s just think about it in the following way…

I will call it: “Why do people say our products are expensive…?” (And yes, as I write this my heart can’t help but feel heavy).

Categories
30th Anniversary Events Music staff interviews Statues Toys Video Games

Winter WonderFest 2013 Macross Stage images and summary

nico39

As previously announced, two Macross-themed talk/stage shows were streamed live through Nico Nico on Sunday, courtesy of Max Factory and the Good Smile Company to promote the new Macross 30 game, some Nendroid figures and a Sheryl statue, featuring  the Macross newcomer, Haruka Chisuga and friends.

Click the link below to see and read the highlights of the two shows!

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Categories
30th Anniversary Events Models Music staff interviews

Winter Wonderfest “Macross Stage” to be streamed live

It has been revealed that a special Macross-themed mini live event featuring Haruka Chisuga (winner of the real-life Miss Macross contest and singer of the Macross 30 PS3 game theme song) and Yoshiki “Basara” Fukuyama will be held at Winter Wonderfest 2013.  If you can’t attend, not to worry, because it will be streamed online, courtesy of Max Factory and Good Smile Company!

As well as this, Miss Chisuga will appear alongside May’n (Sheryl Nome) for a special talk show, also to be streamed online.

Details:

Chisuga/Fukuyama gig here:

http://www.whl4u.jp/stage.html

show1

And Chisuga/May’n talk here:

http://www.whl4u.jp/stage_yoru.html

show2

Categories
30th Anniversary Events Movies and TV Series Production History staff interviews Video Games

Super Dimensional Seminar ends with a bang

Monday the 24th of December, 2012, marked the end of the “Super Dimension Seminar” series of introductory “lectures” into the Macross universe with its 26th and final episode.

This one featured a look back at 2012 and how it shaped up to be one of the most active years in the brand’s history with special Macross events touring the nation in many forms, often simultaneously.

Categories
Movies and TV Series Production History staff interviews

Interview with Shinichiro Watanabe on 10 November 2012 during Anime Festival Asia(“AFA”) 2012

MW member Vanpang has kindly provided us with an informative interview with Shinichiro Watanabe, director of ice-cool stylish shows such as Macross Plus, Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo and Kids on the Slope.

Interview with Shinichiro Watanabe on 10 November 2012 during Anime Festival Asia(“AFA”) 2012

Shinichiro Watanabe was a guest speaker during AFA 2012 and James Wong and I were given the opportunity to conduct an interview with the legendry director. Shinichiro was the co-director with Shoji Kawamori of Macross Plus and the director for Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop.

The interview was held at Singapore Expo Hall on 10 November 2012 with other people representing other media from Hexishe, Anime Shrine, SG Café and Campus.com. Thus, questions below are a compilation of questions asked by the group collectively.

All his answers were conveyed to the Media in English through a translator and as such some content maybe lost in translation.

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Categories
Music staff interviews

INTERVIEW WITH MAY’N AT ANIME FESTIVAL ASIA 2012

Once again fellow Macross fans, James Wong and Vanpang managed to catch up with May’n san, during AFA 2012 on 9th November 2012 at The Changi Village Hotel, Singapore.

The interview was conducted together with other media representatives from Hexishe, Ani-Culture,Teenage, Anime Shrine and Seiyunews (Japanese Media).

Due to the constraint of time and her busy schedule,all Media present there were given a limited number of questions to be put forward to her.

All her answers were conveyed to the Media in English through a translator and as such some content maybe lost in translation….

[EXO: Man we really need some Megumi fanatics on these boards… ^_^ ]