Graham

From what I understand, George Sohn and the head of Yamato don't exactly see eye to eye, so any deal between the two companies is extemely unlikely. Same thing with Big West and Harmony Gold. Lots of animosity there. Graham

The manga actually has much more VF-171 porn than the anime, especially chapters 1 & 5. Quite a lot of Battroid mode. Graham

PROS: Great mecha and ship designs. I'm loving the VF-25, VF-171 and new Q-Raus. Fantastically choreographed fight scenes. Interesting, likeable, well-designed and well-rounded characters that you instantly care about. Thankfully, minimal teen angst and whining! Fantastic songs. Amazing instrumental background music from Yoko Kanno. Excellent CG, that is almost seemlessly integrated. Increadibly detailed backgrounds. An interesting enemy. Love the Vajra designs, especially the red lobsters - really menacing. Homages with interesting twists. Great story so far that keeps you on the edge of your seat and keeps you guessing. 100% Macross feel! The director really knows how to create a strong sense of tension during the fights. It's not Gundam. Good character animation, except parts of episode 6. CONS: Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..............gotta think hard to come up with some. It's only once a week. It's only 26 episodes. The toys are not out yet. Where's my art book? Hurry up already! Dodgy character art during parts of episode 6. In conclusion, I rate Frontier as the best anime TV series, I've seen in many years, possibly the best ever (although I'll reserve that judgement until the end of the series). IMO, it easily beats contempary mecha shows such as Gundam 00 and Code Geass in every possible category. Graham

It differs a lot from the 1/48: - Better articulation = more poseable. More tampo printing, including the UN Spacy kit on the nose and other markings. Better proportions in all three modes (IMO). No ugly seem running down middle of the face on the VF-1S. Nose cone doesn't hang past the kness like the 1/48. Missiles attach much more firmly to the wings. *Special gimmick..............to be revealed later*. Articulated hands proprtionally larger than on the 1/48. Hands hold gunpod much more securely. Tighter joints overall. improved foot thruster detail - no more split thruster detail like on 1/48. Special ********** on canopy Folding fins on legs, to more easly accomodate GBP. Locks together more solidly in all three modes, especially fighter mode. Nose cone and flaps fixed, so won't fall off like on the 1/48. It's not a scaled down 1/48, it's a complete redesign, improved in many ways and very playable and solid feeling. Not sure if it will fit the old 1/60 GBP. I threw mine away in disgust, so don't have a set to test. Not sure on what variation colors Yamato will release yet. Graham

Ranka looks OK IMO, but yeah I agree Alto and Sheryl are a bit off. Graham

Give Yamato all the extra time they want. I'm sure that we all want them to be as careful as possible and make sure the YF-21 is as perfect as humanly possible before release. Graham

Damn, I want that wallpaper. Perhaps one of our members in Japan can joint the Pizza hut site and get it. Graham

Well, Newtype magazine is officially supposed to be released on the 10th of every month, but scans usually get leaked on line a few days earlier. Graham

I think Roy did the gunpod catch in episode 1 of Zero just to look flashy, not beacuse it was necessary. It's probably easier and safer for the pilot to just grab the gunpod from the arm. Graham

The VF-22, had an almost all glass canopy, unlike the small top bubble and two small front glass panels on the YF-21's canopy. Graham

My son is 3 years and 11 months now and has liked Valks since he was about two and a half. I've already given him my Bandai reissue 1/55 VF-1J Hikaru and a Bandai 1/65 VF-19Kai, VF-19S and VF-17D (no loss as I have multiples anyway). The only damage the toys have sustatined so far is the Hikaru VF-1J has had both it's head laser broken off. He keeps on asking to play with the Yamatos, Doyushas and Hasegawas in my display cabinet, but knows better than to touch them without my permission. So far I have told him they are off limits until he is much older....LOL! We've been watching Frontier together, but only up to episode 4 so far. Not sure if I'll show him eps 5-6 as they have no action, so he'd probably get bored. I'll probably just skip straight to episode 7 with him, as it looks to be action packed. Might start him on the ADV Macross DVDs soon as they are dubbed, so will be easier for him to understand (knew there had to be a use for dubbing). Graham

Shizuoka Hobby Show is next week. Perhaps Bandai will have some updates on the Frontier toys and models to show. Graham

VF-25 MESSIAH Read the last several pages of this thread. Graham

I'll second that. Graham

I'm just wondering if the attacker mode shown in the opening animation is actually the Macross Quarter, or if it is the full size Macross 25/Battle 25 (whatever it is called)? Graham

Just a guess, but I think the Ex-Gears are already in the cockpit and only attach at a command from the pilot, i.e. if he chooses to eject. BTW, I love the fast start up time of the VF-25. Obviously, it's not using a Microsoft OS. LOL! Graham

Ditto, I watch the raw first and then the Gattai, AiA and Shinsen. Watching all the diferent versions gives you a better idea of what is going on as sometimes one group may miss something or mistranslate something that another group gets correct. Graham

Watched both the Gattai and AiA I-Z subbed versions. I enjoyed the episode more with being able to understand the dialogue, than I did watching the raw version. On second and third viewing, the character animation didn't seem as bad as it did the first time I watched the episode. Still hope the regular studio is back on art duties from now on. Anybody knows which studio(s) did the animation for eps 1-5? Gattai does seem to be improving in the quality and accuracy of their subbing and I actually prefer their sub this week to AiA's. Graham

Good night thread. Locking it before it spirals even more downhill. Graham

Could be the rumor that has been flying around that Frontier will get a US DVD release. Normally, I'd discount this completely, but I did hear it from a normally very reliable source. Graham

If they do the VT-1, VE-1 and Hirakru VF-1S Strike then I'll be happy. I don't really want any changes to the sculpt. These are replicas of vintage toys. I'm buying them for the nostalgia. Although I was happy with all the new tampo printing that the 2002 1/55 reissues had. Graham

VF-27 Armageddon Graham

Yeah, from the 6 episodes so far I've never got even the slightest impression that the Vajra are interested in Sheryl, only Ranka. Graham

Well, got my Frontier merchandise from Amazon Japan. Here's a pic. Shown Are the triangler CD (at left) with alternate cover (bottom center of pic), Frontier manga book 1 (top center) and the Don't Be late/Diamond Crevase CD (right). Graham

Yeah, Diamond Crevasse and the extended version of Don't Be Late. Graham