Graham

And now on to the actual black and white manga itself, starting with page 1. Graham

Color page 8. Graham

Color pages 6 & 7. This is a two-page spread. Perhaps somebody can try to combine them? Graham

Color page 5. This is the one with the nice picture of a VF-171 changing gunpod magazines. Graham

Color page 4. Graham

Color page 3. Graham

Color page 2. Graham

OK, here's the first batch of scans from chapter #5. I'll start with the color pages. Some of these are advertisments, some articles, but I'll include them all anyway for completion's sake. Here's color page 1. Graham

You could order the compilation volumes through Amazon Japan. Graham

As I stated in one of the other threads, if you compare the Frontier Q-Rau art that appeared in Hobby Japan magazine a few months ago with original SDFM/DYRL Q-Rau line art, they are quite different mecha. And I'm not just talking about the obvious stuff like the waeapons. There are lots of diffderences to the arms, legs, head and body. I'll have to post a comparison. Graham

I think they recycled the shot of Alto launching in his Ex-Gear in episode #4 of Frontier, but that's about it. Graham

It's only since Yamato's 1/48 that he has gotten involved with consulting on the toys and he only does it for the higher end toys. Graham

Heh, did we watch the same anime? From the 5 episodes I watched of 00, I thought the cell animation was strictly average for the characters and only poor-to average for the backgrounds and mecha fights. Plus I found the fight choreography really dull and lacking in tension or excitement. Heck, even though I didn't really like them that much, I managed to sit through all of SEED and 3/4 of SEED Destiny and I thought that the animation in those two series was superior to 00. But each to his own, that's why there is different anime for different folks. Graham

To be honest, I don't think Klan will be in the show too often, she's just a minor character. I probably wouldn't like to see her in every episode, but an appearance now and again in micronised form for comic relief is OK. Of course, I'd much rather see her full size fighting in her Q-Rau. Graham

But she's so Cuuuuuuuuuute! Leave Klan Klan alone. Graham

Well, there's some new news on the official blog, from Bandai's sato4 about the toys: - Google translation: If I'm reading this right, it sounds like Kawamori has told them to change a lot of stuff, which is causing delays. This is to be expected, as Kawamori is something of a perfectionist and from my experience with Yamato, I know that Kawamori always asks for lots of changes, which often causes delays. Graham

I'm guessing in next month's hobby magazines, on sale 25th April. Graham

The Frontier Q-Rau, is definitely not the same as the SDFM/DYRL Q-Rau. Not just the weapons, which is the most obvious difference, but there are many other differences as well to the head, body arms and legs, which you can see if you study the lineart of the two types. Graham

Ah, that makes more sense about the "fifty". I was wondering what the heck that was about in the Gattai sub. According to the official character synopsis, Catherine Glass was a runner up in a Miss Macross competition, not the winner. So, that's +1 for AiA and +1 for Gattai! Graham

I think it's Ellia, but I've only been able to take a quick look at it so far. Graham

Looked for the compilation book today, but couldn't find it yet in stores here in Hong Kong. I've got it on order from Amazon Japan anyway. I might head over to the book floor at Sogo (big Japanese department store) tonight or tomorrow to see if they have it, as they have a huge manga section. Graham

Links to the previous chapters: - Macross Frontier Manga - Chapter 1. Macross Frontier Manga - Chapter 2. Macross Frontier Manga - Chapter 3. Macross Frontier Manga - Chapter 4. I just picked up the new June issue of Shonen Ace, containing chapter 5 of the Macross Frontier manga. In this month's issue Macross Frontier has pride of place on the cover, as well as being the first story when you open the cover. Previously it's usually been printed somewhere in the middle of the phone book size volume! Scan of the cover is attached. I won't be able to start the scans of the manga until Tuesday night (HK time) though, due to work commitments. Not too much action this time, except for a little at the front and end of the chapter. Looks like lots of character development going on. For mecha fans, there is a nice color pic of a VF-171 changing gunpod magazines, which I thought was nice. Graham

The impression I got when watching the episode is that the red Vajra is fold capable. But if some sort of ship delivered the red Vajra, then it is probably still there hidden in the asteroids somewhere as no fold out reaction was detected. Graham

I've noticed that in the series opening animation and also in some of the commercials that aired before the Decuture edition was shown, the VF-25's weapons appear to be much more effective at taking out the red Vajra than they do are the actual show. Graham

I just think they take they whole 'big eyes' thing to new extremes of ridiculousness in 00, especially for the main character. IMO, he looks like a human Speilberg type ET hybrid. Graham