Graham

You mean Ozma's ex-chick. Graham

The knife is probably stored inside the shield on the left forearm. Graham

Kawamori stated something to the effect that when designing the VF-25 he did not want to follow the silhouette (shape) of modern day stealth aircraft. Note, this does not preclude the VF-25 from having an active stealth system (we don't know whether it does or not yet), it just means that Kawamori wanted to get away from basing the shape of the VF-25 Fighter mode on modern day aircraft. From the length of time that Alto continuously fires the VF-25's gunpod, it must have a very high magazine capacity. I haven't timed the length of time that he continously fires the gunpod yet (keep meaning to, but haven't gotten around to it yet). Given that it is a 5 barrel gunpod, we can make some educated guesses about the rate of fire. The real world GAU 12/A 25mm five barreld rotary cannon has a normal rate of fire of 3,600 rounds per minute and a maximum rate of fire of 4,200 round per minute. See Wikipedia entry below It's probably fairly safe to assume a similar rate of fire for the VF-25's gunpod. Once we time the length of Alto's continuous burst from start to when the gun clicks empty, we can calculate a rough figure for the magazine capacity (it will be an extremely rough guesstimate though). By comparison, the VF-1's GU-11 55mm, 3 barreled gunpod had a 200rd magazine, with a 1,200 round per minute rate of fire, which gave it 10 seconds of continuous fire (of course, you should fire in short bursts, not waist the whole mag in one go like Alto did, or like Hikaru did in the VF-1D). Graham

It's difficult to say for certain until we get some clearer images or line art, but it's my opinion that the heads on Mikhail's and Luca's VF-25 are distinctly different. Graham

So many things to love about M7. Mylene, Gamlin, Max & Millia, The VF-17, Full Armour VF-11C, VF-22, VF-19F/S, Battle 7. The songs. Operation Stargazer. Mylene in a bikini. Gamlinkicking ass in a VF-11C. I've said it before, but I say it again. I actually prefer M7 to original SDMF TV. Graham

To me it definitely looked like it had some sort of energy field around the blade. I hope Kawamori-san releases the full specs for the VF-25 soon. Graham

Reading this thread from the start will give you all the information you need. But briefly: - The scene with the Ghost Fighters being destroyed by the Vajra is completely cut from the broadcast version. The scene of Sheyrl folding out and her transport flying through the Frontier fleet is cut. Some of the VF-171 combat with the Vajra is cut. Pacing is generally considered to be faster in the broadcast version. The ‘Macross Plus’ hand gesture scene is cut from the Broadcast version. The scene with Alto folding and launching the paper plane is cut from the broadcast verion. The Broadcast version has a proper opening with an opening song, the Deculture version does not and starts immediately with Sheyrl coming out of fold. The ending songs are different between the two versions. The Deculture version features a beautifully haunting version (IMO) of Ai Oboete Imasu ka The Broadcast version has additional pre-concert and concert footage. Most people here prefer the Deculture version, but you should watch both, as they both contain footage that the other doesn't have. Graham

Translation: 2030 - Bandai finally has the 1/72 VF-25 model kits ready for release. 2038 - Banda has the 1/60 DX VF-25 toy ready for release. Joke.............................I hope! Graham

I don't think that Luca and Mikhail are piloting the VF-25F. IIRC, the 'F' designation is given to the Alto/Gilliam twin head laser version, which has a distinctly different head to that shown on Mikhail's blue VF-25 in episode # 2, and Luca's green VF-25 in the latest Newtype magazine. While no letter designation has been given for these or the tan cannon fodder VF-25, I bet it will be 'A'. Graham

Thanks for the scans, saves me having to buy the magazine myself. From the photos it dosen't seem like Bandai are any further along in their product development. However, given the longish lead time in print publishing, these pics were probably taken last month, close to WonderFest. Heh, and Kawamori is still not smiling when he holds the Bandai stuff. Anybody want to translate the article to see if there are any interesting nuggets of information. Graham

Will definitely pass on that then. It's probably super cute, but funds are limited. Graham

While Alto has some flight training and seems to be a naturally skilled pilot, he has not been specifically trained on the VF-25 systems yet, so even assuming that the VF-25 does carry spare magazines for the gunpod, he probably wouldn't know that and wouldn't know which controls to operate to reload the gunpod. Also, even if the VF-25 carries no spare gunpod ammo, if Alto had known how to operate the VF-25 properly he could have used the internal wingroot/hip lasers to attack the red bug, once his gunpod clicked empty. As for internal missiles, we don't know yet. However, in the Deculture edition, when Gilliam flies into the city after ejecting his Super Pack, he is shown firing two missiles at the red bug. These missiles had to come from somewhere and no missiles were shown being carried on the 6 wing hard points. So, either there are internal missile bays, or it was a continuity/animation error. Graham

Heh, perhaps it's Isamu. He'd be 44 years old in 2059. Graham

Well, Private Military Companies (PMCs), such as Blackwater are very topical now. Just checking the Wiki page on PMCs and there are dozens of PMCs. I didn't realize there were so many. Graham

Just want to say again, I'm really loving the instrumental background music in this episode, especially the music that starts when Alto & Ozma enter the SMS base. I really hope we get this on the OST CD. Graham

Can you recommend some good, free easy to ue software for converting the MKV or AVI files so I can play them on my stand alone DVD players? Graham

2 different fansubs within 4 days of episode 2's release isn't too bad. Graham

Have you tried the AiA I-Z sub for ep # 2, which is just out. I'm d/ling now. Graham

Even Macross Zero had the magically reappearing FAST packs in the last episode. Shin Ejects all his weapons including the FPs and then a short time later the leg FPs are back again. Graham

In episode 1 and the first half of episode 2, Ozma is using the Armored Pack (AKA Full Armour). When he launches again near the end of episode 2, his VF-25S is equipped with the Super Pack. Graham

Yeah, which is why I'm not going to bother to buy it. Graham

It seems like the X-gear partially detaches from the pilot once in the Valk, at least the forearms do. Graham

Which names did you submit? Graham

Ditto, CCCP and Media Player classic work great. Graham