Mr March

It's probably just a flipped shot. Happens in editing all the time. Perhaps the shot was originally created to show the fleet and the Macross Galaxy flying from the left of the screen. But in editing, it was found to fit better with the preceding shots or scenes if the fleet shot depicted the fleet coming from the right of the screen. So the image was flipped, hence the incorrect navigation lights. Like I said, it happens all the time.

Oh, newly translated goodies about the Macross 5 fleet on the Macross Compendium. Yummy! *gobble, gobble*

Rose-colored glasses with a healthy dose of nostalgia. Everything was great and wonderful when that generation was the age of the prime target demographic for pop culture. Now that they aren't, some are just old, bitter and jaded I think that's a fair assessment. Sentiment on the megaverse forums seems to be one of cautiously mitigated interest in the live action film, with a healthy dose of pragmatism. I think most are hoping it will be good, but there's plenty of bitterness over the circumstances.

I just sneezed. Is someone talking about me?

The black spots are launches/bays/docking ports. As a general rule, whenever you see something solid black on vehicle line art, it's a port/opening/slot/bank/launch tube/thruster et cetera. If it's unlikely to be any of those (based on the function of the vehicle, placement of the black spot, etc) then it can be a light, vent, or other such detail. On larger ships, black spots are usually bays or launch ports.

Well, if the fanbase is happy with Bay-formers, then I say let them have their Robotech live action with all the cheese they can stand to sniff. I'm still leaning toward the idea that even if this adaptation goes through, it's going to be Battlefield Earth or Wing Commander. I wish it wasn't, but I just can't see this property being taken seriously by Hollywood. But then again, it's Robotech, so who can blame them?

Looking good. Well done.

I'm hoping to release the next update within a month. The sooner the better. It will consist mostly of line art updates, revisions, corrections and what not, but there will be about 20+ new profiles across various sections and the new Zentradi Size Chart section will debut (complete with full color charts).

I must admit, I'm curious about the way in which the Chronicle will treat the VF-2SS Valkyrie II. Since this is the big flagship mecha of Macross II, the level of detail will tell us exactly how they intend to treat the rest of the mecha for the show. The Gigamesh wasn't bad and added a few pieces of information that we didn't have before. I'm hopeful the Chronicle teams do some more embellishing for the VF-2SS Valkyrie II.

I agree. Macross II works as a totally self-contained sequel without any ties to Flashback 2012 or the rest of the Macross franchise. Trying to wedge Macross II into the franchise can only make it do something it was never designed to do. Like I've always said, Macross II is Macross enough. It doesn't need merging into the time line or ham-fisted explanations to link it with any other Macross. It can be enjoyed to it's full extent alone, such as it is Yeah, that's a weird one. Seto Kaiba was nice enough to supply me with scans of the original artwork for this mecha and some information about it. I've colored it and created a profile, which I will be adding in the next update of the M3.

LOL! I like that one

Yup, it sure is

There's no hate towards Macross II. There's indifference, but there's no hate The MacII-isms remind me of the heady days of Neon Genesis Evangelion when every fanboy was so enthralled by the "genius" of it they had to proclaim how everything was a rip-off of NGE. Though MII being a sequel makes the irony that much more hilarious

I realized someone else was using a similar VF-27 avatar here on MW, so I swapped my VF-25F avatar on MAHQ. But yeah, what was that about whore outfits?

Colony fleets that don't actually colonize. Fascinating

Um, wow!

Entertaining podcast. Haven't seen the film, but I might check it out. I like Kawajiri's other films like Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust and Ninja Scroll.

"Look at that subtle off-white coloring. The tasteful thickness of it. Oh my gawd, it even has a forehead camera"

Not sure how fast a projectile has to be going to turn into plasma, but the heat generated when something is struck by a mass moving that fast would be intense. They say rail gun projectiles produce a far more powerful release of energy than an equivalent amount of explosives because of the incredible kinetic energy involved. They did a good job portraying the effect of this powerful gun in the series. I especially like that the SSL-9B is shown as incredibly powerful in effect, but doesn't need some big flashy mega-blast display of fireworks when fired. Don't get me wrong, I love a good super dimension energy cannon as much as the next Macross fan, but kinetic kills are still the most fun

Little delayed, but I'm glad the message was enjoyed

The Robotech movie adaptation will stand or fall based on production factors at WB. HG's statement about a "creative hand" in the adaptation is not persuasive, especially since it's the kind of PR statement nearly every property owner releases whenever they sell to a Hollywood studio. But any time a studio gets their hands on a property, they run it their way and Hollywood NEVER makes a deal where they don't have control. They bring in their own screenwriters, their own producers, their own direction. Once HG signed over the rights for a Robotech movie, it was completely out of their hands. So WB saw dollars signs from Paramount's exploitation of Transformers and now they want their own giant transforming robot formula to rinse and repeat. The writing team they assembled has given us Smallville, Spider-Man 2, Herbie: Fully Loaded, and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. The strongest part of that resume is Smallville (for what that is worth). No director to speak of and aside from Tobey, no other cast. I'm naturally a cynic, but this isn't inspiring me so far. Batman Begins and The Dark Knight began right because WB had a poor performing property and were open to a new creative direction; they were lucky enough to land Nolan. So far I don't see the Robotech adaptation enjoying any kind of similar direction or any luck. And if WB is aiming for Transformers as the benchmark, well, I'll just let that point hang for consideration

I'm a huge fan but I can't turn off my critical tendencies, not even for Macross. I don't like M0 and M7 You know what reminds me of the 2D animation in R:SC? A mid-1990s RPG video game. Any character discussion in such a game is always talking heads flapping their mouths. Robotech: Shadow Chronicles was so much of that; static character visuals accompanied by excruciatingly long periods of exposition. Most anime utilizes static sequences (some more than others, such as NGE) but these shots maintain your attention with highly striking, stylized composition and the use of interesting, often subjective angles of the subjects. Because the visuals of R:SC were so aesthetically inert, the static scenes were incredibly dull and the excessive exposition became nearly unbearable as a result. Even Coffee and Cigarettes had more visual flair, "Bill Murray!"

I rate Macross Zero as a story failure nearly as bad as Robotech: Shadow Chronicles, with the caveat that R:SC rates as 1 out of 5 while M0 perhaps justifies a 2 out of 5 rating (for whatever that's worth). However, comparing the 3D CGI, there is no comparison. The CGI in R:SC is over a decade behind what is currently an acceptable level in animated entertainment, both in visual adeptness and physics. Granted, the physics and scene composition in Macross Zero was mostly lacking, but the detailed CGI modeling and CGI effects in Macross Zero were very high end. Robotech: Shadow Chronicles looks like it was made in the mid 1990's and if there was more visual disconnect between the 2D animation and the CGI in R:SC, editing in live action is the only way it could look worse. As for critiquing the 2D art, I've never seen animation as sterilized and aesthetically inert as R:SC. It might as well have been "Anime by number."

No, not as originally envisioned. First generation destroids were said to have "heavy armor and firepower that far surpassed a VF." Which is probably why they use destroid armor as the representative benchmark for armor in Macross; because it's the strongest stuff they build. Even the Vajra energy converting armor wasn't strong enough to stop the SSL-9B shells. Which is not really surprising, given the ridiculous firepower of that sniper rifle. The only low end benchmark we have for armor in Macross is the VF-0 Phoenix, a mecha powered by conventional (non-reaction) turbine engines which had armor equivalent to a tank. Once reaction engines came along and VFs advanced, energy converting armor would have only become much stronger. By time 2059 came around, it's possible the valkyries may have ECA many times more powerful than the earliest VFs. Unless you count the Stryker Mobile Guns seen in Macross Frontier, Episode 1 But yes, knowing the properties of GFS-a2 composite armor on the destroids would be necessary to determine penetrating power (and the properties of the "super-hard metal" shells too). Nonetheless, you're right that the context is clearly stating the SSL-9B is one of the most powerful valkyrie guns. Regardless of what the actual numbers might be, a dense projectile shot from that sniper gun at 7,490 m/s is going to go through nearly anything. It's no wonder I originally mistook the gun for a beam weapon when it vaporized a Vajra's head and torso

Ah, so it's 300mm but "Destroid armor" is the representative benchmark, not steel. That makes sense then. Of course, it also makes it impossible to determine the real world equivalent, but I suppose that's the point