Mr March

Good to finally see some numbers attached to the Macross 7 fleet. It finally gives us a sense of what constitutes a typical colonization fleet and also gives us insight into the strength and disposition of the UNS/NUNS military. It's also nice to have our fan assumptions proven very close to correct as many of us have long estimated the Macross 7 fleet to be around 100-200 ships. Coincidentally, this places Chlore's Fleet from "Fleet of the Strongest Women" at a total of roughly 100,000 Meltran ships, since her fleet was said to outnumber the Macross 7 fleet 500 to 1.

Simply blown away by this episode. Nice cliffhanger, plenty of great animation and fantastic battles. The story is definitely on a high note and coming toward the big showdown. I just hope Grace gets it and gets it good; I really want to see her get her due. On another point, the fleet battle in this episode of Macross Frontier sure makes one appreciate the advances in animation in the last 25 years. There's so much detail, not just in the ships being featured promimently, but the whole background is literally filled with eye candy. Not only that, the battle is so reminiscent of the Macross style, particularly DYRL. There were shots done in CGI that were very much staged like sequences in the final battle of Space War I.

I hate the original Battlestar Galactica. One of my best friends had to basically put a gun to my head to try the re-imagined series. All I could think of was horrible dialog, cheese and awful effects. Thank gawd the new show turned out much better

Applying conventional technology to the fighter modes of the Valkyries might be a problem, especially on craft like the VF-1 which has an odd form to the ventral fuselage that may cause a lot of problems with drag or inherent instability. However, I would think that once we analyze the Valkyries as OverTechnology, the need for aeronautical feasibility becomes superfluous to a much greater degree than it is in modern aerodynamics. Valkyries have so much thrust, so much cheap power, are so efficient and have such incredible fuel economy they could probably be flying bricks and they'd work I would think the kind of computer they must have on board a Valkyrie can handle any kind of complex fly-by-light requirements. And let's face it, with such advanced thrust vectoring engines and vernier thrusters in all modes, why even bother with traditional controls? I suppose aerodynamics do make the Valkyries more efficient than flying bricks and more responsive to control, but even the verniers can lift a Super Valkyrie off the ground (like Hikaru's VT-1 Ostrich in DYRL) and extremely high maneuverability relies on verniers anyway (like the YF-19/YF-21 seen in Macross Plus).

The VF-27 is my fav. It's like the yin to the VF-25's yang, kinda like the YF-19/YF-21 comparison. Plus, I like those heavy fighters in Macross, which are all too rare. I think the Varauta valkyries suffer from under-representation. They suffer even worse than cannon fodder, never having even a short moment to shine like the VF-11 or VF-171. The statistics make them quite potent, but sadly all they do is blow up on screen. The poor Saubergeran is probably the most abused Varauta mecha, but it has some great stats and really cool weapons.

I'm not seeing any nudity in his avatar. His avatar is no more risque than the bikini-clad porn star avatar trend that ripped through the MW forums a year or two back

We can do a process of elimination The Mauler RÖV-217C coaxial 12.7mm beam guns are designated as head mounted cannons on the VF-25. This means that the 2 x Remmington ES-25A 25mm high-speed machine guns or 2 x Mauler RÖV-25 25mm beam machine guns can only be the intake/hip mounted cannons. Since the VF-27 and the VF-25 share so much in common (AND the two have those same gun pairs listed), it's very likely they are intake/hip mounted positions on the VF-27 as well. That would leave the forward outboard nacelles as the only other mounting for guns, which is likely where the 2 x Sentinel HBC/HS-35B 35mm heavy beam machine guns are placed

Done and done. Make sure to hit refresh when visiting

Wow... Just...wow... The VF-25 and VF-27 take "Next Generation Variable Fighter" to a whole new level. I just did Thrust-To-Weight ratios for these suckers. It's insane! VF-25F Messiah (empty) Thrust to Weight Ratio = 39.09 VF-27 (empty) Thrust to Weight Ratio = 46.48 Now, here are the Thrust-To-Weight ratios for the rest of the Macross Valkyries: VF-0A (empty) = 1.87 SV-51 (empty) = 2.34 VF-1A Valkyrie (empty) = 3.47 VF-1A Valkyrie (Standard T-O Mass) = 2.49 VF-1A Valkyrie (Max T-O Mass) = 1.24 VF-1S Super Valkyrie (Standard T-O Mass) = 6.36 VF-1S Super Valkyrie (Max T-O Mass) = 3.97 VT-1C Commercial Valkyrie (empty) = 2.91 VF-1X Plus Valkyrie (empty) = 4.33 VF-1X Plus Valkyrie (Standard T-O Mass) = 3.14 VF-4 Lightning III (empty) = 2.01 VF-4G Lightning III (empty) = 2.37 VA-3 Invader (empty) = 3.43 VF-5000B Star Mirage (empty) = 3.01 VF-11B Thunderbolt (empty) = 6.33 YF-19 (empty) = 15.43 (atmosphere limitation = 9.26) YF-21 (empty) = 13.65 (atmosphere limitation = 8.19) VF-11C Thunderbolt (empty) = 6.33 VF-17D Nightmare (empty) = 9.28 VF-17S Nightmare (empty) = 10.04 VF-19A Excalibur (empty) = 12.91 VF-19F Excalibur (empty) = 16.96 VF-19S Excalibur (empty) = 18.32 VF-22 Sturmvogel II (empty) = 13.61 (atmosphere limitation = 8.17) VF-22S Sturmvogel II (empty) = 13.96 (atmosphere limitation = 8.38 ) VF-11MAXL Thunderbolt Custom (empty) = 10.51 VF-17T Nightmare Custom (empty) = 9.75 VF-19 Excalibur Custom (empty) = 13.45 Fz-109A Elgerzorene (empty) = 8.4 Fz-109F Elgerzorene (empty) = 8.33 Az-130A Panzerzorene (empty) = 7.10 FBz-99G Saubergeran (empty) = 9.29 There's a 20.77 point jump between the VF-19S Excalibur (T-W 18.32) and the VF-25 Messiah (T-W 39.09). That's what I call a major performance leap forward. What happened between 2047 and 2059; an "Einstein" of engine design come along?

I think someone here (or at another message board) mentioned how Grace appears to be a flip side to the Vajra. Whereas the Vajra are basically a bio-mechanical singular consciousness, Grace appears to be (or wants to be) the cybernetic equivalent.

I really enjoyed this episode, perhaps even more than the last. However, I have to say I saw Brera's mind screw from Grace coming ever since was outed as her cybernetic super-being persona. Why Brera would even entertain the idea he had free will after being created by Grace is beyond me and kinda makes Brera look stupid. Still, I suppose it does open the way for an inevitable struggle of wills, perhaps with Brera remembering his past as a catalyst. Anyway, despite that one facet of the show, this is going great. Next episode looks even better!

I suppose it's way too much to hope that in addition to Kawamori's statement, he actually provided NEW numbers? Or perhaps we're going to have to wait until the VF-11 shows up in the Macross Chronicle.

This is some great stuff. I love the little yellow crecent explosions, just like the original

Dark Reaper We communicate via simplistic translation, so it's not too accurate. Just send him an e-mail (in very simple language) and he should let you know. He's a very nice chap. badboy00z Ah, good point. I'll make a note.

Yeah I saw that one grss1982, but I was hoping for the full scene (LOL), the camera pan upwards and her head tilt and all (plus, I wanted it in large format, that whispo does best ).

I guess it depends upon the definition of "guilty pleasure" and how I look at it. I think the only ones that might be a guilty pleasure to my mind are The Princess Bride and Tron. The other 1980's films I own I enjoy wholeheartedly without shame. Aliens Amadeus Batman Blade Runner Ferris Bueller's Day Off Ghostbusters Indiana Jones Trilogy Predator Road Warrior, The Robocop Shining, The Full Metal Jacket Terminator, The Wall Street

Sumdumgai and Chief Guld Goa Bowman Thanks fellas. I'm happy the site works well as a reference. RedWolf I was hoping some good shots from a magazine or book would become available so I didn't have to use in-show screen shots. But I'll put something together for it using screen shots. sucker4meltrans I'm not sure why. They may be cyborgs or full machines, but they are definitely more character than mecha. Including them would require entries for other cyborgs like Britai, Exedol or Bodolzaa (thinking DYRL here) and I don't think that really works for the mandate of the site.

The VF-1 vernier thrusters were also enough to lift the VT-1 Super Ostrich into VTOL as it switched to GERWALK in DYRL (during the escape from Britai's Zentradi Nupetiet-Vergnitzs vessel).

Wow, great work joseph. That is nice.

Whoops, sorry whispo, I missed your post. I will be including an animated gif section in the next update, but I was hoping to obtain a bit more NON-Frontier material before opening it. Nonetheless, I'll include in there everything I have. Speaking of animated gifs, we need some from episode 22. A few shots of the VF-171 "Strike"? and that fan service moment near the end with Grace is just too damned funny not to be made into a gif

Thanks for the kind words fellas. I'm glad you all love the site. Speaking of the fans, I was recently contacted by my first Japanese fan. His name is Hiromo and he operates a fan blog, which has recently featured my website. The blog is all Japanese of course, but for those fans who are interested, go take a peek at his corner of the internet. He has some fantastic custom models of the Macross ships. Very good stuff. Hiromo's Blog Great to see fans enjoying the site from around the world.

lol So many customs and so little time

I think VF-1 Valkyries may have been included in many colonization fleets, but they may not have been the "main variable fighters" of those fleets. There were only about 300+ VF-1 Valkyries that participated at the end of Space War I and it's likely most of the VF-1 units stationed on Earth were destroyed in the Zentradi annihilation. Indeed, it appears that many VF-1 Valkyries eventually became civilian use vehicles. While Milia's VF-1J Valkyrie was combat worthy, she seemed to be a unique case. The other VF-1 Valkyries that appear in Macross 7 were civilian units painted in garish colors for display at a recruitment fair. The other units were seen again in civilian hands in Macross Dynamite 7, where a VF-1A Super was part of a husband and wife space whale biology team (Graham and Holly). THe other modified VT-1C units are specifically identified as civilian units. The VF-4 Lightning III, as 007-vf1 has stated, seems to have been embraced enthusiastically by the UN Spacy. Mass production of the VF-1 ended only three years after Flashback 2012, while the VF-4 mass production continued for over a decade until 2022. A total of some 8,245 VF-4 Lightining III variable fighters were built, suggesting the fighter was produced in far greater numbers than the VF-1 Valkyrie ever did. Perhaps a few thousand VF-1 Valkyries did find service aboard the earliest colonization fleets, but with mass production ending so soon after the launch of the Megaroad-01 fleet, I think that says the colonization fleets were filled with mostly newer valkyries.

That's a very clever evaluation. I can see where you're coming from. I think the reason the question of superiority was kept up in the air was in homage to the real world YF-22/YF-23 competition and likely because Kawamori loved both designs and utilized them again in Macross 7. Digressing, I agree that Isamu and Guld were very close in skill. They obviously had different approaches to piloting, but it seems clear the two were definitely in the same league.

The whole rear engine and fuselage section of the YF-21 moves forward during transformation. This is why it appears the interior ventral bays are too small to hold the legs. But when it transforms back to fighter mode, the engines/rear fuselage extends back into place, creating enough length to store the legs. Refer to this picture of the YF-21 transformation (in particular, look at the picture in the lower center portion of the picture which shows a side cutway of the engines/rear fuselage moving forward during transformation). The legs appear to have thrusters of some kind, but they may only be vernier thrusters. This is likely the case since the main engines mounted on the rear of the YF-21 Battroid would provide lift for that mode. Also, the 2 banks of verneir slits mentioned earlier provide VTOL thrust in GERWALK mode, so lift thrusters in the legs would not be necessary.