Mr March

It's deculture! It's made of deculture!

It's probably a bit of both the realities of CGI requiring the VF-171 be slimmed down AND a little concession that the line art was fudged to make the original VF-17 look like the "heavy battroid" that it was supposed to be If it's any indication, the old, original VF-17 fighter schematic always appeared much thinner than the Battroid line art. Hey, good catch! I remember that now as well. Yes, the VF-17 GERWALK always did look ugly. But then again, I haven't been much a fan of any of the GERWALK modes post-VF-1 Valkyrie. Well, until the VF-25 Messiah that is, which has made me appreciate that mode again

So why bring it up? You post to a quote/counter as though a moral point were made when there was none. And it's not from "RL", it's from a film.

Our own grebo guru once created an excellent arms-forward GERWALK picture for the VF-17 Nightmare. I direct your eager eyes to exhibit A:

I think they are ignoring the Battle 25 for the same reason the VF-19 Excalibur was excluded; because they only want one hero ship. That's not to say we won't see the Battle 25 in action, but I think it likely to be seen only rarely, perhaps at the end as DT suggested. They might even be saving it for a big multi-generational crowd-pleasing scene where an Macross Class SDF, a New Macross Class and the Macross Quarter all appear in battle together

I don't think morality has yet been addressed and aren't the NUNS also victims? Besides speaking of morality in war is absurd. I'll provide my own quote: "They train young men to drop fire on people. But their commanders won't allow them to write fcuk on their airplanes because it's obscene!"

Of course Sheryl will lose and Ranka will win. Sheryl is the most overtly sexualized of the two and thus as per the subtlely conservative, prudish rules of Japanese entertainment, the less sexualized woman will always win. Just like horror films here in North America; the virtuous, demure female always survives while the extroverted, sexually liberal females always die. So much for equality

I agree. It's again another example of Macross Frontier deconstructing Macross. Every similarty turned on its head. The Zentradi could easily communicate with the humans. With the Vajra, something as basic as communication is really hard for humans. Though they do share one similarity in that there is more to them than just mindless weapons of warfare. But that's Kawamori for you, ever the believer in both sides of the story. Sun Tzu, the art of war, sympathy for the enemy is one of the virtues of the ideal general

Perhaps he's detecting whatever power source is creating that glow inside Ranka. The Macross Galaxy Fleet seems to know a lot more about the Vajra than the NUNS, so they might have a method for detecting wahtever power source is unique to Vajra and humans with similar critters in their cells

Probably a good time for use of this old picture again

These pretzels...are making me THIRSTY!!!

This is pretty much all I ask. Some mecha always has to be the cannon fodder in order to build tension and drama for our heroes. All I ask is a few moments for the cannon fodder to shine and that's enough to prove it's not the useless mecha that plot demands it be. The VF-171 has now proven it's worth and what a display it was. Macross Plus pin-point barrier punch done proud

I agree. If at this point the story isn't starting to form an overall message for the viewer, then that viewer needs to watch it more carefully. The Vajra's shift from intimidating to empathetic is intentional and has been building with plenty of subtle hints and foreshadowing for at least half a dozen episodes now. Also, I'm a little saddened by this sudden love for invincible enemies. The invincible enemy is a concept for super robot shows and lesser series. Macross has always made at least an effort to acknowledge warfare realities. An enemy largely resistant to your weapons simply requires one use a bigger and/or better gun. That's the way it is in real warfare and that's the way Macross does it. Not enough firewpower? Bring out the heavy firepower via sniper guns and VB-6 Konigs. Gun pod doesn't work? Arm them with Anti-Vajra ESA munitions. If the Vajra were truly meant to be invincible, there wouldn't be much of a war now would there?

Hear, hear!

Yeah, I think episode 14 is VERY telling. In fact, I'm a little surprised how much it fits into my theory. The Vajra were definitetly on the short end of the stick for the first time and you can tell Ranka is traumatized after what she's just learned about them. I agree Kawamori and Co are definitely messing with us. I wouldn't have it any other way I never had any doubt that music, singing and culture would be prominent in the plot of Macross Frontier. Wouldn't be Macross if it didn't The thing I didn't understand up until just recently was "how". And there's still plenty of unknowns that I need answered. But for the first time, I feel confident I know the path the story has taken even if further down it's still winding. I'm so hooked on this series

Ordinarily, I'd jump at the suggestion. But the language is taken directly from the Macross Compendium, so I'm loathe to mess with it. And the new LAI fold technology basically supports the phrase "nearly instantaneous". Best I can do is ask that we wait for the Macross Chronicle entry.

Maybe. Perhaps

LOL Oh, I always have fun at that shows expense. But it's all in good jest I'm happy with what Macross has done with it's FTL method. It may not be entirely original, but its creative and innovative. I love tech talk as much as the next tech geek, but I prefer the use of units and the end result. I don't have to know how fold travel works or why, but it would be great if I knew how much power it takes, how fast it can go and I'd like it all in real SI units. That's part of the fun of the real robot genre, using real measurements and units to show the degree of technological advancement. Meters, mach speeds, thruster output, weight and all that makes them more real to me. It helps create a more immersive, fictional world to which we can relate and I love that kind of fiction in Macross. And you all will too, in the next update

I love being right

It's 11.7 light years away, according to the compendium. I made an entry in my Macropedia as well There might be changes to fold travel in the upcoming Macross Chronicle. But I suspect fold travel has been left ambiguous to avoid the trap that some sci-fi shows fall into; the need to violate the limitations of their own fictional FTL travel in order to serve the plot. No secret which series I'm slingin' mudd at now

Yep. I got an entry for that too Can't wait for my next update. Almost there

It's basically a repeat of what was told to us in the anime. And yes, fold travel is supposed to be nearly instantaneous based on the Macross Compendium entry: http://macross.anime.net/wiki/Fold

Well, that certainly was exciting, interesting and heart wrenching all at the same time. A great episode. Bring on more. This series is proving beyond a doubt it's willing to throw every punch it can muster.

Go Macross!

Macross kawaii, indeed