Mercurial Morpheus

Sure seems that way. Though organizing a carpool would be an interesting idea.

Yeah, the HDTV rip I checked out has an unrestored credit sequence for episode six.It looks like this: Not sure why the whole thing is so distorted either. It's basically cropped on the sides then re-stretched to 4:3. The rest of the episode was anamorphic. Not sure if that was due to the broadcast, or if whomever ripped it did so themselves.Though it is higher res than the included ending. Checked my R0 just now, and noticed that the ending is also unrestored on that, so this has apparently been a long standing issue. A shame. Excuse the phone shot, but for the heck of it, here's what the movie looks like: Looks like the background was redone (a few differences give it away). Not sure on Gunbuster though. It looks a lot like the original. Given that, I applaud their adherence to the original art, even if it looks so bad. I also don't see why they couldn't have windowed the 4:3 like the majority of the Gunbuster movie BD but oh well.. Interesting to hear that Honneamise's meddled track found its way onto the disc. Is it exactly the same as the R1? New Sound FX like the movie? Glad to hear the original audio is still there.

I'd heard of it, and even bumped into it at Kinokuniya, but still have no clue what the deal with it is. Most I know is that it's a loose sequel. Moreso than even Diebuster. For that matter, anyone know how the new manga is? I've been tempted to pick it up. Does the blu-ray really come out on Friday? Makes downloading that HDTV rip (which looks quite glorious) to tide me over seem like a waste of time....

Yeah, MKVextract can pull the raw h.264 video straight out of it, assuming you're using a program that can work with h.264. You can pull the subs out too. Also, they're encoded at the highest quality, so as long as you don't over compress it, it should work. Though the grain will require a high bitrate. I haven't done much encoding lately, so I'm not sure about deinterlacing. Doom9.org has the best resources I've come across aside from AMV.org's guides. If progressive is that important to you and you dislike the BV remaster (I'm not wild about the colors on it myself), I'd grab the Animeigo discs if you can get them cheap. There's a nice commentary from the director on it, and the Japanese audio is vastly superior. It's also not a EE'd as ADV judging from some image I've seen.

Here's the ANN article on it. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-01-05/1st-macross-series-gets-bd-box-with-pachinko-footage Finally a reason for me to put up with the odd remaster colors. Talks about the pricing in Japan remind me of the real reason BV shut down Bandai Entertainment.

Figured a New Year deserved a new thread. Anyone still interested in get togethers? I believe the latest plan was to show the Frontier movies.

My condolences as well. Remember that he'll always be with you. Happy New Year, regardless.

I love collecting autographs at cons. Mari Iijima has signed just about every Minmay related item I own and then some. I've been meeting her at events since 2001. My Macross boxset is signed by her, Hiroyuki Yamaga of Gainax, and Noboru Ishiguro. I also have a bunch of Robotech autographs, if those count, including Tony Oliver, Richard Epcar, Reba West and Carl Mecek. I probably have more that I got unrelated to Macross, like a Noriko Takaya sketch from DYRL's Fumio Iida. I would've gotten a Minmay this year had I not gotten out of line at Fanime. I do have a Sheryl Nome sketch from the guy that animated the Lion opening. Fanime was great for sketches this year. I'll post pics if I get the chance.

Dammit, they changed the sale on the VF-27b from 50% to 20%, now I can't swing it at all... 1/100 VF-25s, here I come. On non-Macross, Zeta Gundam's tempting me from Katejina but I'll probably stick to her.

As a mutual owner, I can concur. No, no it doesn't. It's better than nothing, though. Simple solution: http://www.testors.com/category/133656/

Thinking of getting the Katejina figure from them, which leaves some budget for something else. I was thinking of getting one of those 1/100 VF-25s, but the Grace VF-27 is tempting. Any opinions on that kit, or should i just get the cheaper non-tranformables?

Thanks for the offer man, though that's not exactly NorCal. Perhaps you should try organizing a SoCal meetup? Would be nice to get some sort of get together going. Given the holidays being in full swing now, perhaps something in January?

Music wise, I'm just happy Ranka got some more upbeat songs that weren't duets with Sheryl. I get that Sheryl gets to be the pulse pounding one, but Megumi's no slouch. Rainbow Colored Teddy Bear has really grown on me, like it has on others. It's just damn catchy. And if I'd bothered to remember that (or Ranka's birthday for that matter), I might have tried to watch it for the first time that day, instead of 11-11-11, and probably failed.

Looking at the scene again, I appear to be slightly combining two separate pieces of information. All we see her suggesting to Sheryl is a blood transplant as far as the subs are concerned, which sounds innocent enough. It not until she makes the comment in the comment about this being Ranka's "final stage" that it comes off as sinister. That use of the word "transplant" seems to suggest draining Ranka completely too. Especially once combined with the idea she floated about possibly combining Ranka's intestinal infection with Sheryl's to perhaps gain an even stronger queen. Of course, there's the alternative of going cyborg, which she apparently signed up for and would somehow end her singing career. That's when she sprung the Alto angle. How it ends it though, it doesn't quite explain, or just what she "signed up for". It could either mean cyborg technology, no matter how advanced, still wouldn't be able to replicate her singing voice; the idea that the infection is one of the reasons she can sing so well (it works for the Vajra after all); it's not necessarily a human form (the subs just say "give up my living body"); or the slightly more ridiculous concern that being "all natural" is one of her "selling points" (a double entendre if there ever was one). As someone else pointed out, Sheryl knowing about all this to begin with throws a nice wench into her characterization to start with when viewed as afterthought (How dare you think me a spy, how could you think such low things about me, just because it turns out I was! ;P). Not that I minded much. Still, it's interesting to think just how much of what Grace was thinking of doing to Ranka to "save" Sheryl Sheryl was aware of. Here I thought Alto's Birthday was underhanded. Like you point out (and I thought I noted but I guess forgot), she essentially sacrifices herself for her at the end anyway, which fits her illness angle well anyway. The whole thing was handled much better in my view, but then, I all but absoluted loathed the "Sheryl's dying" subplot in the series. It's quite possibly the very main reason I developed so much apathy for her by the end. It just didn't work, so i was dreading it in the film. I also jokingly realized that part of the reason I liked her better this go around was simply because she never reminded me who she was.

I call it or what? Ranka's looking good. Not sure on the Sheryls.

This it? 13 - Rising Armada ~ 13.mp3 Apparently, I can't upload FLAC files here so I'll have to use an alternative for my rips. Bit more on topic, I thought it was a bit weird for there being so many Quarters. The series always seemed to suggest she was a rare bird. Can't say I cared too much for most of the paint jobs either. Also, though it's never explecitely spoken, are we to assume that Sheryl actually went along with, or at least humored, the idea of killing Ranka for her own salvation? That's rather something, when one thinks about it. I know they wanted to make Sheryl supreme by giving her the intestinal version, but if all she really needed was some blood, I'm sure Ranka would've been more than happy to obleige. Seeing as she was doing so at the end anyway. I like that solution better than the TV's wave of the hand either way.

Yep, that's in his collection. Though sadly, Frontier is mixed in 2.0, so it's got ALL the dialog in it and I'd have no clue how to minimize it. Thankfully, the movie's 5.1, and most of the dialog is entirely in the center channel (with a bit of the music as well, so it's not a perfect method). It still has sound and echo effects, but is a lot less distraction filled. 02 - Hard Chase.mp3 Though reviewing the thread, it apparently shows up in one of the concerts. So I may see about ripping from that. I remember a lot of great instrumental medleys in there anyway.

Westfall actually did a fantastic rundown of all the unreleased music from the series. It can be found here: http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=29151 As you can see, a huge portion of the music is unreleased. Score just takes a massive backseat to songs. He's actually ripped a lot of it himself. What's the name of the track? I'll look into it.

My thought was more of, "Did they really need to make sure she had a visable panty line?" This being Japan though, I already know the answer to that. Nice figures overall, though I'm not sure about the faces. Won't know until they're painted. The rest of the sculpts are fantastic. I suspect the Sheryl may help on a small cosplay project I'm thinking about. I'm thinkinmg of constructing that flag. The pole's gonna be fun... I remember that key. The price was as ridiculous then as it is now. Same as the hat (one can buy a mighty fine one for the price of that sucker). The entire ensamble costs over $1,500. I could clothe a small regiment of Mahou Shoujo Rankas for that, and at probably better quality. Yet it's all sold out. Maybe I'll make a key too. I wonder how long until we get their final outfits. I love those. Wouldn't mind Ranka's purple casual wear either. They'll make them, I'm sure.

Actually, a lot of times, that's what we get in the first place. A lot of tracks are often edited to fit the scenes. Especially in TV anime where themes have to cover several scenes. I'd love to see more of Frontier's score actually put out there. There's also a few variations of the songs not out there. I've ripped the music during Sheryl's flashback to meeting Alto. I'm currently seeing if I can do something about the volume shift towards the end.

See above. You're about twelve hours too late. It's was interesting practice though. Audacity definitely hates working with something this huge a detailed. Since I've got this thing loaded up. Anything worth trying to rip? I seem to remember some wanting the music from Sheryl and Alto's first real meeting, Also surprised to see just how sparse the rear channels are. I don't have a surround system on this setup, but it doesn't look like I'm missing much. Just about everything's in the front, especially the center.

There is an avi remux of the Commie subs on TokyoTosho, so he very well could mean an hardsub. For PS3 playback, I recommend streaming over a home network using PS3 Media Server. Works like a charm, and reencodes on the fly for you, subs and all. Though I personally wouldn't try it with a hi10 1080p movie like this on my setup. I played it with my usual HDMI connect to the TV (laptops, gotta love them). I've never noticed that issue with MPC. Though I can't compare, as I haven't touched WMP since version 6 (when it was good and the basis for MPC, which is a considerably better player). It could be how you've got your codecs setup or the renderer that's selected. It can be easily overridden in the miscellaneous tweaks section of the options if you're using EVR or VM9. And exactly as I figured, after about an hour of fiddling with a 1.2 gig 2-hour 5.1 FLAC file in Audacity, I finally rip the Northern Cross. After I get it how I like it and enjoy, I finally realize my Sansa is nearby so I don't need my external HDD to check it. Sure enough, it's on the album, as I just knew it had to be. What I get for only having listened to the medley once. Anyone interested in a version directly ripped from the film anyway? The reaction shouts do sort of go well with it. I'm going to rip Ranka's Teddy Bear song. It's a bit different from the album cut.

THat's f-ing incredible. Shame I know I won't be affording one anytime soon. Always did love the Rex. The Rex vs Rey battle in MGS4 was a major highlight.

Hilarious since I literally just set it. For some reason that just popped into my head while at the market. Hardsubbed as in .avi? You can't then, as you wouldn't be able to remove the old subs. On an mkv, you can remux or just tell MPC to use the external. That's easily done by putting it in the same folder with the same filename (minus the extension of course).

Same here. It wasn't until about the second line that I picked up on it. All I knew was that I'd not heard it before.