Xard

For anyonee baffled by the film or its ending in particular: it needs to be seen at least twice (and I guess subs will be very useful in most cases)

So I take this is at the same time compliment for the film and curse at Sho-chan's trolling habits?

I'll hold out for 1080p (or then I get the BD first which is in Paris now. Does FedEx deliver during weekends? Otherwise it's going to be untill monday/tuesday I get it...)

hahahahaha yeah, I had hard time not letting out a loud "HA!" when the troll was revealed. Kawamori never changes

I second Gubaba. Wait for subs. I knew enough japanese to follow the film without problems (only getting lost in few technobabble scenes and the like but I was able to infer the meaning from visuals then) but had I known nothing...nah, better wait

Well, the day is finally here! It's morning in Tokyo now and I'm sure we're probably getting first subs by eg. Doki fansubs by next weekend. They also shipped my BD boxset already, I'm hoping FedEx delivers it by Friday, hehehe Here's my review of Sayonara no Tsubasa that I've been sitting on while waiting for time to become relevant again. Figured might as well put it up here in case someone is interested. It's kinda long, yeah, and I'm sorry for that but on the other hand the film does deserve it...and I think it shows that at least I enjoyed the film A LOT, hahaha Spoilered for lenght: Can't wait till I get my hands on the superhueg boxset...nomnomnom edit: if memory of first film is hazy I recommend rewatching it first though edit2: for Utahime subs I recommend THORA It's hard to see who are going to get first release of Sayonara out. I know Doki is doing the subs and common sense says THORA will do it sooner or later too...

As you guys probably already know Sayonara no Tsubasa won Kobe Animation Award for the best anime film My friend on another forum translated what was said: FEATURE FILM AWARD -- MACROSS FRONTIER: SAYONARA NO TSUBASA 「もし○○に△△がなかったら・・・」。長い年月をへないと空白部分に言葉を入れることができない質問だが、前者に日本のアニメ、後者にマクロスという言葉を入れてみるとどうだろう。もし日本のアニメにマクロスがなかったら、アニメ業界をめぐる状況は現在と変わっていたかもしれない。歌という要素をアニメの中身に大胆にフューチャーし、エンターテインメントとしてのアニメの領域を広げたマクロスシリーズの功績はとても大きい。2008年にテレビシリーズとして開始された『マクロスＦ』シリーズの集大成ともいえる劇場版2作の完結編である本作への授賞は、作品自体への評価と同時に、河森正治監督とこれまでのマクロスに関わってきたすべての関係者へのアニメーション神戸からの感謝の気持ちなのだ。ありがとう、マクロス。 "If there had not been △△ in ○○". It is a question that without long years and months past one cannot fill in the blanks. How about putting the words "Japan anime" in ○○ and "Macross" in △△ ? If there had not been Macross in Japan anime, the situation in the anime industry would probably be quite different from now. It boldly featured the element of "songs" as part of the anime contents. The achievement of Macross series in broadening the anime as an entertainment is tremendous. The award to this movie, the final of the 2 movies that could be described as the comprehensive summary of the "Macross F" series which had started as TV series back in 2008, is a confirmation of the quality of the anime work itself, but at the same time, it is also the thankful feelings from Animation Kobe to Director Shouji Kawamori and everyone who was involved with Macross over time. Thank you, Macross. ************ So, who all have pre-ordered the (darn expensive grr) special edition? I sure did! Worth it

As far as questions to ask go I think it would be nice to know just how free hands Kawamori had on DYRL: did Ishiguro mainly "stand back" and look at the young guy figure his way through the process and be there as a support if needed or was it more active collaboration. I've always got the picture former scenario is closer to what happened as Ishiguro was kind of godfather to the young creation team anyway already with tv series... Asking something about LoGH would be sweet too I guess, though not related to concerns of this forum

Love triangle in SDFM was pretty much something that drew in older audiences who cared about stuff other than stuff blowing up on the screen. The big role of music was the central conceit of storyline that was there from the start and explicitly far more important than any specific mecha design: Kawamori said in some interview he wanted to create something distinct from Yamato and Gundam but he felt if he used some sort of mechanical thing (like superweapon or mecha unit) as around what story revolves and which provides the resolution to conflict he'd just end up travelling same paths. So he tried to think of something that would seem frivolous in context of war and came up with...pop music. Rest is Minmay attack and history. Comparison with Gundam isn't that valid also because Macross was huge hit from the start - Gundam only got popular after the toys became popular. We can also deny that "Macross is about mechas" by looking at the creative process behind new entries and what is most important, the starting point. Does Kawamori start planning new Macross series by designing new cool VF or coming up with novel story concept? No, the first thing he decides is what kind of music the series should have! He starts with music, not mechas or anything else. I think that speaks volumes. And the core Macross themes about POWER OF LOVE, pacifism and music and culture as uniting forces against violence have nothing to do with mechas per se...but Macross stories can't function without the music, their core storytelling conceit from the start. Take music out of Macross and the story collapses, turn mechas into fighter jets or something and you can still write Macross story. This on its own is enough to disprove that the core of series is mecha action. It's similar to Eva in a sense. Eva's core is characters, Macross's music - while both are mecha anime franchises. Out of the big three mecha franchises only Gundam has at its core mecha warfare as most essential element for the story! Macross 7 already shifted the focus from mechas to music most notably IMO - Frontier's popularity has more to do with succesful modern bishoujo aesthetics and music than VFs I'd say. Ranka and Sheryl are practically everywhere while VFs play much, much smaller role in promotion materials etc. I'm not biggest fan of Plus designs but they're ok in my eyes. I doubt Kawamori bears a grudge towards Mikimoto since he is doing the Macross The First manga...

Pretty much this. All key concepts came from Kawamori and he was one of the main writers of the original series. The valkyries, the focus and power of music, the love triangle, the basic story outline etc. originated with him. If we simplify things the chief creative crew for Macross that commonly gets named is Young Trio Shoji Kawamori Haruhiko Mikimoto Hiroshi Ohnogi (though Ohnogi wasn't part of the production from the start and ofc there were many other screenwriters too) The Animeigo liner notes refer to trio as such too: This episode (ep 16) was the first written by Oonogi Hiroshi, an old schoolmate of creator Kawamori Shoji and character designer Mikimoto Haruhiko. He would later write the flashback novel "Misa Hayase: White Reminiscences," a collaborative work among these budding artists known as the "Young Trio." that their group had such a nickname tells just how crucial their contributions were and the director Noburo Ishiguro Macross is notable for being first major creation and hit in which core creative crew consisted mainly of "otaku generation" (in addition to "young trio" I could add luminaries such as Ichiro Itano etc.) and it showed it in many ways. Macross was the chance given to these young 20something kiddos who loved their Yamato and Gundam to show what they can do. However they needed someone experienced to watch over them and guide them through the process of creating their first major work...and who would be better person for this than Noburo Ishiguro who was heavily involved even with Yamato itself back in the day? He was the one who kept the project running and acted as sort of general "father figure" - but as mentioned the creative flow of ideas came from young members of the cast from writers to animators. I don't think anyone has ever said Kawamori created Macross alone but if one starts to think about it and if one needs to name one person who is the "father" of Macross it would be him. No one else contributed as many core ideas to the project. IIRC the reason Kawamori got into director side of business was so that he could get his ideas done more close to his original vision. For comparison Neon Genesis Evangelion is Hideaki Anno's baby through and through (moreso than Macross is Kawamori's) but I don't think many people outside the fandom know that such crucial things like - Shinji being a boy (Anno initially planned to have another girl protagonist a la Gunbuster) - Souls of dead mothers of pilots being inside Evas were originally character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto's ideas Anno approved of. Pen^2 was Sadamoto's idea too IIRC. This is why GAINAX is credited as the creator of Eva alongside with Anno. Creating anime is always a collaborative effort by nature and people know this in general. I don't think when people call Kawamori creator of Macross mean he did that on his own...just that he was the one who came up with the series in the first place and who has been the "GL" for the franchise for decades by now (unlike Tomino for Gundam, for example). Actually, why do you assume people are referring to SDFM in particular when they call Kawamori the creator of Macross? When I call him that I speak of Macross franchise in general and it's undeniable Kawamori has been the main creative force and general controller of "canon" since days of DYRL (and actively since Macross Plus when he kicked Macross II, some games etc. done without him out the canon) which he wrote and directed. The one Macross that series that didn't originate from him is Macross II which is viewed as uncanonical bastard child of the franchise and is no part of the official Studio Nue continuity, after all. As far as I can tell Kawamori was the most influential out of co-creators of SDF Macross and the creative head for all that came afterwards (writing and directing DYRL largerly on his own, kicking Macross II out of the canon and then pretty much reigning without opposition starting with Macross Plus) - which is more than enough to justify calling him the "creator" of Macross in general in my eyes. He's the only core creator who has worked on and had significant contributions to all Macross titles apart from II and from whose ideas all series originate from SDFM to Frontier (again excluding uncanonical II). Well, I don't know. By far the worst official Macross in my opinion is Macross 7...with which Kawamori was easily least involved with. It's the only one he didn't write (beyond coming up with story concepts etc. that is) or direct at all and I think it shows...in a bad way. ******** I think it's really simplified and crude to attribute Macross's success to VF-1. It was big part of it but by no means the only one.

Thanks for the great interview! lolkawamori

Well, I was thinking of anime fans in particular (who'd remember this stuff better than "general populace" anyway). If I remember correctly Minmay placed really high in pretty recent Newtype best characters of the decade poll by taking 3rd place in 80s females list (IIRC Misa was in top ten too). I once heard someone say that a lot of Minmay's popularity followed DYRL (and 2012) but on the other hand she seemed to be the most popular character already with DYRL being trollishly marketed as Minmayfest where she was going to get Hikaru...

Well, as long as they'll be avalaible one day I'll be happy guy...though hopefully before Sayonara no Tsubasa comes out on BD, I've intended to rewatch the franchise next fall prior to it You've been doing great job so far in any case Again kind of tertiary, pointless question that has intrigued me for a long while. Since we have some people here living in Japan I think getting more informed answer is possible. Namely, I've heard that Minmay is the most popular character from original Macross, especially in Japan. This is interesting because in general the western/english speaking fandom seems to clearly favour Misa overall. Is the situation really reverse in Japan?

I'm sorry, what? I've read numerous reviews of Nausicaä and Laputa BDs and pretty much all have praised its technical merits to high heavens. Hell, I've been them too and I have no idea where the guy is coming from with "supersloppy production" stuff. For old tv series and OVAs the problems with missing cells, bleeding frames etc. are often legit concerns because those anime were made for old tv resolutions or VHS. But high budget theatrical releases like Nausicaä and Laputa directed by perfectionist Miyazaki? Oh please! I'd like to see that Amazon reviewer prove his words somehow because as said I've never heard anyone complain like this about BD release - granted I didn't watch it on projector but as far as I could tell it was fine. Or alternatively he has ridiculously high standards. And I doubt huge, severe production problems visible on 1080p would not be visible in theatrical release too, if they're so big. Also, Criterion BD releases of classic films from cinema's early decades look absolutely crisp and wonderful. Remastered perhaps, but all old films (animated or otherwise) are remastered for BDs and usually that happened earlier for DVD releases too. Hell, the first Star Wars Special Edition VHSs from 90s were remastered as bonus material well shows. And I'm not talking about new footage that may be seen as tampering with original work, I'm talking about restoring worsened film footage to the level of colour, detail etc. they had back in the days of premiere. There's absolutely nothing wrong with remastering per se - see new The Beatles remasters for example.

Hey, after Bobby did it having Basara singing watashi no kare wa pilot would not be that out there... Similarly I can see Kanno/Robin do Ai Oboete Imasuka in arrangement reminiscent of bless the little queen version with vocal overlays etc. a la . Iijima's current voice might go pretty well with Santi-U, actually. Okay, Megumi doing Dynamite Explosion in moe Neko Nikki/Stocking song "Ranka Voice" would be pretty weird but I can see her doing a pretty terrific version of it if she uses her lower, more natural pitch. Some live versions of Lion I've heard where she sings it closer to her natural voice were seriously rockin' (or sing it like on Sayonara no Tsubasa). As for Hiroko Kasahara, I haven't even watched Macross II so can't say... I'm pretty fine and curious for all kinds of wacky song/singer combinations here, really. As said before, only thing I really want is Megumi's Voices. Her version of Tenshi no Enogu is really good in my opinion but I still curse fans for voting for that over Voices! Even low quality bootlegs I've heard of it (like one from Tanasonic concert) were terrific so I still long for proper, good quality studio cut of the song. Speaking of wacky combinations, Fukuyama's Neko Nikki would be hysterical.

woah where did this come from? Surprising combination... I have very few ideas overall but I still want Nakajima's version of Voices recorded in studio and released goddamnit. If it would finally happen through something like this I would be one happy guy Maaya Sakamoto's Tenshi no Enogu would be fine too! Her voice and style would really fit that song, now that I think about it

Interesting and bizarre idea, though I'm not sure if I'd want to see them follow through with it. The symbiotic biomecha part I mean, I don't think Vajra getting turned into VFs is plausible when Frontier makes so much out of NUNS being bunch of imperialistic, warring dickheads in comparison to Vajra. Why would they suddenly approve turning Vajra into war machines Anyway, interesting idea for sure but doesn't exactly answer my questions (if this was ment to, that is)

Well, I'm still working on my review of the film etc. so in a sense this is a bit premature bump but I just realized there was one thing I forgot to ask for more details... but first: Heh, in the end I managed to see it four times actually. But it's fantastic film so it was definetly worth it every time. I've also really warmed for the soundtrack more I've listened to it during past months and what can I say, it's incredible. Great songs, some among my favourites to come out of Macross ever (title track and Hoshikira are masterpieces), and lots of BGM goodness. F Refrain is a special favourite out of those. Anyway, going for spoilers now:

As I understand it animation films (at least in Japan) are recorded on 35mm so unfortunately 70mm quality (which is not avalaible even on BDs) is unlikely...

...okay that is not good cover in my eyes. Minmay's face looks just weird

yeah, I suspected someone here was involved which is why I asked... On another forum one member just recently watched Macross for the first time and for the first 35 episodes he had used remastered episodes and good god did the show look AMAZING in comparison to the version I saw. I was planning to rewatch the series but I'd rather wait for the subs to be finished... and yeah, I know many old school series are slow to get subs but still, such a long break without any announcement or explanation is strange.

not exactly a Macross question but I'm getting pretty desperate about this: Does any of you know when the last two SDF Macross remastered episodes are subbed? The guy running the subbers page "Yot-chan" posted previous batch in February!!! Afterwards there has been no news. I was wondering if someone here would know more about it because they had a link to this page in there.

http://saimecha.wordpress.com/2011/06/05/sai-mecha-semi-finals-results/ alas it was a bitter defeat

Ahh, I thought those were just replica cels. I feel stupid now Well, I guess that means we're out of luck with FB2012 footage... I don't really care as long as DYRL itself gets BD release

Don't they have the original cels somewhere? I know japanese film (and anime) industry are terrible at keeping master tapes etc. but one would think they'd have them for stuff as "new" as Macross Flash Back 2012