Hurin

Well, Sauron hates the Men of the West and the Elves. . . while the Men that live in the East are much less civilized and only useful to him as thralls or harshly-treated allies. He hates the Men of the West so much, by the way, because of his earlier humiliation at the hands of the Numenoreans. . . from which Gondor and the remnants of the North Kingdom (Arnor, in which the Shire is located) are descended.

People in South American would disagree. But I assume you mean Western Europe. But Tolkien's world is pretty darn white in the West as well. Which is what opens it up to knee-jerk charges of racism from others. Keep in mind that in Tolkien's works, Western Middle-earth is comprised of everything you see in the map. . . including Mordor, Southern Gondor, and The Dwarf realm of Erebor to the North. That is all Western Middle-earth. So let's not confuse Southern Gondor with "The South" or Harad with "The East." It's all "The West." But of course, there is another "West" in Tolkien, and that is Valinor, the Undying Lands that is to The West over the Sea.

Tolkien's works are never concerned with anything but what happens in the west. . . throughout all eras of Middle-earth all the way back into The Silmarillion. Because. . . The West is where the Elves settle and where the Noldor return from Valinor and make their war upon Morgoth. The East is largely wild and uncivilized. . . and if Morgoth isn't there, there's not much of a story to tell. And this carries forward into the next three Ages (LotR takes place in the Third Age). So, basically, you're asking why a book about WWII doesn't say much about Brazil. Or why a book on Roman history doesn't talk more about the Chinese or India. For the record though, there were five Wizards sent to Middle-earth by the Valar. Saruman, Gandalf, Radagast, and two others. The latter two went into the East to try to raise resistance to Sauron there, but were never heard from again.

Huh? There is nothing whatsoever "vague" about Tolkien. In fact, it's excruciatingly detailed. You can interpret it however you wish and project your own world onto it in ways that gratify you and any pet causes you might have. . . but I certainly would never call it "vague." Edit: The "you" above is the collective "you". . . not you specifically.

The problem with that is that Tolkien does take the time to explain how Men of the East and South had come under Sauron's dominion and there is no "race" to it. They just live in a different region where Sauron has more sway and happen to have darker complexions than do the people in the West (as people do in the real world). And, as others have pointed out, he also shows a whole lot of evil among those of lighter complexion too. The problem here is that people unfamiliar with Tolkien's written works see Peter Jackson's version of it and say: "Hey! He's got dark-complected people as the bad guys! Racist!" It is striking to me, however, that whenever a war movie is made nowadays that isn't white guys vs white guys, you always have to go out of your way to humanize the enemy (if the protagonists are white). If you don't, you see the New York Times, The Post, and several other big media outlets complaining about the racist undertones of the story/movie (Black Hawk Down comes to mind) But, if you're showing anyone killing white guys (WWI, WWII -Europe Theater-, and Medieval Europe-set movies are a good example), well then. . . the white guys who are the enemy can be faceless evil villains with no speck of humanity. It is just striking to me that we can't tell stories now where the bad guys are simply bad. . . unless, of course, the enemy is pale skinned. Now, a truly racist take on evil is the Orc. I mean, they're just evil by nature. Their race is evil. But, I don't really have any patience for those who want to say that Tolkien intended the Orcs to represent any given human ethnic group in the real world. Indeed, that would make just about every work of Fantasy ever made since a work of racism as well. But, I know (personally) too many english professors who twist everything they read to reflect their own personal political beliefs or life experience. And those who are obsessed with race and the politics of ethnicity will see it everywhere. Just google "Tolkien" and "racist." Sometimes, people who don't look alike fight. We shouldn't have to constantly remind each other that (in the real world) all the combatants are equally human. And we should be able to tell simple "good guys" vs "bad guys" stories where the emphasis is on the "heroes" without fear of being called racists just because one side is a bit more tan than the other.

Other than the forces from Southern Gondor, who else did come to the rescue? I think you're confusing Imrahil (etc.) with people from other nations. But all those forces pouring into Minas Tirith prior to the siege were forces from S. Gondor. Though I suppose there might be one or two minor exceptions. But, yes, the siege of Gondor/Minas Tirith was handled very differently in the movie. . . especially the "Army of the Dead" being made into an indestructible super-army that can wipe out all of Sauron's forces in 60 seconds. Which, of course, makes the sacrifices of the Rohirrim and everyone else up to that point sorta pointless and pathetic considering they could have just hunkered down in Minas Tirith and wait for the CGI Super Army to show up. (that's not the way it happens in the books). I once made a much longer, geekier, and more detailed post about this gripe here.

Wait, you guys mean to say that when people from two different regions fight each other, they don't tend to look alike!?! Anyways. . . In Tolkien's world, the origins of Men were somewhat tainted because they "awoke" in the East where Morgoth (the First Dark Lord for whom Sauron from LotR was a mere servant) became aware of their presence first. So he sent his spies and emissaries among them and sewed doubt and fear in their hearts regarding the West and the Valar (the "gods" of Tolkien's Middle-earth who are not actively present in the world by the time of the LotR, though their influence is still felt through their agents. . . such as Gandalf.) A quick aside about the Valar, etc.: Think of there being One God as in monotheism. . . and that is "Illuvatar" in Tolkien. But below Him are all the Greek gods that serve Him. . . the "Valar" in Tolkien. Below them are the Maiar. . . which are sorta "lesser Valar". . . "of the same order but of less degree." FYI, Morgoth was a Vala, Sauron and Gandalf were Maia). Nevertheless, many large migrations of Men set out for the West in hopes of coming upon the light that was said to dwell there (if memory serves, the Sun rose in the West at this time and of course, beyond the Sea was Valinor). They eventually came into contact with the High Elves (Noldor) of Beleriand and settled among them, becoming their friends and (willing) vassals. Many of these tribes of Men were noble, strong, and much beloved by the Elves. . . and they stayed faithful to the Elves and remain beloved. But, one "House" of Men turned upon the Elves at a critical time during a climactic battle with Morgoth (the Nirnaeith Arnoediad) and betrayed them. This eventually led to the total collapse of the Eldar's resistance to Morgoth. . . and surely Morgoth would have had the mastery of all Middle-earth had the Valar not finally forgiven the Noldor for their transgressions (read The Silmarillion) and interceded themselves. So. . . from their beginning, Men have had a dualistic nature in Tolkien's world. The Elves do not entirely trust Men as they have seen them so often and so easily consumed by greed, lust for power, and the fear of death (which comes upon them after so short a time in the world). Indeed, it is Man's propensity to go astray and serve the Forces of Darkness that grieves Manwe (the High King of the Valar) the most. As for Tolkien's works being overtly or intentionally racist (as the term is commonly used). . . I just don't buy it. If I were to write a story about The Muslim conquest of Spain and chose people in Spain as the protagonists. . . would I be racist because all my heroes are white but the people invading are. . . not? The Easterlings, Haradrim, and all the other Men that served Sauron came from the South and East ("where the stars are strange"). And, let's keep in mind that the worst of the "Wicked Men" in the annals of Tolkien were the "Black Numenoreans" who were white. . . and no different than all the whities you see in Minas Tirith. There was actually an hilarious parody done once of a standard Academic's "deconstruction" of Tolkien that took the side of the Orcs as an oppressed people that were being persecuted by the racist White power structure of the Elves and Gondor, etc. It was quite classic. Can't seem to find it though.

They are prone to cracking. But they won't suddenly explode for no reason. Just be careful with them. And the ones for sale at RT.com are probably prone to cracking as well as there seems to be no difference between them and the ones in the original boxes. But, as others have pointed out. . . just be careful with them and you probably won't have any issues. H

If your current title weren't such a classic around here, I think I'd change yours to: "Yes, he is mocking you." H

Robotech has its own problems aside from the changes to the storyline. Minmay fundamentally changed - Whinier, less sympathetic, and annoying voice. Narration added to help the retarded, or children (or retarded children!) follow the plot. Many poignant moments filled with nothing more than silence and music in the original series are instead filled with "Superfriends"-esque exposition by the characters. Perfect example is Hikaru/Rick in the rejuvinated flower field after the Rain of Death. In the original, it's just music and Hikaru standing there for what feels like a very long, (and potentially moving) moment. But in RT, we get Rick Hunter's voice actor re-hashing the entire story up to that point and totally removing any poignancy from it: "And then the giant aliens came and we had to defend ourselves. . . blah blah blah." You can even hear Tony Oliver rushing the lines out to fit the entire monologue into the time alloted. It's just a shame. I could go on, but that topic has been done to death. That's just some of the issues that I don't see mentioned quite as often.

But, again, just in case there's some confusion. . . if you're looking to backup your Animeigos and can't get it done yourself or by a friend, you don't want the ADV set since the sound on the Japanese track is so inferior. You want the $39 repackaged set at RT.com. That's the Animeigo set. Just in a new outer box.

Can I get an ay-ah-men-ah!?!

The gunpod sound isn't always consistent in the original anime. But it always sounds at least somewhat like a real military weapon. Unlike the sound they've introduced in the new dub.

I chose one of my two version at random. . . those are from the "fx" Perfect Edition. They look extra nice in those screenshots because they seem to get more vibrant when you shrink the image size from 720x480 to 400x???. H

Uh. . . "indecisive" or fickle people probably shouldn't get tatoos. "Well, I thought it was cool a week ago!"

Here's how the kite appears in DYRL itself. Notice that even in the anime, it's not consistent. Sometimes it's very angular with almost no "sweep." Sometimes it's "swept" on the leading edge, but then the bottom part is almost completely made up of straight lines. It does seem, though, that every time it appears on Valkryies themselves, they're always quite "swept." It is also odd that --aside from where they appear on the sides of Valkyries-- there's almost never a complete shot of an unobscured "kite." All in all, I'd say that the anime has a more "swept" appearance (generally). Funny, in all this time, it never occurred to me that some people might actually prefer the one without any "sweep". . . and I especially didn't think that anyone would like that one from the DYRL Gold Book that is almost entirely straight lines. It might as well just be a diamond! H Edit: And lest anyone think I spent all night watching the movie and looking for "kites". . . there's actually only a few scenes where one would expect to see one. So I just FFed through those.

Did you pee on it? You have to pee on it.

I have one 1/60-scale Valkyrie and many 1/48-scale Valkyries. I can't imagine ever choosing the 1/60-scale over the 1/48 unless I just had no way of affording a 1/48-scale (and then I'd just do without longer until I could afford a 1/48-scale). There are those who disagree. But they are Communists. I'm not sure I'd ever feel the need to put my Macross toys next to Transformers anyways. . . I don't like to mix universes!

Egad! That thing is terrible! Not at all what I consider to be "correct". . . even though there is no such thing. H

Again, I love the lineart, and you've colored them perfectly. But here's a quick (constructive, I hope!) note: It would seem to make more sense (at least to me) to have the "brown/cannon fodder" Super VF-1A as the main Super VF-1A entry and then move the Hikaru-colored Super VF-1A into a "Hikaru" category alongside the Max and Kakizaki entry. Hikaru's VF-1A as the main Super VF-1A entry doesn't jive as well with the VF-1A (non-super) entry for the TV series.

Okey doke. . . since it gets so little traffic, we won't immediately move this to the "homesites" category here. But, don't be surprised when it eventually finds its way there! Congrats on the new site! Those color schemes are perfect. They just ooze "original Macross!"

I agree, 1 and 3 (and mine!) are the most "true" to me. Though it's probably personal preference. To me, what makes it "right" is that the left and right "points" are more downward swept. . . which also makes their "leading edges" (if this were a plane) less curved. Just make sure you "mock" it up on your arm before you commit to ink. You'd hate for him to get something wrong!

I can't say that this is "official" as I'm not sure there is such a thing. But this is my favorite rendition of it. . . which is why I use it on Macross Nexus so much. . . . . . I got it off of google and photoshopped it quite a bit. I think it was actually an image of the T-shirt that came with Robotech: Battlecry video game.

Everybody gets one. As for Misa. . . the reason (I think) she is such a "strong woman" professionally is because she is running away from her personal life.

I think some aren't considering all the angles here. . . If you do want panel lines, you can always add them. If you don't want panel lines, you're screwed if Yamato has already done them (especially if they did them in your least favorite way!). So, you could consider the Valkyrie a "canvas" to which the skilled can add what they want. . . but according to the poll results so far, more than half of the people here would get a valkryie with panel lines that they wouldn't like! Whereas, with no panel lines pre-done, at least the option of adding them is still there. Now, normally, I'd think of three other ways to say the same thing. But I gotta run!