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I'm onto Mars Daybreak since the day before yersterday: half a dozen of eps so far and it's cooler than I expected; it reminds me of Cow Boy Be-Bop, to some extent, for its humour. Designs are very nice and animation is surprisingly smooth

And in a mud pool...

Exactly what I wanted to reply. All the more as, In Z, we clearly see Emma correcting Fa, at least once: only ladies can correct another lady

I'll pay the ticket just to see giant robots fighting each others on the big screen with current SPFX tech: I don't expect anything good storywise for SF movies any more anyway, and since a dozen of years now...

Honnestly, this difference between TV footage and movie footage didn't bug me at all but, again, I watched all of them at the same resolution so my lack of displeasure probably comes from there. It's probably one of the very few movies you should better watch on TV than in a theater I think a domestic release on DVD could have been possible a few years ago but now, with HD/Blue Ray stuff, people would want it 1280*1024 16/9 which would ruin it all over again so, yes, I agree it'll never be re-released Anyway, I'll not lose sleep over it: after all, it's mainly an anime fanboy relic, and all the more as it is more or less commonly available on the net now, BoxTorrents for example... Still, it's surprising that all this 'production mess' resulted into the story of this movie happens during the less loved part of the RT time-line: that's probably another reason why this movie is hated so much

We need a complete F91 as a TV series like it was supposed to be at the beginning instead of the truncated story we actually got Or a Sentinel show Or both

Pretty much what I heard too, except that he sort of 'accused' the producers (Cannon Films IIRC) to have insisted he put more robots and less girls in the movie which was simply a dub of Megazone 23 to begin with (but less the violence and the sex): so he had to add some footage from Southern Cross but these ones were in TV format and once projected onto the big screen simply looked horrible compared to the rest of the movie; this would be why this movie is now repudiated by HG and Macek himself (who didn't want to add these footages from SC but not not doing the movie in itself: actually, this story is not uninteresting at all and the work itself is pretty much well watchable on a comp' or a TV...)

Frankly, such project is more an utopia than anything else to begin with: put aside all the Macross license mess thingies, the story of the whole show is not exactly the sort of material you can summarize in a pair of hour or so. Even Macek himself didn't try to do this with his infamous Robotech Movie back in the 80s... Maguire was on crack when he decided to produce this RT movie

I 100% agree with Keith: this show is pure fun

Dude, the White Base looks new because it IS new: this ship was built to carry MS, it is a few weeks old at best when the series begins (remember the reactions of the feddies in charge of Side 7 when the ship arrives in the very first ep: they all admire this pinnacle of the technology of the moment). Of course it looks new: it's the opposite which would be weird Same thing in Seed by the way Concerning ZZ, I heard that Tomino received several letters of fans after the ending of Z, people who said they felt very depressed and sad because of the darkness of the series, and he decided to do something like a comedy to counterbalance this. Dunno if it's something else than a rumor though...

If only I knew you guys were writings entire novels in this thread, I wouldn't have posted about First in the 'What Anime Are You Watching?' thread See, VFTF1, one of the many problems of First is that it remains rather obscure about some of the most important historical facts of the UC time-line of before the OYW, facts which are related to some of the various inspirations behind the initial project. The majority of them were later covered into various side projects and articles, but there's 2 of them which are of particular interest: 1) MS were supposed to be powered armors at the beginning, and inspired from Heinlein's Starship Trooper: that is, far much more plausible things than giant robots, even in counting in the various technological improvements of the future of UC. Tomino wanted to do something realistic but the toy manufacturers wanted something more like the usual 'super robot shows' of the time, hence the parts of the story which happen on Earth (to allow the audience see that MS are giant) but which doesn't fit the main theme of the concept (mankind at the dawn of a new age, the age of space: Tomino's novel is far much more coherent on this point, and you should really give a try to it IMO) even if this concept slightly looks a bit too much new-agish nowaday but, oh well, it was in the mood of the time and the influence of Kubrick's 2001 is also obvious even if it is clearly different in Gundam 2) the background is inspired by Gerard K. O'Neil's book The High Frontier which depicts a possible way to solve the problem of energy and overpopulation through space colonisation: the main problem of this book is, basically, the same than almost any scientistic theories, because scientists always give the impression that they think that science will solve all problems of Mankind, which is naïve at best and stupid at worst; because the human heart goes into depths that the mind cannot expect to reach, for obvious reasons: Hiroshima and Nagasaki clearly proved this point. This is not a troll: Tomino's japanese and we all know how much these events traumatized this people. That's one of the main underlying idea of Gundam: space colonies which were supposed to be the solution to all problems actually became the reason behind the next conflict, and the most horrible of all; that's the main difference between a writer and a scientist: the former never loses of sight the 'psychological' aspect of the human being, or he'snot a story teller. Basically, and this is not very well covered in the show, except in the speech of Gihren Zabi but unfortunately in a rather abstract and expeditious way (again, Tomino's novel is far much more comprehensible on this point), Earth Federation quickly began to exploit space citizens and this resulted in ever growing grudges from these last ones, which in turn opened the way to the monarchy of Zeon (the parallel with the nazi is obvious here: the german people also greatly suffered from the consequences of WW1 and the economic crisis of 1929, and all this brought Hitler at the head of the country...); the rest is self-explanatory There's some other things too, but because I don't know where you're at in the show I prefer to avoid spoilers: 'hope this has been of some help. Gundam's clearly a real evolution of the mecha genre, but not because of the 'technological' aspect of the MS, or not only because of this... let's say 'detail', all the more as it is not as much realistic as some people used to think: Gundam is a neat, plausible and realistic extrapolation of what may happen when we'll reach space (if we reach this area one day, but that's another question...) and for this reason it is simply good science fiction; you know, this genre which examines the possible impact of scientific and technological progress onto the evolutions of societies

Pinned into my bed during 2 weeks because of a bad lumbago, I took the opportunity to watch the first part of the first season of Skyland (not an anime but hey! it's french ^^ ): beautiful scenery, great lightings, nice action but in the end it's still a show for the youth; pretty entertaining though I also rewatched Macross 7 which is still the best Macross show for me, and hands down Otherwise, and because I had the good idea to buy a PS2 just before having my back scream, I played Gungriffon Blaze (which becomes tiring very fast...) and Robotech: Battlecry (which is not bad at all in terms of visuals but controls suck big hairy balls...) I resumed yesterday my watching of Linebarrel which is definitely some sort of parody and not supposed to be taken seriously IMO Concerning Gundam, I think you, VFTF1, should keep in mind that the very original concept has been considerably butcherized because of all sorts of influences such as the sponsors (for example, the parts of the story which happens on Earth are there to allow the viewers understand that the MS are actually giant, in comparing their size with the surroundings: this was done at the request of the toys maufacturers, or so the rumors say; MS were supposed to be powered armors at the beginning of the project, to keep close to the original concept which was inspired by Heinlein's Starship Trooper) or simply in-between staff fightings (for example, Cucuruz Doan's Island, the infamous 'lost episode', was done against the will of Tomino who always opposed it be included in the US release: other rumors say that Tomino will give the names of the culprits only when they'll be dead): because of all these shits, First finally became some sort of not well finished bastard, all the more as its audience ratings were poor and the show was finally cancelled before reaching the planned ending. It still planted the seeds of what is now the 'real mecha' genre and because of that deserves to be respected, all the more as this also allowed SDF to become what it was, among many others. As for the AU, most of them are good: I don't think you'll lose your time in giving a chance to each of them (except W which is really painful, and G-Saviour is simply out of place IMO...)

YEAH BABY YEAH!!!

Finished Generator Gawl the day before yesterday: a rather interesting anime but its slow pace almost turnt me off sometimes; still, the basic idea is interesting and the overall plot is rather well written. It recalled me of Guyver many times. I'd say it looks recommendable to me...

A rather interesting article on the possible various meanings and symbolisms og this show: http://wtf.animeblogger.net/?p=140

Began to watch Generator Gawl yesterday: 3 eps so far and it looks rather good

Concerning Rorschach, well it's a particular character because he's always 'right', at least in some sort of indirect way: for example, when he says to the paper seller, at the kiosk, that the end of the world will happen on the next day, just before asking to the seller to reserve him his paper for the same day, this looks contradictory but the next day in question Dr. Manhattan leaves Earth in placing the entire world on the border of the nuclear apocalypse, which is some sort of end of the world, or at least the end of one world (the one where the balance of powers assures the survival of Mankind...); a similar thing happens when he tries to warn all his old buddies that a mask killer is in town and that everyone should be ready for something huge: it is indeed something huge even if it's not what he thought For these reasons, I think his 'message' to the world will probably be heard, simply because he's this kind of people to whom extraordinary things always happen

The horns should be less rounded in order to fit better the overal lines of the rest of the model IMO Otherwise, great job: I like!

Frankly, with this guy a lot of things don't make sense anyway But, personnally, I always considered his power as being able to see the future all short, whatever place he's or he'll be in... Another deep mystery of the Watchmen

That is a clever interpretation: I never looked at it this way but now that you tell me this, it is indeed rather obvious... I don't recall Osterman couldn't see a future he's not involved in, but maybe... As for the mushroom cloud, it's more or less the 'trademark' of Dr. Manhattan so I'm not sure it's as clear as you say it is, but again, maybe... On the other hand, if Osterman can see only his own future, how can he be sure that the history of mankind will end this way? In any case, such 'obscure' ending just proves Osterman's point: nothing ever ends, and you can still find your own conclusion in continuing the story by yourself

All scriptwritters who have been in charge of this project began to work on it by removing the pirates part in all of their writings; at least, it's what I heard repetitively: concerning this movie project, it should be included as a DVD bonus IIRC, but in an anime format. As for its significance in the comic, I don't know but Moore is not really the type of author who puts deep meanings into his stories anyway, even if you can find some here and there: he's more an author who uses every narrative trick to set up a mood and an atmosphere, leaving the reader do what he wants with the final material; it's a way as another to make the audience participate to the whole artistic process. On the other hand, Watchmen being a heavy critiscism of the classic comics in general (where pirates stories had a particular place I think) and the super heroes ones in particular, there's probably a path to explore here if you look for meanings but I wouldn't spend too much time on this point if I were you: it looks more anecdotic than anything else to me but I'm not very expert of this culture Concerning the ending of the comic... Well, it's a very clever conclusion IMO because it makes you reconsider the whole story. I think Seymour did pick the diary of Rorschach and the whole story (like it is told in the comic) is in fact a reconstitution of all the facts by the cops in charge of the investigation after the publication of this diary in the New Frontiersman and the denunciation of all the suspicious acts of Veidt; because he can see the future, Osterman probably knew this, hence his declaration to Veidt. Keep in mind that this comic was first published in 1986 but the diary of Rorschach is one year older (first date is in october of 1985 IIRC): it's the time necessary to investigate and reconstitute the whole puzzle, which is particularly complex like you know; but once again, and if you accept this theory, the very final conclusion is still in the hands of the reader This is typical of Moore: his stories often can be read at several levels and from very different points of view while remaining amazing whatever way you look at them. He's definitively one of the best and should be remembered for several centuries at least, therefore it's almost impossible for the ones like him to be recognized by the general audience during their lifetime: classics always are hermetic, and if the movie ends exactly like the comic it'll very probably do low scores in the box office; I will not lose sleep over it anyway...

Speaking of RT, I watched The Shadow Chronicles lately: it was not bad at all but I found the directing a bit lacking, especially in the CG which were rather bulky in their modeling and awkward in their animation. Otherwise, this sequel deserves to be watched if you like RT, the haters will prefer to spend their time onto something else...

I was kidding of course: I simply had the luck to watch it in a theater when I was teen-ager (around 1990 IIRC) and I chased a VHS release during years after that: again, I had some luck and could get a record of a TV broadcast towards 1993; I religiously kept this VHS during a decade, until the DVD was finally out... As for the 'value' of this work, well it all depends on point of view. The original magazine having been a turning point of my way of thinking when I was child (for all sort of personal reasons which have no place here...), I just couldn't miss this movie when it was in the above-mentioned theater. But, in itself, it's perfectly uninteresting and empty of all sort of sense/depth/value/etc (is it the return of Eva which brings back these terms to the discussions boards by the way?) Concerning the magazine, it's more interesting: not because of the intrinsic values of its content but because it was a major break with the comic book market which existed at the moment. At least in France, it was some sort of revolution which set the bases of the present comics industry. Until Heavy Metal, the comics of this time clearly were intended to a young audience (mainly children, teen-agers at best...) but with this magazine all the artists of the underground could be publicly exposed in the kiosks and the bookstores, and the already established artists could give a try to different things than they usually worked on An interesting side note is that, in french, the magazine was called Métal Hurlant, which I'd translate as Screaming Metal and not Heavy Metal: the idea, I think, was to transmit the urge of some of the most talented people of the comics industry to make something different, something better suited for this period where the social crisis (unemployment, oil prices increases, etc) slowly but surely began to become preoccupying if not threating; hence the necessity for creative people to say what they were thinking instead of remaining confined in the naive cartoons or the politically correct super heroes stories and the likes. It was also the opportunity to let all these people express their deepest feelings like all artists are supposed to do, at least if they want to induce emotions into the spectators. They simply wanted to make comics leave the world of the youth, and they did it

The main problem of Ghost in the Shell, the Oshii's movies I mean, is IMO that it's far too much different than the original work of Shirow: in a interview given in the french edition of Dominion he said that he intended to make of his GitS manga some sort of action-police story set in a near future and in the style of the old TV series from the 60s and the 70s (or something like that, you get the point...), he actually never intended to make any sort of 'deep' work with sh!tload of sense value – or no sense value depending on your point of view... – but Oshii put his own vision onto it and now a lot of people thinks that GitS is a vastly profound piece of work or, worse, the quintessence of cyberpunk (which it is not, at least when you have read a bunch of books on the subject: let's say that this gender and this work share some similarities, like it's the case with Blade Runner or the Matrix, at least to some extent...); on the other hand, the TV series are far much more faithfull to the original manga and it's the one I'd recommend to the early fans So, yes, GitS tends to be greatly overrated like a lot of animes and manga around, Evangelion being the most overrated of all but we always have a bunch of threads on this one so there's no need to get another one. But, like Eva, I think GitS is an interesting movie, it's just that it's complex surface tends to obscure a work of not as much value and depth than some (too much?) people think, to paraphrase a famous cinema critic about the David Lynch movies (which also deserve this judgement while I'm at it). It's actually worse with GitS 2: Innocence but at least this one is damn pretty although it's a double-sided sword because when the audience has a strong emotional relationship with a work (and the goal of art is to induce emotions into the spectator), people tend to see into this work things which are not there, or at least not as much as they would want them to be; again, we can find the same problem with Eva: people simply need to give value to things they like, and remove value to things they don't like, whatever signification they give to this verb. Anyway, this notion of 'sense' or 'depth' just depends on your level of general culture in the end As for this 'new version' of the first GitS movie, a torrent is available and I began to watch it the day before yesterday but I couldn't finish it: it indeed looks far better but unfortunately just in the reanimated scenes; it results some sort of messy, unbalanced thing which tends to ruin all the efforts. Too bad: they should have reanimated it entirely instead of here and there

Because we already watched it 20 years ago