kalvasflam

It's all about high speed internet and where you are on the backbone as far as the download. I averaged 50 to 60 from the time I started, so total time was not bad at all for the download. In terms of what to watch. Think of the movies like Macross TV vs Macross: DYRL. The stories are fairly similar once you take out the minor nitpicks like the whole Zentran/Meltran thing. It has all the major plot points, i.e. Hikaru as recruit, Hikaru stranded with Minmei, Roy kicking the bucket, Hikaru stranded with Misa, Max fighting Milia, etc. I'd say watch the series first, it gives you a better appreciation of the movie. Otherwise, you'll go through the series later, and not like a lot of the small stuff they put in.

I think you're right to an extent, too many models in Gundam, but in Macross, there weren't enough models. In space war one, you had essentially VF-1, with two armored variants. Then five destroid models. I don't mind it I guess with just Macross, but I thought they should've had a few more models with the rest of the Earth forces. I'd compare this to the 1980s U.S. armed forces, there were four mainstay fighters at that point. Not to mention a plethora of other bombers, support aircraft, etc. That's why I come down on not quite enough models.

Personally, I don't know any designer other than Kawamori, but, his designs are the best in my opinion, the designs in CCA are pretty decent too, but I don't really know the person that Graham named. The only disappointment in Macross series was that they didn't have more variants on the VFs and mechs they had. Compared to Gundam verse, I think Macross comes up a little shy. But I don't mind too much, VF21 is my favorite Kawamori. Followed closely by VF-1, and although you guys might not believe it, GP02 from 0083.

Personally, I think the Neue Ziel was a bit better, but I liked the flexibility of GP03. All those missiles and extra bazookas... oh, and the beam sabers weren't bad either. Looking at the two designs, the GP03 was more of a heavy anti-mobile suit weapon, although with its beam cannon, and saber, it could just as easily be a ship killer. But in combat action, the Neue Ziel was a much better fleet killer. If the two fought together, the GP03 would go ahead of the Neue Ziel and clear out the MS, and the Neue Ziel would go kill the heavy warships.

Ah, the Neue Ziel, now that was an MA. Personally I liked it more than the Azieru. Mainly because it was not piloted by a newtype. But it kicked ass anyway. GP03 never stood a chance against it... at least not in Kou's hands. Destroy was supposed to be equivalent to Psycho Gundam I guess, but it was utterly unimpressive because they gave it to Stella. Bah.... but that just goes to show you how bad the characterization was in GSD.

The Transportation Security Agency? Why would anyone want to join the TSA, and why are they involved with Logos, ZAFT, and GSD? P.S. When you say killing off the bad guys... who are they again? I thought it was Kira et al... you mean they should've committed suicide?

In terms of the old vs new Galactica debate. I simply look at it as an attempt by sci-fi to put up a new show leveraging off the names and concept of an old classic. However, the new show has gone beyond its predecessor in my opinion, and now is able to stand on its own. To me new and old Galactica are just completely different shows, the only things they have in common are names, and the concept of surviving a holocaust. Now, things could still go south for this show, they've been talking about the Cylon plan, and so far, it's being hinted at around the fringes. If the storyline behind that plan is pulled off well, then the show will work out. In my estimation, BSG need to be a little like Babylon 5. In terms of story concept, they need to at some point have a momentous episode like the Coming of the Shadows or a Severed Dreams that moves the show along in a different direction and answer some key questions. There needs to be an ah'ha moment, that hasn't happened just yet.

Agreed, can anyone tell me what Kira et al really stand for? Oh, and speaking of Neo/Mwu, the ruthless user of innocent children as weapons, the evil SOB who manipulated Orb to do all his dirtywork, whatever did happen to him? Oh right... heh heh, he "recovered" his memory and became a hero. Ain't that funny. Wait a minute, who did he join again? Oh yeah, ha ha, the 3-ship alliance. Oh yes, let me assist in the death of tens of thousands, and all I have to do is claim I lost my memory, and all is well. Heh heh, that would sure fly.

I miss the old cast. But things change. I'm slowly getting in tune with the new crew, but the storyline just hasn't been that great after RDA became the general. At least they more or less tied up the Gou'ald arc. A few here and there left, but not many. SGA is a little better. Fresh concept.... more or less.

But how can we tax him if he doesn't live here.... oh wait.. heh heh, he hasn't made any money in a while to tax anyway. Never mind. Seriously though, I have a bit of a problem with the idea of having knock offs of the original. Somehow, the bastardization of the original Macross just seems blasphemous to me. After all, it's like throwing up a sign that says U.S. animators in the 80s has no good ideas and they have to get knock offs from everyone else. (actually, now that I think about it, that was pretty much true.... Simpsons was late 80s, and the Flintstones were the 70s).

May be Jack Bauer will act as a supporting character for a season, that might be a nice switch up. Cause let's face it, after all the hell he has gone through the ideal thing would be to retire to some tropical island.

I think they need to go back to the first season model. Hopefully the start of the storyline will have that happening since it's almost a major personal impact to Bauer. Just have to what and see what develops. They can't draw on the old cast of bad guys at all, except for may be naked Mandy. Now I wish they didn't just off Nina. Heck, even Imhotep surviving would have been good.

Cheesy, yes, but at least it's better than Alias. More... uh... realistic. Ha ha ha ha. Graham, you didn't miss out on much with season 4. We'll see how season 5 turned out. And I bet you stopped watching season 3, after they shot Nina.

I think the difference is that the America back then is nothing like the America now. They would've kept on fighting even if Hawaii was lost. The only reason the Japanese thought that the U.S. might fold would be because the way WWI ended. The U.S. became very isolationist after the war, and the Japanese must have thought that as a sign of weakness. The only other reason for the U.S. to come to the bargaining table is if they wanted to absolutely crush Hitler first. No doubt through mid 1942, the Japanese was doing exactly as Yamamoto predicted, running wild. But it didn't last long after. I also think that in the grand scheme of things, Japan was at most a junior partner in the Axis, as opposed to the Italians, who were essentially the bitch in the Axis powers. As for the Brits, by the end 1941 they essentially had turned the tide. The Nazis were too busy pummeling the Commies, and the only real threat to Britian was U-boats, and even on that front the Brits were starting to win. The Brits were porbably most threatened in 1940. But effective convoys made at least part of the Atlantic crossing safer. As for the Russkies, they had two great allies on their side, the Russian winter, and the little corporal in Germany who was busy playing field marshall. I think Europe was a very near thing. Lend/lease notwithstanding, the Russians held out through pure tenacity. The Germans came very close in 1941, if it wasn't for the little corporal, I think they could've taken Moscow in 1941. (the only people that managed to do even close to that time frame were the Mongols, and they came from the opposite direction, the real long way.) So, worst case scenario, the Germans knock the Russians out of the war, but still doesn't have what it takes to take Britian. I think with your premise. The alternate reality works only if the isolationists take over completely. Pearl Harbor ensured that will never happen. Hey, even the Iraq war was supported by a majority 18 months after 9/11. If the U.S. had been reversed in the Pacific, they may well have taken the eye off Germany, but I think the under no circumstances is there an Imperial Japan at the end of 1947. I say 1947 because I'm assuming the IJN keeps winning thorugh 1943, it'll take the U.S. that long to regain the balance militarily with conventional arms. Then starting the in 1946. They start nuking strategic targets in Japan. And then, the Japanese military collapses as its central authority is wiped out. Think of the blow if Tokyo got nuked, and the emperor was killed. Then depending on who is in charge, Japan gets taken over or bombed into oblivion. (that of course means, no anime for any of us. ) Many people have argued that the atom bombs were cruel, but historically, if Japan was assaulted with conventional forces, the death toll becomes even more catastrophic. Or worse, if the Americans don't want to shed their own blood, they just blockade Japan, bomb its industry and literally starve the home islands into surrender. An effective blockade with subs and continual bombardment of Japanese industry would have probably brought famine to the home islands in 1947 or so. Then a year or two after that, the U.S. could have literally strolled onto Japan, wipe out the few remaining stragglers, and declared it the 49th state at that point.

Here is to hoping that the plot is not as convoluted as last season. I enjoyed Imhotep escaping as much as the next person, but when you have him do it 50 times in the season, it gets a little old. Not to metion, the plot within a plot within a plot within a plot. Geez, how many backup plans can one guy have?

Agreed, that was never the mission. But their own strategic concept was to knock out the Americans enough to truly establish their own sphere of influence. The places they wanted included Australia, all of SE Asia. Basically to supplant the Brits and the Amis as the master of Asia. However, they ignored some strategic reality. They really should have taken Hawaii. Once that's gone, the next closest naval base is SF or SD. Because the Amis had Hawaii, it enabled them to strategically place their forces. What is Hawaii but a gigantic unsinkable aircraft carrier. Yep, you're right about this as well. The Japanese forces were quite stretched at the time, certainly the force that hit Pearl couldn't have taken it. But they should've coordinated the strike with the IJA. It's a long way to go, but if they take Hawaii, you cut the U.S. off from the rest of Asia. SF or SD to Australia or Phillipines, well, that's a long way to go. At that point, the Japanese army was at its peak. I think it would've been possible to take Hawaii, it would've been bloody, and it would've postponed the assault on SE Asia by at least six months. But at the end of this, the IJN would've had a dominant position in the Pacific. In the long run, they still lose. Consider what was thrown at them by 1944. They could not hope to match that force. Yamamoto was absolutely right about sleeping giant. U.S. had enough to fight a two front war, and then do R&D for a nuke. Japan was doomed from the start. Actually, there was one last, and very one sided night engagement at Leyte, where the ghosts of Pearl Harbor raped the Japanese surface forces that was coming up from the south. Olendorf's old BBs and cruiser task force practically destroyed the entire Japanese force. True enough, but the Iowa would still have beaten up on the Yamato in a mano e' mano fight. To Major Jonathan: I think you and I differ on the Japanese ability to win the war. 1941 was the turning point of WWII. Everyone knew the U.S. would get in on the act eventually, but it was a matter of timing. That's what WWII turned on. The later the U.S. got in, the better the chances for the Axis. i.e. If the Germans took England, they own Europe. Everyone else had been committed and bloodied by the end of 1941. The Japanese had limited strategic aim, it was their one failing. Everyone else had zero illusions about peace treaties except the Japanese. I think WWII was a war of ideology more than territory. There would be winners, and the losers would be dead. Part of it may be the Japanese's ingrained sense of superiority, and you know, they weren't wrong from the track record up till December 7th. They figured they were so tough that if they hit someone hard enough, the opposition would just fold. After all, there were still elements of the Japanese military that were talking about a conditional peace after Hiroshima. That's just stupid.

No doubt industry was the main reason for the Japan's downfall. But all these other factors didn't help much either. Rotating pilots could have helped with their attrition rate. Ultimately they still lose, but they could've made the war last longer.

Yep, also true, the Zero was for a time the most agile thing around, but it had a glass jaw. Hit it just once, and it'd burst into flames. The design tradeoff was great as long as the IJN had capable pilots. But they didn't because of their refusal to rotate experienced pilots back in to train rookies. The planes weren't designed to be survivable, no armor, no self sealing gas tanks, you name it. The zeroes usually didn't have it. Also true is the fact that some of the experienced flyers did survive, who was the guy that led the Pearl attack? I think he lived throughout the war. Their skills were quite good, I think he and a few others actually managed to surprise some of the American carrier pilots over Honshu with their skills. Since the Americans had thought that by then all the Japanese pilots were rookies. But one super ace against fifty experienced flyers will still have the same result since the super ace wouldn't have an uber fighter.

Well, considering what they've done with Godzilla and CGI these days, it's not out of the question.

I heard about those anti-air 18 inchers. Although I bet most pilots just laughed it off. It would've been a shot gun effect, and even in those days, the planes were packed that closely. That was what you'd call a desparation move when the IJN realized they could no longer match the Americans in the air. The Japanese made several poor choices for all their brilliance. They were the first to see how useful aircraft carriers could be, yet they continue to botch things up with more battleships. Although in fairness, they did convert the third Yamato class, the Shinano. But that was sunk by a sub. Another area the IJN neglected. Where as the Germans failed to strangle England with U-boats, the Americans succeeded in strangling Japan. A lot of this was cultural. It was not considered honorable to be on a destroyer hunting submarines. It was more honorable on a destroyer armed with long lances and going after cruisers. Although the former was more effective in a strategic sense since it would've saved a lot of their transport shipping. The same thing with their pilots. The original pilots on the Kido Butai (Japanese carrier task force) were considered the best carrier pilots all around. They raped and pillaged their way through six months in the Pacific. But the IJN never really rotated their pilots, so the experience wasn't passed down well to new pilots. It wasn't honorable to be training newbies, more honorable to die in a glorious ball of fire burning and screaming. After a while, attrition killed off the best pilots in the IJN, and they were forced to send up inexperienced pilots to fight. All the while their American opponents rotated in and out training up new pilots, in the end, you get results like the great Marianas turkey shoot.

The storyline will probably be along the lines of them first meeting after Leyte. Speaking about the evils of war. And something about duty and honor, and then he bids her a fond farewell as he goes off onto his suicide mission to Okinawa. She either sneaks on board and they die together (unlikely), or he survives the sinking and they end up reuniting after the war. Either way, there will sure to be some pictures of those cowardly devil gaijin warmongers in their evil torpedo bombers racing in to sink the proud battleship Yamato, and her sister the Musashi. Now to reality, yeah, the IJN made a mess of the actual operation. The surface force was supposed to be on a suicide mission, and they acted like they weren't on that mission at all. When a cruiser was damaged by torpedoes, they had destroyers escorting the sucker back home. Had they pressed home the attack, they would've wiped out at least two of the CVE groups and may be even got in sight of the landing area before Halsey came back and kicked their ass. But credit were it's due, the escort destroyers from the first CVE group sacrificed themselves and did their fair share of damage. For those who are interested, the rest of that site is dedicated to the IJN, was quite comprehensive and very interesting.

Interesting, I wonder if they ever credited Yamato with any kills. The pity of it was that they never tried to actually take Pearl on December 7th. It would've being a truly bloody affair, but I can imagine the Yamato off the shores of Waikiki providing fire support for the imperial Japanese army. I know the surface force did an OK job against a carrier escort group in the end of Leyte. But I recall the Yamato was forced away because of torpedoes from the escorting destroyer groups. So, the wet dream of battleships at gun range against carriers never really occurred. In terms of battleships. The Yamato was no doubt the biggest, but there are many who will say that the Yamato was not the best ship of its time in spite of its gigantic 18 inch guns. The web site below is pretty interesting, the link refers to a comparison of the foremost battleships of the time. http://www.combinedfleet.com/baddest.htm They make a few interesting points, of course, a mano e mano fight like that one would've never occurred. By the time the U.S. rolled out the Jersey class BB, the U.S. Pacific fleet (i.e. the U.S. Navy) was a carrier oriented force. Before the battleships ever got into range of one another, the airplanes on both sides would've taken over.

That'll be something to see. Heh heh. I wonder how long it'll be, this special ending episode. May be they'll just roll it in with the compliation, and make it one long damned recap episode with a few new pieces of dialouge and animation. Athrun: "Kira" Kira: "Yes?" Athrun: "I decided to swear off women forever." Kira: "Oh?" Athrun: "Yes, I wanted to really tell you this, you could probably figure it out from the ending sequences since the beginning of Seed up until now, but Kira, I love you, man." Kira: "Oh Athrun, I've been waiting so long for you to say this, I love you too, let's make out." They kiss, and we fade out. This scene would be the final fart YOU to the fans courtesy of the team that brought you GSD.

All I can say is, I wish Rowling could share some of her millions with me. She is taking home bank with the Potter series. Heck, she'll probably make more than the heirs of Tolkien with the entire series at the end of the day. Lucky.

I'm bored, so I'll answer, it's too open ended a question. Are you assuming the enemy is same technology level? Do you have space superiority? etc, etc Assuming you have space superiority, and you have to take the planet with substantial enemy ground forces. You start by pounding their positions to dust from orbit. If there are strategic locations you have to take intact, you send in your troops to those. I would not send a capital ship to the surface.... you might be open to more attacks that way from enemy ground troops.