Seto Kaiba

Macross 7 definitely works better as a weekly series. It's not something that benefits from watching multiple episodes in one sitting or a full-on marathon to get through it as quickly as possible. That slow burn start of very nearly 20 episodes is a pain in the butt, in no small part due to the early lack of musical variety, but it does a good job of getting all the main characters established before the plot proper kicks off with the creation of Sound Force. I'd actually recommend watching Macross Dynamite 7 and the Macross 7 movie The Galaxy is Calling Me!. They're much tighter, self-contained stories than the main series and some of what goes on there is a little bit important later on. At least in other side stories.

Gundam almost never actually does that, though. The RX-78 was intended to be an actual prototype, but most of those that came after weren't even technology demonstrators. They were simply showy ace custom units that were in no way intended to refined into something practical, like the Double Zeta, the Nu, or the Unicorn. One of the few exceptions there is the RX-178 Gundam Mk.II from Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, which was an actual production model that never got mass produced due to the Titans huffily cancelling their order after three of the four trial production units ended up in the AEUG's hands. The one infamous actually-mass-produced Gundam being the Victory from the series by the same name. In both the game version and novel version of Macross 30: Voices Across the Galaxy, Aisha does imply that she (and by extension, SMS and the Shinsei Industry dev team) planned to take the YF-30 design into further development towards a production concept. (Aisha fairly gushes about how the container system's going to revolutionize Valkyrie design.) It's not so much that they didn't have a choice after the events of Macross 30, it's that they were always planning to market the YF-30's innovations not tied to Richard Bilra's personal obsession. The novel version mentions that various SMS branches have been collaborating with the defense industry in a way the military no longer can in order to get their foot in the door of that lucrative market for themselves.

So... Turkey! Time to Strike is a thing that exists. The first twenty minutes of this series are a "What do you mean it's not awesome?" girls sports anime about bowling, in a similar vein to Iwa-kakeru! and Birdie Wing... with a very unsuccessful school bowling team of five girls having one member quit because they're always losing, a match to attempt to persuade her to stay on the team, and then it starts getting weird. The only thing I can say to this is "What." I do not get it even a little.

As a trope/cliche, it has its origins in the original 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam series as a sort of Drama Preserving Handicap. Mobile Suit Gundam was the first "real robot" subgenre mecha anime, and even though the series more or less established the idea of mass producing giant robots as weapons of war the titular mobile suit still had a lot of "super robot" DNA in it. The Gundam was a de facto one-of-a-kind hero mecha that singlehandedly changed the course of the war with its incredible capabilities. Its exotic super alloy armor made it nearly impervious to the enemy's weapons. Its beam rifle and beam sabers were so powerful they could destroy an enemy robot in a single hit. Its learning computer meant that it got better at fighting with every battle it fought and its kid pilot became a better fighter the more experience he gained. White Base's mission was to return the Gundam, Guncannon, and Guntank to the Federation Forces HQ on Earth so they could be analyzed and the data from them used to complete the Federation's mobile suit program. Resolving that thread of Gundam's plot posed a problem. They couldn't very well have the Gundam itself be mass produced without removing their hero mecha's visual distinctiveness and removing any prospects for future dramatic tension in the story. It wouldn't be much of a war once the Federation entered the fray with thousands of identical, nigh-invulnerable robots that could each take on whole squads of Zeon mobile suits at a time. So they created the GM as a "loser" version of the Gundam so the Gundam would remain special and visually distinctive and the Federation could have cannon fodder machines without having to bring the Gundam down to "normal" status. That's the Doylist explanation. The accompanying Watsonian explanation they cooked up to justify the GM's existence is that the Federation originally did intend to mass produce the RX-78 Gundam. The course of the war, the cost involved, and the immediacy of their need for large numbers of mobile suits in the field forced them to compromise and simplify their design to speed up production and get as many units in the field as quickly as possible. They started with the RX-78 Gundam's basic design and started removing everything that was not considered 100% necessary and/or a potential cost or time bottleneck in production. Luna titanium got the axe because it took too long to make and cost too much. Core Block functions were removed as unnecessary complexity. The simpler head design from the Guncannon was adopted because it was easier to manufacture, etc. The end result was the RGM-79 GM, a machine with higher performance than Zeon's flagship MS's but without the invincible hero properties of the Gundam. Had the Federation's need for mobile suits not been quite so immediate and urgent, they would have proceeded to mass produce the Gundam and the final stages of the war would likely have gone VERY differently (and a great deal worse for Zeon). Past that point, though... the writers kind of forget that aspect entirely and Gundams become one-off super machines that Anaheim Electronics makes to try out a new technology or simply because they have nothing better to do. The next few "real robot" titles kind of played with the idea of a mass-produced hero mecha, but ultimately avoided it through plot contrivances. Dougram had the titular mecha be set up for mass production but then the factory and blueprints were destroyed, leaving it a one-of-a-kind machine. Xabungle also implies that the Xabungle is a production machine but a very low volume one with only a handful made. It's not until Super Dimension Fortress Macross that we get our first real robot mecha anime with a truly mass-produced "hero" machine, eliminating the need for super prototypes or super prototype-like plot contrivances.

In some of the line art, it looks like that case might almost be large enough to hold one of the drums... but we don't actually know that the drum is the laser machine pistol's magazine, or where the magazine is. Pretty much, yeah. The 6th Generation prototypes veer heavily towards Gundam-style Super Prototype territory heavily enough as it is. The main thing keeping them from actually getting there is that they're held in reserve as an 11th Hour Powerup for the story's climax rather than being the main mecha, and that in-story the developers absolutely intended to mass produce them as-is instead of watering them down into a much weaker production machine.

According to Macross Chronicle Mechanic Sheet SDFM TV Zentradi 03A "Nousjadeul-Ger", it's a magazine case meant to hold reloads for the Nousjadeul-Ger's handheld weapons like the laser machine pistol it normally wields. One would presume the UN Marine Corps would be primarily naval infantry, with armored and aerial support as appropriate... though we have almost no way of confirming that. There are precious few sources that actually mention the UN Marine Corps. The oldest, the Sky Angels VF-1 Valkyrie tech manual, mentions that there were a substantial number of Marines stationed aboard the SLV-111 Daedalus. Not as Destroid operators, but as a naval infantry force supported by a number of marine aviators to man the helicopters, fighters, and support craft carried aboard the ship. Sky Angels also asserts that there were UN Marine fighter and fighter/attack squadrons using the VF-1 Valkyrie. Macross Zero does show one UN Marine Corps soldier named Katie training with the VF-0 pilots and indicates she's going to be training on a VF-0. Official media does mention the Marine Corps had a purpose-made VF-0 variant of their own (the VF-0C). Hasegawa did a model kit for it back in the day, and the markings they chose to give it were those of UN Marine Corps model conversion training squadron VMFAT-203 Hawks. The Hawks are noted to have been a Hawaii-based squadron that had a number of aircraft stationed aboard SLV-111 Daedalus in 2008. The Hawks transitioned to the VF-1 Valkyrie in 2009 and trained Marine Corps aviators on the fighter for a brief time before being transferred to being a Spacy Marine Corps squadron under the designation SVFM-31 (probably supposed to be SVMF-31) for a period of about two years until they were again reorganized by the newly established New UN Forces and became a Spacy squadron as SVF-31. I wonder if the regular Marine Corps simply got absorbed by, or is interchangeable with, the Spacy Marine Corps past a certain point?

I'm pretty sure they care at least a little, since they have mentioned the Dancing Skulls in other volumes and the references to the VF-3000's classified deployment to Special Forces units is pretty clearly a reference to Macross M3. That said, I'd assume the Neo York Liberation League probably didn't purchase their VF-3000s from Shinsei Industry and wouldn't be mentioned among their legitimate/intended customers. Of course there is also the possibility that the VF-3000s in Macross M3 are being retroactively identified as PMC craft hired by the Liberation League. Cost-effectiveness was certainly a priority for a lot of 2nd Generation VFs, but I think a solid argument can be made that cost-effectiveness was just one of several shifting priorities which were part of the larger generational objective of developing VFs around the evolving (and at the time poorly-understood) needs of early emigrant fleets and planets. Early 2nd Generation Variable Fighters like the VF-X-3, VF-4, and VF-3000 don't mention cost or ease of manufacture as a primary design objective. The VF-X-3 was lost during the First Space War but was said to have performance exceeding that of even the VF-4. The VF-4 and VF-3000 were both designed to address the shortcomings of the original VF-1 in space operations. Larger airframes with more room for internal propellant tanks and sub-engine systems. Larger and longer-ranged energy weapons to reduce their dependence on limited ammunition. Improved live support systems in the event of the craft being disabled or destroyed, to preserve the life of the pilot as long as possible while waiting for a rescue. Both of those models were introduced around the time of the very first emigrant fleet launches. Those 2nd Generation designs that entered development or service after Humanity started to discover habitable planets are the ones that, surely not coincidentally, are described with statements like "inexpensive" and "easily manufactured on developing emigrant planets". Once emigrant fleets started actually finding habitable worlds that they could start colonizing right away, suddenly the need wasn't just for big Valkyries with high operational endurance in space. Now they also needed something light and inexpensive that they could use for planetside service. Something they could manufacture on the cheap without jeopardizing their development plans for the planet's surface. So from there, we get a bevy of low-cost, low-complexity solutions like the VF-5, VF-6, VF-7, VF-5000, and finally VF-9 that all served as supplements to the VF-4. Both Macross Chronicle and Master File generally agree that the thing that did the most damage to the VF-3000's prospects was the fact that it was essentially Stonewell Bellcom (later Shinsei Industry) competing against itself unnecessarily. The company already had a largely complete next-generation main Variable Fighter program focusing on improved space performance under active testing with the New UN Forces... the VF-4 Lightning III. If Master File is correct the VF-3000 may have served as an important test that the newly formed Shinsei Industry was up to the job of continuing VF development and manufacture for the New UN Forces (the VF-4 having been mostly a prewar program), but the final product was still basically redundant as a competitor to a design the New UN Forces had already decided to adopt. Based on what's said in the Macross 30: Voices Across the Galaxy novelization, the events of Macross the Ride straight-up created a market for replicas of those old model VFs. Not only are there other cases of replicas being built, there's supposedly a direct causal relationship between the two. In Macross 30's novel version, Leon mentions in passing that the VF-0 Phoenix in SMS's possession - the one Leon gets stuck with in the game version's tutorial - is a replica which was produced commercially to capitalize on the popularity of a particular Vanquish League racer's replica VF-0 from two years prior. The only VF-0 that competed in the league in 2058 was Hakuna Aoba's VF-0改 "Sieg"/"Zeke", so apparently his participation made enough of a stir that someone (Shinsei?) decided to produce replica VF-0s with modern parts (from the VF-1C and VF-5000) for the civilian market. It wouldn't be at all surprising if Magdalena Zielonaska's SV-52γ, which participated in the league for far longer than Hakuna Aoba's VF-0改 did, created a similar stir and demand for a commercially-available replica machine. Replica SV-51s are found on Uroboros in 2060, and someone has to be making them and selling them to civilians. It wouldn't be all that surprising if they were already commercially available before 2060 and the manufacturer was engaged with the film's production as a product placement or something. As far as we know, yeah... the 2059 film Bird Human was the first time the recently-declassified events of the Mayan Island incident were dramatized. I'd assume the films Master File is referring to here are dramatizations of other incidents previously mentioned in Master File or possibly other sources like Macross the First. They don't specify, though. There are at least two other major engagements mentioned... the attack on Grand Cannon III in Africa and the ill-fated plan to attack the UN Forces HQ at Grand Cannon I in Alaska that was almost literally foiled before it could get off the ground. Incidentally, I'm told the remark about the one time the VF-3000 played the role of the SV-51 by being painted black is almost certainly meant to be a reference to Top Gun, which used US Navy F-5E's painted black as the fictional "MiG-28". Very dubious indeed. Epsilon Foundation absolutely has access to the Sv-303 since they make the bloody things, but regular enemies? In Macross Delta: Absolute Live!!!!!! they're presented as a production (or production-intent) unmanned fighter that outclasses even the 5.5th Generation VF-31 Siegfried and Sv-262 Draken III. Even Xaos's VF-31AX Kairos Plus - which Master File asserts are a hasty and incomplete conversion of the VF-31 Siegfried into a experimental/developmental 6th Generation test machine - were only barely able to keep up with them one-on-one. Max's 6th Generation YF-29 was the only machine that really outclassed them... which probably owes at least as much to Max's own over-the-top specs as it does the YF-29's. 😆 Eh... I mean, that was kind of already explicitly the case going the other way from the YF-29's introduction in Macross Frontier: the Wings of Goodbye. Fold quartz in general is quite rare. It does occur in nature, but it's implied that the vast majority of what's out there is synthesized either by the Vajra or the Protoculture. The 5th Generation VFs like the VF-24, VF-25, VF-27, and VF-31 use the stuff sparingly and only where it's absolutely unavoidable. Namely, the Inertia Store Converter protecting the pilot from the incredible g-forces the fighter is capable of. The rest of its systems use high quality synthetic fold carbon. The fold quartz they use is of a size and purity that's common enough to make ISC systems with reliable output in bulk. Presumably it's similar in size to what we see them pulling out of Vajra carcasses... an oblong sliver of gemstone around three centimeters or so long. (Maybe 20 or so carats if we assume a comparably sized and shaped diamond?) In short, 5th Generation VFs can be mass produced precisely because their fold quartz is comparatively low quality enough to be accessible in bulk. The size and purity of fold quartz needed to make a working Fold Wave System for a 6th Generation VF is explicitly borderline Unobtainium, however. The YF-29's Fold Wave System needed four 1,000 carat pieces of ultra-high purity fold quartz to function. Sure, 1,000 carats is only 200 grams, but that's still a gemstone of about the same size as a regulation baseball at a purity level that Macross Frontier says can only be found in Vajra queens. Master File claims that reproducing the performance of Alto's original YF-29[A] is essentially impossible because fold quartz of the requisite size and purity simply does not exist in any accessible form and that all subsequent YF-29s are lower-performance copies of the original due to inferior fold quartz. Even ignoring Master File, such high-quality fold quartz is so impossibly rare that officially only a double handful of YF-29s have ever been built and they're all essentially irreplaceable. Macross Delta's VF-31 Siegfrieds and VF-31AX Kairos Pluses are equipped with an economized version of the FWS which uses less (and lower purity) fold quartz. The required material is still incredibly rare and expensive, but it's at least affordable enough for them to field half a dozen of their FWS-equipped custom VF-31s with reduced performance as the main consequence. (Master File alleges this version of the FWS also needs an external fold wave source to operate.) Eh... I think that still creates the problem of having a unit of invincible godmode sues whose VFs have no limits.

Starting a new one... Cultural Exchange with a Game Centre Girl. After one episode, it feels like light "feel good" sort of entertainment. Nothing deep or complex, just people having fun together and learning about each other. If I had to sum it up in a short punchy remark... "It's a vibe". A very cheerful, upbeat vibe at that. Another new one... See You Tomorrow at the Food Court. Between the general weirdness, the constant non-sequiturs, and the shortform stories it reminds me a lot of Azumanga Daioh.

Private Tutor to the Duke's Daughter has a new episode... and it's probably going to be the first series I drop this season.

That is definitely another possibility, yes. To be honest, I kind of hope that Macross's creators don't go that route yet. The scarcity of fold quartz and its amazing potential to revolutionize technology has been the centerpiece of two major conflicts in the setting thus far. Unless we're moving way down the timeline it would feel like too much progress too quickly for Humanity to suddenly go from needing to scrounge around in Protoculture ruins and old Vajra nests for leftover fold quartz to being able to manufacture the stuff on their own without limit the way they do fold carbon in a measly few decades when it took the Protoculture a century or two. Not to mention what a massive, massive game-changer it would be for every aspect of technology.

We've got no idea what's in store for the next Macross series... which is going to be a Bandai Namco project IIRC. The one thing I'd expect there is they'll want to have 50,000 variants and equipment options so that they can milk those plamodel molds. Of course, if there's ever any proper official media coverage of Macross Delta: Absolute Live!!!!!!'s mecha the backstory in Master File has a coin flip's chance of being replaced outright with something else entirely, so we probably shouldn't take it as read that the Sv-300, Sv-301, and Sv-302 exist in the official setting at all. Right now Master File is literally the one and only source that talks about both the VF-31AX and Sv-303 in any significant detail, so it's kind of the answer by default. Given what Macross Delta's extra features and Master File have said about the state of new VF development, I'm really wondering how far the envelope is going to be pushed in the next series. Macross Delta: Absolute Live!!!!!! is set nine years after the events of Macross Frontier and its movies. Back at the start of Macross Delta, Kawamori indicated the VF-31 is in the final stages of operational acceptance testing and is set to enter service as the Brisingr Alliance New UN Forces next main fighter c.2068-2069. They're a good seven to eight years behind the wealthier emigrant fleets and planets that started transitioning their forces to 5th Generation Valkyries as early as 2060, and it's likely that they'll remain their main variable fighters for at least 20 years. The concept for the 6th Generation Variable Fighter was teased by the extra features in Macross Delta's home video release and bluntly spelled out in Master File. If that's the real direction they're going, what we can expect to see from future hero Valkyries is: Manned-Unmanned Teaming (aka "Loyal Wingman" platforms) where a manned Valkyrie is supported by and controlling multiple drone fighters in the field, similar to what the VF-2SS does in Macross II or the Sv-262 and Sv-303 do in Macross Delta. Fold wave systems as a standard feature. It's implied that the presence of a fold wave system or derivative thereof is what makes the Siegfried and Draken III "Gen 5.5". Fold quartz-enhanced engines as a standard feature, like the /FC2 or /FC3 designs. Beam gunpods as standard The main roadblock to production and adoption of 6th Generation Variable Fighters has been established to be fold quartz. Humanity can't independently synthesize it. Supplies of the stuff are finite, it's a heavily restricted material due to the dangers involved in its procurement and its weapons potential, and fold quartz of sufficient size and purity to create a fold wave system is indicated to be vanishingly rare and nearly impossible to obtain even on planets with large deposits of fold quartz. One has to wonder if we'll see an extension of the idea Master File tabled where the New UN Forces are willing to accept a lower-quality fold wave system made using the best and highest-quality fold carbon Humanity can synthesize (which is said to be only 1% as effective) or if they decide to reinvent the 6th Generation and ditch the fold wave system as one of its key requirements. I'm kind of surprised that we haven't seen a DX Chogokin Sv-303 yet. It's a main mecha in the movie and it's been literal years now. They literally had Bandai's toy division help with the designs for the movie so that they could maximize the profits from merchandising, so it's weird that the only new DX's we got from it are the VF-31AX and Bogue's Sv-262 "Red Knight" version.

Oh boy, more "Adventure slop"... The Shy Hero and the Assassin Princesses is back... Scooped Up By an S-Rank Adventurer has a new episode...

Yeah, those old VF-11s are hard to come by. I think I paid about 25% more than that when I got mine. If we ever get a DX Chogokin VF-11 that price might collapse a bit, but I've been holding out hope for that for ages... (partly because I want a Mina Forte VF-11C).

Been a long day... let's see what Crunchyroll's found anything in the Summer '25 simulcast season that's actually worth watching. New Saga has a new episode today... Tedious in the extreme. I'm strongly considering dropping this one. Betrothed to My Sister's Ex has a new episode... which I am feeling MUCH more enthusiastic about! Still fun, I have a feeling this one's going to be my favorite for the season. Secrets of the Silent Witch also has a new episode... For what it's worth, when I read (and later watched) Attack on Titan I felt that the sense of mystery surrounding the Titans and the Titan Shifters and the foreboding that went with it was an essential part of the story. It was the very embodiment of Nothing is Scarier. (I am admittedly a great big fan of horror as an art form so my bias is going to be on full display here...) The idea that the world within the Walls was all there was of civilization made the entire rest of the setting into one massive liminal space. The sense of isolation within desolation and oppressive emptiness of the world was the fuel for a great sense of horror and foreboding throughout the first half. This was made doubly effective by the Titans themselves. Normally seeing a person on the horizon in such an isolated space is cause for great relief. Attack on Titan turned that on its ear and made it cause for terror. Anything remotely person-shaped outside the Walls is a Monster that will Eat You without a moment's hesitation. Not knowing where the likes of Ymir, Grisha, Reiner, or Annie came from helped maintain that sense of mystery and oppressive horror. Was there some other, isolated city out in that vast desolation? Did the Titans have a civilization? Are these monsters really as mindless as they appear or was there malice behind them? These mysteries helped keep the story engaging. IMO, the Big Reveal that history as it was known to the protagonists was one huge lie, that the world of Attack on Titan was largely similar to ours in terms of its geography, culture, and technology aside from the existence of the Titans, and that the rest of the world was not only not utterly desolate but positively thriving really fatally punctured the horror with mundane explanations and real world familiarity. The only thing that remained mysterious was the Titans themselves, and that was demoted to essentially "just magic". Eren being a completely unrepentant heel for the entire second half of the story really was a poor creative choice, IMO. I know it's that kind of story, but it'd have been nice to see some progression or the idea that he was at least struggling with what he felt was his preordained destiny to destroy the world. Instead, he just kind of flips from a tyke bomb who hates the Titans with a thoroughly understandable passion to a Misanthrope Supreme and Omnicidal Maniac all at once. It would have been nice to see more of a moral spectrum besides just "awful person" and "extremely awful person"...

The development history of the Sv-303 Vivasvat given in Variable Fighter Master File: VF-31AX Kairos Plus - which to date remains the only source to talk about the fighters in the second Macross Delta movie at any reasonable length - describes the Sv-303 as an offshoot/rethink of a series of manned fighter developments that Windermere IV's Chancellor Brehm commissioned from the Epsilon Foundation. According to Master File, the original request (with the working designation Sv-300) was for a new manned fighter to supplement or replace the Sv-262 with better performance than the New UN Forces new VF-31. Both the overtuned FF-2999/FC2 Stage IIG engine and the Twin Quartz Drive system used in the Sv-303 were originally developed for use in the Sv-300. Changing priorities on the customer's (Windermere IV's) side led to the program being abruptly cancelled shortly before Sv-300 prototype No.1 was scheduled to be delivered for testing. Two other related manned fighter programs, Sv-301 and Sv-302, were also cancelled at the same time. Exactly what drove Windermere IV's government to change its mind and cancel the development of manned Valkyries in favor of a next-generation unmanned fighter controlled using newly-developed biological fold wave communications technology is left unstated. Well, the overtuned FF-2999/FC2 engines and Twin Quartz Drive were originally intended for use in a twin-engine VF with performance rivaling or exceeding the VF-31, so that's a big part of it. They reused the existing modified engine design for the unmanned fighter. The rest of it is on the addition of the sub-engines. Windermere IV must have asked for Dian Cecht to design the most balls-to-the-wall bonkers thing they could make if cost wasn't an overriding concern and they had no shortage of high quality fold quartz. For their part, Dian Cecht seems to have used as many high-spec off-the-shelf parts as possible to get the job done quickly. Of course, the substantial weight reduction caused by abolishing the cockpit block and all of its attendant support systems and the de facto replacement of other equipment like radars, radios, energy conversion armor, active stealth system, etc. with the Mirage Package no doubt helped them push that envelope as far as they could.

Watched a few more episodes of Dandadan, because the neighbors are still setting off fireworks like 4th of July wasn't a week ago. 🙃

In a bid to rescue what remains of my fragile sanity after a day of bureaucratic tedium, I took a whack at the section of Variable Fighter Master File: VF-0 Phoenix given over to talking about the VF-3000. Much of what it has to say is the same as what's said in Variable Fighter Master File: VF-1 Valkyrie, such as that the VF-3000 program got its start as an offshoot/continuation of VF-1 program at Stonewell Bellcom before the merger with Shinnakasu Heavy Industry and Shinsei Manufacturing that formed the modern Shinsei Industry in 2012. Unlike the section in the VF-1 Master File, the VF-0 Master File actually discusses the VF-3000's design too. As Master File has it, development of the VF-3000 was a bit of a speedrun on Stonewell Bellcom's part after the First Space War. Stonewell Bellcom's design team deliberately kept its design as conventional as possible, to minimize the number of risks taken during development and to facilitate the reuse of development and test data from the VF-0 and VF-1 in the simulation and practical test phases. Keeping the same basic structure, albeit with a size closer to that of the VF-0, facilitated the inclusion of all kinds of quality-of-life improvements like additional propellant tanks in the legs for space use, expanded life support equipment for space use, larger energy capacitors for the laser weapons, and room for future upgrade hardware of all kinds. The cockpit block was set up as a two-seater by default, at the request of the UN Forces. It was designed to be operated by a single pilot, but it seems the UN Forces considered the VF-3000 a possible candidate for use in interstellar research fleets due to its excess of internal space. The second seat was theoretically earmarked for use by research personnel who would operate any optional research equipment installed on the aircraft. It was also tentatively considered a potential fighter-bomber, with the rear set able to be fitted out with the necessary controls for a RIO. It's said that the first prototype - internally codenamed MD-3000-01 - rolled off the line at L5 in September 2011. MD-3000-02 followed it off the line shortly thereafter, with Unit 01 being used for atmospheric testing and Unit 02 for space testing. Initial evaluations were satisfactory, with its longer operating time/range in space being particularly praised. What the UN Forces weren't entirely pleased with was the longer time required to change modes... being 30% longer than those of the VF-1 Valkyrie. This was considered to be a bit of a deal breaker by the UN Forces, who asked that this be improved if possible and contracted with Stonewell Bellcom for nine prototype aircraft tentatively dubbed VF-3000 Crusader according to Stonewell Bellcom's internal codename for the program. Stonewell Bellcom didn't consider that point to be critical, since the problem was mainly due to the movement needed to store the tail, and ultimately opted not to change the design. The initial type that borrowed part of the VF-1 production line was considered to be VF-3000A. A later refined version that eliminated the problems of the early model with a refined tail, main wing, and auxiliary propulsion system design was designated VF-3000B. The parts are, however, said to be interchangeable and it is possible to mix-and-match. The asymmetrical armament on the monitor turret is described as an attempt to provide a balance of long and short-ranged firepower. The single large-bore pulse laser cannon is meant for long range engagements and the twin laser machineguns are meant for short-range ones. The apparent justification for this is that research fleets were expected to find unknown potential threats and would need every edge. There is also mention of a VF-3000C type, which has symmetrical weapon mounts on the monitor turret, though apparently with the ability to pick either twin pulse lasers or quad laser machineguns rather than having a set configuration. The VF-3000's gunpod is also described as an enlarged version of the GU-11 with greater ammunition capacity. It's noted to have three hardpoints per wing, and to be compatible with all VF-1-era armaments. Hardpoints were also added to the center fuselage to facilitate use as a fighter bomber. There was also apparently a proposal for a delta wing variant, which MD-3000-01 was modified to test in 2013. In terms of service history, Master File asserts that about 40 total VF-3000s were delivered to the UN Forces by the end of 2013, though their deployment destinations and actual numbers are indicated to still be classified. (Presumably this is a reference to their use by Special Forces units like the Dancing Skulls.) It's noted that some remained in our solar system as aggressor training aircraft for escort fleets until 2032. There is mention that some emigrant fleets toyed with the idea of adopting the VF-3000 and conducted tests of their own, though none seem to have adopted it in any numbers. One particularly interesting note is that the VF-3000 is said to have been purchased by some of the early private military companies formed in the wake of the First Space War, as government restrictions prevented them from acquiring the military's latest models (the VF-5000 at the time). It's said that they were produced in small numbers in the 2010s, and that the total number produced is believed to be less than 100. There is also an interesting point all the way back at the beginning of the piece, which talks about how the VF-3000 was for a time a popular choice of stand-in for the VF-0 when war movies were being filmed. Its similarity in size and design apparently made it ideal for the purpose, and on one notable occasion it also doubled for the SV-51 with a simple coat of black paint. It's said that movies that did this have become invaluable historical documents... not for their artistic merit (or lack thereof) but because they contain some of the only footage of this rare aircraft in operation. One squadron operating the VF-3000 is mentioned several times in marginal notes. The SVF-115 Armors transitioned from the VF-1 to VF-3000 in early 2014, and were changed to being a special mission squadron at the same time. They were deployed to a planetary reconnaissance fleet for two years starting in 2015. The Armors are said to have appeared in publicity magazines and regular carrier squadron, and that their status as a special forces unit directly under the New UN Forces Command was not made public until 2038, 10 years after the unit was disbanded.

Caught the second episode of The Water Magician... and if I had to pick a word to describe it, I would have to pick "bland".

Welcome to the Outcast's Restaurant has a new episode and... Apparently I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince got a new season too? Dear god WHY.

Since this season's new offerings have mainly been disappointments, I decided to roll back into my backlog and take a whack at Dan Da Dan. That was certainly a string of things that happened. Not quite Jojo level weird, but it's up there. Lots of people took issue with the series after the timeskip. It became... problematic... in all kinds of ways. Yeah, a lot of folks did take issue with the ending where...

Second episode of Detectives These Days Are Crazy! is out... ... that was certainly something. Not sure what, exactly, but it was definitely something.

They missed one... "Knowing it's unlikely we'll ever get a pair of Star Wars titles this good ever again." Pretty weak article. I have to wonder who it's for... since most people wouldn't go to read a blog post on StarWars.com unless they were Star Wars fans, and to Star Wars fans those points would largely be screechingly obvious. Especially #3, since people watching the rest of Disney Star Wars would already know about Imperial exploitation and crackdowns on Ryloth, Lothal, Lasan, and a dozen others.

Summer 2025 seems to have a bumper crop of isekai slop and isekai-adjacent slop. Scooped Up by an S-Rank Adventurer is yet another painfully unoriginal isekai-adjacent series about a generic protagonist who is arbitrarily kicked out of a narcissistic Hero's party and has to make their own way in the world... a premise so overused it's the third one I've watched this season so far. On writing quality, this might actually be worse than The Shy Hero and the Assassin Princesses... a strong contender for this season's worst new anime.

Very likely. I am an engineer and an academic... overthinking things is practically my stock in trade! 😜 I do admire everyone else in the story having terribly on-the-nose naming sense though. (Made amusing on a meta level knowing the Naresuan is an Earth culture otaku... he quite intentionally gave his ship what he thought was a Cool and Meaningful Name with symbolic resonance and then probably had to weather a few weeks of "What do you mean it's not awesome?" from his crew.)

Also starting Secrets of the Silent Witch... another series about a protagonist with crippling social anxiety. Is that this season's theme? This one doesn't seem like it's got much going on under the hood. I imagine the jokes about social anxiety are going to get old pretty quickly.