Jump to content

Seto Kaiba

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    13262

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Seto Kaiba

  1. Seto Kaiba
    No worries. Following trendsetters is pretty normal in even the best of circumstances, we're just seeing it a lot more blatantly in the isekai genre because it's really trendy lately so the number of trend followers that are becoming high-visibility is greater than usual. In all fairness, I grumble about this a LOT when it comes to the glut of isekai titles over the last couple of years given how lazy many of them are. With the current season's fairly weak offerings, I'm rolling up my backlog for the most part. How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom is... well... it feels like it's kind of floundering for want of something to do. The last three episodes have mainly been about tying up loose ends from the previous season, where there was an invasion from a hostile neighboring nation. It's not particularly convincing or entertaining since the prince from the neighboring nation is just a complete prat who is almost never permitted to get out more than the first three words of any given sentence before being told to shut up and he's so far in the wrong that it robs the negotiations of any tension when even his own mediator agrees he's an arse. Continuing to make my way through Ore Monogatari. It's just too pure. It's hard to watch more than one or two episodes in a sitting because of how excessively sweet it all is. In the Land of Leadale still feels like it's fumbling around for something to show the audience. It's clearly taking pointers from Overlord, but visually and narratively it lacks anything to distinguish itself from the hundreds of other western fantasy MMORPG-based isekai titles out there. Leadale is an utterly generic, by-the-numbers, soft western fantasy setting which has nothing distinctive, unique, or interesting to offer. Cayna, likewise, is an utterly generic, by-the-numbers, soft western fantasy isekai protagonist whose only distinctive trait is her loose-at-best relationship with her three NPC "children" that is mostly used for form letter light comedy. It's watchable, sure, but after a few episodes it's really apparent that there is just nothing there. Rent-a-Girlfriend... ech, I'm not sure I can keep watching this one. I hear it gets better, but the protagonist is just such an unlikable bellend that after four episodes I'm heartily sick of him. I get that he's a college kid, but he's so goddamn thirsty he can barely function as a human being. In a bit, I'm gonna tackle one I've been quietly dreading... Phantasy Star Online 2: Episode Oracle and Phantasy Star Online 2: the Animation... which collectively adapt the first three episodes of the story from SEGA's MMORPG and act as a tie-in/prequel to the fourth episode of the story. Mainly, I'm dreading PSO2: the Animation because that was where they began flirting with the isekai genre themselves and the whole Mother arc might as well retitle itself Unlimited Cringe Works, though it did at least put a new and unusually bizarre twist on the MMORPG isekai idea by completely reversing the entire concept.
  2. Seto Kaiba
    You're not wrong, on a basic level... but your argument stumbles a bit on the precise chronology. Overlord and In the Land of Leadale did indeed both begin serialization as web novels in 2010. Six months apart, in fact, with Overlord debuting on Arcadia in May and achieving a fair bit of online popularity before In the Land of Leadale debuted on Shōsetsuka ni Narō the following November. It seems unlikely that the high level of similarity is purely coincidental...
  3. Seto Kaiba
    There is some unintended distortion imposed by the Macross Mecha Manual's writeup of the Northampton-class, which cites an unusual/emergency operating condition instead of its normal operating condition. Also, some of the discrepancy is attributable to those older carrier classes using a greater proportion of conventional (pre-OTM) materials and being much less efficient designs which were intended for orbit-based planetary defense rather than high endurance deep space operations. The drop in capacity vs. the ARMD-class is mainly reflective of the difference in size and the various design concessions made to facilitate long-duration deep space operations on an independent basis... whereas the ARMD-class were originally never intended to leave Earth orbit, never mind the solar system, so they are intended to carry the maximum possible VF complement since there is no need to worry about endurance. So, as mentioned above, what's going on there is some slightly misleading writing on the Mecha Manual's part. Under normal circumstances, the Northampton-class stealth frigate's standard configuration carries either no fighters at all or a single platoon (3-4 aircraft) as seen in Macross 7 PLUS "Spiritia Dreaming". What the Macross Mecha Manual has listed is an unusual/emergency operating condition that was used exactly once. For Operation Stargazer, aboard the frigate Stargazer. In that isolated situation, the frigate Stargazer was basically packed to the rafters with Valkyries at the expense of everything else in order to carry out a stealth insertion and a decapitation strike against the Protodeviln's "home" on the Varauta 3198XE system's 4th planet using thermonuclear reaction weapons. It was meant to be a hard-hitting high-stealth operation using only a single ship and the fleet's most elite pilots to minimize risks, though the attack was ultimately foiled by the planet's defenses and the Protodeviln's biological ability to space fold teleporting the one successfully deployed reaction weapon back to the Stargazer, sinking it. As far as the more than 9,000 Northampton-class ships built by the mid-2040s, the Northampton-class was an extremely simple, extremely inexpensive design that was engineered to be highly adaptable and upgradeable. We only see the general duty version and enhanced firepower general duty version in the animation, but the official setting materials say there are a bunch of variants of the design for specific roles like early warning/radar picket duty, anti-aircraft defense, and so on. There is also a PMC-operated light carrier variant of the Northampton-class that appears in Macross 30: Voices Across the Galaxy. (The Macross Frontier-era stealth cruiser - no class name known - is also derived from the design of the Northampton-class and may be counting towards that "over 9,000".) Its stealth technologies are essentially exactly the same as those of VFs, just... bigger. Hull shapes which deflect radar waves away from the sending station, radar-absorbent material, and active radar stealth technology.
  4. Seto Kaiba
    ... uh-oh, life is imitating art. 🤣
  5. Seto Kaiba
    Yes, the fan art made by Matt Willis is very clearly not official... though when it comes to sources for that other series, even official material from the creators of Macross et. al. is often mislabeled, misrepresented, or grossly distorted. Better by far to simply pretend any "resources" for that franchise don't exist. Battleships of the Galaxy, the doujinshi by Circle FANKY.
  6. Seto Kaiba
    Thanks. It's something I'm used to, whenever the weather changes really rapidly I tend to get a bit bleh... with migraines and such. Mother Nature is in a real bad mood out here right now, so I'm just feeling her wrath a bit more keenly than most. Like a lot of the really in-depth detail, this one has the most detailed answer in Variable Fighter Master File's page. Specifically, Variable Fighter Master File: VF-1 Battroid Valkyrie. Essentially, it's about the angle of the throttle lever... which locks in three positions: Horizontal: Fighter mode 45 Degrees above Horizontal: GERWALK mode Vertical: Battroid mode There's a thumb trigger that unlocks the throttle lever angle to prevent unintended actuation of the mode selector. The aforementioned Master File book has more detail, including diagrams showing how the throttle is used for maneuvering in each mode. What we've been told is that the VF-31AX Kairos Plus is a stock VF-31A Kairos that was upgraded using the remaining spare parts from the VF-31 Custom Siegfrieds. Since it's been indicated in a few places - incl. Master File - that you need a special class of engine for compatibility with a Fold Wave System, I'd assume the Kairos Plus is using the detuned FF-3001/FC2 engines that were originally produced for the Siegfried customs. If they were looking to improve performance, possibly engines detuned less than the ones on the Siegfried were... since the FF-3001/FC2 was originally rated for a base output of 2,110kN when it was deployed on the YF-30 Chronos. (Of course, given the issues that the engines detuned to a maximum output of 1,875kN already caused for the Kairos airframe in the Siegfried Custom type, they wouldn't be able to go too much higher with that without significant frame reinforcement.) So, as I understand it... the reason the Kairos Plus is a thing is that... So yeah, it probably would have been cheaper... but the option to retrofit doesn't seem to have been available.
  7. Seto Kaiba
    It's never not a bad decision to use materials created by fans of that other show when it comes to Macross, Southern Cross, or MOSPEADA. It's a background design only, so details are basically nonexistent.
  8. Seto Kaiba
    Sorry, I'm a bit slow today... not feeling well. I'll get to this one, I promise.
  9. Seto Kaiba
    Simpler than that, the Flood are simply sci-fi zombies... with all the ho-hum tedium that involves in an era where zombies have been overdone to a second death. Given that Paramount+'s creative approach thus far has been "all style, no substance", that could work in Halo's favor given that Halo's story is pretty unremarkable but its action set pieces will benefit immensely from a $8M/episode budget's worth of Things Exploding.
  10. Seto Kaiba
    Miss Kuroitsu feels like it's going to be my stand-out title for this season just because of how relatable it is. I really end up feeling for the protagonist because of all the BS she has to contend with from the middle management at the evil organization she works for, and how unhappy she is to see corners cut on her work because of it all. In the Land of Leadale is not doing a very good job of disguising that it stole its A-plot from Overlord... especially after its protagonist had a breakdown over the revelation that all of the player characters are almost certainly long dead in the world. Its lighter and softer setting helps a bit, but being so overly cutesy clashes with its darker moments in ways which don't quite help it and the protagonist's three "children" (NPCs she adopted in-game) are pretty obnoxious and mostly used for cheap physical comedy. The Strongest Sage With The Weakest Crest is still a bland, boring power fantasy after four episodes. The protagonist Matthias at least justifies his stupid levels of overpoweredness and knowledge by being the reincarnation of a mage who was so powerful a thousand years ago that he is literally worshipped as a god in the present day, though he doesn't seem to have joined up the dots on that one yet. It's still a tedious exercise in watching a smug, swaggering, invincible wankstain of a main character beat up on generic fantasy monsters while assembling the generic isekai fantasy harem. (Like Isekai Cheat Magician, this one's so by-the-numbers you can almost see the barcodes.) Attack on Titan is still Attack on Titan, and therefore an unwatchable mess. Looking at starting My Dress-up Darling later, once we get through Ore Monogatari... assuming Ore Monogatari doesn't kill us all by putting us in a diabetic coma with the disgustingly sweet and pure love story between Takeo and Rinko.
  11. Seto Kaiba
    There is a bit in the Macross Chronicle Zentradi world guide sheet, and a few older artbooks have glossaries of words used in the movie. Not a lot said, tho... the written form of Zentradi is a symbol substitution for plain old English, albeit with some accent marks, and IIRC it's indicated to be a tonal language where the intonation can change the meaning of a word. It's also said to be derived from the Protoculture's own language.
  12. Seto Kaiba
    In the torso, apparently... with the "shoulders" being shown to be where the fighters are recovered before they connected up the Daedalus and Prometheus.
  13. Seto Kaiba
    Looking at the trailer again with more of an eye towards the story they're teasing... it looks like they're planning to follow the story of the games reasonably closely, which is probably for the best. Though I'm not sure if it's such a good idea to... It'd probably be better/safer to start in medias res the way Halo: Combat Evolved did.
  14. Seto Kaiba
    You may laugh, but Rinko spends the better part of an entire episode crying and worrying that she's not the kind of pure maiden Takeo thinks she is... because she wants to hold hands. That's right boys and girls, Rinko is worried she's become a lewd woman because she wants to have consensual UNPROTECTED HAND HOLDING with her boyfriend! Fingers. Locked. *DUN DUN DUNNNN* No, that is not a joke. It is played absolutely laser-straight. A scene like that feels like it belongs in a parody, but this isn't one. That's just how ridiculously over-the-top pure and squeaky-clean this is. Takeo and Rinko are so damned pure and innocent that I feel soiled just watching them.
  15. Seto Kaiba
    To be fair, OG Cortana was so low-poly that she didn't have a hope of making to to the Uncanny Valley... Definitely feels like they left it too long, then... I half expect to see the Gravemind get a director's credit.
  16. Seto Kaiba
    The Macross was intended for long-duration operations in deep space... so presumably it was equipped with some fairly substantial onboard fuel reserves to support itself and its airwing's operations.
  17. Seto Kaiba
    Started Ore Monogatari on a friend's recommendation... and I can't. I just can't. These people are TOO PURE. Too innocent. It tastes like diabetes!
  18. Seto Kaiba
    I've never really been all that invested in Halo as a franchise, but I feel like this is kind of... too late? Like, by a decade or so? This would have been an amazing idea back in 2007-2010 when Halo was a huge phenomenon and the franchise was riding high on the strong finish of the original trilogy. Now that Halo's heyday and period of peak cultural relevance is 15 years behind us and with the franchise's uniqueness having been heavily diluted by time, industry copycatting, and the departure of the original devs that took it from being THE killer app to just another AAA shooter sequel farm, it feels kinda like they missed their window of opportunity. Kinda getting it coming and going too, since the Halo series is going to have to struggle to distinguish itself from the other sci-fi action shows about growly gits in body armor and full face masks like The Mandalorean and The Book of Boba Fett. Cortana looks... awful. I hope they fix that. She's kinda got that same uncanny valley thing they had going for Alita in Alita: Battle Angel.
  19. Seto Kaiba
    There were no Destroids on the Prometheus, so that'll presumably take the numbers down a bit. Master File's contention is 150 Valkyries and ~30 various auxiliary craft including Ghosts, the old F203 Dragon II (which Master File insists on calling F/A-20N), the ES-11D Cat's Eye, LVT Avenger II, and Sea Sergeant helicopters. Onboard fuel storage should actually be SIGNIFICANTLY less than a conventional nuclear aircraft carrier since the VF-1 Valkyrie, QF-3000 Ghost, and ES-11D Cat's Eye are all using thermonuclear reaction turbine engines that are vastly more fuel efficient in atmosphere than the kerosene-based jet engines of conventional fighters.
  20. Seto Kaiba
    It wasn't my intention to criticize your math, and I apologize if it came off that way despite my intention. I was just affirming that, yeah, that's probably how the M.A.T. group arrived at their original number before using that as a springboard to jump into the more up-to-date details and why the linear scaling of the crew size doesn't quite work as TehPW had posted previously.
  21. Seto Kaiba
    That, or something very like it, is probably the math that M.A.T. used when they wrote the original spec for Sky Angels. Of course, when you think about it, it doesn't actually make sense for the size of the crew to scale linearly with the volume of the ship. After all, even if the ship gets bigger there are a LOT of departments that really would not require or benefit from increased staffing. The only areas it'd actually be 100% necessary would be the engine room, the carrier air wing (to support the greater number of aircraft), and the ship's mess. Revised versions of the stats published in Variable Fighter Master File keep a shocking amount of the details I gave previously, but scale the crew and aircraft complements back to more reasonable numbers... 2,700 crew for the Prometheus herself, 2,200 staff in the carrier air wing, and approximately 180 aircraft of various types (primarily Valkyries). Revised numbers put her about on par with a Gerald R. Ford-class supercarrier in terms of regular crew but with about twice the number of aircraft.
  22. Seto Kaiba
    Good question... no firm answer? In Ep19 of Super Dimension Fortress Macross the Power-Up Glaug's debut appears to be on something like a catapult, but it's the only example I can recall and it's not clear if it's a catapult. A thousand light years at a time with months of down time inbetween? That's a VERY long drive indeed. Pack some snacks. One thing's guaranteed... Vajra.
  23. Seto Kaiba
    I'm not so sure... it wasn't until the Zentradi detected residual fold activity in the Sol system that anyone really sat up and took notice of Earth. If it hadn't been for that Supervision Army ship defolding and crashing on Earth in 1999, Earth could potentially have continued to fly under the radar for centuries. (Colonel Todo in Macross 30 certainly seems to have thought so, anyway...) There is a certain unintentional cosmic horror aspect to it in terms of just how insanely hostile the galaxy is thanks to the Protoculture's screwups, and how stupidly lucky humans are to have lasted as long as they have. (Like a near-miss with extinction when the Birdhuman activated for the first time before forcibly deactivating itself via decapitation.)
  24. Seto Kaiba
    I know you were motived by nothing but the most earnest desire to help, the factoid wasn't correct or really relevant to the question... and it's not a case of newer material, it's that Google Translate still kinda sucks. 🤣 To hopefully lend some clarity to the matter, the "Supervision" in "Supervision Army" is written 監察 (Kansatsu). The header on that page in the This is Animation Special: Macross 7 book says 査察 (Sasatsu) and 臨検艦 (Rinken-kan). "Investigation - Raid(ing) Warship".
  25. Seto Kaiba
    Eh... yes and no. The Supervision Army began as an improvised military force the Protodeviln created using the Protoculture and Zentradi they captured, drained of their spiritia, and brainwashed to fight for them. There were miclones among them because part of the force was made up of brainwashed Protoculture civilians, but much of their force was composed of Zentradi soldiers who'd been unable to fight back against the brainwashed Protoculture due to their primary directives prohibiting interference with the Protoculture. The Supervision Army gunship that became the Macross is not small because it was intended for a miclone crew... it was just a small class of ship to begin with, a medium-scale gunship analogous to the Zentradi medium-scale gunship. Since much of their force consisted of captured Zentradi, most of their equipment is Zentradi in origin. It's probable that they are in the modern day, they weren't initially. At no point is it referred to as a rare class... a low encounter rate is justified given that the Supervision Army withdrew from the region of space around Earth in the 1960s. ... because, when the original series was made, the lore hadn't been fleshed out yet. It's not a competing theory, so don't cite it like one. No, it was a ship from the Varauta system NUNS. ... and none of what you wrote after this has anything to do with the question! Stay on topic!
×
×
  • Create New...