Seto Kaiba

8 hours ago, uzernaem said:

This really pisses me off. I am also a Patlabor fan and I've been delighted to find out that an ultimate blu ray box with full TV series, two OVA series and three films, all remastered to amazing picture quality, can be had for $60. No such deal for SDFM and DYRL.

Eh... that was already a bit of a tangled mess even before Harmony Gold poked its oar in and started twenty years of fighting.

11 hours ago, uzernaem said:

Thanks! Does usage of the strike parts fit in the same canon though, or it's strictly DYRL thing?

So, when it comes to "movie" designs in Macross, the creators tend to include those designs in the continuity regardless.  Sometimes they come up with explanations to justify that decision and sometimes it's simply done without any kind of comment.

When it comes to the UN Forces mechanical designs, they were pretty uniformly brought in as post-war improvements and modernizations.  Like the Macross's movie appearance being its post-war repaired form and the design for the mass-production Macross-class ships used in some emigrant fleets.  The VF-1's movie appearance was rationalized as the Block 6 production standard that was already being rolled out when the war started but did not achieve full adoption until after the war.  The Strike Pack has a similar explanation, being treated as a post-war improvement in some sources.  Zentradi mecha designs from the movie largely just displaced their TV series counterparts.

The YF-29 from the Macross Frontier second movie also found its way into the continuity of the TV series, with the prequel Macross the Ride asseting the VF-27 was completed by using leaked development data from the YF-29 program, and asserting that the YF-29 was also used by the New UN Spacy Special Forces after the Vajra conflict ended (in Macross 30) and became the developmental starting point for the YF-30 that the VF-31 was developed from, etc. etc.

54 minutes ago, uzernaem said:

Am I understand correctly that according to main canon timeline (and disregarding Kawamori's "lol what canon"), Prometheus and Daedalus were used during Zentraedi war and replaced by ARMDs sometime after the war, thus explaining ARMDs in DYRL with the fact that the film was shot in 2030s in-universe?

In most versions of the First Space War narrative, yes... the Macross had the Daedalus and the Prometheus as its arms and acquired the paired ARMD-class carriers when she was repaired and retrofitted between the events of the TV series and FB2012.

4 minutes ago, Dynaman said:

Ending is a form of change...

Being less relevant than ever is also a form of change.

Mind you, I'm not sure it's a form of change that merits being acknowledged in a video... 

On 5/10/2021 at 1:00 PM, RavenHawk said:

I think any time a story is set in an existing fictional universe, and the description is along the lines of "A super skilled, super lethal, super secret team...", it feels a bit fan fiction-y right off the bat.

Pretty much, yes... I'm not sure what I expected from Tatsunoko Production, especially after the mess that was The Price of Smiles, but it certainly wasn't this.

On 5/10/2021 at 1:00 PM, RavenHawk said:

Up until this description, I thought Breakers was going to be more of like that one Robotech comics side story (if I remember right, it was in another series that I'm blanking on right now, with like 8 pages per issue as a back-up story) where we followed a different team on Earth while in parallel to the New Gen series, except, you know, this would be MOSPEADA.

Oh, the Robotech: Invasion video game?

I guess the basic premises do sound a similar in a vague sense... and that game was where Robotech first introduced its equivalent of a Dark Ride Armor, albeit as a new model rather than a converted existing model like Shinobu's in the original MOSPEADA.

1 hour ago, Mog said:

Spoiler

Is it really smart for OSI to resurrect ol’ Jonas Sr., though?  Guy is an a-hole, a horrible parent, an even worse friend, has some questionable ethics, and is probably 20 to 30 years behind the technological curve.

 

1 hour ago, Mog said:

Hope they find a way to incorporate the Order of the Triad, Red Death, and Brock doing his MDK thing in this film.

Red Death's probably a bystander now, given that he accepted retirement as a villain in order to join the Guild Council.

The Order of the Triad have a history of being the ones to go after Hank and Dean while Doc and Brock are sorting out Doc's issues... so I think they'll fit right in.

58 minutes ago, uzernaem said:

What about SV-51 and VF-27 connection? There just way too many similarities right to the every mode appearance, Nora's color scheme and Gamma designation. Is there any explanation lore-wise?

It's coincidence.

The only - and incredibly tenuous - connection between the SV-51 and VF-27 is that one of the lead developers of the SV-51 who defected to the UN Government as the Alliance was collapsing later became a co-founder of General Galaxy, a subsidiary of which developed the VF-27 decades after his death.

Note that both Nora's SV-51 and Brera's VF-27 are "ace custom" units and not representative of typical fighters of their types.

5 hours ago, Mog said:

Not sure whether to be happy or bummed about this:

https://www.polygon.com/animation-cartoons/22432125/venture-bros-movie-release-new-aqua-teen-metalocalypse

Just can’t imagine them tying up all the loose ends, bringing back some of the key characters, and wrapping it all up in a movie-length feature.

Well, at the very least, a movie-length feature should be enough time for them to wrap up the two most important outstanding plot threads left at the end of the last season... 

If it's to be the big finale of The Venture Bros, I reckon they could probably bring Jonas Venture Sr. back one last time to act as the story's villain.

And if we're really lucky it'll be well-received enough for the series to get a final season to wrap up all the other loose ends too.

1 hour ago, TehPW said:

When did they start working on Macross Zero and did they (almost intentionally) use the SOL as the template for the Zero?

~2000.  I don't recall if a specific date was given.

As far as I am aware, the VF-1SOL has not been acknowledged as an inspiration for the VF-0.  There are some vague stylistic similarities, but those are present in most of Kawamori's designs from the 90's and early 00's.  Kawamori's acknowledged starting point for designing the VF-0 was the F-14, though the VF-0 was only one of several modern takes on the VF-1 design he did in that period. The others were for a piece in Character Model magazine: the SW-XAI Schneeblume and SW-XAII Schneegans, both of which were in response to a prompt to the effect of "what if you designed the VF-1 today".

15 minutes ago, pengbuzz said:

I recall that Guld Goa Bowman was not only the pilot of the YF-21 but also one of its' designers (if my sources are correct). Is it possible his background had any influence on the exterior design (even though the Meltran used that suit and not the Zentran forces)?

Guld Goa Bowman was the head of development (開発主任) for the YF-21 as well as its senior test pilot.

After his death, the Macross Galaxy fleet named its VF development group after him.

I've seen it said that the reason it bears a structural resemblance to the Queadluun-Rau was to facilitate adoption of the Queadluun-Rau's inertia vector control system, a less capable (but substantially cheaper) version of the inertia capacitor technology that became a standard feature on 5th Generation VFs.  So it's a functional design choice, rather than a purely aesthetic one.

52 minutes ago, Sgt Nate V said:

Am I the only one who thinks the YF-21 kinda looks like the Q-Rau?

Oh, that is completely intentional... the YF-21 (and VF-22) are in no small part based on the Queadluun-Rau and incorporate technologies General Galaxy obtained during its separate project to refurbish the captured Quimeliquola factory satellite that'd been relocated to Eden's orbit that began around the same time as the YF-21's development.

43 minutes ago, Big s said:

Unfortunately for hg [...]

Eh... everything is unfortunate for Harmony Gold.  Especially - to pivot back to the topic at hand - that this is the best they could muster for an official art book in 2021.

Doubly so now that the licensing deadlock is broken and comparisons will be drawn against Big West's official art books in terms of quality and presentation going forward.

Udon Entertainment is normally at least a competent publisher.  Between this Southern Cross book and the previous Macross book they did, the only conclusion I can reach is that the staff at Udon working on Robotech's art books phoned it in, probably while working on something more profitable.

That said, the historian in me really cannot fully express without profanity how annoyed I am that they included all this stuff from the Science Fiction Sengoku Saga series concept and framed NONE OF IT in its historical context, even though the entire concept for Science Fiction Sengoku Saga was historical period dramas retold "IN SPAAAAAAACE!".  You could get away with not explaining that stuff if your readers were Japanese or you had a reasonable expectation that they would already be familiar with Sengoku period history like if this was, say, an artbook for Sengoku Basara or Samurai Warriors... but most Robotech fans aren't likely to be versed in Japanese history at all, so to them this is just a gallery of bizarre armor pictures rather than a conceptual spacefuture Who's Who of Sengoku period warlords.

6 hours ago, vladykins said:

They do a page they say is "previously unpublished" (but I'm not so sure about that) of the Auroran transformation sequences. But that's probably the most love it gets.

I think the Auroran transformation was published in an old issue of B-Club, but I'd have to check to be sure.

But anyway, the safest assumption whenever Robotech tries to tell you something is "new" or "never before seen" is to respond with "Liar".

10 hours ago, vladykins said:

My copy of the Imai files doesn't have the details on these two factions, but I'm sure someone else's does:

I'm pretty sure the one up top is the Hōjō clan's.

The one on the bottom is the Oda clan's... (yes, that Oda clan).

I'm more irritated by the fact that the book makes zero attempt to frame the concept art from Science Fiction Sengoku Saga in any useful context... like giving an explanation to the very blatant Fuurinkazan banner that shows up at one point or explaining what these seals are.

10 hours ago, vladykins said:

The organization is just all over the place.

Poor quality in a Robotech book?  About Southern Cross?  Who could have seen this coming?

Oh, that's right...

Everyone.  Everyone saw that coming.

3 hours ago, uzernaem said:

1) Is it OK to not like Macross Plus? Many say that it's the best Macross ever, but extremely unlikeable characters ruined it for me. I appreciate the valkyries animation quality though.

Well, if you were expecting us to shout "Burn the Heretic!" you're probably going to be disappointed.  Wrong fandom for that, after all.

It's perfectly fine if some Macross titles aren't to your taste.  Everyone is different.

I would note that Macross Plus is more popular with western fans than Japanese ones.  It got kind of a lukewarm welcome when it came out in Japan, in no small part for the reasons you didn't much care for it.  

Quote

2) Who was the designer of VF-1SOL from Scrambled Valkyrie? Afaik Kawamori was not involved with Macross at the time, but the design is sick.

Shoji Kawamori is credited as its designer in the game.

Scramble Valkyrie is... well "non-canon" isn't quite the right word, but it's not part of the official Macross setting and chronology... a game that came out in late 1993, during the runup to both Macross Plus and Macross 7.  About a year after Macross II: Lovers Again was completed.

While Shoji Kawamori wasn't directly involved in a lot of Macross development for a few years there, Studio Nue worked on several Macross video games including FamilySoft's trilogy and Scramble Valkyrie and created several new/original designs like the VF-1SOL series from Scramble Valkyrie, the VF-X3 Medusa, LDR-04 Maverick, QF-9iE Ghost, and SDP-1 Stampede Valkyrie.

1 hour ago, roboemo said:

How many protagonists?

"Gate" AKA Breaker-1 is the only one given any discussion/description, but only in vague terms as a ~19 year old consummate professional operative.

There's mention in passing of more members of the Breakers in the field with her.

1 hour ago, roboemo said:

And by fan fiction-y as in lack of personality and more how powerful they are even by setting standards?

Mainly in terms of how the Breakers are described as an ultra-super-top-secret organization of elite intelligence operatives with the latest tech even the military doesn't have yet and a license to kill.  (I guess it doesn't really help the edgy fanfic feel that ships and mecha with the Dark stealth upgrade were already being painted black...)

But this is just an initial impression based on the description in Mospeada File.  

3 hours ago, roboemo said:

Sounds interesting.

Like would it be toy-based lore or a series?

No word on that that I can find... and Tatsunoko Production's page for it has a region-lock that defeated even my main VPN.

3 hours ago, roboemo said:

I mean Mospeada is basically ended with Invid retreating and not much story besides side stories.

Maybe fleshing out the universe (like life on Mars Base or female soldiers and pilots*).
*In non-skirt uniform, even 80's had female pilots Emma and Reccoa, just my thing to be honest.

What I was able to glean from Entertainment Archive Alpha: Genesis Climber MOSPEADA File is:

Not much else is said about the setting of Genesis Breaker, the article is mostly a recap of the MOSPEADA setting.

I'm still just plain baffled that the name of this new custom VF-31 is apparently "Parmenides"...

Of all the possible names for a fighter aircraft, why name it after a Greek philosopher who specialized in metaphysics?

4 hours ago, jvmacross said:

https://www.cnet.com/news/hbo-shares-new-photos-from-upcoming-game-of-thrones-prequel-house-of-the-dragon/

If Game of Thrones hadn't tanked in its final season this would be a license to print money... but now?  This feels like a big risk for very little reward.

Random question.  

Did anyone ever translate the Genesis Breaker section in the last MOSPEADA File artbook?  I've been skimming it to answer some questions on another site and was wondering if I'm duplicating effort or not by doing a translation.

(I'm very amused to see that we've all apparently been spelling the aliens name wrong this whole time... oh well.)

55 minutes ago, Sanity is Optional said:

Bofuri I think is it's own special type of comedy alongside say One Punch Man.

It's not so much about the main character, as it is about the reaction of the rest of the cast/world to the main character.

I could buy that argument if the other members of her guild were actually around when she does this nonsense... but increasingly she's on her own and they only find out about it well after the fact so they're not even reacting to it.

Making my way through Borufi, and at episode 8 it feels like the story has run out of ideas.

It's a comedy, but the only joke is that Maple is stupidly overpowered because she keeps picking up overpowered abilities from hidden bosses she bumps into and using them in ways that the devs didn't anticipate.  It doesn't really go anywhere or do anything with that except repeat it.  Her gaining some new overpowered upgrade has reached the point of being a once-an-episode gag.

1 hour ago, Biomaster said:

Hello there, new Macross fan here. I'm coming up to Macross 7 on my overall journey through the franchise (loved SDF, DYRL, II and Plus) and I have a question about 7. I've heard that Macross 7 Encore are 3 episodes of the series that were witheld from airing, so could anyone say where do they actually fit chronology wise?

Macross 7 Encore isn't explicitly placed in-continuity... fans have tabled a number of guesses based on circumstantial evidence from the episodes themselves, but there's no obvious fit for them.  Their stories are essentially out of continuity with the TV series proper so you can watch them after it with no real impact to your enjoyment of it.  

Bare minimum, they have to be set after episode 28 because of certain mechanical designs that are present which first appeared in episode 28 and also feature some mecha that were first used in episode 44 but obviously built beforehand.  Most fan assessments usually put them somewhere around episodes 39-42.  

1 hour ago, Biomaster said:

Also, what about the 7 Plus shorts? Thanks in advance!

They're... all over the place, and in no particular order.

About half of them are set before the series, showing little tidbits of backstory for characters like Ray, Veffidas, Gamlin, Gubaba, Gepernich, etc., while most of the rest aren't set at any particular/obvious time during the series.

1 hour ago, SebastianP said:

Anyone want to take a stab at translating the text that goes with the VF picture?

Nope.  Absolutely not.  Wouldn't dream of it.  OK. 

As you'd expect, it's mostly obvious stuff like that this is its Fighter form, that the mark on top is "eye-catching" and "probably a person's personal mark".  That "unlike the Siegfried, the Super Pack is attached by folding the main wing down" and that "the minigun pod is so large that it does not fit under the main wing".  

The only noteworthy bit is that this new VF is apparently called the "Parmenides"... an odd choice, since Parmenides was a Greek philosopher whose fragmentary surviving work is best known for dictums like "Nothing comes from nothing" and ruminations like the distinction between objective and subjective experience.  The YF-30 and stock VF-31 are named for Greek personifications of time (chronological time/Chronos and moments of great change/Kairos) while the original Xaos VF-31 custom was named for the mythic hero Siegfried.

4 hours ago, JB0 said:

This is what happens when the zentradi watch The Rocketeer instead of pop idols?

Or when some Zentradi decides to repurpose a suit made for extravehicular activity for combat...