Seto Kaiba

I've actually talked to Palladium at length about their sources for the RPG, and they DID actually do their homework fairly thoroughly... though they did take quite a few liberties in the name of gameplay balance... I haven't had a chance to look through issue 21 yet, but I'd wait labeling the gunpods as anything... they've never been conclusively identified in any previous sources, and the preview for the page didn't have any valuable description next to them either... just the same unhelpful "this is a gunpod" sort of label they had in EB51. As far as the good doctor's name, I've seen it spelled タチカホフ and タカチホフ in different sources. Admittedly, I think that Gubaba probably has a point that the Dr H. Takachihoff/Tachikahoff was probably a homage to Haruka Takachiho, esp. in light of the technological achievements the character is credited with.

Nicely done, I'll review the Macross II sections to see if there've been any omissions or errors... I've got a bunch of new information, and should have that lineart you asked for ready soon too.

My copy hasn't arrived yet, but Sketchley's incomplete translation provided some invaluable information for me that has made me seriously reevaluate my opinion of Chronicle. It looks like Chronicle's writers aren't nearly as ignorant of the Macross II source materials as previous sheets had led me to believe... the fact that the Tachikahoff/Takachihoff (I've seen it spelled both ways) corporation is even mentioned means they HAVE to be using more than just TIAS #5 and EB51... as neither book mentions the company. It was also an interesting turn to see a piece of data only mentioned in Super Robot Chronicles confirmed. I'll have to wait and see when my copy gets here, but it looks like the "Warren RG-022 Railgun" is the big cannon on the SAP pack, not the gunpod. That indicates that they're following the TIAS/EB line on the mecha armaments, rather than what's indicated in B-Club interviews and the animation itself. An interesting conundrum. It looks to me like Sketchley's partial translation is missing information on the standard equipment though, or there were omissions on the part of Chronicle's writers...

You have my gratitude for at least starting a translation of this one... I was guessing that it was going to get skipped over entirely. I'll be adding this one to my queue of stuff awaiting translation... along with the other Macross II mecha sheets. You guys already have the main timeline stuff covered. You provided two tidbits of very useful information... one which flat-out floored me. I'll explain more in the About thread. I'll be getting cracking on the VF-2SS sheet as soon as my copy of Macross Chronicle #21 arrives.

It's something Hermann2 and a couple other guys on Robotech.com came up with... I don't think there's a Macross equivalent to the group, though several members of it are avid Macross fans.

Actually, just by identifying the VF-2SS's standard gunpod as a railgun, the page has already exceeded my expectations... unfortunately my copy won't be here for at least another day. Some kind of foulup happened at HMV, and it didn't ship on time. Funny story... I remember being told by my parents that they named me Mike because they thought the kid in the Life cereal commercials was cute.

It's not your translation, or how the sentence is written... it's the content.

The jury's still out on that one... at least until my copy arrives in a day or so... Okay... they get points for the most obtuse and useless sentence I've read this year... well, maybe not the most useless, I've read some internal memos from Ford... Still, Macross II isn't set in 2091... so I'm hoping these continual references to 2091 are either errors or "before the war" style introductions. Since Chronicle is really spreading out its work on Macross II, I haven't started working on anything since the Macross Cannon... I've been more focused on Animage Vol.161 No.11 and other publications released back when Macross II first came out. Okay, that's not at all unexpected... if they identified Nex's gunpod as a beam rifle, and the big cannon on the backpack as a beam cannon, I may be forced to concede that Chronicle's writers aren't completely half-assing the Macross II pages.

I believe the correct term for someone who won't let a completely pointless subject go is "Harmony Gold employee". If I had the time or inclination, I could probably do that... someone wanna fund it? So in short, nothing new or remotely interesting... fabulous... I'd love to see ammunition counts for the gunpods of the main timeline... I'm particularly interested to know where the GU-17A is keeping its ammunition, since the whole damn thing is barrel. I have this unpleasant feeling that we're going to have to stick to the established Hirano-esque answer "They're all cosmoguns that hold a million billion rounds and only run out when it's dramatic". I can't imagine there's going to be anything remarkable about them... the GU-11 was a bog-standard gatling cannon with a helical feed, practically the same thing that's built into most fighters and attack planes these days... the only difference is that the drum's wrapped around the barrel instead of separate. Now, if they sat down and sorted out how the beam rifles from Macross II and Macross Frontier work, they'd have my undivided attention...

Is it just me, or has anyone else gotten the sneaking suspicion that RobotechFanPlus is Kevin McKeever? Somewhere I have some old news prints about the Tatsunoko vs Big West/Studio Nue thing... I'll have to dig 'em out later.

Somehow, that makes me feel worse, not better... my eyes nearly rolled clean out of my skull when I saw Macross Ace had included Macross II in the timeline at 2090... I very much doubt that there will be any kind of backstory embellishment (if they wanted to do that, they'd need only reference the official sources... plenty there to work from). It's a decent-enough source of lineart, but they're omitting so much from the text that they might as well toss the print out altogether and just call it an artbook... that's why I'm frustrated. There's just no appreciation for theatrics in this world anymore... too many twits addicted to reality television... I wouldn't say that yet... I'm sure we'll get a decently detailed mechanics sheet for the Zola Patrol's VF-19P... but having virtually nothing for main character mecha like they've done for the SNN Valkyrie, the Gigamesh, the Macross Cannon, and the Heracles, it doesn't seem fair. The only place where Chronicle has given Macross II fair treatment has been in the character sheets (which are frankly more informative than some of the ones from the main timeline's cast... boggles the mind, doesn't it?) Good god, if they think I'm bad NOW, they should see some of the things I've said about Macross 7... that'll stir up a storm of controversy that'll keep us all busy for weeks. Kinda sounds like fun... *reaches for the "new thread" button* Haven't got it yet... I'm looking forward to it like most people look forward to complex dental surgery... it's slated to show up on my doorstep on May 2. EDIT: Spelling, grammar... what a mess

I've been told that by Kevin McKeever and several moderators over the last year or so. I don't think they actually believe they do, though. If they did, they wouldn't be going to such lengths to avoid using it.

Not at all... if I were a Robotech fan I'd be thanking Chronicle's editor for letting me lick his shoes while his staff take turns beating me over the head a masonry trowel and a steel bucket full of rancid manure. Not necessarily just the english-speaking fanbase, but for the entire fanbase worldwide. Even in the western world, there are precious few fans who have access to any of the sources, so even those who can get their hands on Chronicle and actually read it would stand to learn rather a lot... the list of english-speaking people who actually have access to all the original printed works seems to number exactly two people... myself and Yoshi. A diligently assembled condensation of This is Animation Special #5 and Entertainment Bible 51 would've been a huge step in the right direction... but alas, with Chronicle paying very little attention to the details of Macross II. It's looking more and more like the task of condensing the official sources into one decently detailed collection is going to fall to me after all... As far as US Renditions goes, I have a seat reserved for them in a particularly unpleasant circle of hell, because they're the ones who did such a shoddy job with the translation, and got a lot of the timeline information wrong.

Of course not... but we can at least expect them to do a halfway competent job condensing the materials available to them... and the Macross II mecha aren't even getting that much. Actually, I think it's quite fair. Both were prominently featured in their respective titles, yet the Valkyrie II's mechanics sheet looks to be every bit as lacking in basic information as the other Macross II mecha sheets. Drat... now where did I put my good jumping boots... You're right, I'm not looking for new and/or hidden information. It would've been a nice bonus, the icing on the cake as it were... but I would've been quite happy with a decent condensation of the available sources. Something that would fill in the gaps for the people who don't have access to all the rare publications I do, and correct (with some authority) all of the pants-on-head imbecilic things US Renditions and company have published about it in the intervening years. After several years working closely with automakers, I've reached the point where I crave competence... simple competence... in any field from adultery to zoology... something I'm not getting from Chronicle's Macross II pages.

Nope... the VF-2SS was rolled out in 2081 AD. So, what you're saying is that it's entirely unfair of me to expect this "basic encyclopedia of Macross" to include basic information from the show's creators? It's not a question of esoterica like novelizations and side-stories... this was a major animated production done for the 10th Anniversary. It's not like the information they're omitting is deep, dark, hidden secret intelligence either... most of it is available in multiple official artbooks, but it's still being omitted. It's like if they did a SDF-1 Macross mechanics sheet, but left out everything about the ship's origins. What value does a basic encyclopedia have if it doesn't include basic, readily available information? Would you leap to the defense of Webster's if they released a dictionary that didn't cover any words starting with F? Errors I can forgive... hell, I wouldn't mind half as much if they were at least consistent with their screwups. That's just the thing... I'm not expecting new information from Chronicle. All I was expecting was a decent condensation of the various official artbooks with a couple pretty pictures by Tenjin Hidetaka to sweeten the deal... and even with my expectations THAT low, I'm still getting disappointed.

Well... I'm contemplating violence... Exactly as predicted, Macross Chronicle totally phoned it in with the VF-2SS Valkyrie II mecha sheet. I didn't even have to wait for my copy to arrive to start spotting errors... the preview images on the official website were enough to reveal that for the second time in a row, Chronicle's writers couldn't even get the year right. Even more embarrassing, they can't seem to even stick to one incorrect year... the Mardook People article gave the year as 2091, and the VF-2SS article as 2090... I'm bracing myself for a real waste of my time and money... betting they didn't include anything about its predecessors or its development history.

Not that I can tell... Robotech.com's terms of use pretty much make a thread like this one impossible... they don't even allow fans to ask questions about the status of their legal claim to Macross. If there is one, it's got to be in the officer's forums, where the general public can't see it. and then everybody was trolled... I guess after twenty years with nothing decent to show for itself, Robotech fans are just so fed up they'll staple anything to Robotech with a flimsy excuse just so they can feel like the show hasn't been totally forgotten.

To his credit, if he'd left out the sillyness of the "antimatter bomb" (it's got some technobabble that puts Star Trek's writers to shame) it actually would've been a reasonably decent miniseries. The overall feel is very "James Bond meets Indiana Jones". Tommy can draw, but the man's writing leaves something to be desired. Eh... I'm really really glad I waited until you finished editing that before I started posting a reply... I was about to start verbally tearing you several new orifices. I suppose the die-hard Robotech fans do think I'm a conspiracy theorist, but so far none of them have attempted to tell me that I'm not very well-informed. It's not much of a conspiracy theory either... since something like 2/3 of the fans are well aware that Harmony Gold is grossly exaggerating Robotech's popularity, and Shadow Chronicles got them asking a lot of uncomfortable questions about Harmony Gold's ability to use Macross intellectual property in future productions. It's not like I'm on a crusade for the truth or anything... I just pop up whenever I see a Harmony Gold staffer living in that bizarre fantasy world they so often occupy and give them a nice sharp slap to return them to reality. I realize they're trying to make it appear that exciting things are happening, and that they're doing well (nobody wants to ride a sinking ship down), but I just don't think it's right to misrepresent the state of the franchise to the fans, and that is essentially what they're doing by claiming that Robotech is wildly popular and successful. I guess if you're really looking for a label to apply to me, I'm the guy who points out the flaws in the crackpot conspiracy theories, not the conspiracy theorist. Eh... you could make a case for it ether way. The Combat/Conbat and VF-X-4 already look fairly similar. He did do some fairly unimaginative new designs.

Is it just me, or does the top-down view of the Gamma fighter remind anyone else of that messenger ship from the Macross Galaxy fleet in Macross Frontier? All in all, it looks a lot like a boxier, Mospeada-esque VF-4, with a stockier battroid mode. Nothing to write home about, and certainly not a 100% original design. Still, certainly a step in the right direction, trying to make something new that isn't pointlessly generic.

Absolutely, but there's nothing wrong with introducing Robotech fans to Macross and then setting those newly minted Macross fans loose here. I wouldn't go that far... for many, Robotech is an introduction to anime that leads them to pursue more sophisticated titles later on. Sure, Robotech's creators are in denial about the fact that they don't actually own Macross, and are even more deeply in denial about the fact that their magnum opus has largely been forgotten, but that's just an unfortunate fact of life. The Battle of the Planets franchise seems to have up and died... the upcoming CGI movie is based directly upon the Japanese version (Science Ninja Team Gatchaman) and is being done by Imagi Animation Studios and Warner Brothers. It looks like the rights to the show were obtained directly from the Japanese creators. I suppose it would be akin to Harmony Gold losing the rights to Macross, effectively killing the franchise once and for all. I can see Harmony Gold potentially losing the western rights to Macross, but they'll never give up their pet project Robotech. Even if they lose the rights to Macross, they'll just keep doing what they've been doing, basing their future works on Southern Cross and Mospeada.

While it is tempting to let the moderators ride roughshod over the Robotech fanbase, it just doesn't sit right with me to do nothing while good people are abused by idiots in authority they don't deserve. I know I'm not going to be able to change anything over there, I just pipe up every now and then to point out the lies, half-truths, and exaggerations when the bullshit starts getting too thick for me to stand. Believe it or not, I don't actually hate Robotech. I acknowledge that it was instrumental in igniting western interest in anime. I also acknowledge that it's a crudely executed amalgam of three shows that were never intended to be together, and that time has been distinctly unkind to it, rendering it an all-but-forgotten piece of 80's pop culture that failed to thrive and grow beyond its origins. I would be interested to see an all-new, all-original Robotech with no ties to Macross, Southern Cross, and Mospeada... and I know full well it will never happen. I go to Robotech.com for one reason, to answer the questions that the fans are asking about the show's origins, its universe, and its future prospects. Better they get an honest answer from me than fallacy-ridden crap from people like Treiz and Jeebers... and when they do eventually say "Enough of this poo! I want something better!" I'll be there with a friendly smile and some information about Macross. I've personally introduced something like seventy Robotech fans to Macross over the last five years... and almost all have come back to learn more after their first taste.

It's not an orchestrated attempt to cause trouble over there, not by any means. Just the few of us who still have accounts over there complaining about the unfair treatment we're receiving at the hands of the moderators for making what are by all evidence completely accurate statements about the current position of the franchise, and its future prospects. We're just appalled by the fact that Robotech.com's moderators are so dedicated to quashing any criticism of Robotech that they delete posts, lock threads, and ban people for giving opinions that don't even violate the site's terms of use. It's like a god damn police state over there...

Now that doesn't surprise me. Most of Robotech.com's moderators are quick to lock threads that are critical of Robotech, but look the other way when Robotech fans bash Macross. Right now, there's only one moderator who's a regular on there who I can actually say I can respect... MEMO1DOMINION. The only other two regular moderators, Seifrietti Weisse and Maverick_LSC, have this unpleasant tendency of stepping up to defend people flamebaiting Macross fans, and stopping people from posting legitimate criticism of Robotech.

Robotech fans have issues with the truth... they're as deep in denial as it's possible to be. Are you sure we're talking about the same Robotech.com? If I could pick words to describe the site, "overcrowded" and "thronging" would not be among them... quiet as a grave over there most of the time.

I too am interested to hear this... what did you post that so offended them?