Seto Kaiba

Yeah, I remember seeing that movie in high school too... of course I went to private school and had a Latin teacher who decided to slack off during homecoming week and show Austin Powers movies in class instead of teaching. Unfortunately, the license under which Harmony Gold obtained the rest-of-world distribution and merchandising rights for Macross is perfectly valid, though their usage of it is nothing short of an ethically-questionable embarrassment. Because they have neither the numbers nor the organization to pull something like that off. They're far too busy with their witch hunts for "Macross Purists", persecuting each other for having different opinions, and indulging in elaborate delusions about how Robotech is wildly popular and Macross is a hopelessly obscure title nobody cares about. Also, it'd have to be the 5th Robotech Bore War, they already have a fourth one.

I think just about everybody is going to agree that this is a phenomenally bad idea that would end up being downright offensive. While rewriting dialogue and characters to conform to ethnic stereotypes might have been an acceptable practice some twenty-five years ago, but for well over a decade now rewrites have been considered bad practice. The primary goal of any good dub is to produce dialogue that flows naturally in its new language and conforms as closely as possible to the original dialogue of the series. After all, these days most anime viewers don't want to receive a dumbed-down or edited version, they want something that resembles the original work as closely as possible... which is one of the main reasons many modern anime fans consider Robotech unwatchable. I'd say there's a pretty good chance that that's true, though I think the main purpose of Edgar was to provide another tie-in to the original series. The show's creators did engage in the same prank on a much larger scale in Macross Frontier, spending an entire episode making it look like Ozma Lee was going to die the exact same way Roy Focker did, and then at the very end of the episode revealing that he was still alive. Luca might be an example of the same gag on a smaller, more persistent scale, since he was the Kakizaki-analogue of the group, and even wore Kakizaki's green colors from DYRL, which had a lot of people marking him for death... yet he lived through the entire series while the Max-analogue (Michel Blanc) got offed. In that light, it doesn't strike me as unreasonable for Edgar's gag about failing to die being a case of subverting the usual trope of the expendable ethnic sidekick.

I would be the Untold Story movie, because I make Robotech fans RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGE.

Yeah, I'd say just the issues with music licensing would be enough to put most potential licensees off of the idea of distributing Macross 7 and Macross Frontier stateside. Didn't someone at AnimEigo (I think it was Robert Woodhead) say something to that effect... that music licensing was likely going to be the main stumbling block with licensing Macross 7 for distribution outside of Japan?

Eh, I'll pass thanks... on those rare occasions I spring for a non-book collectible I usually aim for new or like-new quality unless it's absolutely dirt cheap like all those Robotech comics I picked up for $0.25 an issue at a garage sale a few years back. Ever since I first started digging into it, I've always thought that it was a mixture of Big West not wanting to work with Harmony Gold because of their past encounters and Big West seeing the American anime industry as too insignificant, in terms of the potential profits, to warrant either taking Harmony Gold to court or forming a partnership with them. I remember hearing one of the RT.com moderators (I forget which) saying something about Warner having also gotten the toy rights to the live-action movie in the bargain, though that may just have been idle speculation. As to whether they have exclusive rights to produce toys based on the animated Robotech series, I don't know if they actually have an exclusive contract or if they're just consistently the cheapest possible option. In terms of their product quality, the latter seems likely.

Just my luck there'd be another commonly used acronym for CMS... I'm looking for a content management system for a website, though I won't say no to a Legioss either. Basically, I'm building a replacement for the now-essentially-defunct RobotechX, and I'd like to give it a decent set of features including support for fanfics and fanart galleries and blogs and whatnot.

If only... if only... I find myself pleasantly surprised by how the mere mention that a RT community free of the censorship and spin that seems to be a standard feature on the mainstream RT sites has brought the reasonable fans out of the woodwork. I've mentioned it all of twice on two different websites and I've already received no less than a dozen e-mails asking me when it'll be open. O_o

If I'm not much mistaken, you've already asked this question over in the newbie thread, and you already received an answer. If you need to hear it again, so be it. No, there is no official English dub of Macross Frontier, and there likely never will be. About the best you can hope for at this point is a fansub with English subtitles. There is at least one fandub of the series in the works, but the quality's not going to be stellar due to the limitations in the equipment available, and they've only done a few episodes so far. You're really better off with the subs.

Exactly... now, lol, anybody got any leads on a good, free CMS for that Robotech fansite project I'm helping out with? Seriously... those jerks at phpNuke are charging for their software now, so my best option's gone.

Hey, we were all happily ignoring him until you and Einherjar brought him back up.

Now if that's true then it's just downright WEIRD. I've never seen ANY publication use that color scheme for the VF-2JA except the covers of the Micron Conspiracy comics.

Since this is (at least tangentially) related to Robotech... does anybody know of a good, stable, free CMS? I'm shopping around for one for that Robotech fansite project I'm helping with and not having much luck.

And therein lies the chief problem in getting him to understand that nobody gives a damn... he'll try to spin anything as a victory. Just the other night he was hopping up and down proclaiming what a victory it was for him that I wasn't a bigshot among Macross fans like he was trying to make me out to be on RobotechX and his podcast. I'm sure he'll be loudly proclaiming that he won by default when we refused to acknowledge his ridiculous claim that Macross Frontier is CP. Point is, he's such an egomaniac that he has to try and spin everything as a personal victory so that he can continue to delude himself into thinking he matters. Bendo claims that he gets between 500 and 900 downloads of his show per episode... a dubious claim if ever I saw one. I can personally vouch for the fact that the average number of live listeners on his show does not exceed 2. So far, the largest live audience I've seen him with is 6 people (two of which were myself and Robelwell), which was an entirely hostile audience that spent the entire two-hour episode mocking him. He once tried to claim in one episode that he'd had 20+ live listeners, not realizing I had anonymously attended the show along with Viper, and that we took care to note not more than 4 live listeners (ourselves included) had been present at any one time. He does, but he's the only one... and maybe his "girlfriend".

Indeed... this thread is somewhat lacking in Ishtar, so I will provide. Not sure of the source on this one, but it's definitely newer than the material in the official artbooks. Might belong to the Viz non-canon manga sequel Macross II: the Micron Conspiracy, since that's the only place I know of where that particular white and red VF-2JA paintjob appears. I'd check it myself, but I'm posting from the office.

Either that or it finally dawned on him that nobody here is going to take him seriously. I sure hope that was intentional... otherwise... Ah... that's more like it.

's okay, I've actually got a bunch of Fire Bomber albums on my Zune... it's a shame some of that good stuff didn't get used in the show itself, or I might've viewed it more favorably. I know... it's a weird little paradox that they expected the Shadow Chronicles movie to attract new viewers who've never seen Robotech before and probably haven't heard of it either, yet the incredibly stilted and awkward writing is clearly aimed specifically at preexisting fans, which would make it very difficult for the movie's intended audience to even untangle what's going on and why they should give a damn... a problem exacerbated by the fact that the totally nonsensical motivations of the new big bad (the Haydonites) are only explained in a limited-printing comic book series which has been unavailable for ages. Well... I certainly didn't burn down any houses or kill any dogs, but I make no guarantees on the "women" front. I'm more inclined to suspect that it's because my frequent use of logical, well-reasoned arguments based firmly on the facts is ultimately detrimental to their desire to continue viewing Robotech through rose-tinted glasses. I expect this is why they're so determined to come after me and try, however pathetically, to discredit me. I guess they think if they can silence me, it'll make all the bad thoughts about how Robotech might not be quite as good as they remember go away. Now there's a safe bet... he's already done it like four times... I once came up with a Robotech drinking game where you were supposed to take a drink every time you found a plot hole, but we realized pretty quickly that we'd all be in detox by the end of the first five episodes if we did. Totally. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that the exact reason we've always been given whenever we ask why Robotech fans still prefer Robotech? Between that and the promise of more VF-1 mechanic sheets in Chronicle, poor Azrael's probably having nightmares. Ah holy crap! You actually posted! I wish we could say that it was blind ignorance and that there's a chance they could get better, but for far too many it's willful ignorance. It's not that they don't know there are better things out there, it's that they don't want to know, or perhaps don't want to acknowledge that they know, because they're afraid of admitting they've wasted 20+ years of their lives clinging to a show that's going nowhere. An excellently executed AMV to be sure, but I find its lack of Macross II disturbing. *force chokes the author*

I don't think that was the intent behind the wholesale dodging of Macross ("Macross Saga") references, but it's a given that it's part of their overall marketing plan. It's no secret that the movie's stated intent was to bring new, young fans into the franchise, which would mean further sales of the original series. In order to untangle the motivations of the Haydonites, the Prelude comic is required reading, and it was given an aggressively small print run to make absolutely sure it'd sell out. I don't think there's anything that really necessitates reading the books though... I don't think they'd bother even trying to sneak in anything to compel people to buy the novels, since most RT fans consider the novels rubbish.

I've actually had some problems of mistaken identity here and elsewhere when people abbreviate my screenname to "SK" when quoting me, and people think the guy doing the quoting is referencing Shoji Kawamori instead. But yeah, I've never claimed to be an expert on any part of Macross except the Macross II continuity, it's just more of the standard fare from Bendo. Best to just ignore him. Well, yes... anyone who was already familiar with Robotech's characters would be able to make the connection, but only on the basis of prior knowledge about her family. The brief recap segment at the beginning makes absolutely no mention of the Zentradi or the "Robotech Masters", so there's no way a new viewer would be able to connect Maia Sterling to the Zentradi or have any knowledge of the existence and nature of the Zentradi without going to some print or film source outside of the movie... which is, of course, the entire point.

Assuming they hire him to voice, I'd imagine so. Isn't he a member of the Screen Actor's Guild these days, like most of the VAs who worked on Robotech? I remember Tommy remarking about how that made it a lot more difficult and pricey to bring back existing characters in large numbers. If they hire him just to do the music, I'd imagine he'd still cost rather a lot, though not nearly as much as big-name talent.

White noise... they don't exactly have any thematically-appropriate music in their current repertoire, and I can't see them springing for new music when they've put everything else on hold for the live-action movie. If I remember, Minmei's voice actress (Rebecca Forstadt) has expressed that she doesn't want to sing again, so she's probably out. I guess they could get Michael Bradley on it, though he's doing his own thing these days, or so I hear. Indeed... I was kind of perplexed myself when I saw the first one vanish. I know that feeling, I left my overpowered gaming rig running all day while I was at work just so it wouldn't be twenty degrees colder in the den than the rest of my house. It turns into a veritable meat locker during the winter...

Dunno exactly how much offhand, but if we're lumping model kits in with "toys" then I'd say maybe $350-400. If we aren't, then it's about $30 for one of the old 1/100 VF-2SS's.

Ah, mine did... I ran into a Robotech fan on my way to an offsite meeting. Noticed him because of the blue MPC Alpha in his cubicle and ended up stopping to chat on my way out of the building. Also spent a bit of time researching content management systems for that aforementioned RT website project I'm helping with. I think azrael's deleting them, actually.

It's not like I'm any stranger to hunting for rare materials after all the time and effort I put into tracking down those rare Macross II artbooks and magazines. Still, I'd love to add some more FSS models to my display shelf. The only ones up there right now are an old Knight of Gold and a half-completed LED Mirage.

It's not like I invited them to come here or did it to draw them here, I was just posting observations on what's causing the Robotech franchise to slowly self-destruct... but yeah, okay. If you want me to change topics, I'm game. Oh, it's no secret that intelligent Robotech fans exist... it's just lamentable how rare they are, and that until recently they were largely under the thumb of the inmates who now run the asylum. No need to launch a SETI-style project to find 'em, they're obliging folks who'll come out if you call. I'm actually working to facilitate their plans for a Robotech fan site which will actually adhere to the motto of "By the fans, For the fans" and provide a less Orwellian place for RT fans to hang out and share fan projects. I've actually got a couple people lined up who are practically champing at the bit to be given access to my collection of Robotech publications and carte blanche to use them to write a new "Infopedia" which will cover everything (show, novels, comics, games, etc.) and be hosted on that new site. The official Infopedia on Harmony Gold's official site is lamentably incomplete, and contains some stuff that's just plain wrong, and it's been driving those guys nuts for ages but they haven't been able to get Tommy to let them fix it. I'd happily tell you that he doesn't actually believe what he's saying in those videos, but I'd be lying if I did.

Oh no, I assure you he's perfectly capable of understanding it. In fact, he even went so far as to say that both he and his "girlfriend" look younger than they actually are. He says he's 28, and professes to be frequently mistaken for someone of between 16 and 19 years of age. Of course, he claimed that it was problematic because he was being hit on by underage high school girls, so we can't discount the possibility that it's fantasizing or idle bullshit on his part. If he actually stopped ranting long enough to notice the hypocrisy of saying that he looks younger than he is and following it with the argument that Ranka looks twelve to him and therefore must be twelve irrespective of all evidence to the contrary, he might have been able to avoid making a fool of himself and getting banned from multiple websites. He got onto this particular tack after seeing me criticize Robotech: the Shadow Chronicles for blatantly and pointlessly making every female character look like a porn star, and seeing Viper post a comparison between the animation quality of Macross Frontier and that of Robotech: the Shadow Chronicles. This whole business with "Ranka naked in space" started as nothing more than a straw man for Bendo to rail against in hopes of making Macross Frontier look bad, and he escalated the verbal offensive when he couldn't get anybody to agree with him or even take him seriously.