jenius

It should look like this Kicker:

LOL, Robotech does a terrible job with Protoculture in the original series and it's no joke, even the young kings <sic> of the world can tell something ain't right with it. It's supposed to be a MacGuffin that doesn't really matter but it's too integral, mysterious, and nebulous to work that way. By the time New Gen ends it seems to have a clear definition as a clean and potent power source derived from a flower. The Invid being creatures that are capable of harnessing that power through biological means whereas all other races do it via technology (and that seems to be a theme carried by Shadow Chronicles). Trying to take that back from New Gen through The Masters and then through The Macross Saga just doesn't seem to work. So yeah, Robotech has nothing but issues there. Macross7, on the other hand, removing Basara and the silliness employed, does have quite a coherent plot that could actually have been excellent if portrayed differently (with different characters and individual events). The exploration of the Protoculture's history, their puppet war, a weapon of tremendous power that gets out of hand, that's all good stuff. I think this refers back to what Danth pointed out, there is a good basis within the original Macross for a later story covering the ground Macross7 does and it can all be unified nicely (unlike Robotech). Where Mac7 then goes on to fail is its ultimately silly portrayal of all the events that transpire right down to the silly look of some of the protodevlin themselves. Many of the characters are best described as entirely silly (and don't get me wrong, I'm all for one or two silly characters as comic relief). So now you have all these silly characters flying around using a silly super power to defend the universe against the only guy in anime that I think is a hot chick. Erm... yeah, I guess I just wanted Macross to grow up with me... not get more childish as I got older (and that's not to say I don't understand the business decision, just a personal preference thing).

Why would we be rooting against a sequel to SC? If it gets worse it will be funny, if it gets better it'll be cool.

Nifty shoulders

In some respects it's definitely better than Robotech. In many respects it definitely is not. I appreciate Robotech's limiting its version of protoculture to a resource but the haphazard way it's been employed is less than ideal. Still, a resource plays very well to today's society whereas the whole spiritia thing and the increasing level of spirituality just is not my cup of tea. I would gladly rather re-watch Shadow Chronicles than the first three or four episodes of Mac7.

And I would say all of that was very well said Zinjo.

I've said I'm no fan of Mac7 before but in this instance I was just writing a rambling list of the things people tend to bash Mac7 for, I don't really want to argue the points (I don't want to be considered an M7 bashing troll, I just wanted to point out that the statement made didn't make logical sense to me). If you think I'm trying to cop out or something let me know and I'll deliver another surmon on the suckitude of M7 . There is my opinion, which is right, and your opinion, which sucks. Nah, just kidding, but yes, I did choose the rhetoric I did to make it clear where I stood on the matter. I think the people aware of how much it sucks can probably have a healthy intelligent debate on quantifying the level of suck. People who refuse to acknowledge how terrible it is are just a lost cause. Yes, i'm still kidding... but yes, I'd still write it exactly the same way if I had to do it over again.

LOL ZOMG FOLD-ILDO. I GET IT! HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILARIOUS!!! ROFLCOPTER

I'd say it's far more forgiveable in a series shown once a week than it is in a modern movie.

hey, at least it didn't utilize canned action sequences. How hilarious would that have been in a movie??? "Wait, isn't this the exact same animation from 10 minutes ago?

It takes more than a carried over theme to make something good or likeable. Finding a quote in the original series that supports the fact the Protoculture had the ability to weaken the Zents does nothing to make Mac7 good. No one is arguing that Mac7 isn't part of the Macross universe... we all agree that it is (I think). What some of us disagree on is how much it sucks. That quote from the original series does not make Basara believable or likeable, it doesn't make the notion of valks with faces and guitar controls plausible/reasonable/good, it doesn't make sailor moon reject character designs good, etc. etc.

Have Rightstuf ship to your home! All over their website it tells you to ship to your business. I took their advice and they contacted me 2 weeks later to tell me they needed to confirm my identity before shipping. Yeah, thanks, that was quick. So I figure they probably have something secure on their website to confirm my SSN or something but no... they needed a little bit of blood and semen to do a DNA sequencing or something (exagerrating, they wanted photocopies and some other stuff). So I was like, "Okay, screw that, just ship it to my home." Two weeks after that I get a notice, the item I purchased is currently sold out. ROCK ON!!! So last week I sent them an email telling them that they're probably never going to get the item in the stock and if that's the case it's cool, I'll just cancel my order. They send me an apologetic (very nice folks) email telling me they're going to get the supply in next week. Today I got an email "Sorry, your items are currently sold out." Awesome.

Without pictures this could be really confusing to know what you're talking about. I would think the "clip" would be the part attached the valk, not something that came with fast packs. The fast packs come with a support though and that might be what you're referring to. If you got a set without the support than battroid poses may not be so fun.

I think DYRL has killed white valks of any type for me. More color please!! I don't know about black though, that doesn't exactly spruce up the ol' display either.

May I be the first to point out that her hands are way too small!

The MPC Alpha is better than the old Gakken in EVERY way except durability... but I can make a pretty nice list of parts on the old Gakken you want to be cautious with (does anyone here remember the knees on that thing??)

Wow, that Imai definition is a mouthful. I thought it was "TRans EArth Deployment" or something to that effect. Been a long time since I went lookin' for that though. Still, if it was "Tlead" I gotta think anyone in English would call it the "T-lead" or something to that effect so "Tread" just makes much better sense to the English tongue. This is a total derail though so just take it to be the punch-drunk musings of a rambling fan.

Ask me again in 12 to 15 months.

The chick in M0 is just a girl, on an island, in a story that opens in an attempt to bring home the gritty realism of a terrible and tragic war. Remember Shin watching the explosion, remember all the talk of terrible deeds done in the name of war? Remember Shin flying away on a rock? It just doesn't fit, there doesn't seem to be a precedent. In contrast SC has an entirely comic-book feel to it from the Regis' transmutation into the phoenix, the cyborg hotty, and the comic-style cheese that permeates throughout the dialogue and actions. Inserting a comic-book style super hero into the mix seems to fit the overall feel of the show... and there is a precedent, Ariel is a friggin' alien, at some future date, with established super powers that are reinforced by her alien mother also using alien super powers. Do I think they over-used Ariel's super abilities? Oh yeah, definitely. Did I ever find them as downright outlandish and wrong as I did Shin's magic carpet ride in M0? No.

I got both Southern Cross and Mospeada off eBay (the exact versions that are $79.99 at RT.com) for $24.99 each (this was years ago and YES, they are the exact set, not a knock-off). At that price I thought they were WONDERFUL purchases and enjoy them thoroughly. Mospeada and SC are not nearly as remastered/restored as the Macross set (which is a STEAL at $39.99, remember that it used to sell for over $200!) but the look is plenty clean enough and the subtitles are easily good enough to make them enjoyable. There are definitely some issues (Tread translated as Tlead... which I don't even think is a word that can be pronounced in English) but most of them will only make you smirk and you'll totally understand everything.

The problem I have with Kakizaki is they screwed up his head laser. You'd have your skull squadron with white head lasers and then goofy Kakizaki off in the corner with his black one. Very odd... VF-1J Hik for the win.

Fickle buyers eh? You guys might want to just throw them in a closet rather than selling them off. In between this long gap of product releases stores will not be getting more 1/100s in stock. Then, if Toynami returns and puts out the fast packs you might feel like buying the 1/100s again and not be able to find them anywhere anymore. It's like if Toynami ever does sell a Beta, where are you going to get Scott's Alpha to go with it? (I think Scott's alpha's selling out actually might hinder the likelihood of a Beta BTW).

I'd take M0 over Shadow Chronicles but I don't think that's saying much. M0 has the worse story of the two I'd say. Shadow Chronicles never painted itself into such a corner that the heroes had to fly away on levitating rocks. I find M0 absolutely beautiful in contrast to SC though and I think it was fun because of that more than anything. Had the art work of SC been as beautiful as M0 there's no doubt I'd pick SC over it. As it is, I think both are fun but wouldn't really rave about either. The whole plot argument above is weak. Empire Strikes Back must really be hated by some people around here but I love it. While I agree that the pilot stuff is an odd business decision, it's the decision that was made. It's unfortunate that they weren't able to ensure a sequel before releasing this DVD so they were unable to advertise it as the first DVD in a series. Instead it is advertised as some sort of complete product... and that, it obviously, is not. I'm totally voting communist in the next election, this free market BS has got to stop. Nah, just kidding, I agree to some extent. I think DND summed it up perfectly in another thread about Toynami, "I'm through with Toynami, they keep jerking me off and never make me cum." Now that's a great analogy.