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guyxxed

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Everything posted by guyxxed

  1. guyxxed
    Pretty much. The king isn't running from a fight, he's out maneuvering Johnson, pulling the Elysion out of position to allow him a clean run at his last objective. I don't think we've seen anything that says the Windermerians need to HOLD the ruins on any planet, just activate them so that they'll resonate with the wind song. The king doesn't need to entrench and hold Al Shahal, he's literally fighting a blitzkrieg to achieve his first level objectives. With the Ragnan ruins activated, he controls the cluster whether Chaos and NUNS are defeated or not. Of course, he doesn't know about the plan to blow the ruins up, and that's where the mid-season "oh crap" will come from. It will be fun to see how this plays out.
  2. guyxxed
    I liked this episode, as it takes the next logical steps in bringing NUNS into the conflict and the bad guys using some unconventional tactics to change up their game. I can't argue with the complaints that too many episodes have ended in the middle of action that needed an on screen wrap up, or that there were a few too many times that one side or the other had an advantage that they really should have pressed, but the actions each side took in this episode made sense to me. Or, at least, made enough sense within the context of the story that I'm not going to quibble with them. The NUNS plan is extremely logical, I'm both surprised and pleased that the story went this way. I expect that the bombs will be set off and that we'll soon have ecological damage and native unrest as Ragna suffers a scar similar to the one Windermere has. The shafts leading to the planet's core aren't just for show and blowing up transdimensional ruins with any type of explosive isn't likely to go well. That would be a great way to up the stakes on both sides (damage to the home of the heroes, and a setback to the villain's plans in taking away one spoke of their wheel), plus it could lead to the next big twist, which I'm expecting to be an Epsilon plot or possibly some overtechnology bugaboo that threatens everyone. Time will tell. I'm a little disappointed in Mirage acting so schoolgirlish. Even she calls herself out on it, but it would be nice to see her step into the leadership role a little more strongly. I get that she has self doubts, but that doesn't mean she has to act like a shrinking violet. Really liked seeing the other pilots of Chaos and hope they get more than just background roles. I don't think we need anymore main characters, but I'd like to see the rest of Ragna branch be something other than just off screen cyphers. They should be like the ground crew where we see familiar faces and get some interaction from time to time. If they're just cannon fodder, well, let us get to know them a little so that it stings when they die. The take off sequence of the Elysion was ridiculous, as noted above, but very, very cool. The slaughter of all life in the harbor is a small, small price to pay for such an awesome launch.
  3. guyxxed
    As fast as the plot points are falling, I don't think that's how it will go. Macross is all about showing us why we should love our enemies and how conflict is usually more a matter of misunderstood motivations than actual villiany. Add to that the fact that the Windermerians as villians are pretty well played out at this point (there don't appear to be any underlying agendas, with the king's speech, the stated reason for the aggression seems to be the one driving their actions with no grander scheme beneath it) and I think we're about to be served a new threat in the next few episodes and that it will be the real big bad. There are plenty of ways to tell a great story and not follow that pattern, but this being a Macross story, this is what I'm expecting. SK may yet surprise me, though.
  4. guyxxed
    The two most predictable twists would be: A) the king dies/is killed and Epsilon usurps the PC tech and shoves their own agenda forward, OR B) the PC tech does something unexpected and the Windemerians lose control of it and it threatens everyone. I'm hoping Kawamori has a surprise third option up his sleeve, but this series hasn't stuck it's narrative neck out much thus far.
  5. guyxxed
    Very perceptive kid! :-) I think the pinpoint barrier system could have handled it (which is really what the drones are using), but if the shields weren't up, the missiles would be enough to blow one away.
  6. guyxxed
    This. I'd kind of like to see Hayate try to step up and take Messer's place only to get his ass handed to him repeatedly. Then have Mirage come to his rescue and they figure out that together they can do what needs done. No magic resonating winds, just good old fashioned teamwork.
  7. guyxxed
    I agree with this, with Heinz being an obvious second choice. I wonder, though, if they're not setting Keith up for a switch as well. His respect for Messer is a possible path to empathy if it drives him to learn more about his enemy. Possibly through memories his father (the previous Whiye Knight) might share in upcoming episodes about the first war and his experiences with Arad and Johnson. Couple that with a possible revelation that the Windemere scar wasn't inflicted by who they think it was and you've got a recipe for a classic heel-face turn. I think Bogue will be the vengeful holdout that presses the grudge to the end. Unless his lack of rune-discipline gets the best of him first. ;-) Speaking of which, did anyone notice that his runes were glowing a different color when Keith threatened him? They usually glow red but this time were blue. Does that indicate the emotion driving them or something?
  8. guyxxed
    The show seems to have taken a big step back from fanservice in general, which I think is a good thing. It doesn't offend me, but there were several times in Frontier that left me rolling my eyes and feeling like I needed to apologize to my wife that this really wasn't "that" kind of show. I'm liking Delta's more mature presentation.
  9. guyxxed
    I'm interested to learn more about the PC ship and what it can do. One question: as the Sigur Valens is launching, it appears the king is giving his speech from the bridge of the ship. Heinz is standing next to him during that scene, so also on the bridge. A little later, when Heinz starts singing, is he still on board? Does that mean that the relics and the chamber he's been seen in so many times is actually part of the ship? It appeared to be a stone chamber, so I would think not (plus, with the PC ruins connecting and all, one would think the 'activation point' that Heinz sings from would need to be in a specific spot and not roaming around the sector on a ship, but overtechnology may have other ideas). It's possible he just took a shuttle back to the castle after the speech, I suppose, but the episode flow makes it seem otherwise. The bridge where the king gave his speech looked like the same place Roid was giving commands from in episode 1, so maybe.
  10. guyxxed
    I believe it's the ship that was hovering over the Voldoran capital in episode 7, just seen from the side. To respond to the other thoughts, I've been thinking that the Windermerians must be getting manipulated into this action, especially when we saw Epsilon and Mr. Berger enter the picture, but this episode makes me second guess that somewhat. Gramia is pretty clearly driven by revenge, and the talk Keith and Roid have makes it seem like that's been the plan all along, no hidden agendas. With the ambiguity of who set off the dimension bomb and why, though, I wonder if the royals themselves might not know the whole story? Maybe the bomb was set off by a third party (Epsilon) to make both sides think the other did it and drive everyone to the present state of affairs. Just speculation. I've been hoping for more complexity to the knights and the king, but the more we see, the more they seem to be playing straight. Outside of Roid, they seem to be motivated exactly as stated. There are plenty more twists coming, I'm sure (we're way too early in the series for nothing but territory battles from here on out), but it will still be disappointing if the wind folks just turn out to be rubes.
  11. guyxxed
    Can't argue with that. SMS in Frontier had a very effective mixed arms approach to battle situations that fully depended on teamwork to pull off a victory, which was nice to see and also gave every character a chance to shine. In Delta so far, we've barely seen Chuck or Arad do much. MY biggest complaint, though, is that we're at episode 10 and we still don't have a very clear understanding of the villains. It's clear that there are layers there, what with Epsilon's introduction and such, and I'm fine with that (Grace didn't emerge as the big bad until well into Frintier), but we still have little real understanding of the knights. We have their stated cause and the clear implication that it's a ruse for something related to the ruins, but very little else. What is their command structure? Roid gives orders, except when he loses a fencing match with Keith, but then Keith has been shown doing things on his own anyway, and the king trumps them both, except he seems driven by revenge while the others seem driven by...being almost out of time? Mystery is fine, and this isn't really stopping me from enjoying things, but I feel like they're getting very close to the Lost trap of presenting too many questions without enough answers. It seems clear that the bad guys are hiding things even from each other, but I think we need to see what at least one of them thinks is going on fairly soon. The king's revenge would seems to be a good place to start, it's a pretty safe assumption that it's related to the war and the dimensional weapon, but let's go see what it is that drives him. The secret of the ruins can play on for awhile longer if we have at least one clear motivation to follow. And don't talk to me about unfair trade deals, that's just the propaganda that they're using to justify the cover story. Only naive youngsters like Bogue buy into that.
  12. guyxxed
    All good points, and I mostly agree. One caveat I'd throw in, though, is how a VF transform can be the unexpected move that tips the balance in an otherwise standard dogfight. Think Shin vs Nora in the last episode of Zero, Alto vs Kamijin-clone in Fastest Delivery, or even Hayate against Mirage in ep 3. I'm thinking that this is how they'll beat Keith: by not fighting by the rules. That's really how Keith beat Messer, afterall, by doing the unexpected, and who's our resident expert in unpredictability? That said, I also really like the idea that Mirage and Hayate have to become a team to defeat the bad guys. It's already happening and would be a perfect way to drive the triangle at the same time. Hayate's already resonating with Freyja, him finding a way to resonate with Mirage would be the perfect counterpoint. It would also be awesomely Macross. One aside - what happened to Bogue and the second twin while Messer was talking to Kaname? Messer only shot one attacker on his way down and fell over while blocking Bogue's shot. Neither Bogue or the other guy were damaged, just surprised. I guess because they're knights, they were being chivalrous and politely waiting for Messer to finish his conversation with the lady before resuming their attempts to murder them all?
  13. guyxxed
    Outside of the drama at the end, there were quite a few things thrown at us in this episode. The Epsilon representative having an Arabic appearance and the next Knights mission being to Al Shahal can't be a coincidence. It also seemed that Captain Johnson had a sudden insight when he looked at the star map with Al Shahal and the other 'resonating' planets indicated. Mikumo's underwater adventure just shoved her nature way out of the 'weird girl' zone and way over into 'what the hell is she' territory. Kaname, Keith, and Messer all resonating at the end (glowy aura effects) hints at something bigger than just the fold quartz effect that Hayate and Frejya experienced. Are the ruins producing an area effect fold resonance now? On lesser notes, really liked the jellyfish festival and that part of Delta platoon's mission is to integrate to native culture. Also, the Epsilon representative's ship was really cool. Very different from most Macross designs we've seen so far.
  14. guyxxed
    Well said. There are definitely aspects of Delta (and Frontier, for that matter) that I don't care for and wish were different, but that doesn't stop me from appreciating the aspects that I do enjoy. The magical girl stuff in the preview episode came towards the end, so that was the impression most people were left with, but on rewatch, most of what led up to those scenes was nicely grounded, very Macross, and fun worldbuilding. First watch through left me cold, but subsequent rewatches made me more enthusiastic. And the series itself has so far been doing a very good job of staying true to the roots of Macross and putting fun continuations and expansions of the world into each episode. It all comes down to personal taste. At some point, Macross may cross the line from having enough of what I enjoy to not and I will stop following it, but it's not there yet. For others, that line may have been passed a long time ago (I thought it had happened for me at 7, but then the next series course corrected). Until then, Kawamori is like a Japanese George Lucas: he's going to take the franchise where he wants it to go, and the rest of us can either follow or not. So, until Disney buys up Macross and puts J.J. Abrams in charge of a reboot, I'll keep following.
  15. guyxxed
    Agreed, there's almost zero tension in the battle scenes at this point because not a single one of the battles has had any real consequence to the plot or the characters. Hayate killing a redshirt is the closest we've come, everything else just feels like a game of tag. They need to establish some stakes very soon. That said, I really liked the camera work in the dogfight scenes this episode. The clouds were interersting and I Bogue's run up to attack Walkure where he skimmed the water before popping up over the Island was very nicely done.
  16. guyxxed
    I'm definitely with you on this. I think Macross overall does a better job than most, but I agree that the dogfight scenes are way too fast. Far too hyperkinetic for believability. One thing I appreciated in Zero was that the action pretty much happened at real world speeds. I don't mind some Rule of Cool physics bending, but I do want to be able to follow the action without having to review ot frame by frame. Or, maybe I'm just old. Damn kids...
  17. guyxxed
    Agreed on missing Renato (and Mike and Sarah) on this go around, but still a very good listen. I did really like having an outsider's (Sarah's) viewpoint on the last cast, although I think you guys do a great job keeping a balance of super-nerd and general viewer perspectives in your reviews. I've also been listening to the Dishing on Delta casts from Repacked, and I really like that deep dive style discussion as well. The two casts together are pretty much giving me exactly what I'm looking for: a review/interpretation of the episode and an in depth dig into the details. Nice work! Although, speaking of the DoD cast, has that fallen behind? I haven't seen any updates on the Repacked website since episode 6. Just wanted to make sure I haven't missed anything. Thank you!
  18. guyxxed
    I really can't see one of the main triangle dying. That's just not a Macross thing to do. I definitely see friendship, but neither seems actually romantically attracted to each other yet. Granted, that's actually a much more realistic way for a relationship to begin and is much healthier than the usual puppy love longing that we normally get. And I dont mind this path, either, it's kind of nice to have the romantic tension dialed down. Less high school hijinks and more mature of a story line.
  19. guyxxed
    Sorry for the double post, but something else I wanted to mention is that the 'triangle' so far has had pretty much zero romantic intent in it, at least that I can see. While there's definitely some strong bonding going on in both directions, it so far feels much more like partnerships than romance. Both Hayate-Freyja and Hayate-Mirage are coming across more as buddy movie friendships than as contenders for coupling. Anyone else feeling that, or am I just blind?
  20. guyxxed
    I hope not. I like the interpretation that Hayate's flying just reminds Arad of someone. I'd much prefer that to Hayate being the son/descendant of someone significant. I've never liked the 'special snowflake' school of storytelling and would rather he just be a normal everyday person who is discovering his natural talents. I'll admit, his pendant would seem to indicate that I'll be disappointed, but a guy can still hope.
  21. guyxxed
    Twice now (episodes 3 and 6, I think), when the knights were told to retreat, they were instructed to "return to the Branch". That could just be fancy 'wind' talk, but I've assumed that it is the name of their carrier or base ship.
  22. guyxxed
    Cool, thank you!
  23. guyxxed
    I've come across some concept art that Thomas Romain did for Delta and it got me to wondering, I've never been able to find much in the way of concept art for Frontier. Are there any books or other sources that showed the worldbuilding concept art for Frontier, similar to this or what was in Macross Perfect Memory for the original series?
  24. guyxxed

    Delta Screenshots

    Images added to a gallery album owned by guyxxed in Macross Collections

    Screenshots for discussion in forums
  25. guyxxed
    Ohys Raws Macross Delta 07

    From the album: Delta Screenshots

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