sketchley

Heh. Don't you mean "made it possible"? "Allowed" implies legal permission, which is not the reality of the situation.

I was going to add "Waratte ii to omou" and "Sazae san". Nevertheless, one has to keep in mind that the great cultural denominator, aka TV and movies, so prevalent in North American countries, has neither made as great a penetration into society, nor is as equally distributed. In short, most people are too busy to watch much, if any TV* and you'll be hard pressed to find a movie theatre in a major city. But it's great to be able to go to a different city, or even different part of a major city, and find different things (usually, but not limited to specialty dishes and souvenirs). *most of the time, TV plays in the background, complete with text updates of what was just said or happened, for those just tuning in or watching with the volume off.

Partials, but may be completed within the next 6 to 24 months: Chronicle Mechanic: Plus UN 03a VF-11B Thunderbolt: http://www.macrossroleplay.org/forums/inde...g34535#msg34535 Chronicle Mechanic: Plus UN 03b VF-11B Thunderbolt: http://www.macrossroleplay.org/forums/inde...g34544#msg34544 Chronicle Mechanic: M7 UN 07a VF-17 Nightmare: http://www.macrossroleplay.org/forums/inde...g34626#msg34626 Chronicle Mechanic: M7 UN 07c VF-17 Nightmare: http://www.macrossroleplay.org/forums/inde...g34628#msg34628 and a classic (not Macross Chronicle). I really do hope to finish this one within the next 6 months... Macross Hobby Handbook 1: http://www.macrossroleplay.org/forums/index.php?topic=2315.0

THanks for bringing this to my attention. The restoration project is fascinating (who know, might learn a few tricks to apply to my models / house repair in a decade or so). I think what's also equally interesting is how blazé the model looks, but how cool it looks on screen (and I'm not talking about lighting and other F/X around the model). It just goes to highlight the genius behind that movie.

I know exactly how big my home is, thank you. I'm also not assuming that the rest of the world faces US conditions. What I am saying is that the Japanese home condition is not limited to space, but also cost of living, and lifestyle. There are some intangible aspects that are hard to convey without actual first-hand experience. How is it a bad example? Someone creates work, and is not being paid for it. Unless if it is a labour of love, they will stop doing that work when they are no longer compensated for it. Your example is flawed, too. The neighbour with a recording is within reason. However, if the musician was selling the music, and the neighbour gave the recording away, it has an impact on the musician's livelihood, does it not? Others beat me to it with much better responses.

Erm... I was just answering the questions "How far would you go for some Macross lovin'?" and "What is the furthest length you've gone to to get something Macross-related?" to the best of my understanding. Now that you've added examples of what you're looking for... Paying ￥10,000 for the Gold Book? (Not to mention the waiting and searching for it over a handful of years...) Buying all of the MF CDs and CD singles up to and including the Vocal Collection (despite a good 1/3 to 1/2 being recycled content. Grrr...) I think I waited about two years for the Macross Zero DVDs to show up in the used section at SofMap. Waiting 4 years and then spending more than $300 CAD to mail the small collection of Macross books from storage in Canada to my home in Japan? Waiting 15+ years to a) find copies and b) have the money to get all three of the This is Animation SDF:M books.

(Apparently I had quoted too much... and have to break the post in two!) Expanding on this - the Japanese entertainment industry has, on at least one occasion, asked Youtube to remove anime titles. Take it as meaning that they are aware of the stealing of their IP in foreign countries, want it to stop, and are proactive about it. You got hikari too? It's great, isn't it? (Other than the initial 1+ month of waiting for them to put the hardline into the neighbourhood...) But yeah, if anyone wants an example of Japan being a country attached to things tangible: Japan is still very much a cash (as in paper money carried in your pocket) society. Sure, there are credit cards and mobile phone "wallets", but by and large, the majority of people pay for things in cash. Cheques? Never seen one in Japan. With all the companies I've every worked for, it was either direct deposit into the bank account, or cash. Compare that to North America, where I've heard stories of people afraid of carrying more than $20 in their wallet, and more than willing to pay $0.25 for each and every money transaction, I am left shaking my head in sadness that people live with such fear in their lives. I fully agree. Why should a company specialize their product for a foreign market that provides obsolutely no incentive (read: income) for their efforts? I think Japanese companies would be more than willing to produce media with English content on it, if they got paid for their work. Erm, you're misunderstanding. It's not a moral or immoral action. It is a payment for work. Let's put it in different terms: if you go to work, do you not want to be payed for that work at the end of the day? If you're boss stopped paying you, would you continue working? And how did you come to the conclusion that those with morals do not understand human behaviour is affected by incentives? As I mentioned already, the Japanese market is adopting and changing to new market conditions. (See Discas) It's simply not evolving in directions that you are familiar with, desire, or cater to you. No matter which way you look at it, it is lost revenue. Ref. Japanese anime companies demanding that Youtube remove their content. Perhaps things would be totally different if the media were in some sort of electronic copy-proof format, like the toys or model kits... Agreed. People find new ways to steal, and governments create new laws to stop stealing. Ref: Pirate Bay, Napster, et al. You have to keep in mind that the content, IP or whatever you wish to call it, is covered by copyright law. New forms of distribution and media do not require changes in copyright law to such an extent that the original work can be acquired in entirity with no recompense to the creators and/or owners of the IP. Why would the US market have anything to do with the Japanese market? Isn't it the US companies who should have evolved and adapted? We already know that the Japanese ones are, and their continued operation is indicative of it. No worries! The language that you've used to present your arguements is very good (I actually thought you were a native speaker until I read that line!) Any irritation on our part is against the content of the arguements and logic used to justify certain actions.

This stuck out in my memory like an ingrown nail. This arguement isn't applicable to a DVD et al. Using it is the same as stating that a DVD is a perishable (like milk) that has a best before date. A better arguement would be of the retail shop that orders a plethora of a single item, sells enough to recoup costs, expenses and a modicrum of profit, and liquidates the remainder at below cost prices. They have the option of patience and petitioning a company to acquire the license and provide a translation in the copy that they purchase from the company. You've also neglected the third country option. Purchasing licensed copies from a third country will probably result in a much lower item price, simply because the cost of living (which translates into a higher per item cost) is lower in other countries. I'm refering to Korea, and Taiwan here. I once bought a pair of Japanese CDs in Korea produced for the domestic market, complete with "not for sale in Japan" printed on them. Their cost was 1/2 to 1/3 the retail cost of the exact same CDs in Japan. The only difference was the inclusion of translated lyrics in a seperate insert booklet! The only difference with Macross (or another popular anime) DVDs et al would be the menu would not be in Japanese. But as most of us can't read Japanese, the difference is negligible. Anyhow, imports are expensive. It's a fact of life. If you have to import, you know you're going to be paying an inflated premium. If you can't afford to pay that price, change hobbies. Lastly, why should a product made for the Japanese market have subtitles or dialogue tracks in non-Japanese languages? Isn't it culturally chauvanistic to make that assumption and demand? Are you refering to the booklet, stickers and stuff like that? Or things like "making of" etc video documentaries? If it's the later, you'll be pleased to know that those things are highly uncommon on domestic releases. THe lack of them on licensed version is only due to the domestic versions not having them. Period. It's not an arguement. It's a fact of (Japanese) life. I think you'd appreciate the situation more if you did more research on the subject before trying to construct a counterarguement.

I've moved to Japan and learned Japanese.

Actually, it is. It's called determining meaning from context. It's something that everyone, everywhere has done when learning a language (either their native one, or additional ones). Now, if you have a problem with the systems of writing that the Japanese use, STOP trying to translate and leave it for those that have a decent knowledge of the language.

You never know. A store may be opening near you: http://www.bookoff.co.jp/en/info/kaigai07.html

I second this. I'd also like to add that it is really bad form to automatically assume that Japan is a carbon copy of your country of residence. This is important in two respects: internet, and methods of distribution. Internet: The internet age dawned late in Japan. By the time broadband had become established in North America, dial-up was still getting started. (Blame NTT and their pricey per-minute local call charge rates if you need to point fingers). Even after dial-up had been established, use of the internet didn't grow as fast or as far as in North America. Even now, a few short years later, with Japan leap-frogging over broadband and straight to fibre-optic connections in most areas, the penetration is still small compared to North America. Compare it to the mobile phone (or cellular) internet in Japan - it's breadth and scope has grown astonishingly fast in the past few years. It has also become a medium for distribution. Of course, in this means of distribution, users are paying creators, and the product received is oft temporary in nature. Methods of distribution (of anime): There are basically three forms: TV, retail and rental. TV is fairly self-explanitory, so straight to rental: in many regards, the rental market is assuming the role of internet distribution in other parts of the world. Tsutaya's discas service is a prime example: the customer, using the internet, orders a DVD (or whatever) that they want to rent over the internet (usually the mobile internet, but the office computer also works). When they get home that night, the rented video is in their mailbox (yes, Japan Post, and the rival postal service Yamato Shipping ARE that efficient. Mail twice a day. Yay!). They watch it, and pop it in the mail the next morning on their way to work. Even without that service, one has to keep in mind that rental DVDs et al are quite expensive for rental shops to buy. It's something on the order of double or triple the retail cost, in order for the distributors to recoup costs (not to mention the smaller production runs increasing costs). Anyhow, the point is that rental is one of the, if not the main means of distribution of anime. The costs on the customer are low, and there are no long-term space requirements; which is very important to keep in mind, as Japanese housing is small. Very small. Without going into too much detail, there isn't very much space within a house to fill with collectables (and anime DVDs et al are defined as such). I've heard stories of people tossing expensive ski gear that they've only used three times, because they don't have the space to store it in their residence. Expanding this to include anime, and you get two things: a) high retail costs (only a very few members of fandom like a particular series enough to actually purchase it) b) (Tochiro's afforementioned) high number of used books/DVD/etc shops that a fan who, usually out of want of space, has had to sell their beloved DVDs et al to. So yeah, remember one's low cost alternative options before one resorts to stealing. And be proactive in getting companies in one's country of residence, as that's the business paradigm that anime distributors are using, and their not likely to change it any time soon, unless they see it as financially viable (Bandai's release of Gundam in English, anyone?) Ammendum: and yes, I've used rental shops. It was great fun watching all of Macross 7 and Macross 0 on rented VHS (it was pre Remastered) and DVD, with the added bonus of absolutely no storage space requirements! And what you talking about watching it more than once? Me and all of Japan barely have enough time to watch something once!

Thank you for at least mentioning Macross in your two posts in this thread. Nevertheless, in both of them, you've neglected to answer the topic: "how much is too much?" Your logic in the above quote is also flawed. The pricing is based on the production costs and what the market can bare. The Japanese market is small, so a large production run with a low price-per-unit will have a marginal effect on the retail price, as the number of units sold doesn't vary. Now, if all the people currently stealing the IP actually purchased it, the people releasing the product will notice. Production runs would increase and per-unit costs would go down (obviously this won't happen instantly). That, or a domestic manufacturer in your territory of residence may acquire a license and produce it, with whatever language is spoken in your territory of residence. Win-win. So yeah, answer the topic's question, and leave the illogical arguements for another discussion.

Translation of the titles/topic headings and a few paragraphs here and there that caught my eye (and mostly because they were short): Chronicle Technology: 01g Variable Fighter (Armour Pack) http://www.macrossroleplay.org/forums/index.php?topic=2311.0

(Speaking as someone living in Japan): the sales price is too high. However, that's what used shops are for. I've found some great deals for Macross anime DVDs, books, et al, at used shops. However, using the high price as the justification for stealing is just, well, flawed logic. Basically it comes down to: if one didn't steal the item and paid for it like one is supposed to, not only will there be more of the item, it's cost will come down.* So the point: you can't afford it, do without, or wait for it to be broadcast on TV. * Ever wonder why items in a sex shop are so expensive (basically triple the suggested mark-up)? It's because a good majority of the products are stolen. The mark-up is to cover the stolen items. (Don't ask where I heard this from. No, never worked in a sex shop. Did work in a comic shop, and Magic The Gathering cards et al were marked up more than other products, because kids continually stole them).

Translation of the titles/topic headings only (ah... too much Macross related goodness to translate, not enough time): Chronicle Technology: 01f Variable Fighter (Super Parts) - http://www.macrossroleplay.org/forums/index.php?topic=2307.0

Additional translations (yes, not Macross Chronicle related, but I don't think they're worth creating a new topic for): Great Mechanics 88: M0 VF-0 & SV-51 The latest creations open to the public: http://www.macrossroleplay.org/forums/index.php?topic=2303.0 Great Mechanics 93: M0 Destroid (Cheyenne), SV-51 & F-14 Tomcat: http://www.macrossroleplay.org/forums/index.php?topic=2304.0 Great Mechanics 95: M0 VF-0D Model : http://www.macrossroleplay.org/forums/index.php?topic=2305.0

Appears that I posted the list o' links in the wrong thread. Thanks to whomever moved it. The debate over Sturmvogel/Stormbird reminded me of the research I did to find the correct English translation of the VF-22's name. The result was YF-21/VF-22 Shuturumufoogeru 2 > Sturmvögel 2 > Stormbird 2. I can't find the original link(s), but this will suffice: http://www.airpages.ru/eng/lw/me262_01.shtml Or: http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B7%E3%...2%B2%E3%83%ABII (follow the link at Me262A-2a). But yeah, the name isn't likely to change.

Enjoy: pgs 01&02: http://studiootaking.deviantart.com/art/VF...nd-02-128200177 pgs 03&04: http://studiootaking.deviantart.com/art/VF...nd-04-128725540 I'm planning on completing a title/cover page in the near future. But I've got alot of other stuff on my plate... anyhow, don't forget to check out the links to the lineart!

I don't visit this site for a couple of months, and there are no new translations. >.< I've been busy: Chronicle translations: Complete: Space Destroyer (Oberth): http://www.macrossroleplay.org/forums/index.php?topic=2054 Macross F Vehicles: http://www.macrossroleplay.org/forums/index.php?topic=2151.0 tech 01a Variable Fighter: http://www.macrossroleplay.org/forums/index.php?topic=2264.0 Partial: Queadluun-Rhea: http://www.macrossroleplay.org/forums/index.php?topic=2241.0 Tech: 01C Variable Fighter: http://www.macrossroleplay.org/forums/index.php?topic=2226.0 Work in progress: VA-3C Kai Invader: http://www.macrossroleplay.org/forums/index.php?topic=2243.0 My TOC (as I may be missing some...): http://www.macrossroleplay.org/Sketchley/p.../Chronicles.htm Other translations: Partial: Macross Frontier Archives: 3D (models) & Development Document Collection: http://www.macrossroleplay.org/forums/index.php?topic=2294.0 Work in progress: Great Mechanics.DX 9 article: VF Evolutionary Theory: http://www.macrossroleplay.org/forums/index.php?topic=2252.0 This is Animation Special Macross Plus: Variable Fighter's Aero Report: http://www.macrossroleplay.org/forums/index.php?topic=2250.0 TOC: http://www.macrossroleplay.org/Sketchley/p...ranslations.htm

No, it doesn't. ８発全翼巨人爆撃機 = (literally) 8 launching all wing giant bomber; or translated: all-wing anti-giant* bomber; attacking with 8 (kinds of) weapon(s). *presumably Zentoraadi kyojin. きょじん.

Seconded. If you're only going to own 1 Mospeada book, THIS is it. Two thumbs way up.

Finally... finally! Finished the translation of the stuff on the VF-171 and VF-171 EX in the book. See: http://www.macrossroleplay.org/forums/index.php?topic=2105 I think it's pretty cool how they describe exactly what an MDE warhead is composed of.

Quid Pro Quo. Ref: http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?...st&p=758992

No. Mindless one liners don't work (I'd rather see an Arnold Schwartzenegger Movie). Erudite and esoteric posts do.