sketchley

I'm not sure about the quality on the Keyhole TV, but if it's similar to that on Youtube, you're missing a lot. There's even a lot of stuff that I missed on my 19" monitor that shows up great on the new highvision 33" that we got. Those asteroids looked great! I really like the directions that the series is going. Another good episode with the right mix of character, action and humor.

Perhaps they can't tell his family simply because of the situation in which he died, not because he was an SMS pilot. Then again, it may be that SMS is a super-secret agency of the UN using the civilian provider as a cover? As the VF-25 and its attachments are still in the testing phase, perhaps the explosion that happened is a result of faulty test equipment? Though, usually in Macross, faulty equipment doesn't pop up very often, especially as a story device (aside from the Zentraedi ships in SDF:M.)

Rail guns exist in Macross; on the VB-6. The flashy shooting effect they have is akin to that of the SDF-1's main cannon - glowing coming out of the cannons along with some electric arcs before the cannons fire. Which is quite different from the sharpshooter gun pod in Macross F. As Kawamori Shouji did the storyboarding for that sequence in the opening animation of VF-X2, I tend to interpret that as how a rail cannon firing looks like in Macross. Though, I add the grain of salt of since they are on the VB-6, the effects have been embellished to make it look that much more powerful.

It looked like the shot vaporized the parts of the head inside the armour, along with the neck, and a good portion of the head armour. Perhaps the bullet exploded into plasma? Or some other high heat reaction caused by a chemical reaction with the blood/whatever the Vajra are made out of?

It flies. Does anything else matter? (Yes, I like stats as much as the next stats fiend. Nevertheless, the bottom line is that we saw it fly in the anime.)

Hey. Good point on the Ekusadoru's brain thing. Though, I was reminded of the moving antenna from Super Dimension Century Orguss...

At the end of episode 2 they were heading towards the horizon line of the planet. I'm not sure why they were heading there, and I thought it would lead into a "let's take it to the enemy's home base" action sequence in 3. Sadly, it didn't. Ozuma, being the last to launch is also the closest to the city ship. (I don't think this needs spoiler tags, as it's all info from episode 2).

Just like New York city has been "new" for how many centuries?

Darn posting late at night! (MBS - earlier Macross F broadcasting time slot? Hint! Hint!) I knew I was screwing up something. Yes, I was mixing Ozuma with a students name (Azumi). Though, I always verbalize the Japanese "o" as the o in "go".

Don't fret too much. This episode may be better to hold off on until a translation is available. Mostly due to the dialogue.

The use of atmosphere is easy - it means less use of reactant. In space, reactant is used for both the creation of energy, as well as the mass sent hurling out the rear of the engine. I'm not exactly certain about why the space and air thrusts are different, but, and I'm repeating someone elses arguements here, in an atmosphere, things like drag (friction), and headwinds must be taken into consideration. In addition, in space, there is less thermal transfer. True, air/reactant rushing through the engine will cool things, but what from there? Again, I must stress that I'm repeating someone else's arguement (can one of the more technically proficient people step in?), so I suggest withholding a reply until then (plus it's late here, and I'm having trouble keeping the eyes open, let alone keeping a coherent train of thought!)

Ahh.. couple more observations: Ranka's hair continues to move in gravity and wind condition defying ways. The eye catch is different (though, I can't quite remember the one from last week...) The city looks great - this episode looks different from one (definite Tokyo feel) and two (definite San Franscisco feel.) Yes, there were streetcars and lots of neon TV billboards, but we got to see the mountains around the city (City 25 is a HUGE ship!), and the mountains had a definite Japan mountain feel (watch EVA to get a rough idea. I'm not talking Japan Alps mountains here.)

Given the amount of action in the previous two episodes, I was a bit disappointed that the volume of it was reduced significantly. Though that is to be expected. We're only at the third episode afterall. Technically, I felt that the frame speed when they were moving around in the VFs was a bit too high, and sometime the background/foreground elements looked a bit jerky and not fluidly moving. I'm still not quite liking the character designs. They serve their purposes of course, but they are just missing that extra something that the ones in SDF:M, Plus, 7 and Zero have. Though, I'm pretty sure that I'll probably start liking them sooner or later. And I'm sure that their gawky poses and movements are a reflection of their youthful ages. Right?

Cool, and rediculously expensive! Mind you, with a kid and wife sleeping in the other room, it doesn't matter if I have the latest and greatest speaker system and amp. The 01:25 broadcast time of Macross F demands headphones. T.T;;;

Most every show is being (or soon to be) broadcast by "terrestrial digital" "hivision" (HDD). Bluray being the winner of the format wars, and (if I understand the commercials already) being advertised as the next gen DVD recorder. At the very least, one could fill it with a bunch of DVD quality material. Mind you, this is all in the "would be nice, but ain't gonna happen anytime soon" catagory.

Good post. Though, I think you're reading the compendium stats wrong: The Y/VF-19 engines are only 40 to 60% as powerful in space, as they are in atmosphere (100% in atmosphere, 40 to 60% in space.) This has to do with the cooling, from the engines not having an atmosphere running through them at stupifying speeds to cool them. Nevertheless, your math stands as proof that in a vacuum, but 1.0G environment, the VF-25 Full Armour can fly.

Drinking beer. Yay! Thinking about drawing manga and/or studying kanji. I wish I had a Bluray recorder and a nice thin, wall-mountable flat screen TV. Which won't be happening until after I move to the new house this weekend, and most likely not for another couple of months or years (Ie after Macross F has finished.) >.<

Darn it... only another hour and a half to go until episode 3...! [whinging fan mode]Why can't it start a half hour earlier, like last week!!![/whinging fan mode]

Erm... it's late here and I'm pumped for Macross F. If my post contradicts the compendium, go with whatever the compendium says.