sketchley

Good answers all. and I'll add to this: The bar owner is also not recording, and disseminating any recordings to others. Which is what fansubbers are doing. As it was asked: In Japan, if you have a TV and an antenna, you are able to receive a couple of channels. This varies considerably per area (obviously Tokyo has the most), and the more remote areas only get NHK. About 4 years ago they started digital broadcasts, and analogue is due to stop in a few more years. In addition, if it's in the area and you can afford it, you can also get cable. Cable has some great stuff, like those all-anime, all the time channels. Nevertheless, for those in Japan without cable, it is highly likely that Macross F will be broadcast on one of the those "free" (though paid for by watching CMs) stations, such as TBS and MBS.

Again, be careful with one's comparissions. The facts are: - low print runs cost more per unit - anime is a niche market with low sales relative to other items Therefore, if you want cheaper anime - buy more. Convince your friends to purchase it. Convince your local rental shop to buy anime and rent it. Convince online shops to sell it, and purchase anime from them. Move it out of the niche, and into the mainstream. Companies will only provide products if they know there is a market for the products, and that the expenses involved with importing and modifying a product are covered, plus alpha. Yes, previous distribution methods may be failing, but the bottom line is: are the people viewing the anime giving money to the people that make it? No wages to the creators = no incentive to make anime = no more anime. And for those arguing the "try before I buy" thing - viewing only one episode of a series is much more than enough. Viewing an entire series is theft. As for viewing one episode... can you watch an entire movie at a video shop before deciding if you will buy it? If you try that, they'll kick you out and send you to a rental shop. If you try to watch an entire movie at a rental shop, they'll kick you out and tell you to watch the preview for free on the internet. How is that different for anime imported from overseas? It may not be timely released (but neither are movies instantly available on DVD when they are theatrically released), but anime is present in the North American rental shop. Been there, rented it. And to illustrate the model in Japan; my experiences with Macross Zero. First exposure was renting the episodes as they became available at a video shop (Big West gets money from the video shop. No copy is kept in my home.) Second exposure is a late night showing. (Big West gets money from advertisers. No copy is kept in my home.) Third exposure is purchasing the DVDs (Big West gets money direct from me. Copies are kept at home.) Fourth exposure is torrenting subtitled fansubbed episodes. (Big West doesn't get any money. Copies are retained.) Big West has received money for their product on three occasions; trial, trial and final purchase. Did Big West receive any money from those trying Macross anime via fansubbers? Is Big West going to listen to people and make products for markets that don't buy their products? You want more Macross, pay for it. Retailers tend to listen to paying customers and any suggestions and complaints they may have. Lastly: If I'm not mistaken, recording it for personal use is acceptable (personal use means you, and only the members of your household get to view it later). However, presenting it to people not in your household is punishable.

Not likely. One big difference is rental shops. A lot of new releases are not sold per se, but rented by anime fans. Yes, it's highly likely that the unscrupulous renters also make copies, but that raises another question: where are all of these copies stored? Yes, we've seen the hard core anime fans with huge collections of anime in Japan, but sooner or later they have to toss items, as their living arrangements are too small to continue acquiring new items. Yes, large hard drives and large capacity discs exist, but then the cost factor comes into play. Not very many anime fans are big wage earners... So that leads us to another point: not many people in Japan actually buy anime. They rent it. Due to that, only small quantities of discs are pressed for any particular title. Small numbers means a higher cost per disc. Even in Japan, anime is expensive to purchase... but hey, only hardcore fans of an anime actually buy discs of that series anyways...

Ahh... thanks for the clarification. The point your making makes more sense now. Though, the line that I quoted is not necessarily the whole truth. To my understanding, some works are still partially, sometimes completely, still under the ownership of the original artists (probably more true of anime made from manga than others). The US Writer's Guild strike has also highlighted payments to artists long after their artistic involvement has finished. I don't know the Japanese market well enough to make any statements, but I feel strongly that some artists are still receiving compensation long after the fact. On the flip side, without salesman "enslaving" artists and getting a group of them to work together on a single project, we would never see projects like on the scale of Macross F coming to fruitition any time soon. Art takes time, and quality art in quantities as seen in motion pictures is generally beyond the abilities of any one person. Curse the salesman, or praise him?

Actually no. The studios are making money. That's why they're continuing in business. They make their money in Japan. The jist of the article is outside of Japan, and the market of companies that legally import anime from Japan. Paying fansubbers makes them into anime importers from Japan, and they too will be subject to licensing fees, as they are making a profit off of someone else's work. As this debate is English centric and Fort Max mentioned other languages, I am curious about the situation in non-English markets. From what I knew of the situation about a decade or so ago, anime was more popular and more successful in non-English markets. Does anyone know the current situation?

That's what the text says. Something to take into consideration: fleet numbers are most likely cycled to newly created fleets from those that are retired (aka have found and started a colony.) If I'm remembering the story of VF-X2 correctly, the 13th Macross Battleship was at the Factory Satellite undergoing repairs/refurbishment/what have you. That implies that the 13th Super Long Distance Emigration Fleet has completed it's mission, and elements of it have returned to Earth to compose a new 13th Super Long Distance Emigration Fleet. I must also stress the use of Super Long Distance, as there are also Short Distance Emigration Fleets. As per the Macross Compendium, those fleets work out to a distance of 100 light years (and are, given the available information, most likely responsible for founding and colonizing Eden.) Presumably there is also a Long Distance Emigration Fleet as well, though I have yet to come across any information on them. Therefore, there are much more than 13 Emigration Fleets in operation at any one time; 13 being the highest number stated to date (if I'm remembering Macross correctly.) It is also unlikely that any one fleet has been in continuous operation since the emigration plan started back in the 2010's.

Actually... you're not watching it for free. You're paying for cable, right? Advertisers are also sponsoring the show's broadcast. Are you watching advertisements when you see a fansub?

The sand metaphor doesn't fit the situation at all. It's arguing that the artisans who create anime initially worked for free, and only big business has ascribed a value and price to anime. I know that I will not work for anyone unless I am paid; and I'm sure all of you do too. Why should we assume otherwise of the artisans who create anime? Without knowing what pricing is reasonable (Japan has a high cost of living, wages are proportionally high as well,) it is hard to debate the issue. Nevertheless, I agree that concurrent releasing of new productions on the internet is a viable solution. However, for that to be in English (and most likely only subtitled at that,) companies will have to be involved with an anime from it's initial production. To the best of my knowledge, only Manga video has done that with "Ghost in the Shell." (Note: it's one of the rare domestic (to Japan) anime DVDs with both English subtitles, and English dubbing.) But, that would require a huge business paradigm shift for external companies, and a lot more up-front expenditure on risky projects that they may never see a return on. I don't think many anime importers have the capital to do that. From my understanding, these companies prefer to wait for a series to be completed, guage it's popularity and then weight the odds of making a profit if they export it from Japan.

See my post above for my main opinion. It's highly inaccurate to compare a domestically created and marketed release to an imported foreign release. It is far better to compare domestic releases. Are anime releases more expensive than drama releases in Japan? This is, of course, in addition to is your country's currency faring well or badly against the yen? Some to many releases have them. I have a feeling that they may not be translated and included in the releases outside of Japan. One thing to consider is that there may not be a market demand for them in Japan to begin with. I haven't seen very many domestically produced live-action movies, so I cannot comment with certanty. Nevertheless, I feel that this must be said: anime fans are more interested in art, and not so much the people that produce the art. Anime fans, after all, are not reknown for their social skills. Sometimes an accurate translation does take time. In other cases, it's getting a translation approved from the owners of the licensed material. As for the snail's pace of releasing - there are many reasons and factors. The biggest one is that they are going to sell a lot more if they allow time for marketing to sink in. Other factors to consider are disc pressing scheduling at the factory and storage space for all of the material waiting to be sold. I'm also pretty sure that retailers don't have the space nor want to promote and store hundreds of similar titles at the same time. Yes, posters will probably demand a paradigm shift as the internet allows for new distribution models. However, even with content on demand, the licensing company may choose to only release one episode per week. Not to mention bottlenecks at the source like we experienced on the macross site after they released the Macross F clip. Even with a new distribution paradigm, time, patience, and money are required.

http://www.macrossroleplay.org/forums/index.php?topic=1422.0 The link contains the translation of the 07.12 issue of Newtype, as well as additional links to topics with images of Macross F.

This is essentially the "what came first, the chicken or the egg?" arguement. Illegal acquisition of anime outside of Japan means less people outside of Japan will purchase DVDs, meaning that less are made, and the price goes up; that's if any DVDs get produced outside of Japan in the first place. On the other side, it's a foreign import. If one is not in Japan, it's going to be extremely rare and expensive. Go to one's local foreign food store. Imported foods not made for the domestic market are more expensive. It's a fact. The solution to that external situation (again, I'm in Japan, my perspective is different, and by the content of the article, it is largely an external to Japan issue) is to bite the bullet, pay the extra money needed to cover import, licensing and translation costs, and learn Japanese. Another option is to be patient, and wait for anime to be broadcast on one's domestic TV. How's that going to happen? From the people downloading anime. TV stations will not know there's a demand unless they are made aware of the demand. Even then, it must be expected that anime will never be mainstream. It's not here. The broadcast hours of Macross F and the current ones for Macross 7 and Macross Dynamite (yes, it's being broadcast every week) are indicative of that. Nevertheless, the bottom line is that unless one is in Japan, anime from Japan is a foreign import in a foreign language. Instant is not part of the equation. Internally, the market is covered. Externally (to Japan), the Japanese are being respectful and not interfering with the external markets, and letting people inside of those markets determine their own fate(s). Yes, the internet is changing the rules of the global market, but one must always keep in mind that the rule of law is different in different countries, and what may be legal in one country may not be legal in another. In addition to the situation (internet connections, use of personal computers in general, broadcast and/or content restricts) being different.

Funny. Most of the stuff that Graham said, is in the article. Though, there is a size discrepency. The article says 11 to 15 cm.

I wasn't referring to the colour schemes, but the dates mentioned in the article (2045, 14+ years, 2059). Alas, I'm too busy this weekend to sit down and do a proper translation. >.<

From the available information, it is a Megaroad Class ship. Also, given that all of the New Macross Colony Ships seen in M7 and it's sequels (VF-X2) are all (slightly to majorly) different in design, it is highly probably that the same holds true for the Megaroad class ships as well. Therefore, it is highly likely that what we are seeing is the Megaroad-01. In addition, to the left of the Megaroad ship there is a Zentraedi Flagship also launching. This is very similar, if not exactly the same as the Megaroad-01 launch sequence seen in F2012. It is well worth noting that the tone and colours of the city in the sequence is exactly the same as that of Macross City, as seen in M+. Therefore, given the information that we have at this time, the two dots on the tower in the background on the right is the SDF-1. It is my belief that this is part of an opening introductory sequence, a la what is seen in M7's first few episodes. (Darn it... this is the 2nd time I've had to write this... the first time, something ate it while transmitting it. >.<) What does SMS stand for? Speculation: the VF is the new fighter for the next term, right? Therefore, I believe that we are seeing early production models or even prototypes of the VF-25. So SMS may very well be the initials of the manufacturer.

Can we get a better scane of the text in the box under Macross F. I'm going crosseyed and getting eyestrain from looking at it... and as near as I can tell, it's talking about Saotome Aruto.

26:50 = the next day, at 02:50. 25:15 = the next day, at 01:15. Apparently TV programming schedules in Japan are from 04:00 to 28:00 (04:00 to 03:59 for those subscribing to a different interpretation of the clock and sleep-wake cycles.) An example: http://tv.yahoo.co.jp/vhf/osaka/realtime.html I only have time to do a quickie glance and translate at the moment of the latest news on http://www.macross.co.jp/ Broadcast of the "Macross 25th Anniversary Commemoration Special" (tentative) Broadcast Planned! Macross F is planned for broadcasting in 2008. 「マクロスｆ」第一話スペシャル編集版をいち早く放映！ The special edition version of the first episode is being promptly broadcast! お見逃し無く！！ Don't miss it!! Additional notes: Macross F is a Big West programme. MBS is the first broadcaster to agree to broadcast the show. The majority of broadcasters in Japan are limited to their local area. Very, very, very few broadcast nationally. Where I live, there is no MBS nor TBS. T.T Hopefully one of the local broadcasters will pick up the show.

漫画 = manga, or comics. The problem with the HJ article is that right smack in the middle, it says "omitted". Therefore, without the full article, or without it in it's proper context, I can't trust what comes after what is indicated as being omitted. Everything up until that word is pretty much the same as the other material that I translated.

They most likely slide into the legs, a la the VF-11.

I don't know if threw is the right verb... maybe dropped. Nevertheless, the key point is that the neighbours caught the baby. No one attempted to catch the adults. Gently being deacelerated tends to cause less injuries then the hard stop of pavement. Though, I really feel that this thread, at least the context of it, is trivializing the event.

Kawamori san looks older... In Modified Hepburn it's: furontia In Nihon-shiki (sic. Nipponsiki) it's: hurontia In Kunrei-shiki (sic. Kunreisiki) it's: hurontia There are other varients, but truth be known, the producers of Macross tend to not follow any of the standard romanizations (see their English translations of Zentraedi terms.) In other words, a bunch of kids learned English in school, forgot what they learned, and when they became adults, they think they are right when they romanize their language. Thus the letter R has a tendancy to become a letter L, among other things. Speaking of letters R and L, the Japanese have neither sound in their language, but they have one that is in the middle of the two. Thus, for them there is no difference in the pronunciation of the word flontiel and frontier. Anyhow, the change of O to A is most likely attributed to how a native speaker of English pronounces the schwa in the word. It also hints at having used a Southern-USAian accent. ...y'all. Makes you think, don't it, eh? Frontier... wagons west... to the frontier. Heck, the ships are reminiscient of covered wagons. What's correct? Well, the accepted romanizations are listed above, and the common romanization that native English speakers (specifically Macross fans) are using is Frontier.

CM = Commercial Message

In Macross, I think the Full Armoured VF has effectively replaced the destroid; especially when one considers the Full Armour VF-11. In addition to the fire power and armour, there's also commonality with other mecha, and the ability to dump the heavy stuff, and boost the manueverability, if need be. Though, I'm not entirely convinced that the latest CM for Macross F is actually of a Full Armour. I'm still of the opinion that it's the next generation Super Parts.

Ah... I remembered one more variation. I'm not sure how canon official it is considered... nevertheless, it's a pretty groovy colour scheme. It's the one that appears near the end of the all CG, "Macross 3DVFX" that was released on the 20th Anniversary DVD. As I saw that on U-tube in the past two or three days, it's available there too, if one doesn't have the DVD.

Let's keep in mind that the designer of the destroids that appeared in Macross Zero is listed in the production staff for Macross F.

Damn... we don't get BS2 or BShi where we are. >.< The wife thinks they may only be available on cable.