sketchley

The jock-kus would probably terrorize the otaku with physical violence until the otaku hide in their rooms, and the jock-kus make a mess of the house with their reinactments of favourite sports moments.

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=ja&q=itano+circus

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Kensei, isn't that really called 'the Itano Circus'? Anyhow, Sumdumgai, don't forget the sports otaku that are prevalent in North America. I swear, anywhere you turn, you come across them, their bad fashion sense, and geekiness to talk only about sports. Of course, sports otaku are not really recognized as otaku... the last time I checked, that is.

There are a number of arguements regarding why there aren't that many seen. The biggest would be that most of the human ships are out commanding fleets that are exploring and possibly colonizing the galaxy. Another reason could be that the UN Spacy command got complacent with a bunch of commandeered, and renovated Zentraedi ships in orbit. Lastly, and this is probably the most relevant: the producers of Macross II felt that the more Zentraedi ships there were, the closer to the other Macross projects Macross II would appear to be. Let's face it, without those hordes of Zentraedi ships - and the lookalikes in the Mardook fleet, the show would really only be Macross in name...

This topic has got me thinking - Mr. Lucas is continually tweaking the movies as they get rereleased. Me thinks that in a few years, after the next generation of DVD has defeated its opponent, he'll do a new release - possible all 6 movies - but he'll get the guy who played Vader in the 2nd and 3rd movies, and place him in all of the shots where he appeared in the 6th movie - not just the final one, of the 3 ghost-like jedi masters... As a creative type, I can fully understand why Mr. Lucas is doing his tweaks and changes. Heck, most manga-artists do it when their manga is collected into pocket book form... though, I do agree that some of the change (some of them even mentioned here) weren't necessarily improvements, and some just didn't look very good at all on the big screen (4th movie, arriving in the port city on Luke's speeder - the 3D pan of the city was a big blur! Hideous.) I also wonder why, after spending oodles of moulla on fixing and adding SFX, why they didn't fix the red bar over the emperor's eyes in the 6th movie... that's bothered me from day one.

Haven't you guys seen the movie (or read the book) "the human stain"? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Human_Stain Spoiler: it's about a black guy who, due to nature, becomes white - and hides that truth to both the people he meets in life, and eventually himself. It's probable, in light of this, that Aegis Fokker could be Claudia and Roy's secret love child - without having to go the plastic surgeon route like MJ.

By and large, your summary is good, except for one point that I wish to take issue with: Maybe it's because I am a gaigokujin here in Japan (and as we all know, gaikokujin can get away with more things than the Japanese, or other Asians,) but whenever I mention that I am interested in anime, or like a particular series, I get more positive, or curious responses. Mind you, I don't dwell on the topic*, am well groomed, have a wife, and son, etc.... In other words, if you come across as a 'I'll watch it if it's (easily accessible) on TV' (and don't go out of my way to hunt it down) type, then you'll come across as a more or less normal person. To be honest, most people in Japan are abnormal in some way - the trick is, to not flaunt it in front of others. I think the problem with those known as otaku is that they don't have the social skills to not flaunt their likes in public. But isn't this the same in any other country? *It's like saying, 'I like chocolate covered donuts.' If you move on, and don't obsess about the donut, then all is well.

Hmmm... this sounds like some of the arguements that Christopher Columbus faced when he was going around Europe trying to find sponsors for his little expedition...

The designer - Shouji Kawamori - is a Gundam fan. In fact, Gundam is probably the reason why he became an animator/mechanical designer in the first place. Him and that HAL guy (Mikimoto.)

To be frank, if you ask anyone in Japan about Miyazaki and anime, they will talk about the director. Most people won't even remember the murderer. As for the comparison to Columbine... there was a crazed man who entered a school here in Osaka prefecture, and killed a bunch of kids with a knife. That occured around the same time as the Columbine event, and that is fore and present in people's minds like Columbine. Heck, they added walls, gates, and security cameras at schools, along with other security procedures after it... Miyazaki, just a name with a bit of infamous history.

Balls? I was thinking more about blood samples in the infirmary. When they decided to do the mass cloning, they used every available template.

New soundtrack - given that some of the principle actors have passed on, how are they going to remaster the voices? The clip provided above didn't mention anything about that... Though, it will be "interesting" to see. Interesting, as in what subtle changes they will make to bring it closer into line with the spin-off series. Perhaps adding a logo here or there... Klingon text on their ships, etc.. Perhaps the "ST: Enterprise"'s title ship appearing in the background when at a starbase... What is really picking my interest is their talk about the longer cuts - apparently in the past few decades, commercial time has increased, and what we can see now, wasn't exactly what was seen back in the day... interested, but not going to go out of my way to see it.

You should be aware that as an artist progresses in experience (both doing art, and the world beyond,) and age, their style tends to change. Have you seen the new DVD art for the original series? Done by Mikimoto, I might add. The main characters look nothing like what he did 15+ years ago. Sorry, but that line of reasoning doesn't hold much merrit. I agree that they don't look alike, but do you look 100% like your mom, or your dad? It is possible that he is the offspring of the clone of Roy - or that using the advanced OTEC cloning facilities, he is a partial clone of Roy. Though, it could just be Mikimoto messing with us, by giving him the same name. (I'm starting to lean towards this.)

Such is the fast majority of space: large, hot suns; orbited by spherical objects covered in craters; with very minute amounts of gas present in the mindnumbing distances between objects. Yes, I agree, that in those terms - space is very boring. Though, I look at every object as unique, and having it's own story to tell. In those terms, everything is interesting (including interstellar dust.)

The only other time-date hints the book gives, is that the VF-X-4 was designed for the DYRL movie (circa 1984.) There's also talk in the text about the VF-X-7 - possibly being included into, based on, or simply designed at the same time.

The scary thing is that he has the same name as one of the most famous Japanese animation directors: Miyazaki! You'll have to do your own googling to find further info on him. Old news...

Chas's post pretty much sums it up. As for the effects of Macross in general - I occasionally hear some of the orchestral music of Macross (only Zero and Plus, so far,) on Japanese variety shows. It's only short clips, but it's definitely Macross. Also, there's another character out there in the Laser Raymond Hard Gay tradition, who raises his right fist and screams, "Bomber!" Though, as his name is Captain Bomber, and he wears clothes of the same design as the US flag, I'm not sure if it's a reference to Macross, a political statement, or something else entirely.

Yes, I'm not an EVA fan... just a lowly viewer of it, and reader of it's manga. I don't intend to do such 'fannish' things as playing the pachinko version of it just because it's EVA...

Did I say that? No. Perhaps I alluded to Aegis being a clone of Roy's DNA, but nothing more than that. In fact, my original intent was that he was a clone. Period. A clone of who or what, doesn't matter, just that he is a clone and not the offspring of parents.

Personally, I like the definition whereby a planet is any object capable of making itself into a sphere (has gravity, and a rotation that doesn't rip itself apart,) and isn't a star. Reasoning is simple: some people look at the solar system as ONLY nine planets (or eight) plus the sun, the moon, and an asteroid belt. Adding additional planets not only increases the perception of the variety of planets (gas, hot, cold, atmosphered, etc.,) but also opens awareness that there is more than the 9+ objects. In the past half a year, I was floored by the number of large objects being discovered; and I was flabbergasted at the size of some of the objects that were already discovered but put into dismissive categories like 'asteroid' (Ceres comes to mind. That things huge!) It renewed my interests in space - especially local space. Sure, you can debate this until one is blue in the face, but as this is my opinion...

Weak? Macross fact, is what it is. Mass human cloning/emmigration/extra-solar colonization ring a bell? The background of Macross Plus, 7, VF-X, and VF-X2 to name but 4.

"This is Animation Special: Macross Plus" pg. 77 (rough translation) "The YF-19 has 7 external hardpoints, and 1 special use external hardpoint." As per the VF-11, VF-17, VF-19, YF-21, and VF-22, the special use external hardpoint is where things like the fold booster or radome is mounted. The other 7 external hardpoints? Obviously, one for the gunpod, leaving 6. The text doesn't describe where the external hardpoints are located, but the paragraph continues to describe how the stealthiness is reduced (or negated?) when things are mounted on the wings. There is also something about long duration/length ferry trips too... maybe about additional fuel pods. Not enough time to do a more in depth translation... Wasn't that inside of the arm, and not something mounted externally? I recall it folding out of the arm...

Agreed with Graham. I just checked the Macross Compendium, and it does state that the YF-19 has 4 hardpoint stations. Just for fun, I checked the VF-19, and there is no mention of hardpoints. Conclusion: this kit is of the YF-19, right?

This is Macross - anyone remember mass cloning to restore humanity? CLONE!