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sketchley

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  1. sketchley
    Makes me glad that I... stop following the latest releases back in 1999. Preserved my childhood. In all seriousness, from that time, I started doing PBP Macross RPing in the Palladium system. It's been liberating being able to tinker with game stats and tweak the rules, while avoiding all the melodrama from the production side.
  2. sketchley
    But only if you get tickets to get in. Apparently there's a lottery for them...
  3. sketchley
    Tried a few episodes of BSG, didn't like it. I think it's too much of a stretch to say that BSG is the best sci-fi series. DS9 on the other hand, was very good. The first time through. I started a rewatch a few years ago and... stalled out in the 2nd season. SG-1 has high rewatch value. Sure, it's not as heavy on sci-fi navel meditations as those other series, but perhaps the tone of not taking itself too seriously is what makes it one of the better sci-fi shows? Which puts it up there with Red Dwarf, eh (similar tone et al). ... which brings me pause. Star Wars has a similar, relaxed sci-fi tone. Rogue One, by all appearances, is charting for a more serious tone. Will Rogue One be the diamond in the rough? Or will it get mired in melodrama and become the pariah of the Star Wars movies?
  4. sketchley
    I think the problem stems from the current design school mentality of thinking that there needs to be more detail on the screen, simply because screens (TV in particular) can display more detail. TOS aside, one quote I remember about the design process of DS9 went something along the lines of "I want someone outside the room, looking in through the window to see it, and instantly now that our show is on". The end result was something simple, elegant, detailed, but also visually distinct. Which I believe are some ideas that the current movie robot designers are lacking in their visual design vocabulary. I agree that Kawamori-san also seems to have compromised his Valkyrie designs when he started going down the road of making completely accurate designs (in the sense that there is no anime magic to get the parts to fit together), starting from the SV-51 in Macross Zero.
  5. sketchley
    Probably still using the VF-24, as well as the VF-25/27/29/30/31, but with perfect grade ISC.
  6. sketchley
    The YF-24 evolved into the YF-24 Project. It, too, was determined to be too advanced (or dangerous) to give to the allies not at Earth. Plans with downgraded abilities (the ISC potency was reduced, among other things) were distributed to the allies, and some of them produced improved designs to compensate for the downgraded abilities. The VF-25 using EX-Gear, the VF-27 using cyborg soldiers, the BDI System and so on, and the VF-29 being a combination of the advances found in both the VF-25 and 27 (but without the BDI or need for a cyborg pilot).
  7. sketchley
    So... what you guys are saying is that this movie is going to end on a cliff hanger... ... that'll make us all want to rush home to watch Eps. IV?
  8. sketchley
    The official reason is that Mr. Kawamori wanted a visually distinct design for the main fighter in Macross Frontier. In universe, the explanation is something along the lines of the VF-19 being deemed by Earth as being too powerful for Emigrant Planets and Fleets to have (in the sense of Earth suspecting them of going rogue down the road and attacking the Earth), and the VF-171 was the next best option (based on a proven airframe, relatively low production/maintenance costs).
  9. sketchley
    Going back to the post that spawned the appropriation tangent: I've always been under impression that "Arrivederci Yamato" was the official title. In Japanese - or at least the on-screen English title of the Japanese release - like how Eva had both Japanese and English episode names - but with different (yet complimentary) meanings.
  10. sketchley
    If memory serves, EX-Gear was only installed in the VF-171EX.
  11. sketchley
    "Borrowed" I believe is the preferred term. It's not limited to English, but some countries, for example the French, have a dedicated ministry set up to limit the penetration of borrowed words (or erosion of French in other words), whereas other countries, such as Japan, welcome it to the point that it is obfuscating the language (especially true when its a politician speaking to the elderly). What bothers me is that the concept of having "stolen" someone's culture/language is a relatively recent phenomenon that appears to be occurring in only one English speaking country. Is it the Politically Correct phenomenon rearing its head again?
  12. sketchley
    I'm in the same boat... but I'm no going to be staying up to watch it religiously at the legendary 27:00 time slot it's in for the Osaka area. Shame that in Osaka the outdoor viewing is going to be a washout. 70% chance of rain...
  13. sketchley
    I agree with this. One of the biggest flaws with the prequel series, especially the last one, is that we already knew where it was all going to end up - and Mr. Lucas wasn't able to pull a Mr. Cameron's Titanic. As interesting and fun as an Obi Wan film would be (especially the fan backlash toward Disney for regurgitating even more prequel stuff), I'm also much more interested in exploring new territory.
  14. sketchley
    If my understanding is correct, it hides posts by user, not specific posts or topics. If you don't want to block anyone in particular, I recommend using something akin to the TLDR approach - just do your best to skip over posts by certain users when reading.
  15. sketchley
    Yes, there is. Click on your user name (upper right corner) > My Settings > 'Ignore' preferences (in left hand column)
  16. sketchley
    That's the problem with some of the line art - the designers have less than legible scrawl when they make their notes (even native speakers occasionally have trouble with it...). As he said, the rear one is simply "Pod Launch Port" (takeoff being a more literal interpretation). The forward ones are... well, partially illegible. I can make out "Central Wing Veta* Pod Launch Port". * Also able to be rendered "Beta". Online dictionaries spit out Betta (as in the Siamese Fighting Fish), or completely/wholly, or 'there are no openings/gaps in the entire thing'.
  17. sketchley
    You can find them here: http://monkeybacon.mywebcommunity.org/Stats/Statistics/VF-31/VF-31.php I can't remember which topic the originals were in, but it was from one of Tochiro's photos of a flyer that he picked up about a month back.
  18. sketchley
    To be honest, I think the production team should avoid that setting. It could end up opening a can of worms that would cause no end of troubles. There's that military conflict between the two countries that reached its peak in 1969... right in the time period that Indy 5 would be set (given the precedent set by Indy 4: the time passage between productions mirroring the passage of time in movie, or vice-versa). Not to mention that the odds are that they'll be making a wrong depiction of the setting (for every Hollywood movie that depicts historical China correctly, there's a dozen that don't). I'm not saying that it's a bad setting. Just something along the lines that "The Mummy 3" already tried to do 'Indy in China'...
  19. sketchley
    Hard to say. It may be much more topical, or it may be historical. Macross Frontier had both - historical: the MF fleet and the greater galactic situation (for humans) is described as 'the Great Age Of Exploration, with e-mail', and topical: S.M.S. is a PMC (Private Military Company), and around the time of MF's release, Blackwater was making headlines around the world. Nevertheless, that situation (Western (Europe) vs. Arabian) is... well, let's just say that it makes for a lot of story opportunities.
  20. sketchley
    Great Mechanics G: 2016 Spring Released: 2016.03.18 Macross/Kawamori Content 6 pgs (all colour!) on Macross Delta, broken down into: 2 pgs: the VF-31 and some generic descriptions/stats, and the basics of the series (Vahl Syndrome, Delta Platoon, etc). - interestingly the drones are referred to as "Multi Drones". The following is interesting: "フォールド波成分の増幅" - Fold Wave Component amplification". 3 pgs: interview with Dir. Kawamori entitled "The Secrets Of The New Aircraft" 1 pg: colouring of Delta Platoon's VF-31 [*note: 4 of those pages can be seen in the screen grabs found in Jefuemon's link in the post just before this one.] Almost all of the associated images have been previously released (shots from the preview episode, the VF-31 squadron colours and VF-31A design from the flyer, etc), but there is an extremely nice and clear image of a Drone/FAST Pack equipped Sv-262. From it, and the accompanying text, I've gleaned the following about drones: - they are 'unmanned aircraft' (text) - have 4x micro-missile launchers. The launchers are a different design than the one's on the VF-31 and other Valkyries, and may fire a larger sized missile. - have a single, high-powered beam gun in the center of their dorsal surface (there is a huge heat sink there. Coupled with the lack of a spent cartridge port...) Alas, it's the same top/front 3/4 view as in all the other released material. So, no clear shots of the rear/bottom, yet. and... near the end of the book, in the B&W Hobby Planet section: 1 pg of Macross stuff (sans 1/6 of the page devoted to a Freddy Mercury station of all things): - Hasegawa 1/72 VF-25G Super Messiah (￥4,000. on sale now) - Hi-Metal R HWR-00-MkII Destroid Monster (￥25,000. planned July release) - Hi-Metal R Guraaji (￥13,000. planned May release) - TomyTech 1/144 VF-1A/S sets (4x. ￥7,300 each. Planned June release) ... and a blurb to check out the latest "Macross Delta" related products, and detailed information at the TomyTech webpage, with a CG image of what appears to be a VF-31 model kit (sorry, no linky. Requires a QR Code reader).
  21. sketchley
    It was in Nagoya, and finished on March 14. Further details: http://macross.jp/news/?id=170
  22. sketchley
    Maybe the radio show is just to show the viewer how 'backwards' the Zolans are? In the sense that the radio show is reinforcing a cultural stereotype or resistance to interracial marriages among the Zolans. Nevertheless, as Kawamori san has repeatedly stated - what you see is a dramatization of the real events. And as dramatizations aren't necessarily always accurate in illustrating their story goals...
  23. sketchley
    The Crystal Skull was at its best when they were on location, doing the period stuff. It was not so good, when they were doing things on set and with CG. Which is probably why it was a lesser Indy film - the whole point of that franchise was to do things old school. It probably didn't help the franchise that Spielberg exercised his Nazi demons in other films. All I can say to the people doing the next film: DO IT ON LOCATION. If you're filming a shot in a desert, go to a desert. If you're doing a scene on the outside of a temple, film it on the outside of a real temple. Ad nauseam.
  24. sketchley
    Uhm... yes, and no. Title: スペースネイビーヤード 宇宙艦船模型電飾モデリングガイド In English: "Space Navy Yard: Spaceship Models Decorative Illumination Modelling Guide Book". It appears to be one of those modelling 'how-to' books, featuring anime and American movie spaceships.
  25. sketchley
    Agreed. I did laugh/snort/chuckle a few times during the preview, but nothing in it really compels me to do more than wait for it to appear on the movie channel. That said, I am interested in one thing: aside from the preview acknowledging the first movie(s?) briefly, will the movie mention them? Go so far as have some of the original Ghostbusters make a cameo appearance? At the very least, the movie has got me asking: how did they deal with ghosts in the intervening 30 years? (Which hits on one of the reasons why I dislike Ghostbusters 2 - sure, they caught all the ghosts in the tri-state area (or wherever), and turned to kids birthday parties to make a living, but what about ghosts farther afield? In other countries? Will this new movie handle those kinds of thoughts in the viewer better?)
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