VFTF1

Enough talk! This debate ends now!! Let's go!!!!!!!!!!! TOTSUGEKI LOVE HEAAAAARTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pete (proud to have spent the last hour working on Sheryl's ass!)

So what does "Alto-Hime" mean... doesn't that mean "Alto-princess?" Pete

Actually, I think that maybe Galaxy had very little culture and too much technology. Also - Ojousama... I must ask - is Ojou the same name as the Zentradi who Kamjin told to fire the ship cannon at the Macross and "by accident" hit the Macross? Pete

But Gurren Lagann makes up for it by having cool background music anyways Another point to add is that these general criticisms of Macross 7 always fall apart when you take an episode by episode analysis. We should remember that this is an anime with more than 40 episodes to it (IIRC) - and there's really ALOT happening here. It's a lot more complex than people give it credit for being. Remember in the beginning Bassara seems to just be this crazy guy - nobody knows Max is secretly supporting it. And only later does Dr. Chiba (a Minmey fan) finally make the breakthroughs in his experiments to create the song-boosters and enhancements. It's not evident from the outset that something like this is possible. And WHERE in Macross continuity did we previously get a hint that something like Sound Boosters could work? The Ubber Serious ... Macross Plus. I mean - the whole scheme behind Sharon Apple was to measure and quantify human emotions and to set up a computer program that could control those emotions using music. Hm... Kind of like what Dr. Chiba perfected for Sound Force to use. There's a million other details in the series that complicate the simple narrative of 'Macross 7 Kiddie Face on Robots poo poo rainbow anime" theme. Pete

I voted Unicron. Why not. At least everyone will be eaten and I can go back to playing with G1... Pete

Then get them. I have two Hikaru 1Js and two 1Ds and both of them are fine. Although I did snap off the little widget/plug thingy on the back side of the exhaust port/upper leg that fits into the little slot thingy when in fighter mode on one of the 1Ds - but that was absolutely my fault for applying to much pressure, and besides, even without the little thing, the figure looks and transforms and holds together just fine. I also have two Roy Fockers, Roy Focker -and one of them is perfect and the other has a hair-line fracture in the shoulder that is epoxied and has bee perfectly fine for about half a year now. When buying Yamato Valkyrie, think of it like going on a date with a beautiful woman. Sometimes, you spend tons of money and go home alone at night. Sometimes, you spend tons of money and go home with the girl at night You never know which scenario is going to play out - but if the girl is pretty enough, you must make the attempt! Pete

That's because I'm like the Terminator. As Reese says "It was just being thorough" I personally love the idea of "are you culturing?" in english. It is not the "correct" way to use the word, but I think it is perfect for what is happening in Macross and I believe that people should use this word - it is cute! Maybe - but "creating culture" suggests that A (the creator) and B (the thing being created) are seperate, and that A (the creator) is making something out-side of itself. But the reality is that culture is inside of us. When Breetai and Exodol stare ini amazement at Minmey singing on their screen in DYRL, you can see their chests swelling and a kind of look in their eye like something is growing in them - like plants growing on a farm. In that scene, Breetai and Exodol are not "creating culture" - but they are "culturing" - there is culture growing in them and thanks to this, they are growing as full human beings. So I support "are you culturing!" It's one of my favorite sayings from Macross Pete

I guess we missed our chance to solve that mystery But hopefully as a Macross fan you will be pleased with the interview. Wonder how long it'll take to get the replies... Also - request to mods: Can we change the topic title to" Yoko Kanno & Warsaw Philharmonic ? The current topic title has a typo and is kind of limiting. If we change the topic title to "Yoko Kanno & Warsaw Philharmonic" then it will be more inviting for general discussion of this topic, and I can just post the completed interview here when it's done instead of creating yet another thread. Thanks! Pete

Hi Guys, Thanks for all the additional questions. I've taken them all and put them into the interview. To one minute ago, I'm afraid I didn't want to wait too long because the guy is taking some time out of his vacation to do this, so might as well fry while the pan is hot (is that the correct idiom?)... Anyways, there are 35 questions in total now - so that's another good reason to close it at that Now we'll just have to...wait. Pete

Excellent questions. All copied and pasted into the big question clip More please. Pete

Thanks. Question recorded and will be asked. More questions like that would be appreciated from people with a good ear for music. Most of the questions I've thought up are gushing otaku questions Pete

Just to clarify the question... can you fill in the blanks: I'm happy to ask them that - but please clarify the question. Everybody please write the questions in the clearest and most basic way possible. Assume (probably correctly) that I don't know what you're talking about - and that the guy answering might not either if things aren't extremely clear. Thanks Pete

The interview will be available on e-teatr.pl's english version here: http://www.e-teatr.pl/en/index.html. It's the largest web-based database for news about theatre and culture in Poland. I've already got a bit over 20 questions prepared. I'd like to get them out by tomorrow, so it would be appreciated if Macross fans who might be interested in asking stuff post away so I can collect your questions and get everything together by tomorrow. Pete

And he didn't blow it away? Nice pics - by the by - what did you use for the sky/clouds background? Don't say things like that. It reminds me that I don't have a Japan Town, or a China Town, or an anything town in my town...boo hoo... I do have a good Chinese restaurant or two downtown and a couple good sushi places, but nothing more waaaaaaaaaah! And only ONE frickin' comic book store in the WHOLE city... sniff...sniff... Pete

I guess we just have a different interpretation here. Think about it this way: If we went back in time to 500 years ago and told people that television and the internet and radio would transmit movies, music videos, plays, dramas of all sorts around the world and people would be moved by them and that these images and sounds would effect how history is shaped - what would they call this description? Magic. If we went back in time to 5000 years ago and told people that humans would one day build buildings as tall as mountains, fly, that they would leave the Earth for the moon... what would they say we were talking about ? Magic. Science IS the transformation of desire into possibility, and in that sense science is magic - albeit it is the METHOD which has changed. Modern science, unlike ancient science, is experimental rather than deductive, and unlike ancient magic, modern magic is scientific rather than mystical. Thus, I do not find it hard to concieve that what you describe could actually come to pass, and I see Macross 7 as a serious drama that warns of the dangers that science poses to the human spirit when science tries to replicate it. This theme is not new in sci-fi. After all - take Terminator - the machines gain sentience (a characteristic of human spirit). I don't think Frontier moved a step back from Macross 7 thematically. If anything, it advances and builds on the themes of Macross 7. I think that in the end, where it really differs is in the aesthetic, which is based in DYRL and Macross Zero, and where both the mecha and the monsters are not so "cartoony" in their aesthetic, as was the case with Macross 7. Pete

Well - I don't think it's magic. It LOOKS like that because of how it is animated - the rainbows and all that. But really, what ultimately happens is that the Protodevilin discover that they are able to create spiritia themselves - they don't need to steal it from other people. This is not magic - it's very similar to awakening culture in the Zendradi. The only difference is that Dr. Chiba tries to make it precise and scientific. But this is also a good part of the story, because it is often true that politicians and governments try to take something unique and beautiful and make a system out of it - which is impossible. So - look at Jamming birds and remember the Colonol who trained them so hard? This is a good example. The military believed that they could use science to quantify the power of music and then train soldiers to sing and use music as a weapon. Bassara proves that this is not possible - that the heart and the passions of love and emotion are more important than science and that science can never understand the power of love and music by using numbers - because it is a power so big that you cannot comprehend it in numbers. But this is not "magic" in the sense of something irrational. Remember that science is not the same thing as rationality. Science, especially modern science, is all about a method of experimentation and the attempt to quantify, count, and learn the relations between things so you can manipulate them. But rationality tells us that part of what makes humans unique is that there is something in them that cannot be quantified - this is the human spirit - what Dr. Chiba and even the Protodevilin call spiritia. Notice that just like the UN Spacey were the same as the Zendradi in that both of them built huge armies and powerful weapons, so the Protodevilin are the same as the Macross 7 UN Spacey because BOTH of them try to use Spiritia as a weapon. Bassara rebels against this idea - he always shows the military that if they think they will win by giving orders and pointing fingers - it won't work. Only Basara's burning love heart will open the eyes of everybody - both the Protodevilin and the humans of UN Spacey - to the truth. Pete

So, I managed to get an interview together with the head of the PR department at the Warsaw Philharmonic, which apparently performed Yoko Kanno's musical works for Macross Frontier and other anime. The subject of the interview is their cooperation with Yoko Kanno. I have some of my own questions that I'm preparing, but additional ones will be appreciated - especially by people who are more in the know about Kanno. If there's anything Macrossworld members want me to ask - please post the questions here and I will ask the questions during the interview. I'll link to the interview in a seperate thread once it's finished and online. It will be in english so everyone will have access to it. Pete

There's a "No Politics" rule in the Macrossworld Rules and Regulations thread that I suggest you familiarize yourself with. Topics like this one do lend themselves to a bit of political commentary from time to time, and the mods are lenient about it - but in general they discourage starting explicitly political discussions. And before you think I'm trying to keep you down - I'm a Ron Paul supporter myself so I'm really not typing this because I disagree with your opinions (although I have qualms with some of them) - but please let's respect the wishes and rules of the Forum administrators. The rule exists because this website is dedicated to Macross and the idea is to really try to keep the focus on Macross. The topic is "the economy and your collection" - and there's nothing in your post about...well... your collection. Pete

I agree with Killer Robot's above post on the generalities of why some people might find Macross 7 outlandish. Which doesn't stop me from loving it anyways Bomba! Er -- But sort of getting back to Sheryl/Bassara - since we're getting off track here - another thing which differentiated them was the fact that Sheryl needed love and Bassara didn't. Ultimately, Sheryl really needed Alto, whereas Bassara was literally just fine on his own. Although I guess you can say he "needed" that loli to drag him to a spa, undress him and get naked otherwise he would never have woken up... But other than that - I can't say he really needed love in his life. And another difference: Bassara was kind of like Sheryl in terms of childhood - both were found alone and isolated. However - Bassara seemed to have a guitar or at least be singing already, and Rey was a good father figure to him. Sheryl on the other hand was found by the Evil Grace... So - just some comparissons there... Pete

Speaking of the packaging - wouldn't it have just been easier to - you know - take the robot out of the box and viola? Clearly it was in truck mode and someone decided to screw with it... Or maybe the kid got the robot and was told "here - play with this" and then a few minutes later it looked like mangled rat intenstines and no body knew how to get it back to looking like it should Pete

I think it's hard to compare them - actually, it's hard to compare Minmey to Sheryl/Ranka as well... I mean - what's a better song? Ai Oboeteimatsuka? or What 'Bout My Star? I think trying to compare them in terms of "which is better?" is like asking "what's better - Mozart or Ray Charles?" Now throw fire bomber into the mix, and what you've basically said is: "The songs by Journey are decent (anything near Mozart or Ray Charles? Big NO for me)" I think they aren't meant to be compared like that because the genres are so different. You can't blame classical music for NOT having guitar riffs, and you can't blame smooth Jazz for not having the intensity of Death Metal. Same with Macross music: You can't say that Fire Bomber is "worse" than Sheryl and Ranka from Macross: Frontier because they are so totally not in the same music line. I mean.... is Fire Bomber louder, more puncuated, more deafening screaming AAAAHHH!! excited YES. Is Sheryl/Ranka more graceful? More subtle? More fluid? Yes. Now - I think it's ok to say (for example): "I'm more in the mood now for X music instead of Y music" - but it's really hard to generally proclaim that X is just fundamentally better than Y. This also goes for Minmey - whose music is from a "bygone" era... Ultimately - there is a mood and a framework for all works of music. I think the framework of Macross 7 was tailor made for Firebomber's music, and I think that for J-pop rock'n'roll - it's some great great music. Minmay, Sheryl and Ranka are NOT Rock'n'roll - they are something else - and they are great too. But I guess if you don't like Firebomber's music - then it must be really hard to appreciate Bassara. I remember I didn't like him either, but the more he sang, the more I liked his music. And as has been pointed out, Basara doesn't want you to like him - he just wants you to like his music Pete

Poor Alto Can you imagine any other male anime star character getting this constant "dress him up as a girl" treatment It's hilarious Anyways - I mainly like how they mimicked Rei's passive look on Ranka's otherwise expressive, bubbly, full of likfe face. Really great art work there - not just a simple case of "dressing them" differently- but immediately getting the emotions on their faces to match the NGE characters. But yeah... none of them really "fit" the part Still - fun. Pete

I dunno. It does come with instructions. I do wonder - is that picture the result of : a) Hasbro Marketing Department Strikes Again (known for screwing up their own transformers) b) The people at the magazine doing the photoshoot (but wouldn't the kid at least say - 'hey it's all wrong, it's not supposed to look like that?' c) Pressed for Time - aka, despite the kid being like - no, stop, wait - they were like "we've got a deadline just hold it and smile! In which case... that's a pretty good fake smile... Or - maybe the kid doesn't know anything about Transformers and this just got thrust into his hand? Or maybe indeed he loves Transformers and THIS is how he really thinks it ought to look? Shudder. Pete

Aw - th perfect opportunity to blame Exo just drifted away, kind of like love - sniff... But the Caveman comment + pic were lovely.

I just like Chinese food, sushi and anime is all... Pete