VFTF1

Ok - I see your point Wanzerfan. Let me help Gubaba get out of his gaffee - because I'm sure that's all it was and there was no harm meant here. His point was just a variation on the reason why - technically - there is a NO ROBOTECH rule in the rules and guidelines of this forum. The intention of this forum is to just plain and simple be a Macross fan forum. You can do that without talking about Robotech. In fact - you SHOULD do that without talking about Robotech because Robotech has nothing to do with Macross. The Robotech/Macross "problem" is a problem for only Robotech fans - because they have to acknowledge that their fandom celebrates something that is actually a mish-mash of other things. They can either ignore that or live in a dualistic world where you can enjoy both "franchises." Whatever - But this forum is for Macross fandom - and Robotech is just this little side issue that comes up once in a while. I think Gubaba's point about not wanting the people from RT.com to come over here was meant to mean something along the lines of "because Macrossworld shouldn't be RT.com-bis." And the sharpest knives comment just referenced people who talk about Robotech as if there were no Macross, or as if Macross were the "Japanese version" or some such. But yeah - I guess I can see how the comment could be cast as a bit of a negative over-generalization and people could take offence. My advice: don't. I seriously doubt he meant it that way. Pete

Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh................ and that is the problem. It did not If you are a Robotech fan watching Shadow Chronicles - then yes, I guess it technically did have all that background. But if you are a Macross fan (or me) watching Shadow Chronicles - there is no "85 episodes behind it." It exists on its' own, swiping character designs and mecha designs from Mospedia mainly and making us glad that Macross never transformed Hikau Ichijo into an aged black hole satelite.... In other words - no - it doesn't have 85 episodes behind it. The whole "backstory" is in fact not a back story but just random anime cobbled together. If it has anything remotely behind it - it's the novels, which are a lot more elaborate in a way - but still pretty haphazard. I guess ultimately you're right - you're right that Shadow Chronicles doesn't need to be 26 episodes long because it technically has a "back story" - but the key always returns to this issue: do you believe in the back story, or do you completely disgard it in favor of the original three non-related anime? Given how many Macross World members are Americans - I'd say they're all here instead. And is it a wonder? You have to remember that what ticks off lots of fans isn't just Robotech as such - it's Harmony Gold's treatment of retailers and attempt to block Yamato products from the American market. Lots of Robotech fans are also collectors who know and appreciate a good quality product. When Harmony Gold tries to cram Toynami "masterpieces" down their throats and they see what Yamato is making for Macross - they are probably not at all encouraged to remain with a semi-coherent franchise (Robotech). I mean - Macross offers you the whole package: a) it's the original, b) there are more sequals with better stories and characters and c) the merchandise is better and worth your time and money. It wasn't just the explosions - for me it was the faux-realism. Look - it's a cartoon. Don't go trying to make the characters look too realistic. Play around with them a bit. Give your animation some characteristic style. Shadow Chronicles was flat fla flat in terms of design. It was the pinacle of technically sound animation that was sound sound it managed to put you to sleep. There are enthusiasts of this kind of animation - I'm not one of them. Because Shadow Chronicles DIDN'T dominate Stateside. It's impossible to get accurate statistic because you can't compare DVD sales to anime episode downloads - but clearly the latter was higher and more prevalent than the former. So even though "officially" the licensed product got more exposure - that was only because no body counts how licensed vs. unlicenced came out. Yes but - see - this is so the problem with Robotech ... We like boobs, we like to talk about boobs, and there's plenty of boobs in anime... But actually and in point of fact there came a momeny where people got sick and tired of the boobs and started making fun of it and it became sort of trendy to lowbrow anime for all the boobage and to talk about anime just being boobs and booms! Basically garbage. Frontier took this trend and went with it - which is why we get Ranka as a main character - no boobs. It's also why we get episodes like Miss Macross which make fun of anime boobage. It's finally also why Klan Klan has huge boobs - it's almost like they were making a mockery of anime fans. Here - like big boobs - ok...here ya go! Ha hah - and also acknowledging the critics. Shadow Chronicles lacks this type of self-awareness and is no where near as self- referencial I could go on... Pete

Are you asking this question as someone who has watched Macross Frontier? I don't mean to be rude, but I've seen both Shadow Chronicles and Macross Frontier and to me it's as though someone were asking "how did the steak gain such an active devoted following compared to eating dry grass?" If you have watched Macross Frontier and are still wondering - I'll elaborate my answer Pete

You know - I think it's even worse than your analogy implies. I remember when Transformers had died out and it was still prior to Beast Wars. The internet was slowly being born then and the Transformers fandom was really vibrant and active - in constructive ways. I can't tell you how much amazing fanfiction I read in those days. There were lots of smaller great stories (hopefully a couple of mine also left their mark on people's memories), but the big ones - Robert Powers' "Corrosion of War Without End," Dave Van Domlen's "Intermezzo" series, Neale Davidson's breathe taking Beast Wars Trilogy - I'm sure there are lots lots more to be named. Oh - of course - Graham Thomson of Transmasters UK who did Globe Quake, as well as the Transmasters UK who actually produced a Continued Generation 2 comic. In many ways - the "drying up" of the Transformers franchise back then helped produce some of the best Transformers fiction out there, and the fandom was super duper active. Then Hasbro booted up Armada and it seems everyone and everything productive and fun went the way of the do do bird except for some holdouts. Technically - Robotech COULD be enjoying the same life as Transformers did back then. Although, granted, it's much harder to enjoy being a Robotech fan because not only do you basically have to blot out Macross, but you have to remain ignorant of Mospedia and Southern Cross - not to mention ignoring Macross Plus and Megazone. In fact - it's best to just pretend that anime itself doesn't exist... Still - it is semi-possible. The novels are well woven and don't have pictures to get in the way of your imagination. I guess if someone wanted to, there's always something fun to do with it. But as Doug Bendo says - he doesn't write fanfiction. He also doesn't collect figures. He doesn't build models. He doesn't seem to admire other people who do this either. So...what does he do? Is he a great critic who provides mind numbingly amazing insight into the series? Into the stories? The novels? Don't see it either. I dunno. Given how much semi-publicity this guy has made for himself - it's a bit of a turn down to see that he has nothing interesting to say. I mean - I seriously thought that there must be SOMETHING to make people continue clinging to Robotech... Pete

I...didn't...catch the M7...reference...until you mentioned it now. It's been a long time since I've seen Macross 7 in all 40 plus episodes of its' grandeur. I've mainly stuck with listening to Fire Bomber songs on my MP3... so I forgot completely about the "making of" episode in M7... Pete

God damit dude. Now you've gone and made me want to get some PG Gundams.... Ahhh!!! It would be so cool to have everything in scale. The Macross and the Gundams and the super robots - well... I guess having in scale super robots is kind of beside the point? I dunno... Things like Ideon or Voltes V would have to be huge in 1:60 scale... Thanks - I've always wanted to see some Gundam vs. VF action Can you pose them to make them look like they're fighting? Pete

Well, to each his own I guess. It's just that - to be honest - I could do a better job as "number 1 Robotech fan" than this guy. Heck, at least I once owned a couple of the Toynami Masterpieces before discovering Yamato. At least I sampled the craptastic Toynami 1:100s in hopes of them being cheaper alternatives to Yamato. At least I to this day would not mind playing the Paladium Roll Playing games... I dunno -IF I did a video cast - I'd surround myself with Robotech figures, have Robotech novels in the background. I'd probably try to Cosplay a bit and dress up as someone who could be from the Robotech Universe - maybe I would dress up as a Robotech Master, which would be fitting for a "number one fan." My point here is that to be honest - I find nothing of substance with which to disagree with this Doug Bendo fellow. That's because there is absolutely no argument being made here. No opinion being stated - except the opinion that he won't BS and will "tell it like it is" - but we never hear what "it" is - there is no "it." The whole thing is completely void of Robotech content. Technically I guess there are the following episodes of his vid cast - is there more content there? He doesn't really seem to have prepared this very ...um...well...um...because...um...there be is lots...um...not much...um...structured um...sentence and stuff is like here and um...there you...um know? And sorry - but the one thing that annoyed me the most was that you have to be black to be the number one Robotech fan. Can it get any more ridiculous? Pete

I think it would be fun if he quit Robotech and joined us. Look - he has no toys, no figures, he has locked himself into a world where he can't enjoy Frontier or the power of Bassara's songs. He can't oogle Sheryl and his heart can't melt over Ranka. Thinking of Minmei just brings visions of Black Holes and really really bad music. Why would anyone want to live this way for a long time? My prediction: He will drop Robotech within six months, buy a Yamato, and start posting on this board. If there's anything completely evident from those vids it's that he's not having ANY fun with Robotech (despite professing that this is what the goal of his venture is).... Pete

Hm - so this probably explains why Cicadacon of the Beast Wars II Tripledicus team was made as a...well...Cicada Thanks. Now - I could swear I posted up some comments about up to episode 10 last night - did I post them to a different thread? I'm suddenly worried that in a haze and daze I posted all about Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya in the Transformers thread or something... Pete

Yes - in the final scene of the two part island episode, when Kyon and the ESP Agent are talking on the boat we get a close up of it as if it were something we needed to know about - that or maybe it was a random existential scene? Or a commentary relevent to something I didn't know about? Also - Asahina has a mole on her breast which at some point supposedly Kyon is going to notice - I wonder whether the two are related? And a final observation: In the second (sequential) episode, Kyon says something along the lines of "I matured to the point of acknowledging reality while still holding onto my beliefs." These beliefs being the "comic book" view of the world - aliens, monsters, evil organizations etc etc. Looking back at the ten episodes I've seen so far, it would seem to me that the whole series is really summed up in that line - because that's basically what we see happening: a tension between reality and the belief in the fantastic; and a tension between both of these elements in the human heart. I really like this anime. Pete

I sometimes imagine to myself that my house is kind of like the Macross - an isolated area in a dark void surrounded by the unkown and hostile enemies bent on killing me. My only hope of survival is getting them to love culture and buy anime dolls from me. Pete

I have no watched through to episode 10 included. Some observations/impressions: 1. Yuki is indeed very cute without glasses. 2. The island climax was kind of anti-climactic... I think on the whole the story didn't need to be a two parter. It's not that I didn't like it - but it's rather that the whole thing was set up to be some big event and it was actually less interesting than the "monotony" of the adventures at school... 3. What is the significance of Kyon's mole? 4. Asahina san's "grown up" self is great - mainly because she lapeses back into her "old" character despite any pretense of maturity every so often 5. The battles scenes are pretty cool. Albeit the bug was kinda dull - but the battle in the classroom was awesome I think I like Yuki best of all...oddly enough... Pete

BBTS has them. Anyways - to suddenly change gears a bit... I have a fairly nice Beast Wars Neo and Beast Wars II collection and I've decided to expand it and add Big Convoy, Megastorm, Starscream/BB, Moon. Anybody else a Japanese BW fan? I personally love them- especially ones like Heinland and Moon. So kawaii! I prefer BW II and Neo to Animated. I guess my list of favorite TF goes something like this: G1 (Marvel comics and Sunbow cartoons as well as later Japanese Master series) Beast Wars (CGI) Beast Wars II/Neo I know BWII and Neo were slap stickish and juvenille - but that's why I like them. In fact, the older I get, the more I like these types of shows - they work particularly well for Transformers toys which have to be cute to be interesting (attempts at realism constantly fall flat - witness Binaltech/Alternators which had great car modes but fall asleep robot modes or Movie toys which go the opposite route...and have wierd robot modes to boot)... In any event - any other Moon fans out there? Pete

So...what exactly does he LIKE about Robotech then? Because the video pod has nothing to do with Robotech - it's all about his face... I don't get it. Pete

To quote myself from a couple posts up: Or what Eugimon said If anything - here's a suggestion: There shouldn't be ANY thing on the box to hint at the valkyrie inside - not even a photo of it. Just have the name of the Valkyrie VF-1A Kakizake or whatever and on the box itself you can plaster lots of pictures of Minmei in cute poses with nice clothes. Pete

Monster - love the firing squad! And the anime worry on the Regult is wonderful! Pete

I prefer the New Originals, who ultimately became Spinal Tap, since the the Originals was taken - as evidenced by your special place in your memory for them, even though the New Originals were better. Pete

I just can't help watch the part at the beginning where it says Harmony Gold Presents without thinking: "Harmony Gold Presents: Random Clips of Anime Shows That Have Nothing To Do With Eachother!" The more I think about it, the more I come to realize that Robotech was the precursor to the contemporary bootleg anime shows, where you get pirate videos with bad picture quality, often times you don't even get the anime episodes that are promised on the box - and of course the subs either say things that are TOTALLY off mark OR you get Swahili Dubs mixed with German and Flemmish-Belgian. EDIT: Plus - I don't see why you guys are upset about this Doug Bendo person. I agree with him. He says "This is what the Robotech fandom should look like" - refering to his face. I AGREE. I would love it if the Robotech fandom looked like him. All I can say is - aside from what the guy has to say in that video - notice the following: See the desk? There are some screens with images from Robotech... But what don't you see? I don't see any VF-1 figures. I don't see any nice Minmei dolls. I don't even see the Aoshima or CMS Legioses or any of that. No Beagle Cyclones. Why? If I ever did a video pod cast (first I'd need to get Agent 1 to help me buff up and loose my beer belly) then OTHER than my (post-Agent 1 assistance) beautiful visage, I would probably be sitting at a table with ALL my beautiful valks and dolls and stuff displayed. Now - maybe he doesn't have this stuff because he doesn't want the Yamatos or Bandais - but on the other hand he won't waste money on Toynami? Dunno. But it's interesting to consider. Or maybe he's got a nice collection but didn't feel like showing it off. Pete Pete

This is a good point, however it may simply be a case of the tendency we have to project images we are friendly with over images of the unkown... Speaking of the unknown - what was that remotely anti-Spiral looking beast in the Baseball episode? Something clearly started to stalk the Earth for a moment until Yuki enchanted the bat to hit home runs.... Oh - also - I know this is totally "un-American" of me (although in my defense I was a Celtics fan growing up and was so in love with Larry Bird that I couldn't even get into any other sport) - but... Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is the first time I've enjoyed watching a game of a baseball Pete

At least it's better than Shadow Chronicles. Pete

That reminds me of a bi-sexual lesbian who accidentally made out with my gay friend who is more of a woman than a man who went out dancing with me (and him) after me and my girlfriend had ANOTHER fight and who later that morning served me coffee and told me the tragic story of how she loved music, and played the piano but decided it wasn't the "practical" thing to do and is wondering what to study in order to make money in the future. In the immortal words of Ali-G: wha' eva. Now - back to the subject at hand. Here's a relatively sane thought from me: How about a squadron composed of troopers outfited in X-Gear from Macross: Frontier? They could be like the equivalent of SEALS and other small team special ops forces which don't have big tanks, big planes, big mecha, big boats or big anything. The one thing though - the X-Gear would have to have a silent flight system. Or something like that. How's that? Pete

I get the feeling you feel that way because you're in the shot Not that there's anything wrong about that - but I only now noticed, and it's kind of like "yeah - that picture with me in it is great" Pete

Honestly, I found her by googling Haruhi Suzumiya. All I wanted was a nice sig of her to demonstrate my new religious affiliation (hey - does Haruhism fall under the "no religion" part of the rules at MW? ) ... But instead I got this cosplaying porno chick Oh well... 1. google: haruhi suzumiya 2. click on "graphics" on the upper left hand side of your screen. 3. Open the Link with this pictrue attached to it: Then follow the trail To be honest - it's not a very good set of erotic shots. I hate the "lift skirt" / "show panties shots - I find the two pics I posted far more appealing, and in fact often times the more clothes the better (after all - the outfit makes her look sexy) But - so ended my first attempt at acquiring a sig signifying my new religion. Dag. Pete

Hm... yes.. but... there is a very specific reason I am inquiring as to whether people are familiar with Misa Kikouden's Haruhi Suzumiya cosplay.... namely - the pic I posted is the only one where she has all her clothes on Pete

I am on the side of those who believe Yamato have some of the ugliest boxes in the world. I like to think this is because they spend so much time on the product itself that they don't really want to rack up additional costs on the box, box art etc. Think about it this way: Notice how some of the toys with the best box art also happen to be the worse toys? Most notorious for this is of course Transformers. Often times the boxes are really awesome and the toy inside sucks bananas. Maybe Yamato just doesn't see the need for sticking anything on the box... I mean - what? Are they to comission art work? Why? The product itself looks good enough that you don't need someone to DRAW a Valkyrie on the box to make people be like "ooo I like that" only to open it and think "umm...hmm...too bad it looks nothing like the picture." I think ultimately it is a cost cutting measure to be honest. And I am all for it. That said - the V.2 boxes are enjoyable IMO because they are not so monotone. I too like the 1D box design. The destroids also have some pretty fanstastic (surprisingly) box designs. As for Bandai - yeah - their Soul of Chogokin Boxes are great. The Gundam Boxes at least have nice pictures. The DX boxes...leave much to be desired... IMO.. But again - this is all secondary to the thing that really matters: Yoko's boobs. Pete