VFTF1

Well - just for the record - I respect where you're coming from, since I'm an ass-hair man. No. Wait. That's sounds bad. Not "ass-hair" as in ...you know...hairy ass...but as in ass/hair. As in I like ass but hair is also important- but not on the ass but on the head...but not in the gay sense of head but in the literal sense of head - the one on the shoulders... Damn it! It's so hard to be coherent. But yeah - hair is important and getting the hair right is important. I don't care about the plot of GI Joe, like David said - it's not like they have Oscar material in terms of actors or cast - but - they DO need to make sure the ladies are sexy, and that includes making sure their hair is good. This movie is going to be so bad, that we might as well look at the bright side and hope for some good Baroness ass shots - sadly, we can't hope for any good Scarlet hair shots - because the dye color is off. Pete

Has anyone yet to mention the TRUE worst Macross pilot ever? SHERYL NOME (although it could be argued that if she didn't move the valkyrie, her and Michael would have been killed anyways by the cross fire...) Pete

Jenius' arguments are very logical and probably the most likely scenario if RT goes ahead. You're absolutely right - the licensing debate will be maningless, because they aren't going to use the old 80s Veritech designs, they aren't going to make the Glaugs and all the other mecha look like they did in the cartoon - so yeah - this will all be a moot point. They might use names like Rick Hunter and Roy Fokker and Lisa etc - but all of these names (except Roy) are not from Macross anyways... however - Half the audience falls asleep at this point, of which one quarter start having flash back nightmares to Captain Power... The other half of the audience that managed to stay awake begins to scratch its' head in confusion wondering what the hell is going on here...and what any of this has to do with that long and confusing pre-amble... The entire audience cheers - at the credits - because it means this piece of crap movie is finally over and they can go home. Pete

Nice couple of pics of the Caliber. Too bad about the poseability still being limited. Yeah - give us some transformation pics Pete (who falls more and more in love with Yamato's GN-U Hagane line by the day)

So, you're saying that the way Macek brought Macross over to the USA was the same as the way an idiot crashed his car over a bridge into a lake - and you are praising Macek/the idiot for making Robotech/equalizing pressure INSTEAD of blaming him for Robotech/driving his car over a bridge into a lake? by the way - they both drowned anyways How does the basic plot of Macross 7 (music defeating violence) lack realism? The idea of music, art and culture as counter-measures for barbarism are as old as civilization itself. The idea that peaceful, non-violent activities - including music - can change hearts and minds and bring about vast transformative changes in society are also not new, and there are many instances where it has been shown to have had a real impact on politics and society. For example - in Poland, there was almost a revolution against the communist government after a theatre performance roused people's emotions against the government - just to give one example. So - Macross 7's basic plot is very realistic. As for the idea of the speaker pod shell "venting the atmosphere" - no - it doesn't. The animation VERY CLEARLY shows that upon entering the enemy craft, the pod immediately releases a kind of "bubble" material that secures whatever severence to the hull it might have made - so if pressure/atmosphere is lost - it is only for a fraction of a second at best. I agree. Robotech ain't that damn bad - it is just plain aweful. I've seen a few of the Robotech episodes on Youtube and cringed. I've also seen all of Shadow Chronicles. I was very satisfied at the end when Janice reminded everyone of one of the primary reasons Robotech sucks: "Fight la la la destiny is what you make it...la la la...grab the day just take it...la la la...we will win! la la la" (yeah, I'm paraphrasing - but you get the drift). Yes - if you rape something/someone - then you've succeeded. But succeeded in what? In VIOLATING something/someone. So, the analogy - unlike door/car/window/lake - actually makes sense, and is not contradictory. Macek raped Macross - aka - he succeeded in violating it Pete (no longer PMS'ing ) ps: This post is on topic because Schyz and me are also discussing whether or not M7 is stupid/realistic/unrealistic/smart

Thanks for the flattery guys - it will get you perks: Pete (still PMSing?)

I think people had trouble paying attention to the members of Pixie Squadron, since they kept staring at the two most prominent commanding officers of Pixie Squadron. Pete

Wait... How did you go from "a door" and "a window" to a lake and a bridge? This analogy makes no sense in and of its' self - let alone as reference to what you're talking about. I think this notion of "incremental" change and "baby steps" is just wishy-washy and doesn't take into account that change only comes about with a sledge hammer and not "baby steps." I'm a revolutionary at heart, and I just don't see incremental steps as having any beneficial aspect to them. Heck - even Gubaba admits that some of the love of anime that came after Robotech was a REACTION (aka against) Robotech - it was a yearning to be totally free of the patronizing attempts at "westernizing" the story. If you think about it - nobody tried to "westernize" Dostoyevski or Kafka. Sure, there are often attempts to make great books and plays and movies more "modern" - but these are often CONSCIOUS and generally openly known attempts. Everybody knows about "the original" and that they are watching a "modern take" or something. What Harmony Gold and Macek did was patronizing to their audience and had just as slim a chance of success as if they'd decided to subtitle the Macross series. Again: if they had failed after making a full on attempt to just bring over Macross - heroes. But they raped Macross and then failed - loosers. As for the analogy - It doesn't matter if you fall in the lake. Just swim the heck out of it. Although I don't understand how you'll end up falling in a lake if you don't open the window in order to equalize pressure...on the bridge? Now see - there's an ENGLISH LANGUAGE analogy and I DON'T GET IT (this comment is made for all those people who argued in the Translation thread that we must take Japanese analogies/sayings and translate them into an english equivalent even if it's not accurate to what is being said)... Why is this incredibly stupid? I think it's incredibly cool. What's incredible stupid is 99% of cartoons and anime shows in which the hero has a 50 foot robot armed with nuclear bombs and death rays and the only way they know of in terms of confronting ANY problem is to launch their bombs and death rays. As weak as the M7 movies are (for other reasons) - I can't help but being bowled over every time I consider that scene at the beginning of Dynamite, where Bassara witnesses how the poachers are stealing a Mecha, the police show up - a shoot out begins - and Basara grabs his guitar and stars singing. A police officer points a gun to his back - he turns around and sings. That's not stupid. That's brilliant television. Brilliant story telling. Pete

Didn't you get the memo? Hasbro raised their prices back in September. The only reason you're feeling it now is because retailers decided to have a price war before Christmas. Now the new prices are going into effect. Key word here is "glorified" - he looks just like G1 Wreck Gar, the only big change is that his head is a TV- which is the most brilliant modification to an old design EVER, his colors are perfect...heck - his Alt mode is perfect... I think the only thing they could have done better is give him a gimmick where you press a button and all his limbs fall off JUNK MODE! Pete

Thanks. That's exactly what I figured they were, but I needed confirmation. Got a competitor making a lame attempt to up-end me by offering this out of date crud, and most people in Poland won't know the difference unless I indicate it.... which I've had to now. Thanks again, Pete

Hey guys. Need som ID help. What the flub is this: And just to be clear - I'm not asking about the particular Gundam - but rather about the age of the model. Is this an old Bandai model? The box art looks ugly and it looks like something from the early 1990s or something. Is this from the much older HG line? Anybody ever come across these things - packaged like that? Pete

Glad to see I'm not the only one with PMS I STILL haven't seen the clips/trailer anything... Just the silly screen grabs that I critiqued a couple pages back. Anything up on Youtube? Pete

WOW!!!! THE TRAILER!!! oh wait... Pete translation: Welcome to the forum We already saw it and all our comments are in Transformers II a Michale Bay Movie/Michal Bay thread thread Pete

Yes. But only because she's toying with Sam and it makes the other guys even more envious and prone to be manipulated by her into buying gifts and falling all over themselves to serve her. She'll dump him in the third film. Pete

16! Besides- I'm not saying the actress has to be 15 - but they could have found a girl that better fits the part. I mean, not that it's the same a porn movie, but Sam and Mikheala are in high school in the Transformers movie - yet clearly the actors aren't 16 or 17 or 15 or whatever age they're supposed to be in the movie. They just look younger... Well then what's the point of making it a Macross Frontier porn movie? If they're just going to get undressed and start having sex, it might as well be a run of the mill porn movie. If it's going to be Macross Frontier - they need to stay in character - meaning in clothing - for as long as possible. Pete (still PMSing )

I like Blurr's car mode - but the robot mode... I don't know if I like the design. All of the other Animated toys succeed and capture my heart because they retain, honor, respect and ACHIEVE the coveted "Transformers have lower legs that are bigger than upper legs" or "boots" standard. This is one thing that makes a Transformer a Transformer in my mind and it is very prevalent throughout the line. Blurr was "sleek" - sure - but he did, along with Kup and Hotrod and everyone else, retain this feature, In fact, if I recall correctly, the only ones who DIDN'T retain this feature were Arcee (fembot) and Bumblebee (because his legs were supposed to be scrawny like a little kid and his "shoes" were like big sneakers)... Anyways - this Blurr has sacrificed this in favor of the "sleek legs" design element - bu they are just too scrawny in my book. I was excited about Animated Swindle - and still sort of am - but ever since Encore Bruticus was informally announced, it's becoming a moot point - though I probably will get Swindle. And Wreck Gar. Need him. Pete (still PMSing, I guess )

Trailer was kick ass! Pumped! Psyched! As much as I hate the toys - the Movie was great and the sequel will be better. So happy how it's turning out. Pete

Just curious - to those people whose wives have shot down Misa, Minmei etc etc as names... WHAT prey tell, do they suggest? Jane? Alice? Barbara? ...Barak? What names to women want for their children - since reading this thread it seems that all the ladies don't want Minmei, Misa et al? pete

I agree with bits and pieces of Gubababa's view, but in my gutt - I think Kieth is right. I have some sympathy for the whole "Robotech opened the door to letting anime into the west" argument and for the "constraints of the day/syndication" argument. I also admit that I LOVED the Paladium Roll Playing game - which was my first and only introduction to Robotech as a kid. (I notice that the vast majority of Americans on this board are from the West coast - I lived in Cambridge, MASS, and we didn't get any Robotech on TV or anything at all like that. However, a guy in grade school DID have the Robotech roll playing games and got us into them -and I bought some and loved reading them and playing them too). But that's pretty much the point where my "praise" for Robotech stops. First of all - from Macek's own account in Robotech Art III, HE and the people at Harmony Gold were the ones pressing the Japanese to adapt anime to the American cartoon market. So - how is this "opening the door for anime in the west?" - American cartoons - for better or worse- had and have their own established style and rhythm. I'm not saying whether they are better or worse. Some of them are great (e.g. Warner Bros Batman cartoon series for instance), others are worse. Just like in any genre. What I am saying, however, is that it kind of defeats the purpose to "westernize" anime, as Harmony Gold and Macek wanted. I mean - why try to make your unique anime show that you have bought the license to look like every other run of the mill cartoon? In fact - look at how well Gundam has done relative to Robotech in the USA. Heck - look how well A WHOLE BUNCH of Japanese anime - Tenchi Muyo I remember watching on cartoon network while in college - has done in America. And notice that while it might be dubbed, lots of the original anime/Japanese elements were retained. Look at how well NGE did. Point? Anime which was brought over to the USA and retained its' original flavor as much as possible did better than anime which was raped and re-packaged "for a western audience." Or- let me put it another way: If Macross was destined for the SAME failure in the hands of Macek back in the early 80s independent of whether it was "westernized" or not - then which scenario would have been better: 1. Macek brings over Macross, turns it into Robotech, slaps on two unrelated series, has Minmey sing "We will Win," and puts all of the stupid story changes that were put into it into it and Robotech goes down the drain anyways or 2. Macek brings over Macross to the USA, determined to open the door to Japanese animation and show Americans how awesome it is. The changes he makes to Macross are minimal and cosmetic and he fights tooth and nail to push the show to feature on TV as close to the original as possible, arguing that it's big and that anime has a big future. One of those cosmetic changes is that instead of "Overtechnology" we get "Robotechnology" and it's "Robotechnology" instead of "Reaction weapons" that the Zendradi are after. and he fails. ---- For me - the answer is simple: If Macek had taken route number two - we would be hailing him and Robotech as heros on this board. We would consider it to be the first serious attempt to bring anime to the USA and into the western world - destined perhaps, for failure, fraught with mistakes - but a bold and heroic attempt that should be praised. I would then even call myself a "Macross/Robotech" fan and do so proudly and happily. But - as things stand - what we got was: 1. Rape of the original franchise 2. Failure 3. Attempt to steal the franchise and bury it forever in the sewer of an ongoing Robotech saga Case in Point: One of my favorite "indicators" of what Harmony Gold does for a living is if you go to BBTS and do a search by company. If you search "Yamato" - you come up with tons of stuff. Hasbro - same. Mattel - same. And so on and so on. Whether they're a huge company or a lesser known entity - MOST companies actually do productive things with their time, trying to come out with cool stuff from various series. You search for Harmony Gold and you just get "Robotech." What else have they made? What other contribution to human life has been theirs? Every company has a rotten apple. Every company makes a gaffe sometimes. But it seems to be that ALL Harmony Gold does is sue people for trying to sell Yamato toys. NOTHING BEYOND THAT. rant mode off Pete

If only life were so kind to us... Pete

I agree with Gubaba and disagree with you, Mike - but please note that the picture you quoted has "rounder" eyes for a reason - it looks like she's a) mad (in one panel) and then b) embarassed (in another panel) - the bigger eyes are just for emotion. Personally - I think the art in this thing looks AMAZING from the scans that people have generously posted here. Minmey looks truly beatiful. Not even "sexy" or "oogle!" but just really really beautiful - and cute Misa - on the other hand - looks STIFF! A-sexual. Totally like an OBASA! Hah hah - it's good, I guess - to show her that way in the beginning. I am sure - and curious to see it - that as the story progresses, Misa will start showing off some womanliness, as she did in SDFM TV - and it will be great to see how this is rendered artistically. But here - you can see the great great contrast between OBASA DEMON WOMAN and this utterly gorgeous Minmey... if you didn'tk now the story, you'd NEVER guess OBASA could be the woman to fall in love with this is truly great work from the looks of it. Pete

I agree with Dangard Ace about the "day in the life of" - and Ranka always looked gogeous in that school girl uniform (not that I'm into school girl uniforms - honest- but in her case it just soooo totally suits her - as well as the color white going well with her eyes and hair). As for the bikini pic - well - it FAILS. Sorry, but I never liked that bikini that Sheryl has on. The top part of the bikini looks like a wonder-bra - not a bikini top. Wonder bras are greeat insofar as they raise the breasts of a woman and make them look more firm - however- like all braws - they are meant to be worn UNDER a nice tight fitting sweater or shirt or dress or whatever. Left by themselves - they look too utilitarian - and that's what happens here. As for the bikini bottom - it's showing skin in all the wrong places and actually disfigures her body. Bikinii bottoms should high light the woman's nice behind, not the fact that she is clean shaved. FASHION FAILURE! As for Ranka's bikinii - there's nothing wrong with it - except for the fact that it was made for a 9 year old girl, not for a 16 year old girl. It totally disfigures her. Also - I've noticed that the hardest thing about animating Ranka is getting her face right. It's hard to get that cute puppy like look of hers down - and this picture doesn't fully do it. The "day in the life of picture" does a much better job of getting Ranka's cuteness down pat. BUT it also fails in another aspect: Look at Alto. Does he look like a princess? Would you mistaken him for a sex goddess? Alto in that picture looks like a grumpy old man, like that guy from Macross Zero who waved the screw driver at shin. Finally - the arms on those Mecha in the background are too chunky. And no - I couldn't do better. Pete

Somebody in the toy thread has done one of those. I remember it - it was in one of the older strike a pose threads I think... using cotton and stuff for plumes of smoke - it was pretty sweet. Some Macross World member has done it though. Pete

Try having my girlfriend open drawers full of Transformers toys and THROW them at me - hundreds of them - many of them BIG (like Superlink Skorponok or Cybertron Supreme Starscream) aaaaalll because she had a premonition that I had invited a bunch of protistitutes to the apartment so she rushed back early from her two day trip somewhere to "catch me in the act" and decided that - even though there were no prostitutes in the apartment when she came barging in at 5 in the morning, there was some empty beer and I didn't throw last night's box of pizza away - so crash! bang! Trust me - my girlfriend is Misa...on crack! Pete

I interpret this as meaning "We understand that there is a dispute regarding what exactly Robotech entails, and what falls under Robotech and what doesn't. Instead of publically acknowledging this dispute and trying to figure out what falls under Robotech and what doesn't, we're just going to pretend that Robotech is what we want it to be and say that we have rights to ALL of Robotech." In other words - if they want to use something derivative (of Macross) they can. If you think something derivative (of Macross) is not Robotech - they are not going to discuss it with you. They have rights to ALL of Robotech. But wait sir - that's not Robo... "ALL OF ROBOTECH kid." That's how it sounds to me. Pete