VFTF1

I never done heard of this movie before now! I think that if the airplane transformed and there was at least one 15 year old hot chick singer and a couple aliens then it just might have broken even. Pete

Go figure... I just got the OLD Voltes V... grumble grumble... didn't realize this one could also seperate into all the different forms..grumble grumble... oh well At least I'm down to missing just Ideon, Zambot 3 and Gunbuster from the "big" SOCs...then it's all down-hill price wise as I hunt for cheapos like Poseidon and the like Pete

I think it could be the same size as Bandai's original TV SDF 1. And just as chunky On that note - I wouldn't mind a 1/200 scale Macross Frontier with all accompanying islands Pete

Well? Where is it? Work faster! *Whip!* Anyways - I wonder to myself: why didn't the UNS and NUNS follow up and also dable in bio-engineering? Clearly the humans seem to rely on mecha? Is this because we don't like the thought of our own bodies say growing missiles or forming pentagrams between our finger nails - or is it too difficult to do? Protoculture technology in general seemed far more bio-engineering whereas we humans have stuck to mechanical engineering: this has always been a point of interest to me. No matter how good the interaction between pilot and Valkyrie or Capital Ship and crew - wouldn't a living being who was the equivalent in power of a capital ship have greater capacities? On that note - why was Glavil not very intelligent? Was there too much fear that if he were more independent he could use his power for himself; and this way someone needed to basically steer him? Pete

So - with that minor bit of background... Anyone care to venture any hypothesis? Observations based on what we saw in Macross 7? Maybe the first thing to do would be to recall to mind all of the various Protodevilin and what we "know" about them. This is from wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protodeviln): * Lord Geperunitch (ゲペルニッチ, Geperunitchi?): the leader of the Protodeviln, Geperunitch spends most of Macross 7 -- from his initial appearance in episode 1 -- acting through the human body of fleet advisor Ivano Günter. He aims to implement the Spiritia Farm Project of which he has dreamed: humans and Zentradi will be kept as cattle and harvested for their spiritia, making hunting unnecessary and, more importantly, preventing another Spiritia Black Hole from forming. This plan comes to the fore when he learns that the singing of Anima Spiritia, and in particular the band Fire Bomber, causes humans to regenerate their spiritia: he lures first the Macross 5 and then the Macross 7 fleets to an Earth-like planet (dubbed Lux by the crew of the former fleet), intending to trap and corral them there. Although the planet is ultimately destroyed, he has by this time transported the citizens of Macross 5 back to Varauta IV, intending to capture and use the band to create an endless supply of spiritia. His real Protodeviln form reemerges at the end of the series, but having fed on Anima Spiritia it begins to grow out of control into the very thing Geperunitch feared: another Spiritia Black Hole. o Voice artist: Yo Inoue * Gigile (ギギル, Gigiru?): commander of the Varauta Army, Gigile appears from the first episode and spends most of the series acting through the human body of Captain Autremauer of the Blue Rhinoceros ground force. Uncouth and rebellious, he frequently vexes Geperunitch by violating orders and launching all-out spiritia raids on the Macross 7 fleet. Indeed, it emerges that his real aim -- other than to preserve the joy of the hunt over the Spiritia Farm Project -- is to gather enough spiritia to reawaken not himself or Geperunitch, but another Protodeviln named Sivil, with whom he is in love. This earns the anger of the other Protodeviln, who attempt to destroy him, but when he discovers the power of singing from Fire Bomber's lead singer Basara Nekki, he begins to generate his own spiritia and reawakens in his earlier form, a giant humanoid creature with no human facial features. Such is the intensity of his desire to protect Sivil that he generates an enormously powerful energy field which destroys the planet Lux -- and, to the horror of everyone, himself. o Voice artist: Tomohiro Nishimura * Sivil (シビル, Shibiru?): a female Protodeviln who resembles a vampire, Sivil is awakened in episode 17 by Gigile, but being an undisciplined, free spirit, she ignores the other Protodeviln in order to seek her own supply of spiritia. She becomes fascinated by Basara Nekki, whom she terms Anima Spiritia, and possesses human women in an attempt to get close to him. However, his singing appears to cause her pain (or overwhelming pleasure), driving her away many times, and when she finally manages to kiss him, the energy released sends her into a coma. She is later reawakened by Basara and Gigile's combined singing, but Geperunitch considers her a danger to his plan and seeks to destroy her. Though she never returns Gigile's feelings, she is shocked by his sacrifice in her name, and because of this seeks to protect Basara from the other Protodeviln, and indeed, from her own desire to feed on his spiritia. * The Glavil (グラビル, Gurabiru?): awakening in episode 27, Glavil is an enormous, muscular humanoid creature with tentacles, usually perched on all fours like an animal. He represents pure, untamed fury, crushing everything in his path, and generating enormous energy fields which rip apart all around him. He can also fire intense energy beams that surpass by far the Macross Cannon in power. He increases in size when he absorbs spiritia -- which he can drain from lower life forms as well as humans and Zentradi -- but the energy of Anima Spiritia causes him to shrink, and after several encounters he flees instinctively from it. Lacking any discernible intelligence of his own, he is frequently given instructions by Gavil (see below), the other half of an even more powerful being. * The Gavil (ガビル, Gabiru?): awakened by Gepelnitch in episode 28, Gavil is a human-sized being covered in white fur, with wings like those of an angel. He disdains the innate abilities of his kind in favour of technology, piloting his own Saubergeran and using anti-noise and remote-controlled fighters to combat the effects of Basara's singing. Extremely vain and arrogant, he delights in the "beauty" of destruction -- particularly that created by Glavil, whom he regards as his own "flesh" -- yet he remains loyal to the plans of Lord Geperunitch, though he occasionally questions his leader's methods. He develops an intense hatred of ace pilot Gamlin Kizaki, who humiliates him time and again in battle, most notably on many occasions destroying his vehicle and forcing him to retreat under his own power. * o Gavigula (ガビグラ, Gabigura?): the "true form" of Gavil and Glavil, Gavigula is a mighty Protodeviln which combines the intelligence of one with the might and power of the other. He can produce energy waves which radiate outwards, destroying all in their path, as well as attacking in more conventional ways, crushing anything in his paws. He can easily survive a blast from the Macross Cannon, and the energy of Anima Spiritia has no apparent effect on him. Gavigula is first formed in episode 42. * Valgo (バルゴ, Barugo?): first appearing in episode 31, Valgo, a gigantic armored humanoid with batwings, is one of Geperuniti's most devoted followers, but a bitter rival of Gavil. He is capable of teleporting across space to his desired destination and attacking suddenly; he generates a large number of hideous pink monsters from a cavity in his chest; these creatures swarm over their prey, draining spiritia and growing larger. He is also capable of generating force fields which prevent spacecraft from space-folding, and uses this power to prevent the Macross 7 fleet from escaping the planet Lux, but he is destroyed (along with the planet) by Gigile. * o Natter-Valgo (ナッターバルゴ, Natta barugo?): a mechanical replacement for Valgo after he was destroyed, the Natter-Valgo unit appears in Macross 7: The Galaxy's Calling Me! as backup to Gavil and Gravil. It combines with them (in what Gavil calls the "forbidden technique") to form a creature even bigger and more invulnerable than Gavigula, though the time for which they can remain merged is limited. * Goram (ゴラム, Goramu?) and Zomd (ゾムド, Zomudo?): multi-armed Protodeviln in some ways reminiscent of Vishnu, the male and female twins Goram and Zomd are released by Gepelnitch in episode 47. They operate as two halves of a single entity: working in concert they can fire enormously powerful blasts and teleportation beams, and they complete each other's sentences to boot. As with Glavil, absorbing spiritia causes them to grow, and they can regenerate their bodies even after the destruction wrought by reaction weaponry. However, they are ultimately absorbed by Gepelnitch as he grows out of control, and cease to exist. -------------- With the above serving as a basic framework - maybe it would be good to discuss one Protodevilin at a time? In any case - the aim isn't so much discussing the Protodevilins as characters as much as discussing the EVIL series as a technological achievment, as well as trying to figure out the technological/scientific aspects of the EVIL series. Anybody have any ideas or want to have a go - I'm all ears Pete

Figured I'd put a question in the newbie thread rather than risk creating a new thread and getting scolded After reading most of the Macross Frontier Technology thread (http://macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=27033&st=160), I suddenly realized that I would be really interested in discussing Protoculture Technology - more to the point - the EVIL series. Is there a thread (couldn't find it if there is) which goes into detail about the Protodevilin? Their various abilities? The weapon system, design, execution etc etc? Are there any sources for something like that out there? I'd be interested to learn more, because I have always felt that no greater and more truly awe-inspiring and fearsome weapon ever has existed than the Protodevilin. Pete

With all due respect to DYRL - I don't want a DYRL style film. I see no point in transitioning the series to film and cutting. In this day an age, the Cinema is just a quick stop for movies while they get put on DVD anyways... Besides; honestly- while I understand and appreciate the "DYRL is a movie documentary about SDF M" - I would prefer to keep Frontier as is. I have always had trouble watching DYRL precisely because I keep going "that's not the way it was!"... Evangelon could do what it did because the ending to the series was so abstract that it just lends itself to interpretation... But Frontier doesn't lend itself to DYRLation... But...we'll see... Not as excited about movies as I am about series... Pete

Well, believe it or not, I was thinking of starting a similar thread because although I think this is the best anime inthe universe, as with everything, there is room for improvement and stuff to criticize. But first - I would like to take issue with the critique that you linked to on some points: 1. "Motivation for Evil:" Grace wanted to be able to access the entire galaxy and control everyone through implants/cyber-genetic engineering. Banal? Yes. Simplistic? Yes. Evil? Exactly. Evil is not, as some might like, necessarily sophisticated. Evil is usually mean, low and nasty. The motives for evil people are always pretty much the same. Make it any more complex and the person stops being evil. After all, even good people do bad things - this doesn't make them evil; it just makes them careless, mistaken, warped, or a number of other reasons that might have led them down the wrong road. Evil people, on the other hand, usually consciously yearn for simple power at the expense of others. Blaming Frontier for not establishing a more plausible motivation is kind of lame. What does the reviewer expect? Should Grace have sat down for a long philosophical interview "why I'm evil" ? 2. Moe...this criticism just bores me - it bores me and annoys me. If you watch SDF Macross TV, you will see Minmey in a bikinni, you will see Misa being feminine and helpless, you will see Roy picking up chicks who go gaga over him, you will see Roy and Hikaru looking up skirts, you will see lots of eroticism and sexual allusion - and you will NOT be shocked, because from the perspective of 2009, it all looks so innocent and dated and non-controversial. Take three steps back and try looking at the eroticism in Macross: Frontier from that point of view and suddenly it becomes clear that if anyone is going "oh my god!" over "those scenes" then it demonstrates that the person is just a prude and not that the scenes are somehow worthy of criticism. The story is about a love triangle. It is hard to have a love story without eroticism. That Macross: Frontier plays with sexuality is fine. There is absolutely nothing shocking about it, and making an issue of it is pointless: it's just meant in good fun. 3. Alto also chose - he chose both girls. "You are my wings" he says, grabbing both of them. So this criticism of "Hikaru chose" while Alto didn't is just wrong. They all love eachother. Hikaru loved Misa. Minmey didn't love him; Minmey only loved herself. 4. I completely don't see the point of throwing the "Ozma doesn't die" bit into CRITICISM. I mean - that episode, of all episodes, was a testimony to how brilliantly Frontier managed to communicate on two levels: to the fans, and to the general public. Someone who has never seen Macross before will probably think "boy that Ozma guy is sure a risk taker!" while someone who is familiar with it will appreciate that the writers took the time to toy with his expectations. In any event - this shouldn't be a subject for criticism since it was one of the best plot threads in terms of how it was executed and build up. 5. "Not enough death." This is the implication when noting Micheal's death. Now - I think that this implication is kind of the result of anime deciding to "go there" and allow for realistic portrayal of death in war, as opposed to just having everybody survive while their vehicles keep blowing up or something. Namely - when the death toll is NOT catastrophic, people shout "no way! There are too few deaths!" And Mikheal gets treated like the token death. But if you look at SDF Macross TV - well - how many main characters died? Roy Fokker. How many supporting characters died? Kakizake. THAT'S IT. The rest of the deaths were villains like Kamjin and Lampllitz and hords of civilians and "redshirt" soldiers. So, again, Frontier, where one main character (Mikheal) dies as well as the Meltran pilot (supporting character) doesn't really deviate from the norm here. Now, I personally appreciate that Macross is not Space Runaway Ideon. Having Sheryl, Ranka, Alto or any of the others die would have been pretty pointless and gratuitous. Mikheal's death served its' literary purpose. Also - remember Leon? From episode 1? He died too. Plenty of death. Oh - and last note: I HATE criticisms that boil down to: "This is terrible! Look at all this sex! Where's the death?!" As if mass death as a plot thread is desirable and normal, while erotic romance and a love story that makes you smile is somehow perveted? Um. No. Hmm... I had a bunch of critical things to say about Frontier - mainly that the ending was rushed - but I'm burned out after writing the above Pete

It looks fine. But the swapping parts thing is scary... I don't really like that. The only benefit to a 1/100 VF is that it can go toe-to-toe with my MG Gundams... Has there been a price label announced for these? Couldn't find any mention of it in thread.' Pete

Well - she has herself to thank for that. "I gave all that up a long time ago" yadee yadee yadee ble ble ble. It's nice that she rediscovers her heart in the end - but Myung is one hit wonder girl. Pete

Inspection Army makes me think of either Inspector Gadget, or a throng of Soccer Moms chasing their children yelling "did you brush your teeth!? Did you comb your hair?!" Personally, I have always been clueless about the Supervision army and wondered why the subject was never picked up again in Macross... This thread has somewhat helped... but ... I guess I just always found it odd that on the one hand, the Protoculture are these distant possibly extinct beings - but on the other hand, Boldoza and his multi-million ship fleet are actively pursuing a Supervision Army ship in pursuit of its' weapons technology... which means that the War the Protoculture spawned continues... But... if guys like Boldoza know that the Protoculture are extinct - or quite possibly extinct (heck, they suspect that the humans are Protoculture), then why do they continue to fight the Protoculture's wars? Are Zendradi so genetically driven that they cannot bear NOT to fight? Possible - but guys like Boldoza clearly find it necessary to maintain a certain semblence of lies; to keep the troops ignorant of culture and history - this means Boldoza concievably understands that more than war is possible, but he simply manipulates his men for power? I never fully understood the Zendradi psyche in this regard.... Pete

Bandai gashpoms. Maybe rename this thread "The MF Gashpom thread" ? Pete

Also, if Alto hadn't set his paper plane flying in the mall that day, Ranka wouldn't have seen it - wouldn't have been inspired to sing. That song in the mall launched her career. Her love for Alto inspired her song. Which brings me to the flip side: poor Mikhael. In that particular instance, he thought it was his inspiring speech which brought Ranka to sing - but no - it was just Alto's plane... Pete

Well, I voted "other." By "other" I mean: I dream of Misa... more specifically, I dream of Revoltech Macross figures... Misa, Minmey, Sheryl, Ranka... I love the mecha as much as the next guy - but it would be nice to finally get the PEOPLE of Macross - they are, after all, central to the entire saga in a big way. Pete

Ever the Gundam amateur...I am about to embark on my FOURTH Mastergrade kit... this time - Unicorn Gundam. For now, I have taken out Turn-A, Crossbone and Wing Zero to strike awesome poses on my workbench while I lay the sprues out and slowly prepare for the grueling task ahead... uff... I have to admit I've been a bit spoiled, having built my first Highgrade OOs previously, and being quite pleased with them - it's going to be tough to return to all that bloody detail... Speaking of which: does anyone else think that the Unicorn Gundam looks like the YF-19 Battroid when it's in "closed" form? Also; I have yet to panel line a Gundam - but when I think of Panel Lining the Unicorn...it just seems wierd - because the whole point is that it's supposed to be all white (when not opened up)... anyways - yay Gundam. ra ra ra. Pete

I voted for Macross Frontier. Was considering voting for Zero because of excellent animation and a moving love story...but then, Frontier has both of those. Considered voting for SDF:M TV for all of those little wonderful nuggets of nostalgia...but...Frontier repeats them, with an interesting and fresh twist, and with Zero animation quality....(as in Macross Zero!) Considered voting for Macross 7 because, plot wise, it is about the triumph of idealism and love against all odds, but then - so is the story of little Frontier Cinderella... Considered voting for DYRL because of high quality animation, Misa Hayes and everything that makes it great...but Frontier had all of that. Frontier has everything all of the other Macross series have. It also has Ranka. It wins Pete

YES! YES! YES! Pete

Don't open it. Try to sell it for a dollar. If you open it - you WILL cry. Pete

Heheheheheheheh Well - it's nice that the MAIN CHARACTER has ONE vote for "favorite character" buaaahhaahahh Hehehe... I love Macross. Only with this show could this happen. Pete

I have had several dogs also die/go missing tragically. One german shepherd and two beagles. My advise to you might sound counter-intuitive, but hopefuly you will hear me out: Make haste for the pound or kenel or pet shop and get a new dog. Not to "replace" Ootis, because of course no dog ever will. But rather, to be able to shower all that love and friendship on a little deserving puppy that is out there right now waiting for an owner who would be as caring as you. It's not about replacing anybody - it's about making another dog just as happy as you made Ootis by being such a good master. So - as hard as it might be right now - I think the best thing you can do for yourself, and in memory of Ootis - would be to go out and find a new dog to befriend. Condolensces, Pete

Macross Quarter would rock I knew that thing looked familiar; I just couldn't peg it... Pete

That is obviously mistransformed - someone just pressed the head in too hard is all. I mean - has to be. Pete

I have four dogs and about seven cats. My oldest cat was TWENTY ONE!!! When he died - I had him since I was like 6 years old, and he traveled across the Atlantic from America to Europe with me, and moved about a million times. My oldest dog now is a beagle - she's 14 (Beagles are supposed to live roughly 10 years) - and doing fine. My youngest dog (also a beagle) is approaching his third birthday (Christmas day!)... I hope Ootis pulls through. Pete

Actually, since I listen to Fire Bomber on my MP3 Soundwave (spark blue), drugs had nothing to do with it. Soundwave just happened to transform, after having gotten a message from Time Traveling grey Galvatron (E Hobby/Target: 2006 version) who reminded him to please give back his time jump devise. Upon learning that Soundwave had one of those, I asked him to pretty please use it to time jump us into the near future, so I could learn the ending of Macross Frontier. So you see, no drugs. Pete

Good observation. Although, if you consider it, there's nothing strange in this. A 25, 36 or 47 episode series has a lot of room for many different songs. So even if you can't stand some (like Planet Dance, which I hate), there will likely be others which will suddenly make you go wow! (like Ranka's rendition of What Bout My Star in episode 5 which made me fall in love with her). An OVA basically has one main song; or at best a couple of songs - and therefore it's really hit or miss. Although the Whale Song that Bassara sings was hit IMO... Pete