VFTF1

The orchestral music is very well rendered - again; I deny that the music is, from a technical point of view, very well done. There is just something about Plus that doesn't sit well with me; and the music only re-enforces this feeling. Perhaps if there were a Macross Plus thread, I could get more of this angst out of myself and also see what others would have to say about particular scenes and characters that might get me to think more about it. This is my criticism as well - although I laugh at myself for it - because really, the real reason I can't remember any of the tunes is because Sarah sings in French and refuses to use ANY english words, let alone catchy ooey-gooey phrases like Tostugeki Love heart or the like. Plus, the high pitched voice is really, really hard to "sing along to" for someone (like me) who is a complete musical ameteur. But this just goes to prove even more than the music in Zero is intimately connected with the plot; particularly with the love story - and that indeed it's hard to have one in mind without having the other in front of us. One day I'm going to have to find a way to compare Ranka to Misa... since really my "Macross Women Love-ometer" is a bit off key Misa-Sara-RANK (?!) ... But I think I tried at one point and was universally accused of failing Pete

We already did Just because they don't look like Chip'n'Dails doesn't mean they're not beautiful Pete

Oh...actually I'm going to have to disagree. I see the battle as distinctly a civil war and it is Galaxy vs. Frontier. Here's why: Galaxy was the fleet where implants and cyborgs were given free reign: in other words; it was the fleet where no moral limits were placed before science: science was given ultimate freedom and morality was tossed by the wayside in the interest of progress; because it was seen that scientific progress, which empowers humanity, is the highest moral goal, while morality as a limit to science is just sentiment. So, insofar as this was the political culture on Galaxy; and we see that it was - then Galaxy as such is to blame; and Galaxy as such is at war with other fleets which have a more restricted view of science, or which attempt to link science to morality and pursue a more humane type of technological advancement. Enter Frontier. Notice Sheryl's stories from Galaxy: do you see any lonely poor people in Frontier? This is not to say that there is no economic hardship; since whereever there is time and scarcity, there is hardship and the need to rationalize or economize; but it is to say that Frontier seems to be the type of place where this hardship is eased in its' more extreme possibilities. Galaxy, on the other hand - at least from what Sheryl teaches us - is a place where little girls eat out of garbage bins while mad scientists primarily conduct super crazy experiments meant to bring them closer to being mortal Gods rather than using science to help those around them. Science on Galaxy is also used as a form of mind control; taking the ploy of the Sharon Apple project and succeeding in making an art of deception out of it. So - perhaps it is true that the citizens of Galaxy on the whole were not evil or bad (probably is true), but the system they allowed to flourish in their colony - a system of science not tamed by any moral reflection - led to a tyranny of technology serving the egomaniacal desires of a vengeful heart. The regime in Galaxy was a symbol of the potential for evil in modernity and technology. The regime in Frontier was a symbol of the potential for good in modernity and technology guided by moral and artistic imagination. This was a civil war between two fleets with radically different ideological bearings - and it was probably exactly the type of civil war that the Protoculture experienced on a larger scale. Pete

There there. Nana isn't unpopular. I have it on good authority that Macross: Frontier the Movie will be a re-telling of the entire story from the point of view of Luca. He goes to school and falls in love with a beautiful purple haired girl and tries his durdest to be the best SMS pilot he can just to impress her. Everything will be done from this angle. And we'll see that Nana sings in the shower and in fact it is HER song which wins in the end of the day. Fell better now? Pete

Yeah, what Taksraven said... I mean; this is one thing I don't understand about the criticism of Macross Zero. I can understand people not liking Basarra, for instance, and not liking rainbow valks etc and therefore saying Macross 7 is bad. I don't agree that it's bad, but I understand the criticism. With Macross Zero; every time I hear a criticism, I'm just like "huh?" - it seems like we are talking about a different film. I mean - Sarah and Shin were complete strangers; yes - and they did argue - yes - but Shin showed interest in Sarah early on - with the Yaree Wee: first he was cynical and mocked her for doing it to make extra money since being a shrine maiden didn't pay, but then he joined her in making one: this was a symbol of the hesistance towards natural religion that modernity and technological society birth: always arming moderns with cynicicism, skepticism - a tendency to look for economic motives as the explanation of social action, rather than understanding that the human heart has a yearning desire for love and friendship that transcends monetary interest. Slowly, Shin came to respect Sarah for her beliefs and also find them to be part of what made her a beautiful woman. He felt her pain at being betrayed by his "let the people decide" democratic solution to the question of blood samples, when Shin realized that people who blindly follow the law will equally blindly follow marketing ads and catchy gimmicks; and that in a way by giving them the choice, he trapped them in a spiritual realm that was symbolically the beginning of a tragic journey - perhaps not unlike the journey undertaken by the Protoculture in its' first steps. And above all - Shin felt - saw - that Sarah as a woman felt betrayed by him, meaning that somewhere in there, she had looked to him to help her; that she was vulnerable - that she needed help... Like a certain Bridge Officer, who despite being tough, the "demon lady," in charge and guardian of the "temple" (Fortress), was still just a vulnerable woman who needed love. Thus, as Shin says when he sings to the forrest: "I sing for you Sarah, because no one else does." This is essentially a beautiful moment and a very moving, romantic moment - a moment that was built up to through a very well put together and compelling plot... How it's possible to miss this - I don't know? I understand if someone wants to say "bleh; too much mushy mushy!" - but to say that it's so disjointed as to just be strangers having an argument and nothing more... where is that from? I would agree with this statement: and this is why I was careful not to criticize the music in Plus as such - it's not that I think the music is bad: the music fits and builds the mood perfectly - it's just that the mood is one which I don't very much like. Ape-crazy pilots like Dyson who obsessively love flying and nothing else are boring to me compared to more colorful Valk pilots like Bassara and Alto - and even Hikaru who at least liked Minmey and Misa, not only flying. And again - Sharon's music was in my view meant to be somewhat "boring" in the sense that it "put you to sleep" and "hyptnotized you" - the dominant reaction of her concert goers. I also developed a stupor face and hazy look in the eyes when listening to it. So - Kanno was successful: it's just I'm not overly excited about the success. Music in Macross was always a force for love and good: in Plus; it was used - much like Grace tried to use Ranka in Frontier - for evil... this makes Plus one of the darkest Macross films; and in that sense I appreciate it - but it's just not fully my cup of tea. Pete

While I agree with what you write about Macross: Frontier, I disagree about Zero and Plus- so I might thereby disagree with your general thesis of Kawamori + Kanno = this great amazing wow factor. I personally found the music in Macross: Plus to be extremely weak; dull, boring, hypnotizing... but this is not a criticism of the plot - since in fact, Sharon's music was exactly what it was supposed to be: erotically devious - enslaving, mesmerizing in a sinister way. So, while this is a testamony to the music score being written to fit the plot, it just means the plot called for music to be used as a means by which to enslave rather than liberate. Granted, Myung's song in the end wins out; and this is therefore a testimony also to the power of music from the heart, as opposed to music from a machine that monitors emotions and brain waves and the like... But overall, I just didn't find Macross Plus to make much of an impact on me. I enjoyed it as a bit of pulp noir actually - but it wasn't this spectacular epic romance that Macross was meant to be... The characters were burned out, cynical, as was the way the concepts were handled. Innocence and love won out in the end - but it was a demure and subdued victory; and it came at great cost (quality wise, if not quantity wise). Macross Zero, on the other hand, I just thought was brilliant. The power of the love between Shin and Sarah was just so very moving - and the music track was perfect for their love story. So... like I said - I agree with what you wrote regarding Macross: Frontier - it really does gell together perfectly and is an amazing achievement for both artists... but I don't know if you can generalize as you did on the basis of Plus and Zero that Plus was WOW and Zero was BLEH which means Kanno + Kawamori always do something WOW. Pete

Buy them all. You will end up buying them all anyways, only now you have the chance to get them all in one go without shipping, customs etc etc etc. Expect at least one of them to break. Enjoy the rest. And welcome to the world of Macross toy collecting: a world of pleasure and pain, a world, where money means nothing, where babies go unfed, roofs leak, faucets drip-drip like the sand of time and the days of our lives, where food is a luxury and fighter stands are essential... Welcome...to...your dooooom Or something like that Pete

I would like the movie to focus on the relationship between Vajra and humans and how everyone gets on on their new planet and what this entails. Also - I guess my sensitivity is just utterly different from everybody else - but to me, the love triangle was obviously resolved in episode 25. Alto says that both girls are his wings - and Sheryl and Ranka like one another. Who says Alto has to chose one? Isn't it obvious that the three of them have gone through something very special together and that will bond them together for life? He chose both and they will be a triangle. The end. The movie should also have Bassara and lots of flowers. Oh - wait - as good an idea as that is - here's a better one for the movie: Make it star Klan Klan. Have it be a noir like film; Boggie like. Klan Klan tries to solve the plot of Micheal's sister's death - she does this out of a sense of duty to honor her fallen lover and clear up his family's estate. Make it a feature length anime film - a mecha-detective-criminal movie. I would LOVE that. Or Basara and flowers. Pete

I'm kind of meh about Grimlock too. He's one of the technically EASY TFs to do, so not really a big deal to get an MP version engineered - not as much as engineering Megatron or Starscream was... This of course makes me wonder who will be next in line... Pete

I agree with Agent One. Only REAL MEN like Bassara don't run and hide when hearing "Protodevilin." Instead they think "big ears to HEAR MY SONG!" So, this is true. Pete

An interseting question and conversation. Ultimately impossible to answer until we actually meet the Protoculture or find definitive proof of their demise along with a clear view of what their civilization looked like. Remember also, the real reason for the various fleets being sent to different corners of the galaxy - it was all done to preserve peaceful human culture - the idea being that hopefully not all of the fleets would end up destroying one another as the Protoculture had done. Introducing the ability to instantly fold anywhere immediately poses great risk because it means malevolents could kill everyone all at once - everyone would be engulfed in war - concievably. But ultimately it's hard to say - we STILL don't really know anything about the Protoculture. Pete

Yes. This statement just reminds me of when Ali G interviewed the Dean of some famous Acting School and asked questions like "what is Actin'?" and the Dean got all pissy when Ali G didn't understand and basically demonstrated his ignorance. Except - the audience realizes the irony - Ali G IS acting. So the Dean, although he's giving all these high minded definitions of Acting - is demonstrating that he knows NOTHING about it - because he can't even RECOGNIZE an actor when one is in front of him. The same with Alto. Remember what Alto's brother said: "Even now, you are acting." And it's true - Alto just didn't like the traditional kabuke rolls he had to play; but because he was a natural born actor, he dramatized everything - always. Acting will stay with him for ever. Umm... and yeah - love that ending... Pete

I voted for Ranka; although was torn between here and Alto. Micheal, sadly, is my least favorite character. I write sadly because of his tragic fate. But then again, Kakizake wasn't exactly on my list of "I love that guy!" either - he wasn't even really comic relief as much as he was just a big, dense guy whose main purpose was to show that being blustery and cocky doesn't mean you're actually good at something, and that having a "gloryhound" view of war isn't healthy... although - in the end, at least he was a good comrade and he liked to EAT; and that's a big plus in my book. I'm being too hard on him... And I'm going off topic... eerrr... Michael I didn't like because he was a) always being unnecessarily hard on Alto, b) running away from love, c) running away from his problems... also - the sister thing never got solved - it just hangs there and now there isn't even any family left to try to learn what happened to her... Um... but back to Ranka... As much as I liked Alto, I think Ranka was the deepest character; she had the most development; the most at stake - this was the Ranka Lee show pretty much and if you completely didn't like Ranka, you were not going to love Macross: Frontier IMO. She is a spunky, good hearted, modest girl with big dreams caught up in an even bigger situation and she really comes into her own by the end of the series. In fact - I just realized this: she IS JUST LIKE HIKARU! Hikaru starts out as this spunky kid, just like Ranka, who is basically surrounded by important people but is himself, like Ranka, totally NOT IMPORTANT. Slowly, he matures alongside his sempai, his commanding officer and his comrades and ends up surpassing all of them in many ways - just like Ranka. So - I would venture to say that, in spite of the appearance of Alto being the star of Frontier, it was actually Ranka - her story was the crux, the main story - and her character was the driving force of the series. And she's cute and her songs are better too so nia nia nia Pete

I have just watched the final episode, and voted "perfect" in this poll. Those of you who have taken time to read my posts in particular episode threads know that I tend to go on, and on and on and on...and...umm...on...and...on... But I'm really at a loss for words here. The series speaks for itself. I am surprised that so many people gave it a nine. Insofar as its' "predictability" is a shortcoming, that is kind of like saying that the dialectical system of Hegel which lets you see the end when you're at the beginning is a shortcoming: it's not - it just makes everything more beautiful. The one thing I would note here is that this series pretty clearly demonstrates Kawamori's obsession with the problem of technology as opposed to nature; and the fact that the protoculture seemed to be jealous of the achievements of a species in nature and attempt to replicate what they can do through technological means is a good sign of this... but...I promised not to go on and on... Maybe I need to take a breath or something - this series is just so full of content - there is so much to discuss; so many angles to approach... And such a semi-NGE ending; with the "mental discussion" bits at least... In any event - this is the best Macross series in my mind: better than any of the previous ones - but only because it draws on the strengths of all of the previous while having none of their weaknesses AND managing a unique direction all at the same time. A marvelous achievement. Pete

Ain't it the truth. The silly thing - for me at least - is this: In all threads where there is "Yamato! You suck! My VF just broke/cracked/fell apart/sprung a leak" I'm right there defending yamato, noting that it's a very delicate and precise piece with many moving parts, that while it is somewhat durable, it is certainly not a durable "toy" that can be fumbled with, and that ultimately having now bought about a dozen or so Yamatos, only TWO Yamato products were ever faulty/broken out of box on me while the rest are in great condition, look great, work great, are great etc etc etc.... That's when I sometimes feel like the "Blind Yamato lover" that everyone will be against because I just "don't understand" how terrible Yamato is for its' bad QC etc.... But in this thread, where I look at what Bandai has made and say 'I like it' I suddenly become the guy with low expectations I guess I'm just a realist in many ways. Ultimately they have to get a product out. It's not like the thing is an atrocity. It's not like - say Transformers Movie Starscream which looks NOTHING like the actual Movie character... Also - in the final analysis, they are trying very hard; both Yamato and Bandai.... They study these things, consult the line art, think about what is practical in terms of materials etc etc... If there is some minor fault or inconsistency; so what? Isn't there a thread in the TV section which goes through the BUGS in Macross Frontier? The show itself has bugs; and the line art is not ever a done deal - some people have even noted that Kawamori's line art of the YF-19, if looked at super-precisely - was self contradicatory and applied some anime magic... Should we cry about the final product then? I think that ultimately, line art is just lines. It's putting the thing into physical existence which is the defining moment. If someone else can do a better job - great. Encouraging better versions is also great. But it's not like Bandai are giving us some monsterously cruddy thing.... And also - even if Bandai keeps the Frontier license - Yamato still has the DYRL and Plus stuff - and they are doing a great job with it. Finally - at least Bandai is doing this in 1/60 scale - so our collections from Yamato and Bandai can be inter-compatible. I just think there is so much going RIGHT in the world of Macross today that it's kind of pointless to complain too much - complaining a bit always helps, pointing out errors always helps - but honestly - maybe I'm blind, maybe someone can put up a picture of what Bandai has made right next to a picture of the line - but it just doesn't look that bad to me. Pete

Sheryl, Alto, Ranka and the gang look really really reaaaallly good fully painted. So torn...so want those..but would rather have poseable... Pete

I just can't justify purchasing the destroids. Non-variable and probably just as badly poseable as the Quid Raus of old... In fact, it's silly (imo) that variable valkyrie have better poeasability than the non-variable quid rau and this destroid... That said, I guess this particular destroid, like most others, wasn't exactly manufactured to strike daunting poses, so I shouldn't complain... But it's just kind of pricey for essentially a big tank with legs. I am happy to hear about the addition of technician and the other dude. More stuff like this would enhance the play value. A nice diograma in the box would also go a long way to make the destroid appetizing. As things stand, it'll be mine if it ever goes on clearance... Pete

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........Big Macs................ Ehem - anyways - back on topic: It seems that Bandai is using Hasbro employees to do their photography and product display placement. Hasbro employees, after all use the simple 5-steps-to-Absurdity method: 1. Don't look at the instructions 2. Correct Transformation is a matter of open artistic interpretation 3. Posing is what you do to get the job doing the gallery/photography - after that it don't mean nothin'.... 4. Lighting and angle sound like complicated words. Anybody got a dictionary? 5. They're just toys and I'm not going to waste my time on them; I am an artist! There are black and white allies in New York or birds chirping on trees to photograph. Pete

Well that looks glaringly familiar to the initial supposedly DX pictures - so maybe the actual DX will look even better Pete

Has the new Friday the 13th remake been mentioned? It's a remake because it's not going to be another instalment, but an origins flick which basically takes parts 1 through 3 and bundles them together, supposedly giving a sympathetic portrayal of Jason. It actuallys sounds quite interesting. Pete

Aaaaaaa. I didn't catch the sarcasm But now I understand Others have pointed it out, but it is worth repeating a trillion times: If E-Bruticus/Repaint E-Bruticus actually had FISTS like the ones in the instructions booklet picture, he would be almost cool (almost because ultimately you can't have Bruticus without a jeep and a space shuttle as well as chopper, tank and missile truck). As it stands however, it, like everything from Energon, is atrocious. Pete

Thanks for pointing that out. That space battleship yamato is the perfect direction that a future SDF release should take. The only "difficulty" will be the fact that it'll also have to be variable... and it will HAVE TO have in scale fighters and destroits come with it; preferebly with some kind of system by which you can "put them" in hovering formation to be flying round the macross. Zendradi pods and mecha would also help.... It is highly doable - but I can understand why the focus has been on valkyrie thus far... Pete

Well - the problem with this reasoning is that - to date - my V.1 1/60 VE-1 is the best available on the market. But I'm going to just restate for posterity that so far I like the DX; I hope the canopy is clear and we get a pilot figure...and I'm curious to actually see the final product. Pete

I highly doubt the Grimlock news. Pete

Well, technically people have voted for a Macross, but not necessarily in 1/60 scale. I wouldn't have voted for it if it were in 1/60 scale because that would be silly. I might as well vote for wanting Pamela Anderson to call me tomorrow and propose that she'd like to marry me. This doesn't preclude making a new Macross in a more manageable scale will scaled down fighters and destroids. Pete