VFTF1

This...isn't...the last episode? I honestly realized (or hoped) so only when it came to an end. Face it. I'm just a dumbbutt. A dumbutt who sees the title "Final Frontier" and figures "gee - that means the end" ... and for some reason I honest to gosh was convinced that Frontier was a 24 part series... Err...but...obviously this would be a terrible ending... Anyways - I've just finished watching episodes 17-24 all in one go - so forgive me for having the entire segment in my head rather than just episode 24.... Comments/Thoughts: 1) War sucks because you end up having to fight your fellows and blinded by hate and rage 2) Being a rebel and thinking with your own mind is the best way to go. Cathy and Ozma will save everyone I hope... 3) Alto is no longer my hero. It's nice that he chose Sheryl - but he has also become consumed with hate and misunderstood the difference between protecting the women you love and becoming a slave to the passions of war... Ozma is doing what he is doing because he hopes it WILL save Ranka - and he also has accepted Ranka's choice... 4) Sheryl is blameless. She has been abused since childhood and is in need of love. 5) Alto IS dense (see point 3) 6) Luca....well... him and Alto are both similarly dense (see point 3)... 7) Ranka is cool. Although... she is letting herself be used too much...it's kind of inconsistence.... I wish the Vajra would SAY something - although, I guess Ai-kun did...in a way... 9) Intestines...ok... hmm... 10) The new VF-171 is not impressive. I prefer it in black. 11) Brera ...poor Brera...I feel sorry for him... On that note- I feel sorry for everybody. Everybody is a victim of Grace the Mad Hat from Hell... And to think that poor Mao Nome's fate was such... Then again - Sarah Nome WAS right... she warned Mao what would happen if she gave up the ways of the island and traded the stars in the sky for those of the city... Sheesh... in a way... Humanity IS following the path of the protoculture... their weapons get bigger and bigger... they are no different from the Vajra who also "evolve"... Humans have intestines in their heads and call is "brain." ... big difference.... It was really sad to see Minmey's song being used to defend the Vajra... but... I guess... it is their home...and... And really if the power of song can move both races...but... Well...I'm sad... I cannot imagine how this is supposed to come to a happy ending. Also - I cannot imagine what could possibly come AFTER this series in terms of Macross... I hope Nekki Bassara shows up in Episode 25 Pete

I will also add something else here Gubby (sorry for calling you Gubby but I'm at my day job - which means I'm drunk because otherwise it's impossible to get through my day job)... Now - I know that "anime" in general has a lot of stuff in common and it's possible to say "gee this reminds me of [insert random anime series]" about any particular anime - plus, I'm off of just watching all of NGE last month, so it's fresh in my Freudian SubConsciouse .... Ahem: This episode and the last one have really given Frontier a major NGE vibe - or at least that's the way I feel at this point (again - haven't watched anything beyond this last episode).... There's an aura of death and big trouble hanging over everything that is starting to get depressing - and poor Ranka and Alto. Alto is unfortunately NOT as wise as Hikaru. Hikaru was anti-war from the get go... Roy always noted that he had "no choice" - but Hikaru made fun of him for killing anyways, and he "started feeling that he was loosing his emotions" after his first few battles. When Max - under the influence of Milia's compassion for Zentrans - started disabling the Regults rather than annihilating them, Hikaru jumped on the bandwagon IMMEDIATELY. He was authentically happy that he didn't have to kill anybody. Roy always noted this about Hikaru which is why he said (in Goodbye Mars) "I figured you'd prefer a mission where you get to rescue someone instead of killing them" ... Ranka has the same misgivings about combat that Hikaru did. She asks her guru love interest for advise... And Alto seems to repeat Bilar's balony about how ambition equals competition equals war. Not EVEN Misa's father had this terrible view of war. Misa's dad noted that human beings were able to unite - he was just a realist who said it took them centuries to get there... Alto's just like "dude - sucks but we gotta waste 'em" ...basically.. It's really sad to see that... Too bad the loving spirit of Ranka's songs don't seem to be swaying any hearts... Pete

For reasons that should be obvious to anyone who has read most of my threads in the Movies and TV Series section: THIS IS MY FAVORITE EPISODE!! I was going to leave it at that - but I'll throw in two more things: 1) Cathy and Ozma are a great couple. Hopefully Cathy will wise up and appreciate that the man who spent lots of time (spying) with her is not the same as the man who loved her and didn't have enough time for her because he was busy trying to save her life. 2) Catharsis. MAJOR Catharsis... a perfect case study in Catharsis. But I will STILL never eat pineapple salad for fear of an untimely death Pete

I shall reiterate that I think the Bandai VF-25 looks like...the VF-25. I honestly don't see it as chunky or anything of the sort. It looks fine. The model looks "better" now because the 1/72 final version is out so people have seen the final version. I don't know if anybody remembers, but the prototype pictures of the 1/72 model weren't all that great either... Pete

If I actually had some way to use it on a daily basis - and assuming it is a real helment - I'd buy it sure. But first I'd need to buy a motor bike. And then Al Gore would have to come to Poland and hopefully bring Global Warming with him so that I wouldn't have to keep my Motorbike locked up for three quarters of the year.... On a related note - I have always dreamed of a Macross Designer fashion line. Bassara wife beaters, Hikaru V-neck Sweaters, and lots and lots of cute stuff for the girls of course Why can't some high end fashion label get the license to Macross and give us all some decent decultia clothes? Pete

I'm being lazy and buying the Cospa shirt. Just hope Japanese XL will fit me... will it? I'm 195cm (about 6 foot, 2 inches) and while I'm not fat - or at least...I don't think I'm fat...that is - I have a fast metabolism, so I tend to bloat after meals but then quickly regain a good waste in hours... still... will XL fit me? nice work on the patches and respect to you guys for working on your own shirt. Pete

But the mods say they PMed Ryan numerous times. I seriously think we should sing. If everybody just stubornly insists on one point of view that does nobody any good. Also - writing "piss off" to a mod is not the way to express your disagreement with him. Creating a new user account isn't the way to deal with a 3-day temporary ban when you also have at least 25% of the forum willing to stick up for you. Let's not start defending Ryan for things he shouldn't have done. Pete

Maybe if we all started singing Ai Oboeteimatsuka then peace, love and pink bunnies would reign? Pete

I'm torn. The CMs is a really nice Minmay figure. But it doesn't move. I really want my figures to be poseable - ok - actually - I want my figures to be Revoltechs... But the figure is beautiful... one of the better Minmey Ninios I've seen thus far in my short time in this universe... Pete

I was right about Luca and Shinji even though I'm only on episode 16 and haven't read anything on Macross World about the upcoming espidoes. So says Gubaba and some others Pete

Thank you for clearing that up. I wish guys like you wrote Wheeljack's dialogues in the Transformers instead of "his Cosmotron is broken!" Anyways - I also noted that the VF-1 could sweep its' swings back, as can the VF-0. This in my opinion makes it optimal for multi-environmental combat. The SV-51 was incapable of wing sweeping - and the fact that it could flap its' wings actually doesn't help much... Another question - and forgive me for veering slightly off the VF-1/0 subject but... What possible practical use were the SV-51's flapping wings? I mean - other than looking like the Bird Man? There must have been some technical reason for their design. The only one I could think of is that this was just the equivalent of the VF-1's folding wings - to hide the wings in battroid mode which is considerably a slower mode and therefore prone to having outstanding wings clipped by enemy fire... Or is there more to it? Pete

Don't laugh at me if this post shows my ignorance of engineering - just correct me Ahem: I have always felt that the SV-51 would be useless in space combat due to the horrendously gargantuan huuuugggeee butt wing span. Wings are unnecessary in space - aren't they? If anything - they just make a great target to put holes into. Look at the Zendradi crafts and mecha - no wings - none. Space-warriors don't have wings. And they are still able to function in earth's atmosphere. Not that I blame the UN Spacey for the VF design - after all, given the Unification Wars - is it any wonder that they wanted something that could fly well in the atmosphere? The Variable bit was "just in case the giants show up." Pete

This is one of those times I wish there was a way (is there a way?) to search out some of my old posts... In short - I wrote a loooong post about why Nana was very important because unlike Minmey's "giggle girl friends" who basically show up in the episode where Roy tells Minmey that Hikaru is missing, Nana is an actual SUPPORTING character - without her Ranka would have never become brave enough to sieze her chance. Pete

Well - Exo - your post only demonstrates one thing: The only person capable of eventually bringing Ryan back is Ryan. He has to convince the people he offended that he's sorry and take to heart that some people do feel offended at him for various reasons. Oh well. Pete

I guess I just stick with them for consistency. As for Remation Eater - even I knew that really meant Dimmension Eater... or...at least...I hope it did Pete

Thank you for pointing this out. The Lunar Subs (which I watch) just had it as "pride." But now it makes a bit more sense - and indeed - her facial expression and general demeanor demonstrated iji and not mere pride/jealousy/vanity... so now it makes more sense... Pete

Ryan sent me an email recently - I reprint the pertinent parts here: ---------------- Pete, Hey there. Thanks for getting back to me on the thread. I will have to talk to you more about it later for I am very busy today at work. I did want to tell you that I was able to write EXO and also spoke with Hurin about what has happened and was not able to get ahold of any other mods. I would like to make an "apology" but have no means to. I also sent a letter to the email that is provided for trouble not being able to get on for the forum admin. and have heard nothing back. I have done my duty and tried. Please keep me up to date. THANKS! ---------- I responded to him: Hi Ryan, I will go ahead and post the pertinent parts of your email on the forum in the thread that is ongoing on your subject. My advise to you is to be patient. I imagine that the mods will not just let you back immediately - but if you are later able to get in touch with them and everybody just calms down and you can repeat your apology to them then hopefully that will help. Thanks, ----------------------- My opinion: If he has really gotten in touch with Hurin to apologize and is willing to generally apologize - then I hope the mods and others will be lenient with him and let him back to the fandom or on some kind of probation eventually. In any case - hopefully this can be the first step to resolving the situation in a way that is apologetic and respectful to the Mods and to those Fans who were annoyed by what they considered spam. Pete

As a Ryan supporter I would say this: NO BODY SHOULD FEEL LIKE THEY HAVE TO WALK ON EGG SHELLS. He got banned because he went overboard in the Hikaru thread and hurled "Nazi!" comments at the mods. I wrote half a page of calm reasoned arguments in his defense and he folllowed up with a thank you to me and a piss off nazis to the mods - kind of negating my calm, non-personal attack points... I really think that if he just apologized to the mods then it would be ok. He has so much positive energy - and it is understandable that energy can sometimes overload a person - that's fine. We all have the right to go overboard and make mistakes. Again - apologizing does not mean admiting deep down to yourself that you were "wrong" - apologizing is about acknowledging that someone ELSE felt bad because of something you wrote/did. It's a sign of "peace dude" and a gentlemanly thing to do. I never felt cramped and after this episode still don't feel cramped at Macross World. Maybe there's something I don't know - but I was in the Hikaru thread and saw it develop and defended him from the initial warnings... And he just went overboard against the mods. If the mods were nazis - I would have gotten warned and banned too because I wrote half a page defending Ryan's writing style and his way of expression. But the fact is - Ryan just got overly emotional - that's how I see it. It's good that lots of folks want him back - I do too - I hope Ryan also wants to come back and shows some class and just apologizes to the mods. Mods have feelings too. If you hurt them - just say sorry dude. No big deal. Pete

I was going to praise Sheryl. I was going to sing the praises of Sheryl. I was going to write a huge review in which I would point out how wonderful Sheryl is, and how being mature and adult has its' benefits and how it's Sheryl's big advantage over Ranka. But then it turned out Sheryl hadn't changed like I hoped. When she appeared on the bridge of the Macross Quarter; solemn and determined, I THOUGHT she would say: "I am here because having been bed ridden for some time, with no plausible medical explanation, and seeing that my once caring Manager has become duplicious and inauthentic, and seeing that no one is able to explain my condition but everyone seems intent on keeping me locked up, I put two and two together and fear that Ranka is being used in some evil plot - I am here to make sure nothing goes wrong. I might be going overboard, I might be paranoid - but - I have a bad feeling about all this...I know this girl - she sings from the heart - except now; she doesn't. Her heart is not in this - she feels it too - but she is too young and naive to displease her elders. I have no such illusions - please Kanjo - let me stay on the bridge in case something goes wrong - let me observe; let me have a voice in all of this." But then Sheryl ACTUALLY SPOKE. "Pride." AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So she's there for the most childish reason imaginable! Because someone ELSE is getting the spotlight... So - maybe Sheryl's competitiveness will end up saving them - but more likely it will end up serving the Evil Ones... since apparently NO BODY is capable of thinking outside of the box here... I felt sorry for Brera Stern. 'Classified' - your life is classified dude. Break free! Also - Ranka must have had a pang of compassion for the Vajra - and come on - it's not like Minmei and CERTAINLY not like Bassara to sing/distract/kill.... Well - at least not like Bassara...Minmei 50/50 .... In any event - the tone is far darker and more sinister and there is a feeling everyone has that something is wrong. Ozma senses it in his confrontation with Leon.. And clearly the President is a typical doofus. "Yeah! Now we can win this thing!" - and there is his seal of approval... I had hopes for him when I saw him ignoring the "crisis" and smoking a cigar - it would be nice if he ACTUALLY took charge... But while the protagonists are busy being careful, the evil ones are scheming... I must praise the voice acting though - even though I don't know Japanese - they clearly had the girl who does Ranka sing with a note of "I really don't want to be doing this" - a very very very nice touch. Oh well - I'll praise Sheryl anyways: Good for her for getting out of that hospital and going to Alto. She at least knows who she can trust. In any event, this episode might as well be called: "Hi - we're from the government and we're here to help" ... With all that usually comes with this statement... Pete

I would be happy if we got more Macross Frontier clothing like the Alto shirt Sheryl Gym Clothes would make a perfect present for the girlfriend Ranka's boots and dress from the first few episodes are also cute! They should pair up with a known fashion label and get these things out instead of spending time on making trading ...cards... Pete

I think all Ryan needs to do is stop digging a deeper hole. Creating new user account when all he got was a couple of days ban, and when at least a quarter if not more of the members here are at least sympathetic to his "plight" was over the top. I think that ultimately - he needs to be the one to convince the mods to let him back in. I publically defended him, but I do also think that he could have showed a bit of restraint - particularly dealing with mod warnings. I've had a few topics closed (IMO "for no good reason") and gotten a couple of "I'm angry with you" PMs from some people during my time here on Macross World. If I wanted to - I could have pounded my proverbial feet and cried whaa whaa Nazi! --- but I didn't, because on balance I am happy here and I feel that I am respected and given lots of room for creative participation and that the forum is an enjoyable and well run place. EVERYWHERE you go that is outside of your own house you will have to deal with other people and - surprise surprise- they might not like EVERYTHING about you. Either you get over that accept it and move on because it's still cool to hang with these people or you don't. I sincerely hope Ryan just apologizes to the Mods. In fact - if he's reading this - and dude - you know I trust and respect you since we have completed some transactions and you are a stand up guy: be a stand up guy - apologize to the mods and to Hurin - not even because you accept that they are "right" - apologizing mainly means that you want to put aside who is "right" and "wrong" and just get back to having fun together. There's nothing deamining in doing this and it is far more constructive than creating new user accounts. If you keep antagonizing the mods - people will soon forget about all the cool and enthusiastic stuff you've done and you will develop a reputation as the guy who called mods Nazis and created multiple accounts. I agree that this is melodramatic - and everybody - especially you Ryan - needs to calm down. I personally agree with your approach and if I were runnign the forum - I wouldn't mind 4000 smily faces and "dude that's cool" interspliced with others stuff. But we're a community - and people have different tastes. We have to give and take a little bit. So - again - just apologize to the mods and that would probably go a long way to bringing you back. Pete

Despite being a Transformers fan - I really love Graham's prejudice towards the toys It is healthy, given that things CAN be done so much better. I am not down on Bandai's VF-25F. I think we will all be pleasantly surprised. I also note that this is starting to remind me of PC vs Mac commercials... Yamato will be getting money for the 1/60 1Ds and Maxes and Millias down the line. Bandai gets the Messiahs...fine. Judging from the pics I am not dissapointed. I doesn't look chunky to me - the Messiah is a chunky design in the anime. Pete

As someone who has been running "a thing" for a year now, my advise to you is as follows: Look for the most RELIABLE wholesaler you can; someone that is willing to work with you instead of just sending you invoices. Develop a good business relationship with that wholesaler. Contrary to popular expectations, looking for a wholesaler based SOLELY on price differences is not a good strategy, unless you are lucky enough to first find a bank that will just give you a couple million dollars to play with as you start your "thing." Pete

My belly was perfectly sealed. Then I opened it in order to put the stand holder on to the fighter so I could attach it to the stand. Now I've taken the stand off and the belly is a bit open... but if you massage it a bit it'll close. For people who ever handled BW Neo Big Convoy - the YF-21 is a bit similar in terms of having to massage a lot of panels which are ball jointed to go together. Still haven't attached fast packs or transformed it... Recently took the wheels out. Ace valkyrie indeed. Pete

I'm serious It just came to me with Luca and Shinji because someone listed all of his goody-too shoes traits which in my mind contrasted to sharply with Shinji (who was on my mind due to having watch him for weeks on end...just check the NGE thread in Other Anime and you will see the timing fits:) ) ... The Vajra Inner Beauty men are deduced from Episode five where we actually SEE one of them... Or was I the only one who noticed Leon's "pet" come alive in a most anthropomorphic fashion when Ranka started singing in the mall? Well...judging by your Avatar Gubbaba... I shudder to think what awaits me in the following episodes... Pete