VFTF1

Oh yeah - there's that too. Although, I always thought the hatred was radically illogical. Either the Vajra were a) non-sentient bug-life that acted on instinct and therefore could not be "hated" in the sense that it wasn't really as if they "chose" to be "evil" towards Grace and burn her or b) were sentient beings - and therefore were individually resopnsible for their actions (in spite of of the collective interface communications between them and their swarm like nature, it is physically imopssible - I think - to "blame" "all" the Vajra for the actions of SOME Vajra. Look at Ai kun - while it's true that he was drawn to the swarm and generally respondant by nature to it, he was also - as an individual - uniquely tied to Ranka - able to demonstrate that the Vajra were sentient as individuals. Pete

I think Grace meant attaining a supra-rational onto-dialectical synergy that is beyond good and evil and no longer bound by the modals of yesteryear. The protoculture's insistance on building the perfect civilization by effectively seeding ever new worlds with "the experiment" in the hopes that "this time" it would work only guaranteed everlasting melancholy and infinite sorrow. Had Grace succeeded she would have effectively brought about the end of inter-dimmensional history since in both theory and practice all dimmensions woul be equally attainable at the same time. This in turn would have effectively anihhilated all distinctions between realms of being and becoming. Pete

Is Nadia from Gunbuster II? If so - then no, I haven't. Pete

I'm still more partial to the model kits due to the price difference. Although admitedly - this looks great. Pete

As one fellow body builder to another, I ask you: Is there ever such a thing as a "good cheeseburger" ? ;-) Pete (ps - this is not off topic, because by attacking the premise of the metaphor, I have therefore also attacked the metaphor. I would expand on that, but duties call...)

I guess this would be a good time for me to point people at my Gunbuster OVA review: http://dyrl.pl/detale.html?id=1046 Pete

I actually think the series is good from the get go. I was initially turned off to Macross 7 when I first encountered a fragment of one of the OVAs on YouTube - it featured the rainbow song battle between Bassara and the big Meltran girl. I was totally unprepared for witnessing that. Ironically though, I think that something like episode 12 of Macross: Frontier is a delight after someone digest Macross 7 - although Frontier really is in a many ways a "light" version of 7. Frontier is basically the same - but the "crazy pacifist singer" is a sexy young girl who hangs out with a sexy older girl. Bassara as a protagonist on the other hand has no sex appeal - you either admire his virtue and his courage or you find him annoying. Maybe earlier anime fans were - to quote Prime - made of "sturdier stuff" and didn't need their controversial heroes packaged in lingerie? Pete

Damn - you outed me. Ok - I'll come clean: The truth is that I don't exist, I am actually a spambot that is pre-programed with 1001 spiffy phrases and prefabricated "opinions." My programer sometimes forgets to update me to a new version and I loop and repeat myself like an old record Pete

Yeah - that's what I thought too :-) Awesome forum, awesome website. Brings together so many cool people and so much anime goodness!! :-) Pete

Happy to see this thread. I've had writers block for a loooong time - but eventually will crank something out - hopefully worthwhile :-) Pete

Am I the only one who read this and thought that some company is releasing a Bandai style MG figure of Rex the biker girl from Macross 7, and that Ray the keyboardist from Firebomber is the next figure? what a let down... Pete

Yes, but it wasn't like he told the band "Ok, i quit - I'd rather sing to fish than work with you guys." He went on a soul searching journey because - as he himself would ask over and over "why isn't my music reaching their hearts?" Maybe the fact that Bassara himself asked himself this question and spent the majority of the series trying to answer it is elluding everyone. If it was true that beating the enemy was just a matter of schematically singing over and over until the universe eventually just changed - then the Military's music project (forgot what the group was called) would have won. The Song Birds or whatever - but they didn't. As Bassara said during the meeting when the military tried to plan his singing attack - the song has to come from the heart or it's no use and no good. Bassara's focus on Sivil is a case in point - as is his inadvertant effect on Gigil. He focused all his energy on turning one individual heart and eventually, like a domino effect, he opened the hearts of more and more beings. It was a complex and deeply personal process - not a matter of repeat soundforce attacks that magically worked after a set number of episodes just for the sake of "plot." Pete

I take issue with this interpretation - I think it's a stereotype that results mainly from the repetitive nature of the first 8 or so episodes of the series in which this format generally held true. But the whole series is 47 episodes - and during the series a lot of the chracters go through radical changes. Basara himself, just to give one example, quits the band and stops singing to space monsters - going instead to medidate and discover something new about himself. If you look at the series as a whole, there is a lot of character development. Pete

Yeah...meaning - he gets in the way during battle. See, for some people, "battle" is something you are sometimes forced to do in order to achieve some good (saving the universe, the planet, the city etc), but for lots of others - "battle" is life itself - like the Zendradi and, the detiny of the Protoculture. So, in a very real sense - Basara DID "get in the way of batle" - his songs were meant to cut the spiral of war-madness and bring peace and love :-) Here's what I think about Basara: http://dyrl.pl/kategorie.html?cat_id=144 As for the poll - the way it's structured is going to split the pro-Basarra vote... Pete

Just checking, but beyond the middle school Haruhi Suzumiya, were there (or will there be) any other figma Haruhi releases in the future? Pete

Hm. I still have yet to even watch past episode 4 of Gundam OO ...

Dag... I'd love to answer your question, but I'd have to check myself. I haven't fiddled around with my Blazer enough to know... On that note- is there any info at all about the Hi Metal line being continued? I REALLY like these - and want bandai to do more! :-) Pete

Renato makes some great points - but I think the box office of the three movies will sway the execs. Then again - this isn't necessarily bad. let the movies have mass appeal, that way at least TF will have plenty of money to continue. Maybe instead of placing our hopes in the movie franchise, G1 fans should be happy to look elsewhere? like the idea of g1 #81? pete

SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! ADVANCED COPY OF KEY SCRIPT SCENES IN TF: 4 !!! ... OPTIMUS PRIME: LET'S KILL 'EM ALL NOW!!!!! SAM: YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! PROFESSOR CLIFFORD D. MAYBERRY III: The Decepticons are going to blow up the sun to collect the energy from the explosion!!! GRIMLOCK: Indeed, this vile conspiracy cannot stand. I plead with you - summon your will, summon your dreams and hopes for a better tomorrow; let not the ferver of hatreds past light the fires of dawn's light by way of the morning dew of the milky swan! STUNTICONS RACE IN AND TRANSFORM INTO MENASOR MENASOR: GRAAABLAAAGRAAAHH!!!! * FIGHT SCENE * IMPACTOR SHOOTS RATCHET WHO CLAWS HIS WAY THROUGH RUMBLE WHO FIRES ON THE BUILDING WHO BLOWS UP THE SUN - ALL IN 2 SECONDS AND ONE TAKE DEVASTATOR: I LIVE AGAIN!!! CARLY: SAM I LOVE YOU!!! EPPS: AW MAN! AW $HIT MAN!!! AW PUCK MAN!!! AW MAN!!! GENERAL WARREN R.W. ROWENS: YO JO!!! BUMBLEBEE: HERE'S LOOKIN' AT YOU KID!!! MEGATRON: WHEN I POSSESS THE POWER OF THE KEY TO VECTOR SIGMA -I WILL TRANSFORM THE SUN INTO UNICRON AND HE WILL EAT THE EARTH!!! GRAAHH!!!! SAM: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! KICKBACK BLASTS BACKSTOP WHO STABS POWERGLIDE WHILE HE'S IN THE AIR FLYING UNDER THE BROOKLIN BRIDGE WITH A GIANT ROBOT PYTHON STRAPPED TO HIS TORSO (1 SHOT, 0.5 SECONDS) OPTIMUS PRIME: HEROS ARE NOT BORN, THEY ARE NOT MADE THEY ARE ALWAYS THERE! SAM: OOOOOOPPPPPPPPPPTTTTIIIIIIIIIMMMMMMMMMMUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!! CARLY: SAAAAAAAAMM!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOO!!!!!! YESSSSSSS!!!!!! NOOOOOO!!!!! YESSSSSSS!!!!!!!!! STARSCREAM: I LIVE!!! SOUNDWAVE: ME TOO!!! SHOCKWAVE: GRAHRRRAAAHMMMRRAWWWWRRRGGRRRFFFRRR!!!! LAZERBEAK: MEGATRON!! THE SUN HAS ENTERED PLUTO'S ORBIT AND UNICRON HAS COME OUT OF THE SPACE BRIDGE AND EATEN MOON BASE 1!!! JAZZ: PUCKIN' BITCHES WASSSUP!?!?!?!? TRIPWIRE: I IS AFRO! WIRETRIPER: QUE PASSA HOMBRE!!??! DOGBITE: MAMA MIA!!!!! LONG SHOT: AH SO!!!! GRIMLOCK: IT IS INCESSENTLY NECESSARY TO NECESSARILY RECOGNIZE THE UTTER POSSIBILITY OF VICTORY COMING AT THE EXPENSE OF OUR HUMANITY. OH - TO BE, OR NOT TO BE?! PRIME: KILL THEM ALL!!!!!! THE END.

Given how utterly and totally broke and in debt I am - that is tempting - but I have a feeling this'll be that last Gundam I build for a long time. I think I subconsciously kept in in storage so long because, knowing how screwed I am financially - I wanted an unbuilt model for a "rainy sunday"... it's been raining all week :-) Pete

Well, it's an old kit - relatively. The year 2000 I think. It's not that bad, but it is kind of a boring build compared to newer kits. I was considering the Hi-Nu, but I guess i just want to have as many of the MSs that appeared in the original UC timeline as possible. Needless to say, I'd love it if there were more version 2.0 of stuff - but then, Zeta 2.0, Char's Zaku is 2.0, Amuro' Gundam is 2.0, the Gouf and the GM are 2.0 ... Also, interesting about the Nu is no core booster :-) And it's towering huge too :-) It's ok. Maybe I'll finish it today ... Pete

I've finally started building the MG Nu-Gundam I've had lying around for years... it's been raining non-stop since Friday, which should have been sufficient reason to do it...but somehow I'm totally unenthusiastic about this Gundam...my mind is on other stuff...but...onward, onward... Pete

I did see Disappearance a while back. My long-winded review (which starts out with musings of what might follow) : http://dyrl.pl/detale.html?id=997 Pete

Wait...wait...there's no new episodes or movies beyond the Dissappearance Movie and the second season right? I'm not talking books...just anime. Haven't missed anything, right? Pete

Just back from watching this. I don't think my comments will be very spoilery - but I guess if you want to go in (like I did) without knowing ANYTHING beyond "Shockwave is in it" - then you could consider my post a spoiler. READ AT YOUR PERIL... THE GOOD: 1) Better than ROTF (but that's not saying much, since three hours of a still shot of dog $hit would be better than ROTF) 2) The desert scene with Megatron, Starscream, Laserbeak and Soundwave is evocative of G1 where Laserbeak returns to report and those three are together. Nice touch. 3)Buzz Aldrin, the Star Trek/Spock reference - basically, all of the marginal stuff, including the Comedic Duo, is actually well done this time. This especially goes for Wheelie and the Brain. Unlike Skids and Mudflap, Wheelie and the Brain are mildly funny and fun. 4) The Decepticons actually have a...deceptive plan, and it kind of builds on the previous movies 5) The episode evokes a lot of the G1 episode plots from Season 1 and 2. This movie is basically "Countdown to Extinction" combined with "City of Steel" and "Megatron's Master Plan" (for those of you who don't remember, the first one features Cybertron in Earth's orbit, the second features the Decepticon take-over of a city and turning it into a fortress and the third features the Autobots being banished into space after the humans ally themselves with the Decepticons). As such, the source material for this movie is a really nice combination of those classic plots and evokes some positive memories - generally. 6) Sentinal Prime does justice to his TF: Animated Dickhead persona - when I first heard they were using him, after getting a look at him, I thought "he's too cool to be a dickhead". When it was announced Leonard Nemoy would do his voice, I thought - that settles it. L.N. wouldn't lend his voice to a dickhead. But, I was wrong. This is definitely Transformers: Animated Sentinal Prime - the Dick Head. THE BAD: 1) Shockwave!!!!!!!!!! WTF!!!???!!!!!! Does he even have any lines beyond "GNWEARIGSFDOIGIREHTIODGH!!!" Seriously - what a total waste. He could have just been some generic Decepticon. It's like - he basically fills in for Devastator from ROTF. What a total dissapointment!!! I mean, I guess I can't accuse them of making Shockwave "out of character" - given that he never says anything and we only see him fighting, it's hard to say what kind of character Shockwave has....but...it's...well...waste :-( 2) Ok. Even the G1 cartoon written for 5 year olds featured massive environmental calamities on Earth when Cybertron entered Earth's orbit. DOTM features NO alterations in Earth's weather - ZERO. Come on!! 3) "The guy hitting on my girlfriend happens to work for Megatron" .... initially I thought this was just way too convenient...but I guess it's in the spirit of the ol' Marvel Comics melodramatic plot lines.... 4) Carly's little speech to Megatron was perfectly timed, convenient and...well...kind of wierd...but whatever... 5) HUMANS - TOO MUCH TIME SPENT FINDING CONVENTIENT THINGS FOR THEM TO DO!! OK! OK! Let's...um...let's climb this building to shoot this rocket!!...oh - but we can't shoot the rocket because they knocked the building over!!...ok....so we won't shoot the rocket...instead, we'll go to that other building to shoot out their eyes!!.....ok...ok....now we need to...do...some other stuff...etc etc etc etc... None of this was suspenceful because it's all been done before....the slow mo...and the yelling...and the "intensity"....AAARRGGHH!!! GRAAAHHH!!! YAAAARGGGHH!!!! RRRRRUUUNNNN!!!! JJJJUMMMPPP!!!! GOOOO!!!!! NOOOO!!!!!! YAAARRRGGGHH!!.... YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!! Umm... Overall, I'm kind of neutral about this film. I guess it was ok. Weren't the Dinobots supposed to be in it? did I miss them? Pete