VFTF1

The Gurren Lagann/Macross 7 parallels are actually pretty good. The big difference, and big problem, I think , is that Macross 7 has a male protagonist, while Gurren Lagann gives us Yoko. Sure, Kamina is the lead male protagonist, but Yoko is a manly woman and isn't JUST there to be cute and be the love-interest for the male lead(s) like Mylene is. My point? It's easier for anime fans (who happen to mostly be guys) to accept the craziness of Gurren Lagann because Gurren Lagann is headlined by a big-boobed, fine-assed redhead in pink nylons, skimpy pants and a flaming bikini top. It is harder for these same anime fans (guys) to accept the craziness of Macross 7 which is headlined by an arrogant ass rocker who alternates between a wife-beater and spandex. Naturally, I think it's great that Kamawori basically combined Hikaru-the-pilot with Minmei-the-Songstress of the Galaxy to make Basara, and I think it's awesome that the series shows that manliness isn't necessarily co-equal with shooting big guns, but rather with having the courage of your convictions and singing your big love heart out. But this is hard to swallow for many. Add to that the fact that a key antagonist seems to have a loli-pop coming out of his head and does his hair at the same place as your aunt's poodle, and we have a problem. I do agree that there are numerous shortcomings to this series, but overall I think it was a gallant attempt and had a lot of moving scenes in it. Pete

Thanks for the tip. I'll keep it in mind next time. Yesterday, I chopped up some chicken, sprinked it with diced bread and fried it up with soya sauce and grape-oil. Then added the remaining curry rice. The result was actually quite tasty. Next time, though, I need to do as Yuki did and add carrots to those potatos... Pete

Ah yes. Escaflowne. I haven't seen that yet. And yes, figures for that would be nice... but preferably transformable ... And not by SHE for a zillion dollars... Pete

I have put mine on the shelf, so to speak. And there it's been sitting for near a month now... have had absolutely NO time to Transform it, no time to build models, no time to make comics, no time for nuthin! But September will be a make-up month... and I shall enjoy my stuff Pete

Rejected by Robotech.com? Where is the humanity Pete

This sounds like the perfect time for me to sign up to Robotech.com. I will call myself LisaLover and I will pretend Macross doesn't exist. Oh sure. There was some japanese show it was based on - but the asians do all these cartoons just like they make all the products we buy at Walmart. It had no plot and was too hard to translate. Thankfully, the good people at Harmony Gold ironed out an epico story told first in novels and then in the Robotech cartoon. Anyways, I think that's the basic history of it. I'm now ready to join RT.com. My only question is - does anybody need any Yamato 1/60 version 2.0s? I would like to trade for a Masterpiece Ben Dixon please. Also, if you have the Rick Hunter man-doll from the Phillipines, then I have a VF-22S Sturmvogel with your name on it. WARNING: I will not send these Yamato items to the United States because they are not licensed there and Harmony Gold owns the rights to Macross. So if you want this stuff, I can send it to an address of your choice in Canada or Mexico, and you can go there to pick the stuff up. But I want my Rick Hunter man-doll from the Phillipines sent first. Finally, I have also found my new goal in life: I want to have my Robotech Art 3 book autographed by Doug Bendo - the greatest Robotech Fan of them all! Do you think RT.com will take me now? Pete

So it's basically a silly scream that you hear when people get shot in a movie? Hm. I'm still unclear about this. True, the Zendradi do scream when they get shot, but I never found the screams to be silly, except and unless looked at from a phonetic point of view - but that's simply because there's a "japanese accent" to the scream... although even that doesn't make it sound silly. Then again I never found the Storm trooper screams silly either I loose Pete

I lack the basic motivation to open a new window, go to google, and check wiki. Can you fill me in on the Wilhelm scream? I think I've heard of it before... Pete

I concur. The Assemble Borgs are ridiculous. I can only hope they cost a penny to make because if it turns out Kaiyodo actually invested real money in developing these than that has got to be the absolute DUMBEST business decision since solar powered flash lights. Aside from the fact that the Assemble Borg is random, has no tie to any anime that anyone might like and has no back story I know of, it's also utterly ugly. Packing ugly things with Revoltechs, whose biggest selling point next to poseability is aesthetic value, is stupid. It's like Guchi offering pre-prepared used tissues in their hanbags, or Toyota offering pre-filled puke bags with each car purchased. Plus, the damn things are full of sharp edges ready to kill you. Pete

It's not really bad business sense from their point of view. If you and a large portion of your fans/customers really don't care at all about Macross, or truth, then it makes sense to ban Jenius. Pete

I think it's a great project and would definitely be interested in printing these up and putting them on some cardboard. My Yamatos could use a good diaorama. I will definitely be using these. Great work Pete

Hm. I'm bored. Should I be downloading and watching Mospedea for the first time in my life, or would it be a better idea to finally finish watching Mobile Suite Gundam? Pete

Yeah; I agree with Gui. Humanity are the Protoculture - as Global says. It's not exactly true - but it's true enough Pete

I dunno - I think there's lots of serious themes in Macross 7. It never came across as a parody to me. I mean, I do agree with the comparissons in the OP, but you can kind of say that about most self-conscious anime, which doesn't outright make them parodies. I think the problem isn't people taking Macross 7 seriously and being dissapointed, but rather, it is people having a very precise vision of what Macross ought to be about and look like - and then coming to find that Macross 7 doesn't quite conform to that vision. In any event, it has its' ups and downs which have been discussed in a zillion threads... Pete

We're back with Cooking with Haruhi-chan, with inspiration from Yuki and AAA+'s trip to a grocery store... So - Yuki had prepared the rice, and the potatos were just about ready as well. The curry flavored powder substance was on standby. There only the remained one task: finding a containment field that could hold all of these divergent substances in one place without threatening the fabric of space and time itself. Yuki settled upon this very heavy metal pot: Using her powers (this is why I like cooking with Yuki - unlike Haruhi, who keeps bossing me around, Yuki just waves her fingers and it is done), Yuki compressed the divergent nutrient substances into the oval containment field. At this stage, I admit the sight does not look very appetizing... Thankfully - Yuk is always prepared for every possible eventuality: Meanwhile, Mikuru-chan had successfully fended off evil super robots, aliens, demons and dragons trying to steal the noodles, and things looked just about ready! Then - it suddenly occured to me we were missing one very important ingredient. As keen observers of the Haruhi-chan cooking show know, there is a stage in the recipee where you need to "add some healthy looking stuff." Thankfully, I had a plate of green things in the fridge, and while I couldn't add it to the soup or the curry, I was able to strategically place it to the right side of both dishes to make it look like it was a natural, healthy addition to the meal: With this, the Circle was finally complete. When Haruhi and I last met, she was the Master and I was just the student. Now, I am the Master, and not just a master of evil, but of Healthy super cheap good cooking SOS Bridage cooking enterprise Noodle Curry Masterpiece Bargain Great You Buy Now Super Food! Yeah! Pete

We're back with "Cooking with Haruhi-Chan"... although really part of the inspiration here also comes from Yuki Nagato and AAA+'s forray to a grocery store. Speaking of Yuki, while Haruhi was giving orders regarding the noodles, Yuki has managed to finish cooking one kilogram of rice, which, to her amazement, turned out to be a far larger portion that she anticipated. Rice is so deceptive - it looks small, and then under the influence of heat, it expands to cover up more space. Humans unwittingly boil this rice, not aware of the fact that, if they heated up enough rice, the rice would expand and consume the entire Earth with its' weight, ripping our planet out of orbit, sending us hurling through space and time. Fortunately, people eat rice, thereby dimminishing the probability that this occurence would take place. Moving along... In the episode of Haruhi-chan that served as my inspiration, Yuki makes curry using carrots. I don't know how to do that, and Yuki refused to tell me the secret, sounding very much like Mikuru-chan, with her "secret" statement. However, she was nice enough to just conjure up some instant curry - good enough! Meanwhile, the Di-Hydrogen Oxie Thermal Super Commression Unit has finished its' work, and per Haruhi-Sama's demands, I risked life and limb to pour the super-heated plasma substance into the bowl of noodles... Next, Haruhi insisted on setting up a defensive grid. Given that the super heated plasma needed one trillion light years of time to enter into a symbiotic relationship with the noodles, thereby producing super-nutrient food that would catapult humanity into the next stage of evolution, it was only natural that demons, aliens, and particularly evil giant robots might try to steal the bowl of noodles. Haruhi wisely surmised that this was a job for the galaxy's most famous Combat Waitress from the Future, who humbly agreed to guard the noodles for eternity - or at least until I was ready to eat. To Be Continued in the next post... Pete

Ok, I hope people enjoy this. As mentioned above, my inspiration was Haruhi-chan's cooking show and Yuki and AAA+'s trip the grocery store... And the fact tht I was getting hungry.... So - I decided to put the SOS brigade's culinary advice to the test! Now, Yuki did buy potatos and carrots. I got the potatos, but opted out of the carrots. Here's Yuki boiling the potatos and cooking the rice: Meanwhile, Haruhi is busy commanding me to open the instant noodles... Of course, you have to keep in mind that the SOS brigade has a special method for opening instant noodles. Sadly, I don't have any Koizmumi figures, so the Agency wasn't able to get me a Katana. Now that I think of it, I DO have an old Polish military saber in the den, but hindsight is always 20/20 as they say. Still, I hope Master Haruhi-Sama is not displeased with the results of my work. I opened the noodles per her very precise instructions - immediately quartering them... Now, the next step, as Haruhi-chan-Sama (can I say that?) points out - is to activate the thermal di-hydrogen oxide compressor chamber, which will heat the water inside to temperatures equaling that of a small star... Meanwhile, as the thermal di-hydrogen oxide compressor chamber does its' work, Haruhi-the-Wise has already sellected a large bowl in which, per her commands, I have thrown in all of the quartered up noodles. To Be Continued in the Next Post... Pete

The "good" thing about Bandai's DX line is that the "guilt" only lasts "four times" since really other than Alto, Ozma, Luca and Michael...who are you going to get? I suppose people who got the first edition Ozma are now "stuck" "having to" get the armored one, but I never got the first edition (those bent antenna just scared me away) and now am happily waiting on my armored Ozma... Ragging on Yamato for now providing a stand for the VF-22S....but then again Bandai didn't even provide a stand for the VF-25F either, and the super parts are available only through warped channels unless you want to get the baby blue combo... I guess what I'm saying is that there are up sides and down sides on both sides... The VF-25 is a decent work. It's not an embarassment. Yamato's work is more clean, true, but they've been doing this particular gig a bit longer than Bandai... Price wise I think both companies do a good job for what they ask. Both also have issues that need work. I dunno... It's not really that big of a dilema Bandai is only asking for money for 4 fighters. It's Yamato that is offering seven trillion variants (and good). Now - this basically means that if you're a fan, more money will be spent on Yamato just by default. I mean - even if you "pick" Bandai...then...so what? After buying 4 DX VF-25s - you're basically done with the Macross Frontier line unless you want the models too. So...that leaves about a zillion Yamatos to buy. Seriously - I think this isn't an existential dilema, but rather a question of pacing and prioritizing. Maybe do this: Three Months - Three Yamatos. Fourth Month - One DX. Three Months - Three more Yamatos. Fourth month - One more DX - and so on. That way you get 9 Yamatos in a year and 4 DXs. And you're done with Bandai. Pete

I just opened Encore 17 and was so happy to finally have the supreme leader of the Decepticons...Ratbat! I always found Ratbat to be the greatest of leaders. Shockwave was always so logical and calculating, but his arithmetic never took account of fuel economy, which was actually a major flaw in his otherwise "logical" worldview. On the other hand, Ratbat wasn't merely a walking, or rathe floating, calculator either. Now all I need is a Throttlebot reissue set! Pete

Sorry for the double post, but I'm been totally mesmerized by Haruhi-chan... So, I just got back from the store where, inspired by Yuki and AAA+, I got some potatoes and curry (no carrots though - didn't have enough cash on hand for those). Also got rice. And, inspired by the Suzumiya cooking show, I got some healthy instant noodles (curry flavor). I just peeled the potatos and started cooking them as well as the rice in a seperate pot. The noodles will go with the final meal. I didn't get any "healthy looking stuff" to throw into the mix - but maybe I'll find something in the fridge... Pete

That's actually one of my favorite scenes - when Kyon and Asahina get stuck in the past and go to Yuki's place for help, and upon interfacing with her future self, Yuki takes off her glasses to demonstrate to Kyon that she has "sped up" and become the Yuki from the present (future) - the one who heard Kyon say she looks better without glasses and that he's never been a glasses man. A very touching scene. Pete

Everybody who's been waiting on the VT-1 can now start smiling. Yamato has released it :-) Yay. edit: er...link?...hm...um...ok: http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?...&st=35& Pete

Wheeljack is a real shame. But then again, back in the day Soundwave's moulds were lost, Omega Supreme belonged to another company and on and on and on. They managed to deal with that... I guess I just wonder what's around the corner. I'm pleased with all the cassettes coming out, given that there are a zillion Soundwave reissues on the market now, it makes sense and since the cassettes are so wonderful, it's pleasant. But what else do they really have to do? Dinobots? Will we finally get a Dinobot Gifst Set? Pete

Yeah, well. That's because she backed off because she is NOT a masculine character. She is actually uber-feminine - which means she acts manly until a man puts her in line. Remember in Sighs Koizumi remarks that he would never dare to question Haruhi's "orders" for fear of reprisal. And in another episode, namely Day of Sagatorus (or whatever that game was called), Koizumi notes that Kyon's strength is that he believes Haruhi will NOT destroy the world (probably because Kyon can't fully bring himself to believe that Haruhi has that kind of power). See - the others all treat Haruhi as an all powerful capricious deity and fear her. Kyon treats her like a pesky beautiful girl, which is why he is fearless in his dealings with her. Thus that scene where he put Haruhi in line. Of course, there are times when Kyon's treatment of Haruhi backfires and becomes dangerous - and that's when Nagato steps in. Because she's in love with Kyon Or because Kyon has no "understudy" to replace him if something happened to him? .... Pete

I don't actually think the Protoculture fathomed just what it is they were creating, sort of like people. The problem is not in the technology they built, but in how it was governed and put to use. Pete