VFTF1

I just opened that website for the first time now and... wow I seriously didn't know it was a porn site when I wrote my post - "anime-lovers.com" was just the first "fake anime" website that came to mind I consider it a happy coincidence that it's a porn site Pete

I wouldn't mind "dark and gritty" if it was like a Bogart movie or a Phillip Marlow/Raymond Chandler Detective/crime novel - only set in the Macross universe. That's fine. I'm not overly thrilled at the idea of revisiting Hikaru, Misa and Minmey - although... I dunno... But for sure I think we need more Bassara. In fact - maybe they could do Macross: Crossover (like the concert) - and feature all of the singers coming together and forming a Super-Dimmensional Sound Armada? I dunno... More than anything I actually hope they don't make any more Macross too soon. I think that the fact that this series has always been SLOW in the making is good. A good idea needs time to be nurtured and grow and be thought about. I don't want to see Macross turned into a yearly re-boot cartoon like Transformers. Pete

This whole debate is moot anyways. Kawamori has announced that he has plans to retcon most of pre-Macross 7. He's going to do a "Director's Cut" of DYRL - kind of like Lucas - and add all the scenes that SHOULD have been there but couldn't due to budget constraints at the time. This includes painting all of the VF-1s pink. As Kawamori stated in his recent interview on the subject: Yamato has already announced that it will be converting all of its' production of the v.2 into pink Valkyrie. BOMBA! Pete

FINALLY!!! I passed my last drivers exam today and now get to sit back and wait for the government to send me my drivers license. Meanwhile, I can go buy a car! Jeeeezzz was this a pain in the butt!! Two thousand dollars and 6 months! But whatever - it's done. I had to take the test three times. The first time was with an absolute A-hole who ordered me to adjust my mirrors in a way that I couldn't see them and then told me to drive backwards on a 90 degree turn without actually LOOKING backwards, all the while asking me whether or not I was handicapped since I drive automatic instead of stick shift... The second dude was like a walking law. Ever sentence would start with "now in accordance with paragraph 4, section 5 of Driving Law 20442e6 please..." Things went "fine" with him until he decided that I was "not dynamic enough" because I didn't drive into oncoming traffic. "You had the right of way!" he said. Right - I'd rather be frickin' ALIVE than drive into a head on collision because "I have the right of way." Thankfully, this morning, I gritted my teeth, drank four shots of honey coated liquor, got a kiss from my loving girlfriend and drove PERFECTLY. The examiner said "Well, technically I have to pass you because you did everything correctly, but..." and went into a fifteen minute tirade about me being wierd. But he passed me. The end. Now for the good part Pete

This is what happened to me about three or four months ago when this all started. Incidentially - I think I might have been the ONLY MW member to have this problem back then because: a) I emailed Gubaba and he said he had no problem and never mentioned it again b) Nobody created a MW outages thread But all the meanwhile - for like three months - I had these problems. Now suddenly it seems most other folks do to. Ironically - I haven't had any outages since the last time I posted about one - which was...what...a week or two ago? But my yahoo mail keeps acting stupid and sometimes even manages to freeze my computer when I want to open Yahoo mail. And no - it's not a virus on my computer. It's the same on my laptop and EVEN on computers in internet cafes which were frozen and had to be restarted due to my yahoo mail basically crashing them when I wanted to access mail Amazing. Pete

I think that picture just proves that Sheryl and Basara are a couple. The thing is, Bassara spends a lot of time in Fold Space. It's like the Bottox of Macross insofar as it keeps you young. He pops out every once in a while to sing to whales or visit Sheryl. Makes sense. Glad there's an actual screencap to prove it. Pete

My first thought and reaction upon seeing the trailer to this movie: Brad Pitt is hard up for money. Pete PS - Add to your list of excellent WWII movies: Europa, Europa

Wait - I don't get it... Is that Bassara waving goodbye to Sheryl seen from a mirror as he leaves her apartment while she waves to someone else? Or is that just a combination of two scenes from MF and M7 respectively? Pete

I just let Gubaba do all my research. Pete

I think one thing you have to keep in mind is that people are into anime or other forms of entertainment to enjoy themselves - and sometimes of course they get so into it that they become uber fans and try to learn everything possible. But ever so often, folks come along who will present an opinion or point of view that is not informed - and...so what? As Vile said, research is for school. This doesn't mean I condone uninformed opinions - but in the end, these people come to discuss these things to unwind. Lots of them don' twant to treat it as a second job that requires cumbersome research. The real problem isn't folks who are poorly informed, it's folks who won't accept that they are poorly informed. If I say X, and other more knowledgeable people jump on the statement and demonstrate that I don't know all the facts - then I stop saying x, learn the facts ,re-assess my opinions based on knew information. Other people sometimes just keep sticking to their preliminary misinformed statement - and that I agree can get somewhat annoying. But oh well. Pete

I always knew you could do it! I'm also happy with the music track!! AWESOME!!! Now make it BIGGER! REACH HIGHER! DO THE IMPOSSIBLE! FIGHT THE POWER! Pete

I think I recall that Studio Half Eye did a Transformable Escaflowne. If you're willing to part with both kidneys, your legs, sell your wife and children into slavery, become an indentured servant in a tomato plantation run by the corsican mafia for one summer and then spend the winter as a male prostitute in Vegas you MIGHT be able to afford it Pete

Or I'm that crazy! Pete

I'm still watching Gurren Lagann! For the seventy seventh time in a row!! I'm going for a hundred!! I usually get through the whole series somewhere by 5 in the morning and go to sleep happy! Pete

In an ideal situation, Bandai and Yamato would just establish their own distributorships in different countries and run them correctly. Bandai is coming to Poland next month, for example. I unfortunately do NOT anticipate this to mean that this market will suddenly be flooded with Macross Frontier goods. Although I guess I can hope. But if you look at the way these guys operate outside of Japan, it isn't as coherently as Hasbro and Takara-Tomy do it. I am highly critical of recent Transformers products, but I have to admit that from a marketing and business point of view - Hasbro and Takara-Tomy do a great job of working togethe to "make the world smile" as Hasbro puts it. Of course, the truly ideal situation would be if Megumi and May'N showed up at my doorstep to sing for me and Marii Ijima, who just eloped, and then we got to book Yoshiki Fukayama for our wedding. That would be ideal Pete

Gubaba - you're not going to get any more definitive than this. And that's exactly why - in my opinion - copyright laws need to be reformed and globalized or just left to whither and die as arcane abstractions. Because in the end - the only cut and dry is this: American courts and American law will not allow BW to do what they want in America on the basis of a Japanese court decision. And Japanese courts and Japanese law will not allow for an American company using spurious claims to take rights that are guarnateed to BW under Japanese law. In fact - if you look at the vast majority of disputes between international corporations big and small - they usually don't take place in any nation's court system - instead, there is an entire system of international arbitrage courts - a kind of voluntary system that most multinationals buy into in order to adjudicate disputes that cross borders and would otherwise be tedious and cumbersome to litigate in multiple courts in multiple countries across the globe. And most of the times - these international arbitrage institutions work just fine. In this case - obviously it didn't work - and that's fine too. As has been said numerous times on this thread -people who love the original Macross can get it, have access to it and are not going to jail because of wanting it. People who want to be Robotechies can do that too. And in the end - if ALL HG does for the rest of it's years is beat this dead horse of litigation - it will go bankrupt. They have to eventually actually come out with a product. They are trying to do that by making Robotech into a semi-independent franchise - Shadow Chronicles certainly moved a bit in that direction, and if they suceed with the Live Action movie - then certainly they'll have gotten an independent franchise running. But the more the succeed in doing that - the more it STOPS being Macross. And you know what? GOOD. I hope they make Robotech: The Live Action movie featuring transforming F-22s, Britney Spears and alien squids with fourty tentacles who suck people's brains out. Let them do something that has absolutely nothing to do with Macross - let them even make some money off of it - anything to get them to finally leave Macross and the Macross fandom alone. Pete

I've now been enlightened about the door knob - but this actually makes you wonder about all items and objects that we physically come into contact with on a daily basis. The problem is not just isolated to doorknobs. But I will say this: Agent One - that was an idea worthy of Shinji! All the more reason for me to like this member But Basara is a real man; look at his manly flying into combat record. Besides - the guy has CLEARLY been in touch with Agent One and gotten tips on working out. I mean - Bassara is ripped Pete

The whole website is pretty international IMO. People from really all over the place visit here anyways :-) Pete

That's the Anti-Spiral in you talking!! Aren't you part of Dai Gurren Brigade!?!? Isn't your drill the one that's supposed to pearce the heavans?! So!? What are you waiting for?! Don't believe in me, don't believe in the me or we who believe in you! Belive in the you that believes in yourself!! UTE UTE UTE!! WEB INDEX HASHIN!!!! Pete

But only when there's a fire on the other side of the door. That's what GI Joe taught - remember? And knowing is half the battle! Pete

Well - in all fairness, I think what the guy was doing (he posted in the For Sale thread too) was using the donations to pay professional translators (which are not hard to find in a big city) to translate the Manga and then probably doing the actual insertion of dialogue himself. Nothing wrong with that. The reason why I (speaking for myself) would prefer Gubaba's work isn't just because it will supposedly be free (and yeah, I'm technically supposed to be helping - which I wish I could/would do more - but I've had too much work to get to it).... But mainly - I am looking forward to Gubaba's version because of HOW he does his translating work. First, I know it will be very very thorough and take account of other Macross work out there; with particular attention to the subtelties of the text and how it fits into the larger picture. I am also expecting a good number of footnotes, or at least an 'essay' style examination of some of the problems that come up when going from Japanese to english in a manga (where it's not just the translation, but getting it to fit in the bubble for instance). Plus, since Gubaba is also doing subs, translating novels, and basically working his butt off on everything Macross related, I trust him to be able to do an excellent thorough job and also feel like it's good to support the effort. If you guys ever need any financing - I would be happy to oblige. Fan magazines and fan publications are allowed to take the price of print/paper - aka cover their costs - at least that's what Transmasters UK (a UK based Transformers fanclub) does - and they are pretty tight with Furman (one of their people - Nick Roche - even went from drawing fan comics to doing IDW work). If this other fellow is providing the same service but asking for donations - fine - no problem. No reason to get into a tiffy over it; especially since he's apparently also willing to get it done in Spanish. That's fine. The more the merrier. Me - personally - I'll wait for the Version Gubaba of the Manga because I think it will be a lot more special than something done by a translator. I mean - heck - I could just buy the manga in Japanese and pay a hundred bucks to somebody here in Warsaw to translate it from Japanese into English and provide me cliff notes too. But there's something really special and endearing to me about Gubaba's work and how he does it. Not everyone has to hold this opinion - so they can go about getting their translation in other ways; and other people can go about providing those ways. I personally see no reason to get into a wider conversation on the subject. Live and let live. Pete

Don't worry That doesn't stop me from still thinking of you as one of the best members at MW I can love Basara and love AgentOne all at the same time! Pete

Well - this time I can truly say with confidence: While you're sitting there, trying to figure out who's to blame for your 3 day ban... BLAME EXO! Pete

Um - but I don't live in the USA. So I wouldn't buy it at a retailer in the US anyways. And I would gladly buy it in Poland, except that no retailers sell it. No retailers sell it because nobody knows about it and there is no market demand for it. So - what? Am I supposed to get on an Airplane and fly to Japan to watch each episode of Macross Frontier because there's no market demand for it where I live and so no corporation has saw fit to sub or dub it and introduce it into my market? Beast Wars Transformers was shown on Polish TV with atrocious dubs. Was I supposed to watch that instead of watching the original American Beast Wars? Am I supposed to buy a satellite dish and install it on my roof to recieve all Japanese and American TV stations so I can legally watch an episode of the Simpsons? I watch the Simpsons on Youtube because I don't get it on TV here. Am I breaking the law? Should I go to jail? Under Communism - NOTHING was permited/licensed/copyrighted. People would therefore have to illegally bring english and french language books into the country to read them. Under the system you're proposing - it would basically be a return to that. Nobody can read anything or watch anything. See - you're assuming that it's actually profitable for companies to broadcast things in EVERY market. It's actually not. Large parts of the globe don't get this stuff; and yet there is always interest in remote parts of the world. So - should we shut down the internet and tell a large portion of the planet - hey - sorry - you can't watch Macross Zero? Or maybe we should all patiently sit around and wait for HG and Big West to come to an agreement? It is not illegal if I buy a book at borders and you see it on my shelf and say "can I borrow that book?" and I say "sure - yes." Then - you read the book. Did you pay for it? No. Did the writer and publisher get money from you? No. Heck - not even a library got money from you. How different is that from somebody else buying a DVD and subbing it for free and not charging anybody anything to watch it - with the stipulation that as soon as a licensed copy comes out in their region - to delete it? If I buy a Darth Vader action figure and a Barbie doll, and I put Barbie's skirt on Darth Vader and then make a youtube fanfilm called "Darth Vader wears a Barbie Skirt" I have modified the licensed property of Mattel and Lucasfilms without their permission. Oh - but wait - it would be a FAN FILM for NO PROFIT. Kind of like the fan subs you can get on the internet which are also done as a non-for-profit service. These non-for-profit fanservices actually serve to benefit the original producers/creators because they market the product and increase demand for the toys, models and figures - and comics and manga. I'm not arguing that fansubs will necessarily be better than the "official release." I'm arguing something else - namely - there will not be an official release where I live or where a lot of other people live. And it's not just anime that's like this. I remember living in the USA, one of the things I loved doing was going to video rental stores and checking out their stash of old B sci-fi and horror movies. Stuff that isn't even available on DVD a lot of times. Heck - do you know what I've been doing for the last FIVE YEARS in Poland? Going from store to store LOOKING for Rocky Horror Picture Show. When I was in Berlin - I also looked for it. Maybe I should get on a plane and go to the UK to look for it? I could spend money on an international/multi-region DVD player to be augmented into my laptop and then import it from the USA.... And no - I haven't downloaded Rocky Horror off the internet - I'm still holding out that I'll find it - somewhere - somehow... But the point is - lots of this stuff that I want just does not have and will never have an official release. So what now? How do I get to see or read what I want to read "legally?" In reality, the legal points you bring up work well in a mature market where this stuff is par for course. In developing markets - they don't work. If you want anime to develop in a market where it didn't exist before and you DON'T want to invest millions of dollars into market research and marketing campaigns - the internet does it FOR FREE. And it's free and beneficial not just for the people downloading - but also for the companies who produce the stuff because it does increase demand - it creates and nurtures demand where there was none. I am arguing that licensing and copyright law has to be changed, has to be globalized and has to take account of the above noted factors. Otherwise it won't be effective when it should be, and will only be a hinderence. Ok - so let the owner of the Copyright (not the movie) come over here, invest a couple hundred thousand in setting up a legal office, start paying taxes as a legal entity, register their property, copyright it over here, invest a couple more hundred thousand bucks in preparing it for this market and stick it on a shelf for 20 bucks at the local DVD retail outlet near where I live. When they do that - I will gladly walk across the street and buy it. But they won't do it for reasons of economies of scale - or lack thereof. The potential profit from getting a few people like me to walk into a retail store and buy a DVD is MINISCULE compared to the HUGE cost of setting up shop and doing that here. I'm sure it's the same in other countries. But - these same copyright owners can look at their balance sheets and look at how much merchandise gets purchased by people in countries that HAVE NEVER HAD OFFICIAL RELEASES. The numbers run into a few million dollars. Do the producers, owners of copyrights and everyone else in the business chain REALLY want the flow of profits to STOP so they can go hound some guy sitting in their aunt's basement in Bulgaria or Moscow or where-ever and arrest him for downloading fan-subbed Macross Frontier episodes? Ridiculous. Well - then why don't we just arrest every one here for using the alphabet. Come to think of it - did you "do the work to develop" the computer you're using? You're allowing the labor theory of value to cloud your judgement - this notion that the property holders of things are those who "do work" to get the thing "made." But in reality - most ideas are not unique - they are based on ideas that came before, and were modified in new ways. And most things are build from other things which other people's "work" helped provide. Finally - if someone markets a product - they have to accept that a secondary market in that product will develop. The patent laws are actually a hinderence to development IMO. Again - the market doesn't need "patent protection." An invention will protect itself just fine if left to develop unrestricted. The problem is when people start using laws (like patent and copyright laws) to actually hinder the development of ideas and products. Dostoyevsky's Estate owns the copyright to Crime and Punishment. But - oh no. Crime and Punishment is also a book that apparently has some standing in the world of culture and is considered to generally be a "must read" and "must think about" book and has served to inspire countless plays, portraits, novels, stories, movies etc etc etc. It is often referenced and has entered the general parlance. Now - sure - Dostoyevki's estate theoretically has the right to go and sue people who somehow use concepts, themes or likenesses thereof from the copyrighted work. But if they pursued such copyright suits - it would be ridiculous. It is in their interest to have their work last the test of time. It is in their interest to get their stuff out. But Dostoiveski's estate doesn't have the right to tell me that I can't loan my friend a copy of the book and say "read this i'ts great!" Does my friend therefore have to write a letter to the publisher saying "hey - can I borrow my pal's book for free and read it?" Again - copyright and patent laws are arcane - rooted in a world that no longer exists. People need to sit down and rewrite these laws to try to do justice to present realities. MM...no. Actually - trademark laws HINDER the capitalist system. See - this is a convenient boogey man you're throwing up here - but it is very much a "sugar plum world" vision, because in the real world nobody invests time and resources into mass marketing DUDS ON PURPOSE. Nobody is going to invest millions of dollars in mass marketing knock off Hershey candies with dust inside. That's insane. Why would they? They'd LOOSE MONEY. Hershey doesn't make profits because of its' trademark - Hershey makes profits by providing a chocolate that consumers want at a price their willing to pay for. If somebody engages in false advertising - not only will they "go to jail" for it - but before the court has even had a chance to decide their chance - they will loose their business and all their money. In the real world, trademark laws and copyright laws and patents are used by some companies to muscle their competitors and to try to fense off entire markets in certain countries from foriegn competitors. In the United States, where litigation and tort law are out of control, the capitalist system is actually HAMPERED by all the red tape, not a small portion of which revolves around patents, copyright, tademark and all the rest. Again - these laws are completely unnecessary. A good product will protect itself. If people abandon the product due to a change in preference and the business doesn't adjust - no amount of trademarks, copyrights or anything else will help. Conversely, the lack of trademarks, copyright etc will NOT lead to a situation where you go to buy a Ford, and have to wonder "which Ford is the real ford?" I mean - it's not like there's not an illegal pirate/knockoff/bootleg market out there anyways. Even in hardware like motor scooters etc. And yet the "real" products do just fine anyways - because there will always be a segment of the population that wants the real thing. As for the bootlegs - well - that's always a signal to producers that a market for their goods exist. In most cases, the market is closed off due to bad tax policy or other external factors which make it hard for legal entities to compete with illegal ones. But the solution to this problem is to abolish laws, not make more of them. Ultimately - the black market exists not because people are evil and break the law, but because the law is evil and breaks people - making it hard for them to get what they want legally. But why? Is the law always right? Who says? One of the things that defines a free society is that people have the right to question whether the law is good and to disagree with it. There are numerous forms of protesting the law from civil disobediance to voting to public speaking and persuasion. But the be-all-and-end-all of a debate can't be "well I have the law on my side and you don't! So there! End of discussion!" The law is something people make for themselves and can be changed if people believe it needs changing. I believe this is one area of the law that needs changing. Just because the law is arcane, muddled, confused and not suited to the realities of a world that is more connected by the internet doesn't mean that it's to be worshiped without question. The law is always just something that people write up in order to make an open and just society possible. Debating the law, and changing it are part of an open and just society. Laws get changed all the time. People even expect it. Tax laws, trade laws - people follow the law while complaining about it, and governments are constantly tinkering with laws trying to make them better and listening to what people have to say about how the laws are working. It's not just a bunch of words, it's not a "sugar plum vision" - and it's not an issue that will be solved by just saying "they're crooks because the law says so." The law also says a lot of other stupid things that I'm not allowed to get into because we can't discuss politics. But the point here is - the law is not God and people are free to think and protest against laws they find unjust- especially if they do it in a non-violent way. Pete

It didn't say anywhere - it just got closed. Initially, I thought that someone had mistakenly opened a second Gundam Figure thread - but then I looked and indeed I think the one that got closed was the only one? Pete