Dio

I actually looked into this recently, partly out of curiosity and partly because of a big order on HLJ that I didn't want any susprises over In the US, there's a thing called the "Harmonized Tariff Schedule," the current (2013) version of which is available online at the USITC (US International Trade Commission) website. Macross toys would fall under Chapter 95, section 9503 (dolls, toys, scale models). The description of this section is extremely vague, but I looked up some recent customs evaluations cases in the public record for imported collectibles and confirmed it. For items under this classification, items imported to the US from nations with "normal trade relations" have no import duty applied to them. Items from restricted countries (currently Cuba and North Korea) are subjected to a 70% duty rate. Additionally, if the value of the shipment is under $200, they usually don't even bother to look at it unless something is suspicious (according to the Customs & Border Protection website). Disclaimer: This is an extremely small snippet of a much larger policy, you might look into it yourself to determine the specifics for something you're importing.

As someone who knows absolutely zero Japanese, what I would end up doing is looking for familiar-ish characters in the names, usually in the first sentence of the mission description. Sometimes a cave or base will have a character that looks like a hyphen, or an "E" without the vertical line (I think at this point I've determined the character means "mi?"), just as one example. Zooming in on your map also helps ID the caves a little better, though I still had to put my glasses on at times because the text is so small. There also seems to be a pair of two slightly more complex characters at the end of every cave name, so I would basically look for something like "two characters, hyphen, three characters, those two complex characters" or "character character [specific character] character character, those two complex characters" to ID the cave I needed to go to. Very, very rudimentary, but it got me through my first run with ~85% guild quest completion. I feel like I even started to recognize the pronunciation of a few characters after seeing them repeatedly, to where I could pick out some character names and terms in the dialog boxes.

Ooh! http://toynewsi.com/news.php?itemid=20454 While awesome from a collectible standpoint, it strikes me as odd that the "History of Starflight" exhibit in his office would include the Vengeance (I rather like the satire review calling it "Killerprise"). Wasn't that supposed to be like, a secret project that nobody knew about? It did offer a nice easter egg early on in the movie, however, and in my first viewing I did catch it in a "hey isn't that the big nasty thing from the trailers" sort of way.

So here's a weird thing I've noticed while trying to unlock new aircraft/tiers... are there certain parts that get filtered out of the listings depending on which one you're unlocking? I'll see a whole plethora of parts available for, say, a VF-11, but then certain parts that I have large stockpiles of won't show up for me to put into a VF-29. I've also started collecting "universal" parts like Vajra tails to help with the tuning. You don't get any next-tier bonuses out of them, but they typically have high point values (10+) and move in swarms. Also, it was much more expensive to build tier-2 aircraft in my first playthrough, but the part costs dropped by something like 50% for my undeveloped aircraft once I completed the game's first run.

Would it maybe be easier to re-cast an existing VF-171 cockpit piece? I haven't looked too closely at it, but I think it's just snapped on and doesn't require any pin removal. One request I've got is a set of clips that can attach the VF-22S gunpods to the fighter's underside/hip panels, for the Gamlin/Max/Miriya editions that don't come with FAST packs. The gun pods just sort of tack to the bottom of the aircraft in Macross 30, and it's easily my favorite fighter in the game, so I'd like to replicate it on my Gamlin 22S. I know it's not show-accurate, but it seems like something that would be easy to do (small size, low number of pieces, low complexity), and what Macross 30 did with them is already taking some creative license in the first place, so it's easy to justify

Is there a good place to farm Ouroboros Mona Flowers? It takes 10 to unlock each race course in the glacier area, and I only find singles here and there. I tried a few of the local caves but can't find a good spot where they're concentrated in groups.

Voted DYRL, though both are great in their own right. I had to pick the DYRL version simply because of the phrasing of the question - which is the better dogfight? The SDFM fight is better in terms of context, how it fits into the story, and establishing a sense of desperation. However, it mostly consists of the pilots being in wide open skies, chasing one another and dodging shots, ending when Miriya mistakenly rushes into a corner and Max plugs a couple shots in her back. Conclusion-wise, I like it better because you see all the way through to the end without breaks, but at that point it was basically Miriya trying to run away and Max taking an opportune shot (I wouldn't give him credit for driving her into the city). The DYRL fight involves a greater variety of terrain and use of environment (like sticking close to the water, darting in and out of what looks like an aqueduct, etc), along with pulling more improvised attacks like Max's head turret. Both fighters take damage over the course of the chase. The hand-to-hand(ish) portion takes the fight to places where the SDFM fight didn't, and I would count that towards establishing the fight as much more intense and a test of a broader array of the pilots' skill sets. The cinematography isn't quite how I'd like, and you don't get to see the final blows landed, but it does appear to have been a much more knock-down-drag-out fight where both warriors got beaten and bloodied. As for Max's glasses, I'm going to go with the "HD Aviator Sunglasses" from the infomercials

Saw it Friday, agree with most of what's been said already. The scenery and set pieces are gorgeous, and the effects are awesome without being over the top. The story mixes familiar ingredients in a good way and it's worth the time to watch. I did wonder about a few plot holes, but they don't diminish the experience. Also, for any MMA fans out there,

So to bring it back to my original question with some clarification, do anime fans these days seem to want more direct, unaltered translations? I've noticed an increase in things like original Japanese op/eds and theme songs, and greater inclusion of original Japanes names/titles for characters and creatures compared to say, the 90's, where it was more common to see translations take liberties for the sake of simplification. In the 80's it was even moreso IIRC. I'm not saying more adaptation is better or vice versa, just curious if there's a trend for how translations are being done these days compared to earlier shows, and possibly some explanation as to the reasoning. As a fun experiment, comparing with other works that made it to the US, what would a dub of Frontier be like in each of the past 3 decades?

Agreed, there's definitely cultural differences to be considered. However, seeing the exact same visual scenes in 2 different dubs and getting such a different feel from them was a bit of a shock. I contrast that with Ranma 1/2, where Kuno constantly demanding to be called "sempai" translated much better to demanding he be addressed as "upperclassman" in the dub, because there was a much clearer purpose to it, and viewers less familiar with the nuances of Japanese culture were much more able to follow along. Is there maybe a time/cost factor to consider? Does a studio save time by running quicker, more literal translations for scripts than trying to bend them a little and balance accuracy with accessibility? I have noticed with more recent anime (Cartoon network adult swim type stuff) that it seems to be trending toward more toward quick/literal, sometimes leaving quite a bit of the original Japanese names in place (such as Kekkaishi). I've never really been an "anime" fan, so to speak, it's been more narrowly focused on just a few series, but is that something that anime diehards prefer and might be asking for from the studios? Also, I'm a little curious about the first thread response, is this something of a sensitive subject? I see some diverse opinions but very good points and discussion on all sides, one of the things I prefer about MW in fact. Or is this just a discussion that's been done to death already?

So, to preface this, I just recently watched SDF Macross (original series) for the first time in my life in its direct dub form. Prior to now, I knew it only as the first 1/3 of Robotech, and filled in the pieces myself as I grew more familiar with the sequel series (II, Plus, 7, Zero and Frontier). Fortunately, outside of the creative liberties Robotech took, it was translated pretty closely to the original script, which made it easy to deduce the source material. Even names were similar enough to follow who was who. In watching the direct dub, however, I felt like something didn't sit right, and feel a little bummed that I actually liked the RT version better. Thinking more and more, comparing the Mac Plus dub to the (more literally translated) sub, I realized why I like certain versions of anime series better than others, and wanted to ask the folks here how y'all feel about it. In short, I prefer translated dubs to make subtle tweaks to wording, and not try to be 100% literal in their translation. Sometimes great content can even be worked in by replacing non-essential dialogue. Hearing Isamu say "Did you say faster?" gave me much more of a chuckle than "Thrilling, huh?" Hearing Hikaru scream "sempai!" repeatedly made my ears bleed (not helped by a VA that sounds like Steve from American Dad), but "big brother" conveyed a much more real sense of loss when Roy made his way to Valhalla. I can't count the number of times in various series where they could much more effectively use the word "prodigy" to describe someone who has a phenomenal knack for something, but instead make a little less sense by calling them a "genius" (sometimes a downright head scratcher - "genius lifter/surfer" from Eureka 7 comes to mind, where Holland was clearly not displaying above-average intelligence). I understand a need to keep things true to the source material, and I'm sure there are fans out there who want translations to be as pure as possible, but is that the force driving studios to be literal sometimes to the detriment of more mainstream appeal? I'd like to hear some thoughts on this from the community, but no poll or anything.

This may be a silly question, but do the "mushroom" items provide permanent stat boosts? Also, they seem to apply to all of the currently deployed pilots and their singers, is that correct? I only used one to test it out, so I have a massive stockpile of the things waiting for my favorite characters to appear, but wanted to check in case it's wasted effort.

I hate to bring another issue to the table because I love the Flightpose stands, and have met their seller in person and he's a great guy. However, this is probably something you'd like to be aware of. The silicone tips seem to affect certain unpainted areas on toys, if you happen to rest a part of the toy on them that is made of clear plastic. See below, where it left a small smudge (looks like a fingerprint) in the middle of the red crystal of my VF-19 Sound Booster. I'd say it was on the stand maybe for a couple of weeks.

Gotta say, it does make me a little nostalgic. Where's my 1/60 Metal Siren?

One thing I noticed with the tuning point maximums is that for a given rank of aircraft, the max number corresponds to the exact number of TP it takes to fully tune every attribute to the max value before it's considered overtuned. Promoting everything to the highest value before the tone changes (and the price hikes) makes for a great way to benchmark my valks for their next rank, as well as to let me know when I might want to use another valk so I dont waste any earned TP. Of course, that's the "balanced" approach, I definitely intend to come back and specialize a few of my birds. It just bugged me that I couldnt reach the rank max TP with anything overtuned, and I had to figure out why

Quick tuning trick - Equipping packs on your wingmen gains tuning points for the packs (fast, booster, strike, etc) that apply regardless of which pilot is using them. While I was going crazy with VF-1 double strike packs, Mylene maxed out my regular VF-1 fast packs for me (how awesome is just getting to write that?!).

Could I also request a basic summary of "auto mode" and "auto battle?" I didn't know those were exclusive of one another but the manual seems to suggest they're different toggles, and maybe only available on easy mode? If someone can translate the manual text-wise for me, I would be happy to convert it to a photo-translation.

Here's one I don't think anyone has asked yet... What is the difference between super/fast packs being set to type "A" or "B?" I can gather it has something to do with either HP or "SPA." Does that mean you either keep it till it takes 100% damage versus being able to jettison it manually somehow? I'm not even sure what the SPA gauge indicates...

I'd like to reserve my spot in the inevitable group buy, please

I have a request for the translation guide: could some of our contributing members include some of the better character quotes, in-jokes and dialogue references for each chapter-based section? A I understand it, that's a major draw for the game and would be really cool to read along with as we follow a walkthrough (I've seen similar things included in strategy guides).

Silly question, but why do the tuning stat colors change when you reach certain values? I'm taking a balanced approach right now (only have the VF0D/A/S/FockerS) where I aim for blue values on every stat. The color change doesn't correlate to the tuning cost jumps, either.

Probably a pipe dream, but is there any hope at all that a fan sub "patch" (sort of like DLC) could ever be generated?

My only complaint is that there doesn't seem to be any momentum when switching out of fighter mode, you just stop cold. A little braking runout would go a long way, and would enable much cooler transitions.

FYI there's a photo-translated Control Type C layout at the translation site from the other thread. I printed out a copy and have found it very helpful.

Sounds like several of us are content to try and write the movie FOR them