RavenHawk

So, if HG were to dub Macross 7 and make it somehow watchable, then we could all get along? (j/k, I know some people here like it, though for me 7 really is unwatchable and I can't fathom how it lasted so many episodes while other anime series have gotten cancelled so early, but that's just my personal taste)

Wow, nice job. That looks fantastic. Might have to try this too.

Out of all the continuity rewriting that Shadow Chronicles did, this seems to have been the most overlooked. I myself didn't even notice it until "reading" (since there's so little actual text) The Art of the Shadow Chronicles. The REF is now redefined as going out to look for worlds to colonize, whereas it had previously, in all sources that referenced its mission, been described as a military expeditionary force sent out to confront the Robotech Masters. As you said, this is why Bowie and Dana were left behind, since it was a purely military mission.

Wow, I'd never seen this model before, but that is an absolutely MUST-HAVE I think. I'd been lamenting for a few months now on this board and some others the lack of ships from MOSPEADA. I think they're perfect to get a small treatment, like the Titanium Star Wars and Battlestat Galactica ships from Hasbro.

Looks like it'll be no markings on any of the remaining bikes.

I enjoyed it thoroughly, but obviously at least one person here didn't. Rent it/Netflix it, see for yourself, then decide whether or not you want to buy it.

Isn't that what the new CMs figures will be?

Seconded. The movie may be terrible, but the book is one of the best pure scifi books ever.

Especially at this price point (compared to, say, MegaHouse or even CMs).

I didn't realize that, guess I was remembering incorrectly, but you're right. Ok, guess I don't have as much right to be annoyed then.

While justified, most of the issues with this new release don't really bother me. The only one that REALLY does is the lack of painting. I'm not a fan of applying stickers to my toys/models, preferring to leave a very clean look. For this reason, I like them as prepainted as possible. The Mars Base symbol and the freedom stripes are a MUST on this bike. It's not as though Ray's bike didn't have them, so they are a sticker, just in case you choose you like it better. It had it in the animation, just like Stick's, so I don't get why they are no longer prepainting, other than saving money while still charging us the same.

There are a couple threads on here with a TON of MOSPEADA pics. Just look on the first page or two of this forum and you should find atleast 2.

Save, Can you let us know when, where, and under what exact title it becomes available?

I don't know how historically accurate that one is. I read it years ago and ejoyed it, but as I recall the extent of historical basis to it is that there is evidence of Arabian and Viking contact. Beyond that, it's just a retelling of Beowulf meant to be slightly more plausible.

Unlike most people here, I'm not really much of a fan of Macross (though I loved it as a kid) and do consider myself a fan of Robotech. Keep in mind I'm really a MOSPEADA fan more than anything else in reference to this topic. That said, one would expect me to LOVE Shadow Chronicles. It is Robotech, which I liked as a kid, enjoyed again a few years ago when I watched it with my kids, and read all of the novels as a teen and loved them. It is also visually the closest thing to new MOSPEADA we're ever likely to see, as it continues the Robotech version of the tales of some of their characters (well, Stick/Scott, really, as Ariel is pretty changed) and continues using MOSPEADA mecha, unused MOSPEADA mecha that was previously only seen as lineart, and slightly modified versions of MOSPEADA mecha. Clearly, I should have loved it. Instead, I was horribly disappointed by it. The writing was terrible and uninspired, the dialog was worse than fan-fic level, with the "jokes" stolen from numberous other shows and movies, where they weren't funny either, none of the characters acted like themselves, and the art was just bland. I've seen other anime made by the same studios, so the low quality here, I assume, must simply be due to not paying them enough to put real effort into it. Even my kids didn't like it. In fact, my son mentioned last weekend that he had just rewatched all of the first gen of Robotech, then mentioned that one horrible movie, with the really lame dialog. I said, "Oh, you mean that old tape we have of Clash of the Bionoids? That's not really Robotech." To which he replied, "No, I liked that one. I mean that Shadow Chronicles one." In contrast, I was bored a couple weeks ago and downloaded and started watching Macross Frontier. I loved it. Had to ration it out so I didn't finish the 25 episodes too quickly. Gorgeous artwork. Well written story (sure, with flaws, but relatively few, all things considered). Good dialog. New designs, but which still feel like part of the same universe. Overall, it builds on everything that came before, while still being its own unique, original, distinctive entity. It makes references to previous series, as well as paying homage to them, while still giving it all its own unique, updated spin. EDIT: One other thing. Robotech and Macross both have music/song as an integral part of the stories. The Shadow Chronicles music and singing is quite weak and uninspired, more just a new rendition of old stuff, hastily put together. The Frontier songs are surprisingly good, get stuck in your head, and have generated 2 CDs of music which are all very listenable.

Depends on how old you are. In my early teens, I absolutely loved the David Eddings Belgariand. The sequel series was a bit slow (Mallorean, I think it was). Later teens, I'd say William Gibson. In your 20s, I'd say read George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. Starts off a little slow, but well worth it. In your 30s, I'd say Neal Stephenson, if you have the patience. Sadly, I can't think of any good scifi to recommend, which is weird seeing as how I haven't read fantasy in years, since it really started to bore me, and now read more scifi or history.

Same here.

Ginrai, you mention on the podcast that you would love to get more recommendations for anime that portrays teenagers fairly realistically. Check out the anime version of Starship Troopers. It's only like 7 episodes, so it's pretty short, more like a long movie, but there are definitely some interesting reactions, especially early on. There's one scene that somehow stuck with me, where the mom gets mad at the son because he decided to join the military (in a fairly believable teenage way), and the dad calmly takes the son for a drive in the car to talk to him in private. The dad stops the car, giving the son some advice, and lights up a cigarette. The kid is shocked to realize his dad smokes, while it interestingly shows some insight into the dad.

Who asked you to remove them? What exactly will be available in the US, so we know what exactly to look for?

I'm not trying to be antagonistic here, so hope it doesn't come across as such. Despite how adamant you are about this, it simply is not the case. Megazone came out after MOSPEADA. There was no Megazone footage used in MOSPEADA. New Gen of Robotech edited out a few scenes for content from MOSPEADA, it did not add any even more violent footage in. If you still disagree, find proof.

Clearly I'm getting all of the motorcycles, and Sideswipe looks too cool to pass up. I'll get the ice cream truck for my kids (personal in-joke with them). I have to get Jetfire, as my son and I both loved the old Jetfire, and I love the SR-71. If I get Jetfire, I may have to get the matching Prime (tough I have two different sizes of Prime from the previous one and wasn't too impressed by either).

So there's no hope at all? And I was actually getting really hopeful about this...

Well, since they missed the 23rd anniversary, which would've been nice, since it's Megazone 23, maybe they could still put something out for the 25th in 2010?

Definitely worth Netflixing, don't know about buying it though.

That would be great. Thanks.