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I'm still disappointed they almost never showed the Armored Pack's massive beam cannons in use. I can only recall one instance of them firing in ep 25 when Alto and Brera were doing their Kira and Athrun thing. As Alto rolls around next to Brera's -27 you can see them firing, probably utilizing the auto targeting feature I remember reading about on the M3. Are there any instances I am forgetting, or is that really the only time we have seen them used? If it were me, I would use them all the time. Even when not in combat. Also, as a throwback, Alto used the -25's head lasers as a cutting tool in ep 25 as well, to get to Ranka. That reminds me, and this is kind of off topic here, but I was wondering: can the VF-25 still use pinpoint barriers as a weapon like the YF-19 and -21? I know it has a knife and all now, but I always thought the PPB punch was more classy and Macrosslike. Adding a knife is too much a step toward Gundam for my tastes. Also, howcome the -25 doesn't feature the ventral monitors of the YF-19? That system was too cool for school.

Toward the end of Dynamite didn't Gamlin make use of those forearm cannons? I have to rewatch it to be sure. Also I seem to recall that scene treating the gunpod more like some kind of beam rifle, but that may have just been an odd dream I had. About Zero and heads, yeah, I was inspired by the use of the zero's head lasers as anti-missile weaponry. That was very cool, a bit Armored Core'ish.

VF-17I? I as in 'eye'? I'm assuming the 'I' would be for 'Improved'? That would be cool, but I'm pretty sure it's VF-171... at least I think it is. Man, now I'm confused.

A fair point, but I still dunno. VF-27 has four engines, and while I'm not sure how many of them were operational at that point, I'm still sticking with what I saw, what I know about the VF-27, and what the movie did not tell us. Also, in the TV series that implant exploded. It didn't seem to hinder him at all then. Not that any of this matters because there is no finality to either the TV series or movies given that they completely contradict one another. It's like Macross has been designed (starting with DYRL) to have no real canon. But, yeah, I think it's my favorite scene too.

I figured that Alto would have contracted the infection at that point as well, but since it was never stated (or even hinted) in the movie then it's only an assumption. This is the problem I have with this movie, actually: not enough is really explained. Unfortunately Macross's current draw has nothing to do with good story telling... if it weren't for the sweet mecha and awesome music this movie wouldn't have a leg to stand on. That said I did enjoy it, but mostly for the reasons I just stated.

Maybe, but I'm just pointing out that the Vajra should have realized that humans were all different a lot sooner.

Oh come on, it's not like it's the first time he's been blown up. He was on that ship that got a Vajra hug, right? I'm just saying we can't know for sure since we aren't explicitly told, and in modern anime we have to be or else it's all just fodder for fanfiction. Still though, I find it somewhat unlikely that the VF-27 would be destroyed from a paltry explosion from it's own weapon firing at point blank range. Even without the canopy cover they have pinpoint barriers and energy converting armor (it was in battroid, too). Also, the guy is a cyborg. Either way it was a very dramatic scene, but IMO much too short. I prefer the more prolonged scene in the TV series where Brera and Alto team up to shoot missiles. First time I watched the movie I was disturbed that Alto would abandon his fighter since in the tv series he was shown as having a lot of regard for his fighter (saluted the Valkyrie after ejecting in final episode). However, I got to thinking and realized that the YF-29 was made as an anti-vajra fighter. In a way, it symbolized the human's desire to wipe out the vajra. As such, he had to discard it as an act of good faith to show the vajra queen that he was too legit to quit. Or something. Is any of this making sense? It's also possible that Alto just didn't like the YF-29. I mean, almost none of us do. Anyway, the part I'm having a hard time getting my head around is why the vajra only wanted to 'rescue' Ranka when so many people are using fold quartz to communicate by that point. Clearly all it takes is an earring somewhere on your person to communicate with the vajra, so with all these cyborgs who are using fold quartz, let alone all the fighters and ships that have used it as a means to extend communication with Ghosts and whatnot... you'd think the vajra would be hearing all kinds of human chatter.

Brera was inside of Battle Frontier when it was folded away along with Alto, so its impossible to say with certainty what his fate is.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Grasping at straws, right? But it would be cool... Maintenance uniforms, huh? Hmm... that connection is gonna take a lot more straw-grasping...

Forgive me if this has been covered, and I know I'm grasping at straws here, but... well that's what fans tend to do. Anyway, I noticed this when watching the sub...

Yes. The Full Metal Panic! anime is based on a novel series that has already been completed. Having read the entire series, I am privy to stuff that fans of the anime alone have no idea about. Unfortunately, the anime is a poor representation of the source material. During the conversation between Sousuke with Al while the TDD was heading toward Hong Kong, Sousuke mentions that Al's creator, Bani Mourata, was dead, having taken his own life. This information activates a dormant program in Al, and at that moment he becomes sentient. The conversation in question happened in the anime, but they glanced over this without explaining it at all. TSR was based on two novels, Owaru Day by Day part one and two. The following novel, Odorou Very Merry Christmas (being on a phone, I may have spelled that wrong), shows Al's personality vastly changed. He has been absorbing information rapidly, including listening to radio stations and the crew of the TDD, and even has a sense of humor. As Tessa puts it at one point, Al is a copy of Sagara (having inprinted his nervous system when initializing the Arbalest for the first time) and represents what Sousuke might be like had be grown up under different circumstances. This fact disturbs Sousuke, as he and Al rarely get along. I won't spoil it, but the relationship between Sousuke and Al gets more and more awesome as the novels go on. They picked the worst possible place to stop making anime, because the novels just get better and better, and I really, REALLY hope they animate more. Sorry that this was off topic, but I had to set the record straight on that.

Again, I point you guys to Sentou Yousei Yukikaze and Full Metal Panic!. As for FMP!, the anime being a poor representation of the source material, the sentience of Al isn't covered in detail (yet) but if you've read the original novels then you know where I'm coming from.

Full Metal Panic! and Sentou Yousei Yukikaze are two examples that come to mind that contradict your statement.

Didn't the VF-1's lasers overheat or somethin after being used continuously for a while? Or was that the capacitor running dry? Been a while since I seen the first Macross.

I like to pretend G-Gundam never existed. ...let's just hope they don't put THAT on the next VF.

Makes me wonder if on the F-35B bypass air is used for the roll posts. According to Wikipedia only 9% of it it used for thrust in a hover. It sounded wrong because nothing the turbine does makes the engine a turbofan or a turbojet (though I'm pretty sure in the former the turbine stage is smaller to facilitate better fuel economy). I see you got your head screwed on tight, though, so ill just shut up about the semantics Well, the only time we saw the laser discharge outside of battroid was in ep 3 when Shin (or was it Edgar?) tried to snipe Nora outta the cockpit while they were dueling in GERWALK mode. At least that's the only time I remember. We see later VFs do it all the time in fighter, though.

Oh, right right. Now I remember. Sorry, I was thinkin about the battle in episode 3. (Ahh episode 3... I can't wait for Half-Life 2 Episode 3...). Wait, what? Why would it suddenly become a turbojet? The shaft-driven lift-fan is an entirely separate component from the F-135 engine. The engine is still a low-bypass turbofan, no matter what mode it's operating in. The fan stage is still there, and the bypass air is still bypassing the compressor and turbine stages. I think you have a bit of the nomenclature wrong, by the way. The turbine is but one stage of the engine (the part that extracts energy from the combusted fuel-air mixture and converts it to mechanical energy to drive the rest of the engine), and both turbofans and turbojets have them. Okay, fair enough. It's not an efficient method of powering secondary systems while still trying to operate as a high-performance fighter engine. A thought occurred to me though - the VF-0 has laser weapons. Laser weapons that are far more powerful than the one they intend to mount on the F-35. So, logically, we can assume that ECA takes a fair amount more power to operate than a high power laser. Unless OT lasers are different or something...

Nope. The Queadluun can fly in atmo just fine. I think wings help out for atmospheric entry, though.

I... don't recall it ever losing an arm. Only limitation I remember is it having only 11 rounds left in the gpod.

Ahh, Mr. Hingtgen, are you referring to the talk earlier of using stabilizers as shields? I wonder how the -51 flies without vertical stabilizers... Also somewhat OT, but I did some brief research on the F-135 shaft driven liftfan, and most sources put the shaft horsepower at between 28,000 and 29,000 HP. Of course, this takes a lot of power from the main engine, but in this mode it can still deliver between 18,000 and 20,000 pounds force of thrust (depending on source).

Nah, dawg, you misunderstand. The -135 engine produces closer to 40 grand in thrust, the liftfan alone does 18. Said liftfan is driven solely by the shaft, and only moves air... no expansion or combustion. I don't remember the exact figures in horsepower, but I'm pretty sure those figures are publically available. Anyway, there's a thread on the F-35's laser weapon on F-16.net that I can grab later when I'm on a PC. It's some crackpot fantasy like the electro gravetics on the B-2. Pretty sure I first read about the laser weapon in Code One. Also, I broke the tie. Someone else voted for the -51 sometime after I voted for the Zero. EDIT: F-35's chargin its lazers

Hear, hear. Couldn't agree more. However, this is about the Macross movie, so... Man, I hope there are -19s in the next movie. In any form, even just a cameo. I just wanna see 'em.

I used to like Gundam... before 00 Now I just worry that in the spirit of escalation Kawamori and crew are gonna try and one-up 00's epic silliness. The -29's space bells and space whistles lend some credence to this theory.

I dunno, man, a turbofan can produce some pretty substantial electrical power when connected to a generator. They have been considering using the F-35B setup to power a laser instead of the liftfan via the clutch and shaft design because of the substantial torque. The -35's liftfan generates 18000 lbs of thrust, to put that in perspective. The VF-0 has two turbofans that are presumably more powerful than the P&W F135. But since we have no idea how much W ECA takes I suppose the point I'm trying to make is moot.

The only way it would be stupid is if it somehow docked with the fighter again in mid-air. Aside from that, seems plausible. Ghost is already a stand-alone weapons platform. Strapping it to the Zero doesn't change that. And we know they can be jettisoned. Also, looks like my vote was the tie-breaker.