stray

I was moreso going for the aspect that aside from the bass brought up in the mix and the new vocal track it's... the same song. Regardless I was a club kid and a digital musician so whether Kanno is a remixer or not I can live with; remixes, homages, samples, arrangements, etc. don't = bad per se. Unless, IMO, it's brought to the table without like... any creative influence. I dunno. I can't fault the woman, although some of it is really kind of borderline.

Ranka is 16... April 29, 2043 according to the compendium... If Mao was born in 1997 (11 in 2008) she would have been 46, which is kind of pushing it. Don't forget Max and Millia... I think he was 16-17 when Komillia was born IIRC... In the Macross universe, Mao could quite possibly have been a great grandmother

Hmmm... according to their website Are they taking it seriously now?

If it turned out Ranka and Sheryl were sisters... well, it would have to be followed by SOME kind of fanservice. I don't know if I can survive 2 weeks this month of no Frontier... I could work on my Japanese, I guess...

Didn't you watch Macross 7? Mylene never chose...

Absolutely effing brilliant episode. 2 kisu scenes!! Good to see Ranka get hers... and somehow Sheryl is so sweet when she's vulnerable. Hopefully the subs will come out in some kind of timely fashion... from somebody... Question tho: Is it Alto or the actor who was initially playing Shin in the VF-0 at the end?

At least she's not P.Diddy. Switching gears, something about the 3 (Sheryl on stage) songs just felt... overproduced. Don't be late is solid, but Fanclub Night just does not do it for me... I think it's that drum kick. I dunno. The breakdowns on that and What 'bout my Star just bother me somehow. I think the drums are just borderline happy hardcore or something. Sadly I don't know if anything good has ever come out of Japan with a 4 on the floor beat. I can't take anything away from May'n though, and Infinity and Diamond Crevasse are still awesome in extended form.

I made a CD from the FLAC's no problem And I converted them to Apple Lossless m4a for the iPod...

With Roxio Toast for Mac, and I'd assume Easy Creator for Windows, you can make a CD audio disc (or disc image) straight from FLAC. Can mount it and import it into iTunes, or burn it. I think I need to give the OST another listen though... I honestly wasn't that impressed so far.

At least he wasn't going through a Gulliver's Travels phase... maybe instead of the Zentradi we'd have the Brobdingnagi...

Truer words have not been spoken. I don't know that I can agree about Zero taking itself so seriously though. Nor about the ending... I think it was definitely fitting as far as a love and song overcomes all Macross ending. Then again, I'm one of those people who really loved Zero, so... whathaveyou. I can't decide if skipping over plot between 4 and 5 was purposeful or not. After the first few minutes episode 5 actually flows really well IMO, and there are a few other skips in the earlier episodes that make it... kind of consistent. Plus it made for a dramatic ending for 4 and a dramatic beginning for 5. I think my vote goes to... they storyboarded 10 or 15 minutes that didn't fit on either the end of 4 or the beginning of 5, and didn't have the budget or the content for a 'running through the jungle' episode.

I'll try to get some scans when I can get on a friend's scanner, unfortunately all I had for those pics was my phone. The art is all credited on the inside spines, Tenjin did the interior of the Fire Valkyrie and the 3 faces of Sound Force. Alot of care went into the M7 remasters, both the packaging and the processing. Not to discount the Plus remaster, but it doesn't even feel like it's in the same league. Maybe not the best ¥60,000 I've ever spent, but it feels worth it. Amazon Japan might be the worst thing for my wallet ever, though, since I'm still semi-looking for the DYRL limited box, and really thinking about buying the SDFM TV 25th box. At least I'm not that into Valkyrie toys.

It seems like AiA/I-Z have stepped up their game speed-wise, which I'm kind of happy about, but... For some reason ep. 1 (not Deculture) and now 9 by them give me an "Invalid Public Atom" error when I open them in QuickTime (I'm on a Mac); VLC will open them fine but I can't play them on PS3 either. Anyone have a similar issue or know if there's a re-encode they did? My PS3 library just won't look right with episodes missing.

Hate to rain on Chihiro's parade, but i wasn't super impressed with their subs for ep. 9. Might've been the episode to some degree, but cursing aside, they seemed disjointed and kind of hard to read. I'm in the process of downloading the gg now, hopefully they fare better.

It's on their website. Although, no real clarification on whether they're picking it up. On the plus side, the more groups involved the faster we're getting subs. A few weeks ago I was looking forward to Sunday Gattai subs, now we're starting to get them the next day. Crazy.

I finally broke down and decided to spend my economic stimulus $600 on... stimulating the Macross economy? Picked up both the Macross Plus and both Macross 7 Remastered box sets off Amazon Japan. Seems like alot of people have the Plus box but no one seems to have the M7 boxes, so I figured I'd post pictures (sorry for the quality) of the box art and booklets for anyone interested. Really impressive quality on the whole, beautiful presentation, and exceptional remastered video quality but anyone who's seen the VIP releases already knows that. Each set has one line art booklet and one full color. Tried to keep them sealed, but that lasted an hour or 2 at best. Now to work on my Japanese... and start saving for the Zero box and Frontier when they come out.

Does an official subtitled re-issue count as a remake? If so then... remake away! Otherwise aside from a few slow moving parts I think M7 is great as it is.

She's circling the black hole with Misa and Hikaru now, isn't she? That's... kind of happy... in a way... One thing I kind of loved and hated about DYRL was how Hikaru/Misa and Hikaru/Minmay played out, respectively. Somehow Hikaru/Minmay in DYRL just seemed really hollow. Mostly going by the TV show, though, I think it was a genuine ending... no matter how much love there was between them (and 'budding' was kind of a stretch by episode 34) it just... wasn't meant to be. FLY AWAY-FLY AWAY nobotte yukou TRY AGAIN-TRY AGAIN kinou ni te wo futte FLY AWAY-FLY AWAY shinjiru kagiri TRY AGAIN-TRY AGAIN ashita wo aiseru sa ...I think that pretty much sums it up. I know alot of people hate Zero, but something about it just stuck with me and makes me want to watch it again (waiting for the Bluray though). Definitely tragic, and metaphorical, but really beautiful at the same time (and not just the mecha porn... although it helps).

I dunno about viruses and such... but... I thought the intro was absolutely classic if just for how it set up the show. The transition went from the Protoculture's history, and humanity as their dying legacy... to singing carrot Ranka. And panty chases. Things that make you go hmmmm....

I can agree with that and kind of relate to that about Alto. So far we can see he does care, alot in fact, about Ranka, Luca, and Sheryl. He's completely brash and reckless, but very stoic at the same time... and very distant, overall. I'm sure his somewhat famous family and their relationship factors in towards his feelings about Sheryl especially, and how he deals with her; I'm sure we're going to see and hear more about Alto's father soon, at least. He kind of reminds me of Basara a bit so far, but they're very, very different characters. I really kind of liked Sheryl's breakdown on stage in episode 7... deep down she really cares about Alto (and Ranka) on some level, but it's a running gag that she's just completely inept at being anything but 'Sheryl Nome, Galactic Songstress.' Emotionally, and... doing laundry. Sheryl's shell has been coming down ('shell down' rdrr) on some level, and with that she's started being alot more likable. I think it's more an issue of over-confidence, though, since she's as high strung as Alto, and definitely not used to putting herself out there (except maybe in her songs). She's trying to maintain the 'image' of Sheryl Nome, but at the same time trying to be close to people that she's starting to care about... and, oh, the hijinks that will ensue. I can't help but feel sorry for Ranka, as she has had a rough past few episodes and has been (inadvertently) walked all over by Sheryl. Seems like she really has started believing in herself, but things are just not going her way. Really kind of feels like the dynamic between her and Alto is dead in the water for now (although they've had an odd relationship from the start), but I'm sure big things are coming her way regardless. I think the friendship, or rivalry between her and Sheryl is going to become really important, and I'm definitely intrigued to find out what link she has to Brera. I'm voting long lost brother. I really hope the series stays strong in Macross fashion, regardless. I think from here on out the only real logical turn of events in Frontier from is to have Sheryl and Ranka learn to fly and sing, Alto take up guitar, Michael take up Keytar, Klan Klan Drums, and maybe Luca on bass. Brera has harmonica on lock, and Nanase can be... a bridge bunny.

I don't know if it's the 80's Casio keyboard sound, or the carrots, but i can't get the 'ninjin, loves you ya!' song out of my head so I'm voting it my favorite.

Somehow the breakbeat that kicked in once the carbuncle ran off with Sheryl's panties just set the scene perfectly. Now to wait for the sub to get the parts that didn't make sense. I kind of like how Sheryl is developing overall though, panty chase and all. Something big is brewing between Ranka and Brera, I can feel it. I think it's kind of early to kill anyone off yet, but my vote for most expendable character goes to Grace, aside from the cool graphics they do for her.

That... sounds... absolutely awesome. ...ratings are going to SKYROCKET this week. edit: Why oh why does 2525 JST have to be 0925 PDT? I'm going to have to come into work late next week.

Speaking of BSG, jumps look alot more like old fashioned folds in that series... but oddly in Frontier the folds seem alot more like something out of Stargate. As good as BSG is all around, it'd be that much better with bridge bunnies. While not technically sci-fi, and I don't know how likely the inspiration would be... but for some reason the only thing I could think of at the end of Macross 7 was Ghostbusters II.

ATM I've got to say Infinity, with Aimo a close 2nd. Diamond Crevasse gets an honorable mention tho. Could change for next week.