Shaka_Z

thing is that the effects of Ranka's singing was quite obvious anytime she was present in the battlespace riding along in the Monster... she starts singing, and after a moment of indescision, all the vajra in close proximity start heading her way. should have been easy to spot in the after-action debriefs. I am amazed that none of the skulls caught it at least... or even Carnalia... SHE should have been the first one to say 'WTF??? as soon as she started singing my Monster became a vajra magnet???!!!???' this should have been promptly followed by 'bitch, STOP SINGING, or so help me I will throw u out the airlock, and not give a DAMN what Ozma does to me later!!!' then, after realizing what she just said, she should be like 'hmmm... that might be interesting... WTF AM I THINKING... I'M MARRIED!!!' would have been hilarious...

maybe not a pilot herself, but if somehow she manages to become effective against the vajra she might find herself riding SIO (Song Interception Officer) on Alto's VF-25... now THAT would work - I think Alto would be damn near untouchable with her singing shotgun. she has the strength of will to keep singing under battle conditions, that much is for certain.

well... I dont hate her. I just know that the power she has over the vajra isn't quite what everybody onscreen thinks it is, and it isnt her fault that she's a vajra magnet - it is the fault of everyone around her (in her anti-vajra role) for not realizing it. that said, I dont see an Alto/Ranka pairing at all, as I see her having to lead the vajra away at some point - in a way making her own noble sacrifice.

at the very least, michel got punctured through a lung, which would easily explain all by itself his coughing up that much blood so quickly, yet still maintaining the ability to move and speak. gah missed page 18 ownership by 1 post!!!

and like I said earlier, until Ranka regains the ability to communicate with the vajra on a higher level than mere empathy - like she apparently could when she was a child before the 117th massacre - the vajra are going to continue this behavior. they can sense her emotional state as it is, and when they sense her pain, they act to protect her - note they were completely passive while she was on stage (and ecstatically happy), and did not become aggressive until after she got over the initial shock of the scene on the roof and started wishing herself (or everybody) dead. when she started singing after sheryl slapped her back to reality, she was still in pain, and the song acted as a beacon for the vajra to home in on - THAT is why Michel died I hate to say... if they had left Ranka somewhere to sing, all the vajra on frontier would have made a beeline to her, and things would have been controllable (Ranka was in no danger whatsoever), but of course, there is no way for anyone (even Grace) to have known this. as a hive mind, the vajra dont have any idea that those kinds of feelings shouldnt be taken literally (they are reacting exactly like a beehive or ant colony, and they see her as a queen, to be obeyed and protected at all costs). this lack of understanding of the way humanoids think and feel is probably what led directly to the destruction of the 117th fleet... ie the vajra acted to protect ranka in reaction to a temper tantrum on her part, not understanding it for what it was. thats my thoughts anyway...

well... I do have to say it stung somewhat, but lets face it guys, while easily among the most GAR ways to go out, it is simply because it is so GAR that I could not shed a tear for Michel. especially when one considers it next to Gurren Lagann's ending... that brought me to tears, and still does every time I see it. michel died the death of a true warrior - successfully protecting his love and comrades (now I get broken up while writing this... talk about delayed reaction). Simon was the greater tragedy, as while he saved the world, and his love, he ultimately lost her by saving her - a loss so great that he was driven to disappear from the lives of everyone he knew - save boota - for what seems to be at least 10 years, with no end in sight. a greater Kobayashi Maru there cannot be (well... maybe, but it's damn hard to beat). Michel's end however does rival Kamina's... I felt that loss as well. all in all I tend to be affected more by endings like Gurren Lagann's, the original Gunbuster, or heroic age... Glory really made me cry, as did Apollo 13.

btw guys... I am not saying that michael will come back. it is possible, but highly unlikely - and if he does you can fully expect him to be a cyborg, because they would have had to replace his lungs at the very least. depending on how long he was exposed to vacuum, if he survived he might have varying degrees of brain damage up to and including serious motor function issues or amnesia, and there is no telling if he would ever be himself again. if he does come back that way, it might be doubly tragic in that klan might end up having to kill him a second time - highly likely if Grace gets her claws on him.

remember to check my post on page 14 concerning surviving vacuum exposure woohoo ownership of page 15 is mine!!!

actually, if he was 100% human, he would have about 30 seconds before he went unconscious, another 30 seconds tops before the alveoli in his lungs started to rupture, and perhaps one more minute before that damage would be irreversible - this has been proven by NASA testing back in the 60's and 70's. the results were pretty much constant, without regard to body mass, and it was found that attempting to hold one's breath under those conditions would only hasten the damage... forcibly exhaling was found to actually help for a few seconds. sorry to burst everyones bubble, but things like blood boiling, seeping thru the skin etc do not happen, although brief periods of exposure might subject one to a dangerous case of the bends, as nitrogen in the blood would escape thru the skin. the most dangerous thing to surviving vacuum exposure is the lung damage as even if the victim is returned to atmosphere, they would no longer be able to absorb oxygen - some kind of direct infusion would be required, and the human brain can survive for about 5 minutes without oxygen and not suffer critical damage. so, given that Michael is not fully human, it is possible that given his injuries he might be able to survive vacuum for perhaps as long as an uninjured human might - I wouldnt count on any more than that.

interesting... I dont remember that episode... I now must rewatch SDFM - been meaning to for a long time anyway.

please do not tempt the god called kawamori... me might just make it so

not to mention, still though this ep makes me seriously wonder what the hell LAI was thinking when they designed the ex-gear. it provides absolutely NO protection for the user's abdominals and thighs. granted, it was probably never intended to be more than a control interface and survival system for downed pilots... certainly not a frontline infantry combat suit.

maybe... will have to wait for translation. nope... oh...

but yeah... something tells me from watching this ep that: I hereby claim ownership of the 5th page.

wild thing is that given the state of technology in post-SW1 macross, there really is *no* need to suffer aging at all - at least the problems of aging itself. I would expect that the physical deterioration caused directly by aging would be treatable or outright cured by then, with people aging much more slowly if at all. this would likely mean that physical problems that accumulate over time would be due more to how the individual treats their bod, and not due to a built-in expiration date. it should be noted that meltrandi for example age *extremely* well, to the extent that if millia jenius is still alive and kicking in 2059, she is probably still fully able to have kids - and looks hot enough for most guys to want to try ^^.

I've posited elsewhere that miclone chambers probably work in a similar fashion to jump-clones in EvE Online, with the exception that the body being cloned from is likely destroyed in the process, and the range of the consciousness transfer is limited to the chamber itself. I do beleive however that eventually macross tech will overcome those issues eventually, since we humans are somewhat more inventive than the zentraedi were.

guys... did you even *see* my post on page 18??? thoughts?

I agree... HG is a royal PITA. thankfully they cant touch the original Macross mecha designs or charater names for this new robotech movie thats in the works, so all it would really take is a re-naming of Macross Zero to something else... perhaps Ataria Zero?

I too have major issues with the H264 codec - even on my relatively new ATI 2400HD video card I consistently lose audio sync due to video framerate slowdowns... a side effect of the H264 process demanding 100% of my CPU time - MKVs work just fine otherwise for me, and they have been my preferred wrapper for video media for quite some time. on to another observation I gleaned from this ep... it seems that both Ranka and Brera were able to communicate directly with the Vajra at some point before the destruction of the 117th fleet (I am assuming that the disaster happened at Gallia IV or closeby), but that Brera seems to have completely lost the ability due to his cyberization. if so, there may be another reason for the destruction of that fleet other than Grace's machinations, and that reason may in fact be the vajra looking to make the kids happy by fulfilling a wish made in anger. they wouldnt have any idea for example that if ranka in a tantrum made a wish that everybody who kept her mama away was dead, that that wish shouldnt be taken seriously... they would only know that a child that they considered one of their own was hurting, and that *the fleet* had caused it somehow - ergo vajra wipe out fleet trying to make her feel better. I hate to say it, but this scenario has a number of real world parallels... whole populations of towns have been wiped out because of a perceived crime against an individual.

you know... it wouldnt be terribly difficult to make a macross-like show now. and given BSGR's success at balancing out the action and drama aspects, it could be made believable - macro-zentran notwithstanding. to be honest, I would probably start with a live-action adaptation of Zero to test the waters. no huge risk, and only one giant alien to really worry about.

here it is: sorry I used the horribleraw for the screenshot, but I havent gotten the HD raw yet. on second inspection, it isnt identical, but the way the bang is set off with the clip/tie is certainly significant.

umm did anybody notice that during the dream sequence at the beginning of ep 19 chibi Ranka was wearing her hair in an almost exact copy of Mao Nome's, right down to the clip on the right Bang?

half the show is missing!

horrible has half a raw out lol

who wants to bet that Sheryl ends up hiring Ranka's former manager?