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I totally understand that. Heck, that was my attitude in high school and university, and as soon as I was able to get a decent job after I completed post-secondary was when I went back and started buying series from my VHS fansub collection that I really liked on DVD. That said, a sale is a sale, which is probably why BV hasn't gone after anyone outside of their market who's imported it as they're well within their rights if they're only technically allowed to sell the stuff in Japan (Hollywood would do it, but they've got loads of $$ to begin with). It's too bad they don't track sales from overseas; that way, the rights holders could see just how many sales come from outside of Japan. If they had access to that metric, and people in NA knew about it, then if even 5-10% of current sales were to come from NA, it might persuade some of those people that yes, there is a market over here for this stuff, and numbers could potentially be higher due to something as simple as an accessibility issue. If people over here knew that their purchases made an impact, then I'm sure more people would purchase just to make a point. I love Macross Frontier a lot, and I'll openly admit that it's the first ever series that I've ever imported from Japan. These Blu-rays are bloody expensive, and I've had to make some sacrifices to make it work, but if that's what it takes to show them that people care about this stuff, then so be it. Personally, I would love to be able to purchase it over here with proper translations, and spend any money I'd save on the toys, but until someone gets the message that people are willing to purchase this stuff outside of Japan (and HG goes the way of the dodo), this is the reality we have to live with.

People's sense of entitlement sometimes disgusts me. "They're not making it available in my language (or my country), so I see no reason to pay for any of it" is essentially what it boils down to, most of the time. I can totally understand that die-hard Macross fans will do whatever it takes to watch this show in a form that they can understand. But if this series ever makes it outside of Japan, OR if one has the means to do so (and I realize that some simply don't), for crying out loud, support this show by purchasing the merchandise! Even if it's just a stupid key chain (legally licensed, of course). Otherwise, those sorts of people are nothing but thieves (or hypocrites) and are hurting Big West, the creators, those who worked on the show, and are probably preventing more stuff from being made. Family Guy, Farscape, and Futurama are just some of the many examples where shows that got cut off were given new life in one form or another because fans supported the shows. So those who would say "my money would make no difference" can't really use that as an excuse; purchasing Macross merchandise now could spur more productions sooner rather than later. Edit: Just to be clear, I'm not targeting anyone in particular; more of a rant on the one of the many attitudes that seem to be contributing to the decline of the North American anime industry as a whole. It's just that I've noticed that a lot of people seem to think they're entitled to having quick and easy access to stuff, and have no interest in paying for it, whether it's easily accessible across the Pacific or not (and that's the real sad part; the thing is available and they still choose not to buy it). For example, many of the series that were brought over here and were ultimately canceled could probably have been saved if just 10% or more of those who had downloaded a copy had just bought the series when it was released. I was quite surprised to hear that avg sales of anime DVDs for the NA market usually number in the thousands (likely) or tens of thousands (if you're lucky). Compare that to tens or even hundreds of thousands (millions?) of downloads for any given series. Yes, Virginia, your $$ do make a difference! Support the series that you like folks!

Just like in real life! (I kid, I kid)

I managed to beat it somehow by using Max's default pilot skill to stop time (press square and cross when all six SP gauges are full), get close and spam her with Max's rapid missiles and gunpod until time starts moving again. If she isn't dead by that, run like hell and just try to snipe with the gunpod or missle spam her and her cronies. The best I can manage to get is a B on that stage as the second part is really difficult. If anyone has better ideas on how to quickly and efficiently kill her, I'm all ears.

I chose both because the poll let me!

This was so good. Already watched it 5 times and I can't stop. It's been a fantastic ride, and I'm still basking in the afterglow. Will definitely finish collecting the Blu-rays. Already have the first three ordered. I like how they "ended" the triangle: with Triangler! Together: "Who are you going to kiss?" Ranka: "Me?" Together: "or" Sheryl: "Me?" Pick one Alto, goddammit!!!

Just noticed that Alto's NUNS call sign was Sagittarius-1. So it looks like Sagittarius WILL be late! (cue rimshot...) And did anyone else get Sara Nome vibes when they saw Ranka chained up? I honestly thought she'd start pointing to Valkyries and say "kadun."

Oh, and by the way, I'm sure Alto's just "acting" dead... And I think I finally know the reason why so many VF-171s were shown to be blown up; they needed to build up the stock footage for this episode!

There's way too much good stuff here to mention. If I was live blogging this, you would have seen my jaw on the floor when Ranka started singing THAT song (and really liked this version too: ai oboete imasu ka ~ bless the little queen). I think it's quite obvious that Leon doesn't care about anyone; why would anyone order Island 1 into the battle? When Max was Captain of Battle 7, he'd do his darnest to ensure that City 7 didn't see any harm. What a prick. And absolutely loved the next episode preview. What a nice touch. This has been a great ride and I look forward to seeing how it all ends.

Probably. If you look at the original series, all the episode titles were English words except for the last one. Frontier seems to be doing the same, at least on the surface. Of course, they've been borrowing from the past and putting on twists of their own, so really, who knows what'll happen post ep 25.

Yeah, but to be fair, Hikaru also has a different seiyuu in both the Super Robot Wars and Another Century's Episode series. I think Kawamori just has a preference not to bring back Hikaru.

It's all lies and manipulation by Leon. Like they say, if you want to fool someone, hide a lie in a truth; makes it easier to swallow. Most of the information he gave at the beginning was probably correct; he probably fibbed a bit when it came to Ranka's intentions.

Exactly my point. People never knew North America existed until they "discovered" it, yet it always has been there for hundreds of years. So it's probably the same with the fold crystals. They've existed for a very, very long time. And yes, the Macross Zero retcon does bring up those questions. They could come from the Vajra alone, or maybe other species can produce it. In the gg sub of ep 23, it was revealed that the Vajra take resources from asteroids and create it themselves. Who's to say that the protoculture didn't have the technology to refine those minerals into fold crystals, similar to what we can do with turning iron ore into steel? Hopefully, those questions will be answered in the upcoming episodes; if not, then I don't know why Kawamori would do the retcon in the first place.

Just because they were recently "discovered" doesn't mean that they didn't exist back then. Kind of like how the Europeans "discovered" North America. Didn't necessarily mean that the continent just magically appeared when they set foot on it...

Nothing but scans of Japanese text. There's a small picture of Sheryl in her beret outfit looking pissed, but that's about it. Nothing really special or spoiler worthy (unless you can read Japanese, that is).

Their fansubs, their rules? They are a speed subber; lots of other groups out there who provide avis. Personally, I don't mind. They do this stuff for free and on their own time. Why should I complain? Like I said, lots of other groups out there.

Well, I think it's safe to assume that we now know the reason why Grace switched her blood samples; she wanted Sheryl to get to this point. If the Frontier medical staff could detect the V-type infection earlier, they may have been able to treat it, which would have wrecked Grace's experiment. Not that it matters anymore now that they were able to find Ranka. Still, it should be interesting. Ranka and Sheryl can now act as human walkie-talkies.

I know for a fact that a comparison shot was posted here, but I can't find it any more. The second-to-last page in News Thread III has the original DVD shot. If you Google for Macross zero blu-ray earrings, one of the first hits will have the altered image that appears on the Blu-ray release with the earrings added in.

Most likely the fold quartz was always around, just somewhere along the way, someone saw something shiny lying on the ground and decided to make a pair of earrings out of it and then it was passed down as a family heirloom. Am really looking forward to how they tie this into the plot of Zero. They've given hints in Frontier already and pulled a George Lucas with the Blu-ray release of Zero by adding those earrings in. Hopefully, Frontier will give Zero better closure than it originally got.

Heck, they've already made YF-19 and YF-21 3D models for All That VF, so who knows, maybe we'll get some Macross Plus representation as well!

I asked this question in the ep 22 thread, but figured this would be a better place to ask it. In ep 22, the VF-171s that Luca and Alto were flying were transmitting Skull 3 and 4's IFF. I thought a particular IFF was tied to the fighter and not the pilot. Can anyone explain this? Is an IFF signal being emitted by their flight suits or EX-gears? A particular pilot log in? Or is it the power of plot?

So if what Kawamori said is true and that Frontier is supposed to receive a culture shock of their own, does this mean Wilder=Breetai and Leon=Bodolza? And I'm kind of confused on how Luca and Alto could be broadcasting Skull 3 & 4's IFF if they weren't in their VF-25s? I thought IFF signals were tied to the hardware, and in this case their fighters? Or are they tied into their SMS flight suits (which makes no sense to me, but what do I know)?

I voted positive, but don't agree that the Vajra need to be MDE'ed. That privilege should be reserved for Leon, Grace, and Galaxy.

Or...Bobby.

I love all the homages to other anime series this show has! First, we have Klan and then Ai-kun Love it! Here's hoping for a "kill'em all" Tomino-type, Ideon-style ending to cap it all off!