Tochiro

From the front page: http://www.macrossworld.com/1510/namco-bandai-announces-vf-1-skins-for-ace-combat-assault-horizon/

In other 30th Anniversary news, Namco-bandai will release VF-1 skins for the latest Ace Combat! http://andriasang.com/con09r/ace_combat_macross/

May'n is doing an image song for the upcoming game Onimusha Soul. Game looks appaling. May'ns new look however, doesnt ;-) http://www.oni-soul.jp/special/mayn/

Be my guest :-) Now that I've thought about it, its really the only 1:1 thing they could do indoors. Battroid would be too tall for the venue they've selected plus they would need holes in the ground for support posts (much like the 1:1 Gundam did). A Fighter Valk would just be... well nowhere near as unique or exciting. Gerwalk is unique and doesnt need as much vertical support so it is kinda the logical choice. Have been going over the details on the Macross 30 site during the odd spare minute at work - The Shibuya exhibition (1:1 Valk is at Ikebukuro) will have cells, sketches and some sort of new collaborative artwork among other things. And just think - these are just the events for the first half of the year! :-)

Just announced minutes ago via the Macross F fanclub newsletter (er...email)… the events that are to be held for Macross 30th Anniversary are: (1) ‘Miss Macross 30’ contest. (2) A Macross musical (3) Macross 30th Anniversary Exhibition – MACROSS: THE DESIGN (to be held from April 26th at Shibuya Parco) (4) 30th Anniversary Macross Exhibition ~ Valkyrie de sasotte! (to be held from April 28) UPDATE - This will be held in Ikebukuro and will apparently feature a 1:1 scale VF-25 Valkyrie in Gerwalk mode. Further information in Japanese just went live at the Macross 30 website. EDIT: Interesting timing, considering that Newtype Ace goes on sale tomorrow. I wonder if it will have any additional information ...hmmmmmm.....

Some nice ones there guys. keep 'em coming!

Well, with the 30th Anniversary upon us, I was wondering whether there was anything, as a fan with about as much artistic talent as a brick, I could do to contribute. It just so happened that I assisted in an interview of Hidetaka Tenjin for Starblazers.com recently (some pics can be found here, but the actual interview text most likely won’t go up for another month) and I found myself thinking – you know, there’s never been a good, comprehensive interview with Tenjin about Macross in English. Then, just last week, a book on Kawamori was announced that will feature a 20-hr interview. That’s when I decided to look into doing a good, decent length (but not 20hrs!) interview with Tenjin. I was originally thinking about a podcast but decided that text would allow for a piece of greater depth, especially since there might be some switching between languages if we tried a podcast. (However the latest episode of Macross SpeakerPODcast is ready to go, I just need to look at hosting options now that Megaupload is gone) Anyways I’ve contacted Tenjin and have gotten the greenlight to start putting questions together. And that is where YOU come in! Since this is a 30th Anniversary project, I want it to be a chance for the MW community to have as much input as possible. So, if there is anything you’ve wanted to ask Tenjin please post your questions here. Heck, if theres a message or anything you want to just convey to him, feel free to post it below. Please keep the appropriateness of questions in mind when you submit them. Naturally I won’t be asking about personal relations/feuds between staff members, unsubstantiated rumours, the man’s personal life, etc. Also, there isn’t much point in asking about projects he hasn’t had anything to do with (*cough*Macross 2*cough*). Also be aware that I will be filtering and/or tweaking submitted questions if I think they are inappropriate. If I need to clarify anything I will PM the author of the question in..er..question directly. I plan to keep this thread going for approx. 4 weeks, starting today, before starting work on tweaking, translating and putting together additional reference material So, in a nutshell for the tl;dr crowd – Got questions that you’d like to ask Hidetaka Tenjin? Post em below!

Ask and you shall recieve ;-) Actually that promotional stand shot was taken by me - i wasnt aware that that site was using it without my permission, sigh. Not that I mind that much its just that I got into an argument with security (strictly no pictires - of that standee only) so it would be nice to get some credit. Anyways, mahoroba is due to be a theatrical anime -I was at the event that it was announced at. I threw some notes together based on what little information was forthcoming and thrw a report togther along with a friend and drinking buddy (Anton Kholodov- the model for the new Dessler character design in Yamato 2199). The report starts approx. 1/3 down the page: http://www.starblaze...php?page_id=663 I have some more pics at home. they arent the greatest quality since many were taken on the sly, but theres one or two more of the robot and character designs. I'll try to put a few up after work today. Since that event theres been no further news on the project which I find a little disturbing. I really hope it doesnt get cancelled because it has some of the most diverse character designs I've seen him do since Dai-yamato Zero-go (apsolutely appaling cheaply made animation with terrible CG but damn the character designs were great!). But with the Leiji Matsumoto Ozma OVA, the CG Captain Harlock and Mahoroba, the next 2 years are looking pretty damn good for Matsumoto fans :-) (oh, I managed to get Itabashi's autograph too!) Its a smallish pic, but heres a better view of the cutout of the mahoroba and the robot

Madman does bring out some unexpected stuff sometimes - Australia got all the japan-only transformers series on DVD years ago while the US is still playing catchup. Their Macross DVD boxset was awesome - and very affordable. It was sub only yet featured some of that notorious Tommy Yune art on the covers of the DVDs themselves. The box was gorgeous though. Unfortunately for the rest of the world though, their Blurays are always region locked. As for the Macross blu boxset - as I've said before, I'm all-in, although with the combined discounts I have lined up it will be for only a fraction of the RRP ;-) Can't wait to see that Pachinko footage on a decent sized screen :-)

Actually they were a little hard to take pics of because they were busy passing pamphlets out as people came in. Having said that, I've seen some good Yuki's in the past ;-) (I swear I should water mark these things!) (↑Taken at an arcade show a few years back) (↑Taken at a pachinko machine launch event) Actually I dont. As that article states I'm a correspondent for the website from time to time. Having said that, from personal experience/knowledge, the nostalgia in the West is for Starblazers (not Yamato) and that has been released as a boxset. Heck, no publisher in the US was even interested in Resurrection or the live action movie (which only Australia and Russia have gotten so far) because they dont think they will sell, so I cant see any way that releasing the original series outside of Japan would be a viable financial proposal, even without any potential lingering rights issues that may or may not exist. But if you are familiar enough with the story to not need subs (and by this point, who isnt?) the season 1 blu-ray boxset comes out in Japan this year and is the same region as the US. Its also a great way to show support for the franchise :-) Thanks for the kind words! As for forums - not really, Starblazers.com doesnt have a community section. Its more like a chronicle of all available information regarding Yamato over the years, handled more or less exclusively by Tim Eldred (who puts a heck of a lot of time in on the site) with some input from people who can translate, attend events when he isnt able to make to Japan, etc). Actually, I'd really like to get some sort of permanent index for event reports/reviews happening here on MW. And by that I mean actually hosted - the Events page hasnt been updated since 2006 and many of the report event links are sadly broken.

Heres a writeup of the Launch Ceremony I did: http://www.starblazers.com/html.php?page_id=679

Well, it looks like everyone will get to see episode 1 fairly quickly at least :-) http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-03-01/yamato-2199-no.1-previewed-on-tv-on-april-6

Niiiice! Am hoping to pick this up myself next payday. Saw the Bluray Box 2nd hand for 9000yen last weekend. Very tempting :-) Between this, the Macross box, the Yamato season 1 box, the yamato 2199 blurays and the Escaflowne box, my anime spending budget for the next 3 years or so is accounted for ^^;

Not enough information on this to post on the front page yet IMO so I'm putting it here. Details have just emerged on a new book coming out on April 17: 'Shoji Kawamori - The Viewpoint of a Visual Creator.' The book will be 192pages in length and include input from Tenjin, Yoko Kanno, satellite CG team, Risa Ebata, etc. Features will include (what I presume will be an editted transcript of) a 20 hr interview with Kawamori, the origins of his ideas, his history with the medium of anime, vision for the future, etc. Preorders are up on Amazon Japan.

Small correction- those that have seen it were only treated to episode 1 at a special Launch Ceremony. No theatrical screenings start until April 7. Keep an eye on starblazers.com for my full report soon. :-)

Good thing Ill be catching the theatrical screenings, since theres a bit of a wait until a broadcast happens! http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-02-27/yamato-2199-not-planned-for-tv-until-2013-or-later

'Some' being the key word apparently, since theres already 66 replies in the Yamato 2199 thread. And having seen the first episode of 2199 I can offer only my opinion that it is done as near to perfect as a remake can be (for the first episode at least).

No need for SW vs SW debates because we all know that Andromeda was by far the greatest SF series of all time ;-) Damnit now I have this mental image of Kevin Sorbo popping up on the Enterprise and asking all the female crew if theyve seen his FORCE LANCE .....

I've expressed my view on this above - I think a remake could be good if done well. I'f so, I'd be first in line to see it. And with yamato and Gundam remakes already in the pipeline, I wouldnt be all that surprised if some sort of remake did happen. Having said this, the only logical conclusion I can come up with is that a remake is far from a foregone conclusion as you seem to presume. Keep in mind the following factors: (1) Money - BW doesnt have anywhere near the money that Bandai has. HD remakes arent cheap and without a large established fanbase or NEW figures/mecha to make toys of theres little chance of recouping said money. One possibility could be a new type of business model like Yamato 2199 is using - try to make back money at cinema and via bluray.DVD first, then look for a tv broadcast. But theres nothing to indicate that BW is that progressive in its thinking. Nor that the model will actually work since younger fans will most likely just pirate the blurays, leaving the burden of supporting the franchise on the much smaller old series fanbase. (2) Nostalgia - The nostalgia factor is key in a remake. Yamato is known to pretty much every single Japanese person on the face of the planet, regardless of whether or not they have actually watched it. Gundam is well known enough that it has accounted for over 50% of all plastic model kit sales for 30 years. Macross does NOT have that sort of nostalgia/name recognition factor. Its only in the last few yars that I've come across anyone other than hardcore fans who knew what Macross is. And even then, all they had heard of was Frontier. (3) Knee-jerk reaction - Bandai hadnt originally planned to animate Gundam the Origin. Notice the distinct lack of news since it was announced? thats because Bandai did it while in damage control mode - fan reaction to Gundam Age designs was so negative (one guy at my office was actually cradling his head in his hands when he saw the character designs while saying that Gundam was probably 'over.') that Bandai knew they had to do something to distract them as quickly as possible. Frontier, on the other hand, was generally well-recieved. People liked it and undoubtedly want more stuff of a similar nature. A remake wouldnt cater to their needs. (4) New fanbase - Speaking of which, the new fanbase is primarily young and hasnt watched the original. They place a lower emphasis on mecha and action and want more new songs and pretty looking characters and drama. A faithful remake wouldnt cater to their tastes and wouldnt make anywhere near the money that Frontier did. (5) Resources - Satellite is tied up with Moretsu Pirates, Aquarion Evol and (by far the biggest project they have ever done) Akiba 48. If a remake WERE to happen, it wouldnt be in the forseeable future unless they underwent a sudden expansion of their studio 8then theres the concerns regarding quality that this would inherrently bring with it). (6) Kawamori - quite possibly the biggest hurdle would be Kawamori himself. He has said on several occassions that he dislikes doing the same thing over and over - to the point that he has refused to revisit the original SDFM characters despite fans hounding him for more for 30 straight years now. With this in mind, i can't see him being all that interested in wanting to remake the entire original series. As I noted above, in the long-run a remake is probable but in the immediate short term it just seems to have too many factors stacked against it. personally I'd rather that they finish The First and then look at a remake so we could potentially have a longer (50eps?) series that fleshes some things out more fully. But hey, thats just me.

Way to link the one page on Starblazers.com that has a picture of me on it! lol.

Actually the Directors Cut fixes the movie quite a bit in terms of narrative resolution. the Black Hole isnt a gateway to hell. takes earth away with it somewhere towards the center of the galaxy, and the Yamato sets off in persuit. Meanwhile, the 1/3 of humanity that were relocated survive. (Oh and they cut the naked Yuki scene.) I think the politics of Resurrection would have been less of an issue had the originally planned trilogy actually been made and therefore allowed the plot and setting to find its originality. But like some others here I was more than willing to turn a blind eye to the obvious real world parallels just to see more, new Yamato! Personally, having grown up with blue space Nazis, Nishizaki's politics are neither surprising nor do they disturb me much. But then again when I was in highschool we had anti-American cultural imperialism lectures, so what would I know? lol. FYI, Yamato 2199 is different creative staff but still has backing from Enagio (the company behind resurrection an holders of the IP) if I remember correctly. Having said that, The series isnt listed on their website. Intriguing. ...THEY CUT THE NAKED YUKI SCENE!!!!!!!!!

I dont think the idea of a remake is necessarily a bad thing - IF its done right. Having just watched the first ep of Yamato 2199 I can say without hesitation that THAT is a show that knows what key elements to keep and what to change in order to update it for a new generation. But the show also has a LOT of hardcore yamato fans involved - and the love and knowledge really comes through. The real litmus test will be the anime adaptation of Gundam the Origin imo, since its a much bigger property with many more hands in the pot, so to speak. On a technical level, the Macross pachinko/pachislot footage proved that it can be made with more modern animation techniques (heck, the animated intro to the SS/PS1 DYRL game proved this more than anything imo) and personally I feel that a remake can exist just fine alongside the original (the new Fist of the North Star movies didnt stop people from rewatching the original series, after all. Similarly, no-one is saying Evangelion tv is irrelevant just because the Rebuilds exist). Whether or not its financially viable...well, thats a completely different kettle of fish.

I managed to attend the launch Ceremony for the new Yamato 2199 series last weekend - a full report will hopefully be up over at Starblazers.com in April. They actually showed us episode 1 in its entirity and damn I was impressed. The latest trailer for the series can be found here: http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/mpd/permalink/m3KWXF9VEKY89B/ref=ent_fb_link?pf_rd_p=110850949&pf_rd_s=center-4&pf_rd_t=1401&pf_rd_i=3077270796&pf_rd_m=AN1VRQENFRJN5&pf_rd_r=128ZWFJHSG1X8QNB634E

This pic was taken by a Macross fan on twitter today - he spotted a car with some small Macross Frontier decals.

Nice write up! Darn this brings back some memories. Heart & Soul Is one of the greatest (and most underrated) Mac 7 songs ever IMO. Was a personal favorite of a friend and I when we were in high school (came across it on one of those Son May bootleg anime song compilations - one of the 96 ones I believe) to the point that we managed to get pulled over by the cops while blasting it in the car one night. Ahhhh good times and the power of BOMBAAAA! Speaking of which, Pedro wasn't that bad, surely. I remember thinking he was unnecessary, but hey he hit to play jumping castle with Emilia's jubblies which means at the age of 3 he was already more of a man than any of us could ever hope to be. You also neglected to mention that Emilia's guitar is the most awesome thing ever! I SO wanted to make one of those in science class... Just out of curiosity,bid you always know t was Mica Okudoi who did Emilia's singing voice? Because as far as I know it was a fairly well kept secret until Gubaba dragged the information out of some oldskool Japanese Macross fans at a bar a year or two ago.