Tochiro

Despite a rip-roaring headache, managed to get in line early this morning for a chance to meet Kazutaka Miyatake. While the only item we were allowed to have signed was the exhibit book, it was a rare chance to meet the man since he seldom does events or public appearances.

Details were previously posted on the front page FYI. http://www.macrossworld.com/3014/macross-the-movie-gold-book-released-as-e-book-for-30th-anniversary/

Hidetaka Tenjin posted this pic today of his...er...pic. This is from the current Macross Original Art Exhibit in Ikebukuro. Imagine having this puppy on your wall! (A smaller framed version was available for 200,000yen or so). The good thing is, theres a full-page reprint of it in the exhibit booklet though. Save is going this weekend, so if you want to order a copy of the book hit him up asap!

Thats actually a fairly reasonable price IMO, especially given that its limited/web-exclusive. :-)

Why you gotta live in the past man? Accept Basara, embrace the space whales! It's the future!

August 15 here in Japan which can mean only one thing ..... HAPPY BIRTHDAY BASARA!

@West - kudos on the summary of the good points of the series! Very well done!

Pterobat - some great comments there! Thanks for taking the time out to post them! I think you've touched on an important point in a roundabout way - the mecha. This cast was a room full of male mecha fans, which is therefore where a lot of the participants experience and ways of identifying and interacting with the franchise lies. I have a question though - as a non-Japanese Macross fan, what was your experience with the fandom back when you first got into it? Did you find it to be mostly male in its makeup? The artstyle and presentation I'll definately agree with you on. Thematicaly though, has it really? I mean, isnt each iteration just a re-balancing of those 3 core elements of love triangle, music, and transformable fighter jets? I think that the problem for long-term fans (and keep in mind that our guests werent as well versed in Frontier as they could have been) is that in the tv series of Frontier Alto is pretty much a non-entity as a protagonist. He's just there. he doesnt do all that much AS a protagonist (although he definately has a character arc). Compared to someone like Basara, Alto just seems a little meh (then again, who wouldnt?). Even compared to Hikaru, who wasnt exactly the most gung-ho, pro-active kinda guy, Alto seems bland. He is also a bit of a fake-out since the real main characters are unquestionably Sheryl and Ranka. The older women comments are just as much a part of the influence of Japanese culture on Milia as omiai is imo. 90's Japan was a place where the term 'Christmas Cake' was still very much used publicly by the media in regards to women - after 25 no one wants you and the only way you will move off the shelf is if you are heavily discounted. Compared to this mindset I think that Milia was positively empowered and forward-thinking for the time. Sorry you feel this way because the feel of a conversation at a pub is exactly what we were going for and is pretty much exactly what we got. It's not something I'd want to do every podcast, but given the wide spectrum of backgrounds that the participants came from, I knew it was going to be impossible to have a single unified (sober) discussion. That's what bringing Matt Alt into a podcast does - it adds a bit of anarchy. He really is like the Joker when it comes to having a discussion - you never know whether he is going to suddenly bring up Crusher Joe or whether he intends to blow up a hospital. Or just randomly yell SEX! But never, ever catch a ferry with the guy. In all seriousness though, getting Matt and Patrick on was a huge deal imo. I frequently read Patricks stuff in academic publications and I'm more accustomed to seeing Matt on TV than in person (I almost appeared in a movie with him once but unfortunately other factors intervened). Both are somewhat legends in the realm of anime culture/studies. Granted, this didnt make for the best MACROSS podcast, but it did make for a fun listen imo. Future episodes will be more structured, although my general policy when it comes to podcasts (both this one and the Japanese videogame one I used to do) is that we will never ever follow a 100% set structure on a topic that anyone can learn about by looking it up online. Thats something that any fanboi with a skype connection can do and tends to result in podcasts that are devoid of spontaneity, personality or fun imo (and theres a billion out there just like that!) . It's sort of like the difference between playing a game online compared to playing a game with friends on the same couch - its the couch that tends to result in the most fun, unusual discoveries, and fond memories. Having said this, we DID cover some more serious stuff this episode - did you look at the time stamps? I recommend giving the second half of part 2 a try - we talk about recent news and give some impressions from the theatrical screening of DYRL. These things are normally put at the beginning of the cast for people who just want the facts/more serious stuff but (as explained in the cast) had to be left at the end of this cast due to the chaos that was Matt and Patrick (it took every spare minute I had for three weeks to work the recording into something more...listenable, lol Personally though, I thought that Patricks 'Ultimate Idol' theory was a pretty interesting take on several of the Macross characters.

Fixed, thanks.

The sheer chaos of it all!!! Listen at your own risk! MACROSS SPEAKERPODCAST EPISODE 5 - WE GOT MALTED! http://www.macrossworld.com/2947/speakerpodcast-episode-5-we-got-malted/

No, it's just the flyer for the exhibit, sorry. Basically it has most of the content from the exhibit printed in it with the exception of the fan-art. As such it's approx. 50% Macross F (tv and movies) and 50% all other Macross series. Pictures are not 1-per-page, they are more of a collage. Theres not all that much in the way of new art for the older series (some great pencil art from the key visuals of the Mac F movies though) but overall its a nice collection at a decent price and even comes with a CD that has the audio walkthrough of the exhibit - so its almost like being there!

Aaaaaand..the LTTP award goes to...(drumroll)....RENATO! http://www.macrosswo...y-news-updates/ (I kid, I kid!) Thats...a Wednesday :-( But I suppose a lot of people are on Obon holidays. I hope lots of people can go. Me, I'm hoping to see Miyatake-san on Sunday :-)

Latest email from Yamato - Price will be announced August 17th. Official preorders will open on August 20th.

Save and I hit up The Macross Original Art Exhibition today. Full impressions to follow but I've gotta say that the official exhibit book is terrific and features a lot of good illustrations for a reasonable price! It's not pictured below although the other swag I picked up most certainly is :-)

Well, I won't post a pic of the doujin I got at Comic Market, since Bariaburu Faita beat me to it (a big thanks to the man for carrying all my copies around - it was darn hot too!) so heres one of some of the other stuff I picked up :-)

Pamphlets from the The Macross Original Art Exhibition. Only 9 weeks to go!

Trailer featuring...the logo, for what its worth... http://www.macross30.com/fb7/movie.html

Its a stage musical. http://www.macrossworld.com/2690/30th-anniversary-news-updates/ http://www.macrossworld.com/2581/macross-musicalture-cast-and-character-design-announced-dates-given/

As Sketchley noted in the round up of news from todays Newtype Ace, MACROSS CARNIVAL 30 is being held at Aeon Mall yamatokoriyama from Aug 11-15 and will include a stamp rally and a merchandise store among other things. Eek, my Sunday just got busy ^^; Edit: No...wait..its hours away in Nara....to hell with that! lol

BD box announced. No word on whether it will contain the same subtitles that the stream had though: http://ameblo.jp/ozuma-anime/entry-11288874833.html

Chapter 3 BD is now up for preorder at Amazon. As usual. preordering knocks a good 2000yen off the price :-) http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B008CJAXRG/ref=pe_38632_35391742_pe_vfe_dt1

Well first of all, I was replying to Jet Jockeys question. Having said that, the fact that the FB2012 would be an upscale was reported here on Macross World way back on March 23: http://www.macrosswo...ndpost&p=964626 Similarly, MW was the first site in the world (as far as I know) to report on the edits directly from the theatrical screening. This was also a couple of weeks before the BD release and was put on the front page. http://www.macrosswo...od-and-the-bad/ If you wanted to wait and see the quality for yourself well i'm sorry but that was your choice. A lot of ppl here did their utmost to get all possible information disseminated as it became available so that ppl knew what they would be getting. The result was a cancellation window of several months (based on FB2012 upscale news) or 2 weeks (based on report of edits). The information was out there and some people did use this as reason to cancel their preorders. I am in no way condoning the edits made to the movie and am sorry you are unhappy with your purchase. All I am saying is that information about what to expect did exist prior to the BD release.

Ranka & Sheryl cosplayers score a pic in an article in the Japan Times. http://www.japantime...20120807vf.html

Bandai said back when they announced details of the set that FB2012 would be an upscale because the original material/print was no longer available. No idea whether it was lost, destroyed or simply discarded. Either way, this was announced early on (and noted in these forums) so I think it's reasonable to say that those who preordered the box knew what they were getting.

Its an item for THIS: http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=36654