Bri

Short/funny summary I just saw of the tanker situation: (I don't think anyone here has mentioned that Northrop/EADS just withdrew)

The USAF has tankers that are size A.

The USAF wants to replace tankers of size A with new tankers that are size A.

The infrastructure supports tanker size A.

The RFP goes out for tanker size A.

Boeing offers tanker size A.

Airbus offers tanker size B.

The govt picks tanker size B.

Boeing complains that tanker size B was not what the RFP requested and therefore the process was flawed (this is correct)

The govt. reissues the RFP for tanker size A.

Boeing offers tanker size A.

Airbus says we're taking our ball home ... it's unfair ...

Except it was the airforce that selected tanker size B and Nothrop pulling out leaving EADS without a partner which is conveniently ignored. The outcome has little to do with the foreign connection, just check the political color of the states where the production of each tanker is planned and it becomes clear why Nothrop knows it has no chance. EADS is bound to use this result to bury the WTO claim against Airbus. Got to love the drama in these games.

I wish Canaan was part of the Nasuverse, she already has her own variation of "Mystic Eyes"

Not to mention Shiki and Alphard can exchange tips on single handed combat

Is Canaan any good? I have the series at home, and i've been debating whether to start watching it.

Canaan is certainly not bad and was pretty much the best animated TV series of 2009. The game on which it is based, 428, has a Type Moon origen, so expect darker and edgier storytelling. It's like an 80's OVA, lot of violence and fanservice with a decent plot.

We need to also be careful to distinguish between consistence inconsistencies and inconsistent inconsistencies.

If a source other than the anime is consistent in its' presentation of the anime's inconsistencies, then the inconsistencies of said source are consistent with the anime's inconsistencies, and therefore the source IS consistent despite its' inconsistencies, since those inconcistencies are consistent with the anime's inconsistencies.

However, if a source other than the anime is inconsistent in its' presentation of the anime's inconsistencies, then it has introduced a new layer of inconsistencies that is not consistent with the inconsistencies of the original anime, and therefore said source is truly inconsistent not because it's simply inconsistent but because its' inconsistency varies gravely from the inconsistencies of Macross itself.

Pete

Hmm, Sir Humphrey or Bernard?

Thanks for the info Bri. Of the stores listed I've only dealt with Amazon.co.jp, do you have one you like best or are they all pretty good.

I really would like to see this movie, it would be my first Macross Frontier experience as I haven't seen the TV series.

Your welcome, personally I really like CDJapan, good number of shipping options, nice website and fast customer service. Their coupon discounts are a bit of a hassle but not bad.

HMV is my backup for DVD/BR as they only offer EMS, but they work out at much more favorable rates for me then Amazon. They are my number one choice for artbooks and manga. Never had dealing with their customer service. Website takes a bit of getting used to.

I agree with David, its a very interesting article. Vested interests within an organisation clashing with new developments.

I was wondering how much the blu-ray for the Macross Frontier Movie was going to cost when it is released, anyone have a estimate?

Also where would the best place be to purchase the movie when it comes out?

Thanks

A lot of anime Blu-rays sell new around 7000 yen (around $77 current exchange rates). If it's a limited edition expect at least 2000-3000 more. Shipping not included.

When announced should be available at least through:

CDJapan, Amazon.co.jp, HMV Japan and Yesasia, all have english sections.

A Macross Gnerl would be my nr 1 choice.

Mospeada Inbid Iiagaa and Gurab second

SDC Southern Cross Sylphide fighter third

Don't think anyone doubts the ability of the F-35 to replace the F-16... it's the fact that it's going to have to pick up slack in replacing the F-15 since there's been continued downdrawing of the F-22. Do you think the USAF has more F-15 than it really needs? That's the only possible satisfactory answer... unless you really think an F-35 can take the place of an F-15... Much less the A-10, F-117, etc.

Interesting question but difficult to say. The F15 was built in numbers to deal with the soviet airforce of its day. There is no hostile airfoce of that size left, so there could be quite a bit of excess capability that is no longer needed.

Uh, that's exactly what leadership is supposed to be doing. You have to win the fights you're in, sure, but you also have to plan for the future lest you get hit with a Pearl Harbor and get sacked from your command and your name and reputation scorned for decades.

True, but it's hard to predict how future conflicts will be fought and which technologies will be essential. Pearl and the Pacific war showed that the number of battleships on each side didn't matter in the end.

The New Year's has just rolled around, you have 3 big financial goals - one of which is to buy a new car. You really need a new car, because well A) your current vehicle won't last the year, it's about to literally fall apart and B) in this fictitious Universe, a really expensive car boosts the owner's attractiveness towards the opposite sex by 1000%. But then disaster strikes, you loose your job. However, you must still find a way to achieve your 3 goals.

You must also still get a new car, because a car is a necessity to live your life. So what's the best option? Don't buy the Beamer you were hoping for, but buy a cheaper family sedan. In this path, you will have met your objective that now you have a safe vehicle that is not falling apart, but you will not get the prestige bonus of driving a beamer.

You know, this analogy made me think about how to fit in the B-52...hmm...You can't afford the beamer, don't want to be caught dead in a sedan, so what's left? Grab your granddads 1955 Coupe de Ville and ace all 3 goals!

I think this is difficult to discuss without bringing in "external factors" not related to the military, namely that the Federal government is not exactly in the best financial shape right now. But yes, in a bubble where there are no constraints we should over 9000 F-22's!11!!!

Even without considering politics. I can imagine that more high tech air superiority fighters are considered a lower priority for the military when they have to deal with two guerilla style conflicts that put more pressure on ground forces.

I think perhaps the car's greatest handicap, the thing that holds it back so to speak, is its name though. Koenigsegg just doesn't roll off the tongue well. And any name with "egg" in it doesn't exactly inspire awe and admiration, eh?

Dunno, rebadging it as Kings edge doesn't sound much better either.

I'm sure Clint Eastwood is too old to nick it now.

Watching Kampfer, I don't even know why. It's painful but I can't take my eyes away!

That show is so wrong on so many levels, it has no right to be so entertaining as it is.

Two weeks is a fairly normal time for SAL without tracking. But as Big F said in Europe the only real option is online stores.

It's annoying that the more expensive stuff like Yamato and Bandai Chogokin valks nearly always end up being send with a traceable method. Easy pickings for customs.

I've bought the 1.01 R1 DVD, but going to replace it soon with the BRs of 1.11 and 2.22. Hope Gainax will continue with the artbooks, the Eva 1.0 Collected version was pretty insane.

The 187 number includes strategic reserves for just that situation, and the Russians will have to deal with the same issues (newer aircraft generally have to deal with teething issues that lower MC rates). But again this whole argument is moot since any direct conflict between the US and Russia would go Nuclear very quickly, turning both fleets into so much air pollution.

I guess thats part of the problem with fifth generation aircraft. No enemy on the horizon any time soon to justify their existence. I would think the Navy made the right bet to invest in a single type of craft with relative young airframes, they can just wait and see if and when they are going to need a replacement.

Remember, the bit about the "undeserved bad rap" was for the Army of the Southern Cross, not the series Southern Cross, just demonstrating why Robotech fans have no interest in hovertanks, Logans, and AGACs either.

Fair enough, the mecha in SDCSC is not particuarly inspiring. Though the bioroids were interesting takes on the Zaku.

Well, whether it's better than what Macek turned it into is a matter of opinion... and as insane as this will sound coming from me, I honestly think being tied into a bigger story did Southern Cross a world of good. The remastered ADV release that I have for Southern Cross is nothing short of atrocious.

I guess this is where we differ in opinion. I saw SDCSC before watching the RT version. In the early 2000s I watched MS Gundam, Patlabor, Dragonar, Ideon, Dunbine and any other mecha show I could get my hands on. SDCSC was one of them and you can really see how it fits in to it's era, It seems much more inspired by the Sunrise shows then Macross and Orguss. I just can't see SDCSC as a sequel to the Macross saga, to me the shows will always be unrelated. Somehow RT fans, and Macross fans for that matter, seem obsessed to judge it by SDFM standards. For an 80s anime show SDCSC isn't bad.

Honestly, I doubt that's true...

Remember, the original Southern Cross series was a failure even before it was licensed by Harmony Gold and used to make Robotech. The show's ratings were so poor that the show was canceled and the writers had to hastily wrap up the story as best they could in the space they had left. I've also heard that the show's merchandise didn't sell worth a damn either. What little Japanese merchandise I've seen for it has all borne the Big West logo, so I don't think there was (or is) any confusion about merchandising, and the use of Southern Cross characters pretty much unaltered in the failed Robotech II: the Sentinels project (and updated versions in Shadow Chronicles) leads me to suspect the intellectual property rights to Southern Cross are firmly Tatsunoko's.

When asked about the profound lack of merchandise for Robotech's Masters Saga, Harmony Gold has always given the same answer... they don't think it will sell. As much as it will offend all six Southern Cross fans, Harmony Gold really does have sound reasons for believing that. In pretty much every poll about fan preferences, the Masters Saga is usually in dead last, popularity wise:

In the last poll, "Do you feel that the Army of the Southern Cross has been given an unfairly bad rap?", only 19.8% of the 4463 respondents thought the bad reputation was undeserved. 75% said that the ASC's bad reputation was richly deserved, not bad enough to do their failure justice, or that they just plain didn't give a poo about anything Southern Cross-related. Likewise, on the occasions that Supreme Commander Leonard is a poll topic, the overwhelming majority usually comes out to blast his ass for being an incompetent toad (59.1% of the last one responding that Leonard was a moron, and in the one before that, 57.6% said he was an incompetent buffoon). In merchandise polls, at least 30% of respondents come out to say they're patently uninterested in whatever the Masters Saga merchandise du jour happens to be, and only about 3-4% of the votes go to Masters Saga mecha in mecha popularity polls, with Macross Saga mecha usually holding at least 55% of the overall votes, and frequently much more.

I've seen this come up in discussions on game forums where people were theorizing in regard to Capcom versus Tatsunoko if any Mospeada or Southern Cross characters would show up. So I doubt it's more then a rumour. Maybe the Big West connection to the Super Dimension tag had people speculating?

As for the undeserved bad rep, we are talking about Robotech fans in regard to that poll. The kind of people that would call Macek a genius and actually like Shadow Chronicles. I kind of doubt that more then a fraction had seen the original (probably around 19.8% ).

Southern Cross isn't a master piece and suffered from poor mecha design. Still it is an interesting show, had great character designs and was ahead of it's time in several areas especially gender roles. But it's way better then the sliced up mess Macek turned it into.

Yep, your absolutely right. Skimmed over it too fast.

And here we go, the 10th novel ariving shortly in late april. Nothing to soon, as we need more content for future Haruhi anime.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-...-in-the-sneaker

Hm... I am intrigued by these character archetypes... I have heard Asuka Langley described as a Tsundere.... she was also jealous - but she's so intense, while Kyon is very passive, it's kind of like they have the same view of reality - but one is mellow about it while the other is a psychological wreck...

At the risk of making myself look like a total newbie - I'd like to get this straight. Can someone please give me

a) The literal Japanese definition of the word

b) The general anime definition in every day usage

1. Tsundare (really jealous person??)

You'd probably be better of asking Gubaba for the exact translations but in anime: Tsundere is a contraction of two states of mind. tsun tsun, which is something like arrogant, aloof, distant and dere dere which is caring, shy, loving mode. Either trait can be dominant though in anime characters with a dominant tsun tsun side tend to be more common. The key feature is that a tsundere due to some kind of trigger can snap and go from one mood to the other very fast. Often these characters are coupled with flawed heros, jerks that in the end aren't bad guys at all. An example of this is Micheal and Klan from Macross Frontier.

Would Roy and Hikaru be considered "Old School" Yaoi? Anime back then was not as "self-conscious" - or so it seems - and lots of these archetypes seem to be gleened off of earlier anime where they existed sub-consciously, whereas now they are consciously exploited.

I don't think so. While sempai junior relationships are common, Roy and Hikaru seem more a big brother- little brother relationship played up straight. Michael and Alto most definetely are fujoshi bait.

[...]

This is a long way of saying that Kyon isn't - in my opinion - in love with or even attracted to Haruhi. He calls her Bishojou - but so what? He never ACTS like it matters to him, and he's actually often approached by beautiful girls. Remember when he was walking up the hill to school and Ritsuko stopped him, twirled around, gave him a smile and told him she had to hurry ahead to do some chore?

Ladies like Kyon because of his calm. He's not only physicall attractive - but he has a character which draws women towards him because he is passive about their sexual beauty.

Haruhi simply notes that Kyon's a bit LESS passive about Mikuru's sexual beauty than he is about her - and this pisses her off all the more so, because given how demure Kyon is about sexual attraction - the fact that he lets go of himself a little bit more when Mikuru is around drives Haruhi insane...

But this doesn't mean Kyon loves her - or likes her. He kisses her partially because of Mikuru's "Snow White" warning and because he realizes the situation they're in.

Besides - he kept telling Haruhi to find a nice guy and go to the movies with him instead of searching for aliens in a high school.

Though it's open to interpretation, I would have to disagree here. I think this whole anime revolves around Haruhi and Kyon slowly getting together and the rest of the cast are there to facilitate this. As once discussed in NGE, they have a hedge hog dilema, both sides are drawn to eachother but can't really lower their armor out of fear for being hurt. Haruhi even calls love a disease at the start.

I think there are plenty of hints around that Kyon cares but doesn't want to admit it. Like complimenting her on her pony tail, defending her against Taniguchis remarks and the jealous reaction on Koizumis taunts and walking her home in someday in the rain. One thing I enjoy it that both are strongwilled individuals and neither is prepared to give in easily. Mikuru is often caught in the cross fire as Kyon shows his physical attraction openly which annoys Haruhi, while Haruhi using Mikuru as a plaything agrevates Kyon to Haruhis amusement.

Unconditional love is a *really* annoying trait in a lot of romance anime where the girl has loved the male protaganist since forever and he is the center of her universe often without him even knowing. Without risk there is no gain.

So - the kiss was kind of a natural follow up to that - it was a more romantic and less crude version of Al Pacino's words to Michelle Pfiefer in Scarface "What's your problem...you got a problem cause you got beautiful body...beautiful legs...beautiful tits...all these guys in love with you...only you got a look in your eye like you haven't been fcuked in a month!"

That's basically what Kyon "said" to Haruhi in the kiss.

Haruhi herself, in one episode, admited she had "needs" and tightened her legs just in case we didn't get the allusion - but her view of love is that it's a pure biological/chemical phenomena and that there's no reason to let it overcome your reason - or...HER reason...what Koizumi would call her "common sense"...which just happens to dictate that one needs to search for aliens, espers and hope for murders during summer vacation...

I guess what it boils down to is this:

Kyon is WAY too mature for his "age" - it's like...either he's got a really good father who has taught him a lot about women, or he's just a natural born manly man who can handle babes.

But I know that it took me a loooong time to learn how to deal with beautiful women - and here Kyon's doing it like a pro as a JUNIOR in HIGH SCHOOL.

Kyon's character is the most intriguing one out of them all for this reason.

heh, nicely said, but I would get that impression from say nekki Basara who has that natural kind of detachement. I think Kyon is struggeling a bit to much with his own place in events and purpose in life to have that kind of confidence. Though we're probably way past over-analyzing these characters already.

Ah that is good news, glad to see M3 won't be lost to us fans. Very nice of you Seto to host the site.

I didn't know this. Also, I have heard of Yaoi, but I take it that it's gay then - or am I misunderstanding? In any event, Kyon seems to react to Koizumi's "breach of personal space" with the same degree of rage as Kamina reacted to Ron in Gurren Lagann - albeit Kyon doesn't have a katana handy...

Sort of, boys love or yaoi is aimed at (Japanese) women, it's a genre revolving around romance between males. Pretty much like a lesbian fantasy for males, usually less sexual and more romance focussed.

Here I kind of disagree - that is... I never got the impression that Haruhi is erotically interested in Koizumi - no matter what he does. The only rivalry here is one of affection in a non-erotic sense. Haruhi praises Koizumi and makes him vice-brigade chief, which seems to aggrivate Kyon - but I don't think it makes him jealous. I think Kyon was indignant that a non-thinking, dependent yes-man drone became vice-chief while Haruhi usually either ignored what Kyon had to say or would cut it to tell him to shut up and that he was generally wrong. That is to say - I think the rivalry between them is more for Haruhi's soul than for her body. Kyon doesn't think it's right for Haruhi to be surrounded by yes-men who hide the truth from her and prevent her from growing as a human being. Koizumi acts out of fear that "God" will destroy the world unless he's exceedingly nice to her, and always says yes to everything she proposes. Also, the rivalry between the two is one of normality vs supernaturalism in terms of how they view reality. Whenever Haruhi proposes something, Kyon looks at it from the point of view of whether or not the idea has merit on the face of it, while Koizumi seeks out some underlying supernatural dimmension (like when Haruhi decided to enter them into a baseball contest, which Kyon thought was dumb, but Koizumi said it beat looking for aliens)...

Oh indeed, Haruhi isn't interested in Koizumi at all. He is nothing more to her then a second officer. But affection does not have to be romantic to create jealousy. I don't think it's just indignance at selecting Koizumi as second in command, I'm sure Kyon wanted to be asked, as he was the first member. Just look at how Kyon reacts when Koizumi teases him that he might tell Haruhi that he loves her when Kyon refuses to do so in E8. Koizumi is a yes man for sure, but he simply likes Haruhi as a person while Kyon does not even dare to admit that. Remember that Kyon is a tsundere, petty jealousy is their stock and trade

As to Mikuru..weeeeeeeeelllllllll...........

a) you forget Koizumi's warning about Mikuru. True, he MIGHT have been lying - but notice how Kyon has two "tempters" - Mikuru and Koizumi always vie for his favor. Mikuru uses sex appeal (albeit she seems to do it totally unwittingly) while Koizumi TRIES to use sex appeal ("Too close! Your face is too close!") which constantly fails to impress the not-gay Kyon, so Koizumi is "forced" to use reason - and keeps having discussions with Kyon.

Koizumi's exposition on the true nature of Mikuru is pretty radical - but I wonder to what extent it's true?

In Closed Circle Kyon says he trusts Koizumi least of all - but look at Kyon's actions? Kyon constantly trusts Koizumi in action....or...so it seems...in Sighs he certainly does.

Yuki on the other hand...she's the toughest to call. I think part of the "problem" is that she takes her orders to be an observer VERY literally - and therefore has no "stake" in "what" Haruhi will do, and whether or not to do something about it. She ends up following Kyon's orders ...well...why? ...

Because certainly Yuki DOES end up doing many pro-active things - kind of along the same lines as Ritsuko wanted to do - not as extreme, not "I'll murder Kyon and see what Haruhi does" - but blocking the Mikuru Beam, opening the Door in "Closed Circle" when Kyon recinds Haruhi's orders... is Yuki NOT thereby over-reaching - stepping outside the bounds of simple "observation" -- with the only difference being that she is following Kyon's will and not her own?

Then again - the Uber Intelligence did note - or at least Yuki noted when talking to Kyon - that he (Kyon) was the unknown factor in Haruhi's entourage...

In any case...

I dunno...I dunno about Mikuru...first - I guess I haven't watched enough anime to see her character type being used only as wall paper. I mean..all the lolis I've seen in anime were also strong characters (Minmey, Nia...ok...my list is very small...) ... Mikuru is also a strong character... she's very determined to perform her role - which she shows numerous times. It's just her fear gets the better of her often...

Pete

I agree the whole SOS-dan tries to affect Haruhi trough Kyon. Mikuru is set up as a temptation but again maybe only enough to keep Haruhi jealous and focussed on Kyon. Koizumi is a rival (of sort) for Haruhis affection but only enough to keep Kyon jealous ( I'm sure the chemistry between the two is mostly to keep the yaoi/Boys Love fans happy, Kyon x koizumi is a fan favourite coupling in doujinshi). Not sure, it seems both are there to actually make sure Haruhi and Kyon stay together, maybe the distrust by their revalations is intentional. Yuki is pretty much Kyons bodyguard, their relationship seems somewhat platonic, seems like the SOS-dan is actually trying to keep/get them together.

This anime pokes fun at a lot of anime stereotypes. Haruhi and Kyon have a gender switch of the traditional pattern in romantic comedies . Haruhi is the exentric and somewhat dense lead character instead of a male. Kyon is a straight tsundere, normally a female role. Koizumi is probably more capable then Kyon in everyway but he is not the ""one". Yuki is everything but the vulnerable nerd. Mikuru is the complete deconstruction of the clumsy spineless moe girl with a knack for domestic chores. I'm not entirely sure is she is as helpless as she appears, especially since I suspect Tsuruyato be of the same faction as Mikuru. To be fair the whole anime takes anime genres and twists them into something else, it's all part of the charm.