Bri

hmm tough one, Minmay is basically the winner of Macross Idol (Kawamori beat all those reality shows by some 20 years ) so that puts her in the same doubtfull league like Kelly Clarckson or Leona Lewis. Ill pass Ranka/Sheryl/Istar generic pop singers, so you want the good, the bad or the exotic? Nice to see a song or two, but not worth a concert. Sharon Apple: Boring attempt at progressive trance by an AI. Firebomber: Simple rock but fun so I'll go for that. For visuals, a guest performace by Mylenes older sister is a must, for some song battles with Basara.

I've bought a few Bandai kits, the Gundam and Macross ones are in pre-collored plastics. I'm a bit in doubt how to prime them. Normally I either prime a model white or black with an airbrush depending on the brightness or the colors I want to use. Would you recommend to ignore the colors in plastic and just reset everything to white or black or use some transparent primer? And if so what kinds are there? I only work with acrylics.

Currently watching: Kanon: Great use of color and light to create an atmosphere. Very enjoyable if you can get past the brain-dead girls. Kurenai: Rather weak, supposedly controversial, but really little more then a character driven harem-comedy touching some socially sensitive areas. Kiki's delivery service: Kids story, but nice animation from studio Ghibli in an idealised Stockholm setting. On the to watch next list: K-On Twelve Kingdoms

Very impressive how the OP puts in so much time in self study. Well done, don't think I could keep up that pace. Personally I'd like to be able to read Japanese sources directly, for research, as a lot of economic material never gets translated. However that is a long term plan. First I'm trying to understand the spoken language from television and movies. Text books etc. are usefull, for understanding grammar and special conventions, but for me to listen to the actual spoken language works best. I got some books, recordings and a dictionary from a friend, who studied the language at Leiden university. She has been a great help. It's a bit like the way I learned English when I was a kid, from an (un)healthy dose of Tranformers, Robotech and GI-Joe... Anyway, one funny thing I learned from my past experiences. Talking to native speakers became harder the closer I got to fluency. When you get to the point where the person you speak with no longer is constantly aware of you being a foreigner, it just opens up a whole new world of possible misunderstandings.

The detailed pilot figure at that scale is amazing.

Seto is probably right. If Warner ever gets to make a Robotech movie it will need some sort of origen. Using a very generic Macross like story should be enough. I mean take Transformers, it has virtually nothing in common with the original story, remove Optimus and you could have called it Go-Bots without anyone noticing. For Robotech it's not to hard to imagine a random enemy like Robotech Masters, Invid or Vorlons..err Haydonites I mean. No particular need to use the Zentradi.

Robotech got me into Macross, saw it for the first time in '87. Taped the whole thing on the reruns. Macross and Southern cross parts were great but I disliked the New generation/Mospeada thing. The Sentinels killed Robotech for me and I was close to forgetting all about it. Things changed when I got a hold of the Kiseki Clash of the Bionoids and Macross II. Loved the different direction and the Mikimoto designs. These tapes got me in to Macross. Only thing I did not like so much about Mac II was the far future bit. Macross Plus was a real let down. The mecha action was great but the characters were a total turn off. I didn't like their design nor personalities. So I almost stuck with Mac II. Luckily there were several stores across the border in Antwerp and Bruxelles that carried model kits, figures and Chines bootleg tapes. So I got my hands on Macross 7 which got me totally hooked on the normal continuity Macross.

Very nice conversion with the joints. Shame the highlights and shading are only aplied to the dark grey parts. Would have ben more consistent if used on the whole.

I understand where you are coming from. Question in this case is if they will destroy the tools, I can imagine the airforce requesting or paying for storage. For example when Fokker when bankrupt the equipment to build more F-50s and F-100s was put into storage and there were a lot of other companies interested in buying them (which didnt happen but that was for other then technical reasons). I'm aware that the costs would be very high to start up production again, but if 187 current Raptors are not enough for a given situation then I doubt money will play a role if there is a need fore more. IIRC the Soviets reverse engineered a B29 to the nail in 1945. So its in theory possible to rebuild a plane without the tools.

I don't think it's wise to go into politics that much in a thread about aircraft. As we were discussing the end of the production of the Raptor here is my two cents: The number of F-22s in service is not as important compared to the fact that it exists. The F22 project has not been cancelled nor is the plane taken out of service. If anything crazy were to happen like the rise of a highly advanced hostile airforce then I'm sure the production lines can be openened again even if it takes time. I doubt Lockheed will destroy all the blue prints. The lessons learned in developing that fighter will be used for the F-35 and other future projects do nothing is lost.

Please keep your facts straight. HG filed the first trademark in July 1999, the first BW filing followed in Aug 1999. HGs trademarks were awarded, BWs werent. The trademark case predates the court case, not vice versa. We do not know the reason why BW never got the trademarks. They may have filed for to many different ones or HG being first may have caused it or any other reason. BW never had the trademarks hence you cannot request non use.

NATO/ASIC(used to be ASCC) names are in principal classified except ones that get leaked. The names for the J-10 and JF-17 are not in any list I know of. Don't think they are publically know yet.

From what I have read on cases with trademarks is that foreign firms in the US often spread their trademarks to widely. I.e try to cover to many product types. Regulations require for the registration to be succesful, you'd need to be active in all areas you want to register for. It's quite possible that this happened to BW. Also, it is not illegal what HG did, but they can't expect that BW ever wants to have dealings with them again.

Yea, quite likely. Most delivery services check in goods at customs themselves and Value added Tax (VAT) is charged when importing items from outside of the EU. Over certain amounts you can also expect import duties.

Wont happen really, I have seen SDFM twice a year since 1987 and I doubt that will change anytime soon. Still the one thing I can imagine: Warners RT movie becomes a big succes. They buy everything Macross and under supervision from Macek incorporate everything in to the RT universe. Then yea, that would kill it for me.

From the news: the Dutch government is going to sign an agreement before the end of april for the purchase of two test F-35s and when that happens it will be certain that 85 F-35s will replace the remaining F-16AM. Till recently Saabs Grippen had a chance, but the airforce and the ministry of defence strongly opposed the Swedish plane. There is strong public opposition to the plans and parlement is investigating misinformation charges about costs but its very likely that the purchase will continue. Wonder if it will turn into the Starfighter II instead of Lightning II...

Yes, I can only agree on the technique part. I think also a few themes in Macross which are interesting aswell. Macross'/Kawamori's recurring view on human beings for example. He shows a faith in mankind that is only rivaled by Roddenberry, quite unique in Science Fiction which tends to play on our fears and the darker side of our souls. Most anime tend not to put the blame on individuals but are seldomly positive about the human condition. Another thing I like about Frontier is the challenge made by Kawamori to the audience. "So you have seen Macross, but did you learn from it?" by introducing a physically unatractive species which is hard to relate to. The flak Ranka received by leaving Frontier to communicate with the Varija by fans shows that at least some havent. It's painful that culture-less warriors like the Zentradi had less trouble to accept Myria as a interspecies ambassador then the humans of Frontier with Ranka. Byrons "If beauty is truth then beauty is all I need to know" still holds.

It's a positive sign imo that HG is slowly moving away from anything Macross related. However I think the previous post in its anger towards HG is a bit unfair towards some of the comic book companies. I'm a fan of some Antartic Presses works and calling them idiots and copycats doesn't do them justice, in fact Robotech: Rolling Thunder by Fred Perry is easily the best RT renditions I have seen sofar and he is a pretty good on mecha in general.

I'm starting to understand the differences in our intents. When I refer to the target demographic I mean the physical ages and social positions of the viewers and buyers of the Macross Frontier DVDs and merchandise, not if they are watching this show through their inner child. It is certainly true that Macross Frontier appeals to the sense of adventure of the little boy inside every man. I understand your position on psychological realism. However I am not sure if it is reasonable to assume this to be a requirement for the adult qualification in anime, movies or normal live action TV. The nature of the medium film (animation included) limits the possibilities in characterisation. Very few films reach the stage of such realistic characters and limit the time available for plot development. Screen time being one of the most scare resources a director can play with. Some of histories most acknowledged movies and filmmakers like Eisenstein, Riefenstahl and Hitchcock are often more know for their inventive use of film techniques rather then their challenge to the viewer’s intellect. Film is as much related to photography as to literature. Literature has no visual limits and has less trouble with allowing characterisation and plot development to co-exist. Although it’s a bit ironic in this context that the first book to come to mind when talking about elaborate characterisation, Ullyses, compares the daily life of its protagonists to the escapist, fantasy like tale of Homers Odessy.

This seems to be the right thread to crash in. And yes, being negative on a single aspect of frontier can only be productive for so long.

Fair enough, hehe. Tbh this discussion has me more interested then the original topic altough I'm sure Alto won't mind we have diverged from his proposed cut from the series.

I can agree with saying that anime is not more sophisticated then what we see on television or in the cinema in the West. However it is more likely to find a piece of work among anime that satisfies its audience more then mainstream programs can because anime can focus on a smaller market with known preferences. Same would hold for any Western niche market in entertainment.

I may have missed the point, perceptions can differ. To quote W.H. Auden: "The poetry he made was simple and easy to understand", therefore it must be for children? Macross Frontier can off course be enjoyed by children but that does not make it a child product. Which is what the discussion centered around as March claims macross Frontier is made for childeren. There is enough evidence imo to show that it was made for adults not kids even if the show has childish elements. To put it more crudely, a Mickey Mouse Dildo may be a toy but it's not for kids. Also La Dolce Vita can hardly be called mainstream. I'm quite sure if you take a random sample of the population that they will enjoy my Big Fat Greek Wedding over Fellini's work (which probably says more about the mental state of the population then the quality of these works). It just furthers my point that intended audiences often are more restrictive of the intellectual magnitude of series instead of its creator. Sure many anime are of the level of a Pixar movie, but that goes for most live action movies and television series as well. That does not change that Pixar makes movies for kids and most late night anime is aimed at an older audience. Don't blame the medium for the demand. I doubt many six-year-olds would enjoy an anime by Fellini if he ever had made one.

One fundamental difference between Pixar movies and late night anime is that the first aims for a mainstream audience while the latter targets a niche market. The products that are aimed at a mainstream audience have to conform to far more established rules and conventions. The more people you try to please, the more difficult it becomes to make something distinct and interesting. The chance to find a great movie or series is more likely with independent or non-mainstream producers. This goes for movies, books, music and television. Anime has an easier time to please its audiences as it is smaller and more homogeneous. Pixar is the best at what it does, so it's not to surprising that they can make movies that are as good, if not better then the average anime. However Pixar won't make anything of the level of say Rahxephon, Ghost in the Shell or Neon Genesis even if they could, as caters to much to the taste of the limited few. Take for example DC comics. Most of their titles are mainstream altough occasionally a title like Batman escapes mediocrity, the vast majority is run of the mill superhero stuff. However the same publisher has a separate non-mainstream division: Vertigo. They have been creating thought provoking series regularly like Sandman, 100 Bullets, Swamp Thing and V for Vendetta. Vertigo allows more artistic freedom and aims for a more select public and can therefore adapt more easily to the particular tastes of said audience. Same company, different products. The point I am trying to make is that Pixar makes a children’s movie that also needs to appeal to the rest of the family, while Frontier is a series aimed at adults that contains many campy, childish elements which are desired by the current (mostly adult) anime audiences in Japan. The reason why this audience wants those elements is a different discussion entirely.

Lucky Star is about as good as comedy can get.