Bri

I don't think the Ranka hate has much to do with the Sheryl/ Alto triangle. Sheryl seems to have the upper hand at the moment anyway. The traitor argument generates quite a bit of hate, although I don't agree with it. Ai-kun may be a Varija but as an individual he/she/it (no clue there) hasn't done anything wrong so Ranka standing up for her friend seems to make sense. In episode 21 Ranka made her first pro-active decisions: no more singing with the implied argument she is tired of being used and returning Ai-kun to his own kind implying that she wants to make contact with the Variija. Minmay for example never reached that stage, she was always pushed by others to do something. Ranka was not tactfull stating her decisions but they are hardly evil. As for Rankas duty to sing. Her singing has a power that can be used in the fight with the Varija but she is doubting the reasons for that conflict. Is she a traitor for no longer wanting to sing to help defeat the Varija? Or is she a patriot for not fighting/singing in a war she thinks is wrong? I can see the controversy here, as judging her action lies close to the views a person holds on the subject and that debate can get quite heated.

"Heart and Soul" for me. I really like Emilias voice, works great with Fukuyama. Besides the rock duel in the M7 movie was great.

ep 21 was great. Nice focus on the characters. Action scenes took the backseat a bit. Not much movement on the plot front yet. Leon and grace move in to position to full fill their secret plan, but no clue about it's exact nature, and where does the SMS stand in this? Ranka is off to meet the Varija. I guess we will now find out why the Varija are not evil and how they will help stop Grace /Leons plan. Wonder what Ranka truly is. A human with some Varija DNA mixed in? A Varija made to look human? Never understood why the singer who actually looked like Mao was not the grand daughter. Expecting family intrige and maybe a tie into to Mac zero when they explain it all. Klan gets a chance to vent her anger and the scene in Michels cockpit was touching. Nice screen time for her and I bet she has become a favourite for the animators/writers too. Maybe a future OVA with Klan as the main character? I wouldnt mind. Bring on ep 22.

Interesting point you make. Still I am convinced that subtitles don't neccesarily drive away the main stream audiences. In my country most foreign shows on televesion are subbed. Mostly due to cost constrains I guess, but it doesn't lower those shows ratings. There are always dubbed and subbed Disney movies in the cinema, dubs for childeren and subs for adults. I'm sure it is more of a matter of getting used to subtitles. Expectations about what the audience wants might not reflect what the audience in reality is prepared to accept. Makes me wonder if Joe sixpack really exists or if it is just an excuse of TV execs to feed the public garbage. I'm sure there is a part of the masses in any country that knows every person in Big Brother, thinks there is good music in the top 40, listens to Oprahs advice and zaps between sports channels. These people are not likely to pick up anime in any but the most dumbed down version. I'm not trying to be elitist but why cater to the desires of the lowest common denominator? I'd rather pay some extra cash to get merchandise and dvds shipped in then having to watch to shows that tailor made to that part of the audience.

I had some good results cleaning up old table top gaming models and pvc kits with Vansih Oxi Clean. No idea if that brand is around where you live, but any kind of oxy-cleaner should work. Usually does the job within a few minutes and the model can be scrubbed with a toothbrush. Should be able to remove even thick layers of paint.

If you ever had to witness the sheer terror of Knightrider with David Hasselhoff in a German dubbed version : Subs for life. It takes longer to create a (decent) dub then a sub. Who wants to wait a few months to see the latest anime? Also as said before dubs usually have rather poor quality.

It's amazing how well the MF singles/album are doing. May'n, Megumi Nakajima and Kanno have really made some amazing songs. How is this succes on the charts affecting Macross frontier? I have no idea if Macross frontier is able to reach the Japanese mainstream audience.

I don't see how you can call DYRL anything else as in the Macross 7 movie, DYRL is confirmed to be an in-universe movie, nothing more. We only know of two cases of non-Zentradi macronisation. One is Max in DYRL which is a movie that significantly differs from SDFM and a Zolan Graham, (who has green hair aswell btw so zentran/meltran ancestors are a possebility, although this very speculative). Still I agree with you that it may not be impossible for humans to get macronised but in practise they don't. You need be (part) Zentradi either to get macronised. Reasons could be legal, cultural or economics or whatever.

It's speculation at best. I'm opposed to reading to much into the DYRL events as they deviate a lot from SDFM. If the DYRL is as accurate as the Bay movie then we can dismiss it pretty much as a reliable source. Given the historical inaccuraties of the Pearl Harbor movie I'm sure that the only reason that Micheal Bay didn't give Ben Afflec a jet pack was that Ben was afraid to mess up his haircut. . Sofar there have been no animated examples except DYRL and the writers would have to come up with a damned good reason why far fewer humans then zentradi use the proces.

I was refering to the movie in SDFM, Shao Pain Lon, where Linn Kaifun played some Kung Fu hero with special powers.

That first picture is really moving. *sniff* great finds.

yea, sofar we haven't seen any humans get macronised in any Macross, only a Zolan. DYRL is an in universe movie so can't really place value on it. Might aswell accept that Linn Kaifuns superpowers are real too.

Hmm, Well if you have some green haired ancestors that like to kill stuff you might have a shot at macronisation.

Well episode 20 was spectacular, brutal and heart wrenching. Poor Michel. Klan just eclipsed Ranka and Sheryl in this episode. Took me a while to realise but Klan really has that whole untouchable woman thing going for her like Rogue in X-men. Alto seems to come a bit into his own aswell, and Luca is starting to drive Lynn Kaifun from the top spot of my most disliked Macross character list. Ranka and Sheryl are a bit like Rei and Asuka altough less extreme. Hope the ending will be a tad less extreme then NGE aswell. Not sure if this episode is a one-off in heavy drama or that it's the start of a grim final story arc of the series with a lot of major characters going down. I felt something had changed when that Varija gutted the sniper and then we saw execution of the president. The whole mood just grew a lot darker but only time will tell.

and we'd call it Macross: 8th DS Team?

Went for a few different options. I tried to ignore the advances in animation that allow more spectacular dogfights in the later series and just focus on my interpretation of the characters as fighter pilots. 1. Maximilian Jenius 2. Milla Fallyna Jenius 3. Hikaru Ichijo 4. Basara Nekki/Chlore 5. Roy Focker/Quamzin Kravshera 6. Isamu Dyson 7. Ozma Lee 9. D.D. Ivanov 10.Nora Polyanski 11.Guld Bowman 12.Gamlin Kizaki 13.Klan Klan 14.Brera Sterne 15.Shin Kudo/Alto Saotome 16.Michael Blanc I really dislike using "skill" and "best" in one sentance. Skill is for 16 year olds playing a FPS when their reflexes are at their peak. In the real world I'll take a solid dose of determination, experience and plain old viciousness over skill. -Max and Millia in their prime were the pinacle of (combat) pilots. SK confirmed it so no argument there. -Hikary on two, as Roy put it, he is a human cockroach. You just can't kill this guy. His luck, determination and combat experience put him at the top. You can shoot him down, you can hurt him, you can make him doubt himself. But in the end he will win and walk away with the girl. -Nekki Basara, often despised but good at what he does. His defensive skills are insane, draws equal with the zentradis second best pilot. Has more determination and selfconfidance then any other pilot. Took out a Meltran fleet with singing. Takes the win first, fight later concept to an extreme and changes it to sing first and win later and forget about the fighting. -Roy and Quamzin, two brutally efficient military commanders. They have good piloting skills but what sets them apart is that they are both natural born killers. Both would best pilots far better by sheer nastiness and dirty tricks. As Roy proved versus Ivanov and Quamzin by drawing equal to Hikaru. Their end in DYRL seems poetic justice even if its just a movie in Macross chronology. - Isamu is a fenomenal pilot, but totally reckless and despised by his comrades in arms. If he had fought in Space war 1, Misa would have blow him out the sky without second thought. He would top my list of "most likely to die to friendly fire". His low placing is due to his character flaws. -Ozma Lee: a Roy Focker "light" -Ivanov and Polianski, great pilots but Ivanow is vulnerable when he doesnt have the element of surpirse and Polianskis lack of spacial awareness and temper make her vulnerable. -Guld flew a brain controlled fighter and has anger management issues that cloud his judgement. Would be higher if not for those issues. -Gamlin is a great pilot and aprentice to Millia. Carreer soldier with great piloting skills but he is unimaginative and naive. Just wouldn't last against the pilots at the top of this list. -Klan Klan is a good pilot but not exceptional by Macross standards. Experienced and stable places her over the rest of the MF crew except Ozma. -Brera flies the most advanced piece of hardware shown in any show sofar and is a cyborg. Hard to say anything about him really, prolly very dangerous in his own machine but if everyone flies the same hardware? Doubt it. - Shin is far too troubled to use his potential well. - Alto and Michel are at the bottom of this list because I just can't accept part time fighter pilots that are still in high school doing better then the real deal. I love MF to death the pilots are just not as hot as the ones in the other shows.

That song is just so awesome *goosebumps* and to keep the public happy: omae ni itsu deaeru no darou? Submarine Street de tsubuyaku ore wa kyou mo hateshinai sabaku wo samayou futari ana ga aite-iru ore no kokoro ni wa omae ni aitai kono sabishisa wakachiaeru omae wo zutto yobi-tsudzukeru koe no kagiri yume no naka de mita utsukushii omae no hitomi ni utsuru niji wo itsuka issho ni mitai omae wa ima nani wo shite'ru no dare to ite mo mitasarenai my true heart midori no sogen de surechigau futari ikura sakende mo kaeru wa kodama dake omae ni aitai hikiyosetai unmei wo omae dake wo machikogarete toki wa sugiru itsuka hon de yonda haruka tooi hoshi no sukitooru umi ni omae wo tsurete-yuko

However this remark (assuming Grace tells the truth) implies that the PC are still active. I was under the impression that they were pretty much destroyed 500,000 years ago.

Moaramia joined dancing skulls in 2030. She was in her teens then so that puts her birthdate somewhere around 2015. Kamillia was born in 2011 so that would make Kamilia still the eldest. I can't really remember her story well but I think she was some kind of child prodigy meltran? Piloting a glaug at age of 6.

Hehe. Yea, I am starting to believe it too. and of course, thanks TheLoneWolf, for making the effort to post those pics.

Hope we can find out who it is with this text.

hmm I feel I could take part in a song battle now . I have been inside for the last two weeks to finish off my master thesis. Got a bunch of macross albums, a few trays of diet coke and instant ramen as trusty allies. The MW forums as a life-line to sanity I haven't got a clue what the songs mean but I can now positivly sing em all. Great for the concentration (wouldnt recommend listening though, my singing could make a zentran army commit suicide )

Actually that seems quite realistic to me. The most dangerous enemy is the anonymous stranger that doesn't give a damn wether you live or die. Most dictators/villains in history would done very little damage on their own if they didn't have those big armies. And yea, the true villians are HG/Tatsunoko.

Dammit mixed up reflex and reaction weps again. sigh

It's hilarious, thanks indeed for the translation.