Radd

But back in the '80s... It was understood that Tatsunoko had TV series distribution rights, which they COULD sublicense to HG, and Did NOT have rights to anything else, so Big West COULD license it to anyone they pleased(and they did so, repeatedly), as well as the lineart(see BattleTech). This continued into the early 90s, if Macross 2 and Plus are any indication(HG ignored the actual release of Macross Plus, and only attacked the later toys). Well, anime's only gotten big enough to be WORTH merchandising in the US recently. They DID push the shows for western releases. That's true about anime in general, but people forget that there have been very prominent exceptions around for a very long time. Speed Racer, Star Blazers, Gigantor, Astroboy, Battle of the Planets/G-Force, and a little show called Robotech were all popular well before anime in general became popular. These shows were merchandised mostly with a good degree of success. With Robotech as a kind of beach head, Big West could have rode on HG's back like some crazy Santa Clause, delivering Valkyries to all the good little boys and girls. Also, Big West didn't choose very wisely when it came time to bringing DYRL? to western shores, and we certainly saw no merchandise for that. They also let that whole Robotech thing slide, without questioning the edits that they could have fought if they really wanted to. As for all thise other licensing and merchandising, such as the line art, did they license the line art to Battletech? I've always been under the impression that they used a lot of anime mech designs without actual permission. I recall reading articles that said as much before the Harmony Gold lawsuit forced them to stop using the Macross designs.

While the first three episodes are technical marvels of animation, episode 4 is pure art. Even without subtitles, episodes 2 and three didn't grip me from beginning till end like this episode did. I'm very much looking forward to a fansub. From the amount of dialogue and the lack of action, it appears the story is in high gear this episode. Lots of revelations and explanations, with even more hinted at. This episode is truly the most beautiful so far, I found no moment where anything less that superb stuck out in the visuals. Now that I have the context, I also find DarkReaper's comment about 'child porn' has even less credibility.

Again, I'm not saying that it never happens, I'm just saying people have gotten so cynical that most people think all anime/comics/whatever is done entirely for the money, and that there's a man in a suit in every art studio in the world beating on a large drum while another man in a suit whips the chained up artists bellowing, "Less clothes, more bust! Less clothes, more bust!"

So the DS, closed, is slightly thicker than an SP closed and about two inches wider? That's what it looks and sounds like. I figured the PSP was slim thickness-wise, but even if it was as thin as a piece of paper, it still looks to wide and tall to fit into someone's pocket. I carry around my SP in either my pants pockets, or a shirt pocket. It fits in either quite easily. My regular GBA (on indefinite loan to my girlfriend ever since I picked up the SP) could also fit in either, though not quite as well. I'd be looking for similar portability in any portable I picked up. Crazy, I know. Folding up to protect the screen is definitely a bonus as well. I've had my SP for ages now, and the screen is still in excellent shape. My regular GBA screen got scratched up pretty quickly, just like any other portable I've ever owned. If I believe everything everyone tells me about both the PSP and the DS, and everything I see from the photos, neither system is all that portable, or you have to carry a bag around everywhere you go just to hold them.

comics is sensasional. bigger then life. Unless your doing a story about a normal every day person which is not as uncommon as you think. I speak from personal and professional experience. Most up and coming professional artists, at least at the beginning of their education and careers, want to be comic book or anime artists. Few of them grow out of this even upon leaving school and entering the so-called 'real world'. Of course, while most of those that do grow out of being McFarlane or Akira Toriyama copycats are more successful in general, there's still a disproportionate number of professional artists in America that still draw all their women like you see in the comics. yep. though they tend to want more anatomically correct women. i mean. the only reson you need tha tmuch sex appeal for a normal perosn is if your style sucks lol/. Depends on where you work. Some people want more anatomically correct characters, many don't. In the entertainment industries, in animation, comic books, anime distribution, and whatnot, anatomically correct isn't what sells. Sure, they want to see that you can draw correctly, if you have the basics of drawing down, then with a little effort you can train yourself into any style. However, I simply stating that the majority of those in the fields of animation and illustration like to draw stereotypical comic book/anime anatomy when it comes to women. Lots of people think that our corporate overlords strictly control every aspect of production of everything we see and hear. Sure, they stick their noses in too much, moreso in some entertainment industries and less so in others, but the multitude of people creating what we see and hear have more leeway than most seem to believe.

I meant the pre-Macross Plus time period. HG got Macross and edited it into Robotech, without a decent release of the original series until very recently, and the english release of DYRL? was very lackluster. It just looks like they didn't care one bit about the international market. Flashback 2012 wasn't even marketed. If Big West did care, they could have gone after HG about Robotech, or even worked out a mutally benefitial deal in them releasing and seriously pushing an uncut version of SDF Macross back in the 80's, with HG getting DYRL? and other Macross sequels so long as they did them up right. Heck, if they were that dissapointed in HG, even if they couldn't go after them, they could have made a bigger push on DYRL? amd all other sequels at a time when Robotech was popular enough for people to make the connection and take interest. As it is now, it seems they didn't take much interest in the international market until after they saw how well Macross Plus did. That's not to say they had no interest in selling to anyone who wanted to license the shows, but until the Macross Plus toys and the VFX game, they never seemed to show much interest in merchandising outside of Japan, or actively pushing their shows for a western release.

If the whole legal mess was resolved, with HG on the up and up about releasing these shows, then sure. They would be giving me something I want, and I like to encourage companies doing that. I'd especially like to see them do it through AnimEigo like the SDF Macross DVD set. Then we'd be gauranteed excellent video and subtitle quality, and tons of liner notes.

Agreed.

comics is sensasional. bigger then life. Unless your doing a story about a normal every day person which is not as uncommon as you think. I speak from personal and professional experience. Most up and coming professional artists, at least at the beginning of their education and careers, want to be comic book or anime artists. Few of them grow out of this even upon leaving school and entering the so-called 'real world'. Of course, while most of those that do grow out of being McFarlane or Akira Toriyama copycats are more successful in general, there's still a disproportionate number of professional artists in America that still draw all their women like you see in the comics.

I ask again: Like it's stopped them before? Big West didn't care about the international market before. Recently it seems they have taken an interest. Hence all the lawsuits and such flying around.

I should clarify my reasoning. Most artists I've met draw women as sexy as possible, often along the American comicbook idea of how a woman should look. Corporate executives rarely need to force the artists to do this. Those that do are often in the minority. Artists that try to avoid that look when drawing women often can't walk 5 feet without some idjit telling them they need to draw larger breasts and tighter clothes.

Folly to whomever tries to argue that this picture was done for reasons other than eliciting responses like this: True, artwork based on a subject is open to interpretation. I was just voicing my disappointment that HG had to service the lowest common denominator. Anyone remember the Lebatars?HG has a history of trying to make these characters "sexy". I wouldn't rule out the possibilitiy that their artists are simply drawing the characters how they would like them to look. It happens.

If anyone does, I hope they post them in another thread, a thread specifically marked as containing spoilers.

You do realize that the current western ideas of how old someone must be to be an adult are actually very recent in the scheme of things. Take a step back to Civil War era America and people were still getting married and having kids at 14. The idea of an age when people magically become adults is entirely in our heads. And please, don't even try to justify it by saying "people live longer now than they did back then!" Living longer has not retarded our ability to mature mentally or physically. Society, on the other hand, is determined to do just that. Also, not all cultures are like minded with our ideals of what constitutes an adult, or at what age people should be engaged in such and such activities. It is very ethnocentric to believe otherwise.

I enjoyed both fansubs. Each had their own merits and flaws. I thought AnimeOne did a more professional looking job. I hope Infusion stays away from Robotech fonts and other cheesy looking fonts with their next release.

Ok, once and for all, how large is the DS compared to the PSP, the SP and the original GBA? I've been under the impression that the screen is the same size on both portables, with that in mind it looks like the DS is about as thick as the SP, and a smidge wider than the original GBA, yet I keep hearing people complain about how large it is. Meanwhile, I've seen several photos of the PSP showing it to be huge, yet people keep saying, "Why is the DS so large while the PSP is so trim and small?!"

I actually dissagree, the one thing I really dislike about that logo is the colours. I've never been a fan of of their lack of colour sense, and overuse of Photoshop effects over at the HG ranch. This isn't baseless HG bashing, I do like some of the linework, like that picture of Dana on the remastered Southern Cross boxes, but I think the art would look so much better with a more natural pallette and less Photoshop filters and effects.

The transformation looks very, very similar, but otherwise the parts all look different. He looks like his own toy, not just a repaint with a new head. I don't mind at all, a lot of the early G1 Transformers had similar transformations, and it's easier to make them keep that G1 feel if they stick to that with those particular characters. If you've seen the CG model designs, it looks like it is more poseable as well. Hopefully this is the case. I hope so, though Smokescreen isn't that bad. Pretty good as far as Transformers go, actually. I was more dissapointed with Sideswipe, his legs don't have as much a range of motion as they really should. Still, to put my complaints in perspective, I still think these toys are the best Transformers yet. The class and style of the original G1 Diaclone Transformers, with the posability of the Car Robot Transformers. Together with the Masterpiece Prime, this line is a Transformers fan's dream come true. Aside from getting Dead End instead of Sunstreaker. I still hope we see a Sunstreaker version of that toy. Sure, I could try my hand at modding one, but it's just not the same. I also hope Meister gets a white paint scheme. We already have one read Alternator, we don't need another, especially if the original character was white.

The transformation looks very, very similar, but otherwise the parts all look different. He looks like his own toy, not just a repaint with a new head. I don't mind at all, a lot of the early G1 Transformers had similar transformations, and it's easier to make them keep that G1 feel if they stick to that with those particular characters.

you call $40 or so cheap? Where are you getting $40? I coulda sworn Graham or someone mentioned it would be around $25-30 way back when? If this thing costs $40 I'll definitely pass. Is there any official statement on the price?

The 1/100 VF-0S is not really small. Back in the good old days when Yamato were still willing to share information, they did say that it is nearly the same height as the VF-11B battroid. Graham True, but look at the proportions. The VF-0, especially Yamato's rendition of it, is a very skinny, gangly thing. The VF-11 feels frail compared to any other Valk toys (aside from Banprestos wich are known to disintigrate on contact with air), and the VF-0 is even thinner and more gangly, with no die-cast to boot. It may be the same height, but it will have less mass given it's anorexic proportions. Even so, that makes for less of an excuse for the toy's 'transformation'.

DS versus the PSP? Kind of early to start something like that. Off the bat, I'd say I'm probably going to just hold onto my GBA for the time being, but I'd be willing to give either system a chance. However, the PSP is supposedly starting betweem $300 and $399, no thanks. $199 seems a bit steep to my shallow pockets, but it's closer to reality. Plus, we don't know just how long the battery life of the PSP is. The GameGear was undoubtedly a more advanced system than the original Gameboy, but one of the reasons it failed was that the bettery life was so short. One of the reasons I love my GBA so much is I can go weeks without charging it, even when putting in several hours of use a day. I'm not about to plunk down $300-400 for a system that may only last a couple hours before it needs either new batteries or recharging. In addition, I don't believe that 3D games are intrinsically better than 2D games, and I think the GBA has gotten more great games than any of the major consoles over the past few years. The PS2 has trailed the Gamecube in high quality games that appeal to me, while the GBA and the Cube have consistenly had new titles released that fit my tastes wonderfully. (I should point out at this point that I am not saying Sony has a poor gaming library, it is simply does not have a lot of titles that have impressed me personally.) Given all this, and what I've heard about either system from E3, the PSP will mostly be a wonderful system, priced well out of what I'd be willing to pay for it, and it probably won't have very many games that I will see as 'must have' titles. The Nintendo DS will be priced rather steeply compared the GBA and the SP's launch prices, and will most likely have a few interesting titles that will pique my interest, but I must admit what they've shown so far has not dazzled. Prime Hunters looks good, but if you look and shoot with the stylus, that means your hand is in front of the screen while you're trying to play. That doesn't sound like good design to me at all. If Nintendo puts out a decent number of gems for the DS, I'll consider it. Sony will have to produce considerably more great games to get me even thinking about a PSP, and I don't think they have it in them.

I might grab Focker's and Shin's, if they're really cheap...but more than likely I'll pass. If it was only swapping the legs, I'd be more inclined to grab them, still only if they were cheap, but this just isn't looking that great. Too small, innacurate sculpt, cheaply made, and it doesn't even transform properly. I mean, I'd like to have a couple just for variety (I have 18 Valks, 13 of wich are VF-1 toys), but I don't want to waste my money on a toy that looks like it might only be a little better than a Banpresto. If they are really, really cheap, then I might nab one or two...but I'm pretty skeptical. I'd really rather pay more for a larger, fully transformable toy with a more accurate sculpt.

As much as I like Garfield and Bill Murray, I'm expecting this movie to suck big time as most comic/animation to live-action movies do.

Funny, I thought the last Pixar movie was supposed to be their last movie for Disney.