Radd

Hmm, girlfriend was over and we had nothing to do and nothing else to watch, plus she mentioned that the other day she had really wanted to watch some Macross, so I put in the first DVD of Macross 7...and she liked it. We watched the entire first DVD, and she put off leaving just to watch all the extra stuff tacked on at the end. Good times.

Maybe I'm just tired, but I don't see what Wyrlac posted has anything to do with this letter. Please explain.

I'd buy several!

I'd not heard this at all. Where does this information come from? My initial reaction is to think that someone is just inferring this from Max and Millia only having daughters, but is there a legitimate, canon, source for this information?

I agree. Someone would lose their job if I was a UN Spacy official. It's already been said, but I'll say it again and elaborate. The defense grid is like the Death Star. No cap ships are gonna get through, but a small group of fighters could slip by. Also, remember how Isamu and Guld got through. The defense grid was on automatic, as all of the people were basically zombies. Plus, using the debris from the upper satellites and turning off their fighters' power, they slipped through with the rest of the debris, and even then it was luck (or maybe Sharon's influence) that saw them through.

Kup! There's yet another great idea for a Binaltech! only problem is its small. Its only a one seater vehicle. ...and it looks like it was designed by Fisher*Price.

Heh, you should know there's always been a few people around here that love the show. I first saw it around 98 or 99, saw the first couple episodes and thought it was strange, but I still wanted to see more. I saw like 6-10 episodes in, on and off whenever I was over at my friend's who owned the fansubs. Missed most of the middle, but then saw Dynamite 7 and the end of the tv series (not certain what order I saw them in). Absolutely adored Dynamite 7 ever since, and still wanted to see the rest of the tv series (which I now have on DVD, so happy ending there). While not a big fan of the 19 Kai (then again, I don't immensly dislike it either), the VF-19P is a thing of beauty. I hope Bandai will stop sitting on that toy license and let Yamato put it to work for the fans! It's not like Bandai's making any money from it. That reminds me, we just finished Macross Plus at the last anime night we had around my place. I'll probably hold off on Macross 7 until I catch a few new people up with at least 'DYRL?' and Plus, then head into M7 with everyone. It'll be interesting to see how it takes. Sadly, most of them are young enough that they consider Evangelion to be oldschool anime.

I would disagree about the dogfights. The battle animation in Macross 7 is more consistant, but it's very simple and rather bland, while most of the SDF Macross animation is pretty crappy, there are sequences that are just amazing, such as Max and Millia's dogfight sequences. On the other hand, I do agree that I find myself watching my Macross 7 DVDs far more than my beloved AnimEigo SDF Macross DVDs. One thing that bothers me about the original series is that the character developement is rather forced and awkward through much of the series. People say that you need to watch the series to get the development that's lacking in "Do You Remember Love?", but I'd argue that while the story is far more compressed, the actual developement of Hikaru, Misa, and Minmay is much better written and presented than what we get in the tv series. Meanwhile, Macross 7 is all about the character developement. There's tons of it, coming from all of the major characters. Ray, Basara, Mylene, Gamlin, Veffidas, Max, Millia, Gigil, Sivil, Gepelnitch, everyone just has wonderfully well written, and realistic character developement going on. I think the split in opinions, and witnessing a lot of people's opinions change from repulsed to complete adoration only serves to prove just how realistic the story and character development of the show actually is. Gamlin, Gigil, and company didn't start singing Planet Dance from the first episode on, after all. Pretty much all of the characters in the show had reactions very similar to a lot of people that love and hate the show. Plus it helps that I adore a lot of the ship and mecha designs from the show. While I'm not a huge fan of the Fire Bomber custom Valkyries myself, I would be ecstatic if Yamato managed to get a Macross 7 license and produced a large Battle 7 toy in scale with the rumoured SDF-1 Macross toy they'll hopefully be bringing us.

"Do You Remember Love?" a sad song? I've always thought it was a very uplifting song. Then again, I've never really read a translation of the lyrics, so maybe it is a sad song. "An Angel's Paint" is still my favourite song from the movie, and my favourite Minmay song in general, though. As for the Megaroad-01? How can you think that's sad? They road off into the sunset and lived happily ever after. It's the very definition of a happy ending. Hikaru and Misa had a happy marrige and a kid, while Minmay came to terms with what she wanted out of life, overcoming the self-centeredness and diva-hood of her younger years, and even retained a good friendship with both Hikaru and Misa. Them dissapearing near the center of the galaxy always seemed like an excuse to blow off the fans constantly pestering Kawamori and company about the fate of the those three characters, whose stories Kawamori had stated many times he was done with. At least, that's what I get out of DYRL? and Flashback 2012, and all that. Back on topic, though, I do hope Big West has plans for the 10th Anniversary of the movie. Not all that long ago, I was desperately hoping Bandai would reissue the 1/55th Elintseeker and Super Ostrich, but I'm afraid those feelings have passed. I'd much rather have a 1/48th Yamato rendition of those two Valkyries. I'd also like to see a new Macross tv series, but if Kawamori is working on a non-Macross tv series right now, then we might not be getting another series for a while. Who knows? Time will tell.

I also hold the believe that a very large number of those that are quick to say that Akira was lame and overrated are simply jaded or have fallen into the trap where it's now trendy to think it's lame, just like it was trendy to think it was the best thing ever years ago. Not everyone, mind you, just most of them. Still, it's to be expected as Akira did suffer from overhype, especially in the late 90's. Once anime started becoming really big, Akira was being praised left and right, more than it deserved. Personally, I think the actual visuals and animation are far beyond anything except possibly Disney's Fantasia movies. Every movie that's hyped as being a "modern day Akira" falls far short in the animation department. Ghost in the Shell comes quickly to mind. Great animation, but Akira still puts it to shame. The motion is just so fluid, and details just so incredible, there's very little that compares. Storywise, I never had any problem understanding it, but then again I tend to understand books and movies fairly easily. Stuff like Dune, 2001, etcetera just clicked for me. Then again, I'm the type that will know the end of a movie like Jacob's Ladder, Existenze, or Sixth Sense about 5-15 minutes into it, much to the chagrin of anyone who asks, "Oh yeah, then how will it end?" Still, the story in Akira, while interesting and intelligent, never really grabbed me. Of course there's a lot missing from the story that was in the Manga, but whenever you take a story that long and condense it into a 2 hour movie, you're gonna lose a lot. Still, Akira pulled it off a lot better than Oshii's Ghost in the Shell movie, and the GitS manga wasn't even nearly as long as Akira. I'd reccomend at least one viewing of Akira to anyone who's a fan of anime, or animation in general. I'd especially reccomend it to those who know a thing or two about animation and might critisize the Japanese style of animation with it's particular brand of shortcuts (I'd also remind them that American animation has it's own shortcuts that aren't present in Japanese animation), as a good example of big budget animation out of Japan. Also the mood and cyberpunkish theme of the movie is something that is sorely lacking in our current trend towards bright, shiney, happy, clean futuristic worlds (the recent Bubblegum Crisis series compared to the original BBG is a sickeningly blatant example of this trend, though that's an extreme case) that we're currently in. The story I can easily see people loving, hating, or being simply indifferent towards. I like it, but it's truly the animation itself and the outstanding music and the world that the movie presents which put it high on my list.

No, you're wrong. A 1/48th VF-1 with FAST packs would still be shorter than the shoulders of a 1/48th V/YF-19 in battroid. Still not nearly as large as Aegis! seems to think. Then again, maybe it's because I grew up in the 80's with toys like Fortress Maximus and the G.I. Joe Tomcat and other toys like that. Sure, the 1/48th scale VF-1 toys are big compared to the 1/60 line, but they're still not huge toys compared to a lot of toys out there. Heck, my Ultra Magnus toys (both the G1 reissues and the Car Robot 'God Magnus') and Fire Convoy toys are about as big as my 1/48th Valks, bigger if you consider mass instead of just height. Not nearly as well detailed, though. Also, I believe the top of the VF-1's head comes to about or just below the nosecone sticking out of the Y/VF-19's chest. Perhaps a bit lower. So the VF-19 does tower a bit over the VF-1, but it is in no way a gargantuan toy that will cause need for collectors to build an addition to their house simply to store it. We're still taking maybe Metroplex size, not nearly Fort Max size. I'm also a little suprised and even disturbed by Aegis!'s vehemence towards the 1/48th line. I totally agree that the 1/48th toys are for more hardcore collectors, and I have no intention to buy every single 1/48th VF-1 that Yamato releases. Still, while I have no plans to buy the Low Vis or the Hikaru 1S, I really don't think the world would be a better place if Yamato hadn't planned to release them at all. I'm of the philosophy that if I don't like it, or don't really want it that bad, I simply won't buy it. I do also agree, though, that Yamato should continue the 1/60 and 1/72 lines for people that can't afford the larger scales, or want a more complete collection. As for the current little debate about the detail in a 1/48th VF-1 versus a 1/60 YF-19, well I think that a 1/60 YF-19 will have much more detail than a 1/60 VF-1, being closer in size to the 1/48 VF-1, it would still lose some of the smaller details Yamato would probably go out of their way for in a 1/48 YF-19. I have trouble thinking of just what further details Yamato would add to a 1/48th YF-19 over a 1/60, then again I probably wouldn't have thought of the wing flaps and air brake in the 1/48th scale VF-1. Also stuff like the pilot, the cockpit, little panels and flaps, the landing gear would probably all get a little more 'unf' in a 1/48 toy, and probably not be as detailed in a 1/60 YF-19 as compared to a 1/48 VF-19 as those kinds of things won't neccessarily be bigger in the 19 than they are in the VF-1. I'm also not saying that a 1/48th YF-19 would be insanely more detailed than a 1/60 YF-19, it's just that whenever you up the scale, there's always room for a bit 'more'. Grok?

After seeing the picture with the much more clear view of the shoulders, I have a theory. I think the oversized shoulders are a part of the GBP armour itself, fitted over regular size 1/60 shoulders. Think about how the GBP armour connects to the VF-1 shoulders, then try to imagine how that can be done with the current 1/60 line. Doesn't seem like it could work well, does it? Hence, the armour comes attached to "shoulders" that snap over the existing shoulders. I wounder if something similar would be done with the 1/48 version (if one is made) or would a better solution be available for that scale? I don't think it's all that bad, since the armour must be removed to transform it anyways, but it would account for the oversized shoulders.

Pfunk, I think you're missing a couple points here. You could say that about almost any show, as there's very few shows that air with any sort of fan base already present and most shows require huge sums of cash to get started. Almost no japanese studio takes it upon themselves to distribute their shows internationally. They're pretty much all licensed by an American company who thinks the show will sell. Gainax didn't release Evagelion in the United States, Sunrise didn't release Cowboy Bebop in the USA, why should we blame Big West for not opening up shop in the US to release Macross here themselves when almost no one else does that either? Even Tatsunoko doesn't distribute their own stuff in the United States, they leave that up to distribution companies like Harmony Gold. People aren't upset at Harmony Gold because 'cause they dont want to let thier "investment" go', Macross fans are upset at HG for attempting to block other Macross shows and merchandise from becoming readily available at domestic prices for the international Macross fanbase. Many feel that HG is employing questionable business practices and hurting the fans in the process. Sure, we can download or buy bootlegs of any Macross derivative to come out of Japan, and even buy a couple of them here legitimately. Sure, we can order Yamato's wonderful toys over the internet. Call me crazy, but I'd rather have a legitimate R1 DVD release of Macross Zero, and I'd be much happier paying 30 bucks less and not having to shell out for shipping on top of it when it comes to buying Yamato's toys. I might be strange, but I like paying less and getting more. It's weird, I know. Harmony Gold is preventing this right now. Not only that, but then they release an arguably lesser quality toy and charge much more money for it than we are even paying at Japanese prices with shipping tacked on for many of our Yamato's. Perhaps HG is in the legal right, perhaps not. We'll most likely find out in time, but right now most fans only know that HG is preventing them from getting Macross merchandise, or at the very least preventing them from getting that merchandise at a lesser cost, and preventing Macross from becoming even more popular with the mainstream (in the USA at least) with a wide release. That is the basis for most of the bad feelings towards Harmony Gold.

I always took it at face value that Ivano Gunther was just very bishonen. Hmm, wasn't there a part in the show when Gepelnitch contacts the Macross 7 fleet and Max or someone was all like, "That's a GUY?!" As for Ray and Akiko, umm, I always got out of it that Ray just became very uncomfortable because of their history. I mean, he still somewhat blamed himself for the death of her boyfriend, who was a very good friend of his. Now, if you thought it was your fault that a very good friend of yours died, would you be eager and willing to just run off with his girlfriend?

If it was just the hands, then I'd agree. The paint job is pretty major, though. I'm glad they redid it with the correct colours. Still, the missles firing out of Millia's exhaust pipes is the equivelant of someone drawing a guy firing a gun, but with the shots firing out from the targeting scope.

Series? Macross of course. SDF Macross DYRL? Macross Plus Macross 7 All of those had endings that just worked. Can't wait to see where Macross Zero goes. Gao Gai Gar had a great ending, and definitely fit the show perfectly. I can't wait to see GGG:Final. The Night the Earth Stood Still: Giant Robo had an excellent ending. I did enjoy the Evangelion tv series ending. To be honest, I liked it a lot better than the movie ending. I prefere endings that make you think, and require you to follow clues provided along the way to put together an accurate idea of how things end, and why. I though End of Evangelion just spelled things out too simply, especially for such a complex series. Slighty off topic, Final Fantasy VII still holds as one of my favourite videogame endings, for much the same reason that I actually liked the Eva tv series. I find it rewarding to piece together endings from clues picked up during the story. Each of the Dune books had excellent endings. They tied together enough strings so as not to make a sequel neccessary, yet left enough open to make sequels possible without being contrived or contradicting. Hard to determine which of those is my favourite. Out of just series, probably I'd say the Macross 7 ending, though I know many would disagree. I do think that it's one of the better endings in anime, bringing the story and developement of the series to a perfect conclusion. Sure, it's hardly a complicated ending, but it carries a very strong, uplifting message that appeals to the artist and idealist in me.

Hmm, I seem the odd man out. I finally saw this movie not too long ago, and it just didn't do it for me. The plot seemed horribly contrived. Putting random kids on an island to kill each other off and let the most vicious/amoral/brutal/lucky person out of the group go back home is just...it's..well, it's one of the worst plots ever. There has to be many much better ideas to get a similar situation started. The crumbling society idea combined with the twisted teacher idea work well together, but the idea of the 'BR Act' (at least the way it was explained) is just...well...it does worse than make no sense. I don't think it was a bad movie, I just didn't think it was all that great. Simply coming up with a more plausible reason to have these kids on an island killing each other would have made the film much better. Maybe rounding up only the worst kids, kids off the street that were contributing to the decay of society, filming it for the entertainment of a corrupt populace, and lying about letting the winner go home, opening up even more plot ideas. Maybe having the teacher have a vendetta against one student in the class (which he already did, but it wasn't fleshed out) and switching classes, so that instead of a class full of bad students, the class that was taken is taken in it's place with the student in question. This could have opened up a lot more avenues for developement as well, while retaining a lot of the movie's good elements that are already present. The film has a lot of shock value (though it gets old before the movie's over), some solid performances, and a lot of great ideas. I just felt that it fell short of what it could have been. The plot holes present are just too big for me to ignore, and keep me from fully enjoying much else about the film.

Medichlorians just come off as being the same sort of lame pseudo-science that crops up in Star Trek and bad sci-fi in general. Medichlorians are much more sci-fi, while the Force is much more Space Opera, if you understand the difference. It just seemed like a huge leap away from the Space Opera roots of the original trilogy. Whether or not it was a good step is opinion. Personally, my opinion is negative. I think most people had a negative opinion of medichlorians. Also it was something that was not at all mentioned in the original trilogy, yet was made into a big deal in Phantom Menace, then again went unmentioned in Clones. Also, cause or effect, it adds a very (up to this point) non-Star Wars/Space Opera style story element. The effect of that is to jar many viewers out of their Star Wars induced euphoria into a state of "WTF?" reaction to a seemingly broken plot element.

Unlike the FAST Pack editions of the 11 and the 21, the new VF-19 is being redone from the ground up. I would expect the same quality of at least the 1/60 line VF-1 toys.

I'm still not keen on the Marduk, they were basically Zentradi v2.0 with nothing really distinguishing them. Also, the Marduk really were mindless minions and pawns to Ingus, especially considering the majority of their forces were the brainwashed Zentradi drones.

Actually, even looking at the line art, the VF-19Kai, S, P, etcetera, all have differently shaped legs than the YF-19. The YF-19's legs slope inward in the front, while the legs of the M7 VF-19s all bulge outward.

I need a 'DYRL?' Kakazaki to finish off my Skull Squadron!

Go watch Grave of the Fireflies.

The TV Hikaru VF-1J will, much like the 1/60 toys, come with mutliple sets of hands. A couple closed fists, a couple open hands, and at least one hand shaped to hold the gunpod. There's pictures floating around showing the 1J with all these different hands.

From the Compendium.