Radd

I actually own a copy of both Robotech issues. Picked them up for the novelty of it, when I saw them in a comic shop one day. They're pretty awful. They pretty much make the 90's Robotech comics look like Shakespear.

I'm feeling a bit too lazy to look for an actual reference, but go look on the Macross Compendium (if that section is up yet), I recall it stating specifically that there was a large scale cloning of the human race in order to beef up the population. I would not be surprised that, when faced with extinction, the human race would almost (if not quite) universally lose their misgivings on cloning.

You are quite correct. I'm really not certain how I overlooked that. I would suggest that the Protodevlin may have had that power as a part of being Protodevlin, and not as a technology, however that would be pure conjecture on my part. I thought to suggest that the one piece of Protoculture technology that we see sporting force fields is a ground based installation, however that's not true. The APHOS also showed use of a force field. I suppose they're more prevalent in Macross than I suspected.

Hey, so it's $112 with FAST packs? That's not so bad. I recall hearing over a hundred bucks some time ago, and remember thinking if that's without FAST packs, no deal. I'll probably wait until I hear what others have to say about it, though. The only real reason for me to pick one up is to have a nicer 1/60 VF-1 to place next to my 1/60 Plus, Zero, and eventually Frontier toys. Also the 1/60 destroids. Then again, I never did go all out on the old 1/60 VF-1 toys. Just a VF-1A Max, an Elintseeker, and a Super Ostrich. Always thought the hip bulges looked worse than swing bars, and certainly weren't a good trade off for "perfect" transformation. So if they do release a ton of variants, I might actually go for that, so long as there aren't any glaring problems not obvious from photos.

Does the DVD contain any of the viral marketing stuff? Like anything about the various websites, or the "news" videos that were uploaded to YouTube?

Anything to make you guys feel better.

It really just sounds like the sort of tongue-in-cheek throwaway comment storytellers come up with all the time. I think people are taking it far too seriously.

Three episodes in and the show is still top notch. I also have to say I'm digging the FAST packs more and more. They're my favourite since the originals in SDF and DYRL. The "full armour" is a bit much in fighter mode, reminding me too much of the Stampede and other over-the-top designs, but makes for a great full armoured battroid. The regular super/strike packs look great, though. Also, I'm glad this episode had more character development and began pushing the story more, the action is great but that's not the only ingredient for a great Macross series. Also, I'm glad that while there's a steady stream of homages and references that they're also keeping things fresh. I'm certainly interested in learning more about the Vajra, and all the individual characters. Also, there's something about the character style I'm digging. Maybe in the way they're animated, or their expressions because looking at still character shots they're not that interesting, but in the show they seem to click. I suspect it's in their expressions.

Actually, I think that'd be pretty cool. Heh. I dig Ozma blasting Fire Bomber driving down the road.

I'd love a DYRL style redo of 7. Granted, I'd rather something entirely new, and Frontier seems to be doing that just fine, but I certainly would not be disappointed to hear M7 was being revisited with better direction. The importance of presentation cannot be understated, and I really think that was the part of the series where they really dropped the ball. I still enjoy the show, qutie a bit actually, but I can certainly see why it splits Macross fans the way it does, and I believe it doesn't have to.

I imagine it was likely an "off the cuff" sort of statement.

I would be against forcing more connections to SDF:M. From a storytelling perspective, it would just be ham fisted fan service.

I wouldn't mind a Zero movie. I don't really see the first several episodes being all that disjointed, the only part where it seemed kinda messy was that last episode. The beginning was so rushed, as others said like a half an episode was missing, and then the end, at least if the fansubs were accurate, seemed to set up Shin remaining behind, but ended with him disappearing into sparkling lights. I don't mind an artsy ending but it seemed kinda clumsy in execution. I do wonder if that could be cleaned up with some re-editing and a bit of new footage?

There are a few things I don't particularly agree are "negatives", but this one stands out to me. Dude, as far as I know they still vaccinate military people heading to far ends of the world, so what exactly is so silly about taking precautions when someone comes in contact with an alien, or at the very least an alien device we know precious little about? I think it would be far more unrealistic if they didn't round up everyone who had come within close proximity of the thing. Pretty certain you misunderstood that scene in a big way. Yes, that scene occurs in the broadcast edition of the show. Ozma worked and trained hard to get where he is, entrusted with an expensive experimental fighter, and he just lost a team mate who'd gone through as much. And here's this snot nosed kid, who did good, but still very green, asking to be handed one of those expensive fighters, to run out and face actual combat where he'd likely choke up and wind up another name etched on the war memorial? This, as Ozma is running out to do his job. He sent the message in a very blunt, direct manner which drives the point home, Alto isn't ready for that. I imagine if Alto had blocked or dodged the punch, Ozma probably would have grunted approval and said, "Not today kid. Go home.", rather than having the guards toss him out. As it is, Alto was in way over his head and had no idea, and would have wasted precious moments trying to argue while Ozma needed to get into his Valk and out to the battle. Actually, as it is, I think there's a lot of story potential for Alto starting out regular military. Doubt that will happen, and I'm sure those following the manga know more of what's coming, but I do think that's a neat idea. As for why Sheryl wanted to find Alto, isn't it obvious? He's all over the news, hero of the day, even if all he did was keep the alien busy for a few moments and save one girl. It'd be big publicity for her. Hey, wait a minute...was Ozma's voice actor also Volfogg? Was Kamina Volfogg? Also Hanzo Hattori in Samurai Showdon? Man, he's had some choice roles.

For me, personally; 1. Fire Bomber, I love 'em. Love the music, love the characters. Even Basara. Especially Basara, I should say. 2. The upbeat nature of the story, it's themes and ideals. You don't see a lot of that in the angst ridden post-Eva anime landscape. 3. The ending is one of my favourites in anime. In part for the same reasons I gave in 2. Also because I felt the long build up finally came together. 4. The mecha and ships. I'm not keen on the Sound Force designs, or the theme-park looking colony support ships, but everything else, from the Battle 7 and City 7, to the rank and file fleet ships were great. Also, like others have said, the VF-17 is awesome. 5. Dynamite 7, other than the lacking animation in spots, there wasn't much I disliked about the OVA. 6. The interesting turn taken with Max and Millia, not only did they bring back some of my SDF:M favourites, but put an interesting new spin on their relationship. 7. Operation Stargazer, ja I agree the story picked up a lot here. 8. Gamlin, one of my favourite Macross characters.

I was going to jump in say say, "Ah-hah! Someone beat you too it!", but....I think you're right. I could have sworn someone already pointed out that the ships still have the full barrier should they find a use for it. Maybe I'm thinking of another thread?

Well, from what we've seen, humans are the only ones to develop any sort of force field, period. If I recall correctly, not even the Protodevlin had force fields of any kind, despite taking over a human colony fleet and their technology. It sounds like you're suggesting is that in this time Earth should have developed an entirely new form of force field. While it's entirely possible that could be written in at some point, there's not much of a basis to lead us to assume this is a logical step with the given time frame. Personally, in addition to all that, I like the limited and flawed role of force fields in Macross, it's pretty much the only thing like it I can recall in popular sci-fi. Most everyone else either has no forcefields, or they go the Star Trek route.

Also, who's to say the PPB is still controlled by 3 overcaffinated girls who honed their Centipede skills down to an art form? For all we know the system is a lot more automated, and a lot more accurate now.

I think the discussion hits a wall when it's pointed out that the barrier was two-way, and tends to explode when hit with too much. So, they wouldn't be able to counter attack, and they'd risk blowing up friendly ships with their own shields. So, even if they did make the barrier more power consumption friendly (or just made more powerful generators to make power not an issue, those problems would still make it a poor choice for fleet engagements. A single ship on the run? Sure. Multiple ships on both sides in an active battle? Not so good. Now, arguing they should have leaped beyond into some entirely new shield system is kinda baseless. There's no reason to assume they'd make that kind of technological leaps, when the PPB itself was originally a fluke. That they're able to miniaturize it to fit on a Valkyrie, and fit multiple PPB systems on a single ship shows that they have been making some progress with it, but given the two basic flaws with the omnidirectional barrier there's just no reason to assume that it would take over for the PPB exclusively, or even primarily.

I suspect the threat of litigation, whether or not HG has any legal standing whatsoever, will be enough to keep Macross out of the US for the foreseeable future. Combined with the current sad state of western anime distribution, there's really not much of a chance we'll see Frontier get a western release.

I don't think the VF-25 transforms too fast, but had to pipe up. I thought the whole "It flies apart super-sentai like" thing was debunked 5 minutes after the Deculture Edition aired. I'm still not certain how people came to this conclusion, or why so many pointed to the electrical effect as their primary reasoning. As fast as the 25 transforms, the hinges and swing bars always seemed really apparent to me. Just saying.

My favourite FAST packs are still the originals, however these new ones are growing on me. Actually, is the armour on Ozma's VF-25 different in episode 2? It is, isn't it? I thought his armour in the first episode was a bit over the top, but I dig the armour in the second episode. Just so I'm clear, he's got Super/Strike armour in the second episode, and "full armour" in the first, right?

How so? And, which time? Edit: Realized there was potential spoilers. New and improved with spoiler tags, just in case.

On the technical notes, I used Media Player Classic and saw no issues. I'm not certain what codecs I have, as I've not messed with them in ages. I can say that I avoid codec packs like the plague, though. They always seem nice an convenient at first, then seem to cause no end of trouble later for some reason. Of course, maybe I'm being stodgy and they've improved a lot since I last messed with them.

Finally saw the Gattai fansub that appeared on Animesuki today. Well, I say "finally", but I started downloading it the moment I got home from work, and it took maybe 15 minutes to download. I'd forgotten how fast torrents can get. But, ja, I thought it was fantastic. Also, brilliant. Quite positively amazing. I was kinda worried after the editing in the broadcast version of the first episode, but I've no complaints about this episode. At least none that I've completely forgotten in the face of how awesome the episode was. Well, that's not true. The CG looked really chintzy in places. However, as far as anime CG goes, it's no worse than par for the course. I loved the flight sequence at the beginning, though. Beautifully done. I also think the characters are turning out to be really interesting already. I love Alto, Ranka, and Ozma. I'm not certain whether or not I like Sheryl, but I really want to see what she does next, so I certainly enjoy her as a character so far. All in all, I can't wait until next week.