Radd

I saw The Pillows in San Francisco last month, and got shown up by a bunch of unknown Japanese girl punk bands like Tsushimamire. Kind of a bummer, the audience was 90% otaku who were there only for The Pillows and practically ignored the other 4-5 bands. I think I saw Egan Loo there too, oddly enough. That always depresses me, when a band shows up, and most of the crowd are just there to hear their anime music and nothing else. There's some great tracks on the album I picked up, I hope they play some of them when I go to see them in Chicago this weekend. So you're saying these other bands were better? I'll have to look up Tsishimamire. Maybe they'll have some albums at ACen.

Just picked up the Pillow's album 'Penalty Life', been listening to that most of today. Lately I've also been listing to the song Juke Box Hero by Foreigner quite a bit. Had a nagging desire to listen to the Heavy Metal album, but my copy seems lost to time so I'll have to pick it up again sometime.

Though I believe Gabe Q is quite right about the head issue, I'd rather they put out a DYRL Cannon fodder, with movie versions of the bigger, beefier hands. I just really prefere the DYRL? hand, pilot, and cockpit designs. I just had a thought, though. For those of us ill equipped to do a decent customizing job, this could be an excellent Valkyrie to use with the 2 seater parts, if Captain America could be convinced to do a run in cannon fodder colours.

Customizing sounds nice. Too bad I've little experience with painting up toys. Still, custom stickers shouldn't be a problem. I wonder what our local custom sticker suppliers use and where I could obtain some?

Rock on. I'm seriously considering two of these if Yamato doesn't release a version of the GBP armour with a 1J, and Hikaru 1Js are hard to find. One will get a FAST pack treatment, the other gets GBP. However, if there is a 1J pack, I do need one to round out my collection.

Most people don't seem to be too keen on the shape of the current Xbox controller.

Meh. I need a copy of the OVA, but if I can find it cheaper from the old release, and this new release doesn't feature anything new, then I'll get the old DVDs that are still floating around.

Just reflecting back on this old post, I think that the tailfins have to be flat. Remember that the 1/48 has a little hinge to secure the backpack when the fighter mounts FAST Packs. How is it going to be secure when we do barrel rolls and stuff like that when the backpack is higher relative to the fighter? A little ingenuity could go a long way here. The 1/60 VT-1 and VE-1 have a little flap that comes down between the tail fins. The regular VFs have this flap too, but it doesn't fold down. No need for it to. However, it is there on the Elint and Super-O, and perhaps with a bit of adjustment the 1/48 hinge could meet up with that and hold the backpack in place? Either way, I prefer accuracy with the 1/48ths.

I've been tempted to pick this one up for a while now. Unfortunately, I've never been good with models at all, wich is why I stick to toys.

I hate every chimp I see From chimpan-A to chimpan-Z! No you'll never make a monkey out of me! Oops! I was wrong! It was Earth all along! Well you finally made a monkey... (We finally made a monkey...) YES! You finally made a monkey out of meeeeeeee! I love you Dr. Zaius!

I enjoyed Hale Nochi Guu, and immeadiately recognized similar traits to this anime, so I really wanted to like it. However, the overboard fanservice, and the utter lack of any interesting characters (the characters were a big part of what made Guu such an excellent show) really killed any potential.

I actually have less of a problem with the surfing robots now that I've seen the idea in action. I really dig the mecha designs and the main robot's transformation. About the only cliche they drop, in fact, is in that they don't make a big deal of the transforming robot. Not even mentioned, it just does.

Watched the first episode. The animation was very pretty, the directing is nice, the drawing style borders between generic and unique in different ways but the overall effect is nice. I can see why so many people are comparing it to FLCL. The main character's introductory monologue is very much like the first episode of FLCL, and the drawying style and designs are heavily reminiscent. Same designer? I wouldn't be surprised. Yet different enough that I wouldn't be surprised if it was just a heavy or shared influences. The character designs (something that is separate from the actual drawing style) are very nice, a good mix of modern and retro design asthetics. I could see these characters walking around in the movie Metropolis, or again FLCL. The story seems very cliche at this point, laughably so. I'm interested enough to go onto the next episode, but find myself hoping that something comes up quickly to keep me interested. I'll probably watch the second episode tonight after work.

Joe Madureira often took liberally from already existing designs.He usually took more flak from it than I think his work deserved, but remember seeing an ad for a new comic by him that I can only assume never came out. The main character design was a shameless rip of Mega Man. I don't really mind when someone has obvious influences, or when someone throws in a cameo from another comic or anime or whatever in the background, but when you throw in an already existing design in as one of your main characters you're just asking for trouble.

According to ANN Bandai has already licensed the show. Animesuki seems to be under this impression as well and are not carrying the fansubs. If you guys know where I could get a fansub or two I'd be much obliged. No clue when or if Bandai will release it, and besides I'd like to see how it is before I drop the cash for a DVD. If the show is as good as people have been saying, I'll definitely nab the DVDs and get the rest of my weekly anime group hooked on it as well. They loved Plus and Zero, after all.

I could care less if the movie followed the book story to the letter or not. Heck, the books aren't the real Hitchiker's guide, the original material as it were. The radio drama came first. Also, the books, albumns, radio dramas, etcetera all tend to contradict each other and themselves, so there's plenty of leeway as far as a movie goes. All I ask for out of a movie rendition is good writing and Douglas Adams style humour. Everything I've seen and read, from reviews to trailers, to short film clips, has told me that this is not the case. I'll probably, out of morbid curiosity, go see it at the cheap theatre. If it had only been bad reviews, I'd have gone to see it, but the trailers and clips I've seen have been horribly unfunny and give credibility to the reviews that say that the dialogue is a pale shadow of the Douglas Adams writing that made the books and radio dramas all so hilarious in the first place. The poor plot developement and seemingly cop-out ways of having a 2-armed, 1-headed Zaphod don't really entice me much, either. If all of this is correct, then I really, sincerely doubt that the notion of preconceived ideas ruining the movie is true. Unless of course you take the angle that people have the preconcieved notion that the movie may be decent, then are let down when the movie isn't, in wich case you've got a strong career in either politics or law ahead of you.

So this is licensed by Bandai, right? Is the first DVD out already or are you guys talking about fansubs? I'm itching to see this show after reading about it.

Click at your own risk! Turn away NOW! OH GOD MY EYES At least Warren can draw, maintain consistent proportions, a high level of detail that isn't just random lines and bulging muscles where they shouldn't be. It's just that his style is often put to things that should never be put to that style. Granted, most things should never be touched with that style...

This man's art is somehow beloved by many and he works for companies like DC and Marvel, yet I can still barely get work doing the occaissional small press comic that winds up paying me less than minimum wage. And people wonder why artists become bitter and cynical.

Did you catch how the Duel of the Fates theme seems to climax in the Anakin vs. Obi-wan track?

I used an exacto knife, and yes it was a huge pain for the smaller stickers. Give scissors a try and see how that works for you, then let me know!

Thanks much to both valkyrie312 and promethuem5.

No, there's holes in the nosecone where the legs attach. No assembly piece you need to add. Really, other than swapping out the heatshield/canopy, and removing then reattaching the legs there's nothing that really needs to be removed or added. There's little pieces like additional hands you have the option of swapping between, the backpack antenna for gerwalk mode, missles, and a filler piece for the nosecone hole that you have the option of using. The removable legs for the 1/60 sale was Yamato's way of avoiding an ugly swing bar like the old Bandai 1/55ths and the Toynami Robotech toys use. However, the legs of the 1/60 scale have these huge, ugly hip bulges that make the whole idea mute. Also, for the record, I've not once removed the gunstrap for my 1/48s. It tucks neatly to the side when carried beneath the Valkyrie in fighter mode.

A mix of stickered and naked. All three of my 1/48ths are stickered up with Takatoy's stickers, as well as two of my 1/48 FAST pack sets (the third is unopened until I decide what to do with it or pick up another 1/48). I hate Yamato's stickers with a passion, the only Yamato toy I've used any of their stickers on was my first, my VF-1J Max. Even then I stopped after the skulls and the U.N. Spacey logos. The stickers are just awful and I have no plans to sticker up any of my others with the stock sticker sheets. Once I have some spare cash, I plan to shop around for more custom sheets. and then I'll dress up the rest of my Yamato collection. I wouldn't use decals simply because the custom sticker sheets you can find around here do their job splendidly, and like Graham I prefere to play with my toys. Unlike Graham, I went all out on my 1/48ths. The tiny details really make those toys look spectacular, and I've had no problem with them scratching or falling off or anything.

Update time! 1/48th Scale VF-1A Hikaru + FP VF-1A Max + FP VF-1S Fokker + FP 1/60 scale VF-1A Max Millia Q-Rau Elintseeker Super Ostrich 1/72 scale YF-22 FP VF-11 FP 1/100 scale VB-6 Konig Monster Yamato has supplied me with 10 so far, but I'd like to expand this collection in the near future. I plan to pick up extra hours at work just for that reason. On top of my Yamato collection I have all the Bandai 1/55th and 1/65th reissues, one Bandai VF-19 model kit, and one Banpresto VF-1S Strike.