Radd

Centralized and authoritive leadership is really coming into style in some parts of the world. It's not surprising to see arguments for the Empire like that. Ideally, if one must have a government at all, then a single, benevolent leader can be much more effective than a beaurucratic nightmare of endless committees and general indecisiveness. The problem is, can a single voice really represent a large population in such a way as to please everyone? Or will their principles and ideals clash harshly with any number of those under the heel of their power? A benevolant leader may do something that they see as good and right, that is seen as absolute evil by others. Heck, even Palpatine appears to think of himself as a good guy.

Actually, he's been a little busier than that. I don't think the directing credits listed at IMDB are complete. I'm pretty certain he did direct at least a couple episodes of the Young Indiana Jones tv series and somer other tv show episodes, as well as continuing to be very busy in the film making world in general.

I can't see the nosecone, there appears to be a piece of GBP in the way. Anyways, this looks most excellent. I can't wait to nab mine, packaged with a VF-1J.

Say what you like about Hamill's acting career, but as far as voice acting, well, he's one of the best english speaking voice actors around. That's probably the most promising news I've heard about this series so far.

Did the customizer explain why he left the blue parts blue? I mean, looking at the show and the magazine scans they're most obviously grey. Did you ask him about it? It seems a shame, because those unpainted blue parts really stand out against an otherwise remarkable custom job.

SOUTHERN Israel....duh.

While I also didn't see the point of the scene where Mylene's manager tries to rape her, it wasn't enough to detract from my enjoyment of the OVA. In fact, other than a simple, but enjoyable, story, Dynamite pretty much seemed to be most of what I liked about Macross 7, minus nearly everything I hated about the series. Gone are the glam rock costumes and Sound Force valkyries. Nowhere to be seen are the monster of the week style Protodevlin designs. Instead we get the VF-5000, the VA-3. the most excellent VF-19P, and a Diamond Force coloured VF-22. The so-called "tasteless" bath scene seemed no more tasteless, and no more sexual for that matter, than the young Sara scene from Macross Zero. I enjoyed Dynamite far more than "The Galaxy is Calling Me". About the only thing it was lacking that I enjoyed in the tv series was the stellar character developement, but to be fair it seemed hardless neccessary for the story they were telling, and a 49 episode tv series can almost always put forth more character developement than a significantly shorter OVA.

I gotta agree with AgentOne. Really, my least favourite was Phantom Menace, but I still managed to enjoy it. Woulda enjoyed it a lot more had Jar-Jar been toned way the hell down. In the second movie my wish came true, he appeared just enough to be an enjoyable character (I still love how he handed the galaxy over to Chancellor Palpatine). Clones I still enjoy more than A New Hope, but not as much as Empire or Jedi, but then only because of things like Goth Poetry Corner with Anakin Vader. I rather enjoyed everything else about EpII. Episode III looks to be devoid of scenes like those, replacing the adolescent angsty Anakin with the grown up, asskicking Jedi Knight Anakin, as well as Anakin turned Vader. I've allowed myself to read all the spoilers and look at all the pictures leaked out, and everything I've read and seen points to this movie quite likely being better than Empire. It really seems that even without the suit, Vader is going to be Vader for a good portion of the film.

No, my girlfriend has been looking at the Scions a lot lately (though she's not interested in that particular model). It's definitely not the xA. This car I saw looked almost exactly like the G1 Cliffjumper in car mode. It was really stubby looking, like a giant choro-q(sp?) toy. I really need to bug my girlfriend into keeping her digital camera in her purse so I can take a picture of it the next time I see one.

Macross II was pretty generic and bland in my opinion, and remember kids that's all it is, an opinion. However, the very nature of this thread asks our opinions. I liked it as a kid who was just rediscovering Macross and in need of more than Robotech. Back then I loved the slimmed down, sleeker looking Valkyries, and the beefier looking, sharp edged destroids. However, as I've grown older, my distaste for organic, non-symetrical looking machines has completely dissapeared. Now I just see the mecha from Macross II as generic looking revisions of the original mecha. Bigger guns and more of them, but not much originality. Give me the VA-3, or the VF-17 over those any day. I'm not a fan of the Sound Force designs, but there's so much more to the series. I really dig the Jamming Bird VF-11. Storywise, Macross II looks like they took the plot outline from DYRL?, changed some characters, altered some situations, and blam, there's your new story. The characters are pretty typical, and very bland at what they do. Macross 7, on the other hand, offers an interesting and varied cast, with some of the best character developement that I've seen in anime. I do have to disagree with AgentOne's statement that M7 tells kids to take the easy way out. It has always been easier to take the other guy out than to try and understand their position, especially when they're not keen on trying to understand yours. That might not be your ideology of choice, but calling it the "easy way out" just isn't true. It's always been easier to simply label "the other side", forget that they're people with motivations much the same as your own, and rather than settle the problem use force to make certain you at least get your way. Of course, sometimes the simplest solution really is the best solution. As for what Macross has always been about? Well, some people seem to think it has always been about the space battles, the mecha, and dramatically winning against the odds. Others seem to think it has always been about the human spirit, understanding your enemies and making them your allies. Others think that Macross has always been about the music. I think the reason SDF and DYRL? worked so well is that the story blended all of these aspects. I mean, the Macross would have been taken out immeadiately if they'd just laid down their weapons and tried to win the Zentradie over with hugs, but on the other hand they'd never have survived if their culture hadn't made many Zentradie soldiers interested in human life, eventually so much that Britai and his fleet sided with the Macross against Bodolza.

The question is, was it ever stated in either SDF or DYRL? that humans had never heard of the term before? Seems open enough, especially given the nature of Macross Zero. It's possibly out of that group, only Roy had heard the term before. Possibly even Misa knew and was more surpised of the context when it came up. It's one of those things that reeks of "retcon", but doesn't actually contradict anything that has been said or shown in the previous canon material.

Well, VW doesn't want any of their machines to be associated with war or violence, lest some people recall their affiliation with a political party that once held a lot of sway in Germany and most of Europe. Regardless, I think it's stupid. Hopefully we'll get Bumblebee and Cliffjumper in some other form in the Binaltech line, something that's almost as fitting. Heck, I know I've seen a car on the road that reminded me a lot of Cliffjumper. Wish I could recall what it was. A really strange sight, looked like a superdeformed sports car.

Macross Zero doesn't break any set continuty put forth by any of the shows that follow it, though. A different 'feel' isn't exactly grounds for crying foul on the timeline. Macross 2 on the other hand completely ignores the Protoculture and the Supervision Army subplots that arise from time to time in both the tv series and DYRL?, and instead the Marduk are invented in their place.

My understanding is that MacII was stricken from the continuity because it was not Kawamori Approved, so when he came back to work on new Macross shows, he completely ignored it and just did his own thing.

I dunno, I've actually been expanding my 1/60 collection simply because it has more variety than the 1/48ths ever will (I still hope I'm wrong about that). I picked up a Millia Q-Rau, an Elintseeker and a Super Ostrich just in the past couple months. Over the next couple I was thinking a GBP, a Strike, possibly a Max Q-Rau, and if I can find one I'd probably nab a VF-1D. Of course, I'll definitely be picking up a 1/48th GBP (packaged with a VF-1J) whenever it comes out.

There's hope yet at least. Too bad they didn't design the 1/48th with the GBP in mind, so that the shoulders wouldn't need a cover piece in order to fit the shoulder missle launchers. Ah well, at least it looks absolutely gorgeous, with tons of detail. I hope they release a set that comes with a VF-1J (as well as one without for those that already have it).

Wow, seeing this thread makes me look forward to moving even more! (4 weeks exactly tomorrow!) as my girlfriend and I are driving down to the Ikea store in Chicago and grabbing up some new furniture. I planned to grab one, maybe even two of those display cases as a new home for my growing collection. My only gripe is echoing the thoughts of some others who have posted, wishing that they made wider cases.

So, does JtLS give you the option of a cockpit view, or is it all outside the ship you're flying?

Better the weirdos spend their time with comics than acting out against real kids. I agree. Child porn laws are designed to protect children from being forced into sexual situations for those taking the pictures. It's not so much the pictures themselves that are the bad part, so much as that a child was sexually abused to create them. In illustrated images, there is no abuse at any point. It is nothing but a picture. As for what can be construed as pornography? Well, that really depends on who's performing the witch hunt. I remember a while back a politician (I believe it was a Senator) wanted nudity in all forms removed from museums, on the grounds that children go into museums and can see these "pornographic" images. I think I recall a picture of the guy standing in front of the Statue of David, with a cloth around the statue. This was ages ago, so I may be confusing the details, but you get the idea. In one of the early Macross Zero threads, when the episode came out with the flashback to young Sara listening to her father talk one of the board members cried, "Child Porn!" and declared himself offended.

Wasn't that Quebec that invited the Macross to drop off its civilians? As for Ontario Place, I've actually never been. Everyone I know usually hit up Darien Lake instead. Also, I don't live in Buffalo anymore, so I don't get up to Toronto nearly as often. The last time was a year, maybe even two years ago.

The two VF-11s are slightly different colours. Many believe the original that comes packed in battroid mode has the better colours. The VF-11 with FAST packs obviously comes with FAST packs whereas the original does not. The VF-11 with FAST packs has better cut stickers. However, they're still Yamato stickers. If you really want to make your Valkyries look good it is always best to buy fan made sticker sheets. The VF-11 with FAST packs has a reinforced hip design, whereas the original was notorious for it's fragile hips breaking, leaving people with crippled VF-11s. For this reason alone, many consider the FAST pack version to be the superior purchase.

Heck, ever been to Toronto? Billboards on the side of the road showing full commercials, giant glass buildines with video displays facing out into the street. It reminds me a lot of Macross City as depicted in Macross Plus. They just need a space fortress resting in the lake.

I'd be very keen on trying their pizza. I've been all over the United States, and the best Pizza I've found has been in Western New York. Not just one place, but nearly all of the Buffalo area has superior wings, subs, and pizza to the rest of the nation. I've also found, though, that those recognized in any "official" capacity are often easily outdone by some unknown, hidden away somewhere.

The PSP sequels to previous PS2 games do not strike me as having major changes from their previous incarnations.

My personal belief is that most studios opt to use CG due to the belief that it's easier to create CG work than hand drawn work, wich is not entirely true. It takes just as much effort, and in my experience just as much manpower to create good looking CG as it takes to create good looking 2D work. It is, however, easier to pump out crappy looking CG work, using less people, than it takes to produce crappy looking 2D work. I actually dig the ship and mecha designs from MOSPEADA quite a bit, I just hope that the final CG looks a whole lot better than anything they've shown us so far. That they're using the same studio that worked on Yukikaze is encouraging, but it still boils down to how much quality HG is willing to pay for.