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Macross 25th Anniversary! New TV series coming!


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Anime News Service(1:19AM EDT)----Kissdum: Engage Planet- Production Dry Run Before Macross?

It's looking as if animation studio Satelight's Kissdum: Engage Planet TV anime coming up for an April debut in Japan will test out alot of the key production concepts that will go into their future Macross revival project. Macross mechanical designer Shouji Kawamori has comeup with several new Macross like fighter planes for the series. Satelight will be taking those and transitioning them into 3DCG models for the work. Writers and character designers will likewise be busy supplying content for a story involving pilots, support personel, lots of young pretty girls and love triangles. Look for alot of the staff to transition over to the new Macross from this one with their hard earned production experience on a very similarly themed show.

http://www.animenewsservice.com/

too early to judge but that's somewhat of a letdown. kissdum's story sounded really lame from the description, although no one has seen it so no one can judge it. and what if kissdum ends up being so popular in japan that the new macross can't top it? (although all of us macross fans will probably like it more than kissdum) i question the logic of making a similar show before you make the real thing. if unique works like the matrix or eva made a copycat version to test out the production concepts first, then they wouldn't have been so unique in the first place. even if kissdum does well, the audience isn't gonna want the same thing repackaged. hope they prove my expectations wrong.

Edited by cyde01
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I don't think it's a stupid decision.

Infact, it might be a smart one.

The mecha franchise is largely dependant on those 14-16 year old school goers and is bound to have to apeal to their sentiments in some fashion.

There are always recurring themes in mecha franchises, be it Gundam (UC up to CE), Macross, Fafner, or otherwise.

Some of the attracting elements change over time, based on what's fashionable, but others won't, simply because teenagers will be teenagers and they like to see certain themes explored.

Most notably the "coming of age" element of the angsty indecisive hero becoming determined, wiser and more responsible and mature.

(Angsty teen leads aren't neccesary, but they tend to work depending on execution, of course.)

For example, elements that were found in Gundam SEED were copied and translated from Gundam 0079, Zeta, etc. and some were original.

As for Macross: Flyer and KISS DUM, gaining experience and using that in the next project that's meant to appeal the same kind of audience isn't unwise. Macross has failed to attract the attention the type of audience, which Gundam SEED did, in recent years. Coupled with the lack of experience, the learning curve will be rather steep for the Macross: Flyer team.

What this shows most of all though, is that the ambition behind this project is considerable and this kind of planning reeks of the kind of thoroughness and determination that is definitely needed to make this a success.

They reckognize that talent has to be developed and recent experience is needed, as well as team cohesion.

Let's hope they have enough talent to pull it off.

Edit:

Originality counts for something for sure.

There's a reason why Code Geass is such a hit.

It also hinges on the quality of the writing and animation though and of course the attractiveness of the (mecha) designs.

I doubt Macross:Flyer is intended as a more or less direct KISS DUM extrapolation, but they can definitely learn from it in terms of production and appeal towards audiences.

Edited by T.V.
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Not to state the obvious too bluntly, but aren't all franchises (and sequels, for that matter) simply offering fans more of the same, albiet with variations on an established theme? Each Macross production following SDF Macross has used the same formula while changing variables like plot and characters. Yet each Macross sequel/prequel is still a drama with love stories, popular music subtexts and transforming mecha. Other franchises like Patlabor, Gundam, Star Wars, et cetera all do the same.

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Guys, I suspect this might be a classic case of story repeating itself.

I think they´re trying to do the same thing they did with M7 and Plus back in the day but with a better outcome for the fans this time.

Think of Kissdum as the M7 of this scenario and Macross ¨Flier¨ as M+. They´ll do the premium uber deluxe show but only after the Macross crew accepts to do the crappy one first just to get some profits.

This time around tough, they´ve actually made the crappy show separate from the macross franchise so they don not ruin its sweetness.

The fact that they´ll sacrifice Kissdum to the Gundam Seed crowd just to get enough freedom to properly produce a new Macross series is good news IMO.

Edited by Aegis!
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Guys, I suspect this might be a classic case of story repeating itself.

I think they´re trying to do the same thing they did with M7 and Plus back in the day but with a better outcome for the fans this time.

Think of Kissdum as the M7 of this scenario and Macross ¨Flier¨ as M+. They´ll do the premium uber deluxe show but only after the Macross crew accepts to do the crappy one first just to get some profits.

This time around tough, they´ve actually made the crappy show separate from the macross franchise so they don not ruin its sweetness.

The fact that they´ll sacrifice Kissdum to the Gundam Seed crowd just to get enough freedom to properly produce a new Macross series is good news IMO.

If you go to the Kissdum site the fighter designs are definitely Kawamori but they are not variable. In fact they seem to have small cockpit vehicles that drop from the planes themselves for some reason.

I think they are referring to developing the CG animation process to make it cost effective and fast enough to keep pace with a weekly tv series. I suspect they get their inspiration from shows like Andromeda and BSG that have a lot of CG effects but manage to produce them effectively in a confined amount of time.

No doubt Bandai and BigWest want to be able to put the best possible CG animation on the tube for the resurrection of the franchise, in hopes of recapturing the popularity of SDFM. Not to mention it would put Satelite on the map for being able to produce quality CG on budget and on time (it is entirely possible that Bandai and BigWest hold a stake in the Satelite studio), similar to how ILM did with the Star Wars movies and Weta did with the LOTR movies.

Hopefully with Japan and the US having the same region coding (no doubt a purposeful move on Sony's part) they will be able to capitalize on the Western anime market without the annoyances of HG trying to block a US based distributor. Imported DVDs do not fall under the copyright laws that HG wants to hide behind.

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If the new macross is like plus that would be good. Those scenes of the vf-11 fighting in space against the rogue zentradi are images that come to mind when I think of a *serious macross. Imagine the animation quality of something like eureka 7 but with the battles you see in plus with all kinds of fancy dogfights and realistic mecha porn. Macross Zero could be the training for making some great fighting with considerations for how the mecha fight depending on the environment and each mode. No recycling of dogfights as seen in macross 7 this time. In fact aim high: it should live up to masterpiece quality where you would feel proud to own on HDdvd/bluray or whatever to rewatch.

*what I mean is the tone isn't too lighthearted and funny like m7. The original macross had a main character who was depressed half the time. And the ending was bittersweet. No one really ever died in macross 7 and its too happy imo. In DYRL you saw lot of violent and sometimes humorous deaths. I don't want them to glorify the killing or violence or anything, just have it for parts that may need it. ie Milia's point blank QRau arm cannon shot to the face was a cool if unecesary finisher, and pretty much sums up how fierce the fighting can get for close range. It's a part of the movie that makes you think "OMG, what if she is going to do that to max or another of the main characters?" and then you look forward to seeing the big fight. Gritty realism FTW!

Not to state the obvious too bluntly, but aren't all franchises (and sequels, for that matter) simply offering fans more of the same, albiet with variations on an established theme? Each Macross production following SDF Macross has used the same formula while changing variables like plot and characters. Yet each Macross sequel/prequel is still a drama with love stories, popular music subtexts and transforming mecha. Other franchises like Patlabor, Gundam, Star Wars, et cetera all do the same.

Which is why I wonder why people are so scared of macross becoming stale like that "evil" gundam show. Even within gundam there is some originality. Turn A for example. I liked that. But I also liked the unoriginal stuff because it offers more of what I like. (Isn't seed just retelling 079 for today's kiddies?) Ok so that isn't an excuse to milk the idea over and over again until people can't stand it, but how many times do you hear about people trying to get new anime watchers to watch macross and people comment on how bad some of the eps are animated and then get turned off? What's more important is maintaining fan interest imo.

What's funny is that although UC is the most developed of the gundam universes it also is the most done to death for that reason, so it is almost like the interest is doomed to die off anyway if they DON'T keep making different AU stories for other generations. A dead franchise means no interest to see the franchise continue to develop more in future by enough people to make it worth the risk continuing, and that then translates into less for fans to look forward to in the long run. Ok so the creator says he is sick of macross, but think about this: if macross II had never been done by someone, would we even have plus or 7 today? Interesting food for thought. :D You got to balance the risk of "making something stale and hurting the franchise" with "maintaining interest for the fans out there". Although I agree they should leave hikaru, misa, and minmay alone, (what's told is told) I still do feel they needed to explain what actually happened to those characters in some way. Flashback shows us that they went into space on the megaroad, but then what? At least have something about the people who went in search of them. No mention at all about what happened to max's best friend in macross 7. I thought that was kind of odd personally since he was like this legendary major character. Fans like to know that stuff.

Edited by 1/1 LowViz Lurker
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IKUZEEE!!!

FLYER BOMBAAA!!!!

Its a new frontier... lalala...

What would you guys prefer an upbeat or melancholic story? Me, I'm for the first.

Do guys think Yamato's secret 25th anni special has something to do with this new show?

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Hey, all of that stuff you're posting make me think the new series could be a story about some young pilots of the un spacy academy. That could be nice.

WOW, how unique, how avante guarde.

That's never been done before... :p;)

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I doubt it would be anything so simple. I know what I would like to see is a possible meeting of the UN Spacy with the remains of the Supervision Army or a final Protoculture hold out. Some interesting storylines could emerge from that, but I doubt it will be that as neither of those groups use variable fighters (that we know of), so variable fighter vs variable fighter combat would be limited, and that is pretty much all we see from Macross since Plus.

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I doubt it would be anything so simple. I know what I would like to see is a possible meeting of the UN Spacy with the remains of the Supervision Army or a final Protoculture hold out. Some interesting storylines could emerge from that, but I doubt it will be that as neither of those groups use variable fighters (that we know of), so variable fighter vs variable fighter combat would be limited, and that is pretty much all we see from Macross since Plus.

Well from a studio point of view it is easy to see how such engagements would be more exciting.

Mac Zero was the first time Kawamori really utilized the head guns in a combat situation since that brief instance in Mac Plus.

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All future head guns will have sound weapons on them. No more reaction bombs, missiles, lasers or gunpods. The new generation will have to fight by having various valks dance and sing to the zentradi rogues and if you get shot at, too bad. UN SPACY has unlimited supply of soldiers willing to die this way and put themselves at risk by just cloning basara. :D And if you think you can escape the war by running away, you will be folded back into the fight until you die from getting shot, or the alien listens to your music and succumbs to the mind control that results from having the lyrics burnt into the memory so they will never forget the song ever again. (because the same one is used each episode. That;s how the alien song in DYRL got popular and was so effective against the zentradi and why people remember it. It was the only pop song they had in ancient times.)

Edited by 1/1 LowViz Lurker
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Maybe it'll be a Post SW 1 storyline?

The new Anti-Zentradi Weapon?

Minmay Attack Mk.II

Consists of a massive MIRV Missile Attack.

- The UN forces release a huge barrage of MIRV missiles, each being able to saturate an area with singing Minmay Dolls.

--- The Minmay Dolls sing, "To Be In Love" :lol:

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I'm just hoping they try to break the mold a little bit.

I don't know if anyone agrees with me, but i'm really getting tired of mecha shows with teenaged leads. I would love to see the new Macross have a main character like Isamu Dyson. He was in his 20's, fully confident in himself and was a real hot shot. I've had enough of the with the suspension of disbelief that a 17yr old could expertly pilot an advanced piece of weaponry.

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I agree that an adult-themed Macross would be awesome but disagree with any thought of an Isamu like character. I would prefer if there is an Isamu he's the best friend of a more natural lead. How about a mix of Roy and Hikaru (like an older Hikaru with more poise and a bit of a wild side).

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An adult-themed production would be better, but in all honesty, the demographic of anime is generally not adults, but children through to teenagers.

If anything, we are going to get something along the lines of Macross 7: youthful coming-of-age A-stories for the main characters, with adult-themed subplots for the mature (not necessarily adults) in the B-stories.

Anyhow, wwe'll have to look at Engage Planet Kissdum closely. If reception of it is good, then the new Macross will be similar. If it's received badly... then the new Macross will go another direction (probably revert to the 'tried and true' formulae of past successful productions *cough* Macross 7 *cough*.)

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I don´t get the whole idea of animes having main characters in the same age of ¨possible¨ viewers, I wasn´t in my 20s when I watched Macross Plus yet I felt it was perfect as it was, an adult themed production ( as any other Macross series should be IMO ).

Besides M7, no other Macross series has been directed towards the young crowd, AFAIK SDF,DYRL, M+ and Zero were all very crude and violent.

The reason behind all the ¨supposedly adult orientated¨crappy animes of recent times ( good premise, bad execution ie Aquarion ) is because they direct them towards young viewers, as if it was the only source for toy profits. We can all testify to the fact that Macross doesn´t need to be a kiddy show just to sell toys, Yamato is selling A LOT.

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Wow. I've been absent for a while and look what I've been missing out on.

This is some very good news, indeed! :lol:

Of course, it'll never be released on DVD in the States, due to a certain company that I shall not mention. For, it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, considering that I just had a verbal match (on another forum) over the licensing issues. <_<

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