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Macross 25th Anniversary! New TV series coming!


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Exactly why I balk at the doomsday programming if the AFOS. It was far too human for a race that achieved such an advanced and a galactic society to lower themselves to "destroy it all, if it doesn't pass our final exam- Oh by the way we won't teach you how to pass before hand"...

Though Azrael makes a good point.

Why does "technological advancement" and cultural development equate peace? I mean this is a culture that created the Zentredi and the Evil Series to put down revolts in its own colonies. If anything its reflective of a culture that has achieved such greatness with an equivalent level of moral arrogance.

The best parallel can be found in our Classical history. The Athenians achieved unheard of cultural developments in their day, and yet were ruthless towards weaker city states like Melos who were their allies. The cultural superiority clearly bred arrogance towards junior partners. In the case of the PC, putting a "test system" into seeded worlds was just a sign of that. If a seeded world didn't meet their "standards" of development, then they would be #1: looked down upon as a lesser race #2 a possible threat to their culture, and therefore needed to be extinguished before they can do harm.

They may have sounded like an advanced galactic society, but in reality they seemed to have suffered from many of the same faults are common to human civilizations in general.

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agreed, the whole point of the PC is that they are a flawed culture. They're not like the ancients in star gate, or the myriad other progenitor races portrayed in sci fi. These are a people who's technological achievements surpased their moral judgement and were eventual destroyed by it. In mythological terms, the PC are the people of atlantis

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These are a people who's technological achievements surpased their moral judgement and were eventual destroyed by it. In mythological terms, the PC are the people of atlantis

I would go further than that - the Protoculture of Macross are _us_ just with better technology. The sense of superiority of their culture resounds of empires from all across human history - the Greeks, Romans, the Venetian trading states, the British Empire, right through to the modern day. The Protoculture did the same thing that human societies do - conflated "sophisticated, mature society" with "exactly like us". They thought they were the pinnacle of civilisation until they were brought down by weaknesses in their own society.

That's one of the things I like about the set-up of Macross - their god-like progenitor species was no more godlike than say, westerners arriving on a pacific island that had never seen iron ships or guns. They were just folk with more sophisticated technology - still pray to all the weaknesses of being folk.

(And on the subject of PC technology, in terms of Macross Zero I'm comfortable with both the mystical view of it held by the islanders and the more mechanistic view that has been espoused. I fall back on 'Clarke's Law' - "Any sufficiently advanced technology would appear like magic" - so as far as I'm concerned you could look at it either way and be right from different perspectives.)

Karl

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I would go further than that - the Protoculture of Macross are _us_ just with better technology. The sense of superiority of their culture resounds of empires from all across human history - the Greeks, Romans, the Venetian trading states, the British Empire, right through to the modern day. The Protoculture did the same thing that human societies do - conflated "sophisticated, mature society" with "exactly like us". They thought they were the pinnacle of civilisation until they were brought down by weaknesses in their own society.

That's one of the things I like about the set-up of Macross - their god-like progenitor species was no more godlike than say, westerners arriving on a pacific island that had never seen iron ships or guns. They were just folk with more sophisticated technology - still pray to all the weaknesses of being folk.

(And on the subject of PC technology, in terms of Macross Zero I'm comfortable with both the mystical view of it held by the islanders and the more mechanistic view that has been espoused. I fall back on 'Clarke's Law' - "Any sufficiently advanced technology would appear like magic" - so as far as I'm concerned you could look at it either way and be right from different perspectives.)

Karl

The British Empire The last of the great conglomeration empires recent enough in History to be a good example as it`s not quite 100 years since its demise. How long until the U.N the current version of conglomeration empire falls ?

Read a book on the Clarkes Law theory that placed its ideas against cultural mythology and religious stories for most of the popular belief systems. kinda explanined them away removing the religion and chinese wispers elements from each giving credible ideas for each case, vs the for and against and orginal story etc. Was very interesting if a little deep sometimes.

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I would go further than that - the Protoculture of Macross are _us_ just with better technology.

I'd go even further. All aliens in SF are some aspect of us. Especially in space opera, alien races tend to be allegories or archetypes. The TOS Klingons for example could be thought of as the cold war era Soviets. The TNG Klingons are perhaps more like the Japanese - a mixture of Bushido and ambition.

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Well, you can always deconstruct things down to the point that we're at now. In the end, any fictional people will have some aspect of a real people group or experience behind it. Most story-tellers don't create their characters out of thin air, but draw from shared histories, experiences and cultures. But I think this loses the point of the original argument, was if whether the PC could be so cold as to exterminate an entire planet in order to keep violence from spreading.

To that end, the PC, imo, are specifically portrayed to evoke the parable of the atlanteans. Even to the extent of the submerged city as s001 pointed out.

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===============================================

Last update:

Jul.23, 2007

16:02(Japan Standard Time)

================================================

070723

New Macross will be debuted, but there is no news...

So boring...

Could I post a old news, new pics to News??

hey hey hey~~~

The news from NewType:

http://pc.webnt.jp/hotnews/news498.html

Max Box cover:

070723maxbox.jpg

Wait...

Is it cover??

A Mr.Mikimoto illustration?

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Wow, I`d almost buy the single collection just for the box art if thats it. Kresphy can you confirm all the singles will be reissued on 12cm CDs or in the original 8cm formats?

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Wow, I`d almost buy the single collection just for the box art if thats it. Kresphy can you confirm all the singles will be reissued on 12cm CDs or in the original 8cm formats?

12cm single, 8 disk

+

1 disk special CD(特典)

You can buy it in here~~~

http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%83%9E%E3%82%AF...6732&sr=8-1

or here

http://music.yahoo.co.jp/shop/c/10/vizl244

Edited by kresphy
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I would go further than that - the Protoculture of Macross are _us_ just with better technology.

This is EXACTLY what I don't want to see. You ruin a perfectly mythological background by reducing it, deconstructing the wonder of them, to mere a everyday humanistic element that's been seen ad-nausium for the last 20-30 years in SF. :angry:

Some time legends and myths are better served by staying as such.

-----

kresphy, nice find! But durn is that cover sloppy work. <_<

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Isn't all fiction ultimately limited to human perspective just by virtue of being written by humans? Perhaps it's really obvious to state as much, but as foreign as any aliens might be in any fictional story they are always fundamentally human. Even if there is only one aspect of the aliens that they share with humans relevant to the story being told, it still humanizes them. Which makes sense, since many sci-fi stories teach through metaphor.

In the case of Macross, I'm not sure there's much room for any doubt that the Protoculture were fundamentally humans. They created the Zentradi and guided the evolution of humans on Earth, both into forms which are identical. The Protoculture also suffered under war, dangers of their own technology and other problems that we suffer from in our own history. Perhaps it might be more accurate to say the Protoculture suffered from the realities (or flaws if one must call them) common to all sentient life rather than saying they are human with a tone of racial self-centeredness :)

Edited by Mr March
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Not all retcon is bad. I really enjoyed some of the retcon Macross Zero introduced, particularly energy converting armor

Energy converting armor is not a retcon. It was already there. The Compendium says:

Macross co-creator and mecha designer Shoji Kawamori said that variable fighters in general employ surplus energy to strengthen armor in Battroid mode. The designation SWAG was specified for Macross Zero's VF-0, although Mr. Kawamori publicly described the general technology of energy converting armor before Macross Zero and actually conceived it longer before.

It is something that has to do with Gundam. Valkyries have tank-like armor too, besides being built in space facilities.

Also active stealth was already in Macross, it was used by Kamjin a couple of times. What's new in Macross Zero is the cyclops radar, which however appears to detect only things more protoculture related.

FV

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The themes for each Macross series change for each series. In M+, the theme was technology's impact on society. In M7, it was a conflict of ideology. In M0, we saw how people judge one another through initial impressions.

I read that Kawamori intended M0 as a conflict of cultures. Obviously, there are other themes involved. In M+ there was also the theme of the sky as viewed from below, and also at the time he was concerned with the brainwashing of Japanese society.

From a general point, it could be said that M+ was centered around Valkyries, M7 was centered around songs and M0 was centered about the love story. A new series of Macross maybe should be more balanced.

FV

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You mean the series was centered around the love story/triangle.. not M0... right?

I don't understand what you mean.

OVA's are not good for love stories. This new series will have the new love story that we craved ever since the SDF series.

... well i can only hope. :p Love conflicts with Valks makes good watching. :p

Edited by ruskiiVFaussie
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Why does "technological advancement" and cultural development equate peace? I mean this is a culture that created the Zentredi and the Evil Series to put down revolts in its own colonies. If anything its reflective of a culture that has achieved such greatness with an equivalent level of moral arrogance.

The best parallel can be found in our Classical history. The Athenians achieved unheard of cultural developments in their day, and yet were ruthless towards weaker city states like Melos who were their allies. The cultural superiority clearly bred arrogance towards junior partners. In the case of the PC, putting a "test system" into seeded worlds was just a sign of that. If a seeded world didn't meet their "standards" of development, then they would be #1: looked down upon as a lesser race #2 a possible threat to their culture, and therefore needed to be extinguished before they can do harm.

They may have sounded like an advanced galactic society, but in reality they seemed to have suffered from many of the same faults are common to human civilizations in general.

Good points, I see how that could have been the idea behind it. It also the supports how such a vast civilization could implode so competely as well.

I read that Kawamori intended M0 as a conflict of cultures. Obviously, there are other themes involved. In M+ there was also the theme of the sky as viewed from below, and also at the time he was concerned with the brainwashing of Japanese society.

If one were to include the remnant PC (via the AFOS) as part of that cultural conflict that would definitely bring things to a grander scale in the finale. However, I am not sure what "brainwashing" he'd be concerned about, not staying up to date with current Japanese domestic issues. How that fits into the story of Mac Zero is also lost on me. :blink:

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Why does "technological advancement" and cultural development equate peace? I mean this is a culture that created the Zentredi and the Evil Series to put down revolts in its own colonies. If anything its reflective of a culture that has achieved such greatness with an equivalent level of moral arrogance.

The best parallel can be found in our Classical history.

Nah, even better is today -- we are at the pinnacle of technology, and yet the hands of the Doomsday Clock creep ever closer to midnight. Technology and cultural development, sadly, never keeps pace with human nature.

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Energy converting armor is not a retcon. It was already there. The Compendium says:

Macross co-creator and mecha designer Shoji Kawamori said that variable fighters in general employ surplus energy to strengthen armor in Battroid mode. The designation SWAG was specified for Macross Zero's VF-0, although Mr. Kawamori publicly described the general technology of energy converting armor before Macross Zero and actually conceived it longer before.

It is something that has to do with Gundam. Valkyries have tank-like armor too, besides being built in space facilities.

Also active stealth was already in Macross, it was used by Kamjin a couple of times. What's new in Macross Zero is the cyclops radar, which however appears to detect only things more protoculture related.

FV

As far as canon according to publication goes, to my knowledge it's recton. It doesn't matter how long ago Kawamori had the idea in his head. If the idea of energy converting armor was as old as 1982, they would have said 1982. Kawamori has stated a lot of his ponderings about Macross through various interviews, but as I understand it these mentionings don't become canon until it's "on record" via a Macross book or a Macross anime. As far as canon according to the creator's mouth, Kawamori or the creative staff would have had to mention energy converting armor during the original run of SDFM to avoid labelling the concept as retcon by definition. It's also important to note that the Compendium only included that trivia about energy converting armor AFTER Macross Zero was released.

Also, as I understand it the Cyclops has the capability to detect PCS readings, but no where is it stated or implied as a limit of it's function. The Cyclops is specifically identified as "radar" and uses cross-dimensional technology. As radar, it can detect anything conventional radar can detect. Just as fold communications are cross-dimensional radio units and function as radio with the ability to reach over vast interstellar distances.

I don't recall Kamjin mentioning active stealth in any episode of Macross. Many characters (Misa, Global, Britai, Kamjin) make mention of ECM in SDFM, but I doubt we can specifically imply "stealth" from that. Which episodes of SDFM specifically make mention of stealth?

Edited by Mr March
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As far as canon according to publication goes, to my knowledge it's recton. It doesn't matter how long ago Kawamori had the idea in his head. If the idea of energy converting armor was as old as 1982, they would have said 1982. Kawamori has stated a lot of his ponderings about Macross through various interviews, but as I understand it these mentionings don't become canon until it's "on record" via a Macross book or a Macross anime. As far as canon according to the creator's mouth, Kawamori or the creative staff would have had to mention energy converting armor during the original run of SDFM to avoid labelling the concept as retcon by definition.

Maybe they did mention the concept in Japanese magazines at the time but it just didn't become popular knowledge, especially in the US. Whether or not it was mentioned, it doesn't mean it's automatically retcon, especially since it doesn't contradict anything seen in SDF Macross. On the contrary, in the original series, when Hikaru was about to crash into a building in the first episode, Misa told him to turn into Battroid, thus implying the Battroid was more resistant than the Fighter.

It's also important to note that the Compendium only included that trivia about energy converting armor AFTER Macross Zero was released.

This is because English fans asked about it only after they've heard the term in Macross Zero. I could reply that is important to note that no Japanese fan made that question to the Compendium :)

Also, as I understand it the Cyclops has the capability to detect PCS readings, but no where is it stated or implied as a limit of it's function. The Cyclops is specifically identified as "radar" and uses cross-dimensional technology. As radar, it can detect anything conventional radar can detect.

It is not said that. If it can detect something more than a radar can, it must be something more than a radar. Actually, I doubt all the authors know that radar is an English acronym of radio detection and ranging, and sonar, lidar and the like are all derivative forms of acronym. The Quel-Quallie for istance has a "gravity wave passive radar", which however should be called a "gradar" to be consistent; using that term you have to explain what it means though, so just using "radar" makes it simpler to understand.

I don't recall Kamjin mentioning active stealth in any episode of Macross. Many characters (Misa, Global, Britai, Kamjin) make mention of ECM in SDFM, but I doubt we can specifically imply "stealth" from that. Which episodes of SDFM specifically make mention of stealth?

While the word "stealth" wasn't spoken, you already noted the concept was indeed used. I don't recall the specifical episode, but it should have been the one when Kamjin feigned a drill and then attacked. Misa noticed the radar was silent in a direction, not detecting usual asteroids.

If we are going to debate on words, Wikipedia says:

Stealth technology is a sub-discipline of electronic countermeasures which covers a range of techniques used with aircraft, ships and missiles, in order to make them less visible (ideally invisible) to radar, infrared and other detection methods.

We have a technology used to make mecha less visible to radar detection, so it is a stealth.

You mean the series was centered around the love story/triangle.. not M0... right?

M0 was more centered around the love story. If you see M+ for example you will notice that there is emphasis on Isamu wanting to be a pilot, the pioneer theme and the like. In M0, we have the love letter spears, the use of words like love and heart in seemingly unrelated situations ("your piloting lacks love" "you can't see your opponent's heart), the romance between Roy and Aries, and ultimately even the climax of the series centers more closely around the two protagonists' feelings.

If one were to include the remnant PC (via the AFOS) as part of that cultural conflict that would definitely bring things to a grander scale in the finale. However, I am not sure what "brainwashing" he'd be concerned about, not staying up to date with current Japanese domestic issues. How that fits into the story of Mac Zero is also lost on me. :blink:

Sorry, the conflict of cultures in M0 is that of Western society and tribal islands. The brainwashing he was concerned about was how in Japanese society it was just easy to find an enemy and that was the solution of all. It was something related to Macross Plus.

(You can find the interview about Macross Plus here)

FV

Edited by Final Vegeta
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Retroactive continuity, or retcon, is the adding of new information to "historical" material, or deliberately changing previously established facts in a work of serial fiction. So addition after the fact, is by definition, retcon :)

Yes, perhaps it was mentioned. Maybe something was said. It's possible that was the case. It could be so. And it's retcon once it is stated after the fact.

Correction, it was GERWALK mode in which the Valkyrie actually impacted the building/ground, still in mid-transformation no less. Energy Converting Armor would not explain that, nor Hikaru's dive through a bridge in GERWALK mode in DYRL? Like has been said, retcon. Retcon. retcon, retcon, when you see that sexy thang :)

We might as well debate words, because you're getting them wrong. Yes, ECM is effectively avoiding detection by the enemy, but it is not stealth technology (stealth hulls, internal stealth design, VF-17/YF-19/Mac7 Capital Ships, et cetera ad naseum) nor was stealth around when ECM was originally used. In other words, retcon from M0 to SDFM. Interestingly enough, I WAS discussing ECA and Cyclops, not Stealth.

Yes "it is said that". Radar. Not "we'll use our our uber-Subspace Sensors using FTL tachyon emissions." As far as I'm aware, there's no implied statement that Cyclops radar cannot detect anything other than PCS readings.

Edited by Mr March
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Retroactive continuity, or retcon, is the adding of new information to "historical" material, or deliberately changing previously established facts in a work of serial fiction. So addition after the fact, is by definition, retcon :)

This definition is so loose it becomes an irrilevant term. Even the episode "Rainy Night" within Macross series itself should be classified as inside retcon (as authors were supposed to close the series with a final battle. Similarly, in Gundam SEED a character died but was "resurrected" by fan demand).

It is obvious that a prequel will be always a retcon, in the sense of what in Wikipedia is called "addition", which is the sense in which retcon was conceived (sequels too have to be retcon if they try to build things on existing series), and I don't deny that there isn't even negative retcon in Macross Zero, like the absence of Dragon II and Karyobin fighters (and the existence of the VF-0 and SV-51). It's no mystery the continuity of Macross was rewritten more than one time.

What I am reasoning about is whether or not the energy converting armor was an already existing concept, as mentioned by Egan Loo:

Macross co-creator and mecha designer Shoji Kawamori said that variable fighters in general employ surplus energy to strengthen armor in Battroid mode. The designation SWAG was specified for Macross Zero's VF-0, although Mr. Kawamori publicly described the general technology of energy converting armor before Macross Zero and actually conceived it longer before.

Only the name appears to be a true retcon. And by the way, Egan also teach us there are channels of information that just don't reach us.

Yes, perhaps it was mentioned. Maybe something was said. It's possible that was the case. It could be so. And it's retcon once it is stated after the fact.

It's no retcon only if it was always meant to be like that. I use dubitative forms just out of intellectual honesty.

Correction, it was GERWALK mode in which the Valkyrie actually impacted the building/ground, still in mid-transformation no less.

Whether he smashed or not in GERWALK mode (which was just a transitory mode to Battroid, possibly due to automatic instead of manual transformation), that was not the mode he was ordered to turn into.

Energy Converting Armor would not explain that,

The fact that he survived more or less intact can be explained in several ways, but we may be doing fanwanking. I just want to note that it is not said specifically when this energy converting armor kicks in, whether the Battroid is fully transformed or even mid-way (possibly aiding in transforming the mecha. It is also not said whether GERWALK mode has some armor surplus, too, although Hikaru pulled the lever for Battroid mode and not GERWALK mode). The Fighter mode could have even been tough enough alone to withstand the impact, yet Misa told Hikaru to turn into Battroid, and this suggests Battroid mode is tougher.

nor Hikaru's dive through a bridge in GERWALK mode in DYRL?

DYRL?, even when it came out, was a retelling, and as such a retcon :D

We might as well debate words, because you're getting them wrong. Yes, ECM is effectively avoiding detection by the enemy, but it is not stealth technology (stealth hulls, internal stealth design, VF-17/YF-19/Mac7 Capital Ships, et cetera ad naseum) nor was stealth around when ECM was originally used.

You are meaning passive stealth, which in real world is the main, if not the only, mean of stealth yet. Scientists are currently working on active stealth, like plasma stealth. For a sci-fi writers this is obviously a yummy concept to exploit, although kinds of active stealth weren't unknown to anime, like Gundam which was an inspiration for Macross.

Offensive ECM often takes the form of jamming. Defensive ECM includes using blip enhancement and jamming of missile terminal homers.

This thing Kamjin talked about made mecha invisibile to radar, and as such it should be properly classified as stealth, even if at the time it wasn't called like that. Indeed, stealth planes like the F-117 and the B-2 were unveiled only starting from the 1988. The name is a retcon, the concept isn't.

As far as I'm aware, there's no implied statement that Cyclops radar cannot detect anything other than PCS readings.

Nor there is an implied statement to the contrary. The Cyclops radar arguably works on sci-fi principles that aren't bound by the current knowledge of the laws of physics. If it works like a radar, it must mean it can send and detect even radio waves, but it is not stated if PCS signals are part of the radio waves spectrum, and frankly I doubt it.

By the way, I don't remember if I already said it in another thread, but your site is great and I am waiting for the next update :)

FV

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No, the definition of retcon is NOT something useless, especially in the hopes of doing…what, exactly? I can only assume this attack upon the word “retcon” is due to some negative connotation associated via fandom. But like I’ve said before, not all retcon is “bad.” Nonetheless, the definition is valid.

As for the rest, this is going in circles. The Compendium quote has been covered. If it went as far back as 1982, they would have said 1982, not “longer before.” Hence, retcon.

GERWALK to Battroid transformation uses less power!?! Energy Converting Armor somehow relevant to transformation? The exact moment between GERWALK and Battroid that ECA is powered? You’re right about one thing; your argument is devolving into minutiae. There’s no point in even tackling these wild assumptions. And just because it’s clear in the anime, Misa told Hikaru to transform the VF-1 to regain control of the unresponsive fighter mode (since the battroid mode uses a different set of controls). She was certainly hoping he wouldn’t crash!

Stealth has been dealt with and it’s not specific stealth technology active nor passive nor predating ECM even with declassification. It's ECM, specifically stated. Radar has been dealt with; specifically stated. Simply the name implies function contrary to your assumption. This is more repeated points.

Glad you like my website. I think I’ll spend some valuable time working on it now :)

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Nope. Have you seen Eureka 7 or KISSDUM? Think more along those lines of quality.

Have you seen Kissdum animation, gosh, it´s fugly as hell (with some exception). I certainly hope they produce E7 quality animation tough.

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I would be pretty happy if the animation was comparable to E7... and consistantly so. It would be flat out amazing if the animation were of the quality of the intro of the the VF-X games, but I doubt very much that we would see a series with that level.

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79 Pages ??

Woah... I can't believe this.... Already 79 pages about the new macross.... :wacko:

Well.... Is it something news about Macross 25 since the screen of the next Valks.... ????

Edited by odr78
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I would be pretty happy if the animation was comparable to E7... and consistantly so. It would be flat out amazing if the animation were of the quality of the intro of the the VF-X games, but I doubt very much that we would see a series with that level.

If it were of the same quality of Last Exile, I'd be very happy... B)) The CG elements are very well blended with the animation in that show...

Edited by Zinjo
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I'd love it if they did cell colored CGI for Macross 25, like the mecha in Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex. That is by far my favorite type of modern CG anime technique.

I must say I disagree with you Mr March. I don't really like cel shaded CGI. I love the way realistic looking textures add to an animation. Of course Cel shaded give off more vibrant colors, but still I prefer it the other way around.

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I could take either. I thought last exile and zero did a great job with their textures but I love that SAC is able to mesh the hand-drawn stuff with the CGI so smoothly.

I just want the hand drawn stuff to look nice and be consistant.

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If it were of the same quality of Last Exile, I'd be very happy... B)) The CG elements are very well blended with the animation in that show...

Last Exile was bloody awesome, and for how many epiosdes (?) it's so silky smooth... felt more like an OVA.

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