Macross Frontier Episode 2 Talkback Thread *READ 1st Post*

[Morpheus]

Ozma's "tasting" the Vajra's death didn't seem that normal to me. I mean... He reacted with sadism... It was like he really really enjoyed killing it... Either he just plain hates them to death & wants them exterminated or he is a war psycho. The problem with that type of person is that they don't care for anything but for their enemies destruction. He is an excellent fearless warrior, but that lack of fear may be his undoing in the end...

Roy Fokker wasn't anything like that at all...

Btw... The trucks loading the remains of the Vajra were from NUNS or SMS?

Since NUNS seems to let SMS handle "Victor", I think the SMS guys took it and have a big lobster party.....no wonder Ozma said "Itadaki(masu)" before stabbing the lobster

[Zinjo]

Ozma's "tasting" the Vajra's death didn't seem that normal to me. I mean... He reacted with sadism... It was like he really really enjoyed killing it... Either he just plain hates them to death & wants them exterminated or he is a war psycho. The problem with that type of person is that they don't care for anything but for their enemies destruction. He is an excellent fearless warrior, but that lack of fear may be his undoing in the end...

Roy Fokker wasn't anything like that at all...

Get the feeling that some of the speculation that Ozuma had met the Varja before could be true? I do.

He acted like he was fulfilling some sort of vendetta when he knifed the lobster...

[Valkyrie addict]

hell, if I was in NUNS I would let SMS take care of it, would make my cannon fodder live more peaceful, hahaha

[wolfx]

Yeah, I wondered about that too. I think it probably has something to do with Alto switching from Theater to Piloting as his major at school. Just rewatched episode 2 and loved the mecha action at the beginning. Ozma using the transformation abilities of the VF-25 to avoid fire was nice. I always felt the valks should be constantly transforming to keep the enemy on their toes. I especially loved Alto flying the 25 in gerwalk mode (always felt gerwalk mode was under-used and under-appreciated). The Itano Circus just have me chills, pure awesomeness .

Graham already answered it based on the manga:

Alto enrolled late into school and missed the SMS selection process.

[UN Spacy]

Apparently episode 02 did pretty good in the ratings (thx to westlo for the link).

http://p2.chbox.jp/read.php?url=http://ex2...85941/145n-149n

*2.7% (*1.1%) 04/12 (Sat) *2:10am-*2:40am TBS Macross FRONTIER

[grss1982]

hell, if I was in NUNS I would let SMS take care of it, would make my cannon fodder live more peaceful, hahaha

But, according to your profile your a Bridge Bunny, so you can't be Cannon Fodder.

But anyways, SEE even Zinjo found it a bit disturbing when Ozma savored the kill with the use of the glowing knife (Monomolecular Cutter from FMP?).

This would give gives us more to speculate about whether:

a) Ozma is a WAR JUNKIE

OR

b) He encountered the Varja (while still with NUNS) before and is now (with SMS) looking for some PAY BACK!!!

[Oihan]

Apparently episode 02 did pretty good in the ratings (thx to westlo for the link).

http://p2.chbox.jp/read.php?url=http://ex2...85941/145n-149n

*2.7% (*1.1%) 04/12 (Sat) *2:10am-*2:40am TBS Macross FRONTIER

Are those numbers really considered good? :/ Just throwing it out there...worst case scenario...if the show were to flop over in Japan...I would hope that they would release the rest straight to disc...! Two episodes in and I can't wait for the rest!

Edited April 16, 2008 by Oihan

[Kronnang Dunn]

But, according to your profile your a Bridge Bunny, so you can't be Cannon Fodder.

But anyways, SEE even Zinjo found it a bit disturbing when Ozma savored the kill with the use of the glowing knife (Monomolecular Cutter from FMP?).

This would give gives us more to speculate about whether:

a) Ozma is a WAR JUNKIE

OR

b) He encountered the Varja (while still with NUNS) before and is now (with SMS) looking for some PAY BACK!!!

I am begining to believe it could very well be a combination of both. I just had this idea... Imagine if, years back, when still in NUNS, his squadron answered a distress call from a civilian space station/ship being attacked by the VAJRA. He managed to save baby Ranka only (perhaps he was in the escape pod with her). He watched his whole squadron & the civilian station/ship (with Ranka parents onboard) being destroyed by the VAJRA... For me that would be the only logical explanation for such hatred & desire for revenge... Add to that a post-war veteran addiction to conflict & u got Ozma...

Edited April 16, 2008 by Kronnang Dunn

[Alastar]

Get the feeling that some of the speculation that Ozuma had met the Varja before could be true? I do.

He acted like he was fulfilling some sort of vendetta when he knifed the lobster...

Well a hand to hand Combat kill could do that to you. I mean that red Varja did do a good bit of damage to the fleet and the city defense forces. So good chance it was personal. And think about it. You seen someone just unload a gun pod, massive missiles and still the Lobster only snapped its claw back at you. I would have knifed the damn thing my self to.

[sketchley]

concerning language:

it seems to me that it's always been ambiguous what language is actually being spoken in the macross universe. i know it's in japanese, but that's just because the anime was made in japan. it could be that they speak in japanese just for the audience's sake, like how the movies 300 or gladiator are in english even tho the characters would actually speak in greek or latin. japanese would make sense for macross tv since south ataria island was supposedly part of japan. however, it appears likely that there is a common lingua franca that all earth culture humans speak, and somehow i doubt that it's japanese. english would make sense, esp when you consider hikaru talking to the operator in english at the beginning of dyrl and the pilot and air traffic control using english in the beginning of the deculture edition. however, alto pronouncing michel "mikhail" as well as sheryl writing a message in french (why didn't she just text?) clouds any speculation as to what the lingua franca really is. and whatever it is, the lingua franca apparently has not completely replaced the other earth languages, as can be seen in macross plus ep1 where holograph advertisements appear in multiple earth languages. interesting to that when the zentradi send a transmission to the macross and global is surprised that they were able to decipher the language so fast, he simply refers to it as chikyugo, or earth language.

Chikyugo could also be translated as Earth languages. (All Japanese words being uncountable and in need of a counter to determine the actual quantity.)

As for which language is used - it could be all and in the amounts that we've seen: Japanese (main), Zentraedi, English and French.

The answer to why Sheryl didn't text the message is pretty simple: she didn't want to alert her manager exactly when she left, thus giving her a head start.

[Mr March]

It was very much like Shinji's knife attack, from the charge, to the way the knife was held. Don't see how it looks anything like Isamu's bayonet attack.

About knife, nope not yet at least.

Oh, so that's what people a fixating on, the way the VF-25 was running? Well, more power to ya I guess. It still feels like a Macross Plus reference to me. Guess, we'll have to wait for stats on that knife. It's hard to tell what is anime style and what is actualy tech sometimes.

[azrael]

Are those numbers really considered good? :/ Just throwing it out there...worst case scenario...if the show were to flop over in Japan...I would hope that they would release the rest straight to disc...! Two episodes in and I can't wait for the rest!

Well, take into account late nights airings and demographics. There's no way Macross could get 19.1% for Sazae-san, or 13.4% for Chibi Maruko-chan. Gundam 00 highest was 6.1% (linky). But hey, we beat out Code Geass R2 last week, which had 2.6%. And that airs on Sundays at 5PM.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

Alright, I'm watching the ep2 AiA sub, which is great, video quality, audio, are very impressive. However, watching it as an mp4 on my mac is slow. Its not the mp4 itself, its the players. Does anyone know a good mp4 player for mac? I was using Mplayer, and Mplayer plays everything else, even the mkv's, which are a royal pain to play on macs. The main reason I ask is because I am also impressed by Shouta and his group's work on the subs, so I want to stick with their subs of Macross F.

[cyde01]

Chikyugo could also be translated as Earth languages. (All Japanese words being uncountable and in need of a counter to determine the actual quantity.)

おいおい、またそうやって当たり前なことをそうでないかのようにいうなよ。たしかに日本語には複数形と単数形の区別は英語のようにはない。だが、あの情況ではゼントラーディの停戦命令が一つの言語を使っていて、グローバルの「地球語」とはその言語のこと、と考えるのが一番自然だろう。たしかに完全にそうだとはいいきれないが、だとしたらなおさらグローバルの反応は曖昧であり、マクロスの世界でどの言語が一番一般化しているかはさだかではない。日本語とは限らないし マクロスFでは作者がわざと曖昧にしてる気がする。

[miriya]

Alright, I'm watching the ep2 AiA sub, which is great, video quality, audio, are very impressive. However, watching it as an mp4 on my mac is slow. Its not the mp4 itself, its the players. Does anyone know a good mp4 player for mac? I was using Mplayer, and Mplayer plays everything else, even the mkv's, which are a royal pain to play on macs. The main reason I ask is because I am also impressed by Shouta and his group's work on the subs, so I want to stick with their subs of Macross F.

That is strange because I played the AiA sub mp4 on my mac and it was perfect. I just opened it in Quicktime. But maybe because I have Final Cut Studio on the computer that helped somehow? Have you tried QuickTime?

[mikeszekely]

Alright, I'm watching the ep2 AiA sub, which is great, video quality, audio, are very impressive. However, watching it as an mp4 on my mac is slow. Its not the mp4 itself, its the players. Does anyone know a good mp4 player for mac? I was using Mplayer, and Mplayer plays everything else, even the mkv's, which are a royal pain to play on macs. The main reason I ask is because I am also impressed by Shouta and his group's work on the subs, so I want to stick with their subs of Macross F.

I use VLC pretty much regardless of OS. That said, I haven't watched MF on my MacBook, only my Windows HTPC. Maybe I'll try it on my Mac later.

[mechaninac]

Just watched Ep 2. Much better pacing than Ep 1. Great show so far.

Is it just me or is Sheryl, so far, an insufferable, childish, egotistical, Diva?

[Awacs]

Only just had a chance to see this - some of the subbed versions I have simply kill my laptop stone-dead. And I'm taking forced reboot from a "drawing error" KOing the display driver. Fortunately the AiA MP4 is something my system can handle.

Quite impressed, quite impressed indeed. I did notice the string of homages to the original series that made up the opening few minutes, but fortunately they were riffed on enough that it didn't seem too forced I'm actually liking what they are doing with the characters - Ozama (spelling probably wrong but I am too tired to check) seems quite nicely rounded as a character, he clearly has a deep-seated issue with the Vajra which makes him prone to "act out" but at the same time he is a very different person around his sister. Add to that the hints of a personal history with Cathy Glass and I think there is going to be an interesting road to travel with that characters. Alto I rather like as well - he has a quite believable reaction to his first experience of combat, and even his sudden impulse to ask to join the SMS pilots seems to be a natural action for his character rather than a random plot-development thing.

It does feel like we are getting a "unified field theory" of Macross in action with this show. Another angle on the musical mysticism of "Zero" and "Seven", along with a little bit of the grounded feel of "Plus" and with a lot of carryover from the original series. I'm hopeful that the whole is going to add up to more than just a "greatest hits" package though. It feels like this series already has a definite sense of a direction it wants to go in, I think it is going to be fun finding out what lies along the road.

Karl

[ChronoReverse]

If you have an Intel Mac, you should consider running VLC under Fusion or Parallels. It'll likely then be quick enough >_>

[Duke Togo]

Just watched Ep 2. Much better pacing than Ep 1. Great show so far.

Is it just me or is Sheryl, so far, an insufferable, childish, egotistical, Diva?

I think she comes across much better in episode 2 than she does in 1. Episode 3 should be very interesting, see how the three react to being trapped together.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

That is strange because I played the AiA sub mp4 on my mac and it was perfect. I just opened it in Quicktime. But maybe because I have Final Cut Studio on the computer that helped somehow? Have you tried QuickTime?

Yes I have, it won't open, I also have the newest version or Perian installed. I do not have Final Cut, so that could be a factor...

If you have an Intel Mac, you should consider running VLC under Fusion or Parallels. It'll likely then be quick enough >_>

What are Fusion and Parallels? I am watching it on a G4 iMac.

[farmer_yohei]

I have a G4 Powerbook and VLC works fine.

[Steve]

Considering how ineffective the VF-25 weapons seem to be on Big Red I'm just siting and waiting for a showdown with the Konig Monster now that would be wicked.

[ChronoReverse]

What are Fusion and Parallels? I am watching it on a G4 iMac.

They let you run Windows programs on OSX. Performance is usually at least 90%. If you had an Intel Mac (instead of G4 or G5) it'd be able to run the Windows version of VLC and get good performance I'd think.

[Elektrix]

Just watched Ep 2. Much better pacing than Ep 1. Great show so far.

Is it just me or is Sheryl, so far, an insufferable, childish, egotistical, Diva?

I think she comes across that way in her room, but I don't think she shows any of those characteristics really in the time she spends with Ranka at the end. And she seems to show a playful side to her character after pointing to Alto.

The interesting thing about Sheryl is that she's already a star; it's not like Minmay where she becomes a celebrity during the course of the show. Or Basara, who is something else entirely anyway. But I think she clearly has her own personality complexities.

-Elektrix

[sketchley]

おいおい、またそうやって当たり前なことをそうでないかのようにいうなよ。たしかに日本語には複数形と単数形の区別は英語のようにはない。だが、あの情況ではゼントラーディの停戦命令が一つの言語を使っていて、グローバルの「地球語」とはその言語のこと、と考えるのが一番自然だろう。たしかに完全にそうだとはいいきれないが、だとしたらなおさらグローバルの反応は曖昧であり、マクロスの世界でどの言語が一番一般化しているかはさだかではない。日本語とは限らないし マクロスFでは作者がわざと曖昧にしてる気がする。

Look, short of posting the actual script line, in Japanese, I have nothing more to say on this. In addition, you are being rude to the other members of MW by not making your arguement in English; at the very least you are inhibiting their effective participation and ability to learn from the debate. Lastly, what I have learned from my teachers in Japanese class in high school, and two universities (one of them in Japan), is that Japanese words are inherently uncountable and need a counter to convey if there is only one, or more than one of a particular item Ie: 車一台、鉛筆一本. (and I do agree that often times, the quantity can be determined by the context. Thus the request for the script, because from the information given so far in this debate herein, it is vague.)

[miriya]

Yes I have, it won't open, I also have the newest version or Perian installed. I do not have Final Cut, so that could be a factor...

What are Fusion and Parallels? I am watching it on a G4 iMac.

Your mac should be able to play it. I think I have an idea of what may have happened. Maybe there was an error in the torrent download? Something happened like that for me with the AiA episode one which will not play, it is all just a green screen all the way through. Maybe try to download the file again? Or try downloading from a different torrent site?

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

Your mac should be able to play it. I think I have an idea of what may have happened. Maybe there was an error in the torrent download? Something happened like that for me with the AiA episode one which will not play, it is all just a green screen all the way through. Maybe try to download the file again? Or try downloading from a different torrent site?

It definitely plays, the video just lags like hell on VLC and Mplayer. I am trying to watch this on a g4 iMac. Xvids, avis, work, from what I remember, mkvs worked like a charm on Mplayer as well. Mp4 is just a pain to play on a mac.

[veffidas]

It definitely plays, the video just lags like hell on VLC and Mplayer. I am trying to watch this on a g4 iMac. Xvids, avis, work, from what I remember, mkvs worked like a charm on Mplayer as well. Mp4 is just a pain to play on a mac.

MPEG-4 is simply a container like Matroska (mkv). What you're having problems with is most likely H.264 decoding (what AiA's release uses); unfortunately, a lot of guys with older computers are having the same problem.

Afterall, you can read Apple's blurb on MP4: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/technologies/mpeg4/.

And Apple's comments on H.264 decoding with further elaboration here: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/guide/hd/recommendations.html

Does H.264 require special hardware?

While H.264 is a computationally advanced codec, it runs on today’s shipping computers with no additional hardware required. For example, a full HD movie (1920x1080, 8 Mbps, 24 fps) encoded with H.264 plays back beautifully on a dual Power Mac G5. Internet-sized content (40kbps - 300kbps) will run on the most basic of processors, like those in mobile phones and consumer-level computers.

Edited April 17, 2008 by veffidas

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

MPEG-4 is simply a container like Matroska (mkv). What you're having problems with is most likely H.264 decoding (what AiA's release uses); unfortunately, a lot of guys with older computers are having the same problem.

Have you figured out a way around this?

[veffidas]

Have you figured out a way around this?

Short of asking fansub encoders to either encode using a smaller resolution or different codec, there probably isn't a solution.

You'll note that from Apple's recommendations a G4 is good enough for a 480p H.264, but once the resolution bumps up to 780p, only a G5 or higher is recommended. (Dio, sorry I didn't get back to you but it's the resolution bump that's causing the most problems rather than the 24 fps, since most things are encoded using at least 24 frames per second.)

An alternative maybe Shinsen-Subs' releases since they've recently argued that the "HD" (780p) raws out there aren't true HD and are just upscaled encodes, so they may be releasing in lower resolutions. They've just released the broadcast version of episode 1 in XviD, 704x396. (I see Shouta made the same comment concerning the non-HD quality a couple pages back.)

Edited April 17, 2008 by veffidas

[mikeszekely]

Have you figured out a way around this?

You could try something like iSquint.. Since the subs are hardsubbed, re-encoding the video at a lower resolution in a format that your Mac likes better might help.

In the long run, though, it might be time to upgrade. Even the entry-level Intel MacBooks were designed with media playback in mind.

[miriya]

It definitely plays, the video just lags like hell on VLC and Mplayer. I am trying to watch this on a g4 iMac. Xvids, avis, work, from what I remember, mkvs worked like a charm on Mplayer as well. Mp4 is just a pain to play on a mac.

Ah. Sorry about that. Yeah my mac is from september 07 so it is a newer version intel based macbookpro. I have not tried it on my g5 or g4 yet. But that last explanation made sense. Bummer about planned obsolescence.

[cyde01]

sketchley:

if you had a better grasp of the language you would realize that i wasn't disagreeing with you. my argument was simply that it was vague and could go both ways. that is all. and i honestly don't think i was being that rude this time. read my frickin post.

Lastly, what I have learned from my teachers in Japanese class in high school, and two universities (one of them in Japan),

sheesh, well i'm glad you have confidence in your credentials sketchley. just don't use it as an excuse to be annoying, i.e. always trying to comment or correct translations that aren't necessarily wrong, or trying to correct a native speaker or stating what is obvious to a native speaker like it isn't. half the time you come across as if you're just trying to show off knowledge.

Edited April 17, 2008 by cyde01

[azrael]

if you had a better grasp of the language you would realize that i wasn't disagreeing with you. and i honestly don't think i was being that rude that time. read my frickin post.

*sigh* Anymore language arguments or can we let this issue fade away?