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Macross Frontier News Thread V


azrael

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Actually Kawamori wrote the story, not the script. On many occasions he gave the script writers the latitude to take the characters where they felt they should go. He created the framework outline of the events and the staff writers filled in the blanks. Very common in TV.

The writer Kawamori brought in to flesh out Sheryl (can't remember his name at the moment) had free reign with her and because of it, she became one of the best characters of the series. This is mainly due to the fact that she actually "evolved" into someone new over the course of the show. Klan was another character who evolved. This is what makes great drama.

Back to the initial comment. Considering how much Kawamori enjoys leaving dangling threads and enigmas, I'd expect no resolution to the triangle, much like Mac 7 had. However, considering SK doesn't like to do the same thing twice, we may get a "hint" or at least an ambivalent answer that can be taken either way depending on the fan interpreting it.

The key is to keep the fans talking about the show long after its over, to feed the fires of fandom.

The problem with that strategy is that it creates pissed off fans on both sides of the triangle. Hell, Joss Whedon did that with Spike/Buffy/Angel and to this day a lot of fans get completely irate when talking about him.

Lots of other shows manage to give a satisfactory resolution to love triangles ( Escaflowne, for example ) and in the end, people are more satisfied with a true resolution than this cowardly way out.

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Magazine article with some news on the movie. Too small to make out. Amusing picture though. Hints on Klan as the main heroine.

a45f833998f86d3bc821429c3eb88ed1.jpg

So Ninjin loves Ozma now, Shoji gets a cameo with the script (ha ha), WTF is going on with Wilder in that pic, and Sheryl in that pic has finally won me over.

Great stuff, excellent find.......

Taksraven

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That harmonica is very lucky... <_<

Ai-Kun-25F! That shows thought/creativity.

That pic is great!

But one question, is Nanase doing a 'Dyson Flight Plan' with her hand, or is she slapping her rear? :blink:

Both! The aircraft is coming in for a hard landing!

You guys are missing the best part.

Its Hory Froating head reading the Macross F Movie script with sweat drops that's MAJOR WIN!! :lol:

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You guys are missing the best part.

Its Hory Froating head reading the Macross F Movie script with sweat drops that's MAJOR WIN!! :lol:

I vote from now on he be called 'Eyebrows', rather than Hory Froating, Head, Shoji, SK or Kawamori. :p

Graham

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The problem with that strategy is that it creates pissed off fans on both sides of the triangle. Hell, Joss Whedon did that with Spike/Buffy/Angel and to this day a lot of fans get completely irate when talking about him.

Lots of other shows manage to give a satisfactory resolution to love triangles ( Escaflowne, for example ) and in the end, people are more satisfied with a true resolution than this cowardly way out.

A lot of it comes down to the mentality of the fans as well, especially if they start to really develop the attitude that they "own" the show, that the producers owe them something. (Yes, I know that this was the attitude torn apart in the Poochy episode of the Simpsons, but it is true)

There is nothing wrong with fans having expectations from a show, but FFS, its up to the creators to take a show where THEY want, and if they want a vague ending, thats their decision.

Taksraven

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A lot of it comes down to the mentality of the fans as well, especially if they start to really develop the attitude that they "own" the show, that the producers owe them something. (Yes, I know that this was the attitude torn apart in the Poochy episode of the Simpsons, but it is true)

There is nothing wrong with fans having expectations from a show, but FFS, its up to the creators to take a show where THEY want, and if they want a vague ending, thats their decision.

Taksraven

I agree completely. Most fans have no sense of how to tell a story successfully. Creators should listen to them at their peril.

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I vote from now on he be called 'Eyebrows', rather than Hory Froating, Head, Shoji, SK or Kawamori. :p

Graham

Kawa-Nori? (Nori, those crispy seaweed flakes? His eyebrows are like that.) :lol:

A lot of it comes down to the mentality of the fans as well, especially if they start to really develop the attitude that they "own" the show, that the producers owe them something. (Yes, I know that this was the attitude torn apart in the Poochy episode of the Simpsons, but it is true)

There is nothing wrong with fans having expectations from a show, but FFS, its up to the creators to take a show where THEY want, and if they want a vague ending, thats their decision.

Taksraven

I agree completely. Most fans have no sense of how to tell a story successfully. Creators should listen to them at their peril.

Agree completely with taksraven and gubaba. I mean as Macross fans that ending would've been easily accepted. But I see where the "new fans" are coming from as well. But srsly last thing creators should do is listen to their fans. Looks at what happened to George Lucas. :lol:

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Agree completely with taksraven and gubaba. I mean as Macross fans that ending would've been easily accepted. But I see where the "new fans" are coming from as well. But srsly last thing creators should do is listen to their fans. Looks at what happened to George Lucas. :lol:

Hmmm...that might be the exception that proves the rule. If Lucas had listened to people who said "Everyone's acting like cardboard cutouts, and Jar Jar just sucks," maybe the prequels would've been better.

(That said, I really liked the fight between the muppet and Count Chocula in Episode II.)

For Macross, though, I think the main thing fans seem to be clamoring for is more Hikaru, Misa, and Minmay...which really isn't a story that needs to be told. Ditto any side stories set during Space War I. One thing I like about Macross is that each new series tells us a story we didn't know that we wanted to see. And then, by the end, we want more (or, at least, I did...your mileage may vary). The open-ended quality of the conclusions to pretty much every Macross story, for better or for worse, gives us lovely pictures to draw in our minds. And that's fine with me.

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I agree completely. Most fans have no sense of how to tell a story successfully. Creators should listen to them at their peril.

That goes for more than just fans; financiers, studios, etc. In a high end creative field, you don't win any points for being a nice guy who listens to everyone (obviously not talking about collaboration here, but vision). But if you're successful, most will forgive you for being an ass during the hard journey towards the end result :)

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I wouldn't worry so about how the movie will be. If it's going to be a retelling, it will probably end up ranging from decent to good. Macross is Kawamori's baby after all, give him the money, resources, and some ground rules (unless being a troll also means being a rebel) and he'll get it done in his own quirky way. I'm more interested in whether or not there will be a Macross Frontier season 2.

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I wouldn't worry so about how the movie will be. If it's going to be a retelling, it will probably end up ranging from decent to good. Macross is Kawamori's baby after all, give him the money, resources, and some ground rules (unless being a troll also means being a rebel) and he'll get it done in his own quirky way. I'm more interested in whether or not there will be a Macross Frontier season 2.

Has anyone said anything that would lead you to believe there will be a season 2...?

I'm not trying to be an ass, it's just that we have enough unverified rumors out there already...we don't need to be adding more to the pile.

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Has anyone said anything that would lead you to believe there will be a season 2...?

I'm not trying to be an ass, it's just that we have enough unverified rumors out there already...we don't need to be adding more to the pile.

No, I've heard nothing about there being a season 2, just me wishing. Hopefully my post doesn't start any crazy rumors about it. It's just that things are doing good for the series, hell the franchise, right now that Kawamori can if he wants to. I won't complain if he goes back to it after that basketball anime he's doing and probably another Armored Core game. Just to make sure:

I have heard nothing about a Macross Frontier season 2. Serious :)

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Lucas is the counterexample of a creator that's become successful enough that he isn't inclined or forced to listen to anyone at all for input. With no editors/studios/financiers/etc able to tell him "no, that didn't come out very well" or "tone that down a bit", his vision gets often buried in his own flaws and quirks. Similarly, past the first few books no one ever told Robert Jordan, "hey, could you trim the page count a bit?"and it showed. Creating a good fictional work is very typically a carefully balanced power struggle of the creator and the people tasked to steer the creator, and too little on either side can be disastrous.

Now, this goes for fan relationship too: a story not written to appeal to fans at all may never have fans. On the other hand, when a story is written just to go with what the fans ask for, you end up with a bland, cookie-cutter otaku-pandering anime, that's about hitting all the fashionable cliches but has little real substance. You have to risk disappointing some people to not disappoint most of them.

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I thought it was because Lucas listened to the hardcore fans too much that he came up with the travesties which were the prequels? Over-Flashy lightsaber fights, angsty annoying vader, mithocondrian-explanation of the force, etc.

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That goes for more than just fans; financiers, studios, etc. In a high end creative field, you don't win any points for being a nice guy who listens to everyone (obviously not talking about collaboration here, but vision). But if you're successful, most will forgive you for being an ass during the hard journey towards the end result :)

In other words: James Cameron... B))

Btw... Back to the upcoming Macross F Movie discussion...

An article in the information section of The official site has the cover of the jan 09 issue of Newtype 2, and also mentions that apparently some info about the new movie will be revealed in the magazine...

Babel Fish Translation:

As for Newtype February edition cover “[makurosu] F”, and large special edition! “[makurosu] F theater edition (temporary)” large special edition! “The clan becomes the leading part!?”“The clothes of the character change!?” In order that truth of [uwasa] of such a theater edition is verified, it holds the round table talk by the river Mori Siyouzi entire supervision and others principal staff!! The entire picture of theater edition clearly!? In addition besides the fact that the demand for theater edition in the CV14 person of the TV series was heard, the W songstress, May' The gravure & interview of n and Nakajima love! The cover of course the Ebata village sand drawing lowering of character design!

post-7862-1231830569_thumb.jpg

Edited by Kronnang Dunn
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I thought it was because Lucas listened to the hardcore fans too much that he came up with the travesties which were the prequels? Over-Flashy lightsaber fights, angsty annoying vader, mithocondrian-explanation of the force, etc.

What's wrong with cool lightsaber duels??

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I thought it was because Lucas listened to the hardcore fans too much that he came up with the travesties which were the prequels? Over-Flashy lightsaber fights, angsty annoying vader, mithocondrian-explanation of the force, etc.

No, it was more him being sure that he knew what the fans wanted without listening to anyone who might tell him otherwise. Gungans because he still thought Ewoks were everyone's favorite part of the old trilogy, etc.

Now, the EU books, those are a good example of taking what the hardcore fans were into and building it on itself with repeated one-ups, so you get all the Grey Jedi with triple-bladed rainbow lightflails, Boba Fett the invincible immortal, six species of catgirls, and endless floods of kewl gimmicky alien Jedi and newer and badder galaxy-smashing superweapons.

I guess this does get a bit off track on a Macross discussion thread, but I mean it to distinguish between "creator getting too self-assured by success to be reined in" and "creator rolling with what the obsessive fringe of the fanbase wants to the cost of all others" which is more common in ongoing franchises, or in anime subgenres.

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“The clan becomes the leading part!?”“The clothes of the character change!?”[/i]

I find it quite hard to believe that it will happen....but if it does....I'll welcome it with open arms. B))

GO KLANG KLANG!!

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I thought it was because Lucas listened to the hardcore fans too much that he came up with the travesties which were the prequels? Over-Flashy lightsaber fights, angsty annoying vader, mithocondrian-explanation of the force, etc.

Maybe with the lightsaber duels... but if anybody told you the fans wanted whiny Vader and whatever else nonsense you were told, you are wrong.

As for Kawamori not being influenced by the fans opinion ( that they want a concluded romance ), this, again, pointedly reminds me of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where Joss Whedon around mid of season six said the writers were giving the fans what they needed, not what they wanted. Yeah, well... the fans hated the second half of season six and the complete season seven. So sometimes the fans are right, it turns out.

Not that the drawn-out process of BtVS long dead is else comparable to one crucial episode which ended on an inconclusive note, but a definitive ending would have satisfied more people in the long run than the wishy-washy cop-out we got. Maybe SK got *that* message.

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As for Kawamori not being influenced by the fans opinion ( that they want a concluded romance ), this, again, pointedly reminds me of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where Joss Whedon around mid of season six said the writers were giving the fans what they needed, not what they wanted. Yeah, well... the fans hated the second half of season six and the complete season seven. So sometimes the fans are right, it turns out.

I don't want to get off topic, but I didn't see anything wrong with the second half of season 6 or any of season 7 of Buffy, so I'm not sure what your point is supposed to be. Just because the amorphous blob known as "the fans" didn't like it, that makes it bad? If "the fans" decree something, that makes it right or wrong, good or bad?

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I don't want to get off topic, but I didn't see anything wrong with the second half of season 6 or any of season 7 of Buffy, so I'm not sure what your point is supposed to be. Just because the amorphous blob known as "the fans" didn't like it, that makes it bad? If "the fans" decree something, that makes it right or wrong, good or bad?

Yeah, the "amorphous blob" called fans also is necessary to maintain a show. But to be more serious, if you piss off one section of your fandom, fine. If you piss off several factions of your fandom, that´s trouble. If you manage to piss off *all* sections of your fandom ( like Whedon pretty much managed with season 6 + 7 of BtVS, if the boards at the time we any indication ), that´s career suicide. Did you notice that Whedon has pretty much dropped off the TV radar lately?

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Yeah, the "amorphous blob" called fans also is necessary to maintain a show. But to be more serious, if you piss off one section of your fandom, fine. If you piss off several factions of your fandom, that´s trouble. If you manage to piss off *all* sections of your fandom ( like Whedon pretty much managed with season 6 + 7 of BtVS, if the boards at the time we any indication ), that´s career suicide. Did you notice that Whedon has pretty much dropped off the TV radar lately?

Again, I'm not sure what your point is supposed to be in regards to Buffy. I watched the show since it started in 1997, and I don't recall any massive outpourings of fan rage over those two seasons, and even then, I'm not interested in what the raging complaints of the fanbase are. And given that Whedon developed a huge following with Firefly/Serenity and Dollhouse starts next month on Fox, to say he's committed "career suicide" or "dropped off the TV radar" is completely off base.

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Again, I'm not sure what your point is supposed to be in regards to Buffy. I watched the show since it started in 1997, and I don't recall any massive outpourings of fan rage over those two seasons, and even then, I'm not interested in what the raging complaints of the fanbase are. And given that Whedon developed a huge following with Firefly/Serenity and Dollhouse starts next month on Fox, to say he's committed "career suicide" or "dropped off the TV radar" is completely off base.

I´m not really comfortable with continuing to be OT here. I´ll try to be concise. Firefly was cancelled out under Whedons arse after a half-season, partly because Fox had some axe to grind against him. The Serenity movie was not much a comercial success ( although a very good film ). As far as TV goes Whedon basically dropped off the map from 2004 to 2008 and IMO that is largely due to him having tanked BtVS. As for Dollhouse... well, we´ll have to wait and see if it is a success, don´t we?

Since you are not interested in the complaints of the "raging fanbase", I wonder how I should rank your perceptions of said fanbases complaints in that era. I was quite active in BtVS fandom back then, and remember the flamewars well.

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